As Young & Restless’ Victor Sets an Inescapable Trap for [Spoiler], His Pawns Have No Idea They’re Being Played
The Mustache is strategically making moves to protect his legacy. But will it backfire?
Adam isn’t the only one wondering what’s up with Victor’s sudden 180-degree turnaround in matters of business. Young & Restless viewers were left confused — and/or irritated on Adam’s behalf — as The Mustache abruptly agreed to sell Newman Media back to Newman Enterprises, which is now known as Newman-Locke.
The company’s new moniker provides the biggest clue as to what’s really going on here. Victor hardly batted an eye when Victoria and Ashland merged their respective businesses, creating a new entity of the company he had “built from the ground up.” That’s suspicious in and of itself.
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It turns out that, despite accepting his son-in-law into the family, Victor had quietly continued digging behind the scenes and, as he confided to his on-again lawyer Michael Baldwin, has discovered some “unsavory” things about Locke, who he admitted he doesn’t trust.
It makes sense then, that Victor would want to protect his legacy, and in preparing to do so, would make moves to create a safety net for the former Newman Enterprises — but without anyone realizing what he’s up to. Hence, the need to get someone on the inside — Adam. As Sally unknowingly pointed out, this also handily positions the younger Newman to take on a bigger role.
Issuing ultimatums and making power plays.
Credit: CBS screenshot
But, you might argue, if dear ol’ dad wants Adam on the inside to do his bidding, why is he keeping him out of the loop? It’s possible he didn’t want a smug Adam to alert Victoria to his hidden agenda. If she’d sensed there was more going on she likely wouldn’t have made the deal to purchase Newman Media or agreed to keep Adam on as CEO.
It’s also possible that Victor is manipulating Adam; leaving him out of the loop knowing it will bring out his darker side again — which may be necessary to his plan. The trouble is, that’s a bit of a gamble. Unleashing bad Adam could very easily backfire.
So what is The Dark Knight’s plan? Almost certainly to find out what Ashland is up to and quash it (and him!) without damage being done to the company. We’ve been seeing signs that Locke has his own agenda and is making moves behind Victoria’s back, and we know he’s hiding something. Could an important detail in his backstory be a lie, or is it possible that he never really had cancer, and instead used the story to manipulate Victoria into the merger as an elaborate means of eventually taking over the Newman-Locke empire himself?
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Victor approaches business as he plays chess, and is always three steps ahead. So, it seems as though he’s positioning Adam and Victoria for when he ultimately makes his move on Locke in order to save his legacy. Will it be “checkmate” for the Locke Ness Monster? Will the document Victor signed putting Victoria irrevocably in charge as CEO of Newman Enterprises be made null and void by Michael now that it’s Newman-Locke? (Because that would blindside his daughter!). Will Victoria learn that her father has made moves to protect her and the company, just as her husband makes a power grab? And, finally, is Victor’s plan, ultimately, to put Adam in charge at Newman Enterprises?
Share your thoughts on the plot below, and don’t miss this chance to look back on a pictorial of Adam being his own worst enemy though the years on Young & Restless in the photo gallery below.
