Young and the Restless sees Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) gearing up to make war on Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). And he just revealed a shocking list of targets that he plans to either use as allies or they could be collateral damage in the epic battle about to rip Genoa City apart. We’re going to see who Cane tasked Holden Novak (Nathan Owens) to target as the next phase of his attack on Victor begins.

Young and the Restless: Cane’s Sneaky Meeting and Suspicions in Genoa City

This week Cane crept out of France after telling everybody else that they are stuck because of the storm. He is in GC for a sneaky little meeting with Holden who is doing backdoor deals for his new boss Cane who’s also his old boss Dumas. So, the party guests are suspicious.

Victor, Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Lily Winters (Christel Khalil), and others wonder what’s going on and what game Cane is playing by keeping them at the chateau in France. Amanda Sinclair (Mishael Morgan), his lawyer and co-conspirator, swears that Cane is a changed man. But I kind of think she knows better.

Amanda was told via text that Cane was headed for GC and to keep the guests distracted while he does his thing. And what his thing is involves Holden and some sketchy commercial real estate transactions back in town and also it involves a list of targets that Cane has in mind. So this meeting with Holden is the first time he’s ever laid eyes on Dumas in person and then Cane makes a proper introduction and tells him his real name.

The Truth About Holden’s Employment and Cane’s Plan

And it turns out that Cane really did have Damian Kane (Jermaine Rivers) fire Holden after Cane fired Damian. It was all part of the bigger plan. Then Cane contacted Holden directly not long after that. And ever since, secretly, Holden has only pretended to be unemployed and disgruntled and jobless.

This attitude that also explains why when Damian offered to get Holden a job at Winters, he pretended to be angry and called it a pity job. Because Cane had already given him a great job. I’m sure he’s paying him a big pile. Holden is Cane’s secret right-hand man, his eyes and ears in Genoa City. And that involves a list of people to target.

But first, Holden was busy buying up a bunch of real estate within the business district. Cane also told Holden at their meeting at Crimson Lights, he actually used to live in Genoa City and he tells Cane that he likes it there. Holden actually prefers it to LA and we’ve already seen that he’s done a lot of leg work for his sketchy boss.

Cane’s Strategic Targets: Mariah, Claire, Abby, Adam, and Chelsea on Young and the Restless

So Cane wants Holden to befriend certain people. These are key people, key strategic targets. But Cane is not going to tell Holden why he’s chosen these people. And when he starts asking questions, Cane will not answer them. And he warns Holden just follow orders, and don’t worry, whine and stop asking.

So, I’m sure Cane is paying him a pretty price for this. On this shocking list of targets is Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes), Claire Grace Newman (Hayley Erin), Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway), Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), and Chelsea Lawson Newman (Melissa Claire Egan).

So, Cane  is really pleased and impressed to hear that Holden has already gotten close to Claire. Now, I do think Holden was generally interested in Claire. Because he was already making friends with her way before Cane gave him this list of people to target. So, he wants Holden to get even closer to Claire and the others are very interesting choices as well.

All the targets are either Newman or Newman adjacent. Mariah is running Cassidy First. But it’s more about her ties to Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow). And of course, Claire is a Newman and working at Chancellor Industries as her grandma Nikki’s right-hand woman. Chelsea and Adam both work high up at Newman Media. And of course, Adam is a Newman and Abby of course, is a Newman as well.

Young and the Restless: The Newman Connection and Cane’s Possible Allies or Targets

So, with this list, Cane is targeting people who are either Victor’s kids or very close to them. Because Claire is Victoria Newman’s (Amelia Heinle) kid also in Newman, Adam is his son, Mariah is very close to Nick and of course Abby is the Newman that nobody ever thinks about. But she’s still a Newman.

Plus, as Cane was in GC tightening up his targets and getting Holden busy on making new strategic friendships, we’re left wondering why. So, are these people going to be possible allies that Cane wants? Or are they going to be targets of Cane‘s if they refuse to cooperate with him? And of course, at the beginning, they’re not even going to know. Because it’s Holden approaching them and nobody has tied them together.

Young and the Restless: Billy’s Alliance and the Winters Family Dilemma

So, back in France, there’s another alliance that Cane doesn’t even know that’s cooking. Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) tells Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) he’s gonna offer himself up to Cane to team up against Victor and snatch Chancellor back from The Mustache.

So Cane has got a nice list of allies or possible targets for collateral damage depending on how things go with Holden. And of course, Victor is the primary target and I would say Damian is now a close second. Because of his and Lily’s growing attraction which Cane was asking Holden a bunch of questions about.

What’s interesting in all this is that the Winters family, they’re not fans of Victor after he screwed over Lily on the Chancellor deal. But Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) was once close to Victor and he and Lily really hate Cane. So the Winters may align with Victor. We’ll see.

The debate is I think they would see him as the lesser of two evils or the winners may initially act like Switzerland and stay neutral, you know. Because the Newman screwed Lily over so badly. But push comes to shove, I bet Devon and Lily side with the Newmans against Cane and Billy.

Young and the Restless: Chelsea’s Discovery and Adam’s Warning to Victor

So, Cane  is getting all his deceptive little ducks in a row using Amanda and Holden as his minions. But then there’s a wrinkle this week. Chelsea spots Cane at Crimson Lights after Holden leaves and she is shocked to see him back in Genoa City. So once Chelsea sees Cane and they chat, she gets really, really suspicious. As a former con artist, Chelsea can spot another con a mile away.

So, of course, she runs to tell Adam that Cane showed up out of the blue. That is going to send Adam racing to warn Victor. Because between the two of them, I bet Adam and Chelsea figure out that Kane must be Dumas. They do the math on him being a thorn in Victor’s side for 6 years, which is how long Cane’s been gone from town on Young and the Restless.

And then there he is while everybody else is gone. Adam is going to move heaven and earth to get to France. He’s going to be quite a sight when he gets to the Newman rail car all sweaty and out of breath.

The Aftermath: Hidden Cameras and Victor’s Strategy on Young and the Restless

But of course, giving him the news that Duma is Cane is old news by then. However, it is big news that Cane was back in GC and up to something. Fortunately for Cane, Holden was already gone from Crimson Lights before Chelsea spotted him. But also remember, there are hidden cameras in all the rail cars. So Amanda or Kane will notice that Adam has made it onto the hill. And them finding that out before they come and confront them might buy Kane a little time to strategize.

Once the guests know that Cane left the chateau and went back to GC, everything’s going to blow up in Cane’s face. Abby and Devon have already suggested they might be being held there as a distraction. Some people have wondered if their companies might be in danger. And this week, spoilers say Victor stays a step ahead of Cane. That could be thanks to Adam. But Cane clearly has a complex strategy with contingency plans in place. So, Victor knowing Cane was in Genoa City may only accelerate the plot, which would be nice, right?

Excitement for Cane’s Plans and Potential Karmic Slap for Victor

In the meantime, Holden is back in town getting closer to these people on the list. I’m super excited to see what Cane has planned. I honestly I thought he was a jerk six years ago when he left. Even though Daniel Goddard was truly hot, I thought Cane was just an a-hole. I didn’t like the way he treated Lily.

So, we’ll see if they have found a way to make him more likable or at least a more appealing villain. I mean, Victor has been behaving so badly for so long that I’ve been wanting him to get a karmic slap. So, maybe maybe that’ll be a fun thing to see Cane doing. But it’s not going to be too long before Y&R reveals why exactly this list of targets has been selected.