Young and the Restless sees Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) considering a shocking move that involves conspiring with his little brother Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) and surprisingly also includes Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn). All three of them together are taking aim at Victor Newman (Eric Braeden).
We’re going to talk about why Jack is planning this pivot and why he may embrace Billy’s desire to work with Cane to topple Victor. The reason why Jack is considering it makes total sense, but it is a dangerous game.
Young and the Restless: Everyone Finally Back Home in Genoa City
As of Thursday, everybody is back in Genoa City, and they’re all preparing for war because of Cane and the events that happened in Nice, France. We’ll see Victor and Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) calling a family meeting to address the threat of Cane, who is indeed planning big things.
Victor let Cane know before they left France that he knew about all the real estate purchases in GC, including the GCAC. Victor openly declared war on Cane. The problem is, Victor’s already fighting other wars on two fronts: one with Billy and another with Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) that Jack is taking very personally. And that’s where everything gets really interesting.
Young and the Restless: Newmans vs. Cane
Victor warns the family about the huge threat of Cane and wants to circle the wagons for the Newmans to strategize on how to stop Cane. Already, Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) and Adam Newman (Mark Grossman) are plotting to try and figure out Cane’s next move in the real estate market so they can shut him down and beat him to the punch.
Nikki and Victor already know that Cane is coming for Chancellor. What they don’t know is Cane’s coming for a lot more than that — all of the Newman businesses, including the flagship company Victor founded, Newman Enterprises, and also Newman Media. Cane’s planning to take over Jabot as well.
He told Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) that Cane might soon get a sweet deal from Jack that has him forgetting about taking over Jabot and only focusing on Newman-owned businesses. So the question is, why would Jack partner up with Cane? Jack was just raging about Cane’s actions in France costing lives.
Young and the Restless: Jack Picks the Lesser of Two Evils
But it’s one of those things: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Victor is Cane’s enemy, and he’s also Jack’s enemy. That is why Jack wants to be Cane’s friend—not because Jack wants to fight with Victor, but because The Mustache isn’t going to stop. He’s tired of it and is going to get proactive and try to end this once and for all.
Once they’re back in GC, Jack and Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) are worried about Victor targeting Kyle using Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) to do it because they know it’s not over. Kyle told his parents what happened in France. But the thing is, Kyle left Claire Grace Newman (Hayley Erin) at a critical time to go play these reindeer games with Audra, trying to expose her and Victor.
Young and the Restless: Victor Won’t Back Off Kyle
Now, he didn’t know Claire’s dad was going to die, but he knew that Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) was really sick, and there was no reason for him to go. He hadn’t been planning to go, and Audra goaded him into it. Bottom line, that meant Kyle was not there for Claire when she needed him the most.
I’m sure Victor is going to rub that in. Kyle is hoping that because he didn’t fall in bed with Audra, that he didn’t let her seduce him, that he has proved himself to Victor, and he somehow thinks the Mustache is going to back off. But that’s not how it’s going to go. Not at all.
Instead, Victor is angrier than ever about Claire and Kyle. Where he had doubled down before, he may triple down. At least this time, Jack is stepping into the fray and is going to get involved.
Newman Family Drama: Victor’s War on Cane and the Real Estate Power Struggle in Genoa City
When the rest of the Newman family showed up, Claire was not there. Instead, she went over to meet Kyle. Victoria warned her that Victor wouldn’t like it, but Claire didn’t care. She wanted to go see her man. Sure enough, Victor was outraged, even though Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow), Victoria, and Nikki all thought that was a totally normal thing for Claire to do.
Diane and Jack think it’s a bad time to go on their honeymoon because they assume Victor and Audra are still going to try and undermine Kyle and Claire and hurt their son. When Kyle and Claire ran into Audra in the park with Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic), things got weird. Audra’s boyfriend noticed while Claire seemed a little more distracted.
Young and the Restless: Jack’s Shocking Idea
With that all in mind, Diane is worried that Victor is still going to blow up Kyle and Claire’s relationship and hurt their son. Then Jack really stuns Diane when he says he would team up with Cane if he thought it would stop Victor. Diane is really surprised to hear him say that.
Jack thinks it might be worth the risk. Realistically, Billy is already working with Cane. So, the Abbotts have a foot in the door with Cane. I just don’t see Billy and Cane turning Jack down because a group scheme to target Victor sounds great. The more the merrier, right?
This would triple their chances of taking down Victor because Cane, Jack, and Billy all acting as the United Front brings a lot more power to the table. Jack doesn’t care about Chancellor or Cane’s other plans. Jack just wants to crush Victor so he will stop targeting Kyle on Young and the Restless.
Young and the Restless: Jack & Billy at Odds
Jack fussing about Cane has put his relationship with Billy at risk. So, if Jack decides to go all-in with Cane and Billy, that would probably undo some of the damage to Jack and Billy’s brother bond, which is another good thing.
What’s funny is Jack has the same goal as Nikki, Victoria, and Claire. They all want Victor to stop targeting Kyle and Claire and let them be. But Victor’s not going to listen to anybody in his family, least of all Claire.
Young and the Restless: Kyle’s Tough Decision
Based on what happened in France, Jack knows how far Victor will go to break Kyle and Claire up, and he knows they won’t stop. The only reason Kyle hasn’t outed Victor and Audra for their scheme to Claire is because she’s grieving her father Cole.
Kyle threatened to tell Nate, but he’s grieving his brother Damian Kane’s (Jermaine Rivers). So Kyle doesn’t want to upset Claire and Nate as they’re getting ready to bury their loved ones because it’s going to be hard to hear that people close to them betrayed them.
Claire was already saying she hoped her grandpa Victor gave up his plotting while in France. He hasn’t. Kyle was kind of like, but he didn’t want to really tell her. Of course, Victor’s going to go at it even harder now that they’re back in town.
Young and the Restless: Claire’s Inevitable Heartbreak
Diane is worried how Claire’s going to react when she finds out how far things went between Audra and Kyle when he was trying to expose her. Diane told Jack she thinks Claire may react the same way Victor did when Jack helped Nikki go to rehab—that she might just be blindly furious.
I don’t think Kyle realizes it, but he betrayed Claire by making out with Audra for whatever reason. It doesn’t matter the reason. Kyle went too far and was rolling around on the bed with her, making out passionately.
Audra could spin things to make Kyle look really bad to Claire, especially if Audra thinks she’s going to lose Nate anyway. Very soon, look for Jack to approach Cane. He may go through Billy to do it, unless Diane finds a way to talk him out of it, which I doubt.
Young and the Restless: Cane Gets a Pleasant Surprise
Jack dislikes Cane, but let’s face it, he’s the lesser of two evils compared to Victor, and Jack thinks this scheme is for the greater good. Plus, Billy would be thrilled to have Jack on board, and he may pressure Cane to take the deal and form a power trio dedicated to destroying Victor and taking everything from him.
Going up against Victor won’t be easy, but Jack’s been at war with Victor for decades. So, what’s one more fight? Especially if it will help his son Kyle. I’m super excited to see Cane finding out he’s got a strong new ally to work with him and Billy to topple Victor once and for all.
