What Happened On The Young and the Restless

So, here is a scene I can’t wait to describe. Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) is standing in the living room of the Newman ranch, offering the trade of trades. He offers up Matt Clark (Roger Howarth), the man who has been a complete nightmare and pain in the ass of the Newmans for decades, to be swapped for the AI software (thanks Cane) that has been the talk of Genoa City from one side to the other. Victor, being the stubborn oaf that he is, scoffs. But then a text message comes in on Victor’s phone that changes everything.

Newman Enterprises is under attack. An AI parasite is gutting the company from the inside out. This sounds like more than just poetic justice; it’s hilarious.

Now, if we take a look at this from Victor’s (Eric Braeden) point of view. Jack Abbott shows up, waving a white flag of surrender at the exact second an AI program starts eating Newman Enterprises alive? If I were Victor, I wouldn’t just be suspicious I’d be calling the security team, wait, maybe that isn’t such a good idea, they don’t have the best track record. But I digress The timing is too perfect. It screams “Abbott setup.” But here is the best part of the episode: No matter if Victor decides to blame Jack or ignore him, the Abbotts have already won.

If Victor blames jack and honestly, this is the most likely outcome. Victor loves to feud with Jack more than he loves staring at his own portrait; it’s what gives his life purpose more than protecting his family. If Victor assumes this is a Jabot strike, he will, without question, double his efforts to crush the Abbotts. He might waste precious hours and millions of dollars launching a retaliatory move against Jabot.

And why is this a win for Jack? Because while Victor is chasing the ghosts of Jabot, the actual threat, Phyllis and Cane, is burning his precious empire to the ground. Every second Victor spends obsessing over Jack is a second the actual virus spreads further, and its insidious purpose is realized.

Or will Victor focus solely on defense? We saw a glimmer of this on Monday. Victor was so rattled by the attack that he handed Matt Clark over to Jack and Kyle (Michael Mealor) just to get them out of his house. “He’s yours,” Victor said. Just like that, Jack walked away with the man that Victor had been so desperate to crush. He got to walk out the door while Victor’s empire crumbled behind him.

Watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount.