Despite The Young and the Restless' Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) warning Victor (Eric Braeden) for weeks that faking his own mental decline is a cruel idea, he's adamant that his plan is necessary to prove which of his children is out to betray him for their own personal gain at Newman Enterprises.
At this point, he's zeroed in on both Adam (Mark Grossman) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), as Abby (Melissa Ordway) and Nick (Joshua Morrow) aren't even interested in working for the family business. Although, Victor has been hoping his latest stunt will lure his oldest son back to the company.
While Victor finds his latest scheme a sign of brilliance, we think it may be his most chaotic yet, which is bound to backfire in a major way. Should his children all find out about his stunt, which Nick is set to do sooner rather than later according to promo videos, we're not convinced they'll just let this latest act of manipulation slide.
In fact, we can see a scenario in which Victoria strikes back at Victor in a major way and attempts to launch a coup at Newman Enterprises, partnering with Adam of all people to do it. The brother and sister duo may loathe each other on a day-to-day basis, but sometimes, vengeance has a way of bringing together enemies.
If that isn't enough to unite them, Adam may be convinced to work with his big sister in ousting Victor if she promises to give him back Newman Media when the deed is done. Under normal circumstances, Victoria wouldn't do anything that could cost her mother her current Newman Media CEO position, but considering Nikki has known all along about Victor faking his health condition, Victoria may have a taste for revenge on her mother as well.
But allow us to also raise the hypothetical that Victoria doesn't strike back at Victor, but opts to leave Newman Enterprises again instead. It's been teased that she'll be making a big decision in the episode airing on October 27, so maybe she finds out about Victor's scheme and walks away with the family business and Victor to preserve her sanity.
Even if Victoria were to quit, we can't see Adam just letting Victor get away with this. This brings us to the phone call Adam makes to Dr. Skelton in the episode airing on October 24. The Newman heir appears to be calling out of genuine concern for Victor, as he still assumes something is medically wrong with him.
However, what if Adam discovers what Victor is up to and uses that knowledge to manipulate this doctor in his presumed consultation with Victor?
Perhaps a vengeful Adam feeds Dr. Skelton everything he needs to hear to convince the physician to suspect Victor is suffering from something like dementia. If Victor continues to fake his medical condition, not knowing Adam is aware of his scheme, Victor may unknowingly play into the doctor's concerns and confirm the medical suspicions.
If Victor is misdiagnosed with a neurological issue, it wouldn't be too hard at that point to have the Newman patriarch declared too "incompetent" to run his company, effectively ousting him from the CEO role. That could leave an opening for Adam to take the job.
In order for such a duplicitous plan to work, a few things would need to happen. First, Adam would have to ensure that his connection to Dr. Skelton remains a mystery. Victor and the other Newmans are unlikely to trust a diagnosis from a physician with ties to Adam.
Also, just because Victor is declared incompetent, doesn't mean Adam is next in line to rule the throne, especially given Nikki, as his wife, would likely be left to make such calls. Unless Adam finds a legal document that leaves Newman Enterprises in the hands of his remaining children still at the company at the time he's no longer fit to run the business. So if Victoria does quit Newman Enterprises, the company is all his. We aren't sure how likely such a form exists, so it may be more probable that Adam forges documents.
Another caveat to such an Adam-scheme is Adam would need to find a way to deal with Nick, Victoria and Nikki, who are unlikely to let Adam just run their father's business. Well, if Adam has the legal parameters in place protecting his position at Newman Enterprises, the trio may have to battle it out with Adam in a long-drawn-out court battle.
With all that being said, if Victor is declared incompetent, you better believe it will only be a temporary setback for The Mustache. Victor would likely plot to restore things quickly. Banking on that, Adam may find himself in charge long enough to make irreversible changes to the company and regain control of what he really wants — Newman Media. His being back as CEO of a company he started, seems only right. It would be rather impressive if Adam even managed to separate Newman Media from Newman Enterprises.
Now we aren't sure how far Adam would go in such a scenario, but if he wanted to lengthen his stay as head of the company, might he work with Dr. Skelton in somehow drugging Victor to keep him in a real constant state of confusion?
At this juncture, we're dealing in hypotheticals, so we'll have to stay tuned to see what happens next.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
