For the past several weeks on The Young and the Restless, all roads have been leading to the most shocking return from the dead this year in soap opera TV. Of course, we’re talking about Claire (Hayley Erin) possibly being Eve Nicole, the presumed-dead daughter of Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Cole (J. Eddie Peck).
Despite Victoria and Cole’s initial hesitation to buy the story that Jordan (Colleen Zenk) swapped their infant with another in the hospital that later died and she raised Claire to hate the Newmans, the Newman Enterprises co-CEO and the writer/scholar have increasingly come to terms with the real possibility that Claire is their heir all grown up.
To help sort out this issue of parentage, Victoria and Cole visited Claire behind bars and promised to help find her an attorney in exchange for Claire taking a DNA test. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, however, Cole went back to the house in Oregon to gather a toothbrush and hairbrush belonging to Claire to help put an end to this identification mystery sooner rather than later. In the episode airing on December 13, he confirms with Victoria that they are just waiting for the DNA test results.
To help sort out this issue of parentage, Victoria and Cole visited Claire behind bars and promised to help find her an attorney in exchange for Claire taking a DNA test. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, however, Cole went back to the house in Oregon to gather a toothbrush and hairbrush belonging to Claire to help put an end to this identification mystery sooner rather than later. In the episode airing on December 13, he confirms with Victoria that they are just waiting for the DNA test results.
Now with that said, we have a hunch that things are about to take a soapy and dramatic turn. There is a lot at stake if the young woman proves to be in the Newman bloodline, and there are a few people who would rather write her off as a deranged kidnapper instead of embracing her as "family." Obviously, we’re referring to the Newman clan. So is one of them willing to go as far as to sabotage the DNA test results to help ensure they’re done with Claire and this dark chapter for good? Sure.
Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) more than anyone would like nothing more than to see Claire locked away for the rest of her life. The Newman matriarch has good reason to feel this way considering Claire deceived her the most, kidnapped her and even caused Nikki to relapse in her sobriety.
Even in the episode airing on December 13, Nikki was visibly upset when Audra (Zuleyka Silver) mentioned her former assistant’s name. So Nikki’s hatred for Claire, plus Jordan’s continued torment with memories from Nikki’s past, could certainly push Nikki into sabotaging the DNA results.
Then there’s Victor (Eric Braeden). The Mustache has a long history of stopping at almost nothing to protect the ones he loves. He’s witnessing firsthand Nikki’s current downward spiral, and he’s already vowed to help his wife in any way that he can. Does this include making sure everyone believes that Claire is not Victoria and Cole’s child? Claire may wind up being his granddaughter, but he doesn’t know her and doesn’t have an attachment to her, so he very well may sacrifice that potential new relationship to save the family he knows from perceived threats.
We’d be remiss if we did point out the chance that someone outside of the Newman family tampers with the DNA test results. Someone such as Jordan. We imagine Jordan is pretty ticked at Claire for ruining her plans for revenge and could want her great-niece to pay for her actions.
Jordan may feel if the test proves Claire isn’t Victoria’s that Victoria and Cole will turn their backs on Claire and leave her to face a lengthy prison sentence. If this turns out to be Jordan’s plan, she’ll be rather disappointed as Victoria, Cole and Michael (Christian LeBlanc) have all vowed to help Claire no matter what.
One thing we know for certain, is we plan to continue watching the Claire saga unfold 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.
