As Jordan’s (Colleen Zenk) time of wreaking havoc appears to be coming to an end on The Young and the Restless, the question immediately arises, what’s next for Claire (Hayley Erin)?
Before we attempt to answer that, in The Young and the Restless episode airing on February 28, Claire tells Michael (Christian LeBlanc) in person that she's going to go along with Victor’s (Eric Braeden) plan. He’s glad to hear that and tells her that he already got the ball rolling for her release. She’s perplexed how Michael knew she would agree to her early release, but soon realizes that Victor was going to get Claire out of the mental health ward whether Claire was comfortable or not. Michael practically applauds her perceptiveness.
Michael wasn’t the only one impressed by her savoy thinking either. When Michael later talks with Victor about the conversation with Claire, Victor seems to relish in her being clever, chalking her intelligence up to being a Newman.
With Claire likely going to be released and Victor’s Jordan trap likely going to be set, it seems Jordan’s time on the soap will end in the near future, our guess with her death. Once Jordan is dealt with, Claire will have to think about what she’ll do next. Where she will work.
Now naturally, Victor may be willing and ready to hire her at Newman Enterprises. It seems like a rite of passage for the Newman heirs to work at the family business. While he may not offer her a top-level executive position, he probably can find her the "perfect" job.
There’s also the possibility that Claire finds herself back at Newman Media working for Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). Before Claire revealed herself as an agent of Jordan’s chaos, she worked well with Nikki and was the star employee. Could Nikki welcome her back and the two recapture their stride at the company?
The only downside to this proposition is that it may feel a little too much like déjà vu, and the constant reminder of what happened may not be helpful for Nikki’s sobriety.
While a job working in a Newman business is the easy course for Claire, we tend to think she may find herself working in the legal or medical field.
We can see her as a lawyer as she and Michael have appeared to share quite the bond since he first started representing her. He sees a bit of himself in her given he too grew up being mistreated and it led him to commit horrible crimes, but eventually found himself on a redemption arc. Their similar backgrounds, their growing connection and his recognition of Claire’s brilliance may lead him to become her mentor and her to become the next great attorney in Genoa City.
Now in terms of the medical field, Claire has said on multiple occasions that one of the highlights of her recovery has been reading to the young kids on the pediatrics floor. Perhaps she turns this enjoyment in lifting children’s spirits into a desire to help them as a doctor, specifically a pediatrician. Considering Nate (Sean Dominic) has traded his scrubs for a suit and tie and works at Chancellor-Winters with Devon (Bryton James), the city could use another doctor on the scene.
Whatever’s next for Claire, we plan to watch.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
