Perhaps one of the greatest flaws of The Young and the Restless' Victor (Eric Braeden) is his ability to hold a grudge. When you combine that fact with his knack for getting revenge and his ruthlessness when it comes to business, The Mustache is arguably the most dangerous person in all of Genoa City.
Our point is easily exemplified in his ongoing feud with Jack (Peter Bergman). The two have been at odds for decades, and even though their rivalry lay dormant for the last few years, it's kicked back into full swing in the aftermath of Jack and Nikki's (Melody Thomas Scott) wild hotel bender. Not only has Victor recruited Jack's own son Kyle (Michael Mealor) to work for him, but the Newman patriarch hired the Abbott heir to be the co-CEO of Glissade, Jabot's competition.
Showing he's not slowing down, Victor is waging the war with Jack even as he mounts another one with Billy (Jason Thompson) over Chancellor (or Abbott-Chancellor as Billy has named it). Victor feels Katherine Chancellor's (Jeanne Cooper) legacy will be destroyed in the hands of Billy, so he wants to take over the company and fold it into the Newman Empire. Furthermore, Victor wants Nikki to run the business that was once owned by her bestie.
Now Victor’s family has rightfully been asking how he plans to just take the company from Jill (Jess Walton) and Billy, and Victor has been coy about the details only really sharing that he has stock in the company thanks to Mamie (Veronica Redd). Enter Michael (Christian LeBlanc).
Michael has been practically begging Victor to let him back into his inner circle. After Michael and Cole (J. Eddie Peck) "betrayed" Victor in regard to the situation with Jordan (Colleen Zenk), Victor swore to be done with both men until they proved they could be trusted again.
As a part of this pathway to reconciliation, Victor has given Michael two tasks. The first one was to warm up to Diane (Susan Walters) to pick her brain about Abbott secrets. And more recently, Victor told Michael to get dirt on Billy so Victor has ammunition to use to acquire Chancellor.
Well, in The Young and the Restless episode airing on August 19, Michael reports to Victor that Billy has been squeaky clean. However, the attorney isn't completely empty-handed. Michael shares his investigators found out that Jill is suffering from cardiac issues, which is why she put Billy in charge of Chancellor.
The news proves to be interesting to Victor, but not enough to let Michael out of the doghouse. That's when Victor sets up another hoop for Michael to jump through, pressing him to cross a line into the realm somewhere between shady and deplorable.
The Newman Enterprises founder tells Michael to use his wife Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman) to get more information about Jill's health. Victor thinks Lauren can get more updates on her sister whereas Michael's investigators cannot. Michael is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of using his wife to help do Victor's bidding. Plus, when Michael seeks to gain confirmation that Victor won't use Jill's health to weaponize against her own son, Victor doesn't answer.
Despite all of Michael's apprehension, he ultimately agrees to do as Victor asks. We think this could backfire on Michael in a major way. After all, he's likely to violate the trust within his marriage, and that could lead him trading Victor's doghouse for Lauren's. Considering he's a brilliant lawyer, we have to ask why Michael doesn't seek employment at Jabot, or Winters or back in the district attorney's office?
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
