Y&R’s Victor Newman Is Handing Out Power Plays to Every Newman Child Except Abby Newman and We Are Absolutely Done With It

VICTOR NEWMAN’S NEXT SUCCESSION WAR AND ABBY NEWMAN DESERVES BETTER

TL;DR: Victor Newman’s succession war is heating up on The Young and the Restless and while Victoria Newman, Adam Newman, and Nick Newman are all positioning for the throne, nobody is talking about the Newman who has been sitting right there the whole time.

Forecast: Victor Newman’s Next Succession War — Who Gets the Crown and Who Gets Burned

Let’s be real about something that The Young and the Restless fans have been thinking but not always saying out loud. Eric Braeden is 84 years old. He is a legend, an icon, and one of the greatest actors in daytime television history. Victor Newman is one of the most compelling characters the genre has ever produced. None of that changes the reality that this succession conversation is different now. This is not yesteryear’s Newman power play, where Victor fakes his death and pops back up six months later like nothing happened.

The stakes are real, the timeline is real, and Y&R needs to get this right. So let’s break down who is actually in position to take the Newman throne, who is going to get burned trying, and who is quietly waiting for everyone else to make a mistake.

Victoria Newman — Always the Bridesmaid

Victoria Newman has dedicated her entire professional life to Newman Enterprises. She is the most qualified, the most experienced, and the most committed Newman in the building. She has run the company at the highest level, survived every threat Victor has thrown at her, and come back stronger every single time.

The problem with Victoria is that she wants it so badly that she occasionally loses sight of the game. She is currently positioning herself to help Victor reclaim Newman Enterprises from Phyllis, which, on the surface, looks like loyalty. Fans who have been watching long enough know that Victoria’s loyalty to Victor always has a ceiling, and that ceiling tends to reveal itself at exactly the wrong moment.

Adam Newman — Same Play, Different Day

Adam Newman is the one that Victor keeps coming back to because Adam is willing to do what Victoria and Nick will not. The problem is that Adam always overplays his hand. He gets close, does something spectacularly self-destructive, and ends up right back where he started. Right now, Adam is firmly in Victor’s corner, compliant and focused. In fact, he’s currently the most compliant to Victor’s demands as he ever has been, and it’s making The Young and the Restlessfans wonder. Something is bound to shift, something will sting, and Adam will do something that changes the entire board on his way back to square one.

Nick Newman — Do Not Sleep on the Distracted One

Nick Newman is the one who never really wanted the throne but keeps getting pulled back into the fight anyway. Right now, Nick is operating at less than full capacity, sidelined by pain pills and the aftermath of his latest accident involving Matt Clark. That should make him the least dangerous player at the table. In Victor Newman’s world, the least dangerous player is often the most interesting one to watch. Nick has a habit of showing up at exactly the right moment when nobody is paying attention to him. He is not to be counted out entirely.

Abby Newman — The One Victor Keeps Forgetting

Then there is Abby Newman. Sweet, capable, and perpetually overlooked. Victor’s daughter, who somehow manages to exist in Genoa City, owns the restaurant, Society, that Victor visits nearly every damn day, yet is never seriously considered for the Newman Enterprises throne.

Abby has board seats at multiple companies, genuine business instincts, and a loyalty to her father that has never really wavered. None of that seems to matter when Victor starts thinking about his legacy. Abby gets a hug and a smile while her siblings get the power plays. If this succession conversation is going to be honest, it has to include the Newman that Victor consistently underestimates because fans are tired of watching it happen, and Abby probably is too.

So Who Gets the Crown and Who Gets Burned?

Here is the forecast. Victoria gets closest and gets burned by Victor in a way she does not see coming. Adam does something that briefly makes him seem like the obvious choice, only to self-destruct on schedule. Nick, operating quietly in the background with his pain pills and his complicated feelings, ends up being the deciding factor in how this all plays out.

As for Abby… She will do everything right, be completely overlooked, and Victor will pat her on the head on his way to handing the keys to someone who has already betrayed him at least twice within the last year. That is not a prediction. That is a pattern.

So we are asking you — who gets the Newman Enterprises crown this time, which Newman gets burned, and is this finally the year Y&R remembers that Abby Newman exists?

WATCH THIS: Will Patty get her man?

@soapoperamag Hear me out here… I love Patty. I know she's bad. I know she's trouble. But, I also know she loves Jack in a way no other woman has ever loved Jack. Let Patty get her wish. Let her have her way. What could possibly go wrong? #YoungandtheRestless ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine