EXCLUSIVE FRIDAY CANADIAN Y&R DAY-AHEAD: Nick Newman Is Popping Fentanyl and Now He Wants to Play Hero

ONE PILL OUT OF THE SNOW AND NOW HE WANTS TO CATCH A CRIMINAL. WHAT COULD GO WRONG.

TL;DR: Nick Newman picked a fentanyl pill out of the snow and swallowed it on The Young and the Restless — and then sat down with Sharon and Victoria and volunteered to set a trap for Matt Clark like absolutely nothing happened.

He Threw It Away. He Picked It Back Up. He Swallowed It.

Nick Newman threw the pill away. He actually threw it away. It landed in the snow outside Crimson Lights and for one beautiful second we thought we were watching a man make a good decision on The Young and the Restless. And then he reached back down, picked it right out of the snowbank, and swallowed it anyway. While Sharon Newman and Victoria Newman sat ten feet away inside having absolutely no idea what was happening outside that door.

Then he walked in, joined the conversation, and volunteered to set a trap for Matt Clark.

They said yes.

We need everyone to understand what is happening here. Nick is not recovered from his last injury. Sharon is already clocking that he might be dependent on his painkillers. Victoria thinks this whole plan sounds risky. And the man they just handed the wheel to fished a fentanyl pill out of a snowbank thirty seconds before sitting down at that table. The trap is not for Matt Clark. The trap is Nick Newman and the bait is his own judgment.

Got a wild theory about how badly this goes? Send your hottest take to [email protected] and we might feature you!

Let’s Talk About What Sharon and Victoria Actually Agreed To

Here is the thing. Sharon Newman is not oblivious. She has been quietly worried about Nick’s painkiller use this whole episode. She even suggests he should talk to his doctor. And then Matt Clark sends a text demanding five million dollars to leave Noah alone, and every concern Sharon just had evaporates because the threat is immediate and the plan feels urgent. That is how this happens. That is always how this happens. The crisis in front of you drowns out the crisis standing next to you.

Victoria is the smart one here — she says out loud that this sounds risky. She is right. Nobody listens. Nick has an idea to drag Matt into a trap and the energy in the room shifts and suddenly they are all in. Nobody goes back outside to check on the man who was just grimacing over a bag of fentanyl ten minutes ago. Nobody asks if he is okay. The plan is the plan and Nick Newman is the plan.

Matt Clark Is Getting a Five Million Dollar Invitation

The text that set all of this in motion is worth sitting with for a second. Matt Clark reached out to Nick directly, asking if he is still offering five million dollars to make him disappear for good. That is not a man who is scared. That is a man who is comfortable. He has been terrorizing this family for decades, he has survived being handled before, and now he is texting from wherever he is hiding to negotiate his own exit package. Nick is right that the cops cannot hold him. Nick is wrong that he is in any condition to be the one who finishes this.

Nick Newman is self-medicating, operating on fentanyl, not fully recovered from his last injury, and about to walk into a situation designed to lure out a man who has tried to kill him before. Victoria Newman has a bad feeling about it. We have a bad feeling about it. Sharon is so focused on the threat that she has temporarily forgotten the thing she said five minutes ago about being worried about Nick’s pills.

Meanwhile Phyllis Summers Has Her Feet on Victor’s Desk

While Nick is outside medicating himself into a crisis, Phyllis Summers is sitting in the Newman offices with her feet up on Victor’s desk, reflecting on how far she has come. One of the most powerful women in the world, Lauren said. We agree. The problem is that her kids are giving her the silent treatment, Billy Abbott is the only person publicly cheering her on, and she is having breakfast at the GCAC with one friend and pitching that friend a job because the view from the top is a little lonelier than the brochure suggested.

Lauren Fenmore showed up to say she was proud of Phyllis instead of lecturing her and it was genuinely the most unexpectedly tender scene in Genoa City this week. Phyllis is not wrong about any of it. The Newmans are not the good guys. She is not the villain. But being right and being happy are two very different things and right now Phyllis Summers is one and not entirely the other. We feel things about this and we are not apologizing for it.

Is Nick walking into his own trap — and is Phyllis actually the most sympathetic person in Genoa City right now? Sound off below!

WATCH THIS: Is Nick about to go down a dark path?

@soapoperamag Nick looked Sharon in the eye… and said "I'm gonna put his ass in the ground. Matt is the target." This man is high on pills, not sleeping, and making promises he can't take back. Meanwhile Matt's out here sending death threats to Noah. Something very bad is about to happen to SOMEONE. #YR ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine