Another day, another theory to unpack involving The Young and the Restless’ Aristotle Dumas. Despite us speculating that the mystery business tycoon is either Cane Ashby or Tucker McCall (our best guess being the former), Aristotle’s real identity is still a closely guarded secret that only Amanda Sinclair (Mishael Morgan) knows the truth about. Additionally, while it’s been stated by Amanda and Billy (Jason Thompson) that Aristotle is going after Chancellor, we have no way of knowing if that’s truly the case until Aristotle makes his move.
Zeroing in on this point about Chancellor, it’s crossed our mind that there’s a possibility that Aristotle isn’t going after the company, but merely putting that rumor out there to provide a nice distraction. Perhaps Aristotle wants Victor (Eric Braeden) so focused on protecting Chancellor from a hostile takeover and keeping Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) at the helm of the large corporation, that Victor lets his defenses down when it comes to his other businesses — Newman Enterprises and by extension, Newman Media. Is the crown jewel of the Newman patriarch’s legacy under attack?
Even if Chancellor is really what Aristotle is after, who’s to say that he won’t settle for Newman Enterprises or Newman Media as a consolation prize of epic proportions? Again, Victor is so focused on protecting Chancellor and so distracted by his feud with Jack (Peter Bergman) and quest to break up Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Claire (Hayley Erin), that it’s hard to imagine he has been paying as close attention to the company he built from the ground up. When you add the fact that Michael (Christian LeBlanc) is no longer working for Victor, doing his dirty work while protecting him, Victor may be a bit more vulnerable to attack these days than he was previously.
Now, to be fair, we’ll happily acknowledge that Victor has a winning track record in business that should squash any doubt that he’ll beat Aristotle. Plus, Victor has Victoria (Amelia Heinle), Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Adam (Mark Grossman) to have his back in corporate combat.
However, Victor was once dealt a mighty blow thanks to the Prentiss family. Additionally, Victoria has a lot on her mind lately with Cole’s (J. Eddie Peck) health and her daughter’s love life, Nick is busy denying his resurgence of romantic feelings for Sharon (Sharon Case) and Adam is trying to manage being Victor’s pitbull while being the “new man” he’s promised to be for Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan).
Having said all that, with Victor having been a thorn in the side of many Genoa City residents recently, we think he may be owed a serving of humble pie, served courtesy of Aristotle. Whether that be Aristotle hostilely taking over Chancellor or acquiring a Newman brand, we can imagine Victor suffering a setback. But we should note, even if one of our theories proves true this go-around and Victor loses a battle with Aristotle, The Mustache will likely ultimately win the war.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
