In the December 15 episode of The Young and the Restless, Victor made one thing unmistakably clear: the AI was never the point. When his plan to strike Jabot directly was blocked, he didn’t retreat or regroup. He pivoted — and in doing so, showed Jack that raw power, timing, and public perception can be just as destructive as any technological weapon.
Key Takeaways
- Victor shifts tactics after losing access to the AI and targets Jack publicly instead.
- Jack’s decision to shut Jabot down becomes ammunition, not protection.
- Adam is pulled into the fallout as Victor escalates the war in full view.
What Happened With Victor and Jack
Victor (Eric Braeden) entered the night believing the AI would be his finishing move against Jack (Peter Bergman). When Michael (Christian Le Blanc) confirmed that Jabot’s assets had been moved and the company taken offline, that option was no longer available. But Victor didn’t see a setback — he saw opportunity.
Instead of forcing the issue, Victor ordered Adam (Mark Grossman) to put out a hit piece highlighting Jabot’s shutdown while Jack was distracted at the Abbott Communications launch. The message was simple and brutal: Jack’s defensive move wasn’t a strategy — it was weakness. Phones buzzed across the room as the story spread, turning a celebratory night into a public embarrassment.
Jack wasn’t blindsided because he was careless. He was blindsided because Victor chose exposure over precision. The damage didn’t come from the AI. It came from optics.
Why It Matters to the Abbott–Newman War
This moment reframed the entire conflict. Victor didn’t need to breach systems or steal data to hurt Jack. He needed Jack to act first — and then let the world judge that action.
By making the fight public, Victor forced Jack into a position he hates most: defending perception instead of running a company. The shutdown may have protected Jabot internally, but externally, it painted Jack and Jabot as unstable at the exact moment Abbott Communications was trying to establish credibility.
Victor proved that control isn’t about tools. It’s about narrative. And in Genoa City, he still knows how to write it.
The Fallout for Adam and the Power Balance
Adam became the mechanism Victor used to pull this off, even as Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) was left out of the decision entirely. That matters. Victor didn’t just undermine Jack — he deepened the fracture between Adam and Chelsea and reminded Adam exactly who decides when lines get crossed.
Jack now has to respond in public, not behind closed doors. Abbott Communications survived its launch, but the victory came with an asterisk. Victor didn’t stop Jabot. He stained it — and showed Jack that shutting down Jabot didn’t take him off the board. It made him visible.
Victor didn’t need the AI to win this round. He just needed Jack to blink first.
