Young & Restless took a swerve back toward the sinister in its most recent episode as the diabolical Aunt Jordan pulled her favorite trick again in an effort to get leverage against the Newmans. What she has in store for Nikki may be like watching a car wreck in slow motion — perhaps literally!

We knew the next portion of Jordan’s plan was afoot when she donned a lab coat in her suite at the Athletic Club, pinned on a badge, and headed out the door. It was clear she was bound and determined to sneak into Memorial’s mental health wing and make contact with Claire — we just weren’t sure to what end.

When Victoria turned up and found Claire’s room empty, we got a chill down our spines as we just knew Jordan was behind the young woman’s disappearance, especially given she left her bracelet behind. Soon after, Victoria got confirmation from a security guard that cameras showed a blonde woman leaving with Claire in a wheelchair. Victoria realized that it was Jordan in a blonde wig and allowed the panic she’d been holding at bay to settle in and make itself at home.

Her first course of action, unsurprisingly, was to turn to her father for help. But unbeknownst to her, Victor had just been warned by her ex, Nate, that Nikki was drinking again. Prior to that, we had a scene between Nikki and Nate, in which he confronted her about slugging back vodka from her purse flask. The exchange led to her fleeing the Club to head back to the ranch. Nate made a point of saying to Victor that Nikki should not have been driving… an interesting bit of dialogue indeed.

Back at the ranch, Nikki didn’t even have time to get more hooch into her when Jordan rang. Honestly, the woman must have a tracker on La Newman. An obviously drunken Nikki traded barbs with the madwoman before Auntie Jordan finally got down to brass tacks — she had Claire and wanted to do a swap.

At this point, you might have been asking yourself why Nikki would care what happens to Claire. She despises the young woman she once trusted, who lured her and her family to the lake house and tried to kill them. The answer was in the subtle mind play that Jordan was using during their phone conversation. She referred to Claire as Nikki’s granddaughter and then played on her maternal instincts by putting it to her like this: “If you ever want Victoria to see sweet little Claire again, we’ll have to make a little trade — her mother for her daughter.”

It was a fabulous scene, not only due to Jordan’s menacing tone and the crazy rolling off of her in waves as she spoke, but because we ever-so-subtly saw Nikki’s protective instincts kick in, even through the haze of alcohol. In that moment we knew that she would agree to do what Jordan was asking so as to keep Victoria’s heart from being broken by losing Claire again.

But Jordan’s aim isn’t simply to hold Nikki captive. She wants to destroy her (and her family), and so her plan probably isn’t to simply put her back in bed and hook her up to the vodka IV drip. Been there, done that, and accomplished the goal, which was to boot Nikki off the wagon.

Since Nate made a point of saying Nikki shouldn’t have been driving earlier, it got us to thinking. Nikki will probably head directly to the vodka bottle after she hangs up from Jordan, which means she’ll be even more inebriated by the time she does whatever it is she’s going to do. Considering she was slurring her words while taunting Jordan during the call, she’s gonna be extra super-duper smashed when she heads out.

If Jordan gives her a meeting spot and Nikki sets out in her car, well, you can see where this is going. Our hunch is that Jordan is setting up Nikki for a drunk driving rap. It may be as simple as reporting her and letting the cops pick her up and charge her… or it could be even more diabolical.

What if Jordan harms Claire and makes it look as though Nikki hit her with her car? Not only would Nikki be thrown in jail on charges, but it would throw the entire Newman clan into upheaval as Victoria would blame her mother for hurting her daughter. Victor would be caught in the middle and chaos would ensue!

What do you think Jordan’s plans for Nikki involve? Let us know in the comments.

Before you go, take a look (or another look) at the fabulous Y&R Christmas preview photos in the gallery below.

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