Is The Young and the Restless setting up a whodunit mystery around Victor’s attempted murder?

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It's been a while since The Young and the Restless had a good old-fashioned murder mystery, and I’m starting to think one is brewing. Well, an attempted murder mystery that is.

Ever since Victor (Eric Braeden) managed to flip the script on Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and lock her up in his cellar as payback for what the deranged villain did to his family, it’s appeared The Mustache has developed a taste for revenge, which of course plays into his natural gift of being ruthless. Although he eventually let Jordan trade in the Newman-crafted prison cell for a real one, his taste for revenge didn’t subside thanks to Jack (Peter Bergman).

Victor’s been unable to forgive Jack for that eventful night in The Athletic Club when Jack resorted to drastic measures, almost killing himself in the process, to convince Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) to go to rehab. Despite Jack’s gamble paying off, with Nikki getting the help she needs, Victor is certainly not grateful for Jack’s commitment. In fact, Victor went as far as to tell Jack that he wished he died in the hotel room that night and tried to ban Jack from hanging around his wife. Jack foolishly brushed off Victor’s tough-guy vibrato, and it may soon prove to be the Abbott patriarch’s detriment.

As viewers know, Victor is now knee-deep in a retaliation plot. He took Glissade away from Tucker (Trevor St. John) just to have a company to compete with Jabot. Adding salt to the injury, Victor hired Jack’s son Kyle (Michael Mealor) to run the new business. If that weren’t enough, Victor put Adam (Mark Grossman) back in charge of Newman Media to bolster Glissade while taking shots at Jabot (within reason according to Adam).

Jack was already upset about Victor getting to Kyle, but given the rest of the storm headed Jack’s way, the Abbott patriarch will have plenty of reasons to be furious with his longtime nemesis. So will Diane (Susan Walters) for that matter.

Making a pivot, let's talk about Billy (Jason Thompson). He has once again found himself on the wrong side of Victor’s temperament. After finding out that Billy is the one who pushed for the demerger of Chancellor-Winters, Victor has made it clear that he has plenty of reservations about the deal. Victor considers Billy’s actions a direct assault on the legacy of  Jill (Jess Walton) and Neil (Kristoff St. John), and he’s not happy with the direction Chancellor will take under Billy’s leadership.

Then in The Young and the Restless episode airing on July 23, Victor let his family know a little, but very major, secret: Victor is going after Chancellor and wants Nikki to run it. The news completely stuns the Newmans, and it left me thinking Victor is about to infuriate Lily (Christel Khalil), Jill and most of all, Billy.

With all that being said, it just seems like Victor is kicking hornet nests all over Genoa City, and I think someone is bound to sting him in a big way. It’s not hard to imagine the daytime soap reading themselves for a "who shot Victor" storyline in the future.

As I mentioned, Victor’s latest moves in the corporate world are sure to enrage Jack, Diane and Billy, so if something happens to Victor, these three are likely going to be the top suspects. And while Diane and Billy have had run-ins with Victor over the years, Victor’s greatest rival has always been Jack Abbott. Could Jack soon find himself in handcuffs if Diane and Billy manage to get cleared of wrongdoing?

Now in no way do I think anyone in the Abbott clan is capable of murder. So if an attempt is made on Victor’s life, I'm more inclined to believe either Tucker or Jordan did it.

For weeks now, characters in Genoa City have mentioned the possibility of Tucker slithering out from his hiding place to exact his revenge for Glissade being stripped from him. He may feel he has nothing to lose these days with no company and Devon (Bryton James) still giving him the cold shoulder, so he could be capable of going after Victor.

From Jordan’s perspective, the woman may be in prison, but as her history shows, she’s more than capable of escaping custody. Considering she has been carrying a vendetta against Victor for decades and the two last parted ways after he kept her locked in his cellar, she has more than enough motive to want him gone for good.

While my theory of a murder mystery is just that for now, a theory, I can’t help but believe that something big is about to happen in Genoa City that could shake things up for all the major players.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.