HOLLYWOOD—At first if you thought Nikki Newman’s new assistant, Claire Grace, was just a nice person on “The Young and the Restless,” oh, you are so wrong. Why? The curtain was lifted last week, and the devious assistant’s agenda is starting to unfold with some nefarious results. I did expect Nikki to be a bit smarter than to fall for Claire’s ploy that her aunt was a fan of Nikki (why) and that she wanted her to stop by to see her before Nikki made plans to surprise her sister.

Nikki is a bit too gullible, especially for a woman you may have vetted, but you do not know on a personal level. She arrived at her Aunt Jordan’s lake house, where she drank drugged tea before being held captive, courtesy of Claire. Nikki tried to escape, but Claire was one step ahead as she was drugged again before being hooked up to an IV and fed alcohol.

Yeah, that was a brutal move because Nikki has been sober for years and for Claire and whoever her mystery boss is to make such a move it proves the vendetta against Nikki and her family is one that will not be ignored anytime soon. With that said, the big reveal was a stunner of a face as Aunt Jordan appears to be grooming Claire, and the villainess is portrayed by none other than “As the World Turns” alum Colleen Zenk. Yes, the woman who portrayed Barbara Ryan is in the driver seat to portray Aunt Jordan, but the agenda is still not clear.

All the audience knows is that it’s tied to not just Nikki Newman, but Victor, Victoria and Nick as well. It looks like a family or face from the past who was screwed over by the Newman family is about to seek a bit of revenge. Claire and Aunt Jordan might be toying with the wrong clan though. If there is one family you don’t want to cross it is the Newmans, and if for any reason it is because you don’t want Victor Newman as an enemy because when he seeks vengeance it stings to the core.

Speaking of the Newman empire, Nate is out (he was fired for his so-called role in Victor’s ruse), and it resulted in Nate having a Come to Jesus moment. Why? Mamie is on his side helping him get an in with Chancellor-Winters to return to the family foray. Devon isn’t making any promises, but it absolutely seems like Lily is ready to invite her cousin back into the family mix. With that said, Lily and Daniel learned that Mamie is colluding with Tucker and exposed that tidbit to Devon, who was livid.

It was the final nail in the coffin for Devon and Tucker’s relationship as he cut off his father for good for deceiving him yet again. Ashley is attempting to play mediator as she uses her lure to get closer to Tucker for Jack and Diane and attempt to expose what his master plan is. There is just one big problem with that move; Tucker is way smarter than to spill such to Ashley, but he didn’t expect Mamie.

Mamie is desperate to reunite her family and now that Devon and Lily know she’s working with Tucker that is leverage that is about to be used to discover exactly what Tucker is planning. You know who is happy about this development, Jill Abbott, who is no fan of Tucker, but really NOT a fan of Mamie. Nate and Victoria seem dunzo after his firing at Newman, and the sparks between Summer and Chance are heating up. So much so that Abby can see that her niece has the hots for her ex-hubby.

Jeez, I just realized that Summer is Abby’s niece and if she starts dating Chance that is going to be so awkward people, and not in the best way. Sharon’s jealous side is coming out, but I’m ok with a Summer and Chance pairing because it means Sharon can finally float back to her true love, Nick Newman. Must admit I was just talking in my previous column how “Y&R” tends to disappoint around November Sweeps, but I might be eating those words, because if there is one thing the soap does exceptionally well it is to NOT DRAG A STORYLINE FOREVER!