Viewers finally met Claire’s oft-mentioned, mysterious Aunt Jordan, as played by As the World Turns veteran Colleen Zenk (“Hellllooooo, Barbara,”) after Y&R spoilers teased her presence for a while. Yet, we still have no idea what this family’s beef is with the Newmans.
And, it does seem to be a beef with all of the Newmans as, according to Claire, Nikki’s kidnapping is just the beginning. When she went off on her hostage, she didn’t insult Nikki, but her entire family — the entitled, smug, and destructive Newmans. So what could be behind all this animosity?
Y&R Spoilers Speculation
It would be pretty disappointing if Jordan and Claire (Hayley Erin) were nursing a grudge fans had never heard of at all. If they were some family that Victor (Eric Braeden) or Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) had wronged before we even met them in Genoa City. No matter how much Claire is killing in her crazy-eyes role, a sudden vendetta would feel out of the blue and not at all satisfying. What if….there’s more to it?
Aunt Jordan: Out of the Past
What if Jordan is a character we’ve met before, just with a new face? Soaps are kind of known for that. What if Jordan were…Eve Howard?
Who is Eve Howard, you might ask? Eve was a woman Victor wronged many, many years ago. She claimed he was the father of her son, Charles. Victor agreed but wanted nothing to do with the boy. (This is before Victor was the greatest father who ever fathered.)
He was content to pay for Charles to go to boarding school as long as Victor didn’t need to ever lay eyes on him. Everything was fine until Charles, now going by his middle name, Cole (J. Eddie Peck), returned to town and began dating Victoria (then Heather Tom).
Plot Twist
By the time their being siblings came out, however, Victoria and Cole were so popular as a couple, that The Powers That Be were forced to do a quick historical rewrite, and Victor learned that Cole had actually been fathered by another man. So, it was happily ever after for Cole and Victoria. For about six minutes. But..that’s another story.
Eve, for her part, was rarely happy with Victor’s lack of attention to her. She tried to poison him. She tried to stab him. On the day of Victor and Nikki’s wedding, Eve decides to try and kill Nikki, instead. That failed and she ended up in a mental institution. So, you see, Eve was nuts.
Dead Again
Sure, when viewers last saw her, a dying Eve was trying to tell Cole that Victoria was his sister. But, hey, the reason Victor wasn’t there to do it was because he was presumed dead earlier. So, you see, death is a temporary condition.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if “Jordan” were a back-from-the-dead Eve? And, she’d spent her past 30 years away from Genoa City grooming her “niece” to help her take revenge on all the Newmans? Think it’s too far-fetched to be true?
Y&R has just announced that Peck is on his way back to the role of Cole. Now, why would he be doing that if his mother (and secret daughter) weren’t wreaking havoc with the Newmans?