The Young and the Restless spoilers: Cole dies! Victoria and Claire find grief support in their next romantic connections?

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6 days ago

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Sadly, the moment we predicted has finally arrived on The Young and the Restless in the episode airing July 3. Cole (J. Eddie Peck) dies from complications of his Legionnaires' disease diagnosis, leaving Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Claire (Hayley Erin) devastated.
Backing up for a moment, the episode kicks off with Victoria and Claire at Cole's bedside. Cole insists that it's time they all said their 'goodbyes,' but Claire just isn't able to do it, so she leaves the hospital room.
Victoria, on the other hand, remains by his side. After acknowledging that he knows Victoria will take care of their daughter when he's gone, he promises to see Victoria in the afterlife. She kisses him one last time before he flatlines.
When Victoria and Claire arrive back at the Newman tackhouse later, they attempt to comfort one another before Claire makes her way upstairs for some alone time. She tries to reach out to Kyle (Michael Mealor) for the umpteenth time, but again, he doesn't answer the phone. Not for nothing, Kyle, along with the other party guests on Cane's (Billy Flynn) estate, still don't have phone service.
With Claire being unable to reach Kyle, and Victoria not able to find comfort in Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), Victor (Eric Braeden) or Nick (Joshua Morrow), who are all abroad with Kyle, we think the mother/daughter duo may seek support during their time of grief elsewhere. Sure, they'll rely on each other quite a bit, but Claire and Victoria will probably want someone to talk to who isn't as close to this situation.
In terms of Claire, we think she's about to run straight into the arms of Holden (Nathan Owens). After helping her with her recent panic attack, he was already aware of Cole's deteriorating health, and he proved to be a solid shoulder for her to cry on. He's likely the perfect person to console her while Kyle is away.
Here's the thing, though. Although Holden and Claire are friends, we've noticed the potential for more between them for a while. If her mind becomes so clouded with grief, it's possible she allows herself to engage in a little more than flirtatious banter.
While we thought Kyle would be the first one to cheat in their relationship by having an affair with Audra (Zuleyka Silver), Claire could certainly surprise me. (It's also possible that Kyle does cheat first, Claire finds out about it and then turns to Holden for a night of romance herself, but that's a theory worth exploring on another day.)
When it comes to Victoria, we found it rather interesting that since her family has been away, the one person she's talked to about Cole is her ex, Nate (Sean Dominic). He was great at providing her with some peace of mind, and the two even acknowledged that the past is the past and they're friends again. So could Nate be her next great love?
This is harder to picture because of the baggage between the two, but we believe it's in the realm of strong possibility. Yes, he's currently in a loving relationship with Audra. However, the writing is on the wall for that pairing to crash and burn.
Audra keeps lying. She lied about her past and residual feelings for Holden, she lied about her true deal with Victor and she's lying (maybe even to herself) about the lengths she's willing to go to in order to trap Kyle. Again, we see her and Kyle cheating with one another, which doesn't bode well for her relationship with Nate. So if Nate comforts Victoria during this difficult time, the groundwork of their deep connection is bound to be strengthened.
Now for those questioning if Nate would really reunite with Victoria, given how they ended the last time because of Victor's interference, we think the former doctor would. Look how many times Billy (Jason Thompson) threw caution to the wind and reunited with Victoria, despite Victor's strong disapproval and interference. Plus, things would be different this go-around with Nate no longer working at Newman Enterprises. Victor may be less apprehensive about Nate if he isn't his employee.
At this juncture, we can only theorize what's next for Claire and Victoria. However, we hope some sunshine comes after this heavy bit of rain.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
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