For decades, we have loved Victor’s take-no-prisoners attitude on The Young and the Restless. We have thrilled to the millions of times that he’s lived up to the title of his unauthorized biography Ruthless. We have admired his dedication to seeing through to fruition his every scheme. Lately, though…

Look, somebody’s gotta say it: It’s beneath Victor that he’s going after Jack and Billy so relentlessly. He’s ticked anew at Jack for the horrible offense of… trying to help Nikki climb back on the wagon? That makes zero sense and paints a portrait of The Mustache as hopelessly myopic. What next, he’ll be targeting Girl Scouts for showing up at his door offering cookies? “How very dare they! I shall buy Keebler and weaponize its elf against these upstart imps!”

More: Alum’s getting as rich as a Newman!

Victor going after Billy could make sense if we believed for a minute that his motives were sincere. Trouble is, we don’t. If Victor really wanted to safeguard Katherine’s legacy, he’d have gone directly to Jill with his concerns. It ain’t like they’re strangers; they were almost engaged at one point. He could have calmly and rationally made the argument that, while he understood her impulse to prop up her son, as useless as he is, someone like Lily, Nikki, even Lauren might be a safer bet — and one who would be less likely to immediately stick their name in front of Katherine’s on the company’s logo.

If reason failed to sway Jill, Victor then and only then could have warned that she was forcing him to swoop in and save Chancellor himself — by any means necessary. That would have been more respectful to Katherine’s memory, to Jill, with whom Victor has no beef, and to common sense. As it is, despite the good game that the tycoon talks, it’s playing like he wants a David vs. Goliath battle in which David doesn’t doesn’t have a slingshot, never mind a rock. Using Jill’s failing health against Billy — as the latest spoilers suggest that he will on August 20 — just makes the whole affair tackier. (Heaven forbid she should die!)

Your thoughts? Drop ‘em in a comment.