On the December 21 episode of The Young and the Restless, Tessa may have made a critical error. She met Ian at Society. He introduced himself as Warren Masters, a prison chaplain, and the singer-turned-restaurant manager fell almost immediately under Ian’s spell. Here’s how he did it.

Charmed

Mariah (Camryn Grimes) once lived with Ian (Ray Wise) in his cult. The man has inspired many people to follow him throughout the years. Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) was also a member, and Ian terrorized her. Because Ian never got to follow through with his plans for Mariah to become his wife, it seems he’s back in Genoa City to reign terror again, and people don’t even know what’s about to hit them.

However, as terrible as Ian is, he’s also charismatic. That’s how cult leaders like Ian get so many people to follow them, and Tessa fell for Ian’s charm immediately. She was so enamored with him that she readily showed Ian a photo of her and Mariah’s daughter, Aria, and this was likely a big error. She has no idea who he is, and Tessa trusted that Ian was who he said he was. Of course, the fact that it’s Christmas also played into Tessa’s hope for special miracles at this time of year.

After their encounter, Tessa even told Mariah about meeting “Warren” at Society. She had such a glowing review of him that she and Mariah speculated that perhaps Ian was a Christmas angel sent to help with a special miracle. Oh, if only that were the case.

Instead of being an angel, Ian returned to his hotel room, where he met Jordan (Colleen Zenk). The two continued refining their plan for those in Genoa City they want to get revenge on, and then they shared a kiss.