For weeks on The Young and the Restless, Sharon’s (Sharon Case) behavior has become increasingly erratic. Her strained mental state has now evolved into a mental health crisis as she stopped taking her bipolar meds, started hallucinating Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby) and Faith (Reylynn Caster) and Lucy (Lily Brooks O’ Briant) got into a car accident, eerily drawing parallels of the accident involving Cassie (Camryn Grimes) and Daniel (Michael Graziadei).
Sharon has gone into full-on mama-bear mode and she is ready to protect her daughter at all costs regardless of how others may feel about it. This became evident when Sharon marched her way into the Romalotti home and demanded Daniel and Heather (Vail Bloom) keep their daughter away from Faith.
Fast forward to the episode airing on September 10, and Sharon has not one but two showdowns with Phyllis’ (Michelle Stafford) offspring. First, after wrapping up a meeting with Mariah (Camryn Grimes) at Crimson Lights, Sharon is left alone as she gathers her things from the back.
During that time, Daniel and Faith show up. Daniel doesn’t spot Sharon so he feels the coast is clear for him and his daughter to enjoy a little time together (we have to roll our eyes a bit because out of all the places in Genoa City they could have gone to, they went to the one place owned by the one woman who doesn’t want to see them).
Daniel realizes he forgot his phone and runs to the car to get it while Lucy is left to grab a table. Of course, that’s when Sharon pops back up, stunned to see Lucy. Not reading the room, Lucy almost immediately begins profusely apologizing and then begging Sharon to let her see Faith. This is about when Daniel walks back into the room.
At her wit’s end, Sharon basically tells Lucy no and questions her infatuation with Faith. To top things off, Sharon notes Faith tried to be nice about it, but she herself doesn’t want to hang around Lucy. The teen becomes belligerent calling Sharon a liar and accusing her of trying to ruin her friendship with Faith. She even goes so far as to bring up Cassie, saying Sharon is using the memory of what happened to her deceased daughter to punish Lucy. The low blow infuriates Sharon and she yells at Lucy until Daniel drags his daughter off.
Round two for Sharon comes when she walks into the Genoa City Athletic Club and spots Phyllis and Heather having a conversation. The Cassidy First owner makes a beeline to the duo and rips into Heather for not having a better handle on Lucy as a mother. Heather rightfully takes exception and gets into an exchange briefly with Sharon before storming out, leaving old rivals Phyllis and Sharon to duke it out.
Sharon presses Phyllis’ buttons, bringing up Phyllis’ knack for bulldozing her way to get what she wants, leaving a destructive path behind her, and accuses Lucy of being the same way, even calling Lucy Phyllis' mini-me. Sharon’s parting words for Phyllis are for her to keep her entire family away from her and Faith.
Now as Sharon is letting loose, Lucy is back at home with Daniel tearing into him. She accuses Daniel of ruining her life, stating the reason Sharon doesn’t want her to be friends with Faith has to do with him being in the car accident with Cassie. Lucy acknowledges that she made a mistake that night with Faith, but she doesn’t seem to have a grip on the reality that she has played a large role in why Sharon wants distance between the two girls.
When Daniel brings up the idea of leaving Genoa City for a while to visit Portugal, Lucy loses it some more, again accusing Daniel of ruining her life. She doesn’t want her parents controlling where she lives or who she can be friends with. But this outrage with Portugal mainly stems from Lucy wanting to be around town so she can have the possibility to hang around Faith, despite Sharon’s protests and Lucy being grounded.
With all that being said, we’re starting to believe that Sharon isn’t the only one suffering from a mental health crisis here. Lucy’s obsession with Faith is starting to become alarming, and it appears Faith is her sole focus these days. Keep in mind, Faith told Lucy before the accident that she wanted some distance from her, and regardless of the protests from Lucy’s parents and Sharon, Lucy just wants to be around Faith. Is it possible that Lucy is being more than just an angsty teen, and perhaps is exhibiting a bit of "unhinged behavior"?
It’s worth mentioning that while Sharon compared Lucy to Phyllis, there may be a more alarming comparison to be made. For those who need a reminder, Heather is not Lucy’s birth mother but Daisy Carter (Yvonne Zima) is. Daisy is the daughter of supervillain Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown). Both Daisy and Sheila have a laundry list of criminal antics which includes drugging victims, kidnapping, attempted murder and for Sheila, murder. Could Lucy be exhibiting early signs she’s more like her biological mother and maternal grandmother than anyone thought?
We aren’t prepared to go that far quite yet, but if Lucy’s obsession grows, then Faith may want to be careful and go back to college sooner rather than later.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
