When Lucy Was Bad She Was Better: Lily Brooks O’Briant Is Killing It on Young and Restless September 11

When Lily Brooks O’Briant first joined The Young and the Restless as Lucy Romalotti, she did well as the teen girl eager to get her broken-up parents back together. She was fine in scenes with Heather, Daniel, Phyllis, Johnny, and Connor. There was nothing wrong with her performance, but there was nothing that made viewers sit up and notice. But then, Lucy became obsessed with impressing cool, older girl Faith. And O’Briant rose spectacularly to the occasion, demonstrating what she could do with the right material.

See Me, Hear Me

Sure, Lucy’s parents are back together. But no longer having to focus on them finally pointed out to Lucy how lonely she was as the new girl in Genoa City, especially over the summer when school wasn’t in session.

Lucy decided it would be really cool to pal around with Faith (Reylynn Castor), home from college and obviously out of Lucy’s league. Sweet, empathetic Faith humored Lucy up to a point. But when the teen got drunk out of insecurity, Faith drove her home and decided to keep her distance. Lucy wasn’t having it.

MORE: Here’s a Y&R friendship we didn’t know we needed.

Risk Averse

Her subsequent drunken escapade landed Lucy and Faith in the hospital and promoted Sharon (Sharon Case) to demand that Lucy keep her distance, which is when Lucy more or less flipped out. She became convinced she was deliberately being kept from Faith, even when Faith confirmed that she was the one who was pushing Lucy away.

READ THIS: Here’s what may be next for Sharon on Y&R.

O’Briant see-sawed between desperation, optimism, accusation, and pleading. She hit all the right notes as an unhappy teenager who has latched onto a single solution to her woes and who refuses to listen to reason. She made us want to slap her. And hug her. And punish her. And offer our sympathy.

Along with a stern punishment and a visit to a caring psychiatrist. In other words, Lily Brooks O’Briant is doing a great job playing a teenager during a terrible time in her life. The more she sets our teeth on edge, the more realistic it all feels. Kudos to this daytime newcomer!