Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Mariah is growing increasingly concerned about Sharon’s erratic behavior on Young and Restless and agrees to meet her at Crimson Lights — armed with a plan to take over more responsibilities at Cassidy First, which she hopes will alleviate some of her mother’s stress. Of course, Mariah doesn’t know quite how deeply her mother is struggling.
A Daughter’s Love
When Sharon comes up with yet another excuse to avoid going away to a spa for some much-needed relaxation — this time, by insisting that Faith, who was recently in a car accident alongside Daniel and Heather’s daughter, Lucy — needs her, Mariah takes note, but isn’t beside herself with worry. “I think that Mariah — not being privy to Sharon’s sort of worst period of time with her mental illness and episodes — is always going to give Sharon the benefit of the doubt,” surmises Camryn Grimes (Mariah). “She’s always going to err on the side of the devil’s advocate and want to really believe in her mom.”
But Sharon coming up with yet another excuse not to head to the spa certainly sparks some concern for Mariah. “Nick and Faith and Mariah and Sharon had sort of discussed this plan for her moving forward and her getting herself help, so any flip-flopping is going to be a bit of a red flag,” Grimes points out. “Mariah still doesn’t understand, nor does anybody, the depth of how far this is going for Sharon, but that being said, there are things that are going to make her, for somebody as consistent as Sharon, it’s obviously going to raise at least a little bit of an alarm for Mariah.”
Meanwhile, Nick has his own worries, especially after he and Sharon get into a heated conversation when Nick tells Sharon he thinks she is coming down too hard on Lucy and questions the wisdom of Sharon forbidding Faith to spend time with Lucy. The death of their daughter Cassie in 2005, due to alcohol and a car crash, still resonates throughout their lives, and Nick can sense how emotionally volatile Sharon has been since Faith and Lucy were in an accident that also involved drinking. So, after Sharon rushes out, Nick places an SOS call to Mariah.
Mariah is quick to respond and joins Nick at the coffeehouse. “She’s coming in with a completely different perspective than Nick,” observes Grimes. “She obviously didn’t want to jump to the worst conclusion, but her interest and her concern has definitely been piqued. And both compare notes on Sharon’s determination to keep Faith from seeing Lucy.”
Nick begins by asking about Mariah’s recent visit with Faith. Mariah senses that Nick’s line of questioning has more to do with Sharon than Faith. Nick confirms her suspicion. “I think it’s deeply worrying,” Grimes says. “Mariah respects Nick and respects their history. She has her own opinions and her own perspectives of Sharon and their relationship, but she’s obviously going to listen and be open to what Nick or Faith has to say. I think there is a sense of, for Mariah, a little guilt that goes into it as well. She doesn’t want to feel like she’s talking about her mom behind her back.”
Hoping For The Best
During the chat, Mariah is taken aback when Nick reveals that Sharon is having recurring nightmares about Cameron. Details Grimes, “It’s news to her, and I think that’s the first sign that everybody’s getting piecemeal information from Sharon, that she’s not fully being honest. She’s not getting the whole truth.”
The actress goes on to explain, “I don’t think that Mariah understands Sharon to have a capacity to be dishonest. Everything is sort of, up until this point, taken at face value. I think it’s a big shock that [her lying to Mariah] could even be a reality.”
Nick goes on to question if Sharon is even taking her medication as she has claimed to be doing. Their growing concerns leads Mariah to make a stealth visit to Sharon’s house to get to the bottom of things. Sneaking around behind Sharon’s back weighs heavily on Mariah’s conscience. “I think the idea of doing this little mission carries a lot of weight,” says the actress. “Mariah feels really guilty and really terrible, but it would seemingly be the quickest solution to put these fears to rest, if you will — her fears and Nick’s fears and being able to get answers that maybe Sharon is not giving at this moment in time. I think, in Mariah’s head, she’s going in hoping against all hope that there’s no [real reason for] concern, that she can just get some information, put it to bed, and then everybody can move forward and feel better about the situation.”
Mariah lets herself in to Sharon’s place and begins poking around — but before she can get too far in her investigation, Sharon returns home unexpectedly and wants to know what Mariah is doing there. “She’s able to play it off really easily while, at the same time, still having a bit of guilt for being dishonest about her motives in being there,” reports Grimes. “I think she sees that Sharon has kind of bought it. And also, Mariah has got [to get] the answers she needs. So maybe she justifies that in her head, and it’s the better of two evils.”
Mariah breathes a sigh of relief when Sharon buys the plausible cover story she offers up. “Once things are smoothed over, Sharon heads to the kitchen and Mariah rifles through her mom’s purse,” Grimes continues. All the while, she is grappling with the fear of what she might find. “I think the fear is that Nick is right, that he’s on the money and that she’s not taking her meds. This uncovers a greater depth to Mariah’s conversations with Sharon, and how capable of being dishonest is Sharon? And I think that’s a question that Mariah hasn’t really had to deal with before.”
What is Mariah looking for, exactly? “She’s looking for her medication, and she needs the time to be able to sort out, you know, the prescription amount and if she has been taking enough,” Grimes explains. “I mean, truth be told, a quick trip to the kitchen is probably not enough time to do the math of that, at least for me! But maybe Mariah is a lot better at math than I am [laughs].”
But that ends up being a moot point, because Mariah doesn’t find any prescription medication, only a bottle of aspirin. As the potential implications of that dawn on Mariah, “At the very least, it puts Mariah on alert to what might be going on with Sharon.”
Which begs the question: What does she plan to do about it, and will she report back to Nick? “I don’t think Mariah would, in this scenario, cover for Sharon, because ultimately, this is about her mom’s health and her mental well-being,” Grimes reasons. “And I don’t think that that’s something that Mariah would mess with just so Sharon could save face. Her main goal and her love for her mother goes far beyond that.”
