Mariah Copeland: An Unseen 'Young and the Restless' Character Is Suddenly Part of Three Storylines

Mariah Copeland is young, and certainly restless, but at what point did the writers of The Young and the Restless decide to make Mariah and Fake Cassie one in the same?  Was this a brilliant plan from the very beginning?  Viewers have been debating that question online ever since it was revealed that the character Camryn Grimes has been playing the past several months (FauxCassie, FakeCassie, doppelCassie), the one getting paid by Victor Newman to torment Sharon because she looks just like Sharon's dead daughter, is also the stalker ex-fiancee of Tyler Michaelson (Redaric Williams).

Not only is Mariah a dead ringer for the late Cassie Newman (also played by Grimes) but, according Tyler and and his sister, Leslie (Angell Conwell), she is similar in some way to Lily Winters Ashby (Chritel Khalil) as well.  In 2013 Y&R developed a bad habit of talking about characters that never actually appeared, or appeared much later.  It wasn't clear for a while if Mariah was actually ever going to show up.

Here's what we know:

1. Long before Tyler and Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway) fell is love, Tyler was obsessing over Lily.  Lily supposedly reminded Tyler of his ex, Mariah. Below is an exchange between Tyler and Leslie on May 15, 2013.

Leslie: What haven't you told me?

Tyler: About what?

Leslie: About how wrapped up you and Lily are in each other's lives.

Tyler: Yeah, our working lives.

Leslie: She's married.

Tyler: Happily married. And...to a good guy. So, I'm not thinking about it for another second.

Leslie: Don't want to risk losing a limb, I'm just saying -- Mariah. Go ahead. Go ahead. Bite my head off for bringing up her name.

Tyler: She's a nonissue.

Leslie: "A nonissue," says the man whose love of his life stomped his heart and soul into the ground.

Tyler: You know, that is so long over. Why would you even bring it up?

Leslie: Because Lily reminds me of her.

Tyler: [Sighs]

Leslie: You can't even look at me, proving you see the similarities.

Tyler: And if I do?

Leslie: Maybe that's why you've been so fixated on Lily, even if you won't admit it.

Tyler: [Sighs] I agree with you.

Leslie: Say what?

Tyler: [Chuckles] You heard me. But I do still genuinely care about Lily.

Leslie: A married woman.

Tyler: Okay, look, why do you keep announcing it like its news?

Leslie: Look, I feel for you, Baby Bro. You know I do. Come on. But you can't go on like this.

In what way did Lily remind the Michaelson siblings of Mariah? It was at least implied Lily looked like Mariah with fans speculating that Khalil would begin playing a dual role.

2. Ghost Cassie (or Spirit Cassie) appeared to Sharon for the first time on July 8, 2013. Last summer, when she was off her medication, Sharon kept having visions of her dead daughter, talking to her and seeking advice. At that point, Cassie appeared a bit blurry or different onscreen than Sharon.

3. As we moved into fall, Tyler and Abby were growing closer but suddenly Mariah started texting him, making Abby very unhappy and jealous.

4. During Christmas, Tyler and Abby went on a trip to Los Angeles. Mariah followed them and snuck into their hotel room in an attempt to make Abby think Tyler was being unfaithful. It almost worked. We got a closeup of Mariah's hands during those scenes.



5. By 2014, Cassie started to look like the other characters, and not the somewhat blurry version viewers had seen for months. Had she changed? Was she no longer part of Sharon's imagination? In February it was revealed that "Cassie" was actually working for Victor Newman. Victor apparently ran into the lookalike at Crimson Lights, saw that she was nearly identical to his dead granddaughter, and hired her to torment Sharon.

6. In April, Nick saw "Cassie" at the Newman ranch and followed her back to her hotel room. Nick realized that she had been hired by Victor to terrorize Sharon.

7. Shortly after, a relationship between "Cassie" and Ian Ward (Ray Wise) was revealed. They briefly mentioned her mother but no other details were revealed.

8. On April 29, "Cassie" ran into Tyler, and it was revealed she was actually his ex, Mariah. So Mariah is not only an unseen ex of Tylers, but also an integral part of the Sharon storyline, and somehow involved with Ian. She was suddenly part of three storylines.

9. That same day, executive producer Jill Farren Phelps was asked by TV Guide Magazine, "At what point did you decide Fake Cassie would also turn out to be Mariah?"

Her reply: "Very early on. As soon as Tyler even mentioned there was a Mariah, the writers knew it would be Fake Cassie."

This is in spite of the fact that Mariah was mentioned long before Fake Cassie was even on the show.

Since all the big reveals Tyler has not mentioned, and Abby has not noticed, that Lily somehow reminds him of Mariah. Abby knows Lily well so you would think she might notice this soon. What is is about Mariah that is so much like Lily? It will be interesting to see if the show addresses this.

What do you think about the Mariah story and how it has played out over the past year? Which story involving the character are you most interested in? Her connection to Sharon? Her past with Tyler? Her involvement with Ian? Tell us what you think!