The Young and the Restless Performer of the Week: Christel Khalil as Lily Winters

The Young and the Restless star Christel Khalil is back on-screen, as Lily Winters has returned to Genoa City. The writers had Lily willingly pretend to be Victor Newman's kidnap victim to explain the actress's short hiatus. Lily's loved ones may be giving her brief, but Soap Central is giving Khalil our Performer of the Week for Y&R for her terrific performances.

The Young and the Restless, Performer of the week, Christel Khalil

Lily went to Devon's (Bryton James) and Abby's (Melissa Ordway) house to meet with her brother and Nate (Sean Dominic), her cousin. The two men questioned Lily to find out the details about just where she'd been all these weeks, which is the last thing Lily wanted to talk about.

Khalil chose to have Lily avert her eyes from Devon and Nate as she simply didn't want to fess up about being Victor's (Eric Braeden) ally to put the screws to Cane (Billy Flynn). When Lily changed the subject to inquire about Dominic (Ethan Ray Clark), who'd been kidnapped, it was clear in the tone of her voice that she was not only concerned about Dom, but she was also making a concerted effort to change the subject.

It was a fine line to walk as Lily truly does care for Dom, and Khalil walked it beautifully. Realizing that she had to come clean, Lily stood up, physically distancing herself as much as possible from Devon and Nate, knowing that they were not going to be happy when she hadn't honored their concern for her.

Lily opened her heart, explaining that she did what she felt she had to. Nate shared that he could see why Lily felt the way she did; Devon was less understanding, pointing out that on top of worrying about Dom, he had to worry about her, too.

At her core, Lily's a good person. She feels horrible that she deceived her loved ones, and Khail wasn't afraid to play Lily as someone who realized she might not have played this scheme with Victor properly.

Bar fight at the GCAC

Next, Lily sought to unwind and regroup at the bar at the Genoa City Athletic Club. The last person she wanted to be interrupted by was Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), but that's who just happened to be there.

Lily doesn't instigate many verbal showdowns with the fiery redhead, but if you think she runs from them, you've got another thing coming. After failing to dismiss Phyllis, Lily gave back as good as she got!

When Phyllis blasted Lily for her treatment of Cane, Lily retaliated in return. For someone who was out of town for a bit, Lily was up on Phyllis's machinations. Watching these two women go back and forth was like sitting at Wimbledon observing two pros hit the ball back and forth to one another.

The Winters of our content

It's safe to say that Phyllis loathes being laughed at, so Lily scored a major point when she heard that Phyllis had renamed Newman Enterprises "Summers Conglomorate."

Have you ever tried laughing when you heard something that wasn't funny? It's not that easy. Kudos to Khalil for having Lily "failing" to contain guffawing as she poked fun at the name of Phyllis's company.

Lily Winters: the final word

Not that she needed it, but Lily got some assistance in her battle of barbs with Phyllis when Victoria (Amelia Heinle) came along. The two women tag-teamed against Phyllis, driving home the point that she was embarking on a mission that would eventually fail. After all, Victor is not going to sit by and do nothing while Phyllis has his company.

"Is it really a victory if you have no one who loves you to share it with you in the end?" Lily rhetorically asked Phyllis. "Is that the life that you want?"

Phyllis, as she signed for her drink, had no response.

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It's rare to get the last word in on Phyllis, but this time, that's what Lily did. Bravo to Khalil for picking up right where Lily left off and for delivering a variety of heartfelt and powerful performances as the boardroom battles rage on in Genoa City!

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.

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