Lucy Best

**Lucy Best** was a Touched woman whose turn allowed her to break anything she touched.

## Biography

Lucy's mother ran with the Forty Elephants gang. To commemorate her, Lucy wears a brooch Penance Adair made her in the form of an elephant head.

Lucy's turn came suddenly; she didn't know she was Touched until she lifted her baby boy from his bassinet. He was six months old and all his bones broke with Lucy's turn of breaker touch. She eventually became the first resident of St. Romaulda's Orphanage for the Touched.

In 1899, Lucy works around the Orphanage. She tells Primrose Chattoway about Amalia True and Penance's deployment of the auto-carriage, but the girl responds indifferently, explaining that her mom told her that motor cars are common and a blight. When Lucy makes an unwarranted remark about Primrose's absentee mother, Primrose replies that Lucy wouldn't know the first thing about being a mother. Amalia and Penance return to the Orphanage with Myrtle Haplisch and tells Lucy to fetch her a pen and paper to write to Ms. Bidlow about the latest attack.

Amalia and Penance share their encounter with masked attackers with Lucy, Horatio Cousens, and Harriet Kaur. Amalia suspects that the masked men have been tracking the Touched for some time, which would explain all that of the Touched girls who allegedly "just ran away." That said, they'll be bolstering their security moving forward to protect the Touched in their care. Lucy has been teaching some of the girls to defend themselves. Amalia would like for her to extend this to everyone — to show the girls how to protect themselves without using their turns.

During a police raid on the Orphanage searching for Maladie, Lucy confronts Inspector Frank Mundi on his past behavior of knocking about suspects. Later that day, Lucy, Harriet, Penance, Primrose, and Myrtle attend Lavinia Bidlow's party at the Bidlow Estate, hoping they can improve public perception of the Touched. Lavinia instructs them to mingle without putting themselves forward, reminding the girls that the mission is to amuse, not alarm the guests. She also requests the group to wear a blue ribbon to identify them. During the party, Lucy displays her turn by holding china goods and making them explode on her gloveless hand. Some of the guests wager on whether Lucy can break the statue of Aphrodite in the garden, but she refuses to do so for 50 quid. Lucy notices Penance's sadness for being dismissed at the party, so she suggests they leave.

Amalia takes Lucy with her to investigate an address wrongly advertised as the Orphanage. They arrive at the house and Lucy breaks down the door. Inside, Amalia knocks out the frontwoman in the scheme before being attacked by one of the masked men. She removes his mask to discover that he's missing the lower half of his jaw, with electric cables inside the neck, and his head has undergone multiple surgeries and incisions. Lucy stuns him with the electroshock umbrella and Amalia kills him. Amalia then discovers a logbook on the table detailing all the Touched that they've abducted. She instructs Lucy to take the man and the woman back to the Orphanage while she goes to visit Miss Bidlow.

The frontwoman awakens tied to a chair in the Orphanage. Lucy scares her then proceeds to interrogate her with help from Désirée Blodgett's turn of confession inducement. They listen as the woman goes on to describe the story of how she killed her pregnant daughter for being Touched. In a fit of rage, Lucy removes her gloves and charges towards the woman, but Mary Brighton and Penance restrain her. The woman begins calling the Touched abominations and Harriet uses the electroshock umbrella to knock her out. Lucy leaves and puts her gloves back.

Later that day, Lucy goes to the Clandlemas Park with the other Touched to amplify Mary's song through the city. They watch as Mary sings her song only the Touched can hear, making Lucy smile. Winemar Kroos begins shooting at Mary, so Lucy runs to protect herself. Afterward, Lucy and the others return home, where they find Annie Carbey awaiting their arrival. They watch as Bonfire creates a fireball that illuminates the dozens of other Touched who heard Mary's song.

Amalia has a conversation with Lord Gilbert Massen, which she says consisted of him admitting to killing Mary without explicitly saying that he gave the order. While they cannot simply kill Massen, Annie and Horatio agree that they must retaliate in some form. Lucy suggests torching his warehouse full of munitions. Amalia, Bonfire, and Lucy break into Massen's warehouse and knock out the workers with one of Penance's inventions. Bonfire stays outside while the other two enter the building to ensure it is empty. Inside, Amalia exposes the crates filled with rocks rather than the explosives Lucy claimed.

Amalia says that Lucy is a mole who has been working for Massen. Amalia recalls Lucy mentioning Massen's hunting trophies, something she would've only known from being in his office herself. This adds to Lucy's convenient plan to blow up a poorly guarded dummy munitions warehouse. Lucy insists that she didn't know they would kill Mary, but Amalia states that would've been the only choice after she told them that Mary was a beacon.

Lucy says that Massen promised her to find a cure for her turn. Amalia claims that the world wasn't supposed to be like this and she got left behind. Amalia then pulls a gun and fires at Lucy, but she dodges fleeing behind the crates. Amalia tackles Lucy and proceeds to punch her. Lucy uses her turn to crack the concrete below and force Amalia off. Lucy attempts to flee, but she goes back for her elephant brooch on the ground. There, she stares down the barrel of Amalia's gun. Amalia decides to spare her life. Amalia tells Lucy she'll send her off on a boat, but not before Lucy tells her everything she knows about Massen, starting with the address of the storage unit with his munitions.

## Powers and abilities

**Breaker touch:** Lucy's turn makes anything she touches instantly become brittle and shatters after prolonged exposure, from human bones to concrete floor. She cannot control her turn and must wear gloves at all times to prevent her power from inadvertently activating upon contact.

## Behind the scenes

* She is portrayed by Elizabeth Berrington.
* Her official description introduced: "Dirt poor, adaptive, streetwise. There's nothing delicate about Lucy, though she's given up thieving to live with the Orphans. Her quick-wit and high spirits mask the pain of a tragic past."
* Lucy represents The Empress in *The Nevers* Tarot, a card associated with motherhood, nurturing, and creativity.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *The Nevers* — "Exposure." HBO, April 18, 2021.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 *The Nevers* — "Ignition." HBO, April 25, 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 *The Nevers* — "Undertaking." HBO, May 2, 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Nevers* — "Touched." HBO, April 11, 2021.
5. ↑ Denise Petski, "'The Nevers': Joss Whedon's HBO Sci-Fi Drama Series Adds 6 To Cast." *Deadline*, August 15, 2019.
6. ↑ "The Empress." *The Tarot Guide*. Retrieved on October 2, 2022.