Carolyn Hinsey’s It’s Only My Opinion

Every arc should spin into a new one so that the story never ends. That’s what a good soap is all about, right?

A good example is GH’s Ned/Eddie tale which, started when Ned hit his head and woke up thinking he was Eddie Maine. That brought his ex-wife Lois back to town (after 26 years!) to shake things up and spun into this gem of a conversation about decades of Q behavior:

Ned: “I turned ELQ over to Michael, a decision I regret. Once Michael got a taste of power he was never willing to let it go. Michael will push me out.”

Lois: “All these years after Edward’s death and all the Qs are still fighting with each other. Your grandfather would be so proud of that and that makes me sad. He loved playing you against each other. You vs. your mother, you vs. A.J., all the while belittling poor Alan who wanted nothing to do with the family business. Edward is gone. Do you really want to carry on his legacy?”

Ned: “That’s how the Quartermaines are.”

Lois: “What about Lila? She was sweet and loving but nobody’s pushover. She was a Quartermaine. Try her way for change. Look for the good.”

Ned: “You really channeled my grandmother right there.”

She did. Personally I’d rather move forward with Ned and Michael vs. Drew who’s a Johnny-Come-Lately Quartermaine after being created in 2014 as Jason’s unknown twin and Alan’s unknown son. Without Jason, Alan or Monica on the canvas it’s hard to see Drew as a Q — especially this latest version who’s written like an Eagle Scout.

Another long-lost head scratcher was Dr. Austin Gatlin-Holt, sudden son of long-gone illegitimate Quartermaine Jimmy Lee Holt. That character never caught on despite being played by soap royalty Roger Howarth because his story was a series of dead ends. They didn’t play him effectively with the Qs to solidify his connection to the family, he didn’t have a solid role at the hospital, his romance with Maxie fizzled, and his creepy lollipop-sucking cousin dragged him down. There was nothing to spin Austin into, which was a shame.

I think the next Quartermaine should be someone that actually exists: Tracy’s son Dillon, Alan’s adopted daughter Skye and her daughter Lila Rae Alcazar, and the entire Ward family (descended from Edward) are all there for the taking!

Nikki’s kidnapping at the hands of her (possible) newfound granddaughter Claire on Y&R is spinning into a familiar tale: her alcoholism. Claire and Aunt Jordan injected vodka into her veins which started this messy spiral.

Victor: “What does that do to your sobriety?”

Nikki: “I’m fine.”

Victor: “You sure this will not drive you back to the bottle?”

No. Especially not when the camera repeatedly zooms in on Nikki eying the vodka on Victor’s bar. We’ve seen this movie before, and this time Nikki won’t have her best friend and fellow alcoholic Katherine Chancellor to lean on as she fights the urge to drink.

The possibility that Jordan stole Claire from the hospital also spins the Newmans into a new direction.

Victoria (to Cole): “Do you think it’s possible Claire is our daughter? That we only thought we buried her?”

Imagine the twist of those two getting back together after all these years. Cole was married to Ashley, too, so that cranks up Abbott possibilities as well.

Speaking of the Abbotts, how many times are we going to watch them talk about vanquishing Tucker? That parasite has his eye on multiple woman and companies while sitting around drinking scotch in hotel lobbies and the story’s just going around in circles. I’d like his ex-wife Ashley to be the one to take him down but I’ll settle for his ex-lover Jill, too.

Mamie (re: Tucker doing a hostile takeover of Chancellor-Winters): “You’re being paranoid.”

Jill: “It’s not paranoid if it’s true.”

You know what’s not true? That Eric’s family wasn’t aware he was “dying” on B&B. But there they were, like, “Let’s go to a black tie party and pretend we don’t know.”

Brooke: “This is what Eric wants.”

Bridget (sobbing): “How long does he have?”

Until Finn diagnoses him, but we’ll get to that.

Eric: “One last family gathering. Do we have enough wine?”

Donna: “Even the bottle of wine from your wedding to Stephanie. You said you wanted to save it for a special occasion.”

Which wedding to Stephanie? They were married four times.

It was nice of Thorne and Bridget to pop in to say good-bye to their dad but some key family members were missing.

Thorne: “Kristen, Felicia and Rick are on safari in Africa.”

Ridge: “Yeah, they’re not going to make it back in time.”

They’re rich and they have access to the Forrester jet and their dad is dying but sure, stay and photograph the elephants.

Eric made a heartfelt speech at the bash and then keeled over. Ridge caught him as he fell to the floor.

Eric: “It’s my time.”

Meanwhile, there was Finn was at the hospital investigating the vague disease supposedly killing Eric so his time probably won’t be ending…

Familiar terrain with A-listers like GH’s Ned/Lois and Y&R’s Nikki can create dramatic new offshoots. That’s what DAYS is doing with Sloan stealing Nicole’s baby, a crime Nicole herself committed in 2009.

Nicole (to EJ): “The first time I lost our child I did go off the rails. I stole Sami’s baby and tried to pass her off as my own. When I accused Sloan of doing the same thing maybe I was projecting.”

Actually Nicole was spot-on, but a DNA test told her otherwise. Rather than suspect that it was doctored like literally every DNA test ever taken in Salem, she accepted the results and apologized to her husband for thinking Sloan had their baby.

Nicole: “You can call off the men in the white coats.”

EJ: “You will feel joy again.”

Nicole: “Will I?”

Yes. Because two of DAYS’ most underhanded characters know the truth.

Dimitri (to Leo): “Choose your moment wisely and tell Sloan what you have on her.”

Even when we know where a story is going, it’s fun to watch it unravel when it’s good.

The surprising thing about this one is that it’s changing the rooting value. Eric and Nicole started out as the money couple but Eric falling for that shallow viper Sloan and his obliviousness to her machinations has diminished him. Meanwhile, EJ looks like a knight in shining armor, giving his grieving wife space while trying to make simple plans with her, like dinner out.

EJ: “Tell me if I’m trying too hard.”

Aw!

On the down side, Sloan is unlike any new mother I’ve ever seen (except perhaps Paris Hilton) as she sports a skintight dress and full makeup while the baby cries off screen. And sorry, passing an empty blanket back and forth between the “new parents” doesn’t have the emotional impact of an actual baby. (Side note: Can’t DAYS cast a live baby for one day? GH casts multiple babies and toddlers every week!)

Of course there’s a twist coming: Eric is the father of Nicole’s baby, thanks to yet another doctored DNA test courtesy of Sloan. Which makes scenes like Roman telling Eric and Sloan that their “adopted” son looks just like Eric did when he was a baby particularly fraught for his new mother.

Roman: “I could just be imagining it.”

Sloan: “Gulp.”

And another arc begins…

Hey. It’s only my opinion.