What makes soap surprises so much fun? Check out what Digest columnist Carolyn Hinsey has to say about what’s happening across the daytime dial.
It’s hard to surprise soap fans, so let’s hear it for stories that zig when we think they’re going to zag.
Welcome back, Eddie Maine! GH’s Ned was chugging along as the sturdy boss of ELQ, but then he hit his head and woke up thinking he was his 1990’s rocker alter ego — to his wife’s horror. Olivia tried to jog his memory with photos of his life which only added to his confusion.
Ned/Eddie: “If it’s Thanksgiving, why is there pizza?”
Because you’re a Quartermaine! This out-of-left-field charmer shook up Ned’s family, reminded us how duplicitous Nina can be, and gave Tracy enough one-liners to fill a Deceptor.
Tracy (to an upset Olivia): “In the immortal words of Eddie Maine, ‘Lady, I don’t know you.’ ”
Sending Drew to jail was also a happy surprise, because the squeaky clean version of that formerly rough Navy Seal was not working.
Drew (to Sam): “Scout didn’t remember me when I first got back!”
Because he didn’t see her. Drew’s been to Sam’s house about three times in two years since then, so why would his daughter miss him? And don’t get me started on all the weeds that must have overtaken Oscar’s Meadow.
Thankfully, GH brought Tracy into Drew’s good-bye scenes to up the ante.
Sam (to Drew after Tracy advised throwing Carly under the bus to avoid prison): “I hate to say it but I actually agree with Tracy.”
Tracy: “Wait, what?”
Sam: “Where are the consequences for Carly?”
Great question. Hopefully Cyrus can reawaken the dark side of Drew and bring him back to the twisted renegade we knew.
Y&R is giving us twisted Abbott backstabbing even after Traci used their Dad’s name to try to broker family peace.
Traci: “If our father was here what would he think?”
Not much. The flashbacks of John giving pep talks to Traci, Jack and Ashley worked perfectly, leading us to think Traci had made progress. But Ashley still worried about Jack promoting Diane, causing conflict with Billy.
Billy: “I am Team Jack all the way.”
Ashley: “Look at this boys club; such a joke.”
No one was laughing when Jack did indeed promote Diane into a top job and let the family know via press release.
Billy: “You just detonated a bomb.”
Jack: “I am CEO of Jabot. End of story.”
Billy: “You’re about to cause all-out war for Jabot.”
Sorry Traci! You tried. Cue Ashley retaliating with a shocking new business to rival her family’s company, combined with next-level sarcasm.
Ashley (to Diane): “So you’re Jabot’s new… talent … officer. I read it online where I love to get all the family company updates.”
Man the battle stations!
B&B’s Hope has a battle on her hands after kissing Thomas behind her husband’s back.
Liam (to Wyatt): “Hope betrayed me with the one person she knew would end our marriage.”
We endured months of repetitive dialogue among Hope and Thomas’s loved ones fretting that they had feelings for each other, so it was a revelation when Liam confronted Hope right away.
Liam: “Tell me everything you did in Rome.”
Hope prattled on about the scenery and the dresses until she spied the Rome tag on Liam’s suitcase.
Hope: “You were there but you didn’t want to see me?”
Liam: “I didn’t say I didn’t see you … Say it!”
Hope: “I kissed Thomas.”
Hope’s mom kissed Thomas’s dad in Italy, too.
Ridge: “I will love you for all eternity.”
Brooke: “And I will love you forever.”
So the show is over? (Ha, ha.) That was a reunion everyone saw coming except his curdled ex.
Taylor: “I’m sure you and Brooke are going to be very happy together until she betrays the trust you put in her. She has children with your father! She slept with your brother! Okay, I did too.”
That’s funny. Now back to her diatribe:
Taylor: “What I didn’t do was get pregnant by my daughter’s husband and have a child with him. Brooke is going to betray you and she will make herself the victim.”
Like Taylor is doing? I hope B&B pairs Taylor with Liam and has them go scorched earth on everyone. C’mon … surprise us!
Almost all the new characters DAYS has introduced in the last few years have been brought in to hurt people we love. Consequently, Gwen, Leo, Alex, Li, Megan, Dimitri, Sloan, Talia and Colin have little rooting value which makes it hard to hang a story on them. Here’s Alex trashing Maggie a year after he morphed over from Ben:
Alex: “What is she going to do? Cut off our lemon bars?”
Brady: “I would not underestimate Maggie.”
Alex: “She has no idea how to run a business.”
Ugh. New characters who look like twins of beloved vets must be evolved carefully, like Bonnie has been.
Bonnie (to Sarah): “I gave Justin a dollar so he wouldn’t violate that attorney-client thingy.”
That said, I’m happily surprised at how entertaining Whitley is despite the fact that she gaslit our beloved Abe into thinking she was his wife Paulina. The story worked because Whitley was more playful than harmful, even hiring an actor to play amnesiac Abe’s son.
Fake Theo: “This morphed into a weird nightmare where I faked someone’s death and it happened to be the mayor of the damn town!”
When Abe questioned why there were no wedding photos, Whitley said they’d been lost in a fire and set up a vow renewal.
Abe: “Shouldn’t we have invited our family?”
Whitley (pointing to her stuffed animals): “We have our family surrounding us!”
Miss “Catty LaBelle” held the rings…
And the soap within a soap? I did not see that coming.
Let’s have more of that!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
