What makes soap surprises so entertaining? Check out what Digest columnist Carolyn Hinsey has to say about what’s happening across the daytime dial.
Soaps have the ability to turn on a dime, and it’s a welcome surprise when they do.
Right, DAYS fans? There was Justin telling Maggie she was Victor’s sole heir after his funeral and then…
Vivian (entering): “I am The Widow Kiriakis and I inherit everything.”
Turned out Victor’s divorce from Vivian was never finalized so his marriage to Maggie wasn’t legal. Hence, Vivian appeared to be the sole heir. She threatened to “fraud march” Maggie out of her own home and threw pointed barbs at Maggie’s bf, too.
Julie (to Maggie): “That bitch! You’ve got to fight. And I’m going to fight with you.”
You go, Julie. Vivian then hightailed it over to the DiMera mansion, where we got equal parts recap and repartee as she caught up with Stefan, Gabi, Kristen and newbie Dimitri von Leuschner.
Vivian (to Stefan): “Tread carefully because this woman was in love with Nick Fallon.”
Gabi: “He was an abusive jerk I had to defend myself against, like Melanie Jonas’s mom did when she had to defend herself against your creepy nephew Lawrence.”
Vivian: “How dare you bring up that ghastly von Leuschner’s name and what she did to my Lawrence.”
Gabi: “You’re insinuating I’m not good enough for your son.”
Vivian: “Did I insinuate it? I meant to state it.”
As delicious as Vivian’s initial encounters were with everyone, the amount of recapping shoveled into her dialogue was painful. There must be a better way to establish relationships than by having characters call each other “son”, “nephew” and “auntie” multiple times in the same episode.
That said, let’s all sit back and watch Vivian rock Salem.
One minute GH’s Ned was walking by the pool and the next he was waking up from a coma thinking he was Eddie Maine. Chaos ensued until Olivia decided to “accept who he is now” and accompany him to the recording studio.
Nina: “Are you falling in love with Eddie Maine? Do you not want Ned back?”
Good question. Watching Ned and Olivia fall for each other again is fun because GH rushed their romance the first time. And here comes Ned’s ex-wife Lois!
Gladys pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes — including P.C.’s top cops — was painful so it was a relief when Cody busted Sasha out of Ferncliff and told her what’s what with her mother-in-law.
Sasha: “She said she loved me and we were a family…”
Cody: “She raided your bank accounts.”
Ouch. Cody, Sasha, Sam and Dante are strange bedfellows but somehow the sudden foursome works.
Sasha: “We’re escaped mental patients. Fugitives.”
Dante: “Fugitives with friends.”
And for welcome shockers, how about ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Blair Cramer turning up as Marty’s ex-wife with Tracy at the Metro Court?
Blair: “Why do you hate Lucy Coe so much?”
Tracy: “Because she is a cockroach my family has been unable to get rid of since she sunk her claws into my brother. She has a crucial one percent of the voting rights of my family company. Once I have control of Deception, Lucy Coe will no longer be an issue.”
But the throwaway line that Blair cheated on Marty with David Vickers, who accepted cash to give Blair’s son away and was the love of her beloved Aunt Dorian’s life? No.
Sheila’s always good for a shake-up on B&B but lately she’s a one-note stalker desperate to be with “my son Finn!” at all costs, despite having four other children (including one with Massimo Marone, which makes Diana Marone Ridge’s half sister — a huge plot point just waiting to be mined).
Better is the change coming from within the family at Forrester Creations. One day Eric decided his son Ridge was trying to push him out so Eric hired his grandson R.J. to design with him in a “fashion showdown” against Ridge.
Ridge: “I want my boy
to work with me at this
company.”
Brooke: “That’s what he’s doing — with your father.”
Comments like Ridge saying Eric should “retire already” have made almost everybody Team Eric (including Brooke’s sisters) so the final battle looks juicy. Will Eric oust his rude, ageist son if he wins? Victor Newman would.
Speaking of Y&R, there have been so many business moves in the past few months you need a scorecard and a drink.
Jack: “Why are you in Paris and your new husband is here?”
Ashley: “Because it’s all changed.”
“It” changes every day in Genoa City, so big whoop. Turned out Tucker and Ashley got in a fight about her not wanting to give up her connection to her family company, Jabot (duh), and they split.
Tucker (to Ashley): “You’re a different woman from the one I married.”
The woman he married a month ago. Tucker left a screaming message for Ashley (“You chose Jack over me!”) like a spurned teenager and jumped into bed with Audra, confirming his status as the ickiest returnee in recent memory.
Jack: “Tucker has been trouble since he landed that damn helicopter on my lawn.”
Over at Newman, Victor finally decided that pitting his children against each other in some kind of misguided Lord of the Flies experiment was a bad idea, so he took back the reins of his company.
His daughter was not amused.
Victoria: “Dad’s business sense has gone straight out the window. Newman Enterprises, Newman Media, Adam’s mind games, Nicholas leaving the company, all the power plays: Who’s in charge, who’s not?”
Nikki: “I’m going to talk to him and he’s going to hate it.”
Ha! When Victor puts his portrait back on the wall you know the game has changed for the better, but what would really be a welcome surprise on that show is if someone kept a job for more than a week.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
