It’s Only My Opinion For The Soap Week Ending April 18

B&B’s Sheila (Kimberlin Brown), GH’s Drew (Cameron Mathison, c.) and Y&R’s Nick (Joshua Morrow) are getting the side-eye from Carolyn Hinsey.

Outlandish stories are a soap staple but shows need to lean into them and not ignore them.

GH is leaning heavily into the brazen hypocrisy of Drew Cain. He seduced his nephew’s wife, Willow, in the Quartermaine family playroom after bedding her mother-in-law, Carly (which Willow knows), and her mother, Nina (which Willow does not know). Recently, Drew moved Willow and her kids into his house while Willow’s husband, Michael, is recovering from severe burns. Carly went ballistic.

Willow (defensive): “My children love Drew.”

Carly: “Of course they do, he’s family! That’s what makes it even more disgusting.”

Drew: “And you wouldn’t know anything about getting involved with multiple family members, would you? I could start listing them, but I don’t think we’ve got time.”

Start by listing your own, Mr. Big Talk. Yes, Carly slept with her mother’s husband, Tony, and Q brothers A.J. and Jason, but that was over a period of 30 years. Drew went from Carly to Nina to Willow in two years. He’s fallen so far from upstanding Navy SEAL to “Congressman Cutthroat,” I would absolutely believe that the memory mapping chip in Drew’s brain has been re-activated.

But what’s Willow’s excuse? Everyone she loves has warned her away from Drew and yet she’s still making him legal guardian of her (and Michael’s) kids.

Sasha (to Jason): “I don’t think anyone can talk sense to Willow. It’s like she’s fallen into another cult except it’s not Dawn of Day — it’s Dawn of Drew.”

Good one! Having one character call out another’s bizarre behavior (rather than ignore it) makes viewers more able to buy it. Like Diane telling Alexis that Kristina is certifiable, or the Deception ladies wanting to steer clear of Sidwell because he held Lucky hostage. Lucy pooh-poohed that immediately.

Lucy: “Lucky is a Spencer. He’s used to being kidnapped.”

Yeah, what’s the big deal people? You can always tell when a show has pivoted on a villain and decided to normalize them (Franco, Obrecht, Brennan, Sidwell) because the bounce back is so far-fetched, but if they do it S-L-O-W-L-Y, it can be believable. Exhibit A: Luke Spencer.

B&B’s Luna needs a lot more work before we’ll believe she’s just a normal L.A. gal hanging out at Il Giardino with her new grandma, Sheila Carter. The show is completely denying all the laws Luna broke (two counts of felony murder, framing Poppy for her crimes, drugging, kidnapping and holding Steffy hostage) by having Bill secure her a vague and unlawful pardon from some unknown source and then just tossing her back out into the world. The only person commenting on how bizarre it is that Luna is free is the wife of Luna’s sudden biodad.

Steffy (to Finn): “The two women who tried to kill me are your daughter and your mother!”

This should be a bigger story. How are B&B’s two most famous killers just hanging out, giggling about Luna’s crush on Will? Haha, we got away with murder. Isn’t the rest of the town worried they’re on the loose? Kudos to Luna’s mother, Poppy, for challenging Sheila — even though she ended up with a face full of cake.

Sheila: “You did a helluva job being a mother. You raised a double murderer.”

Poppy: “Clearly, she got that from your side of the family.”

Sheila: “You slept with your own nephew. You’re in no position to judge.”

Sheila labeled her granddaughter’s mother a drug addict and sex addict, which prompted Poppy to slap Sheila and call her sick, twisted and crazy (all true). Cue the food fight, which Sheila always wins. Still, challenging psycho Sheila gives Poppy rooting value in my book.

As does Brooke calling Taylor on her ubiquitous presence at Forrester Creations. Insecure much?

Taylor (walking in on her nemesis sporting Brooke’s Bedroom lingerie in the office): “Obviously you were expecting Ridge.”

Brooke: “I’m just confused how a world-renowned psychiatrist has time to hang out at a fashion house.”

Thank you!

Speaking of psychiatrists, psycho Martin killing his twin, Alan, and taking his place is the most outlandish story we’ve seen on Y&R since Jordan and Ian escaped jail to drug/kidnap/murder half the town. You’d think when a notorious killer dies, someone in Genoa City would ask for a death certificate or autopsy, but no. It took Sharon and Phyllis confronting the psycho to prove who he was.

Martin (posing as Alan): “You all insist on calling Martin a monster and a psychopath. Even I didn’t understand his genius until it was too late.”

Phyllis: “Are you kidding me right now?”

Martin said he proved he was a genius the night he gave Ashley her DID diagnosis in Paris, and then he facilitated a breakthrough by kidnapping enemies Phyllis and Sharon and making them work together. The women used obvious reverse psychology on Martin to beat him, saying he accomplished nothing.

Phyllis: “You’re a failure. Loser!”

Sharon: “Alan would be embarrassed by you.”

Martin: “Alan isn’t worth the ink on his diploma. I’m the one who changed Ashley. I’m the one who changed you two. I did not fail; I heightened your humanity. How could that be a crime?”

Busted! Kudos to Victoria for saying what no one has the cojones to say to Nick.

Victoria: “Don’t you need a break from Sharon and all her drama?”

Yes.

BTG’s Dani is all drama, and it’s catching up with her. It was hard to swallow that she shot up Bill’s fancy wedding at the country club and there were no consequences. Oh, wait! She was fired from her charity (as soon as the fashion show she spearheaded and worked tirelessly on was over) because her nutty behavior reflected negatively on First Gen. Unfortunately for Dani, Bill and Hayley watched her getting the boot from across the club and then rubbed her nose in it.

Bill: “I know how those little socialite activities filled your days. I shudder to think what you’re going to do now. I hope it doesn’t involve firearms.”

Hayley: “Getting dumped on your own turf!”

Dani: “Minor setback. I already have a plan to get back on top.”

Dani’s rebound involved her parents pulling their money from First Gen and starting a new charity for Dani to run, which acknowledges a dangerous pattern: Anita and Vernon bailing out their troubled daughter like they apparently rescued their grandson, Martin.

Anita: “I have fear, Vernon.”

Consequences are an effective way to make an absurd plot more believable. It was so bizarre that Belle was dating her sister’s rapist on DAYS without the topic ever being mentioned — until Sami returned to town.

Belle: “EJ pursued me.”

Sami: “You’re welcome to my leftovers.”

Belle: “You flew over an entire ocean to be by EJ’s side.”

Sami: “I came back to Salem for my son. Kate decided to open her big mouth and share with Johnny the entire story of how he was conceived.”

Sami dealt with Johnny’s upset by admitting she’s in therapy to break her toxic cycle of men and telling him she has forgiven EJ for the rape because Johnny is one of the greatest blessings of her life.

That story was far-fetched, but DAYS grounded it by dealing with it head-on (finally). For my money, Chad’s explanation to his nephew was the most heartfelt of them all.

Johnny: “Did everyone know but me?”

Chad: “We were all doing our best to protect you.”

Johnny: “Everything I thought I knew about my family is a lie.”

Chad: “I’m your family. That’s not a lie.”

Aw.

On a side note, I’ve got to hand it to DAYS for their timing re: all the conversations about DiMera stock going down. It may have been an outlandish notion when those scripts were written a year ago to have a crime against EJ tank an entire public stock, but there’s no need to convince us today!

Hey. It’s only my opinion.