It’s Only My Opinion For The Soap Week Ending May 2

Par For The Course: GH’s Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn, l.) has a long history of protecting daughters Molly (Kristen Vaganos, l.) and Kristina (Kate Mansi).

The best shows establish a character’s through line and stick with it. As the late, great Doug Marland told me in 1993 (for our Soap Opera Digest interview “How Not To Wreck A Show”), when the audience says he would never do that, you have failed.

Say what you want about GH’s Lucy Coe (and everyone has), she has supported people with HIV/AIDS by working on the Nurses’ Ball for 30 years. So, when Sidwell told Lucy his ex-wife, Natalia, rejected their son Marco because he was gay, she reacted exactly as we knew she would.

Lucy: “I can’t imagine a mother rejecting her son because of who he loves.”

Sidwell: “It’s sad. Natalia is robbing herself of a relationship with a wonderful son. He’s smart, determined and passionate about what he does.”

Like going to work for Miller & Davis without revealing that crooked Sidwell was his father. Is Marco a good guy or bad guy? Time will tell.

We all know what Marco’s new boss will do when her daughters hit trouble: Protect them at all costs instead of holding them accountable for their (often bad) choices. Alexis overlooked Molly’s skirmishes with underage drinking and covered for Kristina’s hit-and-run involving Claudia Zacchara, but nothing compares to siphoning money out of the Cassadine trust (intended for young Ace) to pay off Ava in exchange for Ava keeping mum that Kristina tried to kill her. Diane tried to get Alexis to commit Kristina to a mental health facility but, true to form, Alexis couldn’t “hurt” her daughter. Molly found the papers, showed Kristina, and they confronted their mom.

Alexis: “You left me no choice.”

Except to steal money from a child… but as long as it’s not her child, Alexis is in.

You could make an argument that Drew blackmailing Nina, Portia, Tracy, etc. was just a congressman accessing his dark side, but paying off the woman at the German clinic to not let Willow see Michael after she flew halfway across the world? That was downright evil. So, no one was upset when Portia and Nina teamed up to bring him down via a hooker and some bootleg ketamine.

Portia: “Drunk Drew is making a fool of himself.”

Curtis: “Let him bury himself.”

The Drew we watched build Oscar’s Garden and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to scatter his late son’s ashes would never try to bulldoze the crypt containing the remains of his family, but this former Navy SEAL lost his through line long ago.

The body shots, however, can be blamed on the ketamine.

Y&R’s Jack not wanting Diane to redecorate his family home was the most Jack story we’ve seen in years. That guy hates change. He’s another one who, like GH’s Alexis and her daughters, can always be counted on to bail out his screwed-up brother, Billy. Jack funded Billy’s new venture then stood by helplessly when Billy hired their mutual ex, Phyllis… who never listens or takes advice. It went south before Abbott Communications even got off the ground, but at least Billy admitted to Jack he’d made a mistake after Phyllis insisted on hiring her artist son.

Jack: “What would Daniel’s role be in a media company?”

Billy: “It was clearly not the right fit. Phyllis is freaking out.”

Jack: “What’s she doing?”

Billy: “Typical Phyllis things.”

The fact that we all know what “typical Phyllis things” are means Y&R has done a good job establishing her modus operandi. Billy is headed for typical disaster, too. With so many people expecting him to fail, you’d think he’d be more professional than conducting his firings (Phyllis) and hirings (Sally) in bars. How about nailing down an office there, Sparky?

BTG showed us how dejected Bill has been to have his daughters mad at him for cheating on their mother; they shun him in public and private. So, his reaction wasn’t totally surprising when his new bride, Hayley, told him she might be pregnant but then tested negative.

Hayley: “Be honest.”

Bill: “I’m actually kind of sad.”

That tracks.

So did Vivian and Sami’s brief returns on DAYS. Those two firecrackers can always be counted on to explode things, and they did. Viv blabbed to Xander that she forged the letter leaving half of Titan to Philip (which blew up the brothers’ relationship) and Sami bedded Rafe, which put the final kibosh on his engagement to Jada.

Jada: “I don’t think we have a relationship anymore.”

Rafe: “I know I hurt you when I slept with Sami.”

Jada: “We both hurt each other. We had some really great times, but it’s best we end things. The trust has been broken.”

Way to go, Sami. She and Vivian ended up on the same flight back to Europe which was excellent karma.

Vivian: “We’ve got so much to catch up on!”

Too bad we didn’t see it…

We did see Brooke’s efforts to win Ridge back at the B&B fashion show. It was completely in character for Brooke to don the showstopper as a surprise, the same dress she wore in Portofino in 2003 to wow Ridge for the umpteenth time. (It was slightly less in character of Eric to help Brooke win back Ridge considering he married her twice and has two kids with her, but since Eric is married to Brooke’s sister now, we’ll let that go.) Eric was proud that the showstopper move changed the company narrative, making the Forrester Creations takeover old news.

Eric: “Nobody has the history we have. Brooke and Ridge embody that history. I put that on stage, and it worked like a charm. Brooke was radiant. She saved the show.”

Katie and Donna echoed the duo’s “magic” and Brooke told Eric she could feel Ridge remembering. What, exactly? All the times Ridge cheated on her with Taylor? Believing the worst in her (like when Thomas framed Brooke for calling Child Protective Services on him)? Their eight failed marriages to each other? Eric said putting Brooke on stage in that wedding dress was the “best decision he ever made” — which is quite a statement for a man who’s been married 11 times and had six kids.

Ridge didn’t appreciate being surprised, and he confronted his dad.

Eric: “It was a brilliant move, and I would do it again. You didn’t just see a woman in a showstopper. You saw your future. You saw Brooke.”

Ridge claimed he was committed to Taylor, which illustrates his only through line: being so wishy-washy that he abandons Brooke and/or Taylor the minute the going gets tough. He argued that he chose Taylor because “she has never betrayed me” — which tells me his next story must be an Alzheimer’s arc because Taylor has cheated and lied to him over and over. The most recent biggie was Taylor’s knowledge about the aforementioned CPS call which caused Ridge to leave her at the altar in 2022.

Ridge downplayed his reunion with Brooke, saying their moment on the runway was all business, so she launched into her usual destiny speech.

Brooke: “The whole fashion industry wants us back together. The designer and his muse, they love to see us together. Our energy and chemistry is undeniable. The whole world wants us back together. I am your Logan, now and always.”

That’s Brooke’s through line: “now and always” chasing after Ridge. Taylor may not approve — but Doug Marland would.

Hey. It’s only my opinion.