It’s Only My Opinion: GH, Y&R and DAYS Rushed Stories While B&B and BTG Got It Right
This week, several soaps reminded viewers that storytelling isn’t just about the payoff — it’s about the journey. While General Hospital, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives rushed through major developments, The Bold and the Beautiful and Beyond the Gates showed the value of taking time to build anticipation.
The Doctor Is (Apparently) In
Half the fun of a juicy story is the build-up. But when college dropout and attempted murderer Kristina Corinthos-Davis got a text one day that she had been accepted to medical school, every single GH viewer went huh?
Kristina: “Everything kind of clicked into place for me.”
Dr. Lucas Jones: “Good for you!”
Finishing an undergraduate degree, studying for months, taking the MCATs, and applying to medical school does not “click into place.” I understand that this was a rush job by necessity once Kate Mansi decided to leave the show as Kristina, but imagine if GH had been able to take their time with this exit: Kristina surreptitiously meeting with someone, picking up mysterious mail, getting strange phone calls. Viewers would have thought she was dating someone inappropriate (Jacinda!) or joining the mob, and it still could have led to Kristina secretly applying to UCLA for her bachelor’s degree, which would have made more sense.
Conversely, the preamble to Portia’s baby being born was well done. Trina planning the shower, Curtis suspecting Isaiah of causing the accident and punching him (which caused the surgeon to lose the use of his hand), then the actual shower where they battled again. Curtis called Isaiah a “criminal” and berated Portia for bringing her partner to the shower for “my child.”
Portia: “What kind of father are you going to be to this baby if you can’t even control your temper? I gave Trina a gift not letting you raise her.”
Oof. Portia’s former and current partners ruined the event, Trina disavowed both of them, and Aunt Stella read the riot act to the whole family. Personally, I enjoyed the timing of Isaiah telling Curtis he spent “more than a decade training!” to become a doctor in the same week Kristina achieved a similar accomplishment via text.
Spy Games
Over at Wyndemere, all hell broke loose. Cullum kidnapped Dr. Obrecht and ordered her to finish “Faison’s final project” in the basement with fellow hostage Josslyn. Lucas lured Sidwell into a trap that resulted in him shooting Lucas (thankfully clad in a bulletproof vest), getting arrested, and escaping thanks to the PCPD’s latest crooked cop.
Cassius (to Sidwell): “You need to disappear.”
Oh, okay. It doesn’t say much for Joss that she has no friends. Her bestie Trina didn’t even question that her roommate “went to Australia” without packing a bag or saying goodbye; neither did anyone else at PCU. No one misses Joss but her mother, so I guess it’s up to the Scooby Kids to crack The Case Of The Missing Volleyball Player.
Rush Hour
DAYS put Alex and Stephanie together in a ho-hum pairing after flame-outs with other people (her with Everett/Bobby, him with Joy, Sloan, Gwen and who can forget that threesome with Ali and Chanel?). Because the marriage was rushed, DAYS used obstacles to create rooting value. First, it was Jeremy suspected of stalking Stephanie, then it was Owen who was actually stalking Stephanie, now it’s Joy who turned up out of the blue with Alex’s baby.
Rather than take their time with Joy’s most recent trouble-making, DAYS crammed a month’s worth of events into one episode. Stephanie came home from China, Joy popped over looking for Kelsey’s favorite “stuffy,” Alex joked that maybe they should give Joy a key, she said she wanted one and got it (with zero discussion between Alex and his wife), Stephanie took a nap, Joy let herself into their house, Stephanie mistook her for an intruder, and grabbed a gun and fired.
Alex: “What’s going on here?”
Joy: “Your psycho wife just tried to shoot me!”
By the end of the week, Joy had blackmailed Alex into promising Stephanie would not see Kelsey, creating further conflict between the newlyweds, which was the point of Steve giving his PTSD-suffering daughter the gun in the first place. It works, but not as well as if DAYS had plotted more carefully.
Fashion Forward
B&B has done a good job setting up the conflict between Brooke and Katie, giving Brooke some of the most hateful dialogue of her entire career.
Brooke: “You always hated that I was pretty and popular while you were home hiding in your bedroom.”
Katie: “I like to read; I thought that made me an intellect, not an introvert. I’ve always looked up to you. Why can’t it be my time to shine?”
Brooke: “Logan’s success has nothing to do with you.”
Not true. The stupid Eric argument came up again and the sisters agreed Katie can hire all the Spencers she wants, but no more Forresters. That was inspired, because Brooke’s daughter Hope is married to Liam Spencer, which technically makes her fair game as she hides in Katie’s office secretly designing for Logan while Forrester thinks she is on “sabbatical.” Is it believable that Hope and Deke already have designs ready to go after a few days working together? No. But the rest of the set-up is, so we’ll let it slide.
Katie (to Brooke): “I will never poach another Forrester from you again.”
Genius.
Tornado Warning
If you only watch BTG, the crossover from Y&R was fantastic. In came these clearly important people from Wisconsin to raise money for Martin’s congressional campaign and the Duprees greeted them with bells on. Victor and Vernon reminisced about the first time they met in Genoa City (shout-out to The Colonnade Room!), and Vernon suggested they make this posh dinner “one for the history books.”
Y&R’s Abby complimented Chelsea on her handbag line while Y&R’s Kyle chatted with Martin. As the men were showing each other photos of their kids on their phones, both got a weather alert — That’s how you tease a story. Pretty soon, there was debris flying everywhere from a tornado with lots of characters in believable danger. Exes Bill and Dani found themselves trapped in an elevator and made a curious choice: “I sure hope our family’s not dead. Let’s make out!”
Okay, I’m paraphrasing.
By the end of the week, Victor was revealed to have flown home just before the tornado hit. He snarked at Nikki that he was sure their family would be all right, “including your friend Jack Abbott, whom you are really asking about.”
Which brings us to…
Timing Is Everything
Every Y&R fan who tuned into BTG can be forgiven for being massively confused. There was Diane, all black-tie and smiley on Jack’s arm when the last time we saw her on Y&R a month ago, she wasn’t speaking to him — and then she went missing. Devon and Abby were just fighting in Genoa City, but they are all smoochy in Fairmont Crest. And oh look, there’s Kyle! We haven’t seen him in forever and suddenly he’s kissing Bill’s wife, Hayley, in a closet and getting busted by Anita Dupree.
Anita (to Kyle): “She is a two-faced husband-stealing gold-digging viper.”
I get the point of crossing Y&R A-Listers over to draw eyeballs to BTG, but not syncing their stories was a real missed opportunity.
Speaking of missed opportunities, Noah and Sienna have little rooting value and make no sense as a couple (she is his mother Sharon’s age). If Y&R wanted to recreate The Shadow Room the duo worked at in LA, having them build it together could have helped that. Instead, Noah fabricated the Genoa City version of The Shadow Room off-screen and surprised Sienna with it out of the blue. The club held a splashy opening a few days later.
Sienna: “Thank you, Noah, for making a dream I didn’t even know I had come true!”
Next time, show us the dream.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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