It’s Only My Opinion: Revenge Is Sweet for GH’s Carly, Y&R’s Victor and More Soap Faves
There’s something about our faves being petty that’s so satisfying — probably because it’s hard to do in real life. If revenge is a dish best served cold, characters across General Hospital, Young and Restless, Bold and Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, and Beyond the Gates are bringing it!
Heated Rivalry
GH’s Carly and Nina have dated and/or married many of the same men, including Sonny, Drew and Valentin. Carly is better established in Port Charles than Nina, has a better relationship with her exes, and is a better mom (as evidenced by Nina’s violent cherubs Willow and Nelle). So when Brennan told Nina that her ex-husband Valentin — with whom Nina thought she had a good rapport — was hiding out at Carly’s, Nina stormed over there. Beat it, said Carly.
Nina: “You’ve been harboring a wanted fugitive.”
Carly: “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Valentin (stepping out from the shadows): “Let her in, Carly.”
Nina sniped that playing house would not work out for the two of them, clearly hurt that Valentin hadn’t turned to her when he escaped Steinmauer.
Nina: “Now you’re stuck with Carly, and that never seems to work out for anyone.”
Valentin (smirking): “I’m not anyone.”
Nina was actually there to deliver a message from Brennan asking Valentin to visit him in rehab where he’s recovering from Nina jabbing him in the neck with a drug. (The same one being used by Willow to paralyze Drew, hence my comment about Nina’s mothering.) Carly and a disguised Valentin then popped by Turning Woods and agreed to join forces with Brennan to beat baddies Cullum and Sidwell (and find Josslyn). Add Nina to that historic mix and it’s a messy cocktail of vengeance, danger, and regret. I’m in!
Scheme Team
You can also sign me up for Nina’s revenge on Drew, starting with her rude but hilarious suggestion that they put sunglasses on him so they don’t have to look at him blinking out his SOS messages. Enter Obrecht, who immediately recognized Drew’s cries for help. Willow and Nina played dumb; their Aunt Liesl wasn’t having it.
Obrecht: “Scheme away. Just do it better.”
She’s on to Willow and confronted Nina about her ridiculous defense of her daughter, who’s been so mistreated by men, blah blah.
Obrecht: “Do you hear yourself? She’s a viper.”
Lucy: “You’ve come to the right place. In the world of adultery, I am the master. You will be my apprentice.”
Something tells me Monica Quartermaine would agree.
Family Affair
Petty revenge makes for good drama. B&B’s R.J. couldn’t win Electra’s heart so he provoked Will into punching him and then ran to his daddy and demanded “him or me” at Forrester Creations. Ridge chose his whiny nepo baby over the Spencer scion who had worked his way up from entry-level intern.
Brooke (reading firing notice): “It’s a little cold.”
Ridge: “It’s a termination letter, you can’t put smiley faces on it. Will’s a good kid, a hard worker. But he brought this on himself.”
Not really. Ridge and Brooke justified Will’s firing as a “boys will be boys” scenario, claiming R.J. and Will have been butting heads since R.J. got back to LA.
Brooke: “They seem to be taking after their bickering fathers.”
Ridge: “We don’t bicker. Spencer grunts and I use words.”
Brooke: “They’re cousins! They should be getting along.”
Like Brooke is getting along with her sister Katie? Spare me. And not for nothing, but R.J. Forrester and Electra Forester are second cousins via their grandfathers, who are brothers — although B&B retconned Ridge into the son of Massimo Marone 25 years ago, so there’s no blood relation. Regardless, I find R.J.’s sexual harassment of his cousin Electra in the office very off-putting.
R.J:. “It will be hard working with you, staring into those beautiful eyes, knowing I can’t hold you.”
Hello, HR?
Elsewhere, Steffy is in for a big comedown when she learns her stepsister Hope has jumped ship to Logan. At present, Hope is on a “leave of absence” from Forrester while secretly designing for the competition.
Steffy: “Hope needs this time away while we’re locked in on Couture. When she comes back, she better have a more pleasant attitude.”
Actually, Steffy’s the one who’ll need an attitude adjustment when that news gets out!
Boss Baby
I wish someone was having a healthy fight on DAYS, because it’s almost all sadness and defeat in Salem. Julie’s mourning Doug (while trying to go on a date), Sarah’s dreaming of the abusive Xander, and Abe is totally dissing his wife, Paulina, in favor of back-from-the-dead Lexie, and Paulina is letting him. But the worst is pregnant cutie Chanel forgoing cancer treatment because her oncologist was rude.
Chanel: “I’m not doing it. What I do with my body is not his choice, it’s mine.”
Deciding not to insert the chemo port because it doesn’t prioritize her unborn baby is shortsighted on every level — especially since Chanel’s choice could deprive Trey of his mom. Chanel will only listen to the doctor if he’s respectful? I’m Team Johnny on that one, as is Marlena.
Which reminds me: It was lovely for Marlena, Brady and Belle to remember John on the one-year anniversary of his death, but there must be a path forward for the heart of the show. Here’s hoping the missing pawn from Stefano’s chess set leads Marlena to some well-deserved vengeance against the entire DiMera family.
Revenge of the Burned
When it comes to retaliation, no one beats Y&R’s Victor. He cannot get past Jack Abbott helping Nikki through her addiction and wants them both to pay forever.
Nikki: “What we have is worth saving.”
Victor: “Give up your friendship with Jack Abbott. It’s either him or me.”
Victor stormed out and Nikki clutched her head in pain, which gives us a clue to their next storyline. Will he beg forgiveness by giving her another house?
Phyllis is another one whose endless vengeance is only hurting herself. If she had taken over Newman Enterprises fair and square, I would have cheered, but she stole the company, did barely any work when she had it, and then cried foul when Victor manufactured a crime to get it back.
Phyllis: “I’m the same struggling woman I was before, but now I don’t have my children.”
Michael: “You played a dangerous game with the big boys and you won. That’s not nothing.”
Phyllis: “I won, and then I lost.”
Indeed, Summer and Daniel turned their backs on her, so now Phyllis has less than she did before. Come to think of it, everyone is back to square one, except Lily, who was just offered Chancellor. Sorry, Nikki! Victor may have to buy his estranged wife two houses.
Speaking of addiction, I have to flag the Nick debacle. There he was dying on the floor of Phyllis’s office from a fentanyl overdose when amnesiac Matt Clark somehow remembered CPR and saved him. The next day, after he was declared “literally dead,” a perfectly healthy Nick toasted the return of Newman Enterprises with champagne in the family living room, which is wrong on every level. If Nick doesn’t go to rehab soon, it will undo everything Y&R has ever responsibly showcased about drug and alcohol dependence.
Beyond The Pale
Every week, I hope BTG’s Bill will catch onto Hayley’s machinations, and every week, I am disappointed. But we did get a special episode on Hayley’s origin story, showing how she wormed her way into Dani and Bill’s marriage via their daughter Naomi — and it was a real eye opener. Dani kindly included the girl in family dinners, felt sorry for her when she had apartment/job troubles, and then proposed an idea to Bill that the Duprees all now regret.
Dani: “Why not hire Hayley?”
Naomi: “That’s a great idea!”
The history spilled out via serial cheater Bill, his family, and the conceited Hayley, who bragged to her cousin Randy how easy it was to bag Bill.
Hayley: “I know my game.”
People are slowly catching on, so maybe this will be the week…
Naomi: “Hayley’s young. My money’s on her running off with a private chef.”
Chelsea: “Shame on you, wishing such bad luck on an unsuspecting chef.”
If revenge is a dish best served cold, who better to serve it up than a chef?
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