It’s Only My Opinion: Soaps Need Layered Villains Like GH’s Sonny & Valentin, Not Y&R Loon Patty
General Hospital has Sonny, Valentin and Josslyn doing questionable things for believable reasons; ditto Days of Our Lives‘s EJ. Beyond the Gates‘ Tomas shows promise. But The Young and the Restless‘s Patty and The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Sheila need a reality check!
Valentin’s Day
Fans have been debating mobster Sonny Corinthos’s viability as a leading man since he landed in Port Charles in 1993. Fast forward 33 years and Sonny remains a complicated dude who thinks he can tell his ex-wife Carly what to do — as evidenced by his reaction to her current beau.
Sonny (walking in on Carly kissing Valentin): “Of all the mistakes you’ve made this has to be the absolute worst.”
Worse than seducing Tony Jones, who was married to her mom Bobbie? Sorry, I digress. The Sonny/Carly/Valentin scenes brought out a number of secrets and resentments, from Valentin citing their “mutual ex-wife Nina” to Sonny revealing Valentin was behind his messed-up bipolar medication a few years ago.
Valentin: “I’m sorry. But we are where we are now, Sonny.”
Sonny: “What I see is still a Cassadine.”
Valentin: “Didn’t you sleep with my cousin Alexis?”
And on it went. Sonny tried to make a problem out of fugitive Valentin endangering Donna, but Val quickly reminded him, “Your place was firebombed!” At the end of the day, Carly likes bad boys and Valentin is a worthy applicant — and a very worthy adversary to Sonny. Carly’s choices haven’t just impacted her, though. Josslyn’s complicated upbringing in the house of a mobster helped steer her to the WSB.
Joss: “Becoming an agent has allowed me to protect people, and I’m good at it.”
Carly: “Even if it gets you killed?”
Joss: “Walking down the street could get me killed. I chose it.”
As did Valentin, who is now free to rejoin the WSB or take on a more dramatic job. May I suggest district attorney? That would make him the boss of Sonny’s current paramour ADA Turner and lead prosecutor of Port Charles. Take that, haters!
Sister Life
Like GH does with Sonny, DAYS softens EJ by highlighting the love he has for his family. It’s a stretch for this troubled, nasty character but it does mimic the behavior of his father, legendary villain Stefano DiMera. Most recently, EJ brought his sister back from the dead with an experimental drug that may be losing its effectiveness.
EJ: “After all I’ve done for you, you come to rake me over the coals?”
Lexie: “You used that drug on me before it was ready because you wanted to make a buck.”
EJ: “I did this for family! Everything I do, I do for this family — for my children, for Theo, for you. Father’s dying wish was to bring you back and I made it happen.”
Lexie: “You gave me my life back only for me to die all over again.”
EJ promised he won’t let Lexie die, but he has no way of controlling that. As for his insistence that he does “everything” for family, Kristen would like a word…
The Nut Cracker
Y&R’s Patty resurfaced on a boat after kidnapping and drugging Jack (who she shot multiple times in the 1980s) and it went downhill from there. She kidnapped Diane, Jack and Kyle inexplicably chose not to call the police, and then Patty stabbed Jack.
Detective Burrow: “Can you tell me what happened?”
Kyle: “My dad and I figured out my mom was being held at Dr. Markham’s house so I went to the house to get her.”
Burrow: “You didn’t think to call me?”
Kyle: “We didn’t want to tip off Patty with the cops.”
Burrow: “And how’d that work out for you?”
Thank you. The cops actually arrested Diane and let Patty go (!) so she dressed up like a nurse and snuck into Jack’s hospital room to finish the job with a syringe and another long, unhinged monologue.
Patty (to Jack’s comatose body): “You could have spent the rest of your days in wedded bliss with me by your side. You rejected the dream, Jack. You’re going to have to pay.” Diane stopped her, she threatened Jack again, blah blah. There isn’t a speck of reality in Patty’s behavior. It’s plot, plot, plot mixed with cartoonish dialogue. Can Christine please put her away?
Enemy at the Gate
BTG is short on bad guys. Hayley has proven to be a very incompetent poisoner; her repeated efforts to kill Bill for his money just fall flat. Fellow baddie Leslie started out promising, but they’re softening her edges with kindness toward Kat (after she donated part of her liver to Eva) and poignant scenes with Anita. I actually think Tomas might qualify as a villain. He slept with Eva and then claimed to love her half sister Kat, proposing in front of the whole family right after she had major surgery.
Tomas: “A diamond for my diamond.”
Kat (stalling): “I need to catch my breath.”
Tomas: “This is the part where you say yes.”
Kat: “What the hell are you doing?
That’s a no. The fact that Tomas thought it was the “perfect moment” to propose shows how ill-suited he is for Kat — the selfish lawyer didn’t think of her at all. Never mind that her family is not on board.
Chelsea (to Kat): “If you have to worry about Tomas stepping out every time you hit a rough patch, maybe he isn’t the one.”
No. But he does have the makings of a good soap opera jerk.
Divorce Court
Sheila’s latest lunacy on B&B involved saying she would only sign Deacon’s divorce papers if his new squeeze Taylor convinced Steffy and Finn to let her into their family.
Steffy: “The woman who tried to kill me, you, my husband and my grandmother wants access to my son?”
Taylor: “Sheila claims she is not the same woman anymore.”
Steffy: “She claimed to be a different woman before she put a bullet in me. She is not allowed near my family ever.”
Which is the only response that will ever make sense. The mistake B&B made with Sheila was having her shoot her son Finn. Yes, he jumped in front of a bullet meant for his wife, but Sheila then purposely shot Steffy and left them both for dead in an alley. There was no coming back from that, not even after gaining the love of a “good man” like Deacon and helping Il Giardino succeed.
Sheila (to Deacon): “How did I lose you to Taylor?”
By asking ludicrous questions like if he misses “all eight toes of her.” Sheila finally signed the divorce papers, saying it was “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” which was funny since she cut off her own toe when she faked her death (ouch!). Naturally, Sheila made a beeline for Finn’s office despite all the warnings not to.
Sheila: “I need you now more than ever. Just tell me you can make me a part of your family. That’s all I want. I’m begging you.”
Finn acknowledged that he has forgiven Sheila “in his heart,” but it doesn’t matter because Steffy will never accept her.
Sheila: “If you think I’m going to murder somebody, that’s not going to happen.”
Finn (nervous): “That’s comforting.”
What Finn needs to do is remind his mother that she has four other kids (Mary with James Warwick, Daisy and Ryder with Y&R’s Tom Fisher, and Diana with Massimo Marone). Go stalk them for a change! Especially Diana, who is Ridge’s biological half sister — it’s past time for B&B to capitalize on that potentially juicy villain.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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