It’s Only My Opinion: Soaps Walk a Fine Line Resurrecting Characters Like General Hospital’s Britt
One minute, soaps are telling a logical, entertaining story, and the next, they’re bringing yet another character back from the dead.
In the case of Bold and Beautiful, Li has actually resurrected two people.
Sheila (busting into Li’s secret room): “My granddaughter’s alive! You saved her just like you saved Finn.”
What are the odds? Neither woman commented on the implausibility of Dr. Li Finnegan pulling this feat off twice, or the fact that no one saw her do it at a busy Los Angeles hospital. They just reveled in their excitement that double murderer/kidnapper/lunatic Luna had been saved.
Sheila: “Your grandmas are right here. We love you so much. Welcome back!”
Luna (groggy): “Will…”
Cut to:
Electra (to Will): “Thankfully, Luna is dead.”
No death certificate, no grave, no police follow-up, not believable.
You know what was believable? Nick Marone rolling into Italy with a diamond ring after hearing Ridge had dumped Brooke for the 900th time. That guy spends his life on a boat, and he’s not getting any younger. Brooke is his true love, and they share a son named Jack (who was only mentioned once, but still…), so it was exciting when he popped into Forrester Creations.
Nick: “Sorry, Naples had to end. I had something special planned for our boat trip.”
Brooke: “What did you plan?”
Nick (pulls out ring): “It’s not over for us. I love you, Brooke.”
It would be so refreshing if Nick succeeded — or at least gave Brooke the strength to tell that spineless Ridge to take a hike.
The most logical scenes we’ve seen lately were of Bill 1) praising the doctor who “saved” Liam from his “brain tumor” and 2) vowing to ruin her when he learned the truth.
Bill: “I’ll always be indebted to her.”
Liam tells Bill that Grace lied to get $1 million from him for a “cure.”
Bill: “That bitch is gonna pay! Grace Buckingham will wish she never met me.”
Days of Our Lives’s Belle probably wishes she never met EJ, but it’s waaaay too late for that. Kudos to the soap for acknowledging the preposterousness of Belle prosecuting her nephew Johnny while Johnny’s father (who is also Belle’s lover and the shooting victim) defends him. The state attorney general investigated, and the judge called EJ out when he asked for a mistrial.
Judge: “You believe DA Black has a conflict of interest and is unable to prosecute this case because you and Ms. Black are romantically involved… which would make you conflicted as well.”
Belle: “It’s the height of hypocrisy, your honor.”
EJ: “At least appoint a new prosecutor.”
Judge: “I’m quite familiar with delay tactics. Not in my court. DA Black stays.”
Belle later got him alone.
Belle: “You are dead to me, EJ DiMera!”
Actual death has no meaning on DAYS where literally every OG character has come back from the dead, but nutbag Susan saying Stefano is alive is a tough one. His portrayer, Joseph Mascolo, would be 96 years old (Mascolo died in 2016), and there is no recasting Stefano DiMera.
Anna: “This is Salem, where people have been raised from the dead by the multitudes. For a whole bunch of DiMeras, death has been temporary. Maybe your father has come back to life like the others.”
Tony: “While I wish by some miracle my father was still alive, I know there isn’t a ghost of a chance that could be true. My father would never allow Titan to take over DiMera Enterprises.”
Anna cleverly turned the conversation to her advantage, asking how Tony planned to take DiMera back from Xander and Philip. He said he’s got a mole.
Tony: “It’s Gabriela DiMera. I made her promise not to tell anyone.”
Anna: “I could sell my whole design line through Gabi Chic!”
Tony: “Oh my darling, I always want to make you happy.”
You know what would make me happy? Tony and Anna taking over DiMera and bossing Gabi, EJ, and Chad around. If we can’t have Stefano (and we can’t), Tony and Anna are the next best thing.
A ton of people have come back from the dead on Young and Restless (Victor, Cane, Nick, Diane, Phyllis, Adam, Ian Ward, Claire, Jordan), so Cane going off and becoming a billionaire doesn’t even register on the preposterous-ometer. What’s hard to swallow is said “billionaire” hanging out in parks and coffee shops in small-town Wisconsin, plotting to steal the local businesses.
Phyllis: “Cane is taking over all the companies in Genoa City: Newman, Jabot, and Chancellor.”
Daniel: “You can’t be serious.”
Phyllis: “I’m dead serious. And I’m going to be right by his side because Cane trusts me. It’s going to happen and it’s going to be glorious! It’s not personal.”
Daniel: “How can you say that? These are families, good people. You’re okay with hurting Nick, Lily, Summer?”
Phyllis: “I’m going to protect Summer.”
Daniel: “Cane has no loyalty to anyone. When this blows up, you’re going to get burned.”
Again. Cane’s plan is not logical, but it will be entertaining if Jack and Victor team up to vanquish him.
We’ve had no significant returns from the dead on Beyond the Gates (so far), but spurned divorcée Dani is trying to remake her life. She likes being in Andre’s arms, but that’s where it ends. Andre wants more, so he went to tell Dani it was over, but she was spiraling over Hayley’s “miscarriage,” so he comforted her and slept on the couch.
Things got real in the morning.
Dani: “For your sake, I hope things with Ashley work out.”
Andre: “You really mean that?”
Dani: “Of course not. But my parents taught me manners.”
There’s no heat between Andre and Ashley, so no worries there. Dani’s problem is more complicated: She still loves her ex-husband, Bill.
Dani: “I’m pathetic in more ways than I can count.”
Nicole: “Don’t talk about my sister like that.”
Can we talk about how pathetic Drew is on General Hospital? His mistreatment of his motherless daughter, Scout, resulted in Danny spiriting his little half sister from day camp so they could spend time together.
Jason: “I know you love her, but you can’t just take her.”
Danny: “She lives in a house all day with a nanny. She misses us. Mom would want me to do the right thing and take care of Scout.”
Enter Drew to go ballistic on the teen, who stuck up for himself like a champ. The story of Danny, Rocco, and Scout wanting to stay together after Sam died is believable and heartfelt, and most of the parents and grandparents have been sweetly supportive.
Alexis: “Why is it a teenager can see things more clearly than Scout’s own father?”
Drew (to Chase): “Arrest Danny Morgan for kidnapping my daughter.”
Chase refused. There has got to be a whodunnit coming for Drew with the way his enemies are stacking up. Oh sure, he’ll come back from the dead again (like half the characters on GH), but the list of suspects would be a very entertaining A-list.
Which brings us to the latest returning corpse, Britt Westbourne. Forgive my side eye, but Britt was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease — for which there is no cure (symptoms include cognitive decline and psychosis) — and she was stabbed with a poison hook by Heather Webber. So, when Josslyn saw a bikini-clad Britt being chatted up by Joss’s fellow spy, Vaughn, in Croatia, she was understandably shocked.
Hotel worker: “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Haha! Vaughn said they needed to learn about Britt because she has access to places at the hotel they’re investigating.
Joss: “I can save you the trouble, I know her. She’s supposed to be dead. A few years ago, she supposedly died saving me from a serial killer.”
Vaughn: “Why would Dr. Britt Westbourne fake her own death?”
Great question. And why do so many other soaps script their characters doing it, too?
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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