It’s Only My Opinion: Soapy Surprises With General Hospital’s Carly, Young & Restless’s Phyllis and More
Most of the time, we see soap surprises coming, but once in a while, it’s like… record scratch!
Like the reveal that Beyond the Gates’s Hayley is a total grifter. Since day one, they played her as Naomi’s friend who just happened to fall in love with Naomi’s dad, Bill. Bill divorced Dani, who brandished a gun at Bill and Hayley’s dramatic wedding. That put Bill/Dani/Hayley on the road to “Epic Soap Triangles,” jealousy included.
Then, out of the blue, Hayley and her cousin, Randy, dished that her marriage has been a lie to get Bill’s money. Turns out, she’s had multiple identities, conned multiple men, and is looking for a big final score to retire in luxury.
Hayley: “You know damn well I ain’t never loved that man. This whole marriage has been a hustle since day one.”
Randy: “So, what’s your issue?”
Hayley: “His uppity ex-wife is trying to weasel her way back in. But I’ll be damned if I let her know we are this close to taking Bill for everything he’s got.”
Kudos, BTG! That one stumped the band. Hayley and Randy agreed that the best way to accomplish their goal was to… kill Bill. Hayley poisoned his birthday cupcake, but was foiled when Naomi took a bite instead. So, she met Randy at a bar to get more poison but ran into Dani, who recognized him as the guy who took Hayley to the hospital when she had her (fake) miscarriage.
Dani: “I know that guy. His name is Sammy.”
Vanessa: “His name is Randy. I’ve known him for years.”
Dani’s on the case. So is Joey Armstrong, who caught Randy and Hayley on surveillance camera.
Joey: “You want to explain what you’re up to with Bill Hamilton’s wife?”
Nothing good!
Days of Our Lives’s overbearing Amy Choi defending her lunatic daughter was not surprising. Sophia coming clean — and going catatonic — was.
Amy: “Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick. Everyone is saying horrible lies about you.”
Sophia: “You don’t know anything about me. There’s this fictional version made up in your head. Then there’s me, Sophia. If you hadn’t made me feel I had no control over my body, I never would have had to give birth in my bedroom alone.”
Amy: “What?”
Sophia: “Yeah. That’s what happened. After my baby was born, I was so scared I didn’t know what to do, but I was not going to let you know I had that baby. Then I would be forced to raise a child I didn’t want. So, I took him to the firehouse and left him there.”
Enter Javi and Leo with the baby, as Amy, Johnny, Chanel, Tate, Holly, and Brady barraged Sophia with questions, and she had a mental break.
Cue the catatonia.
Steve: “An 18-year-old girl under that much pressure? No wonder she collapsed.”
Fair point. But having watched Sophia manipulate Salem for over a year, we won’t be shocked when she opens one eye and smirks.
Over on Young and Restless, the attendees were shocked when Phyllis crashed Danny and Cricket’s bachelor/bachelorette parties at the GCAC — but longtime viewers were not. The set-up was pretty funny: Boys upstairs, girls downstairs, in small gatherings so as not to be bothered by Danny’s fans or paparazzi.
Danny: “The last thing you want is some unexpected visitor crashing your party!”
Cut to Phyllis unexpectedly crashing the ladies’ bash.
Lauren: “You do not want to be here.”
Oh, yes, she did. Lauren appealed to Phyllis’s seldom-seen mature side, telling her she was better than this.
Phyllis: “Not tonight. Cricket stole Danny from me. She stole Daniel from me. She hides behind this sweetness and light, and underneath, she is vicious and cruel. She has convinced Danny he is happy. He is not.”
What? Phyllis’s dialogue was actually a jolt because Y&R has scripted her recovered from the kidnapping she suffered last winter (especially in Nice when she was conspiring with Cane). So, to have her come completely unglued when a man she hasn’t been with in decades planned to marry the woman he truly loves rang false.
Christine called her “crazy,” and Phyllis lunged. Lauren, Traci, et al broke it up and convinced Phyllis to leave. She went straight to Danny’s party to complain how unfair it is that Cricket is marrying the father of Phyllis’s child, blah, blah. Danny got Phyllis alone, and she had a meltdown, saying she thinks maybe she is crazy. He calmed her down.
Phyllis: “Christine? Really?”
Danny: “There will never be anyone else.”
In other words, move on!
Electra turning Luna in on Bold and Beautiful was a good one. The sweet jewelry designer seemed speechless by Luna’s pregnancy until the cops burst in, and Electra revealed she was the one who called them.
Steffy returned home, and her jaw understandably dropped when she learned Luna was alive. She had a brief reunion with Finn and went straight to the prison.
Steffy: “You’re going to rot in jail for the rest of your life.”
Luna: “Will’s baby is growing inside me. Do you really think Bill and Katie would let their grandchild be born inside a prison?”
Yes. Bill’s vengeance feels extra this time because he blames himself for getting Luna the fakakta pardon that sprung her and enabled her to target his son.
Bill: “You’re still the same psycho who deserves to be behind bars. My grandchild will be taken from you. The biggest mistake of my life was seeing any glimmer of redemption in you. Hear me, Luna: The same influence I used to get you out is the influence I will use to keep you here.”
But you know what I didn’t see coming? Luna turning to her menacing cellmate and telling the woman she needed her to “do it again.”
Luna: “Not the stomach.”
Punch! Of course, Luna orchestrated the beating that propelled Bill to spring her. Please don’t let him fall for that again…
You know what’s shocking on General Hospital? When Carly doesn’t go mental. Jason confided that her boyfriend, Jack Brennan, had lured Josslyn into the WSB and ordered Carly not to confront Brennan. And… whaddya know? She didn’t.
Brennan: “Something is off. Are you ending things?”
Carly: “I’m struggling. Promise me if you find out Josslyn is at risk, you will tell me?”
Brennan: “I promise.”
Carly: “Then you haven’t lost me.”
Haha! Carly got fake credentials and flew to Steinmauer to tell Valentin she plans to destroy her lying beau. “Want to help?” she asked. (That’s more like it!)
Monica leaving the Quartermaine mansion to her unknown sister Ronnie was a stunner, as was Ronnie getting drugged at the tea party, blaming Tracy for it, and kicking Tracy out.
Ronnie: “I evicted her.”
Gio: “Wow, I did not expect that.”
Brook Lynn: “Neither did Grandmother.”
Or Lulu, who had to take her former stepmonster in…
Little moments can be eye-opening, too. Who had Ava and Kristina achieving détente after Krissy fell out of Ava’s hotel window and lost her baby? Kristina later tried to kill Ava, but holding Ric hostage seems to have been a real turning point for “the coven.”
Kristina: “For what it’s worth, I really am sorry.”
Ava: “I’m sorry, too. We’re not going to hug, are we?”
Record Scratch!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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