It’s Only My Opinion: Strange Bedfellows Ignite General Hospital, Young & Restless, DAYS, B&B, BTG
Putting unlikely characters together is a great way to advance story — and sometimes it even sparks romance! Here are some pairings stirring up drama on General Hospital, Young and Restless, Beyond the Gates, Days of Our Lives and Bold and Beautiful!
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
Who saw Carly and Valentin coming? Not me, and I’ve been watching GH since 1979 (and writing about it since 1992). He started out hiding in her attic as a fugitive and s-l-o-w-l-y progressed to confidant, bed partner, and genuine friend and lover. Carly’s desire to get Josslyn out of the WSB may have sparked her initial interest, but this odd couple caught fire and have genuine rooting value as Valentin shuffles between her bed and the attic while Carly smooches WSB baddie Jack Brennan to gain info.
Carly: “Why did you sneak out?”
Valentin: “I went to see Nina. I got tired of sleepless nights roaming the grounds while you were upstairs in the bedroom with Jack.”
Carly: “You know why I’m with Jack.”
Valentin: “It doesn’t make it easier. Nina will tell Jack we have a regular meeting place. I’ll show up and make him think he almost catches me.”
Carly: “That’s your plan? That’s terrible.”
Characters talking like real people is chef’s kiss — and our desire to see Brennan and Cullum taken down a peg makes us support this implausible duo. Add Valentin’s rich history with A-listers Anna and Nina — and genuine love for his daughter, Charlotte — and he’s morphing into the male version of Carly: Both have complicated histories but are goodhearted and entertaining. That’s a win.
Ditto any story Ric is involved in, which thankfully now includes ones with his formerly hated brother Sonny, formerly dissed ex-wife Alexis, and formerly scammed ex-wife Nina.
Nina: “I want to hire you.”
Ric: “You haven’t always been pleased with my services.”
Nina: “Like when you married me to gain control of my trust fund? When you disappeared while you were representing my daughter desperately trying to get her children back? You are skilled, treacherous and devious. I would like you to put those qualities to work for me rather than against me.”
Ric: “I choose to take that as a compliment.”
Nina is lining up a defense for Willow (for drugging Drew) at the same time Willow wants to battle Ric’s nephew Michael for custody. There’s no way Ric would defend Willow against Sonny’s son, but pass the popcorn for a surprising Nina/Ric redux.
House of Cards
You can also pass the popcorn for Phyllis’s losing battle against Victor after she stole Newman Enterprises on Y&R. There’s no universe where the Newmans would have just accepted that loss and moved on, and Phyllis should have known that. Her paranoia has her doing things like confronting unlikely gal pals Victoria and Christine, so of course Victoria got in her face.
Victoria: “Christine is replacing the current DA.”
Phyllis: “Who did you pay off to make that happen?”
Victoria: “If you don’t give back what you stole, we’ll be forced to hand over damaging information to your worst enemy.”
The “damaging” information was fake — and who knows if The Bug would have prosecuted — but a slew of Newman honchos walked in willing to testify against Phyllis and the office walls closed in.
Victor (menacing): “Are you sure you don’t want to entertain our offer?”
Giving Newman back will be painful, but at least her kids might talk to her again. Shout out to Lauren, the only friend to stand by Phyllis through her corporate rampage despite Michael’s entreaties that she stay away. I got a kick out of Christine asking Michael how he could “let” Lauren work for Phyllis.
Michael: “Have you met my wife? I’m not the boss of her.”
Join us here in 2026, won’t you, Cricket?
Friendly Fire
Old-timey tropes like that only work with certain characters. I buy that BTG’s Caroline assumed alpha male Bill needed to smooth things over with Hayley (after he called Dani “baby”) by gifting her something shiny.
Bill: “It’s not a DEFCON diamond situation just yet.”
Bill made Dani quit her job when they were married, so that tracks. I also buy the Dupree girls getting in mobster Joey’s face about dating their pal Vanessa, although how they can be besties with a known escort manager in that gossipy community is beyond me.
Nicole: “I want to believe you love Vanessa as she loves you. But if you are using her, or playing with her emotions in any way, you will answer to me.”
Joey: “Progress.”
It’s hard to root for Vanessa because she’s so… obtuse. Joey took her on a romantic getaway while he had her husband murdered and then was all “What?” when the call came. He disappears people all over the place, her kids hate him, yet she’s framing selfies to legitimize their union.
Dani: “Two things can be true: Joey can love Vanessa while also posing a threat to her well-being.”
I look forward to the “I told you so” moment in Vanessa’s future.
Crowded House
DAYS gave us a huh? moment when it looked like Marlena and Kate might work together on Basic Black. Kate framed Johnny to save Titan so Marlena knows she can’t trust her, never mind the general awkwardness of Roman’s ex-wife teaming up with his current spouse.
Marlena: “John’s company needs to be run by members of his family. If I can’t rely on Kate, I have to find somebody else who can step in.”
Brady: “I could help.”
Marlena: “That would be amazing!”
Not so fast, said Xander, who schemed his way into becoming CEO of Titan, which owns Basic Black. He insisted to Marlena that John’s understanding of fashion was limited; it was Kate who made the company a success.
Xander: “You will do this with Kate or you won’t do it at all.”
That’s a whole lot of strange bedfellows in one story and the people getting the short end of the stick (Marlena, Roman, Johnny) are the ones we want to come out on top. Can one of them please shut Xander up?
Real Talk
B&B’s Eric teaming up with Katie and Bill was a show stopper (pun intended), as were his gorgeous gowns in the Logan fashion show. Eric, Ridge and Brooke watched the live stream and complained the whole time. Eric’s “embarrassment” made no sense as he was paid handsomely for a job that turned out beautifully. Brooke stormed over to Logan (again) to confront Katie (again).
Katie: “Is it so hard for you to congratulate your little sister and mean it?”
Yes. Complicating things is Brooke’s son R.J. battling Katie’s son Will over Electra, which should be a bigger deal since they are first cousins. Rich boy R.J.cozied up to formerly homeless Dylan to get scoop on what she did/didn’t do with Will, and insinuated she should quit her job at Forrester because she’s making Electra uncomfortable. Dylan was like you have no idea what I’ve been through.
R.J.: “My life hasn’t been as easy as you think.”
Dylan: “When was the last time you had to eat out of the trash?”
Advantage: Dylan. The same goes for Daphne who finally told Electra her stalker aunt caused Electra’s break-up with Will. Tsk, tsk, scolded Ridge and Brooke who have enjoyed their fair share of office affairs (!).
Brooke: “We have to let the kids work their love lives out for themselves.”
Ivy: “I’ll go. But I’ll be back.”
I’d have more to say about Ivy purloining Electra’s love letter to Will but I played the drinking game to “It’s not prop-ah!” so I have to go lie down before I do something blurry like have mask sex with Luna.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
Conversation
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