It’s Only My Opinion: Surprises Like Y&R’s Sally Flipping And GH’s Jacinda Resurfacing Keep The Drama Going
Soap surprises are rare, but so much fun when they work.
Who had Drew’s body-shot sex worker from back in April being Michael’s alibi for the night the congressman was shot on General Hospital? Michael had a drink with a blonde at The Grill on the night in question but didn’t get her name. He later recognized Jacinda from an old photo, found her via Curtis, and booked her for a different job: Making it look like they had sex when his brother the cop came calling.
Michael (emerging from her hotel bathroom half-dressed): “I know I should have told you I slept with Jacinda that night.”
Dante: “Stop. I don’t believe you randomly hopped into bed with a sex worker. What I do believe is that you paid her — to be your alibi.”
They bantered, and Dante took off.
Jacinda: “Did he buy our story?”
Michael: “No.”
But I did. It’s rare that a minor character can spark so much drama, and I like her with Michael. Let’s see Carly’s face if Michael actually starts dating the escort hired by Nina to drug their mutual ex, Drew!
I also enjoyed Josslyn and Vaughn’s post-coital nakedness in bed after the Five Poppies spy caper, clearly taking their stint as a married couple too far.
Vaughn: “Brennan can’t know about this.”
Brennan (entering): “Excuse me, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Nash.’ ”
Soaps often take too long to tell stories, so it was most welcome when this got jump-started. Boom! Vaughn was promoted, Josslyn was back on assignment at PCU, and Brennan was angrily reminding them that WSB agents aren’t allowed to date.
Brennan: “Your personal relationship ceases to exist the moment you leave this bungalow which is why I am giving you 24 hours together. Enjoy it. It’s never going to happen again.”
Yeah, right. Obstacles are Soaps 101, so that works. And Carly’s wrath against Brennan and Jason is going to be epic.
How about the Duprees taking bets on Nicole’s estranged husband winning her back on Beyond the Gates? There was Ted owning his mistakes (having an affair with Leslie 25 years ago and lying about it) and begging Nicole for another chance in front of her entire family.
Ted: “We can weather this!”
Bill: “I know a losing battle when I see one, Bro. I got $10 on Nicole [puts money on the table].”
Anita (adding money): “As much as it pains me to agree with Bill, I will see your $10 and raise you $20 on my daughter.”
Ted: “This is our marriage! This isn’t the Kentucky Derby.”
Dani (adding money): “Count me in on my sissy, obvi. Sorry, Ted, you don’t stand a chance.”
Nicole: “A unanimous vote of no confidence.”
Ted (laying down a $100 bill): “You wanna play? Let’s play.”
I’ve never seen a soap family lay money on an impending divorce, so that was fun. Well, not for Ted. He launched into an impassioned (and very well-written) speech about how he made one mistake during a very trying time in his marriage and then dedicated himself to the family for three decades. But the Duprees paint him with the same brush they paint Bill, who dumped Dani for her daughter’s best friend and then rubbed his new “trophy wife” in their faces.
Bill (advancing): “You done lost your mind.”
Vernon (holding Bill back): “Let him get it out.”
Ted: “Bill humiliated all of you, yet here he stands like all is forgiven, while I am the one insulted and mocked.”
Suddenly, I felt bad for Ted. His mother-in-law did not.
Anita (shrugging): “More of the same.”
Sometimes a soap gives us a lot of the same and then explodes, which is what happened on Bold and Beautiful this week. Ridge dumped Taylor and married Brooke in two episodes, which sparked the expected hissy fit from Thomas.
Brooke: “Your father decided he wanted a future with me, and you have to accept that.”
Thomas: “Coming in and stealing my dad? Using sex as a weapon? You have no respect, no dignity. Here you are throwing yourself at my dad, just like my grandmother used to say: A slut from the valley.”
He grabbed her; Ridge busted in.
Thomas: “Say you’re not abandoning our family!”
Ridge: “You’re a grown man. Act like it.”
Thank you. Ridge told his son that Brooke makes him happy, and Thomas appeared to soften, which I don’t buy for one second. He’d better cross Hope before they inevitably commit him.
Meanwhile, Taylor had a curious reaction when she found out Ridge had married Brooke: She yelled at his father.
Taylor: “Congratulations. Your hard work paid off. Behind my back, you prodded him to be with Brooke.”
Eric: “Ridge has had only two profound relationships in his life. One is with you, and the other is with Brooke.”
Hello? Ridge’s first love, Caroline Spencer, would like a word… Okay, back to the action.
Eric: “I don’t want it to end like this between us.”
Taylor: “Don’t pretend to be my friend. I’ll send someone to pick up my things.”
The fact that Ridge and Taylor were living in Eric’s house the whole time they were together should’ve been a red flag to her that he wasn’t committed, but the shrink didn’t see it. Speaking of red flags…
Luna (to Will): “Oh my God, I’m pregnant with your baby.”
Absolutely no shock there.
Days of Our Lives’s Tony came out of left field to crash the Titan press conference for One Stormy Night and declare the takeover of DiMera Enterprises by Titan fraudulent.
Leo: “What proof do you have?”
Tony: “All will be revealed in due time.”
Oh, okay. Xander and Philip put their guilty heads together and came up with a plan.
Xander (calling Tony): “We need to talk.”
Tony: “I’m booked solid.”
Ha!
But the biggest Salem shocker in months? Xander going to therapy.
Xander: “I’m trying to become the man I want to be, not just the man my father wanted me to be.”
Marlena: “That’s a very important insight.”
Now, admit you beat up your brother, and let’s move on.
The least astonishing thing on Young and Restless was Billy Abbott imploding again, this time after Abbott Communications failed to launch. Billy sided with backstabber Cane over his brother Jack re: some cockamamie AI program that Cane says will help Billy get the better of Victor. What I didn’t expect was Sally calling her boyfriend out on his BS and nailing it.
Billy: “We can have it all!”
Sally: “I don’t want it all. I want the company we were building, the future we were creating together.”
Billy: “That’s what I’m going to give you. You have to look at the big picture.”
Sally: “The big picture for you is your obsession with Chancellor, hatred for Victor, and your determination to prove God-knows-what to your mother. I am nowhere in that picture, and I don’t want to be.”
Okay, there’s the fiery Sally Spectra Y&R crossed over from B&B. The one who stole Forrester designs, pulled a gun on Wyatt, and kidnapped Flo.
After telling Billy off, Sally stormed over to the Abbott house to tell all to Jack and Diane. Jack shocked her with the news that he didn’t pull the funding from Abbott Communications — Billy did.
Sally: “Billy lied to me. Why did I blow up my life for this? Billy could go to prison.”
Jack: “That’s a decision he’s going to have to make. Billy’s going to have to sink or swim on his own.”
Hey, Y&R: Surprise us. Let him sink!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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