Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Lily (Christel Khalil, l.) was on guard with Aunt Mamie (Veronica Redd) when she warned her about Billy.
Soaps need a refresher course on what constitutes good drama. Love triangles, escaped convicts, complicated weddings and snarky dialogue fit the bill. Doctors appointments, boring business meetings and frontburner strangers do not.
I remain mystified by all the screen time Young and Restless is devoting to the disorder of a child we barely know.
Adam: “Can you tell us about Connor’s trauma?”
Doctor: “He has co-morbidity: OCD and trauma.”
Adam: “What did we do?”
Chelsea (scolding): “Adam, please.”
Yes Adam, please. Please help us understand why we are watching you and Chelsea discuss Connor’s “intrusive thoughts” with your son’s doctor on a Zoom call. It was one thing when Guiding Light showcased Bert Bauer’s groundbreaking uterine cancer story and General Hospital educated us about HIV/AIDS with Stone and Robin. It is quite another when a scarcely-seen kid becomes the focus of a duo who have little rooting value and aren’t even together.
To review: Adam and Chelsea are terrible people. That’s their role on the show. Adam killed Billy’s daughter Delia, stole Sharon’s baby Faith (and gave her to Ashley), tampered with Victor’s medication to try and kill him, and faked his own death. Chelsea embezzled money from Fenmore’s, poisoned Rey Rosales, and set up Billy for drug possession and rape. (How Chelsea and Billy are currently dating is beyond me.)
Watching what their reckless behavior did to their son is a cautionary tale, not a soap opera tale.
Adam: “What if Connor blames us for all this misery?”
He should. I do.
Give me Nikki’s alcoholism, Phyllis’s scheming, Victor holding Jordan hostage (!) and Lily going scorched earth on Daniel, all worthy of valuable screen time.
Devon: “You fired Daniel without cause.”
Lily: “He cheated on me while I was helping my daughter through an emotional trauma. Now Daniel wants to fight me? I’m tired of playing nice.”
Indeed: She’s voting against her own cousin, inching closer to her ex Billy, and sassing her Aunt Mamie.
Mamie: “You can’t trust Billy.”
Lily: “Maybe I shouldn’t trust you.”
That’s how you tell a business story – with lots of messy, dramatic feelings getting in the way of the workday.
Over on Days of our Lives, Bella magazine lost an advertiser so Alex announced Titan had to close the magazine… that day.
Theresa: “Tell me it’s not true.”
Alex: “Green Industries decided to pull out of the issue.”
Theresa: “They’re our biggest advertiser! Can we get Green Industries on the phone?”
Alex: “They’re out. The numbers do not lie. The magazine is failing.”
Theresa: “Maybe we can get a new advertiser.”
Alex: “It’s too late. There’s not going to be another issue. I’m going to have to pull the plug on Bella. Today.”
Even someone who hasn’t spent a career in magazines knows that one advertiser pulling out of one issue would not close the entire enterprise down in one day. Whatever… if it brings smarmy Alex down, it will be worth it.
Former CEO Maggie Horton Kiriakis heard about the failure of Bella from Theresa and went straight to Alex for what should have been a major comeuppance re: his mishandling of the family business.
Maggie: “I want you to bring me back on at Titan. I know the company has been struggling since Victor’s death. You and I together can right this ship.”
What? A farfetched business story should at least deliver family fireworks. Viewers know Alex isn’t even Victor’s son, so his perch at the top of the company is not deserved. A story that depends on Maggie being dumb (i.e. not doing due diligence) is not fair to that beloved A-list character – and don’t get me started on her falling for newbie Konstantin’s line of bull. Proposing that she marry Konstantin to make amends for Victor’s bad behavior (and supposedly to keep the Kon man in the country) makes even less sense than Bella closing.
Maggie: “The only thing left for you to do is say yes.”
Konstantin: “I accept your kind and beautiful proposal.”
Xander: “This is insane!”
GH does a good job with Deception’s drama because even the most boring business meeting devolves into scenes like Sasha quitting, Lucy spinning out and Maxie lying face down in her office. Carly’s been all over the board with jobs at The Metro Court, Crimson and Bobbie’s Diner so I wondered where they were going when a broken stove became a plot point. Carly called her kids to lend a hand.
Joss: “Please tell me you brought help.”
Michael: “I am the help.”
Joss: “We’re doomed.”
The sibling revelry at the diner led to Michael giving Josslyn the scoop on Carly spending the night in Jagger’s hotel room.
Joss (to her mom): “What’s the deal with your FBI buddy?”
There it is! A boring business event should always lead to something juicy.
Conversely, watching Gregory die of ALS is torture. Meeting with doctors, changing his meds, collapsing in front of Violet… none of it is enjoyable.
Finn (to his sick father): “Can you lift your arms and legs?”
Gregory: “I’m getting feeling back. I’m going to be fine on the wedding day.”
It’s such a bummer because Gregory is the first guy to make Tracy smile in years. I hope he does make the wedding because GH has successfully played every beat of its lead-up.
Example: A boring conversation between Lois and Finn about wedding emails evolved into Lois asking Finn to have his dad bcc her on everything he sent Tracy because she and Tracy don’t get along. Has there ever been a more relatable moment than the mother of the bride trying to navigate fraught family relationships?
Lois also strong-armed Sonny into attending after he announced he’d just send a gift.
Lois (sarcastic): “What, a gravy boat? Toaster oven? Spatulas?”
She rightly called him on all the people he was trying to avoid (which we know is due to Valentin messing with Sonny’s medication).
Sonny: “I’m fine with all kinds of people.”
Lois: “Oh, yeah. I can see you dancing the funky chicken next to Ned and Michael and Tracy. Come to the wedding. Rise above your petty grievances.”
Sonny: “My grievances are not petty. I’m a target.”
Lois: “It’s going to be the safest wedding in years!”
Uh-oh…
The exception to the boring business rule is B&B because the characters never do any work. They hold meetings at Forrester to discuss things like Hope kissing Thomas in Italy, Hope splitting from Liam, and Hope not accepting Thomas’s proposal.
Most recently it’s the Forrester cousins going at it in the office over Zende sleeping with RJ’s girlfriend Luna.
Zende: “I know that you are frustrated and hurt. There’s plenty of blame to go around. Don’t you dare blame Luna.”
RJ: “You stabbed me in the back. Did you forget Luna was my girlfriend?”
Clearly. I also enjoyed Ridge and Brooke at the office discussing Deacon’s belief that Sheila is still alive juxtaposed with Steffy and Hope having a business meeting to debate the same thing. (Is anyone designing dresses over there?)
Steffy: “Deacon needs to accept the truth. Sheila is dead.”
Hope: “My dad is processing it in his own way.”
By talking to Lauren Fenmore — after seeing that the dead body had 10 toes while Sheila only had nine and realizing that an ex-con named Sugar got plastic surgery to look like Sheila.
Hope (to Steffy): “My dad is convinced he saw ten toes.”
Sign me up for any meeting where the principals of the company discuss the presence of an extra toe at a crematorium leading to the discovery of a murderer’s double – you can’t say that’s not good drama!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
