It’s Only My Opinion: Wasted Youth On General Hospital, Y&R, B&B, DAYS and BTG
Where are all the young daytime couples? Teen(ish) angst used to be a soap staple, but it’s hard to find these days.
Bold and Beautiful’s Will and Electra are on the right track. They have the requisite chemistry and obstacles needed to shine, but they don’t talk like young people. Their dialogue could believably be said by Ridge and Brooke about any villain on any episode.
Electra: “I love you so much.”
Will (re: Luna): “You didn’t sign up for any of this. It’s not fair to ask you to stay. All I want in the world is for you to be happy. Do you think you can have that with me? I’ve never met anyone like you; your courage, your joy. From the moment I met you, I just wanted to bring a smile to your face.”
Electra: “Until this happened, I could see a perfect life for us. Everything looks different now, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is how much I love you. This mess with Luna, it’s a lot. But we have a chance and we have to take it.”
Then Will and Electra hugged like grandparents on Christmas, not budding lovers on the cusp of moving in together. B&B has a rare find in these two — give them some Forrester v. Spencer drama and behavior worthy of 20-year-olds!
Sister show Young and Restless has no young people, which is a big miss. Johnny and Katie Abbott, Connor, Christian, and Faith Newman, Charlie and Mattie Ashby, Lucy Romalotti… they’re all there for the taking, but none are on screen. Their one young-ish offspring, Noah Newman, seems to have dumped his young-ish girlfriend, Allie (Jack Abbott’s granddaughter), and is having an affair with newcomer Sienna, who is his mother’s age.
More next generation, less corporate intrigue!
Beyond the Gates is chock full of young-ish drama. The Kat/Tomas/Eva triangle and Chelsea’s “throuples” before she hooked up with Madison were appropriately messy, but they’ve also done a good job with Dupree family high schoolers Samantha and Tyrell (who were adopted out of foster care, which helps explain how they are so close in age with their aunties). Tyrell had a cute Halloween date with Jessica, but his sister, Samantha, was caught on the couch with high school football star Nathan (who just wanted her virginity as a notch on his belt). That caused a blowup with her dads. It’s all very believable, and Martin and Smitty are struggling with it.
Martin: “We realize we need to get to know your significant others and their families. If we see never see Nathan again, it will be too soon…”
Smitty: “…but Tyrell, we would like to have Jessica and her parents over for dinner.”
Tyrell: “How did I get involved in this?”
Ha!
BTG also uses adult missteps to create drama for their offspring, like Dani drunk-marrying her sister Nicole’s nephew, Andre, who is closer in age to Dani’s daughters. Their wedding was a Vegas lark until Dani and Andre caught feelings, as evidenced by their conversation about why he doesn’t let women too far into his life.
Andre: “There’s very few things that make me envious, but people my age with parents…”
Dani: “That’s why Ted and Nicole mean so much to you.”
Andre: “Sometimes Uncle Ted will laugh, and I swear I hear my father. It’s a loss you don’t want to know. Maybe that’s why I’m so selfish with my love, because I don’t want to do that to anybody’s heart.”
If Chelsea and Naomi heard him talking like that, they would surely soften towards their new stepdad.
Days of Our Lives has had a good run with Holly and Tate’s tumultuous teen romance (thanks to Sophia claiming Tate fathered her baby when the real dad was Aaron). They’ve all been written like real young people doing dumb things, like Sophia giving birth alone (!) and Tate believing the picture she gave him of “his” baby with its new adoptive parents was real. “That’s the picture that came with the frame,” Brady corrected his naive son.
They haven’t delved into the aftermath of Sophia’s lies enough yet (she’s in a catatonic state), but at least Tate and Aaron have started working through the damage she did to their friendship.
Aaron: “One night with Sophia, and we ended up making a life. Now I’m the father of a child I had to give up. That’s messing with me.”
Tate: “I can definitely relate to that.”
I wish DAYS and B&B would give young people stories that didn’t involve pregnancy. It ages teens when they become parents so young.
General Hospital hit a home run with Spencer and Trina, who were basically shot out of a chemistry cannon. I get why Trina and Kai have fizzled, because that was a hard act to follow. Recasting Spencer feels like the way to go now with that combustible couple — the Cassadine drama and rooting value is built in.
Josslyn also had a good run (Oscar, Cam, Dex), but she’s now a secret WSB agent sleeping with a grown man, so they’ve aged her markedly up. The good news is that GH has a slew of next-gen stars waiting in the wings, starting with the adorable Emma and Gio. Anna Devane’s granddaughter and Sonny Corinthos’s grandson? The possibilities are endless.
Ditto the possibilities with fellow A-list offspring Danny (Quartermaine/Cassadine dynasty), Rocco (Spencer/Corinthos), and Charlotte (Spencer/Cassadine), each one a member of a core family. They all risked trouble helping Emma break into Dalton’s lab, which was hilarious on a number of fronts. 1) The WSB has been trying to crack this case for months, but it was the teens who moved on it. 2) Britt, aka The Britch, has been slinging her sarcasm all over PC, so it served her right getting played by a bunch of amateur sleuths barely old enough to drive. 3) Of course, Emma and Charlotte spearheaded the whole thing. Trouble is in their DNA!
Charlotte: “Britt barely knows who I am, so I’ll be the one to steal the key fob.”
Danny: “What do you want me and Rocco to do?”
Charlotte: “Distract Britt. When she comes in for her shift, you’ll ask her to join you for coffee. Then I’ll steal the key fob from her bag.”
Rocco: “What if Britt doesn’t sit down with me?”
Charlotte: “That’s where Danny comes in.”
The plan went awry because Britt had to save Ned from a heart attack; that sent Gio and Emma to the hospital, too.
Rocco: “So we have to do it ourselves.”
Dalton almost caught The Scooby-Doo Gang in his lab, but Rocco drew his fire to protect Charlotte and Danny. It’s a shame Charlotte and Danny are related (distantly, through their shared Cassadine DNA). Perhaps it’s time to age Donna so she can date Danny? A romance between Sonny’s daughter (with Carly) and Jason’s son wouldn’t just be teen angst — it could spark a mob war!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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