It’s Only My Opinion: Why Soaps Need Truth Tellers Like GH’s Tracy and Y&R’s Lily

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: Y&R’s Lily (Christel Khalil, l., with Billy Flynn as Cane) and GH’s Tracy (Jane Elliot) are prone to keeping it real.

Every show should have at least one character who says what we, the audience, are thinking. That makes the outlandish tales (!) more credible.

What to do with a crooked guy like General Hospital’s Congressman Drew Cain? He was videotaped doing body shots off a hooker under the influence of ketamine, slept with Willow’s mother (Nina), mother-in-law (Carly), and now wants to marry Willow fresh off her divorce from his nephew, Michael. Angry that Tracy wouldn’t let him use the Quartermaine name (which he’s technically entitled to as Alan’s illegitimate son), Drew incriminated her in the ketamine caper. 

Tracy: “As if I would ever slip Drew a drug and then leave that drug in my car. If you’re going to frame someone, put a little effort into it.” 

That’s exactly what fans were thinking, which is why Tracy is the gold standard. Drew blackmailed Tracy into reading a butt-kissing statement that would give him the Quartermaine name at a press conference in exchange for his dropping those bogus charges. But when it came time to read it, Tracy went rogue.

Tracy (to reporters): “I can’t do it. I have to tell you the truth. He did take the drugs. He did plant them in my car. He is an embarrassment and a disgrace to my family. The congressman should be thrown out of office the same way his stepmother threw him out of the Quartermaine mansion.”  

Ooof! Martin quipped that only a stroke could explain Tracy’s “gross display,” so she turned the tables and brought up the video of Drew and Willow having sex in the children’s playroom, “amongst my mother’s antique dolls.” Cody entered to say he borrowed Tracy’s car for a horse emergency, and he left the horse drug in her car. So, Tracy was innocent of drugging Drew, and Drew looked innocent of framing her. Press conference over; Drew skulked out.

And whaddya know? It turned out Cody’s “confession” was false, and it was all Michael’s idea.

Tracy (to Brook Lynn): “Real Quartermaines get things done.” 

Like I said, the gold standard. 

Beyond the Gates’s Dani began her soap life cartoonishly firing a gun at her ex-husband’s wedding, but she has evolved into a surprisingly honest heroine. Her growth was solidified when Bill had his stroke, and she turned up to comfort him because she knew he was afraid of hospitals. Bill’s new wife, Hayley (who Dani called a “trashy pregnant ho”), did not appreciate Dani’s efforts, but it turns out Bill did. 

Bill: “When I was in that hospital bed, trapped in my own body, I didn’t know if I’d ever be the same big, bad Bill Hamilton. Then you walked into that room and read me, body and soul. You didn’t owe me that. You owed me the opposite. Still, you grabbed my hand and willed me back, and I can’t seem to shake it.” 

Dani: “What are you saying, Bill?”

Bill: “I regret how I left you. I felt trapped, and I blamed you because you seemed so oblivious.”

Dani: “I felt what was coming. I didn’t know its name was Hayley. I thought you would gut it out through your midlife crisis and wake up and grab onto me like you did in that hospital, and we’d be fine.” 

Bill acknowledged he acted like a “damn coward” and said he should have honored her instead. He apologized and asked if they could move forward without the vitriol. Dani retorted that she’s still picking up the pieces of her family while he has started a whole new family, so no promises. Baby steps… 

Dani: “I’m glad you didn’t die.”

Bill: “I’m glad you’re glad.” 

How many wronged women would love to have a conversation like that with an ex? Kudos all around for that riveting, raw display.  

Young and Restless’s Lily got to do a version of that when her dodgy ex-husband, Cane, resurfaced as a billionaire with the fake name of Aristotle Dumas. The preposterousness of that aside, Lily showed solid intuition when she told Devon she felt “unsettled” before being whisked away to meet their reclusive host in Nice.

Lily: “Why are you here, Cane? This makes no sense. This whole time, you have been pretending to be Dumas?”

Apparently. They have kids together (Charlie and Mattie, born in 2010), whom they’ve been co-parenting while Cane took on this nom de plume and made billions. So, he’s got some ‘splainin to do. 

Lily: “Why have a fake name if you have nothing to hide?” 

Exactly. 

Victor is another one who does not suffer fools. He demanded a private audience with Cane, who offered him the bulk of his holdings so Cane could start over with a clean slate. 

Victor: “What do you want in return?”

Cane: “Control of Chancellor.” 

Victor: “That’s funny.” 

Cane Ashby, who tried to scam Genoa City into thinking he was Jill’s son when he first hit town, wants control of Chancellor Industries? Somewhere, Katherine is saying, “You go, Victor!” 

Over on Days of Our Lives, Julie and Maggie have long histories of keeping their loved ones in line. It’s been hard to reconcile Maggie’s sweet daughter Sarah being in love with rotten Xander Kiriakis, but the heart wants what it wants. Thankfully, she seems to have wised up after the 900th time he tried to kill someone. 

Stephanie: “Didn’t Philip say Xander wasn’t his attacker?” 

Sarah: “I don’t believe that.” 

Stephanie: “If Philip admits Xander was his attacker, your husband could be going to prison for a long time.” 

Sarah: “If my husband committed that horrific crime, that’s exactly where he belongs.”

Johnny’s grandparents exhibited the same tough love with him after hearing he was a suspect in EJ’s shooting.

Roman: “Did you shoot your father?” 

Marlena: “We want to help you, but you have to tell us the truth.”

How un-soap-like! Johnny admitted taking Roman’s gun from behind the bar and said he thought about it, but ended up giving the gun to EJ.

Roman: “You never shot EJ?”

Johnny: “No. But I feel like a horrible person for wanting to.” 

Roman: “So someone else confronted EJ after Johnny left and shot him with my gun.”

Roman’s on the case!  

The case of Bold and Beautiful’s Ridge and Taylor living in Eric’s house — where all they do is talk about Brooke — is harder to solve. The return of Brooke’s ex-husband (and Ridge’s half-brother) Nick led to lots of conversations between them where Ridge said he doesn’t like Nick, “and never will.” Taylor knows that’s based on Nick’s history with Brooke, but rather than call Ridge on it, she chose to propose instead.

Taylor: “Let’s get married again and reunite our family.”

They spend every day with Steffy, and Thomas lives in Paris, so not sure what she meant by that — but it had insecurity written all over it.  

Similarly, Ridge told Brooke how he thought she should handle Nick’s return. Enter Katie with some welcome tough love.  

Brooke: “When Nick left the room, Ridge told me to stay away from him.”

Katie: “Let me get this straight: Ridge can move on with Taylor, but you have to stay away from Nick?”

Brooke: “He said Nick isn’t good enough for me.”

Katie: “He’s jealous!” 

We were thinking the same thing…

Hey. It’s only my opinion.