Opinion: Soaps From GH to Y&R Are Mixing Up Character Combos — with Mixed Results!
Some unusual and/or unexpected character combinations have taken center stage on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Beyond the Gates and Days of our Lives. Our critic has some thoughts about which ones are working and which ones aren’t!
Stranger Things
GH is showcasing lots of strange bedfellows, starting with Drew and Ava and their outsized plot to destroy Sonny by framing him for the Pentonville beating — which they arranged. The duo is pretty hated in Port Charles so the team-up makes sense, but they’ll need some rooting value to work after burying the popular Brennan.
Jason Morgan and Serena Baldwin are another peculiar pairing. The premise of their interaction was that animal lover Serena wanted to stop Tracy from destroying a nest of protected falcons so she sneaked up to the Quartermaine roof in high heels and wound up hanging upside down. Jason rescued her, and she obnoxiously asked him to bring her a list of items to continue her efforts.
Jason (eye rolling): “I’m just going to get the nest myself.”
They relocated the birds to the Q nature preserve which could make this curious caper worth it if it unearths Brennan’s body. The pairing felt forced (and Serena is so not Jason’s type) but on paper, Lucy Coe’s daughter hooking up with Alan Quartermaine’s son gives me all the 1990 feels.
The winner of best left-field duo last week involved circling back to the weird 2020 hookup of Brook Lynn and Valentin when she faked a pregnancy to get his ELQ stock. They shared shockingly sweet scenes where Valentin told his ex to let Chase go because she was just playing the role of someone he could love.
Valentin: “Eventually you’ve got to let someone see the real you. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
That hit Brook Lynn hard, because she has been cosplaying the role of innocent wife. I’d say it was a chem test, but Valentin is knee-deep in Carly and Anna. Those two actually discussed it when Carly asked Anna to mentor Josslyn at the WSB. Anna responded hell no and shared her mental health issues re: Faison. Carly suggested Valentin could help her.
Anna: “Our relationship was tortured. You two seem very happy together, you need to protect that. Focus on the future.”
Carly selflessly offering up her current bedfellow to help his ex? Now that’s strange.
Friends Without Benefits
Soaps don’t throw splashy weddings/showers/parties anymore thanks to budget cuts, but a little creativity can bridge the gap like Y&R did with Sally’s bachelorette party. The premise was that a stomach bug had spread through Genoa City, which explained why Sally’s many friends (who we’ve never met) couldn’t be there.
Sally (to Chelsea and Audra): “I know this is not our normal friend group, but Lily, Claire, Victoria? Great additions.”
Really? Lily and Victoria who have both slept with the groom? (Never mind bridesmaid Chelsea…) Y&R didn’t address that or play it which was a huge missed opportunity, but at least Victoria got to share awkward moments with her daughter before sneaking off to sleep with Claire’s ex-fiancé Kyle.
Over at the Abbotts, Jack assured Diane he would keep Billy’s bachelor party low-key and casual.
Jack: “No strippers, no cigars. Just a fine bottle of scotch.”
Ding dong! It’s his ex-wife Nikki.
Diane: “I thought you said there weren’t going to be any strippers.”
Ha! That was the line of the week, followed by this one as the men roasted Billy:
Cane: “I know I was only invited because you don’t have any friends.”
No need to manufacture a stomach bug for that sorry gathering. The fact that Victor’s lawyer Michael Baldwin was the only non-relation in the room proved Cane’s point.
Fashion Wars
We’re five weeks into Steffy’s inconvenient pregnancy on B&B via her couch encounter with her employee Carter, which is the very definition of a strange bedfellow. I can’t write any more about them until their story moves forward, so how about the odd pairing of fellow Forrester employees Dylan and Zende?
Dylan got Zende to reach out to Hope re: joining Logan (to ingratiate herself with Will’s mother Katie) and her job was threatened. Zende used the Logan offer to challenge his uncle Ridge and grandfather Eric about how disrespected he feels at Forrester since they gave his inexperienced cousin RJ his own fashion line.
Zende: “Being adopted into this family was the luckiest day of my life. Opportunities I could never imagine. But most importantly, you gave me a family. You put me on Hope for the Future, and now I have a chance to go back to it.”
Ridge: “Walk away from the family you love so much?”
Zende: “Despite your sister being my mom, I still feel like an outsider. I’m going to work with Hope at Logan.”
Eric: “You’re not going anywhere, son.”
Zende agreed to stay, but insisted Dylan keep her job, too. The Forresters protested and Zende decided to walk out after all — and he took Dylan with him.
Two outsiders teaming up to get the better of the Forresters? That could work.
House Of Cards
DAYS’ Kiriakis clan saved Titan and now they need to “keep the train on the tracks” by saving the family mansion. That effort united a host of motley characters, starting with Victor’s former wives Maggie and Kate joining forces and summoning Sarah, her ex Xander, and Philip to The Brady Pub to share their idea to “destroy” the house.
Maggie: “It’s a Hail Mary.”
Philip: “If Dominic Marino thinks the house is a money pit he’ll lose interest?”
That’s the plan. Roman stuck his nose in but they shooed him away by saying their plotting was Titan business.
Maggie: “Is he going to be a problem?”
Kate: “I was hoping to borrow his toolbox.”
Saving the family home was worth asking Brady to bring his toolbox, despite the uncomfortableness with Xander. Naturally, Sarah wound up in close quarters with a bare-chested Xander (thanks to a plumbing explosion) so Brady could find them. Awkward! Maggie assured the gang that making the pipes leak, unleashing rats in the basement, and planting mold in the walls could all be reversed once Dominic backed out of the deal. “What’s a little asbestos between friends?” quipped Philip.
Turned out Roman had eavesdropped at the Pub; he showed up to join in the sabotage.
Roman (to Kate): “Put me in, coach.”
The only thing missing was Victor’s other ex-wife Vivian.
Mean Girls
I couldn’t figure out why social climber Leslie was being so nice to town pariah Hayley on BTG, so I appreciated Marcel asking his boo to clarify.
Leslie: “I want to help her. Women like us were forged by the same fire. That kind of life leaves marks, and those marks when you see them on somebody else feels like you found a kindred spirit.”
She left out the part about how she blames Bill for Ted dumping her and was thrilled to learn Hayley had tried to murder him. Hayley blackmailed her way out of that, so Bill was spitting nails when he signed the divorce papers giving her “money I won’t miss and a house I don’t want.” Hayley got the last word, though, saying out loud what everyone knows about Bill’s cheated-on ex-spouse.
Bill: “I wanted a wife. You wanted a payoff.”
Hayley: “Liar. You wanted Dani.”
As his bedfellow… again!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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