Opinion: The Heroines of GH, Y&R, DAYS, B&B and BTG Should Drive Story, Not the Villains
General Hospital‘s Anna battled her demons while Days of Our Lives‘s Marlena mourned her memories, The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Steffy freaked out alone and a lightbulb went off for Beyond the Gates‘s Dani. But The Young and the Restless needs to stop putting baddies center stage.
I Spy
Highlighting a single character in a big story only works if it’s a major fave surrounded by people we care about. Score one for GH’s Anna!
Her recent Faison-related torture at the hands of Sidwell and Cullum sparked a mental health crisis, but as I see it, the former spy actually began her downward spiral in 2022 when she pretended to call an ambulance for Peter but watched him die instead. Since then, Anna has mistakenly shot Charlotte, kissed Jason, and been held captive at Wyndemere. The girl has been busy.
Anna’s latest challenge involved visions of Peter’s ghost telling her to kill Britt to “protect her family.” Anna dutifully pulled a gun but Jason stopped her which led to Britt and Jason breaking up because it’s hard to date someone who sided with the person who tried to murder you. Jason turned to Carly, Britt confided in Valentin (so Carly and Val could hash it out later) and Joss ratted Anna out to the WSB per Anna’s instruction since she knows Agent Jacks must “follow protocol” re: her spiral.
Joss: “I had to report your grandmother’s situation to Agent Baines.”
Emma: “You selfish bitch!”
Accurate. The next generation battling adds layers to this story, as does surrounding Anna with fellow A-listers Sonny, Jason, Carly and Valentin. When Anna mused that the WSB was probably going to “seize” her after Joss blabbed, Valentin suggested the two of them disappear. Anna turned him down and told him to stick with his current love.
Valentin (to Carly): “Anna wants me to be at peace, and I am — with you.”
But Anna is so not at peace. She dodged a bullet with the WSB not “seizing” her, but this story illustrated the depths of her struggles as well as how important she is to Emma, Jason, and all who care about her. I personally got a kick out of how everyone took Anna’s side over Britt when Britt was the one almost killed. You reap what you sow, Britch — which is what our beloved Anna is doing.
Baby Boom
B&B’s Steffy Forrester is another one driving solo story, to the point where she’s played entire scenes crying alone about the mess she’s in (thanks to the drunken minute she spent on the couch with Carter). Her pregnancy led to Carter asking Steffy to act as a “surrogate” for him and Daphne.
Steffy: “I could lose my husband! My marriage!”
A month ago she was throwing her rings at Finn and declaring them over, so that’s not a reach. Better was Steffy’s callback to 2019 when she had to give up the child she adopted.
Steffy: “You want me to grow a baby and feel it move and kick and then hand it to you? I can’t. I already had to give Beth back to Hope.”
Carter: “That was different. You’ll be giving Daphne a gift.”
Steffy: “I am not going to compound this lie with a worse one.”
Wanna bet? As preposterous as the inciting incident on the couch was, B&B’s winks to the audience about her predicament have been a riot.
Li (re: Daphne and Carter): “A child will show up one way or another.”
Finn: “It’s wild that there’s a woman out there who will give them their own son or daughter.”
Yeah, your wife! I hope Steffy confides this secret to her parents, because that would drive a great wedge between Ridge/Brooke and Taylor/Deacon. It would also add the layer of keeping how the baby was conceived from Brooke and Deacon’s daughter Hope, aka Steffy’s nemesis. Steffy has always judged Hope. Turnabout is fair play, and the very married Steffy getting pregnant by Hope’s most recent ex is delicious payback. Play it!
(Un)happy Days
Marlena Evans has long been the heart of DAYS, so using her to tell yet another Stefano redux might work because it’s built around Marlena’s trauma. Julie picked up on that, and it helped make us care.
Julie: “Are you all right?”
Marlena: “I’m feeling glum. The house is empty. Belle isn’t home, and then there’s John… I envy you so. You’ve got your family right here in Salem.”
Julie: “You’re part of that family! Maya Angelou wrote, ‘Family isn’t just about blood. It’s about the people in your life who love you.’ Marlena, you are loved.”
Marlena shared that Belle and Chad were investigating Stefano’s bequest and finding clues about the time she spent on his island. She hates her memories from those years, which will be key if Dominic Marino turns out to be her child with Stefano.
Julie: “I can’t follow all this intrigue, but I see why you’re worried. Don’t let a dead man have power over you.”
Listen to Julie! I hope this is the last Stefano-centric story because Marlena needs to move on. Villains are a necessary side dish, but they cannot be the main course — especially not when they’ve been dead since 2016.
Ex Marks The Spot
BTG is new, so there are no OG vets to root for like the above heroines. They’ve built a strong anti-hero in Joey Armstrong, but there’s no cheering for his viperous sister Heather killing people and running a black market plasma ring. Exes Dani Dupree and Bill Hamilton have emerged as the A-listers we care about, weaving in and out of each other’s lives while juggling shaky new marriages. Just when we’re ready to write off macho cheater Bill, he sneaks over to Dani’s house and says something like this:
Bill: “I should have appreciated you more when we were married.”
Aw… Their daughters are leery of mom and dad inching back to each other, as are Dani’s parents — which makes this a solid three-generation story. Anita has her antenna up every time Dani defends her relationship with “the father of my children!” especially when Dani snipes that she’s tired of feeling guilty.
Anita: “Guilty? Did something happen between you and Bill?”
Dani: “There is nothing going on right now between Bill and me.”
Nice dodge. Bill later collapsed in front of Dani, and their subsequent conversation at the hospital about how Hayley has been feeding him smoothies was the lightbulb Dani needed to figure out Bill’s new bride was poisoning him. “Hayley, you conniving bitch,” hissed Dani. “You did this!”
Murder, She Wrote
Y&R has spent waaay too much time on baddies and psychos lately which is curious because we don’t care about them. Phyllis following rapist/kidnapper/attempted murderer Matt all over Genoa City and begging him to love her is just not believable. (At least when Phyllis threw herself at famed singer Danny Romalotti we could understand it!) Matt says he’s leaving, Phyllis begs him to stay, lather, rinse, repeat. The latest “twist” is that he’s taking Patty with him.
Matt: “Time for me to move on.”
Phyllis: “By running off and playing house with Patty?”
Matt: “I’m more like Patty than anyone else.”
Phyllis: “Please don’t go. I’m begging you.”
Matt is like Patty, in that he’s an irredeemable villain. The Patty fiasco worked for a minute because it gave our fave Jack Abbott a reason to reunite with Diane. But the total lack of police involvement for an escaped murderer makes it hard to take Patty’s threats seriously, despite the endless scenes of the Abbotts talking about her and the stuffed cat she delivered to their house (!).
Jack (to Billy): “Patty wants to make sure we don’t have another moment of peace. I’m sorry this is happening so close to your wedding.”
Diane: “What if that’s her plan? To wait until the family is all together and strike her final blow?”
Final? I’ll take it.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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