The Best And Worst Of GH, Y&R, DAYS, B&B and BTG The Week Of Sept. 22-26
From Dani and Andre’s surprise drunken wedding on Beyond The Gates to the heartfelt good-bye to a legend on General Hospital and Lauren finally getting the truth out of Michael on The Young and the Restless, here are our critics’ picks for the best and worst on soaps last week.
The Best
General Hospital: Celebrating Monica’s Life
GH took their time with this high-profile tribute, digging up priceless clips of Monica with Port Charles faves while also making sure the non-contract players in her orbit would be there to mourn her. The show milked the drama with Tracy taking off to Atlantic City to avoid facing her feelings and Ned calling Lois to detain her until he and Brook Lynn could bring his grieving mother back on the Q jet.
The memorial service featured the usually silent Jason greeting guests to honor his mom, and a logical array of speakers (Ned, Elizabeth, Laura, Jason, Michael) along with one illogical one: Lucy.
“We hated each other,” announced Lucy, who ascended to the podium despite Felicia’s best efforts to hold her down. “We also shared a husband, the dearly departed Alan.” Her inappropriateness was overshadowed by Drew, who crashed the service. He was triumphantly ushered out by Tracy, who found her voice after the intrusion and spoke: “I know if I don’t do this I’ll regret it. Monica means that much to me.”
As she did to so many other people. Back at the Quartermaine mansion, Olivia served Monica’s favorite hors d’oeuvres (“You’re a Quartermaine through and through, God help you,” Ned praised his wife) and Gio made a surprise appearance to honor his great aunt. Jason’s private farewell was a three-hankie affair, as was the gathering to hang Monica’s picture on the G.H. memorial wall next to her beloved Alan.
The week ended with Tracy seeking a private moment at the Quartermaine crypt, only to find find a strange woman — Erika Slezak making her GH debut! — waiting there to meet her. More drama!
Young and Restless: Lauren To Michael: ’Fess Up
The number of couples lying to each other on Y&R has reached new heights (Nikki/Victor, Kyle/Claire, Billy/Sally, Mariah/Tessa) so it was refreshing when Michael came clean to Lauren.
Of course, the confession didn’t come easy. Michael booked Society for a private dinner which Lauren immediately pegged as his go-to move when he’s done something wrong. The guilty lawyer distracted his wife with champagne and dancing, insisting the less she knows the better. Lauren wrongly assumed Michael had gone back to work for Victor and asserted she was not going to bail him out of jail this time. That cracked him: It’s not Victor, it’s Cane, and he wanted the job because Cane poses a severe threat to Genoa City. “He needs me, and that gives me power,” insisted Michael. “Or he’s setting you up,” retorted Lauren.
Michael eventually sweet-talked his wife into seeing his side, requesting points for being honest about his efforts to stop Cane. “Took you long enough,” replied Lauren.
Beyond The Gates: Dani and Andre Wed!
After Bill told Dani they are never, ever getting back together, she spiraled. “Dani just needs a night of reckless abandon,” mused Nicole.
Cut to the Naughty Dreams Chapel in Las Vegas where Dani and the much-younger Andre had drunkenly decamped. “This place smells like discount perfume and questionable life choices,” slurred Dani.
You can say that again. Taking a page from the famous Friends episode where Monica and Chandler let a gaming table decide if they should wed, Dani and Andre flipped a coin, then did best two out of three. An Anita impersonator appeared and told them to do it; Dani agreed because “mother says so.”
The BTG ceremony was over the top, and the newlyweds had the predictable wake-up the next morning, not knowing where they were or how those rings got on their fingers. “There’s no one I would rather not remember marrying than you,” smiled Dani as she and Andre vowed to keep the wedding “their little secret.”
But nothing stays in Vegas in the age of social media. The Anita impersonator posted a photo, which rippled through Fairmont Crest and sparked the predictable alarm from the Duprees — and an order from Bill that his ex-wife explain herself. Dani’s response? “My days of explaining myself to you are over.”
Days of Our Lives: Blackout!
Blackouts are a soap staple, used to trap unsuspecting people together, move story forward, and script at least one couple having sex.
Xander and Sarah did all three. The estranged duo were in the middle of a conversation about how they have to be “vulnerable” to each other at couples therapy when the lights went out. “Stay over,” encouraged Xander. They made s’mores by candlelight and talked about all the things they miss about each other — and then they hit the sheets. “No regrets?” queried Xander. “Not a one,” smiled Sarah.
Other current or former couples trapped together include Chad/Cat, Stephanie/Alex, Gabi/Philip (with Brady) and EJ/ Belle. “Don’t talk to me,” ordered Belle in the hospital elevator where they soon realized they’d be stuck for awhile. Gwen has it worse: She’s locked alone in the hospital basement.
From a story standpoint, we learned Stephanie has a stalker, Titan is in trouble, and Gabi is still in cahoots with Tony. Marlena appeared to be okay, but passed out in her home after everything went dark.
And this week? The DAYS blackout continues…
The Worst
Bold and Beautiful: Deke Enters The Chat
We’re not mad at B&B bringing on Deacon’s long-lost son. It provides layers to Deacon’s character, gives Hope a half brother, and adds what has been curiously missing since the show’s inception: a gay fashion designer.
The problem lies in the execution. Deke, aka Little Eric, was born on screen in 1999 which makes him older than Hope (and the same age as Steffy). Okay, okay — soaps playing fast and loose with ages is nothing new, so we’ll let that slide. However, bringing Deke on in an already full-fledged relationship with Remy is a cheat. Viewers rarely fall in love with a couple that had all the cute firsts (meeting, admission of feelings, kiss, admission of feelings, romantic first time) take place off camera, and we missed all that. The show already has an uphill battle making us buy that Remy — who followed the beautiful Electra to L.A., stalked her, and posted fake nudes of her — is in an established, healthy relationship with a man.
“All I care about is you,” Remy told Deke. Skipping over how they got there does a disservice to viewers — and a disservice to the first gay male couple in B&B’s history.
DAYS: The Kids Aren’t All Right
Tate and Holly are supposed to be star-crossed teens but every time their love is tested, it fails. DAYS gave them the standard “desperate girl sleeps with Tate to get pregnant and make him love her” tale but Tate told Holly about Sophia and she forgave him. Sophia’s resulting pregnancy and baby didn’t upend Tate and Holly; they battled more over Doug III and broke up over a necklace. It’s hard to tell who loves whom here, which hampers rooting value.
A big reason stories like this work is because the parents are A-listers involved in their kids’ business. But to review: Tate has no mom and a dad with his own problems (Brady), Sophia has no dad and a meddling mom we don’t know, and Holly has no dad and a mom offscreen (Nicole) — so there is no parental pushback on this seedy triangle.
Most recently, Sophia spiked Holly’s drink while pretending to care about her. “What is she doing here?” a tipsy Holly asked Ari, another young person with absent parents (the offscreen Will and the barely involved Gabi). Sophia insisted she wanted to make sure “Holls” was okay so Ari let her stay alone with her (!). Sophia then took racy, inappropriate photos of the passed-out girl.
This tale needs more parental involvement and a clearer explanation of how these young people feel if viewers are to spark to this next generation.
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