(From l. to r.) Kristina (Kate Mansi) mourned with her mother Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) Sam’s death on GH while B&B’s Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) schemed.

The Best

General Hospital: Saying Good-bye To Sam

How do you bid farewell to a beloved core character like Sam McCall? With small meaningful moments combined with big sweeping scenes that lean on history — and eventually spin into new stories to keep her memory alive. GH hit all the right notes here, from Alexis struggling to select a photo for the funeral, to the flashbacks that accompanied the eulogies (she was “cool to the core” praised Spinelli), to Sam’s outcast Aunt Ava and half brother Lucas reminiscing at Sam’s father Julian’s grave, to the poignant scene between Jason and Danny at Sam’s grave (next to the same headstone Sam and Jason buried baby Lila with in 2005).

GH stayed true to character, too. It was vintage Alexis to go right to her office after the service to locate Sam’s will. Upon learning Sam had named Drew custodian of Danny and Scout, Alexis called batting brothers Jason and Drew in for a lecture about doing right by Sam’s kids. That spun Jason over to the Qs for a heart-to-heart with Dante after which they both agreed to move into the mansion to keep Rocco, Danny and Scout together.

Sam’s legacy is in good hands with the two great loves of her life joining forces to keep her family together, and Jason stepping up for Danny (who steps up for Scout) will be a living tribute to her memory. Her sendoff was emotional yet hopeful, showing how impactful and heartbreaking this loss is — and will continue to be — across Port Charles.

Young and Restless: Jack And Diane Come Clean

There was something fishy about how sudden and very public Jack and Diane’s breakup was last month. The last thing buttoned-up Jack Abbott would ever do is have a screaming match with his wife at the GCAC, especially in front of his arch enemy Victor Newman. Turns out their split was staged to prove to Kyle that Victor was just using him to get revenge on Jack and had no interest in Kyle actually running Glissade. Indeed, Victor offered to give Glissade to Diane if she fired Kyle at Abby and Devon’s wedding — which she did.

Kyle was outraged. His parents quickly ’fessed up about the act and the reason for it, but he was having none of it. “I worry we were too convincing and now we’ve lost Kyle,” fretted Diane. “We pushed him to that point for a reason,” reminded Jack. Kyle has now been fired from two companies, both times by his mother. It remains to be seen if the ego-driven Abbott can accept the parental tough love and go back to status quo at Jabot but, as Jack asserted, “This is up to Kyle.”

Days of Our Lives: Sarah Walks!

Sarah Horton Kiriakis was paralyzed last summer after being struck by a car driven by her mother-in-law. Fiona framed a drunken Brady for the crime which caused Sarah’s husband Xander to have Brady drugged to later set up for murder that would look like a suicide. Lucky for Xander, Sarah called Jada, who interrupted, and Brady survived — because he brokered a deal with Kristen to get his hands on a magic serum (invented by lunatic Dr. Rolf) that could cure Sarah’s paralysis. Despite dubbing Rolf a “wacko scientist,” Kayla stuck Sarah with a giant needle of the stuff and then they waited…

“Mom, I felt that!” exulted Sarah suddenly after Maggie dropped a water bottle on her leg. “The serum is working!” Xander rushed in, the doctor pronounced it astounding and Sarah ordered her own CT scan and bloodwork to get the ball rolling on her recovery. Don’t get up, they all ordered Sarah. Yeah, right. After four months in a wheelchair, the plucky doc grabbed a cane and made her way out to the nurses’ station where her loved ones could only ooh and ah at her miraculous soap-opera-level recovery before she collapsed in Xander’s arms.

“For the first time in a long time, things feel hopeful,” beamed Sarah. Amen!

The Worst

Bold and Beautiful: Carter’s Hostile Takeover

Say what you want about the Forresters, they’re not dumb. They own successful Forrester Creations where Carter Walton has worked his way up to COO and been paid handsomely for his efforts (based on his house, his clothes and his sports car). Carter recently pitched that FC should expand into a global luxury brand which co-CEO’s Ridge and Steffy nixed. Founder Eric went a step further, decreeing that the company has never been in debt and never will be.

Rather than accept the decision of his bosses (like every employee in the world does every day), Carter put his name on an LLC that FC was creating for routine tax purposes. His stated intention was to wrest control from Ridge and Steffy so he could expand the company and save his new girlfriend Hope’s fashion line. “We’re talking about a coup,” he repeated to Hope so many times that of course Brooke overheard him and ran straight to Ridge with the news that Carter had played him.

Except he didn’t. A cursory search of whether someone can steal a company with an LLC form reveals numerous references to “misappropriation of funds” and none to “coup” which doesn’t say much for Carter’s managerial skills, never mind his criminal ones. There’s not a lot of “hope for the future” for an ungrateful COO who doesn’t even know how to Google.

DAYS: Body and Soul Jumps The Shark

Where do we start? With someone impersonating head writer Leo’s defunct Lady Whistleblower column to deliver storyline spoilers one minute after the first episode aired? With Leo freaking out that instead of “parties in the street” celebrating his fascinating plot twists nobody would tune in since they know what’s ahead? With the random cupcakes delivered to cast and crew (which they excitedly talked about for three episodes) that turned out to be poisoned, causing them to blorch all over Salem? With the network calling in ratings immediately after the first episode aired? “We’re a hit!” exclaimed Kate as Abe ran to the bathroom to vomit.

Bottom line: DAYS is straying too far from familiar themes like romance and family to script long arcs with strangers (Fiona, Connie, Cat…) interspersed with this farcical soap-within-a-soap. B&S is too over-the-top to be genuinely funny, and if it was meant to scold DAYS actors for giving away plot twists and having illicit backstage sex it’s too “inside baseball” to resonate with most viewers. With little to offer other than silliness, Body and Soul is taking up too much air time and involves too many characters — ones who could be involved in more substantive fare.