(From l.) Y&R’s Sally and Billy (Courtney Hope and Jason Thompson), DAYS’s Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) and GH’s Ric (Rick Hearst) made strong on-screen impressions last week.

The Best

Days of Our Lives: Julie Mourns Doug

We knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. On Thanksgiving Day, Jack went to wake Doug from a nap and discovered that Julie’s beloved husband had passed away. Jack broke the news to Julie who collapsed in the Horton chair that had been saved from the fire (nice touch).

Word spread through Salem, and loved ones who hadn’t already gathered for dinner started arriving. Marlena, Paulina, Maggie and Sarah quietly filed in to pay their respects. Kayla arrived with an ambulance, telling Julie to take all the time she needed before they took Doug away. Jennifer called Hope (keeping vigil by Bo’s bedside) who burst into tears. “I just wanted to reach through the phone and hug her,” lamented Jen. Choice flashbacks included Hope recalling her 18th birthday with her dad, Jen remembering Doug and Julie giving her romantic advice about Jack, and Maggie reminiscing about a dance she and Doug performed together for a hospital fundraiser.

But in the end, the episode was all about Julie. “You’re my whole world,” she whispered to Doug’s body. “The way you looked at me, the way you loved me.…”

She’s surrounded by love, but it will be a struggle for Julie — and DAYS — to move forward without the cherished Doug Williams.

Bold and Beautiful: Ridge Fights Back

“You got something to tell me?” Ridge demanded of Carter after learning his COO and best friend had teamed up with Hope to assume control of Forrester Creations.

Gulp, said Carter. And then Ridge went off. He accused Carter of stabbing him in the back because Forrester had passed over his “little girlfriend,” Hope, who gets her hooks in men, woos them, and then drives them away. “Same thing happened to Liam and Thomas,” cited Ridge.

Carter’s takeover plan involved putting his name on a Forrester LLC, which Ridge dismissed as “silly papers” that would only succeed in alienating the family that had promoted and trusted Carter for years. He acknowledged that he knew Carter was frustrated the Foresters didn’t agree with Carter’s plan to expand the business, but responding with a coup didn’t sound like Carter — it sounded like Hope.

Carter stood there shell-shocked as Ridge ordered him to end his toxic relationship. “Get Hope out of your life,” warned Ridge, “before it’s too late.”

Young and Restless: Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

Viewers knew Jack and Diane had faked their breakup, but the Abbotts didn’t find out until Diane showed up for Thanksgiving. “Do you want me to throw her out?” asked Ashley, advancing on her sister-in-law. No need, said Jack, who went on the explain that firing Diane and separating from her had been a ruse to try and get Kyle back in the family fold. There was skepticism all around, including from Kyle who was still smarting from his mother having fired him from Jabot and Glissade.

“We don’t want to push,” insisted Diane. Then don’t, retorted Kyle, adding that it would take a lot more than turkey to achieve a kumbaya with his parents. Diane chose dinnertime to announce her plan for Kyle to reclaim his “rightful place” beside his father at Jabot as co-CEO. “You’d give up your job for me?” queried a surprised Kyle. If it meant finding their way back to each other, yes.

Diane also insisted she will never stop trying to make it up to Kyle for abandoning him as a child. Her heartfelt pleas for forgiveness caught the Abbott family off guard and it looked like they might be softening towards her. (Well, everyone but Ashley.) “To family,” the Abbotts toasted.

Good luck with that!

General Hospital: Ric Rocks Ava’s Trial

Who’d have thought that a trial featuring Ava Jerome vs. the Corinthos-Davis family would wind up with Ric Lansing as the star? The defense counselor owned that courtroom, from his opening statement to the meltdown he provoked from Kristina on the witness stand about who had been the aggressor when Kristina went flying through Ava’s hotel window.

“Do you often let your emotions get the better of you?” grilled Ric in his lead-up to making Kristina admit that she had vowed Ava would pay for the loss of “her” baby. He started slow, causing Ava to question if he ever planned on defending her. But Ava’s confidence grew as Ric pummeled Dante, Kristina and his own daughter, Molly, about the facts of the case. Eventually Alexis rose to defend her daughter and got thrown out of the courtroom; Kristina sobbed to Dante that she blew it.

By week’s end it looked like Ric was going to get his client exonerated and help his daughter heal. If Molly can accept that the loss of her baby Irene was a tragic accident, then no blame can be attached. That will help Ric, too. Because baby Irene wasn’t just Molly’s daughter — she was Ric’s granddaughter.

The Worst

GH: Drew’s Descent Into Jerkdom

Whatever happened to the Navy SEAL who saved Sam from a raging river and rescued Dante from a car wreck? Who doted on his son Oscar and built a memorial garden in his honor after he died? Who took the fall for the insider trading scandal and went to jail to protect Carly?

That dude is long gone. In his place is a shapeshifting congressman screwing over his best friend Curtis while having sex with his nephew’s wife and her mother. “Did you tell Jason that Willow and I kissed?” Drew demanded of Michael as if his cuckolded nephew owed him anything. Of course he did — Jason had immediately gone and punched Drew. Drew scorned Jason for resorting to violence as if that’s worse than the sex romp Drew had with Willow in the children’s playroom. Michael knows all about that (he has a recording), so when Drew asked for an “honest” conversation Michael knew what was coming: Anything but honesty. So he made another recording, this one of Drew admitting he’s going to take Aurora from Curtis and give the company to Michael as a veiled bribe to keep Michael quiet about the affair. (Michael + Curtis = Trouble for Drew.)

The fact that Drew’s twin brother — a mob enforcer — comes out the good guy in every situation shows how far Drew has fallen. “Here’s a guy who changed his name to Quartermaine,” dissed Jason, “and he’s living up to it.”

Y&R: Billy and Sally — Just Add Water

It’s an old soap trope, and not a good one: Billy and Sally’s partners cheated on them so they decided to become a couple, too. No logic, attraction, or build-up and nothing in common except Chelsea and Adam hurting them. They just commiserated over their broken hearts and did the deed.

Next up? Making out at the GCAC in front of everyone. “It’s probably revenge sex,” scoffed Adam to Victor. “Or pity sex.” Or both, since Billy and Sally are two vengeful characters who deserve pity. Especially Billy, on a downward spiral since his ex-lover Lily helped Victor convince his own mother to fire him from his job at Chancellor. Sally’s no better, having struck out out with every relationship since she hit town four years ago. (Does Billy remember she dated his brother Jack?)

“Sally is a user,” Victor reminded his son before approaching Billy and Sally’s table to needle them about finding each other so quickly. “Out of heartache comes romantic promise,” he praised, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “How heartwarming.”

We’re not saying they can’t evolve into a couple, but for now the groundwork has not been effectively laid. As usual, The Mustache has it right.