GH’s Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and Y&R’s Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) provided beats rich in history.

The Best

Young and Restless: Victor Rebuilds The Ranch

One of the greatest gifts a soap can deliver is nostalgia, and Victor surprising Nikki with the reconstructed Newman ranch did that in spades. The episode began with Victor guiding a blindfolded Nikki into their new home to the strains of Y&R’s theme song. She opened her eyes to an exact replica of what they lost in the 2012 fire (thanks to Sharon) and tearfully surveyed the room.

“I wanted something to make us happy again,” explained Victor as flashbacks reminded viewers of the fire’s devastation. The duo agreed they could survive anything as more flashbacks revisited Nikki’s first visit to the ranch, their first kiss, first wedding and biggest fights back on the old set.

Fans get attached to sets, too, and this one was missed. Nick, Victoria, Claire, Abby, Devon and Adam soon arrived to admire Victor’s handiwork and get the good news that the rebuilt ranch would be the surprise site for Abby and Devon’s nuptials on Nov. 13 (which is also Y&R’s 13,000th episode). Nikki pronounced her new home the perfect blend of past and present, telling Victor, “You didn’t give me a house. You gave me a piece of my heart.”

Viewers feel the same way.

General Hospital: Sonny Steps Up

The loss of Sam McCall left her loved ones devastated, but a surprising person was there to comfort them: Sonny Corinthos. His son Dante had just proposed to Sam before she died and he was struggling to process that while being there for their family (his son, Rocco, plus Sam’s kids, Danny and Scout). Sonny advised that moving forward for the children’s sake would help Dante go on, but Dante didn’t think his father was right. “I’m right about everything,” responded Sonny in a much-needed moment of levity before he pulled his son close. “You’ve got them,” he offered. “We’ve got you.”

The grief counseling continued at the Davis house, where Sonny found Alexis going through photos of Sam for the memorial. Sonny told Alexis that losing a child is a freak of nature, which opened the door for Alexis to ask how Sonny got over Morgan’s death. He didn’t — a part of him was lost forever. That upset her, and she blamed herself for giving Sam up at birth and missing so much of her life. “Don’t judge yourself for the girl you used to be,” urged Sonny. “Give yourself credit for the woman you are now.” Aw… “Sexis” lives!

Sonny’s pep talk succeeded in getting Alexis off the couch and over to the Quartermaine mansion, where her regrets about missing Sam’s childhood launched a new storyline: She wants Sam’s kids.

Bold and Beautiful: Carter Asserts Himself At Forrester

Well, whaddya know? Carter Walton turned out to be more than a quiet COO and resident wedding officiant after Steffy booted his new girlfriend Hope following a lingerie mishap in the office. “Firing Hope shows a huge lapse in leadership,” admonished Carter. “I won’t allow it.”

Steffy was dumbfounded to be scolded like that (about time!) and told Carter to tread carefully. He refused, chiding her for letting her childish rivalry with Hope get in the way of their business and harming the Forrester brand. Ridge sided with Steffy, which hurt his “best friend” Carter, but he still did not back down, reminding Ridge that his opinion should be respected and valued even if it’s different from Ridge’s.

What went unspoken was that Carter and Hope are in a relationship. That puts the lie to Steffy’s wrong assumption that Hope was trying to seduce her husband Finn when she donned that frilly underwear because Hope’s show was all for Carter. But even when Steffy learns the truth, an apology to her enemy Hope will likely remain unmentionable.

Days of our Lives: Kate Pulls A Fast One On Vivian

What’s worse than bad blood? Vivian stole Kate’s embryo to give birth to Philip 30 years ago and recently returned to town thinking Kate would be cool with that. First she offered to cut Kate in on her and Philip’s plan to take over his father Victor’s company with a forged letter, bragging, “There’s plenty of money around Titan.” When Kate didn’t bite, Vivian pointed out that if Kate calls the cops, she implicates Philip, too.

“I’d characterize Kate’s reaction as huffy,” said Vivian, assuring Philip she had placated her rival. Wrong! Kate went straight to the police to report she caught Viv “skulking” around the Salem Inn. Jada burst into Viv’s hotel room to arrest her, a scuffle ensued and Viv wound up in the hospital yammering about her rights as Rafe reminded her that on top of all her other crimes, she had just assaulted a police officer.

Surprisingly, Kate told Philip she was fine with the forgery (and thinks Victor would be, too), saying all that’s left for Vivian to do is fulfill her destiny pushing a library cart at Statesville. Talk about bad blood…

The Worst

B&B: Not Taylor Made

When a recast Taylor returned in August spying on Ridge and Brooke in Europe, it looked like they were cranking up that 30 year-old triangle. Nope — Taylor was just dying. She met with doctors and kept the secret until she fainted in front of Ridge and had to come clean. One visit to Dr. Buckingham and it turned out Taylor had “Broken Heart Syndrome” which was immediately cured by a “chakra realignment” where Ridge and Taylor touched each other’s hearts while sitting on the floor.

All that happened in two months. Taylor’s story now consists of sitting on the couch with Steffy and showing up at the Forrester office to opine on “the Logans” while sticking her nose in company business. “When I think of how Hope toyed with my son…” interjected Taylor during a business discussion between Katie and Steffy re: Hope. Rejecting a marriage proposal from a Forrester is not a fireable offense, and the opinion of the boss’s ex-wife is not relevant regarding HR matters.

Taylor is a core character. If she’s going to stay in Los Angeles, she deserves more than being a busybody.

DAYS: Stefan “Dumps” Gabi

Fake Titan letters aren’t the only things Vivian Alamain can forge. Before she got thrown in the slammer, she wrote a note “from” her son Stefan to Gabi ending their marriage and asking for a divorce. Worse, she had Ivan throw Stefan in the trunk of a car and whisked him out of town before any drama could play out.

Gabi hightailed it over to the DiMera mansion and found a letter “from” Stefan to EJ (also forged by Viv), saying “you and my ex-wife deserve each other, you’re dead to me,” and signed “Goodbye forever.” Say what you want about Gabi and Stefan’s marriage but it was passionate and volatile and he would never have ended it without a discussion. EJ tried to comfort Gabi, but she blamed EJ for Stefan leaving because he “destroyed” Stefan which is preposterous.

This misguided move cost DAYS a valuable DiMera, wrecked the promising triangle of Stefan, EJ and Gabi, and committed a cardinal Daytime sin: It was anti-climactic.