The Best And Worst On BTG, B&B, DAYS, GH And Y&R The Week Of July 7-11

From an explosive confrontation between Lulu and Brook Lynn on General Hospital  to Luna’s shooting spree on Bold and Beautiful and Mariah’s downward spiral on The Young and the Restless, here are our critics’ picks for the best and worst on soaps last week.

The Best

General Hospital: Brook Lynn v. Lulu Boils Over

The long-simmering feud between Brook Lynn Quartermaine and Lulu Spencer exploded (fittingly) during the July 4th fireworks when Lulu stormed over to the Q boathouse to slap her rival. “You hateful bitch,” hissed a steamed Lulu. “I know you hate me, but hurting Rocco is unforgivable!”

The cause was Brook Lynn digging up paperwork that listed Britt Westbourne as Rocco’s birth mother and leaving it out to be discovered. This came on the heels of Lulu unearthing that Brook Lynn and Dante’s secret son is Gio, the latest in a series of slights that began on GH in 2010 when Carly hired Brook Lynn to break up Lulu and Dante. Each woman has reasons for her actions, so they each think they’re right. Lulu didn’t mean for Gio to overhear her confront Lois about his parentage, and Brook Lynn didn’t mean for Danny to find Rocco’s birth certificate, so there’s a twisted plausible deniability there.

Both spitfires also have OG legends in their corners: Laura counseling Lulu and Tracy advising Brook Lynn. That adds a layer to the ping-ponging between Team Lulu and Team BLQ, the latter enjoying a slight edge because she recently apologized. “I can’t get past what you did to Rocco,” responded Dante, “but I know that when you gave Gio up you made that decision from a place of love.”

Your move, Lulu!

Young and Restless: Danny Proposes To Cricket

“Tonight we’re going to celebrate,” announced Danny to Christine as she walked into Society and found he’d rented the whole place out to honor the “teenage girl I fell in love with.” He proceeded to revisit their romance, which started in 1984 but took a few detours along the way (him with Phyllis, her with the strangely unmentioned Paul). Danny said he regretted hurting Cricket and the years they’d spent apart and had always wanted to make it up to her — and today was that day.

Solid gold flashbacks showcased their nearly 40 years on Y&R, highlighted by a collection of mementos from each part of their “journey.” There was a guitar pick representing their time at his concerts, flashcards from when they taught Nina how to “be a lady,” a colander for all the pasta they’ve cooked, and a lei recalling their Hawaiian wedding. Then came the diamond ring: “Cricket, will you marry me?” Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, she will marry him!

Would their betrothal have had added value if Danny and Christine were on more and we had seen what lead up to this big moment? Yes. But for longtime fans, did it hit a rich note of nostalgia? Also yes.

Bold and Beautiful: L.A. Explodes!

Months of Luna threatening Steffy for not “letting” her see her father Finn lead to an action-packed week that left three people shot, one fatally it appears.

The drama began when Luna infiltrated Hayes’s school by posing as an art teacher named Miss Sunshine. She tied up the teacher, lured Steffy to the school, and held a gun on her while haranguing her about seeing Finn. Sheila tracked them down to try and talk sense to her granddaughter. No can do.

“I will have a relationship with my father,” asserted the deranged girl. Steffy stressed that locking up his son’s teacher and holding his wife hostage was not the way to get Finn to soften towards Luna, so she was going to untie the teacher and get them out of there. Luna pointed the gun, Sheila grabbed it and took a bullet, and Liam burst in and got shot — but he also managed to wound Luna. “Your daughter died in recovery,” Li told Poppy. “Good,” Poppy responded coldly.

It’s rare that B&B fans get a week where so much happens (as opposed to just characters talking in offices). For now, it appears Luna is dead and Liam is alive — and regret is swirling. But, as Steffy professed to Hope at Liam’s bedside, “This is not how it ends.”

Days of Our Lives: Bonnie To Sarah: Turn Xander In

“Not to be nosy, but what are you looking at?” Bonnie asked Sarah, knowing full well it was pictures of Xander. Sarah confessed she was having trouble getting over her murderous ex and Bonnie offered her trademark sensitivity: “Good riddance to bad trash.”

Bonnie knows what she’s talking about, and she shared it with Sarah. Her first husband was an abusive drunk, always apologizing and promising to do better next time. Bonnie stuck with him through a long marriage and three kids hoping he would change — until her daughter Mimi couldn’t take it anymore and killed him. Sarah argued that her situation with Xander was different, but Bonnie retorted that raising a daughter with a man who has no conscience can only end badly. Sarah allowed that Xander “blew up” during recent custody discussions and Bonnie advised her to hit him where it hurts: Get Philip to admit Xander assaulted him and send him to jail.

By the end of the week Xander had absconded with their daughter Victoria, proving Bonnie right. Bonus for longtime Days of Our Lives fans? Bonnie sounds more and more like Adrienne every day.

The Worst

Beyond The Gates: Enough With Martin’s Secret

Martin is having bad dreams and lying to his husband Smitty, Vernon is lying to Anita, Joey is plotting murder, a baddie named Kenneth is stalking Martin’s family, Dani’s ex Bill is covering for all of them, and we’re five months into whatever terrible thing the congressman did and it’s enough already. Spill it, Beyond The Gates!

“What is Martin hiding and why does he feel my family needs protection?” Smitty asked his cousin-in-law Jacob who happens to be a cop. “Something does not add up.” Indeed, Martin is in cahoots with Jacob’s crooked police partner Marcel for reasons they can’t figure out. Add Joey and the gun/money, Martin asking the corrupt cop for protection, Vernon’s secret involvement, and Smitty and Jacob have come up with… nothing.

And that’s the problem. A bunch of men talking about a mysterious event week after week is not a story, and Vernon hiding their grandson’s troubles from his adored wife upends the shiny Dupree vibe. Worse, Martin’s lies cheapen his marriage to Smitty and put his kids in danger which makes him the bad guy. “You need to stop tiptoeing around and confront Martin,” Jacob ordered Smitty.

Cut to Kenneth in the park stalking Martin and Smitty’s daughter…

Y&R: Mariah Circles The Drain

Months of “I did something bad but I can’t tell you what it is” is both ruining the character of Mariah and destroying her marriage to Tessa. The women talk in circles, with Tessa pleading for Mariah to be honest and Mariah saying she can’t do it. One or both of them cries, and they part with nothing resolved.

“If I could be with you and [daughter] Aria I would,” said Mariah in their most recent go-round, “but this is the way it has to be.” Tessa begged for a reason (again) and Mariah said she doesn’t have the words to explain it (again) so Tessa said she’s tired of being the only one fighting for their marriage so maybe it’s time to make the separation permanent. Mariah teared up (again).

Why has Y&R spent almost two months wrecking a happy couple for no discernible reason? All viewers know (via grainy black-and-white flashbacks) is that Mariah ran into an older man at a bar, got drunk, and may have suffocated him with a pillow. That’s actually not shocking considering Mariah was raised by vile cult leader Ian Ward and came to town to stalk Abby and gaslight Sharon. She overcame that baggage, but is now clearly backsliding. If the goal is to create rooting value for sweet Tessa with the bereaved Daniel, sacrificing Mariah’s character in the process isn’t exactly what fans clamoring for a juicy story for portrayer Camryn Grimes were asking for.