The Best And Worst On General Hospital, Young and Restless, DAYS, B&B and BTG The Week Of Oct. 27-31
From Bill lightening up on Bold and Beautiful to Ronnie and Martin’s partnership being revealed on General Hospital and Phyllis taking control on The Young and the Restless, here are our critics’ picks for the best and worst on soaps last week.
The Best
General Hospital: Ronnie and Martin Are In Cahoots!
We knew something was up when Monica’s will stated she left the Quartermaine estate to a sister we never knew she had. Our suspicions were confirmed when Martin got said sibling, Ronnie, alone.
“As we both know, Monica didn’t write you into her will,” said Martin threateningly. “I did.” Turned out Martin had roped small-town Ronnie into his big-time scheme to get revenge on Tracy after she rudely kicked Ronnie out of the Q crypt. Martin played on Ronnie’s hurt and anger to get her to pose as Monica’s beneficiary, but it came at a cost. “You are going to sell the house to Drew Cain,” he ordered.
After meeting the rest of the family, Ronnie had second thoughts. While she was ruminating, Ned laid out a plan for Tracy to fake apologize to Ronnie to get them back in her good graces. (“Yo! Schemers!” chastised Olivia.) His plan crumbled when Drew barged in and claimed ownership of the famed GH mansion.
Ronnie tried to back out, but Martin blackmailed her with potential jail time. Subsequent pleadings from Michael and Gio caused her to become emotional, but it all looked moot in the Friday tag. “Sign here and the sale will be complete,” ordered Martin.
Cut to Tracy opening a box to find “The Last Will And Testament Of Monica Quartermaine”…
Bold and Beautiful: Bill Tries To Lighten Up
Humor isn’t B&B’s usual fare, but the soap made big strides with scenes at Spencer Publications of Bill, Will and Liam celebrating Liam’s return to work (after almost “dying”).
“Now that you’re back, I am hopeful of this place becoming more a reflection of you than me,” Bill said to Liam. Liam and Will exchanged amused looks as a female executive entered with news that an important deal was “close” but not signed. “Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades,” chastised Bill (as Will hilariously mouthed the bromide along with his dad). Bill caught himself and took a deep breath. Don’t worry, he then advised the exec unconvincingly, it’s “chill.”
Huh? The exec looked shocked as Bill tried to find common ground with her, asking if she had grandchildren. Uh dad, chimed in Liam, you sent her flowers when her granddaughter was born, remember? Oh right, covered Bill, who gave the exec the rest of the day off and told her to call him Bill. “Okay, Mr. Bill,” she stammered nervously.
A kinder, gentler Bill Spencer is going to take some getting used to (!) but we’re all for it — especially if it gives us more of the Spencer men together. Bill’s sons applauded his efforts, but Liam couldn’t resist ribbing his dad on the way out. “I’m going to go chill,” he winked.
Beyond The Gates: Nicole To Men: Buzz Off
Anita encouraged her daughter to move on from her busted marriage but dating her ex-husband’s partner brought a different kind of implosion for Nicole — a very public one at the hospital.
“I always knew you had a crush on my wife,” attacked Ted after spying Nicole making a date with Carlton. Ted went on to snipe that the ink isn’t even dry on their divorce and she’s already back on the dating scene. What’s next? A Tinder profile?
Nicole shut her ex down hard, saying he has no say in who she goes to dinner with and is not his property. “Where is my Ted Richardson?” she asked accusingly. “Were you always like this and I didn’t notice?” Carlton got involved, saying he won’t apologize for pursuing his partner’s ex and that prompted a physical threat from Ted. Nicole called them cavemen and stormed off.
Both men later apologized, but it was all too much for the fragile Nicole who began life on BTG preparing to celebrate the anniversary of her perfect marriage to Ted (ruined by his infidelity) and is now trying to navigate life as a single woman. Dani pushed her sister to give Carlton another chance, but Nicole said she’s not ready to date yet. “You have to try,” pushed Dani.
“Knock it off,” retorted Nicole.
Young and Restless: Phyllis Takes Control
What did Cane think would happen when he hired Genoa City’s #1 hacker? He was in possession of a secret AI program that could destroy all of Y&R’s businesses and one day it just… disappeared. “Are you playing me?” Cane asked Phyllis after she tried to convince him Victor stole the program. Phyllis falsely hypothesized Victor wants to hurt Cane because he held Nick captive in Nice, saying she “gets” Victor and his need for revenge against Cane. The billionaire was skeptical.
What Phyllis really gets is Victor’s need for revenge against Jack, so she made a deal with The Mustache. “Phyllis will hand over Cane Ashby’s AI program on one condition,” Victor confided to his family. “As soon as I have wrested control of Jabot from Jack Abbott, we hand it over to Phyllis.”
Across town, Jack rightly suspected Phyllis was behind the AI theft and assigned Billy to convince her to be their ally. He found her at the GCAC and sat down with a deeply ironic proposition (considering she’s after Jabot). “You are the master hacker,” pronounced Billy, asking for Phyllis’s help saving Jabot from Victor. “Name your price!”
The Worst
Days of Our Lives: Save Jada
She was already saddled with the Everett/Bobby mess and the Rafe/Arnold fiasco, which made Jada look naive at best. Now she’s on a dating app and didn’t check out her first match — who turned out to be Stephanie’s abusive ex, Jeremy Horton.
“It’s been forever since I’ve been on an actual date,” chirped Jada as they got to know each other. Talk turned to Jeremy’s relationship with Stephanie, which didn’t end well. He said he was a “different guy” back then but has since gone to therapy, found religion, and become a teacher to improve himself. Hmm, thought Jada, as her spidey cop senses finally kicked in. If Jeremy made all these positive changes, why is Stephanie still afraid of him? The DAYS heroine ended the encounter after realizing it would be too weird to go out with Stephanie’s ex after Stephanie dated Jada’s ex Bobby.
What a “crazy coincidence” Jada later remarked to Stephanie. Hardly. Stephanie thinks Jeremy targeted Jada because she’s her best friend. “He seemed so normal,” rued Jada. Cut to Jeremy angrily smashing a Halloween pumpkin.
There is no way a cop wouldn’t be extra vigilant when hooking up with a stranger, especially since Jada has such a troubled past with psychos. And dumbing her down in service of a damsel-in-distress plot for Stephanie insults the character and diminishes the hard work Jada has put in to become Salem’s police commissioner. Swipe left on this one.
B&B: Liam and Hope’s Rushed Engagement
A few weeks ago, Carter asked his fiancée Hope to set a wedding date. Her hesitance made it clear her feelings had changed, and they split. Hope went straight to Liam’s house (where their daughter Beth had lots of obvious lines about how she wants Mommy and Daddy to get back together) and Liam noticed Hope’s bare ring finger.
They embraced. A few episodes later, he proposed.
“Your daughter means everything to me,” gushed Liam to Brooke, admitting they’ve had their “struggles” but his brush with death made him realize Hope is his life. Brooke beamed and blessed their union.
There was no buildup, no discussion of what went wrong with Hope and Liam’s previous three marriages (or her marriage to his brother Wyatt), no acknowledging her kiss with Thomas in Rome that broke them up last time. Just plop Liam into Carter’s side of the bed and move on. Where’s the story?
Hope and Liam have been doing this dance for 15 years. Kiss, get engaged, get married, cheat, get divorced, get involved with other people, realize their true feelings, reunite. Lather, rinse, repeat. This will be Hope’s sixth marriage and Liam’s eighth. There’s rich drama to be mined from two young people who keep making the same mistakes over and over, but we’re not seeing it here.
Play the beats, B&B!
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