The Best And Worst On GH, Y&R, DAYS, B&B and BTG The Week Of Nov. 3-7
From Tracy getting the house Monica gave her on General Hospital and Matt Clark’s return from the great beyond on The Young and the Restless to a couple that didn’t work finally splitting on Beyond The Gates, here are our critics’ picks for the best and worst on soaps last week.
The Best
Young and Restless: Matt Clark Returns
The jury’s out on whether we needed another villain from Sharon and Nick’s past to come back so soon after Cameron Kirsten (and his ghost) returned, but this new/familiar threat is stirring up old trouble for the Y&R duo.
“How is it possible after all these years that Matt Clark still wants to come after us?” asked a tormented Sharon. How indeed? It’s been 24 years since the character of Matt “died.” He’s now living in L.A. posing as Mitch Bacall, who is married to Sienna Bacall, who we saw smooching… Noah Newman. Nick and Sharon are in L.A. because their son was in a suspicious car accident somehow tied to “Mitch’s” bar. They ran into Matt on their search for answers, but he insisted he was “Mitch” and didn’t know what they were talking about. Nick slugged him and threatened to kill him, which alarmed “Mitch’s” wife.
“How come Nick Newman thinks he knows you?” demanded Sienna. “And why does he keep calling you Matt?” Great question. Factor in Noah’s affair with Sienna — and Audra and Holden’s murky involvement — and Nick and Sharon might look back fondly on the days when their biggest problem was a ghost.
General Hospital: Tracy Gets The House Back And… Apologizes?!
“Buckle up Ronnie, I’m coming for ya!” yelled Tracy after she found Monica’s real will in a box of Alan’s belongings. She busted into the Quartermaine mansion clutching the paperwork only to learn Ronnie 1) couldn’t bring herself to sign the papers selling the house to Drew and 2) was blackmailed into posing as Monica’s heir by Martin. Ronnie apologized, and handed the keys to Tracy.
“Thank you,” responded the Q scion. “Now I can lock the doors when I throw you out.” The rest of her GH family took exception to Tracy’s harsh response and stood up for Ronnie, demanding Tracy say she was sorry. She kicked them out instead.
Enter Gio, who made Tracy see that her eye-for-an-eye way of “loving” her family only resulted in her being alone. He added that Monica left Tracy the house because she trusted her to hold the family together. Oh, all right snapped Tracy, who mustered an apology to Ronnie for judging her and doubting her love for Monica. Ronnie relayed Tracy’s (surprisingly) kind words to the fam and Ned, Olivia, Brook Lynn and Michael asked to move back in. “Welcome home,” responded Tracy.
Bonus: It looks like the Q’s might be welcoming Gio home again, too…
Bold and Beautiful: The Forresters ‘Meet’ Remy
And it did not go well. What did Remy think would happen when his new boyfriend Deke asked to introduce him to the family and friends of the woman Remy had made deep fake nude photos of and stalked? Electra, Will, Hope, Katie and Ivy were horrified when Deke’s paramour entered the room, and they made their feelings known.
“You chased me like an animal,” cried Electra. “Thank God Will was there to save me from you!” Will echoed his B&B girlfriend’s assertions, telling Deke that Remy is not the guy he thinks he is. Remy claimed he’s changed, he’s not that person, he’s really sorry, blah blah, which sounded more like excuses from his pal Luna’s playbook. Remy went on to say he’s in a better place since Deke came into his life and begged for a second chance. Deke had trouble wrapping his head around his boyfriend tormenting an innocent young girl like Electra, citing the demons that must plague Remy for him to have acted like that. Remy admitted he’s had some dark days, but insisted he’s past that.
“Don’t judge me for who I was,” Remy begged Deke. “Love me for who I am now.” That’s a tall order — not just for Deke, but for his new bosses at Forrester.
Days of Our Lives: Johnny and Chanel Adopt Tesoro
Baby T lived a whole lifetime before finally finding a home. It was a long, twisted road from Sophia abandoning him at a firehouse… to Leo and Javi taking him in and calling him Tesoro… to Sophia’s mother refusing to let Johnny and Chanel adopt him… to his father being revealed to be Aaron, not Tate… to his new parents finally adopting him in a series of heartfelt scenes.
First up: Changing his name from Tesoro to something that had more meaning to his new family. “Baby T will hereby be known as Trey, as in John the third after Grampa John,” Johnny revealed, adding that being named after the venerable John Black has made him a better person. John would be honored, smiled Marlena. Chanel chimed in that Trey’s middle name will be Paul as a way to thank Paulina for all her support. Cue the tears!
Elsewhere, Chanel and Johnny asked Rafe to be the baby’s honorary grandfather. “You’ve been like a father to me for most of my life,” Johnny told his former stepdad, which did not sit well with Johnny’s bio dad EJ. The new parents also asked Leo and Javi to be Trey’s godparents as a way to thank them for giving their son the best start in life.
It was a fitting payoff to DAYS’ year-long baby story, capped off by a phone call from Sami. “My mom’s going to come meet her grandson,” shared Johnny. Brace yourself, Baby Trey!
The Worst
Beyond The Gates: Ashley and Derek Split. Duh.
They had little story, scant romance and zero chemistry, so when Ashley finally broke up with Derek it was as anticlimactic as Derek standing up from his wheelchair in front of her.
“Those physical therapy sessions really work,” commented Ashley (a nurse!) who needed a few minutes to realize Derek had regained feeling months ago and was using his paralysis to manipulate her into marriage. Derek stammered that he kept the secret because he wanted to surprise her at the altar. Ashley called him a liar and removed her engagement ring.
Which was also not very dramatic since Ashley had refused to set a date, lied that she couldn’t get off work for their wedding, and called her ring “a ticking time bomb.” Derek insisted they could get through this, but why would they want to? The pair argues about everything (her being busy, him being messy) and they aren’t even fun, soapy fights; they’re dull and have no resolution. Ashley complains to Naomi, Derek vents to Jacob, and they start over.
It feels like BTG was cutting their losses with this one, because the break-up took less than one-half of one episode. On a show with spitfire duos like Dani/Andre, Vernon/Anita, Naomi/Jacob, even Vanessa/Joey, couples that tread water won’t cut it.
GH: Nathan’s Anticlimactic Return
Let’s stipulate that “back from the dead” stories are Soaps 101, and we welcome them when they bring back popular characters like GH’s Nathan West. That said, the beloved cop’s return (after we watched his open casket funeral and burial, no less!) has registered barely a blip in Port Charles. Aside from the first time his mutter Liesl saw him and fainted, it’s been more like “Oh hey, welcome back” than any genuine shockwaves from family and friends. The way Nathan and his also back-from-the-dead sister Britt reunited made it seem like something sinister was going on, but none of that seemed present when he counseled her about Rocco, so we’re befuddled.
Nathan has no discernible home, job, source of income, relationship with his son James (who was born after Nathan “died”), or wife (since Maxie is in an off-screen coma), which has left little room for drama. Something is clearly going on with the evil Faison’s son and daughter being un-alived around the same time with no explanation (yet) for the how, why, or where of it, and we look forward to that unfolding…. eventually. But why bring Nathan back just to keep him on the sidelines?
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