Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Thumbs up! YOUNG AND RESTLESS - United State Ashley and Tucker’s intimate wedding at the Chancellor mansion was unconventional and entertaining. Abby got the sentimentality rolling by honoring the “something old, something new” (despite Ashley reminding her, “This is not my first rodeo”), and though the ceremony got off to an amusingly rocky start when bride and groom were invited to share their personal vows — which neither of them had prepared — they decided to wing it instead, and if their promises to one another were far from storybook material, they were also heartfelt and sweet. Once the duo was declared husband and wife, Ashley and Diane made a tickling attempt at a kumbaya moment via a brief, stiff-armed, awkward embrace, but the good vibes screeched to a halt when Jack presented Ash with a wedding gift: documents returning all of Ashley’s Jabot patents, along with a promise to buy her out of the company as she’d requested. She was immediately on guard, convinced there was a catch, but he insisted it was “a genuine effort to end the war between us” and at Tucker’s insistence, she accepted. All in all, Y&R delivered a satisfying launch to the Abbott/McCall marriage.

Thumbs up!/ Thumbs down! GENERAL HOSPITAL - Who’s The Boss? GH gave fans little to go on as the criminally underdeveloped Austin (and his criminally underused portrayer, Roger Howarth) plodded along in possibly the slowest-moving mystery in soap history (whose thumb were Austin and Mason under?!). In well over a year of watching Austin and his cousin having vague rinse/wash/repeat conversations about who they were answering to, the show revealed only three things: that the baddie was a woman, someone they were related to and based in Pautuck. So, it was jarring when each of these established facts was cast aside so that the boss could be revealed to be Cyrus (who, not for nothing, was safely tucked away in federal prison back in August 2022, when Austin agreed to meet said boss in Pautuck and told Mason to tell her he was coming). That said, the reveal scenes themselves were fantastic — intriguing, suspenseful, and perfectly played by Howarth and Jeff Kober (Cyrus), a combination of actors we’re excited to see more of — and as a bonus, we learned that Austin secretly saved Nikolas’s life. While it could have been executed better from the start, we’re relieved that this story has finally gained some momentum, and is providing overdue insight into Austin.

Thumbs up! DAYS OF OUR LIVES - Fabulous At 50 DAYS paid touching tribute to actress Suzanne Rogers and her character, Maggie Horton Kiriakis, on the 50th anniversary of her first appearance on the soap. Filled with flashbacks and friendship, the episode began with a teary-eyed Maggie resting in her bedroom, trying to come to terms with Victor’s death. Julie stopped by to offer comfort, and Maggie reminisced about all the happy, sad and everything-in-between moments of her life, accented by sweet vintage clips of her romances with Mickey and Victor, as well as tragic footage of Julie catching fire at Maggie’s farmhouse, and Maggie bravely saving her life. Julie promised Maggie she would get through this difficult time just as she’d overcome so many other struggles over the decades (learning to walk again, staying sober, returning from the dead). The episode wrapped with Bonnie, Maggie’s one-time rival for Mickey’s affections, bringing her a cup of tea and noting that she’d never stood a chance with Mickey, because his heart always belonged to Maggie. Maggie recalled the first time she’d met Mickey (Rogers’s debut scene), musing, “Fifty years ago. Sometimes, it feels like yesterday.” The hour was a stirring reminder of just how lucky DAYS — and DAYS fans — are to have benefited from Rogers’s warm, wonderful presence for all these decades.

Thumbs down! BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL - Man Overboard With their witty banter and sexy antics, there’s a lot to like about the entertaining pairing of misfits Deacon and Sheila. But their unlikely romance comes at a cost to the integrity of the Deacon character. It’s hard to buy into the idea that Deacon would put his hard-earned success — both personal and professional — on the line to romp with a known sociopath/murderer. Their secret liaison has been going on for a while now, and the longer it does, the more betrayed Hope would surely feel should her father’s involvement with Sheila come to light. It could also cost him his friendship with Brooke and put him back in the line of ire of the rest of Sheila’s long list of past victims, and it probably wouldn’t be too great for business, either, considering Sheila went on a shooting spree in the alley behind the restaurant Deacon now operates. The show played Deacon as sincere in his desire to walk the straight and narrow and be a man Hope could be proud to call Dad, but it’s hard to root for someone whose libido is stronger than his conscience.

Applause, Applause GH’s Jane Elliot (Tracy) was a hoot when Brook Lynn slyly got her grandmother drunk at the Metro Court luau.... Even though she wasn’t playing Heather when the Heather/Daniel romance played out, Y&R’s Vail Bloom is doing a great job playing those “old” feelings coming to the surface.... DAYS’s Arianne Zucker did beautiful work as Nicole sorted out her complicated feelings about Victor’s death.... Loved B&B’s Li’s refusal to coddle Finn regarding his pull to his birth mother, Sheila....

Picky, Picky And is it just us, or has Finn’s unshakable feeling of connection to Sheila come out of nowhere? ... Why has GH’s Felicia been absent from Anna’s orbit since her bestie was (likely) shot at and her house burned down? And it’s a shame Betty left town before we found out why she wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt to bask in the sun of the Metro Court pool deck.... DAYS’s Kayla offered Talia a position as a doctor despite Talia having poisoned half of Salem?! Also, why is Li Shin, who has been firmly established as a successful businessman, sharing an apartment with his sister?