Thumbs Up!/Thumbs Down! B&B DAYS GH Y&R

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL
Get Carter
The writing’s been on the wall since 2022, when Sheila shot her son Finn in an alley and turned the gun on his wife Steffy after she tried to call the police. Sheila faked her death to avoid capture (cutting off her own toe to “prove” she was eaten by a bear), was eventually caught, and got off on a technicality as usual. She tried to assume a normal life by dating Deacon and getting a job, but repeatedly stalked her son who rebuffed her. Sheila’s story seemed stalled until one day a confrontation with Steffy provoked her and she stormed off to the beach house. The winds were howling, the power was out, and Sheila broke in. “Get out of my house,” screamed Steffy as Sheila advanced on her. Steffy grabbed a knife, threatening, “I’ll do it!” — and she did, causing Sheila to bleed out on the floor. This ending was a long time coming, and it was cathartic for long-time viewers who had watched psycho Sheila escape every form of logical justice. However, going from 0 to 100 diminished the drama. One week Sheila was passing out menus at Il Giardino and painting her (nine) toenails and the next she was lurking outside Finn and Steffy’s house hissing, “Steffy Forrester, tonight you die!” After over three decades of investment in this character on both Y&R and B&B, fans deserved a meatier build to Sheila's shocking finale — especially if, indeed, this is the death, among her many, that takes.

YOUNG AND RESTLESS
Rival Territory
It's clear that business stories are Y&R’s love language, so using old rivalries to crank up current corporate story makes sense. Having Billy quit Jabot to go work for Chancellor-Winters has reinvigorated past skirmishes between Mamie and Jill and provided lots of opportunity for C-W worker Esther to report back to her old pal Mamie about the tension at her new job. Billy vs. Devon vs. Nate vs. Chance has all the makings of a simmering cauldron, with Jill all too happy to stir the pot. She told Billy to add Abbott to the company name, which Nate reported back to Mamie, and all hell broke loose. (“Office politics on steroids,” groaned Amanda to Phyllis.) Billy keeps insisting there’s no power struggle, which is laughable — and just wait until Lily returns! Speaking of power struggles, who saw Kyle vs. Diane coming at Jabot? Kyle recommended his mom for the co-CEO job to Jack, and Diane did her best “Who, me?” when Jack gave the position to his unqualified wife. Kyle and Diane have been sparring ever since, with Kyle admitting to Mariah that he feels he missed out on an opportunity he deserved: “The regret is driving me crazy.” What happens when a mother and son are adversaries who live in the same house and work in the same office? We’re about to find out…  

GENERAL HOSPITAL
Friendly Fire
Consider us officially won over by the surprisingly charming connection between Tracy and Gregory. At first, it appeared that Tracy's soft spot for Finn would not transfer to his father, and their initial barb-filled clashing was not particularly mesmerizing. However, once they moved past their less than favorable first impressions of one another, a bona fide friendship began to form, which was solidified when Tracy became privy to Gregory's ALS diagnosis. Tracy proved to be a true confidante to Gregory in those early days when he was still hiding his condition from his sons, and their bond has only deepened as they spend more time in one another's orbits thanks to the upcoming nuptials of his son to her granddaughter. We would never want to see Tracy's softer side become too pronounced — she's Tracy Angelica Quartermaine, after all! — and aren't sold on the show taking the Gregory/Tracy connection in a romantic direction given his terminal diagnosis, but the lovely chemistry between Jane Elliot (Tracy) and Gregory Harrison (Gregory) brings out the gentle vulnerability that has long been at the core (sometimes barely visibly!) of Tracy. She deserves a friend like Gregory, who appreciates her sharp wit and accepts her sharper edges.

DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Friendly Fire
The moment of truth – Jada coming face-to-face with Everett, also known (to her, at least) as her ex-husband, Bobby Stein – took months to happen, but as soon as it aired, the plot immediately became more interesting. While Jada (in a terrific turn by Elia Cantu) raged at the man who broke her heart and dumped her, a confused Everett calmly insisted he’d never seen her before. A mystery was afoot about whether Everett is the good guy Stephanie fell for or the heartless cad Jada depicted (does he really have amnesia? Is he lying?). The reveal caused immediate tension for the recently reunited Everett and Stephanie, who are at a stalemate as they try to make sense of this new information, and also for the Jada/Stephanie friendship, as both women process the realization that Steph was unwittingly the other woman in her pal’s marriage. Chad and Everett’s professional bond is also at stake since Chad can no longer trust his star reporter. After such a long wait to get to the meat of the story, we’re intrigued to see how DAYS will roll out the answers to our many questions.

Sal Stowers and Lamon Archey’s return to DAYS as Lani and Eli instantly enhanced the tale of Paulina’s health crisis…. We loved the Lila flashback on GH that preceded Tracy offering her mother’s wedding gown to Brook Lynn…. Good use of history on B&B as Hope related her history with ex-con dad Deacon to Finn’s struggles with birth mom Sheila…. Eileen Davidson (Ashley) and Zuleyka Silver (Audra) make terrific sparring partners on Y&R.

GH did a fantastic job of honoring Bobbie’s messy history over the course of her memorial episodes, but Carly’s recent dialogue to Drew about her mom ("My mom never gave in to her worst impulses. She rose above them") felt less true to the character, who was far from saintly.... Y&R’s Amanda majorly violated attorney/client privilege by dishing to Phyllis about the power struggle at Chancellor-Winters…. It was farfetched, to say the least, that Steffy’s house on B&B wasn’t considered an active crime scene and thus not fit for her to reside in for at least a modicum of time after she stabbed Sheila…. On Feb 27th on DAYS, Johnny told EJ that he had remarried Chanel “earlier today” — but their wedding took place on Valentine’s Day, and Valentine's Day was long over in Salem by then.