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Performer of the Week Réal Andrews (Taggert, GH) Handed the most emotionally demanding material of his GH career, Réal Andrews delivered a knockout performance that brought Taggert’s devastation over Trina to poignant and powerful life. Without resorting to over-the-top sloppiness, Andrews established that Taggert was inebriated from the moment the Metro Court elevator doors opened and he began sauntering over to the bar, only to be intercepted by Jordan. The alcohol-induced lowering of Taggert’s inhibitions was unmistakable in the way he moved, in the way he showed Taggert processing Jordan’s words, in how breezily he tossed off his responses. But back in his room, after he half-fell onto the couch with a jovial chuckle and tried to order more drinks, she made it clear that she was there to sober him up, not to help him forget his problems. Jolted back to reality, Taggert’s mood instantly darkened, the weight of the world on his shoulders as they addressed the elephant in the room: Trina’s paternity test results. What ensued was dazzling. Andrews was in these scenes mind, body and soul, articulating Taggert’s grief and hurt as fluidly and clearly when he was listening as when he was speaking, making subtle yet impactful shifts in his body language and posture, and in the tone of his voice — sometimes harsh, sometimes quivering — that narrated the emotional journey Taggert embarked on as he opened the floodgates he’d been so carefully guarding and described the heartache, the crushing loss, the despair of discovering that the little girl he loved so much was not biologically his. Every choice he made — when he looked at Jordan, when he couldn’t bring himself to; when he was scoffing, when he was serious; when his words tumbled out and when he took pauses to form them — just felt right. And, boy, did he stick the landing: his voice breaking, the tears began to flow as Taggert copped to the mistakes he’d made in his life, then lamented, “I always told myself I did one thing perfect. Just one thing perfect. My daughter.”

THUMBS UP! DAYS OF OUR LIVES Holiday Spirit DAYS commemorated Juneteenth with a thoughtful, well-crafted episode built around the holiday, the one-year anniversary of Paulina’s wedding to an MIA Abe, and featured a trio of very welcome visitors: Eli, Theo and Olivia. While Olivia dropped in on her dejected daughter, Paulina, Eli explained to Julie and Doug that he was in town to help search for Abe, and in Horton Square, Theo practiced the speech he was going to make in his father’s stead by reciting it to Chad, offering a well-written, heartfelt and concise primer on Juneteenth, its importance and its history. Later, Julie, Eli, Theo, Olivia and Chanel all rallied around Paulina, who needed every bit of their love and support as she marked her anniversary without her husband. Over at Whitley’s, Abe had flashes of his real wedding, giving hope that he would soon be free of her clutches, and fulfill the wish his family made that next year, Abe would be back home where he belonged.

THUMBS DOWN! BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL “Bridge” Repair Brooke and Ridge had a visually stunning romantic reunion in Rome — but the reconciliation lacked the emotional depth we would expect from such a long-running and storied couple. The show spent months tearing Brooke and Ridge apart and resurrecting the triangle with Taylor, and given the potent history between Ridge and Taylor, a lot of fans were all for “Tridge” having another shot at their own happy ending. Both women then tired of his flip-flopping and declared their independence, and frankly, it did damage to both of these key female characters that they reneged on this so quickly and with so little provocation (meaning, genuine evidence that Ridge had changed his ways). Brooke and Ridge essentially got back together without the show exploring (in any depth, anyway) the beats of them slowly learning to trust each other again, falling in love again, etc. We’re left wondering what the point of delving back into the triangle was, and why we should be cheering on Brooke and Ridge’s umpteenth stab at coupledom. We can only hope there’s more to come in the way of a deeper exploration from the writers to truly rebuild and restore the luster of “Bridge”.

Second Opinion I, for one, am disappointed that Y&R’s Sally has lost her baby. I was really looking forward to the story possibilities the baby would bring as Ms. Spectra dealt with the rigors and reality of motherhood. Sally very much wanted her child, but was also wrestling with fears and uncertainty around whether she’d be a good mom, which I found refreshingly honest and endearing, and I think a lot of viewers would have resonated with Sally as she slowly but surely figured out how to balance child-rearing with her career ambitions. I love Sally and Adam as a couple, so I was excited about them co-parenting, and the complications that would likely bring to her relationship with Nick. We’ve already seen some awesome performances from Courtney Hope (Sally) and Mark Grossman (Adam) as they grapple with the loss of their daughter, so I’m hopeful the tragedy will forge a new bond between the characters and, eventually, pave the way for them to get back together. — Devin Owens

APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE Bravo to Y&R’s Sharon Case (Sharon) and Linden Ashby (Cameron) for their strong work in the chilling end to Cam’s reign of terror.... Thank you, GH, for letting Sam voice her dismay with Drew for taking the fall for him and Carly and the jail time that went with it, choosing his lover over his responsibilities to their daughter, Scout.

Picky, Picky PICKY, PICKY It made no sense that no one told Mariah that her sister, Faith, had been kidnapped on Y&R. Wouldn’t Sharon have thought to inform her, if for no other reason than out of fear that Cameron might target also target Mariah or Mariah’s baby daughter, Aria? ... It feels time for DAYS to declare a moratorium on hostages in the secret room of the DiMera mansion. We no longer believe it wouldn’t be the first place a person would look for a missing loved one! ... On June 6, GH’s Laura reported to Kevin, “I got Jordan Ashford to agree to take on the job of deputy mayor.” But she didn’t offer the role to Jordan (who accepted after initially balking at the idea) until scenes that aired on June 19!