CBS; Peacock, ABC
Y&R’s Adam (Mark Grossman), DAYS’s Sarah (Linsey Godfrey, l.) and GH’s Tracy (Jane Elliot) helped drive the drama on daytime last week.
General Hospital: Tracy Takes Charge
We’ll get to the amazing timing of each episode last week mentioning Monica Quartermaine, but let’s start with Tracy challenging Jason to side with his family over Sonny — and Jason actually doing it. In the convoluted custody battle for Michael’s children, his great aunt Tracy took it on herself to keep them at the Q mansion, away from Willow, Sonny and Carly, because their great grandmother Monica was so devoted to the kids. Carly begged Jason to plead her and Sonny’s custody case to his Aunt Tracy and he agreed, but it went shockingly sideways.
“For once in your life, don’t choose Sonny,” implored Tracy. “Choose family.” Jason, who turned his back on the Qs decades ago, succumbed and told Sonny he couldn’t take Wiley and Amelia away from his mother, Monica. “You just made your father [Alan] so proud,” praised Tracy. His boss, not so much.
Viewers know Monica’s portrayer, Leslie Charleson, had been struggling with health issues for years, so it was absolutely serendipitous that Monica was name checked in every episode the week after January 12, when she passed away. On January 13, GH featured Tracy telling Stella what Monica meant to her and the episode could not have been more timely or moving. Honestly? Moments like that are why we watch soap operas.
Bold and Beautiful: Jack Is Luna’s Father?!
First Luna’s father was deceitful millionaire Bill Spencer, then he was kindly vagrant Tom Starr, and now it’s Luna’s uncle Jack Finnegan (see what his portrayer, Ted King, has to say about it here)?
That’s what Dr. Li Finnegan thinks after running a paternity test on the late Tom’s liver and finding no genetic markers with her niece Luna’s blood sample. Li confronted her sister Poppy about “the ugly scandalous truth” she suspected, demanding Poppy tell her the name of Luna’s father. Poppy kept mum, so Li launched into how Poppy was a terrible mother, knew Tom wasn’t Luna’s dad all those years, lived in Li’s house for a time, and, oh yeah: “All that time you were sleeping with Jack!” Li then demanded Poppy look her in the eye, which she could not.
Luna would be the second child Jack secretly fathered during his marriage to Li (Finn being the first after Jack’s affair with Sheila), which puts him in the pantheon of B&B cheaters. Move over, Brooke and Deacon!
Young and Restless: Claire Gaslights Jordan
The newest Newman made a surprising choice when she ran into escaped convict Jordan in the park: She leaned into it and said everything she knew her psychotic aunt would want to hear. Claire listed all the ways Nikki, Victor, Victoria, et al are toxic, oppressive and entitled, using their money to collect and retain power in Genoa City. She said she doesn’t feel comfortable with her new family, taking care to point out that Jordan had been right about them all along. Eventually, Claire fell into her aunt’s arms saying she can’t pretend to be a Newman for much longer.
It was music to lunatic Jordan’s ears, but it was all lies. Claire went straight to the Newman ranch and spilled all to Nikki and Victoria, including her solution. “If Jordan were to suddenly vanish, no one would know or care,” said Claire, noting that Jordan got someone to take her place in prison. The visual of daughter, mother and grandmother standing in a tight circle debating a murder made them look like a coven of witches.
“Could we actually pull it off?” asked Nikki. We’ll see.
Days of Our Lives: Sarah Keeps Philip’s Secret
When Sarah learned from Stephanie that Philip had been made CEO of Titan under false pretenses (Victor’s letter appointing him was a forgery), she went straight to Philip and told him to cut the crap. Shockingly, he did — but it was an uphill climb, since the job rightfully belongs to Sarah’s husband Xander.
Philip began with how all he’s ever wanted to do was make his father proud and nothing worked, not even serving in the military. He argued that this may be his last chance to show the great Victor Kiriakis what he is capable of but if Sarah tells Xander the truth he’ll lose everything. “Don’t do that to me Sarah,” he pleaded. Kate piped in with the argument that Xander’s MO is violence when someone crosses him, which also seemed to resonate with his wife.
Sarah later told Stephanie she had decided to keep Philip’s secret, in part because she feared Xander might murder his half brother if he learned of Philip’s deception. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of her husband (!) but when Xander proposed “a true 50/50 partnership” to Philip she felt vindicated. “I truly believe this partnership will work!” pronounced Sarah. Only if a lot of players keep their mouths shut…
GH: ODing on Digitalis
Murder mysteries are a soap staple and this hospital has seen its share (“General Homicide” anyone?) but it’s hard to chart how doctors and nurses could be so clueless while healthy patients die. It took two murders and an attempted murder before Dr. Gannon told honcho Dr. Robinson that maybe they should call the police. The live-in girlfriend of a cop (Sam), a cop (Dex), and the son of GH’s biggest donor (Michael) overdosed on digitalis and no one called 911?
No — but the hospital did wrongly suspend head nurse Elizabeth Baldwin because she was working during the first two ODs (and possibly another one). That caused Liz to team up with Lucky to theorize that bible-toting career criminal Cyrus is probably behind it (ya think?). “Someone who has access to G.H. is using digitalis to kill our patients,” reasoned Liz before she and Lucky tailed Cyrus to the Port Charles Grill to watch him… bus tables.
As of this writing, the police still haven’t been notified of the murder spree going on at G.H. This digitalis debacle needs an infusion of logic — stat!
Y&R: Adam and Chelsea Zzzzz
Where’s the rooting value? Adam is trying to get Chelsea to move in with him. Chelsea is debating Adam’s offer but sought out her ex Billy to tell him about her potential move, calling Billy “kind and understanding.” So why would we invest in Adam and Chelsea living together? Oh, yeah. They are going to “co-parent” their troubled son Connor on Victor’s property with no strings attached and maybe build some kind of future together. Riiiight.
Adam and Chelsea’s drunken one-night stand last year in Baltimore is not enough reason to get behind this duo who seem to hate each other when not drinking — and having them move in together to help Connor is an empty story point when the kid is rarely on screen.
“Thank you for being you,” said Chelsea to Billy after laying out her cockamamie plan to move in with her ex. Does that sound like a woman who’s ready to move on?
CBS; Peacock, ABC
Y&R’s Adam (Mark Grossman), DAYS’s Sarah (Linsey Godfrey, l.) and GH’s Tracy (Jane Elliot) helped drive the drama on daytime last week.
General Hospital: Tracy Takes Charge
We’ll get to the amazing timing of each episode last week mentioning Monica Quartermaine, but let’s start with Tracy challenging Jason to side with his family over Sonny — and Jason actually doing it. In the convoluted custody battle for Michael’s children, his great aunt Tracy took it on herself to keep them at the Q mansion, away from Willow, Sonny and Carly, because their great grandmother Monica was so devoted to the kids. Carly begged Jason to plead her and Sonny’s custody case to his Aunt Tracy and he agreed, but it went shockingly sideways.
“For once in your life, don’t choose Sonny,” implored Tracy. “Choose family.” Jason, who turned his back on the Qs decades ago, succumbed and told Sonny he couldn’t take Wiley and Amelia away from his mother, Monica. “You just made your father [Alan] so proud,” praised Tracy. His boss, not so much.
Viewers know Monica’s portrayer, Leslie Charleson, had been struggling with health issues for years, so it was absolutely serendipitous that Monica was name checked in every episode the week after January 12, when she passed away. On January 13, GH featured Tracy telling Stella what Monica meant to her and the episode could not have been more timely or moving. Honestly? Moments like that are why we watch soap operas.
Bold and Beautiful: Jack Is Luna’s Father?!
First Luna’s father was deceitful millionaire Bill Spencer, then he was kindly vagrant Tom Starr, and now it’s Luna’s uncle Jack Finnegan (see what his portrayer, Ted King, has to say about it here)?
That’s what Dr. Li Finnegan thinks after running a paternity test on the late Tom’s liver and finding no genetic markers with her niece Luna’s blood sample. Li confronted her sister Poppy about “the ugly scandalous truth” she suspected, demanding Poppy tell her the name of Luna’s father. Poppy kept mum, so Li launched into how Poppy was a terrible mother, knew Tom wasn’t Luna’s dad all those years, lived in Li’s house for a time, and, oh yeah: “All that time you were sleeping with Jack!” Li then demanded Poppy look her in the eye, which she could not.
Luna would be the second child Jack secretly fathered during his marriage to Li (Finn being the first after Jack’s affair with Sheila), which puts him in the pantheon of B&B cheaters. Move over, Brooke and Deacon!
Young and Restless: Claire Gaslights Jordan
The newest Newman made a surprising choice when she ran into escaped convict Jordan in the park: She leaned into it and said everything she knew her psychotic aunt would want to hear. Claire listed all the ways Nikki, Victor, Victoria, et al are toxic, oppressive and entitled, using their money to collect and retain power in Genoa City. She said she doesn’t feel comfortable with her new family, taking care to point out that Jordan had been right about them all along. Eventually, Claire fell into her aunt’s arms saying she can’t pretend to be a Newman for much longer.
It was music to lunatic Jordan’s ears, but it was all lies. Claire went straight to the Newman ranch and spilled all to Nikki and Victoria, including her solution. “If Jordan were to suddenly vanish, no one would know or care,” said Claire, noting that Jordan got someone to take her place in prison. The visual of daughter, mother and grandmother standing in a tight circle debating a murder made them look like a coven of witches.
“Could we actually pull it off?” asked Nikki. We’ll see.
Days of Our Lives: Sarah Keeps Philip’s Secret
When Sarah learned from Stephanie that Philip had been made CEO of Titan under false pretenses (Victor’s letter appointing him was a forgery), she went straight to Philip and told him to cut the crap. Shockingly, he did — but it was an uphill climb, since the job rightfully belongs to Sarah’s husband Xander.
Philip began with how all he’s ever wanted to do was make his father proud and nothing worked, not even serving in the military. He argued that this may be his last chance to show the great Victor Kiriakis what he is capable of but if Sarah tells Xander the truth he’ll lose everything. “Don’t do that to me Sarah,” he pleaded. Kate piped in with the argument that Xander’s MO is violence when someone crosses him, which also seemed to resonate with his wife.
Sarah later told Stephanie she had decided to keep Philip’s secret, in part because she feared Xander might murder his half brother if he learned of Philip’s deception. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of her husband (!) but when Xander proposed “a true 50/50 partnership” to Philip she felt vindicated. “I truly believe this partnership will work!” pronounced Sarah. Only if a lot of players keep their mouths shut…
GH: ODing on Digitalis
Murder mysteries are a soap staple and this hospital has seen its share (“General Homicide” anyone?) but it’s hard to chart how doctors and nurses could be so clueless while healthy patients die. It took two murders and an attempted murder before Dr. Gannon told honcho Dr. Robinson that maybe they should call the police. The live-in girlfriend of a cop (Sam), a cop (Dex), and the son of GH’s biggest donor (Michael) overdosed on digitalis and no one called 911?
No — but the hospital did wrongly suspend head nurse Elizabeth Baldwin because she was working during the first two ODs (and possibly another one). That caused Liz to team up with Lucky to theorize that bible-toting career criminal Cyrus is probably behind it (ya think?). “Someone who has access to G.H. is using digitalis to kill our patients,” reasoned Liz before she and Lucky tailed Cyrus to the Port Charles Grill to watch him… bus tables.
As of this writing, the police still haven’t been notified of the murder spree going on at G.H. This digitalis debacle needs an infusion of logic — stat!
Y&R: Adam and Chelsea Zzzzz
Where’s the rooting value? Adam is trying to get Chelsea to move in with him. Chelsea is debating Adam’s offer but sought out her ex Billy to tell him about her potential move, calling Billy “kind and understanding.” So why would we invest in Adam and Chelsea living together? Oh, yeah. They are going to “co-parent” their troubled son Connor on Victor’s property with no strings attached and maybe build some kind of future together. Riiiight.
Adam and Chelsea’s drunken one-night stand last year in Baltimore is not enough reason to get behind this duo who seem to hate each other when not drinking — and having them move in together to help Connor is an empty story point when the kid is rarely on screen.
“Thank you for being you,” said Chelsea to Billy after laying out her cockamamie plan to move in with her ex. Does that sound like a woman who’s ready to move on?