The week’s hit and misses in all five soaps.Soap Hub looks at the Hits and Misses for the week of August 18-22 in the worlds of Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.
Top 10 Hits and Misses
10. MISS: Victor suddenly approves of Claire and Kyle’s relationship (Y&R). This development doesn’t seem totally sincere. Victor definitely loves Claire, but he’s backing down just like that? We’re suspicious.
9. HIT: Jason and Britt (GH). This week, they gave each other longing looks even though they bickered and disagreed in their reunion conversation. Later, when Jason (Steve Burton) chatted up Greta (Cecily Elliott), the courier, Britt’s jealousy flared, and that was fun. And when Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) showed up at Jason’s door at the end of Friday’s episode, there was heat between them.
8. MISS: Derek’s health emergency (BTG). First, Derek (Ben Gavin) has already had a hospital visit in the first six months of BTG. This latest visit feels too soon and too plot-driven. It’s designed to potentially reunite Derek and Ashley (Jen Jacob). They just broke up. Couldn’t Derek’s potential paralysis story have waited until a more organic time?
7. HIT: Claire throws Audra under the bus (Y&R). As much as we love Audra, the ex-Vibrante owner has been on a lying tear lately. It’s impossible for her to tell the truth. She’s gaslighting Nate (Sean Dominic) and refuses to own up to the truth. So Claire filling in the blanks for Nate at Society was a great moment for Claire and for us.
6. MISS: The jury for Johnny’s trial (DAYS). We understand why the jury had to reach a guilty verdict (although it was never officially read). Regardless, there’s no way that annoying juror should have been able to talk the entire jury — including Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) — into voting guilty. That trial screamed reasonable doubt.
5. HIT: June gets closure with Samantha and Tyrell (BTG). Last week, June (Jasmine Burke) reunited with her biological son and daughter, Ron and Cecile, aka Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) and Samantha (Najah Jackson) Smith-Richardson. This week, Tyrell and Samantha decided that one meeting was enough. But June needed closure, so she showed up at their house uninvited. And instead of creating hell, she did get closure. She was sweet and simply wanted to connect with them one last time. It also provided closure for Tyrell and Samantha. Jasmine Burke was amazing in these scenes.
4. MISS: Nina ending up in the pool (GH). What was the point of Nina (Cynthia Watros) ending up in the Metro Court pool during her argument with Carly (Laura Wright)? She already looked bad for sleeping with Drew (Cameron Mathison) last year and then keeping it from Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) until the secret imploded the day of Willow’s wedding to Drew. Having Nina end up soaking wet in the pool was just overkill and unnecessary.
3. HIT: Kristen makes a big sacrifice to save Rachel and, subsequently, Johnny (DAYS). Stacy Haiduk (Kristen DiMera) left us in awe in Friday’s DAYS episode as she made the ultimate sacrifice for her daughter. She confessed to shooting her brother, EJ (Dan Feuerriegel), even though she knew Rachel (Alice Halsey) shot him. Rachel doesn’t remember what she did, however. And EJ needed somebody to fall on their sword so Johnny (Carson Boatman) could be free from this nightmare. Haiduk’s performance was Emmy-worthy.
2. MISS: Luna rapes Will (B&B). We should have known that there was no saving Luna (Lisa Yamada). Li (Naomi Matsuda) gave her granddaughter/niece a third, fourth chance, and instead of reforming and transforming herself into someone better, B&B sent Luna back to the land of nonconsensual sex. Last time, she tricked Zende (Delon de Metz) into thinking he had taken advantage of Luna when it wasn’t the case. This time around, she plies Will (Crew Morrow) with 180-proof alcohol, which is practically lighter fluid, and then she proceeds to wear Electra’s (Laneya Grace) mask from the party. But he was so drunk he had no idea what was going on. Needless to say, it was difficult to watch.
1. HIT: Maxie collapses at Home & Heart (GH). Maxie’s (Kirsten Storms) sudden heart attack and potential poisoning had her friends and family scared and emotional. Not only did this healthcare emergency have the characters (and viewers) remembering the iconic heart transplant involving BJ and Maxie. But it was also great to see all the people showing up for Maxie in different ways. For example, Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Liesl (Kathleen Gati) bonded a bit over how to break it to James (Gary James Fuller) that his mom was sick. And then Lulu and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) called a truce for Maxie’s sake. Cody (Josh Kelly) being at the hospital supporting his family was nice, too. Also, Felicia (Kristina Wagner) and Mac (John J. York) broke our hearts as they worried for Maxie.
One Hit That’s Also a Miss
BTG’s Leslie is Barbara’s daughter, and she inherits a fortune. Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) suddenly coming into a fortune and being the daughter of the fourth Articulette was quite the character development. It was soapy goodness and is a story that promises to have legs. But here’s the thing. Leslie has continually made the Duprees’ lives hell, and she hasn’t paid a single second for it. Yes, she had a rough childhood. But her revenge against Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) and Ted (Keith D. Robinson) has been so intense that we need to see some blowback against her. It would have been great to see Leslie hit rock bottom before this game-changer came into her life. As it is, she’s broke because she spent the money she extorted from Ted. That isn’t struggling. That’s not knowing how to value money.
Honorable Mentions
BTG
MISS: Naomi needed to navigate the June situation differently. While everything ended okay, at one point, Samantha said something about how a closed adoption was supposed to be closed. And, yes, Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) got the permissions and everything, but it turned into a needlessly messy situation that she should have handled better. Even June blamed Naomi for the mess, that is, before she got closure.
DAYS
HIT: Judge Dabney. We love it when a guest actor comes in and knocks their performances out of the park. That’s what Karole Foreman did as the judge in Johnny’s trial. She was fun and commanding, and Judge Dabney was a saint for putting up with EJ’s manipulations and grandstanding. It seems like Hollywood thinks this actress looks downright judicial. In addition to playing a judge on DAYS, she has also played one on Y&R, Fox’s The Grinder, NBC’s Third Watch, and Suits LA.
GH
HIT: ADA Turner learns who the real Drew is / Martin stands up to Drew. While Drew keeps terrorizing various citizens of Port Charles, he received a couple of blows this week — one he knows about and one he doesn’t. The congressman has no idea that ADA Turner (Nazneed Contractor) overheard him trying to threaten and blackmail Sonny (Maurice Benard). Later, at the precinct, Drew tried to get Michael (Rory Gibson) booked for assaulting him. It didn’t work, and it was partly because Martin (Michael E. Knight) wouldn’t back up his narrative and sign the witness statement on the dotted line. That’s because Drew fed Stella (Vernee Watson) to the wolves of the guys investigating her insurance fraud. Go, Martin!
Y&R
HIT: Tessa, Holden, Claire, and Daniel. Separately, it was really nice to see the Tessa (Cait Fairbanks)/Claire friendship again. And also to see Holden (Nathan Owens) and Daniel (Michael Graziadei) connect and get to know each other. Then they all came together at Society, and they talked about how each of them was grieving and experiencing loss. It felt like a refreshing respite from all the Genoa City business talk.
