Murder and daytime deaths provide high drama and huge ratings boosts for soaps.
However, after the body’s been buried, comes the realization that the character that was taken off the canvas, shouldn’t have been.
He or she was too big a part of the show’s nucleus, too pivotal a member of a core family, or an irreplaceable half of a supercouple. All that’s left behind is a huge void that’s impossible to fill, and viewers are left clinging to the past instead of embracing the future.
Here’s a list of five soap characters, who should never have been killed off their respective shows.
Bo Brady
Bo Brady tops the list of characters who should never have met their maker. After a three-year break from Days of Our Lives (DOOL), Peter Reckell agreed to return and resurrect the missing Bo in 2015.
Fans were overjoyed and ratings went up in anticipation of the big event. After Bo saved Hope from the murderous Aiden, Bo and Hope were reunited. However, not even a day later, the character was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died in Hope’s arms.
Fans were a mix of devastated and furious. Many cried out that the soap never should have brought Bo back just to kill him. It’s left the Brady family and Victor without their number one son, and Hope searching for a romance that will never live up to the one she shared with Bo.
AJ Quartermaine
Bringing Sean Kanan back as Michael’s real father, AJ Quartermaine, was a brilliant twist on General Hospital (GH. Raised by Sonny, Michael only knew the horror stories he’d been fed about his biological dad. Hence, he was open to hearing AJ’s side of what transpired and forming a relationship with him.
It pitted Michael between the dad who raised him and the dad he never knew. Plus, AJ’s return added depth to the next generation of Quartermaines and reignited the conflict between him and his cousin Ned.
In the end, GH scripted AJ’s murder at Sonny’s hands, creating a few months of contention between Sonny and Michael. But, it paled in comparison to what might have been had AJ been allowed to live.
Adam Newman
Recast after recast can sometimes be too much for a daytime audience to handle, but The Young and the Restless (YR) brass has had remarkable success with finding stellar actors to play Adam Newman.
Chris Engen, Michael Muhney and Justin Hartley have each taken Victor’s black sheep son to new heights, which is a good thing considering how pivotal the character is to the Newman family dynamic.
However, when Hartley opted to exit the soap in 2016, the writers decided to script Adam’s demise, yet again. It was a bad move leaving Chelsea a widow and Victor guilt-ridden. Plus, Adam never got to find out that young Christian is actually his son. The Newman family just isn’t the same without the mercurial Adam.
EJ DiMera
The DiMera family was infused with new life when James Scott was introduced as Stefano’s…continue reading on the next page —>
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