Soap Hub looks at the Hits and Misses for the week of December 8-12 in the worlds of Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.
Key Takeaways
- Days of Our Lives: Brady’s heartbreaking decision with Rachel and the intense fallout with Marlena delivered some of the strongest emotional drama of the week.
- General Hospital: GH scored the top Hit with its explosive Tuesday episode.
- The Bold and the Beautiful: Ridge’s push to retire Eric and the fallout from the Luna/Dylan saga created major tension.
- The Young and the Restless: Claire and Audra’s showdown brought messy fun, but the L.A. arc left viewers frustrated.
- Beyond the Gates: Nicole’s blind date setup, Ashley and Derek’s hospital confrontation, and Kat’s family battles all made the Hits and Misses list.
Top 10 Hits and Misses
10. MISS: Ashley and Derek hospital fight (BTG). Now that Ashley (Jen Jacob) and Derek (Ben Gavin) are over it’s feeling permanent. No need to dramatically rehash their relationship smack dab in the middle of the hospital floor. The best part about this scene was Shanice (Ernestine Johnson). She might as well have been eating popcorn, the way her eyes were glued to watching Ashley and Derek confront each other.
9. HIT and Miss: Katie wants to be appreciated (B&B). It was great to see Katie (Heather Tom) stand up to Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) regarding her job and her desire for respect for what she has accomplished at Forrester. However, Ridge essentially brought the PR company in to deal with the fallout from the Luna (Lisa Yamada) business. Katie was too close to it. It’s better that the outside company handle the crisis management. The problem happens if Ridge allows the one-off project to evolve into something more lasting. If Katie quit and moved over to Spencer Publications, she would be justified. Right now, her annoyance and frustration aren’t justified.
8. MISS: Dante’s parenting failure (GH). Saying this hurts us more than it hurts him. But Dante’s continued refusal to cut Gio (Giovanni Mazza) some slack is painful to watch. Ordering Rocco (Finn Carr) to stay away from the son he had just discovered wasn’t cool. Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) has the power to be supremely empathetic and kind. Why doesn’t he show that with Gio? His parenting choices lately have been so worrisome that the show needs to explain more about why he’s acting this way.
7. HIT: Shanice sets up Nicole (BTG). After Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) gets word that Carlton (Robert Christopher Riley) has to leave town for a family emergency, she laments how much it would suck to have to go to WinterFest alone. Shanice offers to set Nicole up on a blind date. At first, Nicole is reluctant, but she ends up meeting the guy right there in the hospital. We love that the Carlton setback isn’t going to stop her in her tracks. And we love that her blind date will be Greg Vaughan’s new character, who we’ll officially meet on Monday, December 8.
6. MISS: Jennifer wants to take advantage of a missing Chad (DAYS). Not only is Jennifer (Melissa Reeves) using Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord) against Chad (Billy Flynn), but now she is capitalizing on the fact that he’s a DiMera. And she says she wants to get Chad’s kids away from Salem sooner rather than later. Yes, she graciously agreed to postpone the hearing until Chad gets back. But the fact that she wants to rip his kids away from him like this is upsetting. Did she see the concern that Thomas (Cary Christopher) showed for his dad now that they can’t find him?
5. HIT: Claire and Audra’s slap and choke (Y&R). While Friday’s Y&R skirmish between Claire (Hayley Erin) and Audra (Zuleyka Silve) may pale in comparison to the knockdown dragout brawls of Y&R’s past, it was still fun. We may not condone violence, but we do condone messy drama, and this was messy.
4. MISS: Ridge wants Eric to walk off into the sunset professionally (B&B). Ridge threw his dad a surprise retirement party. Who throws a retirement party for someone who doesn’t want to retire? Ridge needs to read the room and include his dad. He’s not asking for the world. He just wants to be a part of it. Take a look at the designs Eric (John McCook) has been working on from home. Instead, Ridge just tells him he is old and should want to live the leisurely life from here on out. Not everybody is about that retirement life. Meanwhile, Ridge is the one who looks stressed and needs help. Zende (Delon de Metz) is suddenly working on Hope for the Future when initially they said he was working on couture with Ridge. When did that switch happen?
3. HIT: Brady takes Rachel to Bayview (DAYS). After poisoning Sarah (Linsey Godfrey) and remembering she shot EJ (Dan Feuerriegel), Brady had to check Rachel into Bayview for more intensive therapy. It was a smart move, but that didn’t make it any easier for Brady to know that his daughter was capable of such things. He helped check her in and stayed for a while. And he even gave her a memento that was very near and dear to John. But the truly heartbreaking moment was when Brady had to leave Rachel there. It was the hardest thing he had to do. And he practically crumbled as he listened to her shout, “Daddy.” Kudos to Eric Martsolf and Alice Halsey.
2. MISS: The L.A. Story (Y&R). The Los Angeles component of the “Is he Matt Clark” story has ended. Noah (Lucas Adams) and Sienna (Tamara Braun) are fine. Matt’s finances and The Shadow Room are probably not, thanks to Victor (Eric Braeden) using the AI superweapon on his company. Unfortunately, we’re not closer to figuring out whether Mitch is Matt or he’s just Mitch. Or whatever. And Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon (Sharon Case) haven’t reunited yet either (if that is even going to happen). It took Victor coming out to help shut this phase of the story down, of course. But what was really accomplished while all these characters were in L.A.? What happened to Burrow (Matt Cohen) and his shady partner? Will everybody eventually end up in Genoa City?
1. HIT: The Tuesday episode (GH). GH has been highly entertaining lately, giving us amazing performances and upping the ante on the villainous Sidwell (Carlo Rota), who now potentially has a mayor, a congressman, and a mobster under his thumb. The Tuesday, December 2, episode was particularly entertaining, even with it being the day Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) got married. The expressions on Nina’s (Cynthia Watros), Alexis’s (Nancy Lee Grahn), and Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) faces during the ceremony were worth the price of admission. From afar, Michael (Rory Gibson) creepily watched Willow marry Drew. Meanwhile, Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Gio had a breakthrough conversation. Michael and Jacinda (Paige Herschell) hooked up. Things were tense with the Ashfords as Nathan (Ryan Paevey) questioned Curtis (Donnell Turner) outside his house and then at the police station. Plus, Kevin (Jon Lindstrom) and Laura (Genie Francis) were reunited. The episode ended with her coming clean about the dead body in her trunk. It was a thrilling watch.
Honorable Mentions
B&B
MISS: Dylan hit Luna and hit the road for an apology tour. This wrapped up Luna’s reign of terror into too neat and tidy a ball. There was so much mess before Luna died. Why couldn’t it have continued after? Dylan (Sydney Bullock) just so happened to be on that road the night Luna escaped and was running away? But it was just an accident? How about she snapped and hunted her down? There’s still time to make it happen.
READ THIS: The latest Bold and the Beautiful Comings & Goings.
BTG
MISS: Everybody keeps telling Kat how to feel, including her mother. Nicole shows a great deal of empathy for Eva (Ambyr Michelle), but not much for her own daughter. Kat’s spoiled rants are brutal, but the only person who seems to empathize with her is her Aunt Dani (Karla Mosley). This week, Kat even had to endure Samantha (Najah Jackson) telling her how much she has changed, and Kat made the unfortunate decision to ditch WinterFest because Eva would be there with Ted (Keith D. Robinson). Kat’s resentments are valid, as are Eva’s. Why does the family not see that?
READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Beyond the Gates.
DAYS
HIT: Brady and Marlena struggle. While we don’t like Brady deciding to move out on Marlena (Deidre Hall) at a time she is so vulnerable, we do love the layered drama that has erupted between them. The tension between the two is thick. And it’s unclear whether they will repair their relationship anytime soon. Brady is showing so much anger, while Marlena is oozing with guilt for not telling Brady that Rachel shot E.J. It’s such good stuff.
READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Days of Our Lives.
GH
HIT: Michael and Jacinda. These two are showing more and more chemistry as they get closer. And this week, they got super close. We’re looking forward to seeing more of these two, especially since there are so many external forces that could keep them apart.
READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up next week on General Hospital.
Y&R
HIT: Roger Howarth. Even though we just gave Y&R’s L.A. story a miss. The same does not go for Roger Howarth. He was so much fun to watch this week as he let Mitch or Matt’s villainous flag fly free.
READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Young and the Restless.
Additional reporting by Soap Hub Staff.
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