Cancer victories, corporate wins, and impressive performances helped make this week in soaps memorable. Soap Hub breaks down the hits and misses from May 11-15 across Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.
Key Takeaway
- Healthcare victories and emotional milestones delivered some of the week’s biggest wins across the soaps.
- Corporate shakeups, family conflicts, and dangerous choices fueled major drama in multiple storylines.
- Strong performances and standout character moments helped elevate the week’s biggest hits and misses.
Hits and Misses Breakdown: May 11-15, 2026
Beyond the Gates
HIT: Anita rings the victory bell. This week, Anita (Tamara Tunie) had what could be her final chemo session, and she marked the momentous occasion by ringing the victory bell. Anita, Vernon (Clifton Davis), Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix), and Dani (Karla Mosley), with Ashley’s (Jen Jacob) help, took a beat to honor what Anita had accomplished. And it signaled the beginning of the next part of her phase. It was a very satisfying and joyful moment.
MISS: Nicole may be backtracking. Nicole 2.0 was trucking along. She had found herself and started dating not one but two doctors. And then she started having flashes of Ted (Keith D. Robinson). While it’s natural for something like this to happen, hopefully, it’s just a bump in the road. Because we have been enjoying Nicole’s post-divorce phase, with all of its highs and lows. But it’s much too soon to entertain any thoughts of her potentially reuniting with Ted.
Honorable Mention (HIT): Mike Davis is the opposing lawyer in Madison’s lawsuit. Bringing back Mike Davis (Pierce Lackey) was unexpected, but it totally fits. He, of course, resents the hell out of Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) for giving him the ol’ heave-ho from the law firm after he was accused of sexual harassment. And now he’s taking extra pleasure in sticking it to his former friend. He will try to inflict maximum damage on the Hamilton family. But it also brings Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) and Bill together to fight a common foe, something Bill couldn’t have planned better had he tried.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Beyond the Gates
Bold and the Beautiful
HIT: Steffy successfully defends her co-CEO job. While Forrester Creations is a company big enough to make both couture and Hope for the Future a priority, that’s not how this is all playing out. What we have is Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) making a desperate bid to be co-CEO with Ridge (Thorsten Kaye). She wants a position that is already filled by a Forrester. Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) mounted a clear, passionate defense of her job. She was fair about Brooke’s accomplishments, but also refused to step aside and let her father demote her. Ridge ultimately had to tell Brooke that Steffy would stay as co-CEO.
MISS: Liam underestimates Hope’s need to stay at Forrester. Hope (Annika Noelle) may still end up at Logan, but we wouldn’t call it a win for Liam (Scott Clifton) if that happened. He presented his wife with strong arguments over why she should leave her job. Yet she would rather make a last-ditch power play than quit a company that’s doing her fashion line dirty. Liam may have to realize that Hope just isn’t that into Logan.
Honorable Mention (HIT and MISS): Zende makes his feelings known. In Friday’s episode, we finally got to hear Zende’s opinion about HFTF being set aside in favor of the couture line. Zende (Delon de Metz) is clearly proud of the work he put into HFTF. And now he’s asked to just make the jump to couture, where he’s another wheel in the cog that includes R.J. (Brayan Nicoletti), a guy who has only returned to the Forrester fold recently. So HIT for Zende getting to express himself. MISS that it was only two scenes, and who knows if his expressing himself to Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) will lead anywhere. We hope it will.
MORE: The latest Bold and the Beautiful Comings & Goings.
Days of our Lives
HIT: Gabi turns down the CEO job. Apparently, Tony (Thaao Penghlis) really doesn’t want Johnny (Carson Boatman) anywhere near the CEO position at DiMera. And who can blame him after that plagiarism lawsuit Titan filed against his family’s company? After Gabi (Cherie Jimenez) waltzed into Stefano’s will-reading and announced she was Stefan’s widow, not his ex-wife. And that she was entitled to Stefan’s inheritance, Tony had an idea and asked Gabi to be the next CEO. She didn’t even have to think that hard before declining, which is growth for Gabi. Unfortunately, her relationship with Philip (John-Paul Lavoisier) can still go south if and when he finds out she helped Tony to get DiMera back.
HIT and MISS: Ari tells Gabi how she really felt about her childhood. Ari (Vico Escorcia) had had it with her mother micromanaging her life. Ari liked Liam (Hank Northrop) and wanted the freedom to make her own mistakes. The mother and daughter finally had it out about how Ari grew up, and many of Ari’s complaints were totally valid. Gabi will never be Mother of the Year. Where Ari lost us was when she lashed out, saying Gabi wasn’t there for her. And Gabi reminded her that she was in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. She also didn’t have us feeling sorry for her when she complained about Will (Chandler Massey) and Sonny (Zach Tinker) being overprotective in Arizona.
Honorable Mention (HIT): Amy Choi’s husband is finally introduced. We had lost hope of ever meeting Sophia’s dad. But he showed up at the precinct with his wife, and Jada (Elia Cantu) told them that things had turned into a search-and-recovery operation. That it was no longer a search-and-rescue mission. Unfortunately, we have never seen Jason Choi (Stephen Oyoung) interact with Sophia (Rachel Boyd). But we’re glad he’s now a part of this grieving process. And one never knows if a character is dead or alive in Salem, so we may get our wish of Jason and Sophia interacting someday.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Days of Our Lives.
General Hospital
HIT: Finn Carr is the MVP of the week. Finn Carr is one of GH’s talented actors from the teen set. And he continues to impress. The second Rocco shot Cullum (Andrew Hawkes), Carr has excelled in showing his character’s emotions. The way Rocco has shut down on his parents and friends. Or he’ll overreact to a situation as he did with Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) and Charlotte (Bluesy Burke). He is now clinging to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) over their shared trauma because she was there that night at the docks. And also how tentative Rocco acted with Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), who now knows the truth. Carr is doing such a good job; we hope he gets some Emmy love this year.
MISS: Curtis punches Isaiah. What in the world is going on with Curtis (Donnell Turner)? He served Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) up on a silver platter to the ADA for his so-called part in the accident. He demanded that Isaiah take his hands off his baby. And he won’t listen to reason because it doesn’t fit his narrative for the accident with Tanisha Harper’s Jordan (that was Jordan’s fault). And then he capped off all of his bad decisions by punching Isaiah. Curtis needs a wake-up call.
Honorable Mention (HIT): A wealth of great scene partners this week. This week, we were all about scenes featuring two people. For example, Dante and Liz (Rebecca Herbst) were wonderful as Elizabeth helped Dante work through his feelings about his son shooting Cullum. She even brought up her own trauma from when she was Rocco’s age. These two have so much potential. Britt and Lucas (Van Hansis) drinking and commiserating totally worked. They are forging a friendship that we want to see more of. Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ric (Rick Hearst) figured out their stuff — at gunpoint, of course. But they did it. They talked, empathized, and moved forward as brothers. And finally, we adored Molly (Kristen Vaganos) reaching out to a struggling Jordan. They played the awkwardness, but also the necessity of the interaction.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on General Hospital.
The Young and the Restless
HIT: Matt’s interactions. Ever since Matt came back into the picture in Las Vegas, Roger Howarth has gotten the chance to act opposite a fresh, new set of characters. So it hasn’t been Sharon (Sharon Case), Nick (Joshua Morrow), Noah (Lucas Adams), and Sienna (Tamara Braun) the whole time. Matt has interacted with Adam (Mark Grossman) and Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan). But now that he has amnesia and is back in Genoa City, he has talked to Cane (Billy Flynn), Patty (Stacy Haiduk), and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). And it’s a lot of fun to witness. Once again, Howarth looks like he’s having fun.
MISS: The Newman stubbornness knows no bounds. We all know how stubborn this family is, but Nick is taking it to new heights while under the influence of his addiction. He insists that when he’s completely compromised, he alone can take care of Matt Clark. And while his addiction has Nick acting delusional, nobody’s stepping up to actually prevent him from going off the rails. They will point out his wayward thinking. But then they’ll let him continue with his plan anyway. And they’ll continue letting him carry out his mission instead of getting him to start that outpatient program.
Honorable Mention (HIT): Lily makes a Drucilla reference. Lily (Christel Khalil) warned Phyllis that if she needed to get revenge on her, she would make it happen by channeling her mother. Phyllis and Drucilla (Victoria Rowell) notoriously hated each other. Lily referring to her mom like this wasn’t on our bingo card. But we loved it anyhow. Lily understandably talks so much about Neil (the late Kristoff St. John). It’s nice whenever she mentions her mom. More of that, please.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Young and the Restless.
Additional reporting by Soap Hub staff.
