Devious dinners, girls’ night group selfies, and touching reunions helped make this week memorable. Soap Hub breaks down the hits and misses across all five soaps — Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.
Key Takeaways
- Beyond the Gates delivered the week’s most entertaining showdown with Joey, Vanessa, and Deanna’s painfully awkward dinner.
- Emotional family moments impressed, from Portia and Curtis welcoming their baby boy to Y&R’s heartwarming Abbott girls’ night.
- Controlling behavior and unnecessary conflict frustrated viewers across multiple soaps, from Eric and Ridge to Victor and EJ.
Hits and Misses Breakdown: July 13-17, 2026
Beyond the Gates
HIT: the awkward Vanessa/Joey/Deanna dinner. Deanna (Angela Fairley) despises Joey (Jon Lindstrom) and is determined to break up his relationship with her mother. She suggested they have dinner, pretending she wanted to get to know Joey better. It was a dinner from hell, although Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) was mostly oblivious. Joey and Deanna played a tense game of one-upmanship that was fun to watch.
MISS: Tomas’s response to Naomi. Tomas (Alex Alegria) continued to make one wrong move after another. He’s in the midst of committing a series of blunders. We understand why his guard would suddenly be up. He didn’t know the particulars of Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) asking Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) to keep an eye on his firm while he was laid up in the hospital. But to disrespect the boss’s daughter as he did was unacceptable. He needed to keep his insecurities and his chip on his shoulder to himself.
Honorable Mention (HIT and MISS): Naomi comes clean. We applaud Naomi for finally coming clean about her BRCA gene status. However, it took way too long for it to happen. We’re hoping the fallout from her truth-telling moment will last longer than a week. Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) has expressed her upset that her sister didn’t confide in her. But will those feelings disappear after a few days? The conflict with Jacob (Jibre Hordges) seems like it might have legs, with Naomi considering taking drastic action to reduce the chances of getting cancer.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Beyond the Gates.
The Bold and the Beautiful
HIT: Daphne tells Carter she can’t have children. Daphne found out that she has premature ovarian insufficiency, which meant she was in early menopause. The diagnosis devastated her. It made her feel like a failure. When a destroyed Daphne told Carter she was unable to give him children, Carter was heartbroken. He made sure to tell his wife this wasn’t her fault. He supported her, but couldn’t help feeling the devastation. Murielle Hilaire and Lawrence Saint-Victor nailed their performances and the emotion.
MISS: Eric joins in on controlling Electra’s life. We keep getting hit with the “Forresters and Spencers shouldn’t mix” mantra. And now Eric (John McCook) has joined Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) in controlling who Electra (Laneya Grace) can and can’t see. Electra’s a grown woman, allegedly. She should be able to make this decision for herself, instead of Eric throwing Will out of the house.
Honorable mention (MISS): What’s going on with Will? The SORAS-ing of Will (Crew Morrow) has been one of B&B’s best moves recently. He’s a mess, but he’s a good person with heroic tendencies. He loves his mother and holds a healthy skepticism of his father. He went above and beyond to help Dylan (Sydney Bullock), who was homeless. It’s just that sometimes he can’t get out of his own way. But where did this violent streak suddenly develop? It’s not a good look, and it doesn’t track either.
MORE: See what’s coming up next week on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Days of our Lives
HIT: Gwen’s branching out. While Gwen (Emily O’Brien) hasn’t always been our favorite character, we are enjoying some of her latest developments. 1) She learned to never trust Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk). 2) She also learned the horror of being in a one-sided relationship. Xander (Paul Telfer) isn’t going to be her person. 3) She’s making sure she knows how to defend herself should she need those skills (and she already does). 4) Gwen and Gabi’s (Cherie Jimenez) developing friendship is fun. They are both outcasts who can seriously stir up trouble. They could make a great team.
MISS: Piling on Alex and Stephanie. Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) and Stephanie (Abigail Klein) never get to breathe before they tackle another drama or obstacle. It’s relentless, and instead of ushering the couple towards super couple status, it could have fans wondering why these two should even stay together. They need a bit of a breather after the “Is Joy (AlexAnn Hopkins) after Alex or not” story. It would be nice to just see them be married before moving on to the next relationship-endangering plot.
Honorable Mention (MISS): EJ throws Holly under the bus. Speaking of piling on, Holly (Ashley Puzemis) never catches a break either. At the very least, she’ll finally learn that she can’t trust EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel), who offered his support in one breath and then planted pills in her bag the next. But he needed people to think Holly’s using again, so no one’s the wiser that DiMera Pharmaceuticals was responsible for putting Holly into the hospital in the first place. EJ is so diabolical sometimes.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Days of our Lives.
General Hospital
HIT: A baby boy is born. Portia (Brook Kerr) and Curtis (Donnell Turner) welcomed a baby boy this week. All hell may have broken loose between these two. But they were able to be civil to each other as they celebrated the birth of their adorable son. There are so many turbulent baby-related stories on daytime featuring Black women right now. There’s Chanel’s high-stakes pregnancy/breast cancer arc on DAYS; Daphne’s inability to have one on B&B; and BTG’s Naomi considering removing her ovaries and fallopian tubes because she carries the BRCA gene. It was nice to have a successful yet still dramatic delivery.
MISS: Cody’s the one to tell James about Cassius. We’re still wondering why it was up to Cody (Josh Kelly) to tell James (temporary recast Easton Winn) that Nathan (Ryan Paevey) wasn’t Nathan. And that his uncle, Cassius, pretended to be his father. Sure, Cody took it upon himself, and Maxie (Kirsten Storms) and Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) were on vacation. And Cody is family. But what about Felicia (Kristina Wagner) and Mac (John J. York)? The way it went down was a little perplexing.
Honorable Mention (HIT): Jason’s return. Jason (Steve Burton) landed in Port Charles. He looked rough and affected by his experience. But what did he do? He headed directly to Danny (Asher Antonyzyn). He didn’t show up at Sonny’s or Carly’s first. And he didn’t seek out Britt (Kelly Thiebaud). He knew the person he needed to see. On top of that, he suggested they go out of town to reconnect, and they did. Nobody stopped them. In fact, Tracy (Jane Elliot) encouraged them to go. Progress all around!
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on General Hospital.
The Young and the Restless
HIT: The Abbott Girls’ Night. There is so much dire drama on Y&R these days. Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) may go blind permanently. Jack (Peter Bergman) was stabbed. Diane (Susan Walters) was jabbed. Nick’s struggling with addiction. On Monday, Traci (Beth Maitland) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson) made Lauren (Tracey Bregman) an honorary Abbott. Ashley seemed to truly accept Diane into the family. And Abby was there to partake in the fun. She even instigated a group selfie, and they sent it to a recuperating Jack. Plus, the episode featured great flashbacks. There was a joyous tone that had been lacking lately. We were here for it.
MISS: Victor’s obsession turns its focus on Sally’s company. Victor (Eric Braeden) is obsessed with getting everything he lost back. He takes no accountability for his actions in this whole AI mess. However, Adam (Mark Grossman) was okay with saying goodbye to Newman Media and rebuilding it from scratch with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan). He didn’t want it taken away from Sally (Courtney Hope), who’s pregnant and about to get married. Victor didn’t care. He vowed loudly to do whatever it took to get his company back. It wasn’t a good look at all.
Honorable Mention (MISS): Where’s the love? When Claire (Hayley Erin) asked Victoria (Amelia Heinle) about her love life, it got us thinking. There’s not a lot of romance on the show these days. There are so many characters who are single, or whose couples are in jeopardy. Instead of kidnappings, mental health manipulations, and business takeovers, we’d like to see more love stories.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Young and the Restless.
Additional reporting by Soap Hub staff.
