Amazing renewal news, all-star team-ups, and mesmerizing scene partners helped make this week in soaps a memorable one. Soap Hub dissects the drama, romance, and the bad decisions the characters make on Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.
Key Takeaways
- CBS renews Beyond the Gates for Seasons 3 and 4, giving fans a major reason to celebrate.
- Powerful character moments shine, including emotional bonds and surprising alliances across multiple soaps.
- Missed beats include questionable character choices, dropped story opportunities, and a frustrating lack of payoff.
Top 5 Hits
5. Sally and Audra share their pain over their miscarriages (Y&R). Sally (Courtney Hope) and Audra (Zuleyka Silver) are supportive yet honest, sometimes brutally so. But they also let their walls down with each other. Nobody can get Audra to do that except Sally. Their conversation about their respective miscarriages was painful to watch, but also proved why they’re one of the best friendships on soaps.
4. Kristen and Sophia team up (DAYS). We’re always game for a villainous team-up. Kristen (Stacy Haiduk) should be mowing Sophia (Rachel Boyd) down for the bad influence she was on her daughter, Rachel (Lorelei Olivia Mote). Instead, they’re forming a toxic bond to deal with their own revenge agendas. Kristen is done with her brother, EJ (Dan Feuerriegel). So she coerced Sophia into helping her make him suffer. And in turn, Sophia will get her revenge on Johnny (Carson Boatman). And she’s throwing Holly (Ashley Puzemis) into the mix, too. Let the payback begin.
3. Katie shares with Brooke how much Eric hurt her (B&B). It’s been odd that Eric (John McCook) hasn’t said boo to Katie (Heather Tom) since Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) found out that Eric (temporarily) defected to Logan. We haven’t seen any sort of closure between the two. We have just seen Eric upset that Katie and Bill (Don Diamont) are using the designs he created while under their employ. But Katie finally let it spill how much Eric’s 180 hurt her. She had immense respect for him. But since everything blew up, he hasn’t shown her the same respect. He has been silent.
2. Daniel Cosgrove and Genie Francis (GH). Cosgrove was the MVP of GH this week. First, he let loose on Sidwell (Carlo Rota), to his detriment, of course. As a result, he found himself facing a gun-toting Sidwell. Then he got wasted at the Brown Dog. Slept it off at Laura’s. Then agreed to an alliance with the mayor. The scenes featuring Ezra and Laura (Genie Francis) surprised us. We felt a nice chemistry developing between them. Let’s hope GH signs Cosgrove to a contract. We’d like to see how things develop further.
1. CBS renews BTG for Seasons 3 and 4 (BTG). This was one of the week’s biggest and most welcome surprises. Not only did CBS greenlight more BTG. The network renewed the show for two seasons. And now we can relax (a little bit) and bask in the knowledge that this soap will be around for seasons 3 and 4. Congratulations to the cast and crew!
Top 5 Misses
5. Joss’s refusal to read the room (GH). Joss (Eden McCoy) may think she’s already a seasoned WSB agent, but she still has a lot to learn. Like the art of subtlety. What was she thinking, pushing “Nathan” (Ryan Paevey) about Anna (Finola Hughes) and that book Cesar Faison (Anders Hove) wrote? At some point during the conversation, she should have eased off a little bit.
4. Lynette’s sudden disappearance (BTG). Randy (Maurice P. Kerry) did something to Lynette (Dominique Madison), and now she’s gone missing. We had hoped that Lynette would get more time to make Hayley’s life miserable. And to see how Hayley (Marquita Goings) would react to this person, who’s raising Bill’s suspicions. Lynette put the screws to her con artist pal. And to see Hayley deal with it on her own would have been preferable. Because we still haven’t seen the real Hayley (or should we call her “Val”?). Just glimpses.
3. Johnny thinks he found a lump in Chanel’s breast (DAYS). Can the show give Chanel (Raven Bowens) a break from health and baby problems? It’s too much. It was nice seeing Johnny and Chanel connect again. Then Johnny said he came across a lump. We know this is a high-risk pregnancy for Chanel, but we were also hoping the show would keep Chanel healthy. And it still could turn out like that. We hope this is a scare and nothing else.
2. R.J. and Ivy try to get Will fired (B&B). The Will (Crew Morrow) and Electra (Laneya Grace) drama took over Forrester Creations this week. Even Ridge and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) discussed their relationship. But R.J. (Brayan Nicoletti) and Ivy (Ashleigh Brewster) pleaded with Ridge to fire Will and even Dylan (Sydney Bullock) for no viable reason. They know that Dylan was homeless, right? They must also know that personal issues like those Will and Electra are going through aren’t grounds for dismissal. Why do they keep coddling Electra? She can handle the conflict herself.
1. Diane’s inability to even listen to Jack’s perspective. (Y&R). Diane (Susan Walters) is stubborn with a capital “S.” All week long, she refused to even talk to Jack (Peter Bergman) and listen to what he has to say. Thankfully, Traci (Beth Maitland) threw Diane’s past in her face. But even that didn’t move the needle. We understand that Diane can’t unsee what went down on that yacht, and that she needs time. Jack should give her that time. But let him know that’s all she needs. And when she’s ready, she will seek him out.
Honorable Mentions
B&B
HIT: Daphne finally opens up Electra’s eyes to the truth. Ivy’s manipulation of Electra had been going on too long. And she wasn’t even holding anything over Daphne’s head to keep her from spilling the truth. She relied on Daphne’s desire to stay out of the drama. Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) finally clued Electra in.
MORE: The latest Bold and the Beautiful Comings & Goings.
BTG
HIT: Kat invites Eva to join her surprise party. Kat’s immediate urge at her surprise birthday party was to be catty with Eva (Ambyr Michelle) when her nemesis walked into Uptown. After some tense words, Kat (Colby Nixon) did good when she kept the peace and invited Eva to stay for the party and enjoy the cake.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Beyond the Gates.
DAYS
MISS: Xander and Gwen park themselves in the middle of the DiMera living room. As much as shirtless Xander (Paul Telfer) is an iconic presence in Salem, he and Gwen (Emily O’Brien) made themselves too comfortable in the same room where all the DiMeras gather, and Stefano’s portrait hangs. They needed to take their sexcapades back up to her room.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Days of Our Lives.
GH
MISS: GH doesn’t bring TJ back for Jordan’s hospital stint. Jordan (Tanisha Harper) has been on GH for a long time, and while she does have friends, the two people who are family to her are Curtis (Donnell Turner) and TJ (Tajh Bellow). And this accident should have been just the excuse Jordan’s son needed to come back to town. But apparently, he is in Europe somewhere doing something. We would have loved to see TJ back in Port Charles.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on General Hospital.
Y&R
MISS: Lauren’s joined Summers Conglomerate with no blowback whatsoever. Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) should have her allies, and it makes sense for Lauren (Tracey Bregman) to be one of them. However, it also makes sense that she would have at least had a conversation with Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) over accepting the job at Summers Conglomerate. Don’t get us wrong, she doesn’t need Nikki’s approval. But she’s going to work for the person who stole the company away from her good friend’s husband. That warrants a sit-down conversation.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Young and the Restless.
Additional reporting by Soap Hub staff.
