Recording sessions, reunion drama, and classic photo shoots helped make the week of November 2-6 memorable. In fact, there were two standout soaps this week. It’s time to dissect the hits and misses on all five soaps: Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless.
Key Takeaways
- Beyond the Gates and The Young and the Restless earn Standout Soap of the Week honors thanks to a memorable crossover and a nostalgic Jabot photo shoot.
- DAYS delivers a more mature Xander, while GH welcomes Nina back and gives Brook Lynn and Sonny a memorable conversation.
- Questionable character decisions and frustrating story developments lead to misses across all five soaps.
Hits and Misses Breakdown: November 2-6, 2026
Beyond the Gates ***Standout Soap of the Week***
HIT: The BTG/Y&R crossover featuring Devon and Lily. It was fun seeing Devon (Y&R’s Bryton James) and Lily (Y&R’s Christel Khalil) in Fairmont Crest interacting with Vernon (Clifton Davis), Anita (Tamara Tunie), and her fellow Articulettes. We got to see Devon in action as a producer and Lily as an Articulettes superfan. And Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) was in awe of hearing her mother’s voice. And she treated the situation and the moment with respect.
MISS: The Naomi/Hayley face-off. It was great that Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) brought the heat to her conversation with Hayley (Marquita Goings). We figured it would be a formidable match. However, Naomi deserved to verbally thrash Hayley for the way Hayley used her, but that’s not how it worked out. Hayley scored a few more points than Naomi did. The scenes even took the steam out of the delivery of the document that terminated Bill’s parental rights. That should have hit harder.
Worth a Mention: Congratulations to Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon). He won his re-election by the skin of his teeth. Smitty’s arrest was a good obstacle that could have tanked his congressional ambitions.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Beyond the Gates.
Bold and the Beautiful
HIT: Brooke faces the consequences of her actions. Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) communicating with Bill (Don Diamont) would trigger Katie (Heather Tom). She knew it, and she did it anyway. Even though she’s not thinking about getting back with Bill. And now Brooke has to face a seriously triggered Katie. Brooke only has herself to blame.
MISS: Carter’s panic is telling. Both Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) are having panic attacks about one secret. But they’re also hella stressed that this fake surrogacy story will be discovered. Wouldn’t it have just been easier to come clean about their affair?
Worth a Mention: Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) tells Deacon (Sean Kanan) that she can’t believe he’s living in the same place even after he’s started making a lot of money. Deacon should move. Also, are we about to see Il Giardino again? Never thought we’d miss that set, but we do.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Days of our Lives
HIT: Xander puts a stop to a reunion with Sarah for mature reasons. Xander’s redemption has been stellar. And it was solidified this week with his response to Sarah’s confession that she loved him. You would have thought he would have jumped at the chance to reunite with the woman he clearly loves. Instead, Xander (Paul Telfer) took a more mature approach and told Sarah (Linsey Godfrey) that they still have the same issues they’ve always had and that they shouldn’t reunite until they solve them. Bravo, Xander!
MISS: Alex Kiriakis. While Stephanie (Abigail Klein) can sometimes give off crying-wolf vibes, why is it so difficult for Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) to believe his wife? He might want to try to if he doesn’t want to lose said wife.
Worth a Mention: Lani (Sal Stowers) giving Xander a heads-up about the law coming for him was cool. It now gives him time to figure out a plan. To this day, it is unbelievable that she spent three years in prison when some Salemites still haven’t been made to pay for their crimes.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on Days of our Lives.
General Hospital
HIT (tie): Nina’s back, and Brook Lynn turns to Sonny. Nina had been off the canvas for weeks. She was stuck in Steinmauer thanks to Drew (Cameron Mathison). But now she’s back. And Cynthia Watros did a great job with Nina’s return. Meanwhile, Amanda Setton showed us some of the old Brook Lynn during the conversation with Sonny (Maurice Benard). She’s not going to go by-the-book to deal with Jude (Wil Traval). Even if that’s the route Chase (Josh Swickard) wants to take. Brook Lynn and Sonny scenes are always welcome.
MISS: The cops vs. Joss. Why does it take the PCPD forever to discover the truth, yet Joss (Eden McCoy) and Hudson (Troy Lennon Appel) can suss out Ric’s bug so easily? We had to listen to Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) getting the Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) death investigation all wrong as he and Molly (Kristen Vaganos) interrogated Carly (Laura Wright). On the flip side, Joss and Hudson figured out that Ric (Rick Hearst) planted a bug pretty easily. It would just be nice if the PCPD could get it right some of the time.
Worth a Mention: Heather (Alley Mills) may not be the stalker, which we approve, because it means that an alive Esme’s still in the running.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on General Hospital.
Young and the Restless ***Standout Soap of the Week***
HIT: Diane’s Jabot Classic photo shoot. Even though this was about Diane (Susan Walters) wanting to stick it to Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Vibrante, the photo shoot and the re-release of classic Jabot lipsticks were a great idea. Recruiting former Jabot models for the photo shoot made the moment even more special. Diane knows what she’s doing, and she looked amazing while doing it. Her ’70s-inspired outfit ate.
MISS: Nikki crashes Diane’s photo shoot. The miss happened when Nikki crashed the event. It’s always fun when she and Diane go toe-to-toe, but that’s when they run into each other, or they have a showdown in front of Jack (Peter Bergman) or Victor (Eric Braeden). Nikki left the GCAC and purposely tried to ruin the good vibes at Crimson Lights. And the fact that she was so upset with Sharon (Sharon Case) and Lily for showing up for Diane’s shoot — it felt out of the blue.
Worth a Mention: According to the teasers, Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) is back on the first day of Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor’s new material debuting. That feels like a statement. We haven’t seen her on air since April of this year. It’s nice that she’ll be back on the canvas. They even mentioned her in conversation this week.
MORE: Here’s what’s coming up next week on The Young and the Restless.
What are your personal soap hits and misses for the week?
Additional reporting by Soap Hub staff.
