Soap reACTION: Power Shifts, Blame Games, #SonnyIsTheWorst and Disappointing Recasts

Soap reACTION Misses: Lackluster characters and disappointing recasts make up most of the misses for this week.

Y&R: The Blame Game Part One

As expected, all of the promises Nick made about standing by Sharon and loving her through the terrible secret she harbored have been broken. Nick didn’t even take much time to process what Sharon had done before he was rightfully blasting her for hurting his daughter. I’m not upset with Nicholas’ anger towards Sharon. What she did was deliberately malicious and wrong, and her actions hurt not only Nicholas, but Jack and Summer as well. But it’s important to know that the one who started all of this was Nick himself. Sure, if Nick had kept it in his pants, there would never have been a “who’s the daddy” scenario with Phyllis. Let’s take this a step further. If Nick had come clean about the inconclusive paternity test “18 years ago,” there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for Sharon to change the results. Nick needs to accept the part he played in starting all of this, rather than laying all of the blame at Sharon’s feet.

Y&R: The Blame Game Part II

Speaking of blame, the writing team has got to stop blaming every bad thing Sharon’s ever done on her illness. Whenever the show wants to try to give Sharon a ‘get out of jail free’ card, they turn to her bipolar disorder like it’s her golden parachute. It’s like, “Sorry I married your father, faked his death, changed will, aligned myself with Tucker McCall, burned down the ranch, changed Summer’s DNA test, sabotaged your relationship with Avery, etc, I WAS OFF MY MEDS!” Sharon being off her medication is not an excuse to do those things. Saying it is cheapens what those who suffer from bipolar disorder actually goes through. It’s not just Y&R who’s guilty of this – all forms of using medical excuses as a cop out for bad behavior is lazy writing.

Rather than try to give her an out, why not have Sharon own her bad behavior every now and again? If Sharon had said, “Yes, I changed the DNA test results. I’m not sorry. Summer’s existence ruined our family. I was simply writing a wrong that should have never happened,” she would have thrown everyone with pitchforks for a loop.

DAYS: Paige, infallible, perfect ingénue Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

“Being book smart doesn’t mean that you’re not life stupid – and you’re majorly life stupid,” – Rory to Paige.

That pretty much sums up Paige’s existence. In trying to keep an open mind about DAYS’ newest infallible character, I’ve shied away from saying too much about her, mostly because any commentary is negative. Paige is a snooty buzzkill. Over the last month or so, Paige has inserted herself into a Deveraux family secret that was really none of her business, thrown herself at JJ when he pulled away from her after she tried to discuss said secret, then had the nerve to be upset with JJ for pulling away and dumped him.

Let’s focus on this secret a bit. JJ was under no obligation to discuss the rape of his aunt Kayla with Paige. Kayla’s personal tragedy is none of her business, and trying to get JJ to talk about it is tactless. Even after she learned it was JJ’s father who attacked Kayla, she made his issue all about her. She was all ready to ‘forgive’ him for the way he treated her, that is until Bev showed her photos of JJ with pretty girls at a party. The moment she came face to face with JJ, she started harping on him having a beer, harping on him hanging out with pretty girls – basically harping on him for having the kind of fun that most teenagers do.

She can’t have it both ways. She can’t say she wants space, then be upset with JJ for going out and having a good time. She’s so concerned with running his life, telling him what he can and can’t do, that she doesn’t see how much he actually loves her. JJ’s put up with a lot since falling for Paige, lord knows why someone like JJ would fall for a stick in the mud like Paige. But JJ having sex with Paige’s mother Blair Cramer Eve is the best thing that could have happened to this tragically boring pairing.

DAYS: Jordan’s Tragic Past Revealed (and we all saw it coming)

Last Friday, DAYS finally revealed what we’ve all known for months – Jordan’s creepy father figure raped her when she was a teenager. That was a major catalyst behind her taking her baby brother and fleeing Clyde’s evil clutches after the death of her mother. Was the audience supposed to be surprised by this development? If so, it was a major miscalculation.

This is one of those storylines (like many on DAYS) that looks good on paper, but terrible in execution. Jordan is a boring character with no rooting value. Clyde is a boring, try-hard new villain with no redeeming qualities. It’s common for fans to predict plot twists and reveals before they air, but there’s still an expectation that the leadup should be entertaining. This has not been. Jordan’s sulked around Salem for over a year, mostly stuck with boring Rafe, boring me to death with her boring secrets.

One has to wonder how DAYS would react to stories that get a negative reaction from fans if they didn’t film five months in advance. There should have been a turning point with this storyline months ago. A revamp, or speed up or entire scrapping. Something done to salvage what has ultimately been a year in futility. Chrishell Stause is out as Jordan, no amount of unhappiness now will change what’s locked in the can until her exit. She served a lot better than DAYS gave her.

Please go to B&B as the new Steffy Forrester.