Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Soaps have gotten into the habit of making frontburner villains all bad with no redeeming qualities (think DAYS’ Clyde, B&B’s Sheila, Y&R’s Jordan, GH’s Esme). What’s needed are core characters who aren’t black or white, but gray – and some are starting to emerge.
B&B’s Steffy Forrester has been a real jerk lately – and that’s a good thing. She’s a core Forrester so we know she’s not going anywhere despite the nasty way she’s been treating the nicer people in her orbit. Yes, her husband’s mother was a psychotic killer but Finn cared about Sheila. He forgave Steffy for killing Sheila (in self defense) and was working on his marriage when he got a call from his mother’s boyfriend about attending a service for her.
Steffy: “Is Deacon out of his mind? He wants you to go to Sheila’s memorial at Il Giardino, the place where she shot us and left us to die?”
Finn: “The irony is not lost on me, either. It’s his restaurant; she worked there. He sounded pretty broken up.”
Steffy: “He should keep his grief to himself. If he actually believes you’re going to go, he’s a bigger fool than I thought. There shouldn’t be a service, not for Sheila. Tell me you’re not going to go.”
That’s cold. I get that Steffy felt the need to protect her family from Sheila when she was alive, but what harm is there in Finn spending a few hours honoring his late birth mother? Steffy’s complete lack of empathy is so unattractive – especially when compared to Hope who supported her dad despite her own disdain for Sheila.
Liam: “Just say no. Nobody else is going to go.”
Hope: “Deacon did invite Finn…”
See what they’re doing there? Steffy is all “The Forresters are good! The Logans are bad!” but when you break it down to Hope vs. Steffy, the latter comes out as a dispassionate shrew who thinks she can tell people how to feel. I’m not an expert on marriage (!) but having a spouse totally lacking in compassion doesn’t seem like a recipe for long-term happiness. Especially not when Finn finds himself defending Hope more and more lately.
Steffy: “All Thomas wanted was for Hope to love him and she left him heartbroken.”
Finn: “Hope is heartbroken, too.”
Steffy: “You shouldn’t feel sorry for her. No one should.”
Finn: “Don’t you think you’re being harsh? You can’t put all the blame on Hope. Try feeling for her. Have compassion.”
Steffy: “I don’t like you defending her.”
I do. Steffy doesn’t realize her nasty behavior is driving Finn away, most likely in the direction of Hope’s kindness. And that is exactly the type of messy, delicious inter-family war B&B is known for showcasing.
Hope (to Liam): “I did break Thomas’s heart but Steffy has made the situation worse. It didn’t matter to her that she was destroying a family. She said I was just another trashy Logan. She did everything to make it Forrester vs Logan.”
As long as we don’t play the drinking game to “Logan” I think we’re in for a welcome storyline of soapy goodness as Steffy’s nastiness catches up with her. And again – that’s a good thing.
Y&R’s Diane should be gray like Steffy but they’re writing her like she’s mother-of-the-year burdened with a jealous son. Diane did terrible things to most of the Y&R faithful, especially Kyle. Faking her death for most of his life and then resurfacing with a lame “Sorry, my bad” attitude (with Jack’s newly created granddaughter in tow) showed real chutzpah. They missed a giant storyline beat where Kyle should have rejected Diane’s reappearance, and now they’re playing that he’s envious of her position at Jabot rather than angry at her abandonment.
Kyle: “She thinks I resent her getting the co-CEO position.”
Jack: “Is there any truth to her suspicions?”
Kyle: “Yes. It annoys me to see Mom making mistakes.”
Jack: “Do you think you can break this unhelpful cycle?”
No, and he shouldn’t. Consequences have actions and it’s time Diane paid. Start with her stealing Jack’s sperm to create Kyle and go from there.
Y&R was on a better track with Tucker, playing him as a smarmy jerk who was nevertheless loved by Ashley, which made him palatable. But he cheated on her with Audra, their marriage imploded on their honeymoon, and now he’s back to being a one-note baddie. They’re trying to soften him by having him care about his son Devon and grandson Dom but he does it in such a stalky way that it backfires.
Devon (cornered by Tucker at the GCAC): “This is what pisses me off about you. I draw lines and you walk all over them. I have been very specific about telling you to keep your distance. You’re not entitled to me.”
We’re all Team Devon in those scenes, whereas if Tucker had an inch of rooting value we might feel sorry for him. That’s where some gray would come in handy, but Y&R is offering none of that.
Devon (to Lily): “Every single time he has tried to come into my life it’s never about our relationship. It’s always him trying to get something or win something or take over a company or get his ex-wife to fall back in love with him. He can’t take no for an answer and that’s not how a father should behave. I know this because I am one, and I had the best example I could ever ask for. Neil is all the father I’ll ever need.”
That’s the best speech about the nurture of a supportive adoptive parent over the nature of a rotten birth parent I’ve ever heard. Perhaps Devon could share it with B&B’s Finn?
It’s tough to write about DAYS villains because either they are all bad (Clyde, Rolf, Megan), or the show invalidates their crimes via brainwashing, possession by the devil, or memory loss. Looking forward, Holly has the makings of a young manipulative Sami, EJ could assume the Stefano mantle, and Konstantin is trying to be Victor, but those new incarnations need work if they are going to stand in for the venerated Salem OGs.
Ironically, heroic John Black has been trying to make himself an outlaw lately, prepared to do time for a crime he may not have committed.
John (to Konstantin): “I need to go to Greece and turn myself in for the murder of your daughter. That is my path to forgiveness.”
Patch: “Turn yourself in for a crime you’re not sure you committed? I won’t let you do it.”
DUH. Stefano looms large on DAYS, which is a Catch-22. He’s their most famous criminal which deserves honor, but his portrait reminds us of the hole left by his death. Give the show credit for acknowledging that during big events like Jude’s christening.
Roman (toasting the portrait): “Stefano’s got to be turning in his grave with a house full of Bradys celebrating a happy family occasion.”
More likely, Stefano was smiling down because he knows that baby was switched at birth.
We’ll forgive a villain a lot if they are entertaining. GH’s Tracy is a good example of someone who can be totally rotten but then she fires off a classic line at Lois and has a heart-to-heart with Stella and we let her live.
Tracy: “My mother [Lila] had more friends than she knew what to do with.”
Stella: “I gather you take after your father.”
Ditto Nina, who gives as good as she gets (especially with Carly) and has done some rotten things, but genuinely loves Sonny. Sonny and Jason are classic soap bad guys, doing the wrong thing for the right reason over many decades. Sonny, especially, kills people and runs contraband through PC but then he’s all squishy with his kids.
Sonny: “I want you to get better. I want you to make fun of me. I’ll even let you.”
Dante (in his hospital bed): “I’ll hold you to that.”
Jason is tougher to root for because he’s a terrible father, ignoring his kids and their mothers in favor of Carly for reasons that have never made total sense. Danny seems to have forgiven him, but Jake refuses.
Jake: “It was easier to have a dead father that people tell you stories about than one who’s alive that only shows up to commit crimes and get arrested and has nothing to say to his own family. Why is he like this?”
Liz: “He’s complicated.”
Translation: He’s gray.
Let villains be villains!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.