It’s Only My Opinion: Soaps Need To Cross Exes Like General Hospital’s Sonny and Carly

Wouldn’t it be difficult to run into the ex-love of your life all the time? The best stories play those fraught encounters to show the lingering feelings haunting our faves.

There was Young and Restless’s Victoria consoling her daughter, Claire, about Cole’s illness when in walked her ex, Nate Hastings. The former doc offered the Newman women comfort after hearing about Cole’s dire health.

Victoria: “You really were a great doctor. Clearly, you haven’t lost your touch.” 

Victoria brought up the acrimonious end of their relationship and expressed regret that she lost his friendship when she gave him the heave-ho. Nate said he let that go a long time ago and got his frazzled ex some food. 

Victoria (touched): “I want you to know how much I appreciate you letting me know you’re not holding on to resentment about the past.”

Nate: “I only want what’s best for you and all the Newmans.”

Back atcha, said Vick, bringing up Nate’s current girlfriend, Audra, who she thinks is not best for him. Nate insisted Audra has changed since escaping Tucker’s influence, but Victoria was skeptical. Good call: At that very moment, Audra was in Nice, discussing “ideas” with Kyle and asking him to rub suntan lotion on her back. 

Lily was also in Nice, where she thought she was meeting reclusive billionaire Aristotle Dumas, who turned out to be her ex-husband, Cane. She got trapped there (along with most of Genoa City) when Cane lied that a storm blocked their way out, and she wound up on the receiving end of a pitch to reconcile. 

Lily: “It’s never going to happen.”

Cane: “My intentions were to always come home.”

Lily: “To me? I don’t know you anymore. You are not the man I once loved.”

Cane: “You can’t convince me you’ve erased our love.”  

Lily: “We are not those people anymore.”

Haha, get it? (Cane is a recast.) Lily will have her hands full avoiding her ex when they get home, but first, she’ll have to escape his European compound where she basically runs into him every hour. 

There’s so much potential in crossing exes. General Hospital does a great job with Sonny and Carly, who alternately support and/or yell at each other. They never approve of the other’s paramours, which tells you something about their residual feelings.

Carly: “Did Natalia seriously crash the christening?”

Sonny: “It’s all taken care of.”

He dismisses her concern, she rolls her eyes, rinse and repeat — but they know they can always count on each other. Unlike Sonny and Alexis, whose M.O. is to freak out every time his mob activities put their daughter in danger. Alexis’s lectures are misplaced since 1) Sonny has always been a mobster, and 2) Alexis is covering up Kristina’s role in trying to kill Sonny’s baby mama, Ava. We missed out on the knock-down, drag-out fight Ned and Lois should have had after he learned she kept his grandson from him for 22 years, but hopefully, when Sonny learns about Krissy cutting Ava’s brakes, they’ll hear the explosion in Nixon Falls. 

(Side note: Every time Sonny crosses Nina, an angel gets its wings.)    

The ex-factor is also involved with Curtis and Portia, who are circling the drain. What on earth possessed Portia to lie to Curtis when the one thing she knows he hates is dishonesty? He split from Jordan because of her lies, and now he’s turning to her because of Portia’s lies. Portia dumped a drink on Jordan at the pool for talking to “my man,” which is not the mark of a secure wife. Neither is arranging for Jordan to walk in on her and Curtis getting busy in his office to send a message. 

Curtis: “You set that up.”

Portia: “I sure as hell did. She needed to see it. Jordan wants you back, and she needs to know that it’s not going to happen. Not now, not ever.” 

Curtis was like what? He went for a friendly swim with his ex; what’s the problem? And not for nothing, Portia’s been trying to get Curtis back in her bed for months, but when she finally got some action going it was to manipulate him, not please him.  

Curtis: “Your lies are only driving us further apart.”

Advantage: Jordan.

It’s Advantage: Taylor over Brooke on Bold and Beautiful after she proposed to Ridge and he accepted. Neither woman considers herself an ex; she just bides her time until she can be Ridge’s next wife. (He has ping-ponged between them for decades and been married 14 times, so that’s not a bad bet.)  

Enter Brooke’s ex-husband, Nick, with a much-needed speech about self-esteem. 

Nick: “How about you fight for yourself for a change? This is typical Forrester, playing you against each other. Do you really want to sit in some holding pattern?” 

Exactly. Brooke argued that it’s hard to let go of Ridge, but Nick pointed out that Ridge has let go of her.

Nick: “It’s time to pick up the pieces, and I’m going to help you do that.” 

Using one ex to get over another? How soapy. 

Sharing a kid is the most logical way to put former lovers in a room, which Days of Our Lives’s Kristen has perfected. She routinely barges in on Brady’s nights with Rachel, and she’s trained their daughter to encourage “family” activities.

Rachel (to Kristen after she showed up at Brady’s unannounced): “You can stay here too! That way we can all finish the movie together.” 

Even Tate didn’t buy that one. “Family movie night?” he quipped, poking fun at his dad.

Things are more serious at the police station, where ex-fiancés Jada and Rafe have to deal with each other after he came to her with concerns about Johnny. Rather than working with Rafe to arrange for Johnny to come into the station voluntarily to answer questions, she arrested the young man — acting on the orders of his mother-in-law, the mayor — Paulina.  

Rafe (after Johnny’s arrest): “How the hell could you do this to Johnny?” 

Jada: “This is a high-profile case. I had no choice.”

Rafe: “You’re just covering your ass, gunning for a high-profile conviction. That’s the reason Paulina gave you my job.”

Jada: “Your job? Unless you have something useful to add, get out of my face.” 

Which brings us to Beyond The Gates train wreck Bill and Dani. He cheated on her and is now married to the “trashy pregnant ho” who broke them up, but there’s an undeniable current between them. When Dani told her mom she was “doing” Andre, Anita shrugged like, Well, you’re both single, and Dani pulled a face.

Anita: “Oh, no. You are not still waiting for Bill.”

Dani: “No. I’m waiting to stop waiting. Bill is still haunting me.”

If he’s haunting her, it’s not over. Good!  

Hey. It’s only my opinion.