One Life to Live, as I’ve probably praised before, is doing a great job of integrating its characters. There’s no black character bubble, no Latin character oasis, and no gay character island. Sure, characters of color or the same sexual orientation have scenes with each other, but that’s not all we see. As every week passes, more people get connected to each other and set up to be in each other’s storylines. Greg’s pain over botching Shaun’s surgery has a direct impact on Matthew, Bo and Nora. And it’s extra complicated because Rachel is Nora’s daughter and Destiny is Matthew’s best friend. John, Fish and Kyle interacted this week within the confines of the Jessica/Brody/Jared/Natalie stalker arc. And Dorian’s mayoral bid will only further pull Kyle, Nick and Fish into OLTL’s bigger arcs. Good.

Isolating characters, forgetting that they have a place on the canvas is a whole, is a kiss of death. Uninterrupted couple time or no interlopers is the fastest track to No Storyville on a soap. I mean, as much as it pains me that The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Owen and Jackie are having issues, the fact that Whip and Steffy provide conflict for them is a good thing. It gives them more to do than just have racy romps and make googly eyes. People don’t exist in a vacuum, and the more you see characters in each other’s business, the better it is for not only the characters involved, but for the overall story and the health of the show.