They say everyone loves a bad boy, but judging by the pop culture zeitgeist, bad boys might just be getting worse. We have serial killers as romantic heroes on Days of our Lives and General Hospital. Former Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley has had to push back against fans gushing over his murderous protagonist on Netflix’s You.… Read More Mad, Bad, and Way Too Dangerous to Know
I’ve loved soaps and romance for as long as I can remember. Honestly, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, strawberries and cream, Jeremy Renner and me…wait, where was I? Ahem. Yes. With only four daytime soap operas currently on air (sniffle!), it’s easier than ever to find the one that works for you.… Read More Soap on a Trope: Love Romance? Try Daytime!
I’ve recently come back to Days of our Lives after a several-year hiatus. In a sea of new faces, there are still the familiar characters. Jennifer Horton. Hope Brady. Marlena. Sami. My geriatric Greek tycoon boyfriend, Victor Kiriakis. And Elvis “EJ” DiMera. To my dismay, it appears absence has made my heart grow fonder…because I’m… Read More How Do You Solve a Problem Like EJ DiMera?
The other day, I was craving some “deeply screwed up” romance and found myself turning to Anne Stuart, who has swiftly become my go-to for the kind of uncomfortable, twisted narrative you usually only find in villain-centric fan fiction or wholly nonromantic thrillers. In Stuart’s Black Ice, the male progatonist — I hesitate to say “hero,”… Read More From Bad to Worse: Stuart, Soaps and Seductive Villains
As a long-time soap viewer, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to hear a character on General Hospital declare that, “Sonny is a good man.” They could record that line and just play it back as needed — and if I had a dollar for every utterance, I could retire in Fiji.… Read More Come to the Dark Side, We (Don’t) Have Cookies
Love triangles are a cornerstone of relationship-themed serial drama. Long before anyone was declaring Team Edward or Team Jacob, both daytime and nighttime soaps were making bank on meaty, angsty, sexy wars of the heart. But triangles are hard to write effectively, and the better ones showcase all the characters involved at their peak awesomeness.… Read More Playing the Triangle: the Dos and Don’ts of Tangled Love
I had a confab with my Soap Opera Digest colleagues Lee and Naomi this morning about how Ethan and Kristina are the most riveting story on GH right now. We must’ve blissfully rambled for at least ten minutes about why the pair’s tale works for us. A few of our assertions were that they’re “classic… Read More The wisdom of GH’s Ethina
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