The Best And Worst On B&B, DAYS, GH And Y&R The Week Of July 15-19

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com; GENERALHOSPITAL/X (formerly Twitter)

We're giving GH's Natalia (Eva La Rue, with Maurice Benard as Sonny) the side eye, but loving a fired-up Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, with Tanner Novlan as Finn) on B&B.

Jason Steps Up On General Hospital

The biggest knock on Jason Morgan has always been that he is an absent and terrible father, but lately, the mobster has been trying to make amends. When Jason got wind that his teenage son Jake had been accepted to an art school in Spain, he went to slide an envelope under Liz’s door for Jake's tuition. Liz caught him and invited him in to make the offer in person.

Jason: “I want to pay for it. No strings attached.”

Jake was reticent, but Jason pointed out that if he had been a proper father the question of paying for his son’s education wouldn’t even be a question. Point taken: Jake accepted the offer and the two hugged it out.

GH also touched on the long-running excuse that Jason stayed away from his sons to keep them safe from his profession, which never made sense since über mobster Sonny has always been a hands-on dad. Jason’s heart-to-heart with Liz — and her forgiveness — goes a long way towards healing those wounds.

Liz: “I see that you’re trying to make up for lost time, and Jake sees it, too. You’re making good on your promise to be a better father and I appreciate that.”

Can a Kumbaya with Sam and Danny be far behind?

Bold and Beautiful ’s Steffy Is On The Case!

Two murders were committed at Deacon’s L.A. restaurant where he lives and works with his new bride Sheila Carter and everyone’s like, Who could have done this?

Steffy: “Multiple deaths at Il Giardino? Only one person comes to mind: Sheila.”

Thank you! Sheila’s countless crimes (murder, kidnapping, arson, rinse, repeat) should have put her in the hot seat before Tom’s body was even cold, and certainly after Sheila found Hollis lying prone behind the bar. But we saw no standard police procedures, no questioning, fingerprinting, alibi-hunting, not even confiscating Tom’s bag looking for evidence. (Hollis found something in that bag that got him killed.)

Steffy even lectured Deputy Chief Baker about how she has a hard time believing these men died where Sheila Carter works and Sheila had nothing to do with it. She is the voice of reason, pointing out the incongruity of everyone in L.A. eating at a place where the waitress is a convicted murderer.

Bill: “We might want to stay away from Il Giardino for a while.”

Exactly.

Double Trouble On Days of our Lives

When has a double wedding on soaps ever gone right? The buildup to Alex/Theresa and Sarah/Xander’s big day was always going to be fraught since one of the brides was a conniving snake. Theresa slept with Brady (to make Alex jealous) and threw Xander’s mother’s invite in the trash (so she wouldn’t expose Theresa’s paternity lies) and it looked like she would get away with all of it.

But then, knock, knock! It was Theresa’s brother, Andrew, who knows the scoop. He asked whose toys were scattered about and Theresa replied that she was watching her co-bride’s daughter while Sarah got ready.

Andrew: “The kid you kidnapped? Ironic.”

And dangerous.

Alex and Theresa’s ceremony began at the Salem Inn (points for leaving the living room!) and Justin told everyone to speak now or forever hold their peace. Brady and Theresa locked eyes but no one spoke. Then it was Maggie’s turn to officiate for Sarah and Xander, gushing how happy Victor would be to see his family “come together.” Enter a strange woman with gray hair apologizing for her lateness.

Xander: “Mum?”

Theresa: Gulp!

We knew from the promo that there would be more than rice thrown at that shindig — and that the something blue would finally be Theresa!

Nick and Phyllis Reunite on Young and Restless (Sort Of)

Ex-marrieds should always be in each other’s orbits, especially ones who share children. So it’s been refreshing to see Nick and Phyllis repeatedly spar as they help their daughter, Summer, navigate her messy custody battle with Kyle Abbott. Phyllis sees red flags everywhere (Harrison’s love for Claire, Audra, Kyle’s new house) while “keep the peace” Nick tries to de-escalate Summer’s situation and keep Phyllis calm.

When a recent business lunch got canceled, he asked Phyllis to dine with him.

Phyllis: “Is this how you wrangle all your ladies, by asking them out last minute?”

Nick: “Only the ones I feel sorry for because they have nothing else to do.”

The duo’s easy familiarity and quippy sarcasm adds a fun layer to their scenes, whether they’re dealing with Summer’s drama or Sharon’s anger. So far it’s just banter, but Nick and Phyllis are both single right now so who knows?

Nick ( exasperated ) : “Are you almost done?”

Phyllis: “I am never done.”

GH's Natalia Hits Bottom

Natalia was introduced as the mother of musician Blaze, who is gay and in a relationship with Sonny Corinthos’s daughter Kristina. Natalia urged Blaze to stay in the closet and unloaded her negative opinions about homosexuals on Ava, who recorded them and leaked them to a tabloid. Blaze was dropped by her record label and left resentful of her mother because of Natalia’s long history of controlling her life. Natalia then asked Sonny to finance a new record label for Blaze; he said only if Brook Lynn ran it.

Brook Lynn ( to Natalia ) : “I care about Blaze’s career, one that might be over as a result of the idiotic words that came out of your mouth. You will have no influence or say. It’s time for me and Blaze to forge a new path.”

Sonny: “You don’t have a lot of options.”

Indeed. Natalia didn’t care that Blaze was happy in her relationship with Kristina. She was rude to Kristina (which makes it hard to understand why Sonny is being so loyal to her) and she routinely stuck her nose into the business decisions being made by Blaze’s team. Natalia didn’t learn a lesson, she got caught.

Here’s hoping when Blaze confronts her mother she can open her eyes to the damage Natalia's prejudices have done to her life — because there is very little rooting value here.

Claire’s About-Face on Y&R

A few months ago Claire was skulking around Newman Enterprises, drugging Nikki, and plotting the murders of the entire Newman family. Now she’s a meek little lamb, afraid to enter rooms at the Abbott house when people are talking and scared of going to Paris with Kyle as Harrison’s nanny. Which is it?

Claire ( to Victoria ) : “The reason I can’t tell you if I have strong feelings for Kyle is I have never had a romantic relationship. It’s embarrassing.”

It’s hard to square the assertive young woman who won the job as Nikki’s assistant and then kidnapped/tortured her entire family with this “embarrassed” shell. Yes, Claire’s psychotic Aunt Jordan raised her to hate the Newmans and kept her isolated from the outside world, but she also gave Claire the confidence to commit all those crimes. Surely Claire can summon some of that confidence to be honest with Kyle about her lack of romantic experience. It will be familiar territory for him: Kyle’s second wife, Lola Rosales, was also a virgin.