j swift

OR Make her a villain out for vengeance on the system that failed her. NOT A postpartum vixen yearning for the love of Tate Black. They also have no stable home, and they live with a convicted murderer, and her brother who is an FBI agent who leaves his gun around for people to steal.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses here, especially the recognition that Sophia shouldn't be punished for refusing motherhood. I just keep thinking about how completely the system failed her, and how that failure gets erased in the way the show is using this as character motivation for Sofia to become more of an antagonist. First, Tate assured her that his condom was the only protection that was necessary to avoid pregnancy. Then, Sophia was denied access to abortion. She was blocked from pursuing adoption when Brady threatened Melinda, the one lawyer who was willing to help her. We’ve seen no infrastructure of social workers, no real medical support, and apparently no adult guidance that wasn’t punitive or self-interested. And now that she's out of options, the narrative flips and frames her as the problem? It’s not just that Sophia put her baby in a Safe Haven box. It’s that she did so after being cornered at every turn. That choice, in context, feels like a last resort — one that’s legal and protective — but it’s getting treated like an act of abandonment. The show doesn’t seem interested in why she felt she had no other choice. Instead, we cut straight to Tate’s hurt feelings, like that’s the real tragedy; as if the final obstacle she faced wasn’t a failing institution, but a teenage boy who supported her for nine months only to change his mind, literary at the moment of her first false contraction. I’m not saying the show needs to write a PSA about teen pregnancy. But if they’re going to use a story like this, they could at least tell the truth about where the breakdowns happened — legal, medical, familial — instead of just flattening Sophia into a villain.

I’ve been thinking about the Hank Northrup casting, and trying to figure out who he might be playing based on the show's usual patterns. The February announcement lines up with a fall debut, which gives it an 8- to 9-month lead time. That’s in line with legacy recasts like Will, Abigail, and now Chad—not with short-term or minor characters, who usually show up a few weeks after casting. Fall also lines up with the 60th anniversary arc, which looks to be loaded with returns and reveals. If Hank were part of a summer plot or a standalone romance, he’d probably be on air by now. This feels more like they’re holding him for something big—family, legacy, long-term structure. I’ve seen some suggest a recast of Doug III, but that seems unlikely given the scale of the rollout. If they were quietly swapping actors, they wouldn’t do a press push tied to Wayne Northrup or give quotes about Corday calling personally. That’s more in the Chad recast zone. To me, he’s playing a new Brady-adjacent character; someone introduced with emotional or legal stakes. But I’d be surprised if this wasn’t a character we’re meant to already know, at least by name. | Press Fit Age Fit Legacy Logic Estimated Likelihood Recast Rex Brady High Medium Strong 30% Brand-new “Brady-adjacent” character High Strong Medium–High 35% Recast Doug III Medium Strong Medium 15% Other legacy (Peter Blake, Donovan cousin) Medium Strong Medium 10% Totally new character Low Strong Low 10%

What bothers me is how the show’s framing Sophia. She was clear about her decision. She wanted to give the baby up for adoption and even sought legal help. Now, instead of letting that play out, they have her give birth alone in her bedroom and, based on the promo, leave the baby at a fire station. It’s like they’re turning a mature, thoughtful decision into a sign of coldness. Today’s storyline flips a law meant to protect women into a device for demonizing them, and it targets a female character who’s been portrayed as clear-headed and thoughtful. That shift is not just unfair to Sophia, it’s a betrayal of the audience. Sophia reached out to Melinda, got referrals, had resources and emotional support. She gave birth in her bedroom—ok, dramatic, but plausible for a teen who’s afraid, not clueless. Then the writers have her use a Safe Haven box—a law for desperate moms—and not present that choice as protective, but cruel, as if she abandoned her child. That allows them to recast Sofia's choice as abandonment, rather than helping an adoptive couple start a family The messaging is blunt and disturbing: A woman who chooses adoption is cold, villainous, someone to fear. And we’re supposed to feel sympathy for Tate, who’s being written as emotionally tortured for legally exercising his right to consent or not—casting that questioning as heroism, even though it’s rigged to manipulate him into feeling Sophia's choices are wrong. And it’s all to make Tate’s feelings look more sympathetic. His late-stage “I want to be a dad” energy gets treated like it’s noble. Meanwhile, Sophia is painted as heartless for not changing her mind. It’s such a lopsided way to write this. Like the guy’s feelings matter more than the girl’s plan. I just don’t like how fast they’re flattening her into a villain. The triangle had enough juice without needing to do that.

Totally fair to clarify the specifics. I wasn’t trying to make a genealogical claim; just noting that when you know Wyndham’s father had Mexican roots and faced discrimination in the TV industry, it adds some weight to how Rachel was visually styled in those early years. The post was more about how presentation can carry cultural signals, even if the text never names them.

Yeah, but looking back, I'm starting to wonder if that was a perm or if that was her natural hair texture. And, every time I look at her with straightened hair as younger Rachel, it looks painful to get it to turn out that way. Thank goodness, blow-drying technology evolved while she was in the role. 💇🏼‍♀️

Someone on the board mentioned recently that Victoria Wyndham’s father was a well-known radio actor who lost work when television took over, partly because of his Latino background. That detail stuck with me, especially thinking about how Rachel was styled in the early 1970s. The show clearly played up the contrast between Rachel and Alice. Blonde vs. brunette, rich vs. working class, good girl vs. trouble. But when you look at how much effort went into straightening Rachel’s hair back then, it adds another layer. Her look wasn’t just about glamour or sex appeal. It was controlled. It was adjusted to fit what was considered acceptable on daytime television. Knowing Wyndham’s background, it’s hard not to see that styling as part of a broader attempt to make her appearance align with certain norms. Alice got to be soft and untouched. Rachel was managed. That reads as more than just class difference. It starts to feel like quiet ethnic coding, whether or not it was intentional. The show never named it, but when I think about what VW as Rachel had to change just to become a long-term lead, this all feels worth noticing.

Let's set aside that Johnny is EJ's son. Can you imagine any court in our universe that would allow the victim of an attempted murder to defend the person accused of shooting him?

This episode seems to want us to take Brady’s side over Belle's in the argument over Rachel. But it’s hard to square that with what’s actually happening. Belle is the prosecutor on Johnny’s case. She’s also his aunt, and she’s dating EJ. It’s messy, but she’s doing her job, and she’s doing it clean. Brady (and possibly Marlena), on the other hand, is actively hiding Rachel’s eyewitness statement. And yet, the story tilts toward Brady, giving him the emotional upper hand. His argument is that he’s protecting Rachel. But if CPS learned that a child witnessed a shooting and her father helped conceal it, that makes him look less like a protector and more like someone with something to hide. The irony is that telling the truth might be the only thing that keeps Rachel out of CPS jurisdiction. The larger issue is how the show handles Belle’s intelligence. She’s meant to be experienced lawyer, but she’s always the last to know. She’s written like a functionary, not like a lead. And when everyone around her—her mother, her brother, her partner—has more information than she does, it flattens her role in the story. She stops being a character with agency and starts being someone the story leaves out of the loop for plot convenience.

@AbcNbc247 Agreed, Tate's (completely unnatural) baby obsession seems to suggest that he's the daddy. Sophia was always set up as an antagonist in Tate and Holly’s story, and that worked. But she was also written as composed and pragmatic; someone who expressed how humiliating it felt to go through her senior year pregnant. She had clarity about what she wanted, and the adoption plan reflected that. Now, in the summer preview, she gives birth alone in her bedroom and apparently leaves the baby at a fire station. Then we’re supposed to believe she turns around and tries to humiliate Holly by circulating a photo of her in a bra? That’s not just a sharp turn—it breaks the rules they’d established for whom this character was. She could stay in conflict with the leads without being turned into a caricature. And when the character starts behaving in ways that don’t track, it puts pressure on the actress to make sense of something that doesn’t. Which seems too taxing for such a new actor.

If Sophia only told Tate she was pregnant in mid-December, and the baby was born now, the timeline’s compressed. Even allowing for a quiet first trimester, it raises the question: is Tate actually the father, or are the writers setting up a reveal? Although in Salem, gestation is less biology, more plot convenience; anywhere from 30 to 95 weeks.

Déjà vu ?

That's a rough hyphenation, but simple monogram --- Brent & Bernie Barrett-Blanks ---- 😉

It’s wild to me that Xander is threatening Sarah with custody when, legally, she’s the one holding all the cards. They got married before he inherited his half of the Kiriakis estate, so unless there’s a prenup we haven’t heard about, Sarah is entitled to half of his half. That makes her a quarter-owner of Titan-DiMera Industries. If he pushes her into a legal fight, she can come back with a community property claim and wind up with board-level power, full custody, and a chunk of the company. The show has built those conditions into the story but is still scripting Xander like he’s the one with leverage, which doesn’t track.

Between June 2024 and June 2025, Y&R’s weekly ratings typically fluctuate by about 100,000 viewers. That means a change of plus or minus 100K is just expected week-to-week noise. But as@Errol noted: When you see a jump like 216,000 viewers, that’s not just an 11-week high. It’s a shift that’s more than twice the usual week-to-week swing. That makes it statistically meaningful—not just a blip. And since you’re still reading (which means you’re at least moderately bored), here’s the broader view: General Hospital: typical bounce is ~70,000 viewers Bold and the Beautiful: ~80,000 Y&R: ~100,000 So unless the shift is over 150K, it’s probably not a major audience reaction. It’s just regular churn. What’s especially interesting is that GH changed writing teams multiple times this past year, and still stayed within that usual bounce. So whatever people might think creatively, the numbers didn’t swing much. Just to frame it: General Hospital average viewership in 2024: ~1.9 million Typical weekly change: 70,000 That’s only about 3.7% of the total audience In other words: most ratings moves are just small ripples, not tidal shifts.

I also created a helpful chart to keep us up to date.

I assume we’re going to see more Cat and Rafe working together to investigate EJ. But even from this setup, I already find it distracting. Rafe is with the FBI. Cat is ISA. And now they’re teaming up to look into how EJ used funds from the Titan–DiMera merger to influence a hospital board vote. That’s not something either agency would be involved in. The money wasn’t stolen. There’s no sign of fraud. And this isn’t the kind of case the ISA handles. It’s also strange that the FBI would assign Rafe to investigate EJ when, not that long ago, EJ kidnapped him and replaced him with a lookalike. That seems like a basic conflict of interest, even in a soap. Days often asks us to hold two ideas at once: that these characters live in a fictional universe filled with international, midwestern based spies and magical cures that need to be rescued from crack dens, and that they also operate in a world where the FBI, cancer, and basic legal structures still exist. That tension is part of the show’s identity, but it also creates moments like this that are frustrating to me. When the storytelling leans too far into one side without acknowledging the other, it becomes harder for me to stay focused on the plot.

TitanDimera counting on One Stormy Night to make up for liquidating assets is classic Salem math. They sell off half the company to bid on a hospital, lose the bid, and now the plan is to let Stephanie’s novel cover the gap. What’s next, blaming a financial collapse on skipping the seafood tower at the Bistro?

Good episode today. I’d give it a 6 out of 10. It made me think about two things. First, the show played with the idea that Kate might misread the hug between Roman and Marlena. But they didn’t go there, which was the right choice. Marlena just buried John, and the characters know each other too well for that kind of misunderstanding. What stood out more was that Roman and Marlena later talked to Johnny together. It made me think about how those two are starting to lean on each other, especially when it comes to supporting Johnny. It also makes me curious how Kate will respond—not out of jealousy, but because Roman’s loyalty is important to her. Loyalty is always a trigger for Kate. And now that Johnny is working under Philip at Titan, today’s episode quietly set up an interesting future conflict: whether Roman’s loyalty will go to Johnny, his grandson with Marlena, or to Philip, through his marriage to Kate. That could affect Roman and Kate’s marriage, which I’d be fine with—I wouldn’t mind seeing Kate move on from the pub. And now that Tony’s back, I’ve always liked the chemistry between Kate and Tony.

@AbcNbc247 Philip's threat to Vivian can't stick, right? I hope that wasn't the last we ever see of her. Also, didn't Ava see the gun in the planter before she left too? Am I recalling that scene correctly? So, Roman, Gabi, Ava, and Rafe all came by after EJ was shot and never looked to see if he survived? They're cold.... Finally, I just checked, EJ was shot April 2-3, 2025, almost three months ago. I approve of this pacing.

I liked the color palette. But, as usual, the costume department missed on both fit and styling. The suits were boxy, which made Paul look short and square next to Andrew. The ties were bad, though I understand they probably avoided patterns to prevent distortion on screen. Still, one of the easiest ways to elevate a cheap suit is to tailor it properly. These looked like they came straight off the rack and were barely even hemmed. Also, from my experience, matching suits at a gay wedding are a TV thing that rarely occurs in real life because men are all built so differently.

It is remarkable how far we've come in a fairly short amount of time. Paul and Andrew not only kissed at their wedding, they were seen in bed together (with implied no-pjs). That's miles away from ATWT Luke and Noah rolling around in their jeans!

Do we know (or could we infer/estimate) Billy Flynn's last airdate as Chad?

Speaking of nepo-babies—doesn’t Carrie work as a lawyer for the London office of Basic Black? Shouldn’t she at least pretend to be concerned about the Titan/DiMera merger? I can’t shake the feeling that this merger is a total flop in terms of narrative stakes. No one seriously believes the Kiriakis or DiMera empires are at risk of collapsing. So what are we actually meant to invest in here? The only emotional hook seems to be the Xander and Philip brother drama—and while I’m enjoying that dynamic, it feels oddly peripheral. They’ve set the stage for a high-stakes corporate war, but the tone and scope don’t match. It’s a big merger treated like a subplot. Honestly, they could film a decade in advance and I wouldn’t care; as long as the storytelling felt connected. These characters live within city blocks of each other. Some even work at the town paper. But somehow, they rarely react to what’s happening in their friends’ and neighbors’ lives.

As a nepo-baby Agent, or does the ISA have a softball team?