All: Have soap operas over the past few years gone

[Mason]

Julian was shot, and Alistair was poisoned and stabbed all by Liz.

[px780]

I love a good psychotic woman (on tv), but I'm done with the Mastermind Manipulating Everything type storyline. My breaking point came near the end of the stupid neverending kidnapping crap on Days where the Dimeras controlled an entire village in Europe in addition to a third of the population of Salem and, apparently, scores of random sailors.

As far as serial killers- I kind of like them.

I love when they take out newer characters or ones that annoy the heck out of me. I mean, it's tough to deny that it felt good seeing Babe die on AMC. I think it's something the show needed to do, and should do every few months just to please those of us for whom Babe does not equal Love (that dialogue with Zoe and Amanda at the hospital though? Sucked a lot of the fun out). Where there's hardcore pimping or a new person shoved down the viewers throats there needs to be a release for people who are annoyed. And the fact that they need to kill these people is kind of an admission of defeat. I enjoy when they do that, especially when great new characters are few and far between.

I also enjoy the tragedy of it. Seeing Maggie beaten to death on Days was one of the only soap scenes I've gotten teary-eyed at. It was mesmerizing and really well done. Or with Dixie on AMC- I liked that they were willing to go there and have such a disturbing finish for a long-term character. If it could be separated from the business aspects- the behind-the-scenes drama and budget cuts- I would have actually enjoyed it (well, if they toned down the darn music I would have).

So I'm fine if the writers want to rely on it. I think it's probably the only meaningful, emotional story much of the current crop is capable of telling.

They do, however, tend to suck at the mystery part of it, imho. I've yet to see a recent serial killer storyline with a decent resolution, so I wish that they would try inverting things a bit next time and tell us who the killer is up front. Let us watch the plotting, see the motives. Otherwise they'll keep writing nice and tense stories that completely unravel at the end.

[Ms Deeve]

'Tis way overdone these days IMO. They decide to clean house, and it's an EASY out. How ridiculous is it that more than one serial killer would hit small town Pine Valley PA in a matter of a few years?

[Scott]

GH hasn't really done a real Serial Killer storyline recently. The Mary Bishop thing wasnt a real Serial Killer storyline, just pointing that out, but i definately agree that on TV the Serial Killer storylines are becoming all the same.

[aMLCproduction]

very true and days did it best remeber in the 90's when all soaps were tryna kopykay Days

[PhoenixRising05]

Yes they have and it all started with Days. The other shows saw the surge in ratings Days got intially and jumped on the bandwagon. The fact that many shows were trying to trim the casts a bit also played into it.

I don't think serial killers are tired and lazy. I think the problem is spoilers leaving so little to the imagination and they all about shock and awe and not about the story itself. A good serial killer story can't just be plot driven. The audience has to care about what is happening. If there are 4-5 victims, at least 2 of them better be characters that are cared about. That doesn't mean kill off a vet but, surely, a character that has become dead weight and has nowhere to go can be offed. I think killing off a character fans know and invested in (again, does not have to be a vet) gets them interested. I also think the killer has to be someone fans care about. Too many shows go with the easy way out or a newbie. I wish Days had followed through in a way because Marlena as the serial killer would've been huge. The trial, possible execution...drama at it's best. It doesn't have to be a huge character but I am sick of it always being a minor, recurring, or fairly recent addition to the cast. Make it someone prominent and let them pay. You can always bring them back later if they do time or something.

I think writers just need to make the audience care, like I explained above, and they need to make sure the tragic/emotional factor is there. Other then Dixie's death and some of Simone's, there has been very little emotion that I have seen. I don't feel anything. I don't get scared or jump when the killer lunges out, like when the killer attacked Babe. The "grip" factor isn't there. Days's serial killer stories all had that grip factor (the SSK had it until Marlena's "death"). Even Sunset's Terror Island had it. The audience needs to be roped in. When a character jumps, the fan should jump. When a character is scared, you want the fan scared right with them. Take the fan on a journey. When Days's Maggie was killed, I was screaming and yelling so much I lost my voice. That is the factor that is needed and what makes serial killer stories. I have not seen that since the SSK in 2003 and have seen it very few times since the 80's. The Loving murders and SUN's Terror Island are the other two recent serial killer stories that were successful.