Stories that upset you more than they should have

[DRW50]

Logically, it's silly to be upset over a work of fiction, as it's not directly affecting you. And a lot of soap stories, especially in recent years, are too ridiculous and uninspired to get much of a reaction.

However, there are some stories which do upset you or get to you, even when that may not be the show's intent.

For me the best example of this is the Kathleen/Cass/Frankie triangle on AW. I guess it was supposed to be a very painful choice for Cass, between Kathleen, the "dead" wife he'd once loved, and Frakie, the new wife he was in love with. To AW's credit, they didn't demonize Kathleen, or have her fake a pregnancy, or try to drop a house on Frankie. But the whole story felt so one-sided - the main reason Cass was away from Frankie was her choice (she wanted him out due to his vacillating; she didn't let him know she was pregnant until after her miscarriage). Kathleen had Cass by default and viewers were told he mostly wanted to protect her and they were never to be a real couple. Kathleen had no friends, and spent almost all of her time brittle and edgy. Frankie had a cadre of supporters who either openly shunned Kathleen or repeatedly verbally abused her.

I never really liked Frankie in the first place, but the story cast such a pall over Frankie, Cass, and Kathleen that I'd never had the stomach to fully finish the storyline. Kathleen and Cass had been such fun, lively characters, and they were reduced to being completely incompatible because she didn't know he was now a vegetarian.

[Quent]

For me, it was the Jack/Carly romance ... at certain times. Yes, they probably belonged together at the end, and there was no better twosome on soaps at the time. But I hated the way they pushed this duo on the viewers by making others look bad. Poor Julia Lindsay is the classic example. Here was a woman whose biggest problem in life when she came to Oakdale was refusing a prince's proposal of marriage. By the time CarJack was through with her, she was a crazy, drug-addicted murderous psycho. Never mind that Julia begged Jack to be absolutely sure he was over Carly, when he proposed marriage. And the worst was when the adulterous duo was cavorting together while Jack's poor wife was having a miscarriage.

Hal was another casualty of "the Compass Couple" The two of them made a fool out of Hal while Carly was Mrs. Munson, meeting clandestinely at the boathouse. Hal's Wife and Hal's Best Friend.

CarJack... I loved the actors, but they were toxic to anyone that crossed their path.

[JtSmarts]

Dool - Sami and EJ May 2008. The show hasn't been the same for me since.

GL - Fake Cassie and Josh

OLTL - The Todd/Marty Rapemance, I was extremely disturbed by that storyline and thrilled when RH returned to make it invalid.

[Cheap21]

Teen Jessica. Ive stated it many times but I found this so offensive and repulsive that I quit OLTL for months.This was one of the times where I felt this gif purely expressed how I felt

[juppiter]

Yes to all of this. Carjack made me cringe a lot. The first few years of Carjack were pure magic. The actors had chemistry off the charts and they really sucked you in to the storyline and made you want Carjack together. As time went on they had to have Carly humiliated over and over and over and have Jack become the "saint" of Oakdale always wagging his finger at the no-good woman. The show really lost sight of what made me love Carjack in the first place. They changed Jack's character from being the fun, dangerously sexy guy to the grumpy dude who yells at the neighbors' kids to get off his lawn.

And Carjack also just had horrible storylines for the last 10 years of ATWT, plus each time they had to get more ridiculous to top the previous year's worth of yearning and separation. And don't forget any time Maura West got pregnant meant that Carly had to be punished for 6 months.

I give Carjackers credit for sticking with the couple for so long. I couldn't. They lost me at the sixth or seventh break up.

[dragonflies]

I agree about the "Todd" and Marty rapemance or should I say the Victor & Marty rapemance, RH invalidated him being Todd but not the rape part. To add to the offense RC opens his douchy mouth and can't understand why people are upset.

For me it was Holden & Carly romance on ATWT

Also agree with Cheap about teen Jessica

[Soapsuds]

That was so wrong for some many reasons. It was just so icky.....Whoever came up with that should never write again.

[dragonflies]

It totally was and this is not even me saying this as a CarJacker, it was just nasty on so many levels. It was probably Pissante

[soapfave06]

I definitely agree with Teen Jessica. I stopped watching OLTL between that, Ford and the second musical. I didn't watch again until Echo came back. What a bad time for the show.

[Khan]

For me, it was Marlena's possession on DAYS. Granted, in light of my childhood love of all things DARK SHADOWS, I probably come across as a hypocrite. Nevertheless, the subject matter alone left me feeling unsettled in a way that even DS' most supernatural moments didn't. I just believe all forms of entertainment need to exercise caution about what they send into people's homes and minds, and that there are certain things (such as demonic possession) which should be off-limits for stories.

[Skin]

Bianca's rape was something I could barely watch it.

[Khan]

Frankie's murder on ANOTHER WORLD was another icky story and moment for me. Hers wasn't the first death at the hands of a serial killer, but I felt as if it was far too grisly and perverted for daytime.

[applcin]

OLTL - Jared being shot to death by Mitch Laurence, coupled with Mitch's return in the first place. I really liked Jared and Natalie as a couple and to have him be killed by the character I loathed the most in the history of OLTL (not loved to hate, just hated) was yet another literal turnoff to me. Every time Mitch returned to the show I stopped watching and this time was no exception.

AW - the death of Gabe McNamara, along with their penchant for being gory by this time, since we got "treated" to a long shot of dead Gabe with his guts splayed open on the operating table. I really didn't care for Joe Carlino becoming police captain.

GL - Edmund being re-villainized to the point of absurdity. It didn't even have the emotional "legs" of when he was the bad guy the first time around...it was just like a badly written cartoon. I was pissed because 1) I knew it was the beginning of the end for DAM on the show and 2) it was a total waste of his talent. I also think he got trotted out at Kings Dominion with Wheeler knowing full well he was going to get the axe soon after. I did drop the show after DAM left.

[DRW50]

What was Kings Dominion?

Jared's death was very upsetting, yes, mostly because of some very bleak writing in the week or two after he was shot, up to his funeral. His harrowing final scenes with Charlie, and then Natalie after his funeral, reading, "I did not die." Having that all dropped so Natalie could prop an even more worthless than ever Mouthbreather McBain was one of the things that truly killed OLTL.

[AdelaideCate007]

I agree with Frankie's death and the rapemance.

Frankie's death went too far- her being tortured and chased around for an hour and then her pleading for mercy for the sake of her child before getting strangled was horrible and hard to watch.

The rapemance was something that never should been done in the first place (even if it turned out to not really be Todd). It was just sick and perverted.