Best Soap Sibling Relationships - Past & Present

[All My Shadows]

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My sweet angel babies. Mark was there for Erica through all of her bullsht but was never afraid to call her out without crapping all over her dreams. And so, when he was later fighting for his life, she was right there for him.

 

And vice versa...

 

 

Not sure how available the late, great Mark La Mura was in the show’s last decade, but if I’ve said it once, I’ve said a thousand times. Josh should’ve been Mark’s vengeful child from a drug-fueled disco era ONS, and Mark should’ve been at least recurring throughout the rest of the show’s run. Erica would have been a great help for him dealing with the sudden appearance of a btchy unknown child.

Edited July 8, 2020 by All My Shadows

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Days:

The Johnsons 
Bo & Kimberly

Bo & Isabella

Mike & Melissa

Sami & Eric

Toxic as it was, Mickey & Bill

Lexie and EJ

Lexie and Chad

[OzFrog]

 

I’ll also add these two: Bo & Kayla...

 

 

[j swift]

I have a theory that cross-gendered siblings in soaps are often better written than same sex siblings.  Perhaps because they are rarely portrayed as being in competition with each other, male and female siblings seem to share more characteristics and endear themselves more to the audience for their closeness.

 

A perfect example was the previously cited Mark and Erica from AMC.  They both loved a good time, they both used their outgoing social persona to hide their inner feelings of self doubt.  They both struggled with substance abuse, and they supported each no matter the situation.  Fallon and Steven Carrington balanced snobbery with a poor-little-rich-kid persona that I remember fondly from their first iteration on Dynasty 1.0.  AW's Cass and Stacy Winthrop were both legal eagles with a quick wit and a soft spot for outcasts.  And, of course the classic Brenda and Brandon from 90210 were different but shared similar core values.       

 

However, male siblings often seem to have nothing in common; except for their last name.  Case in point, Travis and Jackson Montgomery on AMC.  Not only did they not look alike, their beliefs and values were totally different.  Travis was cultured and refined. Jackson was base and banal.  Another example was Frisco and Tony Jones.  Again, there was no familial similarities in either appearance or personality.  It was as if they were raised in separate homes  or under some experiment where their parents consciously reinforced different opinions.  Sure, they both liked to sing, but what other traits were similar between those brothers?  

Edited July 8, 2020 by j swift

[Faulkner]

I’ve enjoyed that too, but I have loved those sister/brother battles. It’s just a way of playing gender dynamics without the “will they or won’t they” clichés, although Bernau and McKinsey seemed to be playing up the incestuous sexual tension in that above slow dancing clip. 

[Melroser]

I always enjoyed Rex and Natalie on OL. (Even if their parentage storylines were wacky.)

 

[Antoyne]

The Abbott family minus Kyle are my favorite soap family, particularly the relationship between Ashley/Jack.

 

I find Nick and Victoria on Y&R to also be very believable as brother and sister even with Heinle in the role. I feel Josh Morrow has had great chemistry with both women that played his sister.

[cct]

Dimitri and Edmund (AMC)

 

[Mitch]

 

The were great..constantly at each other, but when someone from the outside tried to hurt the other...the only two people on earth who knew what it was like to be raised by the monster called Brandon and that much wealth and power. As in this scene there is a hint of gothic incestuous that RR and Marj ruined with their blustery acting and Marj outright acted like she WAS Alan's wife.

 

Others on GL:

 

Frank/Harley

Tony/Nola

Tony/Mo

Phillip/Rick (not bio siblings but brothers just the same.)

 

[OzFrog]

 

 

Yes! I was thinking of Tony Reardon the other day, especially in the early days of the Reardon family and Nola’s hijinx. Tony definitely played the father-figure big brother really well to Nola, particularly during the Kelly stuff.

[Soaplovers]

And there are scenes of Nola with both Jim and Tony where she was being supportive during the cottage story in 1984.  It was a nice contrast to a few years before where Tony had to be the father figure to her.

[mango]

GH

Emily/Jason

Lucky/Lulu/Nikolas

 

YR

Nick/Victoria

 

ATWT

Margo/Craig

 

BH90210

Brandon/Brenda - Brandon changed once that sibling dynamic was gone.

[namkcuR]

Kendall(Alicia Minshew) and Bianca(Eden Reigel), AMC

 

I always loved their relationship.  A lot of soap sibling relationships are complex, with both parties hurting each other and what not, but some are just really solid, loving relationships, and this is one of those.

 

I just think it's an interesting dynamic between them.  One of Kendall's core characteristics is that she doesn't trust easily, and thus doesn't let people 'in' easily, whereas Bianca was one of the most open-hearted characters on the show.  Kendall had to fight her way into being accepted by Erica, whereas Bianca was the golden child.

 

Given these dynamics, the relationship easily could've been written differently, with Kendall resenting Bianca and so forth.  But instead, even in the 90s when SMG was Kendall and Bianca was still a little kid and Kendall was battling Erica, she still protected Bianca from Richard.

 

By the time Minshew and Riegel were in the roles, they slowly but surely developed a super close relationship.  Kendall may not let people 'in' easily, but she let Bianca in in a big way.  She loved Bianca more than just about anyone other than her kids; like, she probably would've taken a bullet for Bianca, and vice versa.  Bianca softened Kendall up a little, and Kendall toughened Bianca up a little.  They were good for each other.  Once Pratt became the HW the last few years, he did some unnecessary damage to the relationship, but they made up in the end, so all's well that ends well.

 

I think Bianca's nickname "Binx" was Kendall's doing, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vicki(Erika Slezak) and Todd(Roger Howarth), OLTL

 

One of the most complex sibling relationships, imo.  They couldn't have had more different positions in the social structure of Lanview when Todd first came on the scene.  She was perhaps the most beloved person in town, and he was a pariah, a violent and profoundly damaged individual.  When it was revealed that he was her brother, her acceptance of him was a big deal.  If she had shunned him, there's no way he could've developed into the character he became.

 

Vicki was probably one of the first, if not the first, person to look at Todd like a human being instead of monster, to believe there was good in him.  She was the one that put Starr in his arms for the first time and made him believe he could be a father.

 

I think Vicki mattered to Todd more than almost anyone else outside of his kids, because she believed in him when no one else did.   In his 2011 return, RH's Todd said to her, "I trust you above all others".

 

Vicki developed a real, true love for him, but also wasn't afraid to tell him off and rip him a new one when he deserved it, and she was probably one of the people who could do so and make any kind of an impact on him.  I believe Viki had a deeper relationship with him than with her sister Tina.

 

And yes, I'm only talking about RH Todd here.  I never felt the same chemistry with TSJ, except for his famous execution scene. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam and Stuart(David Canary), AMC

 

David Canary was one of the GOATS of the genre, easily.  His ability to play two characters with such dramatically disparate personalities and do so so convincingly is the work of a master.  Jacob Young was talking about this one of those reunion videos on YT recently, and he was on the money.

 

Adam didn't always treat Stuart well, but he knew that Stuart was a far better man, and he loved him deeply.  This is evidenced by how wrecked Adam was when Stuart "died".  Both times.  We all remember Stuart dying in 2009 and being resurrected in 2011, but don't forget that storyline in 2000 when Stuart was though to have died in a cabin fire.  Both times, Adam hardly wanted to live anymore without his twin.

 

For Stuart's part, he was infinitely more forgiving than Adam, and always strove to see the good in Adam where others wouldn't bother.

 

 

 

 

 

[Vince79]

Tony/Frisco- GH 

Luke/Bobbie- GH

Edmund/Dimitri- AMC 

HT's Victoria and Nick- Y&R

Neil and Malcolm- Y&R

 

 

 

[OzFrog]

 

Those clips were just stunning. I’ve watched them before, but seriously I could spend the whole day watching Kendall and Bianca as sisters.