Favourite Non-cliché Character Arguments

[BetterForgotten]

Any powerful scenes of character arguments or confrontations that didn't descend into over the top camp, or used clichés like slaps or catfights that you loved?

 

The death of legendary classic Coronation Street writer, Adele Rose, made me think of this topic. This scene she wrote between Bet and Rita is a classic (it led up to Bet's exit after 25 years on the Street) and was powerful because you could really feel and see the end of a 20 year old friendship, and there was no going back after it. There was no physical harassment involved, just characters using their words and feelings to cut away at one another. 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[JellicleCat]

This scene comes to mind. After Stephanie's fake heart-attack has been exposed Brooke finally confronts Ridge about his indecisiveness and declares that she's through waiting around for him to make up his mind. It didn't last all that long of course, but it was so refreshing when it happened. I wish Hope and/or Steffy would take a cue from this..... and, unlike Brooke, stick to their decision.

 

[detroitpiston]

 

I love this one. Well written and acted

[soapfan770]

Funny watched this not too long, Connor really couldn’t stand Lily and vice versa:

 

https://youtu.be/kVO0l0TYRFk

[watson71]

On Another World, Rachel confronts Iris about betraying Mac's memory

 

 

[Vizion]

All of the conversations and arguments that Bold and Beautiful had in the 90's about marriage. I find that soaps treat marriage in a very flippant way. People get married and divorced and never really talk about it or their problems and it was so nice that back in the day B&B really took it seriously and had pretty extensive conversations about it - at least where Ridge and Taylor and Stephanie and Eric were concerned. 

 

I really thought it was interesting how often they really dissected marriage - what it means to each person, what their expectations are, whether friendships with the opposite sex are appropriate, etc. 

 

 

 

Some examples:

 

Stephanie tells Taylor and Ridge she thinks Eric marrying Brooke is a midlife crisis

 

Taylor and Ridge arguing about being attracted to other people while married and how to deal with that:

 

Stephanie giving Ridge marriage advice:

 

Stephanie talking to Ridge about how to handle problems in his marriage and dealing with blame:

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Vizion

[Khan]

Every time I watch these scenes, my heart breaks all over again.  Not just because I know how they ultimately end, but also because, Ellen Parker and Peter Simon's performances throughout are Just. So. Raw.  There's no coming back from Ed's screwing up their marriage once again, and they know it, and they're afraid.

 

That's the kind of soap opera I love and miss: not feckless, young lovers saving the world from mad supervillains, but complex, flawed adults, grappling with circumstances that always threaten to spin out of their control.

 

 

 

[prefab1]

Speaking of Guiding Light, I know a lot of people hate this couple, but this scene has stuck with me for the past 12 years, partly because it's one of the examples of how the acting, writing, and directing styles of the Peapack era could sometimes come together to produce something that felt like good indie cinema. (Of course, other times they produced incoherent low-budget crap, but for me, that was part of the fun of tuning in to those "experimental" final years of GL; you never knew whether the experiment would be a success or a disaster, you just knew it would be memorable).

 

 

[titan1978]

It is well acted.  However, I dislike that Carly’s character is the only one that has a journey in the conversation.  She gets the points in about Robin running away, and the stuff she is saying for the most part are about herself.  Robin is only talking about Jason, with Michael and Carly as leverage for how she feels about Jason.  Robin should have been allowed to fight back a little based on her own choices and experiences.  Robin also leaves without really showing if Carly got to her (which she did), but the camera shows that Carly is uneasy with Robin’s last words.

 

It was fun to see Robin call her out on her want for money and status.  I forgot how desperate Carly could be sometimes for those things, she’s been so wealthy and untouchable for so long now.

 

Once upon a time the camera would have lingered on Robin’s face looking for emotion outside the closed door before she walked away, and also Carly’s face the way it does here.  Both sides having the point of view.

 

It just reminded me so much how the women during the Guza era of GH really tore each other apart, almost always over a man.  And how Carly sided everything was, even if she was wrong.  

Her pain and anger at trusting him again after he did it before is so visceral.  She’s mad at him, and she’s mad at herself.

 

It’s a chilling scene before you get to the accident because it’s just pain rooted in love and betrayal and that is such an understandable relationship.

 

I can only imagine how upset people were watching this with the outcome.  It’s devastating.