Plus, how Days should handle Sonny’s exit —and Will and Paul’s future.

Langford’s Picks and Pans

6Degrees (Ireland)

What? Justin comes back and we don’t get one make-out scene between him and Conor? Not even a kiss? So unfair. Speaking of unfair, I seem to recall on last week’s show when Conor and Liam made out we saw them taking their shirts off and going at it. Yet, the “last week” clip that aired before the new episode began, we saw them falling onto the bed in their tight undies and rolling around a bit. Umm... why didn’t we see *that* on last week’s show? It’s censorship, I tell you, censorship!

I do wish Justin could stick around. But I guess this story is more about Conor’s growth and maturity than his relationship with Justin. Justin is right in that Conor is afraid to move forward with his life and see what’s beyond where he grew up and the people he’s always known. It was why, in part, he didn’t want to come out. He was afraid. I’m hoping that season shows him you have to take on your fears or they’ll consume you.

Then again, he could find out that his life is with Liam. Liam was clearly jealous about Justin and Conor so maybe they are just more than a one night stand. There’s nothing wrong with staying close to home, as long as you don’t have regrets and are doing it for the right reasons.

On another note I don’t think two hot 20-somethings living continents apart should be shocked if the other has sex with someone else, especially if their relationship status is unclear.

Days Of Our Lives (U.S.)

Paul walking across the room in tight jeans and that white tank top. Taking off his wet shirt showing those delicious abs. Guh. I don’t know which was sexier. Thank God Days knows what a hot, hot man he is.

Paul and Sonny’s scenes in Sonny’s office were so full of chemistry and longing and regret and want. The show has to play this relationship, especially now.

John being visibly uncomfortable at what he nearly walked in on with Paul and Sonny was an awesome moment.

I am so bored with Will’s self-esteem issues. Bored. A scheming, selfish ass is much more interesting. Like I loved how Will did not GAF that Paul donated the blood that saved Sonny. If anything it made him hate Paul more. LOL...

Okay, I like Rafe and all, but Will and Sonny’s marital problems are none of his business. He can be concerned, but his ‘I’m going to step’ crap is out of line. He has no claim to Ari, none. It makes me nervous to hear this, especially with the show promising a new storyline for Rafe coming up. Will's having an affair certainly isn’t grounds for any sort of custody action to be taken. If having an affair made you a bad parent, no one in town would have their kids. Even if Will and Sonny split, it’s none of Rafe's business. Ari wouldn’t be the first child in Salem to be raised by a single parent. However, I did love Rafe giving Sonny and Paul the side-eye as they eye-sexed each other.

Will storming into his apartment and instantly banging on his computer (without using a spacebar no less) was hilarious.

Now that we know that Freddie Smith is leaving the show, we have to think about how he is written out. It’s been heavily rumored that Smith was on his way out for awhile now, so I’m sure the writers weren’t shocked by his exit. Like when Alison Sweeney and James Scott left they had plenty of time to write their final story. Let’s just hope that unlike Sami and EJ, they do it right.

Now nobody is asking me, and I’m sure no one will agree with me, but I think that the show should kill Sonny off. Sonny is not the type of character who would just leave town with a business and family around so it would have to be a good reason for him to leave. And a recast would be a terrible idea. Guy Wilson and Christopher Sean have been around for less than a year and to put a new face to play out the center of a triangle would be a lot to ask of the viewers.

My idea? Over the next few months, Will and Sonny’s marriage should completely unravel and Sonny and Paul rekindle their romance with Will determined to break them up. Will’s quest to get rid of Paul will lead to him doing something that inadvertently causes Sonny to have a tragic death. Of course, no one will know what Will has done at first, but Paul will be suspicious and the revelation will bring about an ugly, intense rivalry between Paul and Will. They wouldn’t be the first romantic rivals to have an ongoing battle over someone they both loved who is now dead.

One thing that should never, ever happen is that Will and Paul become romantically involved. That would be terribly lazy on the part of the writers to pair them up just because they’re the only gay men in town. Bring on some new men for both of them. Hell, they don’t even really have to be in the same orbit. You can have two gay characters living separate lives on the show. The canvas is big enough for that.

And well, I’m usually no good at predictions, but I think Days is going to kill Sonny anyway so they should take this route. The show’s new writers have promised a huge storyline for Justin and Adrienne this fall. Sonny’s death would give them that.

I don’t know how old Bryan Datillo is, but he’s well put together for an older guy. I know the hard-body lovers out there are like "ew," but I don’t blame Adrienne for wanting some of that. However, Adrienne banging Lucas in some random bedroom in Victor’s house is just tacky. You can take the girl away from the wrong side of the tracks, but she's still gonna be trashy sometimes.

I like Hope and Aidan, but it’s clear the show has no idea what do with them now that the story about Aidan’s dead wife has been revealed. I think they should age Chase to a smoking hot teenager and have him start to remember what he did. We know the show is aging Theo. It would be weird if Chase (and Ciara) were still children and their peer was a teenager, so they should be aged too. Though admittedly it would be a shame to lose the terrific little actress who plays Ciara.

I loved how the show just sort of glossed over the time line of when Tori and John were romantically involved. Anyone who watched the show back then knows that John was front burner in other romances at that time. His romances were Kristen and Marlena back then, no room for Tori.

Was Chad kissing Sonny on the forehead ad libbed? I bet it was, but it was a nice touch between two guys who are supposed to be best friends.

*Thanks to MRFIXIT for the clips!

EastEnders (U.K.)

I think it’s weird and creepy that a father would strip his teenage son naked and leave him on the side of the road. Like the police said, anything could have happened to him. Though I doubt a he-man like Phil would have cared. The worse thing is that everyone acts shocked, but eventually everyone will just accept Phil’s abusive behavior as Phil being Phil. Even Ben is over it and would prefer to go after Max just to please his father, just like he’s using Abi to hide the fact that he’s gay. But Ben will never really make his father happy. The sooner Ben realizes that, the better off he’ll be.

*Thanks to WINTERHYMN for the clips!

Emmerdale (U.K.)

We saw a lot of Finn this past week, which I enjoyed because I love the character so. I just wish I could enjoy it more. I really wish this story was actually about Finn and Darren’s relationship rather than how Val feels about it because of her HIV status. I get that it should be a part of the story, but not *the* story. We’ve hardly had any scenes of Finn and Darren together. And that’s disappointing because they do have a nice chemistry.

As for what did happen, I get Finn being upset, but his accusing Ross and then his mother of terrorizing Darren didn’t reflect well on him. He had no proof. Anybody could have left that can of spray paint in their trash. To be fair though, that is something that Ross or Emma would have done so you can’t blame Finn. I’m glad Val confessed to what she did and I thought the scenes that came out of it were nicely acted by both Charlie Hardwick and Joe Gill. He’s really good when the show gives him something to do. However, I thought Finn forgave her awfully quickly. I realize they’ve developed a mother/son relationship, but some things are unforgivable. At least not within a day or so after it happens.

I’m hoping that now that Finn and Darren are together (again) the story will shift to being about their relationship and where it goes.

Robert talking about him and Aaron being normal together was strange given that they only got back together because Robert confessed to killing Katie and Aaron was okay with it as long as Robert wasn’t lying to him about anything else. And no one will notice Aaron going in and out of Robert’s house while Chrissie is out of town? But at least Aaron took time out of banging Robert in Chrissie’s house to help Adam with his Great Voicemail Caper.

Nashville (U.S.)

This plot arc better end with Will coming out of the closet. Enough is way too much. This story has been dragging out since Season 1 and other characters have married and had kids and been in rehab and gotten cancer and all kinds of stuff. Even Layla, Will’s ex, has had more character growth and development. It’s long past time for Will to as well. It looks like Will might be finally inching out of the closet with Kevin’s help, but this show has fooled me before. You’d have thought he’d have come out after his disastrous marriage, but nope.

I’m just mostly tired of Will’s attitude. At least Kevin wasn’t having it. And that was refreshing. Usually these out TV gays deal with the crap from closet cases instead of walking away. I hope that dynamic continues in the relationship, no matter where it goes.

Chris Carmack has a beautiful voice. The song he sang at the beginning was lovely.

Those scenes with Deacon and Rayna were emotional and raw and romantic and so real. You cannot watch those scenes and not feel. It’s what soaps are all about. I enjoyed Luke and Sadie’s scenes as well as their duet. Scarlett continues to bore me, I’m tired of her waffling about her singing career. Gunnar can do better.

Neighbours (Australia)

Nice how we get to see Tyler and Mark’s abs in the credits of every episode. Those bros are cut!

There isn’t much to say about Nate’s scenes this week. Tyler and Naomi want to make Nate feel better after breaking up with Chris and more time was spent talking about Tyler’s problems with Mark. I imagine it’ll be like that for a bit. Hopefully it won’t be too long before Nate gets some stories of his own.

People of the Valley (Wales)

Sigh.... Does this mean Iolo goes several more years without so much as a date? I really hope that’s not the last we see of William. I liked him a lot and he and Iolo were good together. But I also hate to see Sion’s cold-hearted scheme to get rid of William work. I’ve seen a lot of soap parents do awful things to their kids but taking advantage of your child’s mental illness to get what you want might be one of the worst. Ugh. Sion could see Iolo was falling apart and he just didn’t care. And Iolo doesn’t even realize what his father did to him. I just don’t like seeing Iolo suffer and lose out again. Life has crapped on him enough already.

Secret Lives (Finland)

Bye, Elias, no need to come back. Like ever. If I never see this whiny, unpleasant, self-absorbed brat again, I’d be utterly delighted. But I guess Elias is only going to be gone for a new months while the actor takes an extended vacation. Hopefully Elias will do some growing up while he’s away.

I wish I could feel for Miska, but he said himself he wanted away from Elias’ drama, but he went back to it anyway. Kind of hard to have any sympathy for him.

Bye, Elias. Don’t hurry back!

Interesting that again, Elias made a play for Lari and again, Lari said ‘no thanks’, I’m with Kalle now. And there was no longing or regret or any of that with Lari. He’s done and moved on. I’m actually surprised by that. I’d thought we’d see much more yearning for Elias from Lari, but we’ve got none.

But as I’ve said all along, I don’t think it’ll stay that way. I have no doubt Lari and Kalle will develop and grow their relationship while Elias is gone and Elias will show up at a critical point for Lari and Kalle and stir things up. Oh well.

*Thanks to MISFINLANDIA for the clips!

This Week in Spoilers

6Degrees: Colin is forced to tell Leech about his plans to move to London to be with Justin after Leech secretly signs the lease on the apartment he and Colin had been looking at. Needless to say Leech is upset that Colin is thinking of moving away. And Liam isn’t happy about it either, even as he claims he doesn’t do relationships. Things get even more complicated between Liam and Colin when the two of them get into a mess at work.

Victor is not having it with Will...

Days of Our Lives: The fallout from the reveal of Paul and Will’s affair continues when Victor confronts Will. Victor is not having any of Will’s excuses and tells him to never hurt Sonny again—or else. And we know what 'or else' can mean when it comes to Victor. Meanwhile, Will's schemes to blackmail Tori may be exposed when Sonny finds clues to Paul's paternity and his mother's past in Salem.

Sonny goes to Paul with what he’s learned, but Paul doesn’t want to believe his mother has been lying to him. Sonny convinces him otherwise. Meanwhile, Marlena confronts Tori about John being Paul’s father. Paul shows up and wants to know why his mother lied to him about her past in Salem. With John and Marlena watching, Paul gets Tori to admit Salem is where she met his father. John uses his cop instincts to deduce that Paul is his son.

Aaron falls down and goes boom....

Emmerdale: Aaron has been spending time with Robert at Home Farm with Chrissie and the family away, enjoying the alone time with his secret lover. But it comes to an end when Robert coolly informs Aaron that Chrissie is coming home. Aaron is upset by Robert’s ability to turn off his emotions for him on a dime. Aaron starts on his obsessive runs again, worrying both Chas and Robert. Chas begins to figure out that Robert and Aaron are sleeping together again. When she asks Aaron about it, Aaron gets angry and storms off. He goes running, but ends up falling down an embankment and knocking himself out.

The next morning, Chas is worried when she can’t find Aaron and goes to Robert for answers. Chas and Robert realize Aaron has been missing all night and go looking for him. During the search, Chas gets Robert to admit he and Aaron are involved again. Things get heated and Chas threatens to tell Chrissie everything. Fearful he is about to be exposed, Robert picks up a rock and prepares to hit Chas over the head with it. But when they hear Aaron crying for help they run to him.

Is it me or does Robert’s hitman look like Aaron?

While Aaron recovers in the hospital, Chas makes it clear to Robert she still plans to expose him to Chrissie. Desperate, Robert makes a sinister phone call to a hitman, ordering him to kill Chas. However, after talking to Paddy, Chas calms down and promises Robert she’ll keep quiet. Robert goes to phone his hired killer to call him off, but can’t reach him. Robert races to save Chas’s life.

Hollyoaks: As Sinead gets closer to giving birth to her and Ste’s child, she asks Ste to move in with her and, wanting to be there for his baby, Ste agrees—without telling his husband John Paul. John Paul is furious when he finds out and he and Ste fight. John Paul storms off. Sinead tries to cheer Ste up and they end up reminiscing about the past. Ste winds up talking about Brendan, a conversation John Paul overhears. John Paul is devastated by what Ste says. Sinead is glad to see the rift between John Paul and Ste because she’s fallen in love with Ste and wants him all to herself.

Secret Lives: Kalle and Lari hit a bumpy patch in their relationship and when Kalle tries to fix things, he only makes it worse.

Teasers For Next Week

Coronation Street: Sean and Billy prepare to spend the night together, but homophobia could ruin their plans...

Days of Our Lives: John wants to get to know his son, but Paul isn’t interested in having a father...

Emmerdale: Robert is unnerved when Chrissie’s ex-husband shows up; Finn’s lies to Darren are exposed...

Hollyoaks: John Paul isn’t happy about Sinead's presence in his and Ste's life; Harry prepares to admit he’s gay....

That’s it for this week’s Langford On Soaps. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. See you next week!