LANGFORDS PICKS AND PANS

Days of Our Lives (U.S.)

I really haven’t missed Will. Even when Chandler played the role I was never that big a fan and I really grew to find him intolerable after the recast. I often wonder if a better actor, whether it be Chandler Massey or someone else could have made this douchey version of Will work, and my feeling is that I’ve seen lots of soap characters do awful things, but because they had that certain something on screen I still enjoyed them despite of (and sometimes because of) their awfulness.

I never felt that way with Guy Wilson as Will, though he did have nice chemistry with Freddie Smith. So to have him back on screen whining the way he has for the past six months had me putting my tv on mute like I have with him so many times before. And frankly, I’m not upset that he’ll be gone soon. This version of Will has been pretty much a resounding failure and needed to go.

I know a lot of folks are saying that Days is boring now that the gays have been backburnered, and I’m just wondering what show they’ve been watching for the past year because the show had been painful to watch for many months, the gays included. Now I can understand people being upset that the gays are MIA, and blaming the new writers, but I’m of the opinion that was bound to happen no matter who was writing the show.

Freddie Smith had left the show of his own accord, Guy Wilson was a colossal bust and probably wouldn’t have had his contract renewed upon Smith’s exit and Christopher Sean is still a newbie as Paul. With the loss of both Sonny and Will, I think the show was going to have to ease back on the gay storyline, which had played heavy for more than a year.

As for killing Will, I’m not thrilled about it, but he was probably going anyway and this does up the stakes on the serial killer storyline. Besides, this show has killed major, major characters before and they came back to life. I’m gonna bet the same will happen for Will in a couple of years. And it may not be the end of gay storytelling in Salem. The show has cast the role of Henry, whom they describe as an unconventional teenager with a secret that has caused him to be bullied in the past. Is that code for him being gay? We’ll see, I guess.

As for the events of last week with Gabi’s return, it seems odd that Aidan would be working off screen on Gabi’s case, which was cut and dried IIRC. She confessed to murder and was sentenced. I can’t fathom what error the judge could have made that freed her from a murder charge and like so many other story points as of late, I doubt if the show will bother to explain it. I guess EJ must be a terrible lawyer not to have picked up on it himself. LOL.

Not much to say about Paul’s return since he just repeated his lines from the last six months or so. Hopefully he’ll have more to do soon.

Emmerdale (U.K.)

No one still hasn’t pointed out to Eric that it’s his fault Val is dead? I’m assuming this will be a turning point in the story, but for now it seems hard to believe that not one person has mentioned this very obvious fact. Other than that, there’s not much to say. I don’t buy Robert’s being so upset about Chrissie rejecting him given that he clearly never cared for her other than her money.

Holby City (U.K.)

I haven’t watched this show in ages, mostly because I have no interest in medical shows. But this storyline with Dom helping Digby deal with his drug issues looks like it might be interesting. These two clearly have come a long way in their relationship given they used to hate each other and Dom looks to have matured as a person as well by even wanting to help Digby. I liked that scene with Hassan where Dom pled Digby’s case and referred to his own troubled past and how someone, this person being Hassan, gave Dom a second chance when he needed it. I’ll be watching to see where this plot arc goes.

Hollyoaks (U.K.)

Poor Dylan. He didn’t last long, did he? Six months in Hollyoaks and he’s dead already. I read the actor wanted to leave, but that’s too bad because there was so much of his story that hadn’t been told. I just wish we’d of had Trevor accepting Dylan for who he was before he died, instead of Trevor having his ‘I loved my dead crossdressing son’ moment. But I did like Nico's comment when Trevor told her he liked her dress and replied that ‘Dylan looked good in it too’. Greg Wood isn’t much of an actor, but he managed to look sad and hot at the same time during those funeral scenes.

Ste had sex with Harry at Harry’s house, but he left the empty condom box at he and Sinead’s place? Okay, show. I’m still not buying this Ste and Harry thing as some great love story though, even if that’s how the show wants to play it. When Ste went over his past and wondered why Harry would be so into him and wondered why Harry would take the risk, I was waiting for Harry to give me and the viewers a reason. Of course he didn’t, which is a big problem in this storyline for me. The relationship still makes little sense. At least the guys are cute together and do have chemistry.

Why did Ste lie to Sinead about sleeping with other guys and instead told her he was out drinking instead? She told him he could have a piece on the side if he wanted it. Lying made no sense. And why did Sinead believe that story about Ste buying the condoms for Harry because he wanted to hook up with some girl? She knows Harry is gay and hiding it from his Dad because of the whole John Paul storyline. And just a few weeks ago she tried to fix up Harry and Scott. Of course it was all building up to Sinead finding out the truth and then leaving Ste and taking the baby with her.

I realize the show had suddenly fired the actress playing Sinead so they never got to play the fallout scenes after the reveal of the affair so explains why her exit was so badly played. She just found out and left with no confrontation scenes at all. Oh well, I’m just glad Sinead is gone. The actress is very talented, but I’ve always hated her character, starting way back when she was making Jason’s life miserable when he was struggling with being transgendered, not to mention her terrorizing Esther until the poor girl tried to kill herself. And there’s a host of other loathsome things she’s done. Good riddance.

I don’t know how old Nick Pickard is, but he looked pretty hot in that workout scene with Harry. And of course Harry just had to take his shirt off to work out with his Daddy.

House Husbands (Australia)

Kane was kind of an asshole about not wanting Eve to move in. I mean they are having a baby together. Like Alex pointed out, it makes sense for them to be living in the same space, especially early on. I’m glad he realized what Kane was doing was wrong. As far as Kane being worried that everyone involved will overrule him on decisions, Kane’s real problem is that he won’t be able to make all the decisions. He’s controlling like that.

Did we know that Alex’s aunt was a lesbian? Ms. Loogy has been on the show since it started and I honestly can’t ever remember it being discussed before.

Neighbours (Australia)

Aaron and Josh are still the most awkward male strippers ever.

Uhh.... did Aaron and Nate’s lips actually touch during their kiss? It’s hard to tell since Nate’s head was blocking their faces and the camera cut away so quickly. Hmm.....

Part of Aaron’s business is creating a fantasy for these women and they might react to him differently if they knew he was gay. I think Nate was being kind of judgemental about the whole thing, especially given that he and Aaron have only had one date. But I guess it worked out anyway given that more men wanted to book Aaron for gigs. I mean it worked out for Aaron anyway. Nate has never been comfortable with Aaron stripping for a living, I bet he likes it even less now.

Secret Lives (Finland)

While I liked Lari’s naked surprise for Kalle, Lari is complaining about the lack of time he and Kalle have for each other when they’ve only been living together a few days at the most? Okay. But it was nice they addressed Lari’s not wanting Kalle to move in at first by saying that Lari had gotten used to having Kalle around very quickly. I’m glad they resolved things (for now) and that scene of them in bed was really sweet. We don’t get to see them being just a romantic couple that often so I appreciated that.

As for Lari keeping his being a father a secret, Lari is only digging himself a hole that will blow up in his face soap style. While I like the plot point of Kalle deciding he wants kids and Lari being in the position of saying he never wants to be a father, putting another issue between them, I still don’t care much for this storyline though. Don’t know why soaps insist on making teenage gay men fathers.

THIS WEEK IN SPOILERS

A Place to Call Home - As the new season begins, James is stunned by the his father’s shooting and prays for James not to die. Meanwhile, James and Olivia’s marriage is under threat by Andrew’s reveal to Anna the truth about James and Olivia’s newborn baby. But there’s even a worse threat to Olivia when a new man comes into James’ life.

Emmerdale - When Victoria questions Robert’s sexuality, he denies that he’s gay. Not wanting to deal with everyone speculating about him, Robert decides to leave town. Victoria isn’t happy to hear that he’s going and decides to call Aaron to see if he can persuade Robert to stay. When Andy sees Aaron’s number, he realizes that’s the same number Katie called right before she died. Andy confronts Aaron, who plays dumb. Andy is certain that Aaron is lying to him and later tells Robert so. But during his talk with Robert, Andy begins to conclude that both Aaron and Robert were involved in Katie’s death.

Meanwhile, Aaron confesses to Chas and Paddy about Robert killing Katie and Aaron helping to cover it up just as Robert is forced to admit to Andy that he did the deed. Andy goes to the police and Robert is arrested on suspicion of murder. Robert denies the allegations to the cops however and is released from jail, leaving Andy furious. Chas and Paddy are also upset about Robert’s release and his presence in Aaron’s life. Elsewhere, Chrissie, Lawrence and Lachlan are upset Robert is out and about and wish to be rid of him.

Robert drops by and sees Aaron and tells him he didn’t mention Aaron’s part in Katie’s death. Aaron isn’t grateful and he and Robert get into a vicious argument. Later that night after confrontations with all his enemies, Robert is shot. As Robert is rushed to the hospital, all the various suspects are acting guilty, some of them clearly keeping quiet as their most recent whereabouts. The police start looking for a suspect, but the big question is if Robert will live through the night....

Empire - Season 2 picks up sometime after we left the Lyons family last season with Lucious in jail and Jamal running the Empire. But Jamal’s reign at the top might not last with his own family plotting to unseat him. Jamal’s lovelife could see a boost though when Michael returns to his life. Will the ex-lovers get back together or will Michael’s presence make things worse for Jamal?

Holby City - In an effort to help Digby with his drug problems, Dom takes Digby to his parents vacation home to get him healthy again. But Dom’s parents show up, forcing Dom to relive some difficult childhood memories. Dom realizes in order to help Digby face his problems, Dom is going to have to deal with his own difficult past.

Hollyoaks - Scott and Esther are upset they can’t afford to go to Gay Pride in a nearby town and decide to put on their own Pride event in Hollyoaks, but they need a local businessman to sponsor them. They ask Tony, but he refuses, making some unkind comments about gay pride events, which Scott and Esther post online, When protestors show up at the Hutch to picket the business, Scott ‘saves the day’ by announcing that Tony is going to sponsor Hollyoaks first Gay Pride. Tony is reluctant at first until he realizes how much money he can make from the event. Tony becomes a hero in the eyes of the gay community.

In other news, upset that Sinead has left him and taken the baby, Ste blames Harry and tells him their brief affair is over and Harry is to stay away. It isn’t long however before they are sleeping together again.

Elsewhere, John Paul wants to make things up to Porsche for sleeping with her husband Lockie, but she’s not interested in his apologies.

How To Get Away With Murder - As Season 2 begins, Connor deals with the fact that his boyfriend Oliver is HIV positive and what it means for their future. Meanwhile, Annalise and the students take on the case of siblings accused of killing their parents. And Rebecca’s murderer is revealed.

Secret Lives

TEASERS FOR NEXT WEEK

EastEnders - Ben and Paul are caught in the act by Phil....

Empire - Jamal makes business moves that prove him to be a ruthless as his father....

Emmerdale - Lawrence confesses to shooting Robert, but is he protecting someone?

Hollyoaks - Ste and Harry get caught in the act, but by who?

Neighbours - Nate ruins he and Aaron’s first official date as a couple....

That’s it for this edition of Langford On Soaps. See you next week. Please leave your comments and thoughts below.