Soaps have always been a romance-driven medium, but for at least as long as I've been alive, they've been more interested in — and, frankly, much better at — getting viewers invested in the star-crossed buildup than they are in depicting domestic bliss. As soon as the writers run out of obstacles to throw between a couple, that romance is done for, doomed to either fade into the background or be broken up.
I've always felt like this was a sign of creative laziness, but it's been a part of daytime's rhythm for so long that there's no getting around it at this point. Even as a very young viewer, it wasn't hard for me to sense which weddings were happening because a couple was about to be back-burnered, and as sad as it could be to watch that happen, it also makes a certain amount of sense; in order for a soap to evolve, the same characters can't keep driving story forever. And I would also argue that it was a better model than the one we've had on General Hospital for the past, oh, decade or so — one that no longer has room for many meaningful romances at all, and instead just smashes characters together for short-term relationships before blowing them up and spinning the wheel again.
This lack of love in the afternoon has been an ongoing complaint among GH viewers for years, and I don't think the complainers are wrong: Even during the height of its spies-'n'-suds era, the show's globetrotting adventures were almost always fueled by romance of some sort, and that balance kept the show anchored in some measure of relatability during moments when it could otherwise have sailed off into pure flights of fancy. Also, and more importantly, it's those long-term romances that often provide soaps with legacy characters. GH's love allergy is just one symptom of an overall narrative imbalance that has threatened the show's long-term health for years.
I don't know if I see that changing anytime soon, at least not all at once. But I mention all this now because I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that GH decided to close out 2025 by letting five couples celebrate with their own personal fireworks, continuing to chem-test a sixth, and maybe even starting to suggest that a seventh pairing could possibly be in the works. This might have been nothing more than a way for the writers to burn off a post-holiday episode, but it's a new year, so let's choose optimism for as long as they'll let us, and hope it's a sign that a strong shift back toward soap fundamentals is on the horizon.
Sidwell Sends His Regards
It was a short week as well as a year-ending one, which added up to very little in the way of action. If there's one thing we can take away from the way GH ended 2025, it's that 2026 will start off as the Year of Sidwell — which is something we can all be happy about, if for no other reason than it'll put some true purpose behind the way he's been puttering about the canvas for the last year and change.
The week started with Sidwell threatening Drew, which is always a welcome sight. Unsurprisingly, Sidwell isn't thrilled that the news of Drew blackmailing Portia is now public knowledge; as he told the congressman, he's useful only as long as he remains in office, and if he ends up being ousted for whatever reason, he's on his own. To try and stay ahead of the fallout, Sidwell asked Jordan to use her contacts at the PCPD to try and find out whether the police are building a case against Drew. He also spent some time placating Marco, who remains laser-focused on making sure Sonny dies as payback for Natalia's death. While Sonny's still too useful to eliminate, Sidwell assured his son that once that usefulness has run out, the plan is very much to kill Sonny dead.
Later in the week, Sidwell sent Boyle to Laura's place for a "meeting," which was really just a demand that she pave the way for helipads to be installed on the waterfront so Sidwell can commute to and from Wyndemere without using the ferry. This actually turned out to be an interesting set of scenes — a first for Boyle! — because he eventually dropped his "gleefully sleazy dirtbag" act long enough to earnestly urge Laura to play by Sidwell's rules. Assuring her that the pain of being blackmailed into corruption was better than whatever might be in store for her if she refused, Boyle complimented Laura, telling her that even though she wouldn't be able to do a lot of public good while she was under Sidwell's thumb, he knew she'd be able to do some.
Boyle has been nothing but a cartoon since making his debut, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see a little depth being added here. I have no doubt that whatever redemption is in store for this character will probably end with him dying at some point during Sidwell's reign of terror, but in the meantime, I'd much rather see him engaging in a real conversation every now and then.
My biggest beef with what we saw last week has to do with what we didn't — namely, Sonny handing his piers over to Sidwell. We've seen Laura run through the emotional and professional wringer by this guy, but Sonny's suffering has taken place offscreen. Why didn't we watch Sonny signing the contracts while Sidwell smiled smugly? Why didn't we see him standing next to Laura at the press conference announcing the sale? Why haven't we seen Sidwell give Sonny his marching orders? I suspect it's because a lot of people involved with GH refuse to allow Sonny to ever be seen as less powerful than his enemies, which is not only offensive on a moral level, it's just plain bad storytelling.
I'm sure at some point, the writers will at least need to play at showing Sonny under Sidwell's thumb; otherwise, none of this will ever go anywhere. But in order for this story to be satisfying at all, Sonny really needs to be broken down; otherwise, there's no place for him to fight back from. Right now, it seems like he'll just keep on sauntering around Port Charles, whispering every fourth line and muttering "son of a bitch" a couple of times a month, biding his time until the day is magically saved by Jason or Brick or Spinelli — and if that ends up being the case, it'll be yet another dumb waste of yet another potentially worthy villain.
As always, I'll be delighted to be wrong, and I have to acknowledge that there are signs this could be possible. For starters, Sidwell is now interested in Valentin, who he strongly suspects is near Port Charles; he sees him as "a man of many talents" who could be a useful tool. And then there's Turner, who recently revealed herself to be grooming Sonny by appealing to his ego. I have no idea which direction any of these developments might lead, but they all have the potential to send Sidwell's storyline down a variety of intriguing paths.
For now, the emphasis on Laura's pain bears the distinct whiff of sexism, which is nothing new for this show. Sidwell closed out the week by bumping into Charlotte and Ace outside Bobbie's, where he made a veiled threat toward Ace that Charlotte quickly passed on to Laura. It seems likely that she'll deal with this by shipping Ace off with Kevin, who just got a six-month job offer in Dublin; as for why we're meant to believe Ace will be safer from Sidwell the British ex-pat in Ireland, I have no idea, but it'll at least give Jon Lindstrom an actual reason to be absent for awhile.
We'll Take a Cup O' Kindness Yet
As we close out, let's go back to the New Year's Eve lovefest I mentioned at the top of the column. For the most part, it involved pairings you could probably guess: Emma and Gio hooked up, Trina and Kai holed up in the apartment she allegedly still shares with Joss even though Joss hasn't been seen there in weeks, Britt and Jason kissed, Curtis and Jordan bedded down, and Molly showed Cody her legal briefs, breaking the long streak of sexual frustration he's suffered since joining the show in 2022. Elsewhere, Lulu and Nathan watched the fireworks together while bonding over what it's like to be dead/close to dead for years at a time.
What was most interesting to me, though, were the scenes featuring Carly and Valentin. They still aren't exactly friends, but she brought him a bottle of champagne in the attic, and after he quipped that she must be there to poison him, they spent the episode talking about their plans to take down Brennan. It might have been nothing more than holiday filler, but while watching, I couldn't help but wonder whether we were witnessing the start of a potential Carly/Valentin pairing. Stranger things have happened — Carly did almost marry Franco, after all — and there are so many characters who'd be pissed off about it that I'm actually into the idea. I really can't remember the last time I felt that way about anything involving Carly.
I think that might be about it for the big stuff — like I said, short week! Here's your first batch of bullets for 2026:
- Danny showed up unannounced during Scout's visit with Alexis, Molly, and Kristina, and later, Scout (inevitably unwisely) told Willow about it
- Sidwell told Drew to hurry his ass back to DC, but Drew blew him off, saying there's still "lots to do in Port Charles"
- Tracy told Michael she doesn't believe he's truly into Jacinda; in response, Michael gave Jacinda jewelry
- Jordan and Laura plotted to somehow use Sidwell's simultaneous fondness for Lucy and Ava to their advantage
- Sonny and Turner had another pointless, boring conversation
- Cody advised Danny to play the long game with Drew by pretending to give him everything he wants
- Sonny tried and failed to convince Michael he needs to watch what he says about Willow during his testimony, because it'll get back to Wiley and Amelia at some point
- After snooping through Alexis' papers and discovering that she's planning to go after Michael, Kristina accused Alexis of trying to frame her brother
- Cody made Molly morning-after pancakes
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