5 Unrealistic Soap Plotlines From Major TV Shows
One of the things that people love the most about soap operas are the plotlines that, for lack of a better term, just don’t make any sense. Most of the soap plotlines that we see involve romance, especially when it comes to more than two people being involved. Questions about paternity, jilted lovers, divorce, marriage, you name it, there’s a soap opera plotline for just about everything.
Then, there are those plotlines that are just so bizarre that they’re impossible to take seriously. Sometimes, the playbook is completely thrown out the window on these shows so that the writers can shake things up a bit and draw in more viewers. Let’s take a look at five of the most unrealistic soap plotlines from major shows that fans would rather pretend didn’t happen at all.
1. GH Vampires
“General Hospital” isn’t the most realistic show on television, but in terms of soap operas, it’s at least somewhat grounded in reality. That would change once vampires were thrown into the mix in 2013, though. The lead writer, Ron Carlivati, even acknowledged how ridiculous it was that vampires were being introduced to the series for a storyline while also trying to justify it.
“The story does get pretty over-the-top,” Carlivati said. “Yet it’s still rooted in a certain reality. Lucy may be off-kilter but she’s certainly not in Heather Webber territory. Her belief in vampires will be very convincing.” Some fans were into it, especially as the “Twilight” series was incredibly popular at the time, while for others, it was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the long-running soap.
2. DOOL Zombies
Vampires aren’t the only supernatural beings to make their way to the soap opera circuit, as zombies became part of the lore for “Days of Our Lives”. Granted, the zombies were part of a Halloween storyline, but it was still weird to see some old characters come back to life on screen, especially some of the most detestable ones that the series has had.
Characters Nick Fallon, Charlie Dale, and Deimos Kiriakis all became reanimated corpses in the “Days of Our Lives” storyline, and there were some great lines that came from the arc. “You can’t be here, your dead,” was an actual line taken from a character’s reaction to seeing a zombie version of Mike Manning’s character.
3. Vincent/Valerie on Passions
There are a lot of times when “Passions” left people scratching their heads, and one of those times was the long-running plotline of Vincent Clarkson. There was an alter ego for Vincent, too, as he became Valerie Davis in one of the most convoluted story arcs and one of the strangest representations of transgender/intersex people that have been on television.
Vincent was born with the ability to become pregnant and used the Valerie identity to seduce his own father and become pregnant. All of that happened. Thankfully for the writers, the character was actually well-received by viewers and critics, as things could have gone much, much worse with such a sensitive subject. Of course, there was also plenty of criticism toward the show.
4. Talking Dog on One Life to Live
Certain soap operas are susceptible to having really weird plotlines, and “One Life to Live” was certainly one of them. There were time travel storylines during the series, but perhaps the strangest storyline came in the form of a talking dog. A trope that has been satirized ruthlessly on shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” became a reality for “One Life to Live”.
Tina Lord’s Shih Tzu David was able to communicate with his owner, as well as toddler Liam. It isn’t just some life lesson-type of stuff that the dog tells the baby, either. Instead, he reveals who the toddler’s real father is, leaving people confused by what was going on during the end of the long-running soap.
5. The Dallas Dream
Nothing is more infuriating for an audience than finding out that the plot that they just invested so much time into was completely thrown out the window. That’s what happened for fans of “Dallas” when there was an entire season that was dedicated to saying goodbye to Patrick Duffy’s character Bobby Ewing.
The character was killed off during the season-long story arc but was found comfortably alive in a shower shortly thereafter. After Duffy negotiated his return to the show, the entire previous season was written as a dream, rendering the entire thing pointless and wasting months of people’s time.