It’s Only My Opinion For The Soap Week Ending February 28

Quantrell Colbert/CBS; ABC; Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

The Feminine Mystique: (From l.) Beyond the Gates‘s Dani (Karla Mosley, with Marquita Goings as Hayley), General Hospital‘s Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and Young and Restless‘s Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Sharon (Sharon Case) are some of the strong women on soaps.

Give me a strong woman over a pathetic wuss every time.

Beyond the Gates is chock full of them! The soap’s first week gave us maximum attitude, even from a woman on the brink after her husband dumped her for their daughter’s best friend. The scorned Dani Dupree ran into young Hayley at the country club, and it did not go well.

Hayley: “Dani…”

Dani: “We made a place for you at our table, and you paid us back by stealing my husband.”

Hayley: “If we could just find a way to be civil…”

Dani: “Back up.”

She stormed over to where her family sat waiting and bitched about the interaction until her mother interrupted her.

Anita: “Good morning to you, too.”

Dani’s sister, Nicole, and her mom tried to lecture her on letting go… which also did not go well.

Dani: “I’ll be healthy again as soon as I make a couple of cheaters pay for blowing up my life.”

That’s the kind of energy we want from our soap opera vixens! Dani encountered Hayley again on her way out and gave her a good old-fashioned soap opera slap. Then she went home and got all weepy looking at a slideshow of her wedding. (Dani supposedly married Bill 30 years ago, but the photos were clearly taken last Tuesday. It’s a new soap, so we’ll let that slide.) In came mom with a pep talk.

Dani: “Don’t let me do that.”

Anita: “You’re not allowed to cry?”

Dani: “I hate it. It’s weak.”

Anita: “You are a Dupree woman. We don’t turn our power over to anyone.”

And that’s the kind of energy we want from our soap opera matriarchs. The husband-stealing Hayley actually went to Nicole’s sister with a plate of food asking for help being accepted in the neighborhood since she and Bill just bought a house in The Gates. Another encounter that did not go well.

Hayley (pleading): “I just fell in love with an inconvenient man.”

Nicole: “And now you have to deal with the inconvenient consequences. Take your cookies and go.”

Even the gossipy real estate agent got her two cents in after giving Hayley the keys to her fancy new digs.

Vanessa: “You and Bill could live anywhere, and you chose Dani’s community? The women who live inside these gates — you are their worst nightmare.”

Yes, but a dream for soap watchers.

Over on GH, it was mostly the women zeroing in on murderer Cyrus. Once Alexis heard he killed Sam, she went to Jason and said she wanted to off him.

Jason: “You can’t kill Cyrus, it’s not who you are.”

Alexis: “But it is who you are. I want vengeance.”

Jason thought about it, but didn’t do it because his pal Anna asked him not to (is that how murderers work?). Liz stood right up to Cyrus after he barged into her house to kill her and then she saved Lucky’s life after Cyrus jabbed a needle into him. The Spencers gathered at the hospital where Sonny heaped praise on Laura.

Sonny: “Lucky’s a hero, his dad is a hero, his mom is a hero.”

No. Laura gave her psychotic brother unfettered access to her comatose daughter, Lulu, even after she had to know he was doing that creepy Bible thing by her bed. She was in complete denial about Cyrus’s crimes. Liz was the hero in that story. Well, and Josslyn, who followed Jack’s breadcrumbs to Cyrus’s cabin and wound up killing the madman in self-defense. Jack covered up the crime and told Joss to tell no one, adding that he admired her instincts and wanted her to become a secret WSB agent.

Joss: “I’m not going to kill people.”

Jack: “Of course not. We have plenty of people for that.”

Joss: “That’s not as comforting as you think it is.”

DAYS’s Ava showed surprising gumption for a woman who had been bound and gagged for two weeks, telling Brady to go ask “the kidnapping granny” about who was behind the crime. Kristen tried to cover up the Blake womens’ crimes by sticking syringes in people to give them amnesia, so that’s a certain kind of strength, I guess. But miss me with Jada going all boohoo because Fake Rafe cheated on her and Belle regretting sleeping with EJ when he’s the biggest crook in town.

Belle: “What a fool I have been.”

Considering that she’s the District Attorney, I’d have to agree. Toughen up, girl!

Is it a sign of strength when someone commits every imaginable felony and then paints themself as a victim? If so, all hail B&B’s Sheila Carter who had the temerity to get in Poppy’s face about Luna’s crimes.

Sheila: “Tom and Hollis were like family, and now they’re gone because of your daughter. I’ll never forget the way she came after my family, targeted my son’s wife and tried to kill her.”

Um, Sheila? You tried to kill Steffy. You shot her and left her to die in an alley, along with the son you claim to love so much. That’s not the kind of power we look for in our soap heroines, and neither is the complete rewriting of history.

Sheila: “I don’t get to see my son because of an overbearing wife, which means I don’t get to see my grandchild. Finn and Hayes mean everything to me.”

Sorry Daisy, Diane, Mary, and Ryder! Sheila only loves the kid she gave up for adoption, not you other four that she supposedly raised off screen (on both B&B and Y&R). Fans know that murderer Luna is Sheila’s biological granddaughter. That explosion will cut across Steffy (who just found out and is horrified) to Sheila (who will be thrilled) to Finn’s mother, Li. Smart money is on Li to burn it all down when she finds out her sister seduced her adopted son.

Speaking of burning it all down, why has Y&R been telling “Women in Peril” stories for two years? Nikki was forced off the wagon by psycho Jordan, Heather was murdered, Sharon was drugged and convinced to dispose of Heather’s body, Phyllis and Sharon were run off the road, and most recently they went missing at the same time. Mariah, Nick, Summer, and Daniel gathered with Chance to try and piece together their disappearance.

Nick: “What the hell could have happened?”

Does no one track anyone’s phones? Especially for Sharon, who disappears every other week? I will suspend disbelief all day long for an entertaining story, but desperate women hallucinating, crying, yelling, pounding on doors, etc. is not it. Reducing A-listers Phyllis and Sharon to victims du jour does those formerly strong babes a disservice — especially when it’s the third time in six months that Sharon has been drugged (by Ian, Jordan, and now probably “dead” Ian). Lock your door, hire a food taster, Make it stop.

Much better was the usually milquetoast Claire setting Kyle straight when he suggested they split up because her grandfather, Victor, will never accept him.

Claire: “I grew up with a person who tried to control everything. I didn’t escape that prison with Jordan just to jump into another one with my grandfather. I’m with you, Kyle. If my grandfather can’t see past his old hatred of Jack to see how happy I am, that’s his problem.”

Ding, ding, ding! From wuss to warrior… let’s have more of that.

Hey. It’s only my opinion.