There’s a bad boy with a new face in The Young & the Restless’s Genoa City. His name is Ashland Locke—but doesn’t he look a bit like that Josh Lewis fella over in Springfield? Maybe he got a new haircut. Anyway, the ruthless media mogul has bamboozled Victoria Newman into marriage and has his eyes on her father Victor Newman’s empire.
Ashland has a typical – if somewhat convoluted – bad boy backstory involving a dead friend, switched identities and stealing money from his wealthy wife’s cat charity. I think Ashland’s story may come to a fatal end, but we’ll have to stay tuned and find out.
It got me thinking: who are the next bad boys of soap opera? Are there any? Anti-heroes like Ashland are a daytime staple — romancing naïve heroines, making bad choices and ultimately either mending their ways in the name of love or getting an epic comeuppance.
The newest batch of troubled leading men on Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital and Young and the Restless don’t exactly fit the mold. From tots who tattle to possessed preppies, this latest crop is in no hurry to fall in love or to walk the straight and narrow.
What do you think? Do you love the latest bad boys of daytime or are you all about the good guys? Will Douglas Forrester fade into the background or is he the next bad seed?
Should we be worried about Noah Newman’s mental health? Will someone finally get Peter August good and done? Can Johnny DiMera be saved from Satan or is his new rich jerk personality permanent? Are the bad boys of the day really just a pale and sad comparison of what they once were in the bad boy heyday?
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Comment below about your thoughts on the current bad guys and sad guys and some of your favorites from the past.
A few highlights of Young and the Restless that amused, intrigued or annoyed…
Bold and Beautiful's Douglas ForresterDon’t let that cute little face fool you — The Bold and the Beautiful’s Douglas Forrester has got great-grandma Stephanie’s blood running through him. He’s only in kindergarten, but Douglas might be the smartest member of this family of inbred glamazons and buttinskys. He just wants to chill and be with whoever his mommy is today, but Douglas always finds himself right in the middle of these grown folks’ romantic shenanigans. When Douglas spied step-grandma and multiple bride Brooke sharing a kiss with Santa Claus on New Year’s Eve, the kid was confused. How was he to know that the fat man wasn’t there to bring him presents—Brooke was actually locking lips with her ex-con babydaddy Deacon Sharpe. After some very persistent badgering by the irresponsible adults in his life, Douglas finally caved and spilled the beans. But what’s a little child endangerment when any of the Forresters can literally get away with murder? Let this be a lesson to Douglas that information is power. Wishful thinking: when Douglas is old enough to dive into dating, he’ll step out of his own gene pool.
Young and Restless' Noah NewmanThe Young and the Restless’s Noah Newman has had his share of family drama through the years and took off for London to sort his head out a while back. Now the heir apparent is home in Genoa City and all angsty, but why? What happed last year in London? Why is Noah all over ex-girlfriend Tessa, a confirmed lesbian who recently got engaged to Noah’s own half-sister Mariah? Rather than take Tessa at her word that she’s definitely not into him, Noah’s decided to waste his time lurking and eavesdropping and making pained expressions. Is it unrequited love of the most hopeless kind or does Noah just needs more fiber in his diet? Seriously, Noah is a third generation legacy character, the grandson of Genoa City’s GOAT supercouple Victor and Nikki. He’s rich and handsome and available—so why is he sliding into Norman Bates territory instead of looking for love and making trouble with someone who is at least interested? Noah should be the next leading man and a viable supercouple player. Complicated and emotional is the classic bad boy profile, but peeping through windows and following his ex around town has turned Noah from cute to creepy.
Wishful thinking: Noah shakes off his bizarre obsession before he finds himself where most soap stalkers end up—in a shallow grave.
General Hospital's Peter AugustNo one ever stays dead in General Hospital’s Port Charles, even when we really, really want them to. As the spawn of lecherous villain Cesar Faison and super spy Anna Devane—err, make that Alex Devane, Anna’s allegedly dead twin sister-- Peter August and his theatrical line delivery were destined to be loathed by the locals. Whether he’s airing family dirty laundry or outwitting law enforcement, Peter is the least popular guy in a city full of terrible people. Peter has fallen down a flight of stairs, got stashed in a freezer and was later poisoned, but he’s still alive and as annoying as ever. It’s not that Peter is so clever and dastardly, it’s that his very presence seems to make everyone around him go dumb. Yet fashionista Maxie Jones saw something in this rebel without a cause (don’t get me started on her choices) and scrambled her DNA with him—resulting in baby Louise, who is undoubtedly in for years of therapy. Now that Peter has once again outsmarted the smartest in Port Charles and escaped police custody, he’s off for parts unknown with baby girl Louise in tow.
Wishful thinking: Peter’s next killers do the job right and puts everyone out of their misery.
Days of our Lives' Johnny DiMeraHow does the devil make that angel-faced Johnny DiMera on Days of Our Lives do such terrible things? Satan hadn’t stepped into Johnny’s skin for a minute before he dropped new bride Chanel in front of friends and family, then literally dropped a chandelier on her mama, Paulina. When he’s not framing his dad or trying to seduce his uncle’s girlfriend, the yellow-eyed troublemaker likes to have creepy one-sided conversations with grandpa Stefano’s portrait and proposition Gabi in increasingly slimy ways. Heaven help anyone who gets in JoDevil’s way. But surely good will prevail and a Satan-free Johnny will be whipping out the guitar to win back Chanel—but will the lady baker decide she’s hooked on sister-in-law Allie’s sweet bits?
Wishful thinking: Johnny stays single for a while and keeps the red satin pajamas.