As stated by eastwest above there are a lot of different storytelling styles competing against each other.  In their own right each one would be worthy of a win.   This is indeed a very competitive and impressive line-up of submissions.     It will all boil down to what voters are able to connect with on an emotional basis.   I believe of these only two provide the natural connection that will prevail.   The first is “General Hospital” which has won this category six times in the past, most recently in 2010.    They wisely  submitted an episode featuring an intervention in which family and friends of Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) confront him about his drinking, which they believe resulted in the death of his own grandson, to a hit and run.    Luke is adamant that he is not an alcoholic and that the hit and run was simply an unexplainable accident, random and without just.    The episode is set up beautifully with each of his loved ones reading a letter explaining their concerns and how Luke’s drinking has affected them.   Some of them are very moving, such as Lulu, his daughter who explains that his drinking has turned him into a destructive shell of a man, somebody that she doesn’t know.   The most effective was his son Lucky, who said that his drinking erases the wisdom and knowledge Luke has that he needs to cope with the death of his son.     Overall this was a very strong episode with some moving imagery that really should click with voters.    If there is a downside to this episode or something that would hurt its chance of winning, I would say that the use of TV monitors to represent Luke’s memories ended up being a bit confusing and jarring, they would have been far better off to just use the standard “flashback” technique that has served soap operas so well in the past.    I guess they made a choice to appear avant-garde but from a viewing perspective it created a sense of “what is going on here”.    I have other issues with this particular episode as well, but none of them have any effect on the fitness of this tape to compete.   

Next in line I would say is “The Young & Restless” which submitted a moody, haunting and very effective reel that starts the “Who Killed Diane Jenkins” murder mystery.   It was almost film-noir like in its use of Diane narrating the episode and showing flashbacks to what occurred in the park the night she was murdered.   Each of the people featured in the episode clearly have a reason to want her dead, several even attempted to harm her in some way.    I had heard a lot about this episode when it aired, but never watched until now, and though it received some mixed reviews from fans, as a submission I find it strong and a fitting candidate to win.      

“The Bold & Beautiful” submitted a more grounded reel featuring Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) interviewing young people that have aged out of the foster care system and are trying to transition into a new phase of life.     It starts out with Stephanie and Hope frantically searching for their intern, Beverly who they have falsely blamed for stealing some designs from their company.   They drive all around L.A. and finally find her at her home, where she and others are graduating from the transitional living program.    The episode serves mostly as a well produced PSA about foster care and a program called Friends United (or something like that), however to me seems very hollow and ineffective.      To me, Stephanie seemed almost disconnected when talking to these young kids, and frankly some rich woman talking to foster kids seems more like a moment of self-congratulations for Stephanie than anything else.  At the end of the day, I don’t think she would actually take anything away from meeting these people. To me it lacks any real impact.   It was however, stylistically well done.   The use of black and white shots and the right music to illustrate the mood of the program was masterful, the lighting was fantastic and the scenes of Stephanie’s sister, Pamela admitting to Jackie that she stole the designs were a exquisite use of time and proved the point that Stephanie and Hope jumped to a conclusion blaming Beverly because she was the new girl when it was somebody close to them that stole the designs.

Lastly, you have “One Life to Live”, a personal favorite of mine, who submitted an episode showcasing its best feature, series star and 6X Emmy-Winner Erika Slezak utilizing her alters.    The episode showcases around a custody battle between Jessica who is herself in an altered state, her alter, Tess is out and only wants custody to gain a substantial trust fund.    Viki is also fighting for custody, but because she is now stuck in her body it is her alter Nikki Smith representing her in court, and her plan is to help Tess out so she can run away and leave town.     Most of the episode takes place inside Viki’s psyche, a place that has been a central theme on the series for decades.   Some say that the acting by Slezak here is hammy  and over the top, that is debatable, however, it makes for riveting TV as Viki battles herself for control of her body and must come to grips with the fact that she alone allowed her alters to come out because she wasn’t strong enough.    I believe that watching out of context some could get the wrong impression about this show and find it to be too campy and almost amateurish; however it is truly classic soap opera storytelling.   I think today’s voters likely would prefer to vote for a more realistic episode.

Now, let’s review history for a moment, each of the nominees has a past of winning this category successfully.   The all-time champion is “Y&R” with 13 wins, followed by “General Hospital” with 6 victories, “OLTL” has 5 and “B&B” has only 1, which they won last year.   With that said, here are my final rankings based on likelihood to win:

1.       General Hospital

2.       The Young & Restless

3.       One Life To Live

4.       The Bold & Beautiful