carolineg

In some ways I do appreciate it shows a softer side of Tracy, but I wish it was literally with any other child on the show.

5 grown adults plus Gio and the day player principal should not have been wasted on this Violet nonsense, especially characters like Lois and Tracy. Pretty much all the other groups of scenes today could have been extended out and been more interesting if we left Violet on the cutting room floor (forever).

Idk. Days home sets are so weird. I am neither a Mayor of a town nor a millionaire or even remotely wealthy, but my house has a kitchen, living room, and dining room. All separate spaces. It seems like all the newer sets have to have a visible kitchen for whatever reason. I know a lot of apartments are designed like this, but it actually makes all the sets look so cramped. Unless it's a logistical impossibility like John/Marlena's ginormous penthouse with an endless hallway with all the rooms, I am okay with a living room just being the main place to film. Then again Sloan's bed being her entire apartment even though she had an upstairs was not ideal either lol. Something like Alex's new/old apartment works okay for me (even though it's next door to Stephanie's and has a completely different layout).

I liked half the episode. I think there could have been more depth in the Lucky/Aiden scenes, but when the show spends that much time on effing Violet's kindergarten drama, Lucky/Aiden are not at the top of my list of complaints. Some nice scenes between Lucas/Maxie and Felicia/Holly. Episode ranking with Violet-4/10 Episode ranking without Violet 8.5/10

CJ and BB did some good work today with their scenes. I just wish we got more insight into this new version of Stefan/Gabi before it blew up. They seemed to have chemistry, but I find myself not terribly invested in it all. I think the FAbby story is also missing the mark. The reveal was so early on that she wasn't Abby. FAbby should have been much more convincing and slightly mysterious, leaving the audience wondering. Now we know it's a con I do just kind of want it to be over. No idea what they are doing with Roman/Ava. It's almost like the show is just using Roman to give Ava and Leo something to do for a half of an episode. I hope he's just more of a talk to for characters than anything deeper.

Yes, Marlena had the wooden door with the peephole. I loved that touch. I never thought it was out of place with the rest of the set, but I hated the painting she had right by the door. It was like Madonna and child or something. It was ugly. I thought Marlena fell on Sami when she fell from the balcony lol. It is possible those were two separate penthouse falls though.

Since Steve and Kayla's house is basically the same set with a kitchen I wish the show could have figured out a way to keep the OG penthouse and use it for multiple sets. I remember hearing it was just too large, but I honestly wouldn't care if they used it for several different couples. It's better than what we have now.

They don't even have a kitchen lol. This penthouse logistically makes no sense. Is every other room in the house just attached to one long hallway? The worst part for me is that I had no warning. One day she just mentioned to John off handedly that she sold it. I never got to say goodbye!!

I just laughed out loud at this. I never thought about it, but Cassandra James does have very stilted way of delivering her lines. Terry's fine and all. I just never got behind the D story of her romance with day player Yuri. Are they still together? Actually no one answer. I don't care lol.

I liked Chelsea at certain points in her run. I will say it's to Rachel Melvin's credit that Chelsea ever became semi-rootable after killing her little brother. Not really on topic, but it's very strange the show went to all the trouble to retcon J.T. into Bo's kid only for Chelsea to mow him down and he surprisingly never should up alive again lol. Yes he was in a coma for months right before he was killed off. Marlena would weep at his bedside and have dreams of her and John being together and it was extremely corny. Marlena was still used sparingly with other characters, but half her scenes were arguing with Drs telling her to pull the plug on John or having this idiotic dream sequences. I felt like Sheffer either didn't like John or just didn't know how to write for John/Marlena as a couple. I think Sheffer wanted to make Marlena darker and she was a bit after John's death vowing revenge on Stefano and all that. Since John was only gone for a few months I have a feeling the network or some higher up may have stepped in and forced HS to write Drake back in. Yes, they also got rid of Marlena's penthouse set around this time (2007) because it was too expensive. Marlena just moved out and sold it off screen while John was in a coma and I was so devastated because I still miss that set!

It truly was. It makes me mad all over again. For those two to go out with a re-marriage in a hospital room and John with paralysis? Ugh. At least it was rectified a few years later, but I remember being furious at the time. It showed such little respect for Deidre/Drake and Marlena/John who help carry the show for decades. And of course both of them handled it like class acts (at least publicly).

Higley seemed to hate John/Marlena or at least Marlena lol. It was so disappointing to watch John be RoboJohn for so long and then he gets his memory back a day before they leave. And he's paralyzed. It was an awful way for them to go out. The 2011 John/Marlena white collar story I suppose could have been good. I liked it brought Carrie/Austin in to help them fight the charges. Unfortunately, it was boring to me and I don't think that's exactly Deidre and Drake's bread and butter as a couple. Wacky life threatening villains are for better or worse. I totally forgot Daytime Confidential used to rip Molly Burnett. I think that's why I thought she was universally hated. Not anything to do with this thread, but it's strange how both Melanie and Chelsea became footnotes basically in Days history when they were dominating so much screen time a decade or so ago.

As always @dc11786 you have made great points and thank you for the insightful post. A few things I would touch on to reply is that: -I do believe Drake was fired when he was killed off. Deidre said in a few interviews she was hysterical after those scenes and thought that was the end of Marlena/John. I can't imagine how she feels now. So, even if the plan was always to bring John/RoboJohn back I don't think the actors were aware of it. Someone may know better than me, but that's how I took the public statements made at the time. -I really do see your argument of stripping down the show without the weight of supercouples and sci-fi, but Days went too far, IMO. It became almost unrecognizable and it was jolting. I don't think that period without them was bad really, it just lacked the core of what I loved about Days. Although I have had numerous people tell me that they did really enjoy this era. -Maggie vs. Marlena isn't really a thing to me. It did seem clear to me they gave much more prominence and value to SR after Deidre left, but as you said, they don't really fill the same roles on the show. It was nice to see SR get some meaty material after years of being an afterthought. -I actually think the return of CC as Carly wasn't the shot in the arm the show was hoping for. I admittedly hate the character of Carly so can't be objective. I think it's pretty obvious her return really flopped with viewers though. -I had no problem with Ali being bumped to lead as it seemed like a natural progression. I do think her real life pregnancy did make it difficult even though, as you stated, the Sydney switch was the best story in years. After dumping John/Marlena I would have probably really tried to woo Christie back as Sami vs. Carrie is what the show should have focused on. -I tend to agree the idea of 2011 re-boot was great, but the show didn't have solid stories for the returning actors. The John/Marlena plot about John losing his money over insider trading or something was boring. Carrie/Austin didn't really have a lot to do. It did seemed like the show was focused on getting these characters back first and then writing later. John/Marlena's story was pretty dull until Kristen showed up again. -I will always like Melanie. Yes, she got a lot of story, family and love interests and I can see how it would be annoying to some, but she brought a freshness and vitality to the younger set. I do love Rachel Melvin and Shelly Hennig as well. I also agree Kristen Renton was good. It's a shame it was widely gossiped she was sleeping with upper management because I liked Morgan.

Oh, I am sure they are fine now or that story wouldn't be in the book. It was noticeable to me that they did avoid pairing Tamara with Mo when she returned as Kim, but since that character was a mess anyhow it probably doesn't mean much. IMO, that was the best backstage tea from his book, so don't rush out and buy it thinking there is more lol. It was a pretty interesting book though. Thanks for recapping Brad's trajectory as a character. I honestly forgot about most of the Felix/Brad/Lucas triangle. I agree about Britt/Brad feeling false. You are so right about the actors not gelling organically. I am also one of the people that didn't think Britt(or KT) was all that special.

They did re-hire Wayne as another character in 2005 and that was a huge mistake. I would prefer that Alex North was just forgotten. They even used old Roman/Marlena flashbacks for that story which was tacky. As for why I'd re-hire Wayne as Roman, I think I've explained my reasoning in multiple posts and I still think it would be a nice ending for Marlena. To be absolutely honest, I would have made John the actual Roman instead of hiring Josh Taylor period.

The pairing with Brady was weird, but Molly Burnett always seemed so joyful and gave it her all. I have seen people even making fun of her teeth and I literally found nothing offensive about the girl. She had spunk even if Melanie wasn't the most defined or clear character.

Exactly my thoughts. Sami was going through major struggles and so were other parts of their family and John/Marlena just weren't there? It was so out of character for them to be off screen. It was a noticeable hole and I don't think most Days characters have that impact. Sami would say a lot of times that she would just call her mom and get advice. We've known Marlena for years. Sami's guilt trip alone about her problems would make Marlena immediately fly out to assess the situation lol.

Woah, first off I am like the only Melanie stan on this board. Love Molly Burnett lol. In all seriousness I don't know why people hate Melanie. But as far as everything else I agree. Sami was either crying or pregnant. And the John hate is annoying because they made up approx a million times and she named her son after him, but I do get it's an easy trope to go back to. I think Ali and Ari did a good job holding the show together in the absence of Drake/Deidre, but it felt immediately more like home the minute they were back.

Yes. I remember it being Nicole's last scene and being totally confused. It's rarely brought up but I knew I saw it lol. I don't know if Eric even knows about it, but that actually could have caused drama.

I want to say the first time Ari left many moons ago her last stuff was having a one night stand with Roman. I am not sure if it was ever brought up again, but my eyes remember seeing it lol.

I get where you are going and it would work for Chris. But it doesn't work for Roman. I also found Billie/Roman and then randomly Roman/Nicole super creepy lol. Roman is just a different character than Chris in almost all the ways. It will always be a mystifying casting decision

I don't really have much of opinion on Brad. He never felt very well defined to me and seemed like Brit's sassy sidekick. I do think PS and the writers need to up Brad's game if he's going to be believable in a romance with Lucas though.

Yes! I got that sense too. I wasn't sure if it was the writing at the time. He just felt a lot more subdued than Lucas already feels on this first day. I do sometimes wonder if Carnes didn't want to overshadow Perry Shen, who isn't the greatest actor. Van just practically ran circles around PS today.

Yes. Ali carried the show for those years, but Maggie moved more into the Marlena role and was heavily focused on. It was a weird time, but EJ/Sami/Nicole did have a lot going on. They also fired SN and MBE a few months after they fired the DH's so it was very transitional. A lot of people did enjoy that era though.

I agree. It's a different take for sure, but it made me feel like Lucas would be more of a presence this time around. Oh, I didn't find anything objectionable with his performance. I actually felt Carnes sometimes faded into the background in some of his scenes. I would have been happy with Carnes, but I am happy with Van too. I did like the Carly/Lucas scenes a lot.