carolineg

I have not watched that scene since it first aired, but I remember JM did play it like she could have been lying to spare John. Or at least leaving the door open for her to return and reveal it was John. I want to say John/Marlena were knee deep in the Brady being evil stuff and Zack still being John's baby so they weren't on great ground. I just don't think John/Marlena would struggle that much with Greta being John's. She was a grown woman, it was before J/M met, and they knew it was a possibility. IDK, maybe the show wanted to leave the option out there in the universe, but wanted to put a pin in it for the moment. Greta would be a good Nicole rival and great for Eric at this point.

Drew Garrett was the original adult/teen Michael after the show ditched the red headed kid. DG was ragey Michael that did kill Claudia. He was around maybe a year? Then recast during Claudia's murder trial with Chad Duell. No one really knows why they fired Garrett, but he was pretty good.

Kristen got pardoned, so I think she's completely free and not on parole. Orpheus, Gwen, Evan, and Kristen all got pardoned. Poor Lani did not lol. Orpheus blackmailed the governor and they all got out. Whatever. I keep meaning to ask this, but forget because I don't generally care about Basic Black at all-why does Dimera own Basic Black?

Yeah I saw that! I just figured it would be short term if she came back. You know Days. MB could have filmed something months ago and won't even air for a few more months. Honestly, with Stephanie coming back as well she basically would fill the same sort of role with Phillip anyhow.

How did I miss this thread before? I am possibly Molly Burnett/Melanie's biggest fan here. I would love for her to come back. As far as TB leaving, oh well. I like her so much as an actress, but Ava is useless.

I honestly don't know if VK is one or not. She does seem like someone who started to believe her own hype. Some of VK's acting and styling choices seemed un-Ciara like toward the end and more self serving to her as an actress and a brand. Some days she seemed like she was actively trying out for a CW show instead of playing Ciara. I don't know. I could be manifesting this because I am just jealous of her pretty hair and boobs lol. Don't blame this on him!🤣 She's definitely annoying on her own. I am going to find the RSW twitter page for you if you haven't found it already. ETA: It's literally named I HATE ROBERT SCOTT WILSON on twitter. Clever!

I liked Greta with Eric, but I have never been a huge fan of Eric/Nicole. I liked Greta with Austin too. The show just seemed to lose interest in JM/Greta. She was annoyingly everywhere in the beginning of her run, but then she just got really C stories at the end (Garden of Eden, Jack pretending to be gay, really chaste romances that went nowhere, etc). Someone posted a picture of Julianne Morris with KA or someone days related recently and she still looks okay (she's clearly had some work done). Anyhow, I don't think she's actively pursuing acting, but I am sure she would make a guest appearance on Days. She's not anywhere near the top of my list of people to bring back to Days, but I wouldn't be against it.

I assumed you started it.🤣 VK is probably a lovely girl in real life, but the way she insisted on dressing completely inappropriately at all times put me off on her. Like I get it. You are hot and have big boobs lol. You don't need to have the boobies out at Abby's funeral.

I would definitely have waited on bringing RSW back so quickly. I sort of liked him being a little douchey. I think it works better for RSW than the sanctimonious Ben crap. Is RSW an a**hole in real life? I know nothing about him. I always thought VK came off like a diva, but I have nothing to back that up. Something about her Ciara and her vibe was off putting.

My first impressions of RSW as Alex were actually fine. The show and writing were trying too hard to make it a 'cute' intro, but I thought RSW did pretty good with what he was given. You all know I like him well enough as an actor and I am willing to give him a try in a role that doesn't have the baggage Ben did. I literally hate when shows re-use actors like this and it's not a twin or lookalike, but here we are, and I don't hate Alex on first impression. Well, I guess TB got something to do as Ava today at least. What a weird way to write off Jake. I assume

And know she's not 25 anymore lol? I wonder if the reason they didn't ask Julianne Morris back is because it was such a stupid plan. Not to mention the real Greta would have just helped them if Ciara asked.

I....don't even understand Ciara's thinking with that cover. She's at least 20 years younger than Greta lol. JM showing up would have made Ciara/Ben look like idiots, but I do remember thinking she was going to show up as well.

I always thought Julianne Morris was absolutely gorgeous, but Greta was pretty dull. It's just unfair to not finish her story. She spent her entire time on the show trying to figure out who her father was and we never found out. IIRC, I think Greta found out and told John it wasn't him before she left, but I could be wrong. I can't blame her for ditching Salem to rule a fictional kingdom though.

That's kind of where I see her going too. She probably would have negated the need for Kristen and played the villian under JER. I always found Isabella annoying, so it wouldn't bother me, but it probably would have bothered most fans. Isabella had some decent ties to the canvas so it is interesting to think about how she would have developed if she had lived.

They mentioned Greta a lot in the first Beyond Salem, so I thought it was a possibility, but I guess not. I don't think Julianne Morris acts anymore. Hopefully someday someone will tell us who Greta's father is lol.

That mugger was really making the most of his bit part lol! Ericole is a dumb squish name to me. You are only saving yourself like 2 or 3 letters and it sounds stupid. You are better off just spending the extra 5 seconds typing Eric/Nicole. I thought they were testing Eric/Jada honestly. I remember SG saying she wanted to become a writer when she left the show 30 years ago, so good for her. I always wondered if she regretted leaving the show and I guess she did. I wonder what would have happened to Isabella if she stuck around.

I feel like they use Sonny more than Lucas. The pairing with Rafe was always WTF? They weren't good together, they had no chemistry, and Ava did nothing but cook pasta for him. I don't even think Ava/Jake had the chance to be boring together lol. They have had about 15 scenes depicting their entire relationship lol.

He was on contract before? They barely used him. I think Ava/Jake had a little potential mostly because I imagined it was Carly and Johnny Z from GH hooking up. I did think they had chemistry, but they had no writing to back that up lol.

I would argue both Belle/Brady are horribly miscast. Aside from being too old (EM is about 7 years younger than Staci Greason lol), neither are what I think they should be as characters. Martsolf is a lot more likeable than Martha in his role, but man, has Brady had some of the worst writing and stories ever. The show really hit it out of the park with Carrie/Sami and Eric works just because he should be sort of the forgotten, reasonable twin, but the show missed the mark with Belle/Brady for sure. It's too late now to fix it for the most part, but those two definitely should be the future of the show and just aren't.

Yeah, MM is objectively good as an actress. MM's problem is she lacks a certain charisma and likeability Belle should have. You should be able to build a show around Belle (like Sami) and you can't. Belle just isn't that exciting. There is a coldness to the way Deidre Hall plays Marlena as well, but it translates better when she interacts with John, her children, etc. MM is basically Deidre Hall with better acting but without the star factor lol MM also lacks the ability to play a credible romantic lead. Martha would be good on Law & Order or something. JMO, Martha seems like a nice person, but she's just not what I want Belle to be.

I know you are quitting the battle, but she was good in those Emmy scenes. It just feels like something Belle would never do. Belle should be an optimistic that believes in love and she's just going to pull the plug on her mom? It's realistic, but does she not even know the miraculous powers of John/Marlena's love? Storm's Belle was a wholehearted believer in this, so it feels wrong. I remember Martha being pretty good on GH.

She is bland. She did deserve her Emmy nod in 2019 but her style is so different from what Belle should be like you said. You both are right. Martha Madison is a good actress and would excel at many different roles. She is bad as Belle and no one is up to changing the writing for her so she seems awful. Even as (probably) the biggest John/Marlena shipper on this board, I can't stand Belle. I don't think it's Martha's fault necessarily. She's always been miscast. The only thing you can say about her is that she looks like she could be Marlena's daughter physically. And ORK's Claire looked a lot like her.

I don't mind putting Claire on ice for awhile, although I do think she is probably the most interesting young adult character (especially under ORK). I do find her problematic overall because she is related to everyone in town though. Days really blew the Belle/Brady situation. They aged them too quickly and then doubled down and aged Claire way too quickly. Very silly. Could you even imagine Kirsten Storms and Jason Cook with a kid that looked as old as Isabel Durant did lol?

I think recasting Martha now would probably be useless. I wouldn't mind, but I think Martha is fairly popular? Then you have the whole Claire problem-you'd have to go pretty young with her while recasting as well. If you cast a Belle in her mid to late 30's Claire can't look much older than 18. Belle was a young mom, but she was married and an adult when Claire was conceived. Anyway, I think they should have leaned into Martha's iciness years ago. If Belle was written as jaded by her conception and upbringing with her parents constantly kidnapped or brainwashed or even if Belle became jaded after marrying Phillip and Shawn marrying Mimi and that whole debacle it may have worked. But Belle is not supposed to be icy. Even currently, if the show wrote Belle as more weary and like the world has just knocked her down too many times, her take on the Jan stuff wouldn't come off so....unfeeling. Idk, there is a clear disconnect with Martha and how she plays Belle and instead of Ron or the show fixing it-they wrote her off for years and have marginalized her. The Sami kidnapping Belle stuff really seems to be a favorite fact of Ron's. I don't remember any other writer bringing it up that often or at all. Again, I really wish we got to see a scene where young Belle learned all this info and saw who told her. For some reason I doubt it was her parents.

Me three. I was hoping for that lol. I often say I can't see SJB playing Carly now, but I would love to see her take.