KMan101

It's startling how ... awful Gabi and Jake have become. LOL. The Kate 'story' didn't help. I also don't even see the same chemistry between Barash and Banus I once did. With Ava cooking constantly and the Hernandez kitchen being such a focus can we get MarDevil setting Ava up with a Rafe murder? I'd be forever grateful. Different choices could be made with a lot of these characters and it could at least be watchable and almost interesting. But nope. Zzzz. And why are they writing Philip like he's ready to be profiled on Dateline NBC? As someone who's struggling to remain interested watching, I assume he's going to have Jake kill Brady? But I assume Philip is the 'loser'. The writing could be SO MUCH BETTER. Sigh. I don't mind Philip pulling a Victor, so to speak (Victor was *bad* once upon a time) but the writing is hardly layered like once upon a time. Things that might seem good on paper don't translate because effort isn't taken. Told ya'll The Devil was really about Cin. LOL. But it makes sense. I'd involve them too. It just always feels like Ben propping. He's right but I still roll my eyes. I just can't ever invest or care about him.

I like most of the cast too. You're spot on in your assessment of the show though. It's lacking energy and nothing big is going on. And like you said doesn't feel like we're building towards anything. I think it's why I perk up more when Janine is on and she's interacting with well-established characters and you can tell the actors are upping it a bit and bringing some energy. IMO. But even the Janine/Kat 'battle' over Scarlett feels flat. So far. I could do without Stuart and Rainie too. I like Vinny and Kheerat and even Suki, but I'm not sure what their goal is with the Suki/Honey stuff. They had a nice friendship, the kiss happened and now it's a power struggle, if you will. Lots of little stories are going on, which is good to see, but that's how it should be. These are the potatoes. Where's the meat? lol I guess the bubbling secret of "Rocky" and Dotty has some potential but it's not quite the same. I feel like they hesitate pulling the trigger on ending Gray but that would boost them a bit. Build it up, climax it and give us a payoff. Seems like it was going that way, then we had him with his dad and circling back to Whitney. Lots of people could be suspects if he was murdered ... just saying. I will say I like that Sonia is single and becoming more of a 'matriarch', if you will. It works. I hated the years of her vs. Pauline. It never worked for me. Not everyone has to have an attitude or be a bitch EastEnders lol There's a definite 'lack of direction' going on with the show. Some of the characters could use a purpose. They do have a pretty large cast though and do a decent job overall.

I never liked the shoe-horning in of Skye, as much as I love Robin Christopher and Skye. I didn't mind her on the show but yeah it was all so rushed and forced. I did like the idea of Alan having a daughter but it was all wasted on Skye, and then un-done.

I'm giving the show the benefit of the doubt with MarDevil 2.0. It will last months. So we'll see. I hope the two year renewal leads to better plotted stories. But it's also Ron. 100% But I do think it gave the main show some initial buzz. And while TVGuide isn't what it once was, it still highlighted MarDevil. So I get why IF it were a decision (not saying it was of course) they'd say "let's do it on the main show" but of course it wasn't that deep. LOL For me, time to move DAYS online LOL. I'm all for 'seasons'.

I will say I wish The Possession 2.0 had been a Beyond Salem mini-series type story. A better budget and a clear focus, with a beginning, middle and end, would be fantastic. We'll see how this one goes. The fact is, for me, it's a bright spot on a fading show that I'm struggling to remain invested in. 😘

How can you not when the rest of the show is garbage? LOL But I LOL. It's true. I miss the DAYS when stories played out. They used to have a pretty good formula. The flow is terrible. We're lucky it's on as much as it is. I know DAYS is trying with no budget, but having characters on for 2-4-6, even 8 episodes a month you aren't able to do what you normally would be able to. I get it but it totally affects story-line flow. And Ron was trained in 'play it to death then rest it'. I actually notice a better balance lately but it's still not great. It's very hard to invest in on a daily basis. Saving episodes up and binging it is slightly better. You were never going to like it lol Hardly a flop. It's brewing. It hasn't even 'started' really. Trust me if it flops I'll be the first to shout it from the rafters.

Definitely going to be a loss. She'll probably have good success away from the show though. We'll see. They just wrote out Bernadette too (also popular) but I assume the actress is just on a break or temporarily written out for story?

Soooo random but I lol everytime I realize the character's name is Bob Hope. Will never not think of THE Bob Hope. I will say, the show just 'overall' feels a bit depressing. Bullying, postnatal depression, a psychotic murderess ... not against any of those stories but it's just so heavy. You shouldn't have so many heavy storylines on-going. Reminds me when EastEnders and Corrie would be so heavy and it becomes draining to watch. There has to be some balance.

I feel like they really ... damaged the Duckworth family line by turning Terry so dark. I also wonder why they don't bring Martin back and put him with Gail. He'd add a lot and I liked his 2018 return. He fit right back in. Is Sean Wilson not interested or unavailable or is the show just not? I mean, they do have a huge cast ... I feel like they have missed some opportunities to bring familiar faces back, even though we have a lot as it is. Totally random but as we're talking about familiar faces .... It's so sad though, I can't see Bet ever 'working' on this version of the show. We're better off with her in our memories I feel. Not that she'll ever return it seems. They bring it up for a tabloid article every so often but it's never serious. They should have done a spin-off. Well, I shouldn't say 'this version' as it's a lot more palatable and an effort is made to feel like a familiar show so she would actually fit in again now, but the show as it was for so long? I'm glad she avoided that.

Preach And while I am enjoying Possession 2.0, it's like watching an entirely different show as well. And then you have episodes that drag on with Ava, Duke The Bear, Rafe ... sigh. Beyond Salem = the show fans want Possession 2.0 = the show Ron wants Duke The Bear = the show NBC wants Meanwhile, Sony is all "I don't know her"

Spot on I don't even find it 'terrible'. It's just ... existing at the moment? I mean, I'm basing it on this year. I guess I happened to start watching again regularly during the 'slower' time. It does seem like it got 'worse' under Sen. I can see this. I almost feel like they might have received some heat for the show hence things becoming 'boring'. It's reminding me of the US soaps where they're either checked out or micromanaging. Though I'm still not entirely familiar with how much control and say a series producer has on the UK soaps. Carl told me a lot of the Corrie/Emmerdale decisions are ITV based. So does it fall on Oates?

Yikes ...

Mmm-hmm. Nailed it.

Yeah. I'd be so down. They'd probably off the wrong people, but I can list several that would make sense as 'big deaths' yet not really LOL you know? Like Sasha, Brando, Willow ...

lol the show must too because it's like they're dropped and then played to fill their guarantees Both really could go tomorrow. I don't see the point in either of them. Ah. Yep, I bet they are

That's how I felt. There was definite potential under him.

So happy for them!

lol. It has had a lot of rough and bad years, depending on what you like in a soap. It pulls me in and then loses me. I'm watching it the most regularly right now. I look at it a little differently than the other UK soaps. It's definitely more plot driven but I have to say I think they've done a better job with showing characters having motivation which is more than we get from the US soaps ... LMAO. It does it's thing and it works for them lol I wish the others had a clearer idea of who they are. And yep, totally realizing the irony of it all.

Yeah, it feels like Frank will never go. Of course it COULD get worse, LMAO but it's time for a change. We've had different writers, ABC 'execs' overseeing the show come and go, but Frank has been the constant since 2012. Hell, give the job to Gary Tomlin. He's waiting in the wings LOL. lol whoops! I adore Chavez as Spencer. The Facebook pearl clutchers must be glued to their TV screens along with Frank as Willow talks. lol you're so right. I shouldn't have given that man space in my head.

Ah, thank you for the clarity on the decisions being "ITV-driven". That makes a LOT of sense in the context of certain things. I was probably a little too dismissive of their stunts but like you say ...

I mean, damn, Susan Lucci and Erica Kane OWNED All My Children like Branco thinks Laura Wright and Carly Corinthos OWN General Hospital and even Erica Kane wasn't on this [!@#$%^&*] much. It's too much for ANYONE. How about some balance? I really detest when folks come together on social media knowing that there's an issue here and the loudmouth know it alls steamroll over them with this crap of "she owns the show" and we're all just haters apparently. Lord. We'll never see Frank go. Ok Vee. Was just simply trying to make a point. It felt more balanced to me. Not calling Ron some amazing writer Relax.

Yeah, it's absolutely insane. The balance is horrible. They get called out constantly but Frank turns his blind eye. He has to know. But I'm sure the Facebook pearl clutchers loved it! And then you have Nellie Branco who thinks he speaks for all of daytime's fanbase when he lets his inner Laura Wright fangirl out. Lord. He needs to have several seats. He was actually making good points this week until he started with that [!@#$%^&*]. As much as I say "Genie Francis should be the star" (wouldn't it be nice if she got the treatment Laura Wright does?) NO ONE should be the 'stars of the show' when it's an ensemble daytime drama. And this 'Sonny and Carly ARE THE STARS' is not what people want. Remember when Ron didn't give a [!@#$%^&*] about either of them and he wrote for the SHOW. And then 'The Writer' was fired. Yes it sucked starting in 2014 but we all know lots of crap was going on BTS.

Yeah, as I familiarize myself with their history more and more it comes off like that for sure. "Look what we can do" and they spend all this money and most of the time it doesn't seem to hit the mark. And a lot of their stunts look CGI driven and not great. The plane crash in 1993, which I've watched, was much better done, even if some of it is forced. I have to say they tried to do the same to Coronation Street. It and Emmerdale were very interchangeable for a while. They even have a similar look (the lighting).

Lord. Hollyoaks meets Emmerdale is what I get from that. LOL. I guess the UK soaps are responding to "you've been boring" with their yearly end of stunts. Sigh. Sometimes they work, often they don't. At least I guess there's an effort to pull something off but like it's being talked about in the EastEnders thread, it's all about throwing something at the wall, seeing if it sticks, and winning the awards. The balance and structure remains odd. The interaction is getting better but they used to do such a better job mixing folks and stories. It felt like lots of things were on-going. lol it sure does. I assume they'll do a good job pulling it off, more so than the others do, but not sure how to feel. It seems ... desperate Ironically, Hollyoaks seems to be doing the best job at having multiple stories on-going and the cast interacting regularly. You can tell folks are still in their own bubble but I don't really see the same issues. It helps they have a much much smaller cast I think.

NAILED IT. And that sometimes works, it mostly doesn't. It's becoming hard to invest in, like the US soaps.