j swift

I assumed they were reaching all the way back to Sarah’s conception and toddler years. Evan Whyland was the sperm donor. He tried to wedge himself between Mickey and Maggie. Then Stefano had Evan killed and kidnapped Mickey, which led Maggie to start falling for Don Craig. Don, of course, had been married to Liz, but that marriage was invalidated because Liz never divorced Tony. So yes, Maggie’s ties to the DiMeras run deep. (IIRC, at one point the Dimera mansion was formerly Evan's family home. One has no idea if that's where they still live.) Which brings me to Chad and Brady. Why do they get to act superior to Xander and Philip? They’re committed to living off Titan dividends without ever setting foot in the office. Though maybe that’s for the best. Xander’s desk is comically oversized and not exactly built for collaboration. Still, why not at least float a counter-offer to keep the publishing and fashion divisions? It’s not like Titan’s entire value hinges on shipping and spreadsheets. This is one of those moments that an 18 month lag bites them in tush. If I merged with a shipping company prior to the tarriffs, and the shipping company wanted to buy themselves back under these economic conditions, I would let'em have it. Shipping is not very profitable these days. But, they wrote this script back when the world was still sane. And isn’t it rich how the DiMeras and Kiriakises are written as untouchable until one lawsuit sends them into full meltdown mode? I’m waiting for someone (paging Justin) to remind them that the merger was approved by both boards, cleared by the FTC, and the only shred of “fraud” Tony has is an illegally obtained recording. But, Maggie's speech will do. (I think Titan should pivot and sell what makes Maggie's hair so vibrant).

That being said, I'd like to know Tony's reaction to Cat's fraud. Jennifer and Julie can't let it go. But, Tony was also very intertwined in Chad and Abigail's romance, so it would be fun to know his feelings about Cat working as EJ's hospital-based assistant.

Truly, the whole Andre backstory was told in exposition in one episode, right after they captured him. If you blinked, you missed it.

The original story, at least as my unreliable memory recalls, goes like this: Daphne (Tony’s mother) left Stefano and took Tony with her when he was a boy. Years later, Stefano’s brother (Andre’s father) died, and Andre came to live with Stefano. He was treated more like a servant than family. Eventually, Tony returned for a visit; presumably meeting Megan Hathaway, who had spent summers with Stefano as a teenager. Andre, desperate for Stefano’s approval and eager to undermine Megan, underwent plastic surgery to look like Tony. Stefano never truly liked Andre, but he valued Andre’s unwavering loyalty, unlike Tony, who was hot-headed and unpredictable. After years of estrangement, Tony married Liz Chandler somewhere in Europe (the country was never specified). They separated, but never officially divorced. Tony later arrived in Salem to win Liz back and saw an opportunity for Stefano to expand his shady operations with a Salem branch. Then Stefano showed up, followed by his common-law-wife Daphne, who dropped the bombshell that Renee was Tony’s sister—and the rest is history. (Even as a kid, I thought it was funny the number of times they said 'common-law-wife').

You're correct, I went back and read the wiki, and it was Andre who crashed the plane on the way to Haiti. Just for fun, I highlighted my favorite parts of Andre's wiki and FY-us

In the current timeline, when was the last time Tony actually ran DiMera on his own? I don’t mean Andre posing as Tony while the real one was stuck on Melaswen or tied up somewhere. I mean Tony himself, without Stefano in the picture. Or, as part of a consortium with his various siblings, like EJ, Stefan, or Chad? Because none of those characters are around to help this time. The last instance I can recall is back when he was smuggling prisms through Anna’s fashion line and somehow managed to crash into the Bermuda Triangle. So my advice to Xander would be: sell high, cut Philip and Alex loose, wait six months for Tony to tank the company by pouring its funds into some farshtunkener back-from-the-dead scheme, and then buy it back at half the price. Xander seems to have forgotten that they had to downsize after the merger, and profits were down before Stephanie wrote her book. So, sit back, get some anger AND management training from someone you didn't once shoot in the head, and let the chips fall where they may. It's that classic soap opera issue. Everyone in town is full of gossip about everything except the information people need to make good choices.

@FlyRightOrchestraGuy What makes your post so compelling to me is how it highlights the limits of soap gossip reporting in those times. Columnists like JMR and LH weren’t working from official press releases. They were piecing things together from sources who may or may not have had direct access. And without knowing whether a source was close to the production or personally aligned with Ms. Beck, it’s easy to see how misinformation could slip through. In hindsight, many of their scoops probably landed close to the truth, but when they couldn’t confirm a story, they’d either float it as a blind item or wait until after the fact to frame it as verified. That ambiguity made it harder to separate fact from speculation. But regardless of whether the actress was fired or left on her own terms, the recasting turned out to be a smart move for the story. Julie’s return was a reinvention. The character shifted from a central figure to a narrative antagonist, and that transformation wouldn’t have worked with the original actress. Audiences would’ve been too anchored in Tyler’s version, expecting continuity rather than conflict. The Zeb Diamond arc needed a Julie who could stand in opposition to Sloan, not echo her past. So in that sense, the recast wasn’t just functional, it was foundational to the story’s success.

RSW just posted on his Instagram that they are on hiatus from filming for six weeks. I don't know if I would recall where I parked after six weeks off of work. I hope they all cleaned out their perishable goods. 😉

I’m with the consensus on the Jada and Theo material. It tracked that Theo could accept JJ as long as he stayed out of the force. They’d worked together, earned mutual respect, and then JJ comes back to Salem and slides right back into a cop’s badge. And he’s hired by a Black police commissioner, which only underscores the injustice. That’s a sharp idea for DAYS to play with. --- Sidenote: If JJ has gone to "diversity" training, then shouldn't he be a bit more capable of talking with Theo directly? Meanwhile, we got one of the strangest business negotiations in recent memory. Tony files a lawsuit, then gives the defendant 24 hours to sell him their company, or he’ll expose secrets he obtained illegally. Xander and Philip, (rather than calling their cousin Justin, an actual lawyer), offer to hand it over. No board of directors, no Maggie, no Mr. Shin, not even Bo in the mix (I understand leaving out Brady and Alex 😎). Just two dum-dums giving away their company. And the cherry on top? They sell it to Tony, the man who spent years trapped on Melaswen Island in a snare Alice Horton’s crew dismantled in a month. I’m still thumbs down on the baby story, mainly because I’m not convinced the punishment fits the supposed “crime” (and yes, I know it was legal—I’m speaking metaphorically). In another frame, you could argue Sofia was sparing Tate (and Brady) the ongoing pain of knowing Baby Tesoro is in Salem. The same pain she feels every time she crosses paths with them in the square. That pain is only sharper because it could have been avoided if Johnny, Amy, Sarah, and everyone else she trusted hadn’t failed her by denying her the chance to make her own decision about carrying an unwanted pregnancy. With that context, it’s worth asking how superior Steve, Brady, and Tate should feel about manipulating a college freshman just to satisfy their own curiosity. Finally, good news for Julie. And bad news for all you neysayers, who doubted her investment in the bookstore. Everyone in their world, has a hardcover copy of Stephanie's book. Nobody in Salem reads on their Ipad, or listens to the audio copy. They all bought the hardcover version of that book (that looks pretty slim, and easy to knock out in a month). And, the mystery guy carries it everywhere he goes, even on a plane from overseas.

Just for context, she's the editor and head of Titan Publishing (I know you meant it as a joke, but just in case you were actually wondering). Now, why it happened in the middle of the square? Because there are no actual streets in Salem, unless you are going to have a car accident. 😉

Sure, they have. They had a scene in the living room a few weeks ago with Susan.

I'm willing to accept the stakes as presented, but may I just scream into the void that: Splitting the Dimera/Titan merger after three months shouldn't affect the viability of its subsidiaries like Basic Black. You can't get a DNA sample from a toothbrush, and seemingly it would be easier to find some of Tate's hair. How is Steve a PI if he's never heard of 23 & me? Philip's fake claim to the estate could be prosecuted as a fraud against the Kirakis estate. But, it would the duty of the Dimeras to have done their due diligence to determine fraud before the merger/buyout. And the fact that they didn't could open the board to civil claims from the Dimera stockholders, but it has nothing to do with the actual transaction. -- Think about it, even if Philip was a fraud, how would that fact have a negative effect on the Dimeras which would have effected their ability to profit from a leveraged buy-out? One could argue Dimera got the highest price they could, and Titan's ability to buy Dimera would not have been effected either way by Philip's fraud. This is still America, parents don't lose their rights simply because they are convicted of a crime. In cases like this, a social worker would transport Rachel to see Kristen, and supervise their visits to maintain the connection. It would be illegal for Brady to withhold Rachel from Kristen, who had full legal custody prior to her conviction. Now back to the show about magical bookstores and psychiatrists who have dreams of being Queen of the Night.😉🙈

Windows 11 has a VPN built in, you need to search for it in settings, Firefox and Edge each have their own free VPN's as well.

yes, that's what a VPN does, it changes the geo-tracker to another location, so suddenly you look as if you are London, when you are still in Idaho (or wherever). But, it is cost prohibitive to rent the episodes for a month, because they can't be downloaded (DRM), but the VPN is free. Personally, it is worth it to have a VPN to watch the UK soaps and reality shows.

Writers and actor's unions require residuals for overseas airings as well as US viewings.

yeah, it's very easy to access with a VPN, but the pricing system is bizarre. To watch 20 episodes a month would cost more than a Peacock subscription, and it is PPV, so you're only "renting" the 43-minute video. And then, next month it is gone from your library. But, the workaround is fairly simple. With a VPN, (Windows 11, and most browsers have VPN options, it is very simple) you can watch the clips for free, and they've clipped the best part of every episode. For example, do I want to watch a whole 43 minutes, or do I just want to see Haley confronting her mother? and, Haley meeting Mateo? and, Haley leaving Alec at the altar? For me, that's enough of a hit to satisfy my nostalgia itch.

Tate's roommate is Aaron Greene, brother of Cat. Not a great option, just a comment that Tate does have male chums.

First, we need to get past that this book is already a bestseller, so why would the next one come out so quickly? And doesn't Stephanie have a contract? Then, the Titan offices are underused in these circumstances. But, you have to keep in mind that the square is the only place Tony could show up without the need for extra exposition about how he got inside the press conference. Personally, I still recall that press conference Tony (or maybe it was Andre?) called where they let that lion loose. So, if I were nearby, I might head in the other direction once Tony veered toward the mic. Finally, one moment for the absurd map of Salem. Does Tate study for classes in the bookstore because it is next to his job, or does Salem U not have a library?

Dorian definitely went on trial for the "murder" of her future husband Mitch Lawrence (she thought that she was covering for Cassie), and she even went to prison for a while, the Victor Lord murder trial came after Viki's split where she locked Dorian up and made her confess to the murder, which lead to a trial that she somehow got out off due to David, but honestly don't remember. I can't be sure, but I think Viki and Tina were also tried for murder more than once. Viki for Marco Dane, because that was the context for the famous scene of Karen admitting to being a prostitute on the witness stand. And I think Viki went to trial for Maria's murder, but that whole thing is vague.

OLTL - Dorian - Mitch Lawrence and Victor Lord

That’s a hilarious visual and exactly why it feels so off watching two middle-aged men interrogate a co-ed instead of doing what men their age usually do: play golf, wear quarter-zips, and pretend to understand streaming services. Honestly, if anyone in Salem had the range, they’d be lobbying to expand access to prenatal care for women of all ages. Maybe then the men wouldn’t be so consistently clueless about contraception, gestation, and the basic mechanics of reproduction. But no—better to grill Sofia over breakfast than confront the fact that half the town still thinks storks are involved. Also, what's the end game for Tate, Brady, and Steve? Sofia did nothing illegal. So, are they just looking for bragging rights over an 18-year-old? None of them want to raise the baby. They made Sofia withdraw her application to better colleges. Now, what else do they want from this girl?

Unless Javi is going to leave Leo in the car while he shops in the square, I don't see this being a major stumbling block in their relationship. 😉

Acting aside, that whole Solona story felt like a convoluted attempt to imply Javi and the baby’s mother weren’t using drugs; without actually saying it. Which somehow makes it feel even more damning. Personally, although it's a tough call, I'd be more understanding if they were high and unconscious, rather than just exhausted and forgetful. I kept thinking of all the possible ways they could’ve written the toddler’s death, and “roasting in a car” wasn’t even close to the shortlist. There’s more going on here than just single-take limitations. First, they needed a reason why “the gay couple” couldn’t adopt. Then they decided Javi needed a secret past; something messier than Johnny’s murder trial. So now we’ve got a dead child. But they still want Javi to come out of this without any lasting character flaws. So the baby becomes a toddler, and the death is framed as suffocation, not direct negligence. Though, we’re never told whether Javi had any reason to believe the mother couldn't get her child to daycare. It’s a mountain of exposition for any actor to climb. And like Sofia’s breakfast monologue, it’s always going to feel clunky when a character dumps their entire backstory in one scene. That kind of reveal needs emotional pacing, physical movement, and space to breathe. Instead, Javi’s stuck delivering this trauma in a single medium shot, no close-ups, no reaction coverage. Just flat lines and stiff blocking. It doesn’t read as human sorrow—it reads as nuts. So, I was distracted by all the incorrect choices made in trying to rule-out Javi and Leo as parents, rather than simply saying that they don't have a stable home to provide to Tesoro. I mean, Leo's eviction from the Salem Hotel is also a negative mark on perspective adoptive couple's ability to care for a baby.

Also, I chuckled that Brady clearly has favorites. He drags Rachel to the middle of town to tell her that her mother is going to prison for six years, then drops her at school. Then, he meets with Tate (clearly his preferred kid, who could blame him?), and suddenly Brady is more distracted by Sophia's healthy baby, than his own daughter running away from elementary school. And how do Alex's shirts stay buttoned? They seem so tight and uncomfortable. I assume they stretch. But, he's going to pop a button one day, and poor Stephanie's going to get it in the eye.

I would also say, it is fun, but there is no need to watch every episode if you're behind. There's enough repetition that skipping a few Tuesdays here and there won't make you feel lost.