j swift

If those pods are in the Dimera basement, then EJ has really got to start remodeling those tunnels. Alex needs a gym more than they need a secret lab/kidnapping lair.

Today was super good. Fun cliffhanger, a nice mix of characters and scenery. No dumb dialogue, like, "Ryan, Kevin's evil twin, what are you doing here?" I liked that Mac was found right away, and he called Felicia, which is what a real person would do. I liked that Taggert defended Portia by saying it takes two to ruin a marriage. My only current quibble is that the character of Valentine seems to get a pass on a lot of prior behaviors because of the smoking chemistry between JPS and FH. It feels like he practices a little hot yoga and suddenly he is absolved of stealing embryos and setting up false kids. In fact, given the facts on screen, Victor seems to have engaged in fewer offenses than Valentine.

I'm actually on Portia's side in this whole thing. BTW - this is not a comment on the acting which was good enough to move me to this reaction. First of all, logistically, twenty years ago, DNA testing was not as easily available. Second of all, if Taggert wasn't questioning if he was the father, then how would Portia get him to agree to a paternity test without damaging her marriage. And, third, she didn't know until recently that Curtis's family had any genetic conditions that would have effected Trina's health. So, without Curtis around while Trina was growing up, there was no reason for her to explore the paternity issue on her own. Portia is getting all the blame. Meanwhile, nobody is blaming Curtis for not being able to do the math to figure out when Trina was conceived. Portia worked hard to provide for Trina. Curtis did not step up to provide financial support, or try to abstain from wrong doing so that he could be available for child care while Portia was working as a doctor. It's easy for all of those Ashfords to say that they missed the opportunity to bond to Trina as a child, but was Portia really expected to allow her daughter to form a relationship with a guy who had a troubled legal background? I mean Curtis is everyone's best friend today, but it wasn't that long ago that he was a coke fiend. It takes nerve to drag Portia, on her wedding day, when she was just making choices that she thought was best for her child, and there have never been any negative consequences for those choices until today.

I feel like in Salem this would be no big deal, and it might not even make news in The Spectator Also, given the discussion about the paucity of real estate in Salem, do we think Bo and Hope are going to be bunking on the sofa in the Horton living room or will Belle give them back the bed where the devil assaulted their son Shawn? Finally, I still don't get the logic why Will has to go to New Zealand to write a script for a movie to be shot there? I'm pretty sure the Lord of Rings script wasn't written on site. And soaps are famously written by people who are never on set. So, why does Will need to move, but Sonny can still run a company remotely? At least it solves the issue of Gabi needing dialogue about who is taking care of her kid.

One of the most interesting things from her book and her press tour was about her getting the job and then the co-host searches. She co-hosted on a fluke, the guest Char the Psychic predicted she was pregnant, she really hadn't told anyone that she was actually pregnant, and it went viral. So, she gets called back, but they kept saying she wouldn't get the job, and it seemed like Regis didn't like her. But, then six months into her pregnancy they offered her the job, with no money for wardrobe, no paid pregnancy leave, she had to use Regis's hair and makeup team, and AMC wouldn't release her from her contract. Then, Regis leaves, without telling her first. She sits through rounds of co-hosts, and nobody ever asked her who they should hire (despite Regis obviously having a say in hiring her). They hire Strahan and she learns from Page Six that he makes more money than her. Then Strahan leaves, again without telling her, and after six months, they asked her to call Ryan to get him to take the job. She still doesn't know if they make the same money. And, only got an office when Strahan left. Now, I'm sure she makes plenty of money, but the gender gap is remarkable given that the show has relied on her for more than twenty years, eight years longer than Regis was with the show originally.

Of course the oddest thing about Karamo moving is that the local news is taking over his time slot, making it 16 hours a day of local news a day. 11.5 hours of that time is weather, which never changes in LA, and 4 hours of car chases.

Here in Los Angeles, Karamo is moving from 4pm to 2:30am on Monday - probably not good news for that show

Is anyone else surprised that Allie isn't moving to South Africa? There seems to be a thriving South African/Salem ex-pat community filled with Claire, Shawn, JJ, Theo, and Belle. I always forget if Rex lives there, or in Paris (the other Salem outpost). Kayla, Patch, Eric, and Bill Horton lived there once, and it figured prominently in the DAYS book A Stirring from Salem (the best one in the unfinished trilogy from Sheri Anderson). However, they may be difficult to find because DAYS scripts always just refers to it as South Africa, and never specifies the city.

Page Six is reporting that ABC wanted Mark since last summer and were hoping to open the season with a new host rather than having the switch in the spring. What I just thought about is how odd it will be if they ever need a guest host. Obviously, Mark has subbed for Ryan before, but women have also substituted for Kelly on occasion this season, and it will be interesting to see if they ever allow two guest hosts, or if Mark will host with a guest anytime this year. However, the more I think about it, the more excited I am to watch. Mark is a great storyteller. I like the vicarious nature of hearing about their extravagant lifestyle. And, Mark can cook, so the chef segments will be less awkward. I also wonder how long it will take them to produce a new opening video?

With decreasing ratings, and very little cultural engagement, I wonder how much longer Idol will last? Ryan is good at reacting to Kelly, but there's always been whispers that he is not honest about his personal life, which inhibits him as a host who is supposed to tell stories about what happened recently. That being said, I'm sure he is also hesitant to tell tales about flying on a private jet twice a week from LA to NYC for Idol, as that is hardly relatable. I'm a fan, I read Kelly's book, and I like Mark. But, to me, this screams that the show couldn't afford to keep Ryan and Kelly at the same pay scale. Finally, with Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, and Ryan leaving, daytime talks seems like it is in its flop era (not that I was fan of any of the above).

DAYS insta is promoting the return of Bo & Hope in March with a daily trivia quiz. But, does anyone else think this fact is a bad idea to use as promotion in 2023? Maybe their social media team should take a second pass before tomorrow's question about where Hope lost her virginity...

Chanel and Allie have been fighting since Marlena died, so that seems like a fair amount of time to focus on their breakup. However, just the other day I was reminded that Chanel once impulsively married Xander (which was little more than a year ago). And now they rarely interact, so that seems like a strange artifact of the quick pace of stories on DAYS. By spring will we even remember that Chanel was once Henry's co-parent?

Totally agree; especially when it happens more than once to the same woman. I mean look at OLTL. They constructed the entire Eterna plot in order to explain how Viki could forget giving birth to Megan. Two decades later, it was revealed that she also forgot giving birth to Natalie and somehow it was even more illogical. Heather on GH is another great example. Heather was OBSESSED with Stephan Lars, she drugged people, her mother killed someone, and she eventually moved across the country just to be with him. Now, you're gonna tell me she had Esme and just dropped her off without a thought two decades later? At least Nina's coma on GH partially explains how she forgot giving birth to twins. However, it still leaves the question of how her nurse/caretaker, her lover Silas who was in medical school, and her aunt Obrecht who is a doctor, all never mentioned a multiple birth high risk pregnancy.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, "reports of her passing are greatly exaggerated". She produces a column every week. Although, I have no idea what newspapers still publish weekly soap summaries. This week's paragraph on GH made me feel dizzy after reading it.

One my guilty pleasures is counting the mistakes in Lynda Hirsch's weekly soap summaries. I've always enjoyed Ms Hirsch's column, and consider her a valuable resource for soap fandom, but her editor is the worst. Can you spot this week's error? https://www.creators.com/read/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps/

The fact that they flirted with the idea that Kiki was Nina's child, and now we know that Nina had twins has completely screwed with my idea of the timeline of her relationship with Silas and her coma. My original belief was that Nina met Silas while in college. Her mother Madeline did not approve of the relationship. She slipped a drug to Nina hoping to frame Silas. But, Nina fell into coma and was kept in a hospital. At some time during her coma, Silas met Ava, they had an affair and conceived Kiki. Although Ava told Franco that he was the father. Now it seems like at some time before the coma, Nina conceived twins with Silas, then went to a commune gave birth, gave up the baby, returned to New York, and fell into the coma. Is that new timeline correct? Because I have no idea why she went to a commune? Or why, if she was involved with a doctor, did she not get pre-natal care? And how did Silas not know she was pregnant (a fact that I assume because Silas never asked Madeline about the location of his kid).?

It may be a stretch but not only was it accidental (I guess she didn’t think hitting someone in the head with a marble statue would kill them), but also it was also in defense of her child that Nikolas was threatening at the time of her assault

I'll have to check my own sexism, because Sonny has clearly been responsible for a number deaths without consequence. However, it seems odd that they are using Nikolas's "death" to set the stage for another romance for Ava, making her a romantic anti-hero, as opposed to an actual villain. Soap morality is usually so black or white, that this type of ambiguity is unsettling.

To me the worst thing about Michelle's performance as Nina is that she gave her an affectation that made her appear brain damaged. It was beyond what was written in the script because when Nina first appeared out of her coma she seemed confused about her age and how much time had passed, but months later the actor continued to use blatant indications of a lack of sophistication that seemed like odd acting choices. It was too bold for the show and did not match the plot.

Ava being responsible for two deaths feels like a lot It's less than Julian or Ryan, but still excessive to go without punishment. Which is why I agree with @vee about Nikolas. While I predict he will be dead by the end of the month, I don't think Ava's blow to the head will be the final cause of death.

Just finished 2/10 How clumsy was the writing to have Xander confess to Johnny in the middle of the town square during an argument? Their entire fight was filled with nonsense dialogue that required Johnny to name all of his relatives. (1) "My grandmother Susan was a good woman" (2) "My former step-father the police chief" (3, the most egregious) "and you kidnapped Bonnie, your cousin's wife, in case you forgot" While Chanel and Allie are nursing their broken hearts is baby Henry running the bakery this morning? If time does move differently in Salem, (because Kate died the first week in January and now it's Valentine's Day), does this mean that Sarah and Rex have been f&^%ing for two weeks straight? No wonder she's so tired. I know we've debated if these episodes were filmed and/or written for Peacock, but I can't help noticing that there's more casual sex and bare skin that at this time last year.

I'm trying to recall if Ava has killed anyone else? I know she's threatened and been threatened, but I don't remember her being responsible for a death. It seems like there's got to be some twist to allow Ava some plausible deniability in order to maintain the viability of the character.

Here's what I calculated, but also a fun fact. Steve & Kayla were first married on 7/28/88, which was invalid due to Marina's RFTD so they re-wed on 8/13/90. 27 years later, they re-married on 2/16/17 due to Patch's RFTD & then again two years ago on 2/11/21, so it seems like Valentines would be their date. Also, married on or around V Day: Roman/Marlena 2/9/82, Mickey/Maggie w/ Pete/Melissa 2/17/86, Jack/Eve 2/12/91, Tony/Kristen 2/17/94, & 2/13/95, John/Kristen 2/20/97, and Phillip/Melanie 2/12/10 (thanks @JAS0N47). Which means Kristen was married one more time than Kayla on Valentine's Day. Also, August was the most popular month for weddings, followed by May (obviously due to sweeps)

Feel free to poop as you wish😄, but I was thinking within the show universe since weddings have often aired over multiple episodes.

Side note: I'd love to know the number of soap couples with a Valentine's Day anniversary (like Patch & Kayla). I wonder if it rivals the number of babies born in the soap universe on Christmas?