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1. Predictions & Payoffs My prediction record stands at 3:1 wrong-to-right—not exactly Vegas odds. I was sure Kristen would be the one in Gwen’s mystery box, so I was pleasantly surprised when the show zigged instead of zagged. Hot take: the Dimeras were introduced forty years ago, the show’s been running sixty, and at this point they’re not just villains—they’re a core family. Which makes me wonder if we’re finally getting closure on Stefan (and Dimitri). Gabi’s romantic credibility has been stuck in limbo, because as long as Dimitri is technically alive, I’m always waiting for him to reappear… though not holding my breath. 2. Forgotten Connections Raise your hand if you honestly remembered Doug3 and Jeremy’s tie through Robin and Robert LeClair. Exactly. A missed opportunity. Doug3 could’ve reopened the bistro in honor of his great-uncle, giving us a legacy callback instead of another dangling thread. 3. Wardrobe Notes I’m fine with Doc’s blazers as her signature flourish, but brass buttons are not chic. And Maggie’s frilly blouses? They make her look like Alexander Hamilton auditioning for a revival tour. Someone please raid her closet. 4. EJ Wins the Week EJ is both evil and perpetually unlucky in love. Put him at the center of the party, and suddenly we’re reminded he’s kissed Gabi, Belle, and half the women in the room. His scenes with Kayla are gold—antagonistic chemistry at its finest. But here’s the kicker: after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, it’s EJ who steps up with a plan to provide free healthcare for the masses. The irony is delicious. The ISA, FBI, and whatever alphabet soup Eli works for start looking like the villains, while the “evil” Dimera plot results in better access to medicine. Imagine that: Salem’s most notorious family underwriting universal healthcare. It’s the perfect soap twist—when the devil you know turns out to be the only one willing to pick up the hospital bill.

I'm going to argue against this idea. TP had built such an interesting world they could've gone anywhere, but by centering the season on Agent Cooper, rather than Laura's friends and their families, they built too much expectation on solving the mystery. It is a classic soap opener to start with a murder, Eastenders built half a decade off an opening scene with an unexpected murder. But, the mystery has to take a backseat to introducing the characters. The log lady, Shelly, Bobby, and Audrey would've carried the load if Twin Peaks had been on Fox. I think the issue is that the ABC audience never liked that type of drama, see the failure of Wild Palms a few years later. It was the wrong product for the wrong audience, and it never fit with the rest of the programming.

Huh, Sofia is returning so soon? Once again, love the choice of catatonia as it plays to the actor's strength, and it seems like an easy paycheck (no lines). Jada and Theo? tres odd - is this Jada's storyline now?, just looking for love online in Horton Square?

Was Belle's argument with Sami meant to signal the final nail in the EJ/Belle coffin—clearing the path for EJ to pivot toward Cat? I'm disappointed that's over so soon. But, I don't think Chad and Belle could make for a classic DAYS quad with Cat and EJ. It simply must be a triangle. Poor Belle. Her romantic prospects are a genealogical minefield. Practically everyone’s either a blood relative or an in-law. Imagine the chaos of a Belle/Tony/Anna triangle. Or JJ, who’s always had a soft spot for older women—could he be her wildcard? It bears repeating: these actors are absolutely luminous. Jen looked phenomenal in that dress. Sami’s print was gorgeous, and the styling gave a subtle nod to her European polish. Cat’s accessories were questionable, but the overall effect was still effortlessly chic. I won’t wade into the recast/return swamp, but are we really supposed to believe Johnny and Sami communicate so infrequently that he didn’t know she was getting engaged? I get that Johnny and EJ are estranged. But Johnny, Allie, Eric, and Sami not having a twin-power group chat? That’s a bridge too far. I don't know why, because we've never seen it on-screen, but I imagine Sami having very loose boundaries with her kids about her dating life. Given that they saw so much of it. And for the record, rumors about my age have been vastly exaggerated. Sure, I watched one of Bo and Hope’s wedding live. But it is not like I was around for Julie's arrest for shoplifting. However, I all respect all opinions, regardless.

I was amused to hear him talking about being surprised by Ben's redemption, and Johnny's infamous red suit -- no surprise vane actors prefer a high-heeled boot. robertscottwilson-20251112_182007-2938810958.mp4

But, since she's not, it seems so unwise to revisit her origin story in order to generate a romance with EJ, when I don't think it needed this much backstory for them to smooch.

And if Chad first recognized Cat as Abigail. Why did Sami think she looked familiar as Cat today, rather than Abigail, who she knew most of her life? For example, if Sami had said that Cat looks like the little hussy who tried to sleep with her husband EJ back in the day, that would've made sense. 😉 Unless, and this will be very silly, we're supposed to believe that's how Cat looked before surgery, and she just looks prettier now?

I assume so—though Wuthering Heights isn’t worth a second read. Personally, I wish they'd gone back to Cat's love of GTA. I'd bet EJ is a gamer on the side. side note: how cute would a Discord romance plotline be a soap? Two unlikely gamers meet every night online to play, fall in love, and realize that his mother shot her father. What puzzles me is whether EJ ever clocked Cat. Has he? He’d certainly recognize her. Or, did he think she was Abigail? I've never understood why Clyde had her surgery to resemble Abigail, rather than actually look like her, since that is what Andre did when he borrowed Tony's face. The timeline’s a mess. When Chad saw Cat on video in 2024, she was supposedly in the same facility as John Black, when he was kidnapped in Greece—since they rescued both at once. That’s likely why Clyde got name-dropped during the Thomas conversation. And EJ and Cat lived in the Dimera mansion together for months with little to no interaction. But EJ returned in June 2021 (after being shot in 2014). So how long was Cat recovering from her accident? If they met while he was recovering, but she was already out of bandages. -- Also, in the flashback with Shane, when we learned she was in the ISA, she was in a government clinic. So why did she switch clinics so often? ALSO Given how much they all fear going to court, I assume they're making Jen a witch, so Chad, Thomas, and Charlotte move back to the mansion, giving Rachel more access to Thomas.

Is real-Gwen actress pregnant? What's up with the trenchcoat indoors?

The funny thing about Jody that I recall is that she focused most of her bile on Mary, due to something we never saw. But, Mary played it perfectly, because she came across as totally sane and sweet, which made Jody look even more insanely wicked. Jody would accuse Mary of terrible things, yet Mary seemed so sweet, that it was impossible to imagine that she could do anything to incur Jody's wrath. IIRC, Mary was a divorced gospel singer, and Jody painted her to be a heathen in heels.

That's it. It was offense by omission. If Maggie had another line to explain it, she may have. But, also, at that moment, she may have thought Justin didn't need the whole rape part of the story, because Mickey and Mike's relationship was the focus of her point. But yeah, it is an interesting example of how two different writers approached history. No need to mention which is more dramatically and naturalistically satisfying to watch as a viewer. @MissPhoenixGirl92 - Liam needs to start showing up to appointments, we've seen like 5 minutes of him so far. But, I hope we'll see him while Mike is around. Here's another nail in the Jen coffin of shame for today. Why does she assume Jack would agree to her wanting to raise Thomas and Charlotte? Meanwhile, as I mentioned last week, they're all so allergic to returning to the courtroom set, that I am unconcerned about Jen's threats.

I think that is the logical next beat, while Stephanie is busy with her book tour, everyone starts to slowly warm toward Jeremy and believe they can trust him. Then, when Stephanie comes back, she'll be isolated in her belief that Jeremy is still a threat. Watching Marie tell Jeremy about Bill and Laura, made me recall a recent issue. Does anyone else remember a scene that whitewashed Bill's rape of Laura? I seem to remember within the past decade, there was scene that tried to reduce Bill's blame? I honestly can't recall the context, but I remember there was a lot of discussion at the time. That being said, it was refreshing not just to see the flashback, but hear them contextualized. Although, there's something funny about Marie meeting Holly very few times in her life, and instantly telling her one of her biggest secrets. But, I'll let it pass, as we don't know if Holly and Marie have a Horton family text chain off-screen.

Closer to home, I doubt Holly and Tate know the extraordinary issues surrounding their gestations and births. To be fair, I only know that I was born during a snowstorm because the snowstorm was a historic event. I don't think I ever would googled the events of the day otherwise. Kids are fairly self-centered, and rarely think about life before they existed until their frontal lobes are fully myelinated.

The difference in their take on the character was fun to see. Maree certainly played Marie with more spunk and agency than woe-begotten Lanna's Marie with her hard to imagine off-screen romance with Alex Marshall. Lanna looks more comfortable under a wimple than Maree. 😎 Titan should sell whatever she's done to herself. To think of the personal tragedies that she's been through, and yet to see her glow up, is remarkable. I can only hope she feels as good inside. @JAS0N47 - what a clever effect to have the characters on in closeup, simply shot on stools, for Micky's flashback during the accident. It is a smart, but cheap, device to show his memories coming back to him. I was struck by the fact that the idea for the camera shot was written in the script, and not determined by the director during that day's shoot. I like the diplomacy of writing that a shot was "called for." @AbcNbc247 re: Jeremy's prior knowledge, given Johnny's recent story, I think we can now assume that most Salem-ites are unaware of the often extraordinary issues surrounding their conception and birth. And, they don't Google themselves. @carolineg I had hoped that the actress's personal issues were long enough ago to be resolved. But, I thought it was a little messy that Suzanne specifically called out castmates and her hairdresser in the SOD article on her cancer treatment that she considered family, and Dee was not mentioned. To be fair, it was a very slight dig, and there are tons of others she didn't name. Yet, it was a notable omission given that she was specific enough to name the actors who play Xander and Sarah, as well as SSH. So...

Vancouver must be short seasons, as I recall. Jody is the most vile housewife. Her outfits are already hilariously dated. That's being said, the rest are equally gross and compelling. And the houses were spectacular. If you enjoy the real estate porn aspect of housewives, give it a whirl. Not a lot happens, so you could easily watch the first and last episode, and you've seen the whole thing.

Her take on the writer's room is very interesting

There's an apt song lyric that I recently heard, "it's like water under bridges that have already burned" Isn't that a cool idea? They co-exist because it was in the past, but there's no going back to what was.

I would nominate Bobby Reno/Shane Roberts on Another World. It set the precedent for GH and Roger Howarth/ Michael Easton. A prior actor was cast in a new role, which is confusing enough. Then, that role gets re-written into a new role and a carpenter is suddenly a doctor, and spoiler, dies.

He played Micah, it was a haunted house/gothic tale. Not a stretch from Tony, but more spiritual. My question is: do the rest of the Dimera siblings have something to fear...

Or, it would be in character for them to be in a throuple with Gina. 😉🥰

It is more of a hill, rather than a mountain, that I'm willing to defend. My experience is Monica repeatedly used the phrase, then kid Jason was rarely seen except at the holiday. Then, he was suddenly Steve Burton, Jason. Then the accident, then the estrangement. And then after years and year there was a rapprochement. But, that's a difference in perception based on age and when we focused on GH, rather than anything that could be objectively corrected. 40 years ago is not ancient to some, and I think we can mutually respect that idea. Because I would never be offended by the ageism that suggests a 40-year-old memory is less valid.

He was a complex guy - from Variety, 1991 It is interesting to see how the history of addiction in the family of so many creators on Days have influenced the storylines. You can say a lot about Days ability to adhere to style, but they've usually been respectful about the illness of addiction.

Blackhawk was an odd company. Because we're told it is bigger than Frame Construction. And there's the oft-discussed promo which calls Steve the "richest man in Bay City." Then, one building failure and they're out of money. Didn't leverage their building projects? My bet is if Canary had withstood the storm of his introduction, his Steve would've been cherished as more compassionate and romantic. But, it would've taken three years at least.

Yeah, he talked to Lionel about Tony. No mention of how much he looks like Micah. Or, how she looks like Vivian Alamaine But, SB Lionel and Augusta didn't wind up together. So, maybe it is a coincidence.?