j swift

It is ironic, in retrospect, that the Stefano's obsession with Marlena got a lot of explanation in the cannon, but Hope is just sort of collateral damage.  It is no wonder that Hope was the one to finally shoot Stefano, because he tortured her just for sport. 

His main beef was Roman/John, not Bo.  He whisked Marlena off to Paris, while Hope was stuck in New Orleans (a nice place to visit, but the humidity would be hell for a woman with her hair texture).  And he was really only interested in the older doppelgänger version of Hope, which no woman wants to hear. 

15 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Big Bad Reginald was not subtly deployed and the writing didn't give much nuance for anyone to work with. Mary didn't really have much of a relationship with the Loves after the initial bombshell setup although before she and Vince left town she did have some nice interactions with pale pastel Marley played by Anne Heche. Relationships under Lemay and then Swajeski were just so much richer.   

Agreed, what's missing (in part) is the turn that precipitated Reg's motives.  In hindsight, I can't even recall why he chose to come back to Bay City while everything was going well in Paraguay. 

Scott and Mary experienced the softer side of Reginald, but from the moment he wakes everyone up to announce his return, he's a jerk.  Now, if they explained that he financed Mary's philanthropy through stolen art, that would have created some tension.  Or if he was upset that Donna let Carl steal the family's money, we could have understood his frustration.  But, torturing Donna, while Victoria seems blind to his motives, makes no sense.

As for the coincidental timing of Mary's employment, that feels like it got confused with the idea of Scott as the third triplet.  Mary was said to work for the Loves after Cheryl was born to earn some extra cash.  Of course, Scott was older than Cheryl.  But, it would have made no sense for Donna to have triplets, give one away, keep one, and then drag the third one down to Paraguay to live for a couple of years until Mary has an accident, gets amnesia, and is shuffled off to raise Scott.  It was only recently from discussion on this thread that I realized that Mary had never met Michael because he was banished during Donna's pregnancy, before Mary worked at the mansion. 

However, it makes no sense with the re-write that Donna goes nuts because she remembered that she had sex with John, and he might have fathered the twins.  If John was missing after fighting in Vietnam and the twins were born in 1967, the math doesn't add up.  John is younger than Michael, and if Donna was 18 when she gave birth, wouldn't John have been around 16?  So, wouldn't there be at least two years when he lived in Bay City before Vietnam?  And if Michael was banished when Reg found out that Donna was pregnant, wouldn't she have known she was already pregnant when they had sex? So how would it be possible for John to be the daddy?  It is like Donna took one look at the photo of John holding the twins and forgot where babies come from.

When we were reviewing Classic SOD news from this period, there was a fascinating series of articles about how unpopular Joe Hardy was within the production.  @dc11786 Your description of the Tracy, Monica, Lila, and Lucy scene reminded of those stories.

At the time of the 7,000th episode, Mr. Hardy held a press event to celebrate by unveiling the remodeled entrance for the Quartermaine mansion.  He showed sketches, toasted the set with champagne, and toured the new two-story foyer.  Which was all well and good until SOD began to question why nobody from the cast bothered to attend the occasion.  Hardy was left with egg on his face, when not one actor came to set, in the middle of the day, to help him celebrate.

In prior issues, he openly feuded with Michael Watson who played Dekker because the actor left for 6 weeks to film a movie in Eastern Europe, he criticized one of the Dawns for not learning her lines, and worst of all, the ratings plummeted to 8th place.

Overall, I enjoyed the period of Anna's singlehood.  It reinforced the notion that Duke was the love of her life because all of her subsequent affairs never equalled the passion that they felt for each other.  When Monty returns and suddenly Anna is tieing Robert to columns, it felt forced.  But, it is interesting to read that there was groundwork laid in the prior year.  As for Bobbie's brief foray into adoption agency, Monty drops that beat so hard, that Bobbie is inexplicably back at GH as a nurse as soon as her cousin gets hurt in the explosion of Tracy the Tanker.

Finally, watching 1990, aren't we thankful that male ponytails have never come back in fashion?

6 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

I've watched DAYS for years, until a few years ago at least, and I’ve never really understood the origins and reasoning behind Stefano being obsessed with Marlena.

It is an interesting question because it has become such a given fact over time, that the origin gets lost.  My opinion is that his motivation changed over time, and with different writers.

Originally, Roman was Stefano's mortal enemy, and Marlena is just a means to torture Roman and bring him anguish.  Stefano is equally willing to kidnap and victimize Hope and Marlena, simply by virtue of their affiliation with the Brady boys.

Then, James Reilly writes the Queen of Night plot and suddenly Stefano is literally possessed by Marlena's essence. Later in Aremid and the Rachel Blake story, the lore evolves. It seems like Stefano is the kind of man who needs to dominate the women he loves.  It is an over simplification of decades of story, but it feels like vengeance turned to obsession based on the fact that Marlena was the one woman who he could not control because she was always an independent person.

Stefano was always beholden to his many children.  And those who cared for him were inexplicably loyal.  Look at Celeste and Lee, who put up with years of his BS.  Then along comes Marlena who is single, professional, and unburdened by family history.  She is the ultimate challenge, because she cannot be subjugated; even by the devil himself!  To me, that is what drew him to her (and Hope).  It is a feminist allegory about women struggling to find an equal and be free of the old-fashioned definition of love being equated with surrendering to a man's desire.

I enjoy the lore of the Love Family.  They were a blank slate, and I think it is creative to establish new characters who have an unexplored history in Bay City.  Also, connecting the Loves and the McKinnons together is an interesting move, given that their origins are based on the relationship of Marly and Jake. 

The concept of a former family housekeeper coming back as the mistress of the manor is filled with possibilities.  Donna would be threatened by no longer being the de facto head of the house.  Michael is reminded of the class struggle that broke their relationship. Peter finds a mentor who will provide some motivation.  Victoria becomes the perfect audience surrogate because she wasn't around while Reg lived at the house, so the exposition becomes a natural way of catching her up to date.

But, the execution was terrible.  We never get to experience what Mary saw in Reg, so there's no tension in returning to her former family.  There are multiple recasts which slow the pace of the story. And, characters change their traits overnight.  So, the promise never lived up to the hype.

Also, he's on strike and not supposed to promote the material that he's written.

4 hours ago, carolineg said:

I just think Jamey's excuses are very lame and I don't find them very believable. 

5 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Yeah... it's getting to the point that every time I hear one of Jamey's stupid ass excuses, I start to think that maybe I'm a little too hard on Ron and might owe him an apology

I am befuddled why Jamey even bothers to engage the fans on social media.  Going back to his podcast days, he was always complaining about listener reactions in the comments section.  Now that he's achieved his dream and written for multiple shows, why does he continue to insight drama?  He is just making himself unhappy, which is a shame given that regardless of the fans' acceptance, it is still remarkable that a podcaster from a small southern town has been able to achieve so much.

If I could advise Mr. Giddens, I would say, taste is subjective.  He's never going to please most people. So, give it a rest.  Do the job you were hired to do.  And stop trying to chase clout based on inside information.

2 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

Jamie being a fantastic villain

BTW if you haven't watched the "whatever happened to" video of the actor who played Jamie, it is worth your while

@Liberty City I would watch it on YT.  I've fallen off in recent months, and I didn't enjoy the repetitive ads on E4.  But, if it is easily accessible on YT, and the episodes are quick and snappy, I'll put it on my playlist. Will you keep watching?

3 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

Is their time on Hulu ending, then?

I didn't see any information about that.  The episodes will be uploaded to YT a week after they premiere on E4.  Is Hulu up to date?  If so, maybe it will be a similar system.

I am slightly surprised by the negative reaction of Holly Gagnier as Cassie.  I think the writing for the character at the time and her overall demeanor closely reflected her mother, making it easier to imagine her as Dorian's daughter.  To me, she is second only to Cusi Cram in the part.

Ava Hadid and Laura Koffman were saddled with playing Cassie as damsels in distress.  Women who needed protection and would do anything for their man.  Psychologically, that seems in stark contrast to the antagonist that Dorian was always written as being.  I prefer a tougher, and a little snottier Cassie.

It is unfortunate that the character was so ill-defined as she morphed from writer to writer that her primary motivations and traits were never established.  I mean, Tina was Tina even when she was played by the woefully miscast Marsha Clark (I still feel bad that she had to dye her hair for such a short run on the soap).  But, Cassie is all other place due to the presence, or absence, of Dorian and Kelly.

It is ironic that the Sanders and O'Neils feel so well established in the 80s, and then are so quickly disposed of by the future writers.  I always forget that Jon is Judith's brother, and Harry's brother was Pete.  They were heavily intertwined in the fabric of Llandview, and then, just like the Lord/Manning factory, we barely heard from them again.  Speaking of money, it feels emblematic of the time for a writer to introduce a whole family, rather than a single character whose siblings might later migrate to town.  Maybe everyone was chasing a new Newman or Snyder dynasty?

In hindsight, I feel like the biggest loss was Brad.  He was made redundant by Max, but I liked him so much more.

The reason given for this change is that 64% of viewers watch via first-look streaming or on E4, and the plan is to simplify how the audience – which has a younger demographic than the other soaps – consumes it.

It is an interesting analogy to DAYS, that the reason being promoted is more fans access the soap through streaming rather than over linear cable.  I don't know if it true, but it is not necessarily a harbinger of doom.

And, good news for US fans with a VPN, episodes will also be on YouTube.

At least he acknowledges it was only "one reason".  No mention of a lack of creativity or quality.  But, that may be asking too much from a guy who has overestimated his talent to this degree.

The plot thickens, Rachel Melvin pinched hit for Victoria Konefal

I guess there's no chance that Shawn's not an addict. But, he only wanted one sip today, and Belle is driving, so that's progress...

Or I'm a cultural co-dependent...

Also, so soapy that everyone referred to Chelsea as Shawn's sister, just in case we forgot how they are related.

TIL

Speaking of meatheads, Brady's overly plucked eyebrows and carefully trimmed beard are getting out of hand.  That is neither a color nor a shape found in a nature.

Finally, we know Shawn's an alcoholic because he chugs straight from the bottle (which is really gross when we consider that it is a public bar and customers are going to be served from that bottle).  A good ol' soap wino never uses a glass (or a mixer).

3 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Did Max have to like give up the Brady name or something in order to marry his niece?

To be fair, they didn't meet until they were in their 20s

With regard to Alex, I find it difficult to define why I think he is so cringy.  The baritone vocals, the shallow advice, his poor fashion sense, it just gives me the icks whenever he's on-screen.  It's not the memory of Ben, who has receded in the vast wasteland of my mind.   And, it has nothing to do with the actor, who seems to have been crafted in Dr. Rolf's lab for soaps. 

Historically, I am a fan of soap meatheads.  I watched the whole plane crash in Haiti story (before most people were born) just to see Carlo Forenza, with his perfect hair and Fila tennis shorts.  But, for whatever reason, Alex just doesn't do it for me.

8 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Tripp and Wendy have pretty much been stuck in a bubble for a while now.

It is an odd juxtaposition from the sexual liberation that we've seen in Salem this year, that these two committed to each other before having a "love" scene.  I mean, if Rafe and Jada can get it on while her sister is sleeping on the sofa, why do Wendy and Tripp need to be as far as possible from Li in order to do the humpty dance?

Not to go back to the time of day thing - but - why is Kayla telling Talia that she got the job, at the same time of day that Wendy's checked into the hotel?  And why does the hospital board (and the city council) only meet at night?

@ranger1rg I think that I am resolved to agree with @carolineg's theory that it is different times of the day for different characters as we catch up with them.  For example, I assume Victor's memorial will begin Thursday, when it will be the next morning for the mourners (te he), but it will be the same day as the death threat for Harris and Ava.

Ever since the time jump, it is assumed that time and space work differently in Salem than in our universe.  So, it's less budgetary and more metaphysical...

I would argue that this is one of the problems with establishing valid soap history.

Kristen's story about leaving SB becomes fact because she gave an interview.  But, since we don't know the production side of the story, we are left with the impressions of a disgruntled ex-employee.  It reminds me of an actor who was recently fired, and in his exit interview he said that there was going to be a "bloodbath" of layoffs at that soap.  Six months later, very few other actors were let go.  But, it is easy to infer that an agent who wants to soften the blow might tell an actor that their firing was not personal, it was just part of a larger trend.

I'm not saying that that Miss Meadows (who totally charmed me as Mimi on OLTL) was intentionally misinforming the audience, but I would caution the reminder that we are only getting a single perspective with no validation.

1 hour ago, soapfave06 said:

The biggest shame to me is EDGE being canceled when it had equal ratings on a thirty percent less clearance rate, that’s a tragedy. 

But, that is one of the variables for cancellation.  If I'm Frank's Vacuum Emporium, why would I pay for ads on EON for the same price as other soaps with similar ratings, if my ad is only going to reach 70% of the country? 

I assume you know that the only use of ratings is to justify ad revenue, nobody actually cares how many people are watching TV, popularity never trumps profit.  It is simple to assess a scenario where it would be easier to give the hour back to the affiliates rather than try to convince national advertisers to pay for commercials at a similar rate to the rest of the line-up for a show that has lower clearance. 

I hope we can agree that this was the worst hit-person ever!  Her improvisation skills suck if one small question from Harris causes her to pull out her gun, in a sanatorium, that is usually filled with cameras.

Once again, the question is raised: What time of day is it?  It is dark in the square, everyone seems to be off work (even though very few of them actually have jobs), are they all visiting each other in the middle of the night?

And, most importantly, have Eric and Sloane been sitting in the same exam room at the hospital for a week since she had her miscarriage?

Once again the odd DAYS ethics rears its little head.  So, Ava and Harris have tried to kill people, numerous times, but as long as the writers assure the audience that their victims are still alive, it is OK to root for them as a romantic couple.  Attempted homicide while under the influence of others, good, attempted homicide while avenging the death of a loved one, bad.

Nicole's absence was glaring during the EJ story, because he's gone from fawning over her pregnancy, to sleeping on the sofa, and never even checking on her for the entire day.

My bet is that DVD is not John's father, but he will provide information to make John's father more sympathetic.  BTW, it would have been an incredible coincidence if Tommy Horton and Tim Robichaux fought in the same battalion during the Korean War.  Unless, the next twist is that John is actually Sandy Horton, that would be impressive!

I was also following up on Justin's twins, who are suspiciously absent from the funeral (I mean, Chelsea's going, and she only tenuously tied to Victor as Bo's long-lost daughter). BUT, today I recalled that there's a Joey Kiriakis AND a Joey Johnson, born 18 years apart.  Obviously, Joey Johnson was named after his grandmother, and Joey Kiriakis may be a reference to his birth mother JJ Bagwell, which is also confusing because JJ Devereax is Jack and Jennifer's son.

I realize it is a common name, but I am always amused when soap writers repeat names from past characters, as in Xander and Alex Kiriakis.  It would make for a hell of a story to have JJ, Joey, Joey, Xander, and Alex all fall in love with Kim's fictional never-before-see-daughter Brandy Brady

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

John isn't biracial. 

Oh, yeah... I just re-read it and figured out the John's current biological father aka Yo Ling aka Tim Robichaux, fought in the Korean War, and trained in martial arts, but he wasn't actually of Asian descent. He was just an extreme cultural appropriator.