provocative

33 minutes ago, te. said:

I just don't get why they had to add that in at all. Did anyone really wonder if Theo and Ciara fucked? Did anyone care if Theo and Ciara fucked?

Have you met Cin fans?

I wish we were supposed to be rooting for Theo but he'll probably be made out to be the bad guy who's being unfair to poor little Ben

The Ben/Ciara stuff is physically painful. Are their "fans" actually enjoying this? How can any of this very pathetic fanservice be considered remotely good by anyone's standards?

I actually think that helps to make her more of a realistic and complex character - she made it clear that her plan has always been to get revenge on him and his family but at the same time she couldn't hide her hurt and anger when Jack asked if she wanted money. It would be a shame if she was completely unsympathetic all the time.

I'm so glad they decided to make Gwen part of Jack's pre-Salem history and not another terrible retcon

Hate Ben and Ciara and the prospect of more of them in the future. Good to see them doing the same version of every story they've ever had (Ciara is in danger and Ben saves her) except this time she's dead.

Love Abby and Anna

Obviously Ben got to be part of the Horton Christmas tree hanging at the expense of actual Hortons like Abby and Lucas. It's already pretty ridiculous that he's there with Jennifer but having Abby and Lucas there also acting like Ben is a regular staple of the family probably would have tipped the scales

Not to out myself as someone that was fine with Jonathan and Tammy on GL but they should totally do something similar with Claire and Charlie if it turns out that he is Tyler. They don't have to play out the exact same story but it would make for good drama. Just a shame ORK isn't still in the role

I've been waiting for them to do a Tyler Kiriakis story for so long - I hope that's where this is going

Does Allie's baby have a name yet?

People are free to believe what they want but that shouldn't mean freedom from accountability. Her beliefs are harmful and she should suffer consequences so that she and others know they are unacceptable. I love the character of Jennifer and her place in the Horton family (or what remains of it); her relationship with Jack and their kids but I would be completely fine with a recast.

17 hours ago, BillBauer said:

 

Part of the problem is that the Hortons are now an extensive family and not an immediate family. Everyone is a cousin or second cousin, third cousin, first cousin once-removed, etc. It's not very realistic that they would all be close and spend a lot of time together. They should have brought Bill, Laura and Mike back and focus on them along with Jennifer and Lucas and their families. Not that they should get rid of Hope or Julie but it would help to centralize the family again. Bill would have made a good patriarch but they killed him off and I don't know what the writers have against Mike and Jeremy Horton. Granted Jeremy was pretty douchey but they can recast and change the character. They do that all the time. I was recently watching Alice's funeral and I think the writers missed a great opportunity not bringing Bill back on the canvas. The actor playing him was excellent and he had great chemistry with Maggie. They could have paired he and Maggie together and make her a Horton again. Bill and Maggie could have become the new patriarch/matriarch of the Hortons. All of that is shot to hell now though. There won't be another Horton patriarch/matriarch. Doug and Julie kind of fit that role but not really. So there's no center. Everybody's scattered and distantly related. I don't see it ever changing. Plus, nobody even has the last name of Horton anymore. I would imagine a new viewer would have a hard time even picking out who is a Horton. 

I think things like just allowing Lucas and Jennifer to have scenes now that he's back would go a long way to making it seem like there is actually a 'Horton family'. And considering Bill died not so long ago and his funeral was offscreen it's not like they'd have nothing to talk about. I've always loved Jennifer/Lucas scenes and it was annoying that they'd only speak when one of them was in the thrall of addiction (when BD was on the show regularly a few years back.)

I agree that they should bring Jeremy back. If only to make sure there'll still be some last-name Hortons around if the show lasts that long. Mike'd be nice too but otherwise Jennifer/Jack could act as his family seeing as their kids aren't around. I know it doesn't seem as traditionally fitting as maybe Maggie/Someone who isn't Victor but I can't imagine anyone who isn't Jennifer being in the Horton House (when we see it once a year) at this point

And I'm really liking all of the Allie stuff - her goading Eric about his priestly ways, Lucas flying off the handle, all the fond and not so fond reminiscing of Sami, etc

Yeah it's been nice having Lucas back - I've enjoyed his scenes with Kate both days and then him and Will today talking about approaching Allie like a military operation. I'm curious if the father is going to be someone we know or just a random.

4 minutes ago, carolineg said:

 

I never thought of it that way.  Interesting take.  But would it matter to Belle already having access to her Daddy's private plane?  John and Marlena are rich.  There was never a shortage of money for her.

I never truly bought someone like Victor would be that into Caroline so it was never a viable triangle to me even if obviously it's a canon. 

I really always equated it to Belle being fickle like her mom even though obviously that take has come and gone since Marlena's been with John for years. 

But I can see your point about Belle being accustomed to a certain lifestyle and Shawn just wasn't providing it.

Yeah, that was the thing - she was used to that kind of lifestyle. Her and Philip were of the same class (in so much as Days had some small sense of class structure back then) while Shawn was not because his parents just had regular service jobs. But like I said, this was always something Days would briefly reference and attempted to focus on when she was cheating on Shawn but not with any due diligence. 

I think I see more of a similarity to Shawn/Caroline/Victor too - one of the things they tried to do with Shawn/Belle/Philip, without much success because the show didn't have any nuance, was have social class be a component. Belle spent her marriage to Philip pining for Shawn and then once they were together the difference between being with someone 'blue collar' and someone who had private jets on demand became more stark. I can't remember if they ever resolved or addressed that tension properly. And now there isn't really any point because I'm pretty sure everyone on Days has access to a private jet 

I think Shawn and Belle are both pretty uninteresting characters on their own but they were "uninteresting" in the way Bo and Hope are and I think they were supposed to be written in that vein - or at least that was the case when they were younger and played by Jason and Kristen. I don't think they would have been written off back in 2007 or whenever if the original actors had still been in the roles despite how underdeveloped the characters are. Aging them so quickly and then aging their kid (though I do also love Claire) have definitely been big problems

I think Philip is the most viable character from that group because they bothered with things like flaws and motivation when it came to him. With Shawn and Belle, the writers pretended they had perfect childhoods and perfect parents and obviously stuff like that is detrimental when it comes to creating interesting characters long-term

Nah, I'd be annoyed at them rewriting one of the better stories the show has done in the past decade all in service of a boring couple and a character who hasn't been one iota as interesting since. 

Ben: What happened with my sister caused a whole lot of people pain

Ok, but remember all the pain caused when you murdered a bunch of people??? How can anyone take Ciara, Ben and Hope fretting over Claire being released while simultaneously planning Ciara's wedding to an actual serial killer. And I can't stand that Marlena is his biggest proponent. The whole thing is non-sensical. At least there's an attempt from Ciara to not be totally hypocritical but I still hate it!

Love the little Shawn/Belle/Claire family unit though. I would happily endorse Claire murdering Ben and Ciara. At their wedding

I think Will was the last character on Days who aged naturally while still being on the show and reacting to what his parents did as a kid/teenager too. Abby as well maybe but she was on and off the show a lot. JJ is the opposite because he was born when Abby was a teenager but now the show acts like they grew up together and that there isn't a big age gap.

I also hate how they've messed up the ages of Sami/Eric/Brady/Belle. You'd think they were all in the same age bracket when that should obviously not be the case

I don't like KDP's Eve but turning her into the villain when Ben is walking free and happy after murdering her daughter is ridiculous. And if this is true, it'll be rescue #344849483? Enough! 

I liked the Eli/Lani/Julie/Abe scenes in today's episode even though the editing seemed weird and I wish Abe had been allowed to say more. I know it's characteristic of Julie to take up space but still. And I'm not a fan of this juvenile Steve and Kayla story but I like the Jennifer/Kayla and Steve/Jack scenes. What I'm saying is the show works best with family content in non-ridiculous scenarios.

I've just completely been ignoring everything to do with Orpheus and Rafe's custody case

I mean, Sami's been a grandma since 2013 so I don't think aging her other kids is a big deal

I really liked the Will/Marlena/Eric/Nicole scenes today. I would take much more of those over John and Marlena taking turns being kidnapped back and forth

48 minutes ago, juppiter said:

 

Abigail: I don’t wanna traumatize my kids, so I’ll just leave them without saying goodbye. 

 

I actually like that they keep this as a consistent trait for her. There are multiple instances of her thinking the people she cares about are better off without her; that leaving is better than the "burden" of her staying. I like when they attempt to maintain character stuff like that as opposed to later in the episode when Jennifer said that Abby was someone who hated to hurt other's feelings. Which, I guess maybe? But its such a generic non-specifc thing and I think Days ends up with a lot of bland non-characters that way

I hate that not only are characters not allowed to have reservations about Ben but people like Julie actively talk about how wonderful he is? They really sucked all the angst and conflict out of that pairing in like two minutes

The lack of a 'Brady family' presence is pretty sad. Really there's just JT's Roman, Kayla and Eric. And I don't think Ciara spends any particular time with them. It's just annoying to have to suddenly accept that Ciara has always been close with Victor & co when it was never the case historically and the only reason for their sudden closeness is because it was a plot point in a story about Ben. And it's not like Ciara is family-less without the Bradys; there's a whole bunch of Hortons she doesn't interact with either. But tbh, it's all symptomatic of a larger problem with the character bc almost everything she does irritates me. I can't at her response to Abby hallucinating about Ben terrorizing her being "but he's changed!"

2 hours ago, DynamiteKiddo said:

And get Ciara OUT of these scenes.  This is some more nonsense to make her happen.  And the only reason she was ever involved with the Ks was to provide Ben conflict.  And keep Ciara, Shawn, and Claire away from the Ks--the whole point is that they're Bradys and Victor has to live with the pain of Shawn Sr., for want of a better term, "having" Bo (and Caroline).

Exactly. In the past Bo and Shawn were only tangentially involved if ever something happened to Victor (and vice versa) but now Ciara is keeping vigil by his bedside, calling him "grandpa", calling Sonny "cuz" and acting like a mainstay Kiriakis. Ew