prefab1

LOL at Ron frantically retconning Ava's backstory so that it makes a lick of sense. I especially liked that 2015 convent scene where Kristen is telling Ava, "Yeah, I never understood why you didn't just tell Steve you had a son with him in the first place."

Speaking of Steve and Kayla, I am loving their arguments over the Tripp situation. It feels very real and raw, and both of them are making valid points. 

40 minutes ago, teplin said:

 

I totally agree. Here's a perhaps even more unpopular opinion: I liked Shawn Christian as Melanie's dad.

 

 

Honestly, I thought Shawn Christian was alright too. Daniel Jonas was certainly no worse than Rafe or Eric while playing the same "sanctimonious male lead" role. And he even had chemistry with some of his leading ladies (though not Melissa Reeves). I think if he'd been cast as an existing character, like Mike Horton, he wouldn't have gotten nearly so much flack from fans. 

12 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Totally get what you are saying, but will disagree.  Brady being an addict is a big thing.  But Eric also became an addict that actually killed someone under the influence.  Obviously not a sex addict (which I think Brady is more of a 'love' addict than a sex addict).  I wouldn't call Eric reckless, but both Brady and Eric make dumb, irrational decisions a lot.

Good point. I wasn't watching during the "drunk Eric kills Dr. Jonas" storyline, so I totally forgot about that one. 

I think Greg Vaughan is pretty much the definition of the bland soap hunk, but I like Martsolf's performance a lot better than you seem to. He brings quite a bit of humor to it, and he sparks with most of his female scene partners (which might be why Brady keeps hooking up with so many different women!)

3 hours ago, carolineg said:

 

Yes, he does.  My biggest problem with Brady is he and Eric fill a very similar purpose and there isn't enough difference between them in personalities. 

I can't agree with you there. This might have been true back in the Jensen Ackles/Kyle Lowder era (when frankly most of the younger characters had poorly-defined personalities). But I think Eric Martsolf has given Brady an extremely distinct personality. He's an addict--specifically a sex addict--and he acts recklessly and impulsively in a way Eric would not. And Martsolf plays that kind of troubled son and wounded boyishness so well, it's easy to forget that he's nearly 50 years old. 

I have no interest in Shawn and Belle's wedding, but the rest of the material in that extended promo looks good (especially the Kate and Jen face-off). 

20 minutes ago, Vee said:

I told people Martha Madison was too old for the role when she first started and people kept defending her for years. Now it's like On Golden Pond!

I think MM's portrayal of Belle works when you get her in scenes with Sami, because it then makes sense that Belle would be "old beyond her years" to compensate for her older sister's perpetual brattiness. With Sami acting out so much, it makes sense that her siblings Eric and Belle would have grown up to be mature and responsible to a fault, where they sometimes come off as joyless prigs.

That said, I have very little interest watching MM's Belle in romantic storylines with Shawn or Phillip. 

19 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I am actually embarrassed to admit this but I actually liked Molly Burnett's Melanie.  Her stories were often stupid, but I thought she was a charming performer lol.  That has to be one of the most unpopular opinions ever.

Not an unpopular opinion with me. I thought Molly Burnett was great, and I'd welcome her back to the show at any time. Ingenue characters on soaps are often incredibly bland--see all those interchangeable young women currently on GH and Y&R for examples--and so I appreciated how Molly Burnett imbued Melanie with a very distinctive personality and voice. 

3 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

Man I miss Renee Jones/Lexie so much. And they wasted her for so long with Abe. 

Renee Jones has no interest in returning to daytime, right? Because Lexie seems like a character Ron would love writing for. And it wouldn't be too hard for old Dr. Rolf to resurrect her...

Some choices from Goutman's ATWT:

I actually thought that Terri Conn's Katie was great, and she was one of the main reasons I tuned in. Aside from that final pairing with Daniel Cosgrove's Chris, she had great romantic chemistry with her various love interests and good (gay) friend chemistry with Henry and Reid. 

Also, although she was never my favorite character, I still appreciated Julie Pinson's Janet (a lot more than some boring recast legacy characters like Dusty, Meg, and Paul). Pinson almost always gave committed performances, and the character had a distinctive voice and point of view that naturally clashed with that of characters like Carly. ATWT had become so plot-driven at that point, it was nice to have a character who could organically generate realistic conflict with other characters. 

Finally, I thought Jon Lindstrom made for a great Craig, and he had fantastic chemistry with both Maura West and Cady McClain. 

22 hours ago, KMan101 said:

I have noticed Marci more checked in and more comfortable over all, which has helped tremendously. Like @Antoyne said, I still prefer Mansi's version, but I'm warming up to Marci Miller in the role and like you still feel invested in the character. So that's a good thing.

I agree that Marci really has improved a lot this time around. But I also appreciate the way the show is writing Abby as so smug and self-absorbed that I don't really feel bad for her, and I can take pure pleasure in the scenes where Gwen is trying to ruin her life. 

11 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

My biggest issue is that Ron had the chance to plant the seeds for this during all of the other time jump reveals instead of just making up a new story to be created through flashbacks all these months later.

 

It was well done but still annoys me lol

Yeah, due to the lack of build-up, it didn't really feel like soap opera storytelling at all. Instead, it reminded me more of old melodramas like Letter from an Unknown Woman. 

And I bet Ron just thought of this twist at the last moment when he was trying to imagine a juicy secret Gwen could reveal at the party. Although I guess part of the narrative function of the time jump is that it allows juicy secrets like this to periodically come out. Who knows how many other characters had secret affairs or even secret babies in that year we didn't see them!

51 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

This Jack and Kate thing is just so so random. Do Kate and Jack ever even share scenes together. It just seems like a reason to make Jack look like a bad guy again, as usual. Next step is death obviously. 

 

I understand why people might hate this story twist, which came completely out of the blue. But I thought today's episode was really well done. The decision to just focus on this one story for the whole episode was smart, and I thought the ONS between Jack and Kate made total sense for both characters. 

I also liked Kate's scenes with Jake, and I'm looking forward to the eventual Kate-Jake-Gabi triangle this sets up. 

10 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

 A marriage where both were schemers could have been interesting, but was never going to happen, because Lucinda was constantly in motion, moving plots and self-sabotaging and being punished for her sins. John was a key part of that under Marland's pen. 

Thanks for the info! I agree it's a shame he didn't do more with John and Lucinda both scheming. Because much later in the show's history, that resulted in one of my all-time favorite ATWT scenes:

ah

42 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

I think this is one of the reasons I am more drawn to some of the 91-92 Snyder material than many here are, as it goes back a little more to the hostility between Iva and Emma and also to how toxic the Snyder dynamics can be. First Iva and John (such a stupid, lazy writing choice, but the brief episodes where Emma was resentful [as she really had loved John, probably more than Iva ever did] were worthwhile) and then various members of the family learning about all her lies, how she wanted to protect Lily and Holden while also being able to raise a child, leading to so much chaos. Emma was briefly mad at her, which should have gone on longer. (the tension with Lily also could have gone on longer if they had not fired Lisa Brown in favor of the big fat nothingburgers dumped all over the canvas in 1994)

I haven't seen much from this period of the show's history, but I recently went back and watched a lot of John clips on YouTube because he's one of my favorite ATWT characters. And it just seems weird to me that he was ever paired with Emma or Iva. There's probably no nice way to say this, but neither of them seem like his type. Most of his pairings were with glamorous women like Kim or Lucinda, or pretty young things like Dee. Did Marland really "get" John in the same way he appreciated some of the veteran characters like Kim?

17 minutes ago, beebs said:

 

Yeah, Linda is absolutely legendary from everything I've been reading. I really need someone to drop more 70s DAYS episodes, because she seems to be one of the few characters Ann Marcus actually improved during her run. An absolute delight.

 

Stephen Schnetzer must have had issues in chem tests on DAYS. I see him more having flirtations with women on the show that never go anywhere than anything. After the initial fraud story, it's like he was held in limbo for another ten months while they figured out what to do with him, and then decided to do nothing? Bizarre.

 

Can't wait for Alex Marshall. I've always loved Quinn Redeker on Y&R, and I actually don't know a whole lot about his DAYS character, surprisingly. So I'm excited to see what comes next there (I'm presuming he's Phyllis' new boyfriend).

 

 

 

On that note, let's check out May '79:

 

 

Doug asks Don to file Rebecca's letter regarding Dougie separately from his and Julie's other paperwork, and that he set up a living trust fund for baby Dougie as well.

 

Robert, meanwhile, tries to do Doug a favour, and find out any information he can about the artificial insemination that Doug took part in. I guess, hoping to find out if Doug has a child out there somewhere, since he and Julie are struggling to conceive, though SOD doesn't elaborate as to why he's preoccupying himself with this when he has a three year old to watch over. Neil insinuates that the insemination didn't work out, hoping Robert will stop prying. Neil really loves messing with these procedures, doesn't he?

 

 

 

Mike and Margo move in. Margo plans a housewarming party for herself, because apparently no one else wants to? Before they even get settled in, the old pipes burst and flood the place, costing them $200 for a plumber. He borrows money from Chris and Mickey, since the bills for the new furniture are coming due soon.

 

Imagine being Wesley Eure and Suzanne Zenor being saddled with such an asinine storyline in the midst of all this lusty drama. I mean, seriously? Everyone is being lit on fire by steaks, faking amnesia and sleeping all over Salem and you're worried about your plumbing bill. Good God.

 

 

 

Laura, fresh from lighting a fire under Kate, goes home to Bill and suggests that Kate seems unhappy in her job as of late (wonder why that could be?). Bill doesn't think too much of it.

 

When meeting with Jordan, Laura's mother's ghost appears again, taunting Laura with "news" that Jordan and Bill are liable to gang up on her. 

 

Bill might yet. He tries to ask Kate what the hell happened to make her quit, but she won't come near him, telling him only that she's quitting for "personal reasons". How JER of her. Bill tries to suss out what is bugging her, citing her recent nights out with Neil (she went to bed with Neil on the first date! How MODERN!), but Kate loudly retorts that she wouldn't break up "even [HIS] marriage!"

 

Laura's delightful attitude extends to Jennifer as well. She reads Jenn a bedtime story that's about as relaxing as a fistful of caffeine pills, then holds her out the window and instructs her to "reach for the moon!"

 

It's only when their housekeeper, Rosie, returns, that Jennifer is saved from being dropped from the second-floor window.

 

 

 

Mary feels dejected after bunging up Anderson's government contract, and expresses her disappointment in herself to Phyllis. Phyllis is reassuring, and makes a pact with Mary to work to trust each other and be close again. 

 

 

 

Stephanie, closer than ever to Bob, lets him know about her breakup with David. Bob invites Stephanie to stay at the lakehouse while Mary's away, with SOD saying that Bob tells Stephanie that "Linda will enjoy(?) having her nearby..." 

 

(?) indeed.

 

Linda, possibly recalling how Bob's involvement with Julie began all those years ago with a similar gesture after Scott Banning died to the one he's currently offering Stephanie, amps up her campaign to get back together with Bob in every sense of the word. She dons a sexy negligée, and, with some work, succeeds in seducing Bob. I earnestly don't know whether to be impressed by Linda or to shake my head at Bob's constant gullibility.

 

The next day, Bob has regrets, and claims nothing's changed between them, he just needed to get off. He even has a moment of clarity, and accuses Linda of using sex to get her way. Linda lays on the wounded dove routine extra thick, claiming she cannot BELIEVE Bob would make her feel so VIOLATED and be so ABUSIVE towards her, and is convinced Stephanie's influence is to blame for his coldness.

 

Linda tries for some financial insurance in case her scheme with Bob doesn't work out, and asks Don for a job as a legal secretary for him and Mickey. Don's all for it, but Mickey points out that their lawfirm handles Anderson's affairs. He isn't so sure, but hires her anyway. Of course, Linda's intent in having the job is to have access to Anderson info to worm her way back into the company.

 

Stephanie also missteps where Chris is concerned. When Chris doesn't obey a business decision Stephanie has handed down, Stephanie chastises him, reminding him how he was instrumental in Anderson losing the government contract. Chris fights back, claiming Stephanie is in way over her head. Stephanie tattles to Bob about Chris' insubordination, but is met with a different reaction from Bob than she anticipated. Bob sides with Chris on the matter, claiming he thinks Chris made a good judgment call.

 

However, Stephanie is still moved in, and emerges one day from the shower, wearing Mary's bathrobe, as Mary returns from San Francisco. Mary is livid, for a multitude of reasons, least of all, how close HAVE Bob and Stephanie become in her absence (ick)?

 

Phyllis came back with Mary this time! She goes to dinner with Neil, and plays all sweetness and light, even convincing Neil to join her at the Andersons to see Bob and Linda. Linda is all side-eyes at Phyllis, knowing for a FACT she's up to something.

 

Phyllis immediately is on her A-Game upon her return. She corners Stephanie in Bob's office and surprises her with a barrage of questions about her background, her education, her previous employment, none of which Stephanie can easily answer. Phyllis is certain something isn't quite right about Bob's new houseguest. She also visits Don, hoping to ensure that Neil doesn't get her Anderson stock as part of a potential divorce petition. Don assures her that they would not be considered community property, and puts Don on retainer, just in case.

 

 

 

Sickly David comes to realize how cooped up Trish must've felt playing The Happy Homemaker during their marriage (because apparently he's never been home sick before?), but Trish counters that she has learned that being a housewife isn't so bad if you have someone who loves you coming home to you each day. I wish I hadn't eaten before reading that.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of eating, here it comes!

 

Continuing with Elizabeth Harrower's bizarre theme of steak-related injury, Maggie forgets about the steaks she's cooking for dinner at the farm on a visit with Julie. Julie enters the kitchen and finds a grease fire waiting for her in the oven. Julie opens the stove, and flames shoot out at her, catching her sweater. Julie remembers the rule we were all taught in school: STOP, DROP, AND ROLL! But a lot of good that does. When Maggie hears Julie's horrific screams, she enters to find Julie still on fire. Maggie throws a rug on Julie, then drives her to Brookville Hospital.

 

Julie's in tremendous pain, and has third-degree burns on one side of her face, her neck, her arms, and chest. YIKES! Painkillers the doctors at Brookville Hospital inject her with don't do much to stop the pain. Maggie blames herself for this, because SHE NEGLECTED TO WARN JULIE THE STOVE WAS FAULTY! *headdesk* And someone let this woman run restaurants??

 

Julie also develops respiratory failure from smoke inhalation, has to have a tracheotomy performed on her, and Bill warns Doug, Julie will need dialysis, hydrotherapy, and likely will need skin grafts, leaving her disfigured. (Is it bad that the Canadian in me is immediately thinking how EXPENSIVE this will all be? -- Like, my God! How will they afford to keep the club and the sh!tty antiques store filled with fake jewellery boxes?! Not that that's ever a consideration in soap world). Bill has Julie transferred to UH Burn Centre. Soon after, Julie goes into kidney failure, but pulls through.

 

Laura insists on offering her services at Julie's therapist, but Bill thinks she's being ridiculous. Wouldn't a stranger make more sense? Laura insists that she's the logical one to help, since she knows Julie and her loved ones, "we know what's best for her" (we, meaning Laura and the hallucination of her mother).

 

Laura is the world's WORST therapist, being the image of motivation and comfort. She tells Julie that no matter how she comes out of this, she should be grateful she's alive, and that people WILL lie to her about her condition during her recovery, and that the only person Julie should trust about this is LAURA. According to SOD, Laura has developed a jealousy of Julie's good looks, and her attitude stems from that. (WTF????)

 

Julie's plastic surgeon isn't sure she won't have permanent disfigurement, and Laura responds by forcing Doug to pretend to be jolly at all times around Julie. This, of course, heightens Julie's paranoia stemming from Laura's "encouraging words". Julie believes Doug's goofy attitude is because he can't stand to look at her, with Laura's refrain "they're all gonna lie to you" playing on a loop in her head. She proceeds to make Julie feel even more optimistic when it comes time for the skin grafts, bluntly warning her that her body may reject the grafts...ESPECIALLY ON HER FACE. She also tells Julie not to coddle herself, and prepare herself because people's attitudes will probably change towards her, including Doug. 

 

After her bandages are temporarily removed, Julie gets out of bed and sneaks a look in the mirror. She screams out in horror, disgusted by her looks. She shouts at the nurses "why didn't you tell me I look like this???!", and gagging at the sight of her own face. Julie can't help but sob uncontrollably at her disfigured face. Doug tries to reassure her the skin grafts will begin soon, but Laura's sunny and optimistic words ring over and over in her mind instead. Nobody's reassurance will help at this point, and Julie begs to be left alone, convinced she'll be forever ugly. She bars Doug from visiting her the next day. Laura is insistent that it's Julie's wish to be left alone, and that Doug should respect it. Doug demands to see her, so that she knows he will love her no matter how she looks. Laura won't budge. So Doug visits Julie anyway, and reassures her of his love for her, regardless of her appearance.

 

This doesn't do diddly-sh!t because Julie immediately has a nightmare that she and Doug are in bed and Doug recoils in horror at the sight of her. So much for reassurance.

 

Bill is concerned about Julie's attitude hindering surgery, and confides as much to Marie, who knows just what a big "help" Laura's been. Marie insists that Laura be taken off the case, as her stiff upper lip attitude toward Julie's troubles are just making things worse and worse. Marie consults Marlena on the issue, and, despite being worried the pay raises and ferns will stop, Marlena is certain she needs to stand up to Laura on Julie's behalf.

 

 

 

Maggie is tormented by guilt (shockingly), and hopes that seeing Julie might take some weight off both their shoulders. Laura, while SAYING to Maggie that the accident wasn't her fault, actually subconsciously believes Maggie LET the accident happen, and won't let Maggie see Julie.

 

Steve tries to make money off the ordeal, and meets with Don to try to due Mickey and Maggie on Doug and Julie's behalf. Don tells him where to shove his lawsuit ideas, incredulous that Steve would try to cause an intrafamilial rift for a buck. Steve keeps pressing the matter, and Mickey and Maggie file an insurance form to help cover her expenses out of a sense of obligation. Doug won't hear of it, though, and insists he won't demand any compensation from them over the accident, as they're friends.

 

Oh jeez, it's getting worse and worse. 

 

As her mind spirals, Julie hears from visitors that Doug is carrying on as usual while she's in the hospital. Julie is increasingly convinced, thanks in large part to Laura's overwhelmingly optimistic outlook, that it's because Doug is moving on without his ugly wife. So she decides that, if she DOES lose Doug, there's no reason to live, and breaks into the medicine room to steal a fistfull of painkillers, just in case.

 

Laura finally allows Julie visitors again. Maggie is among the first, and casually mentions the insurance payout they got to help Doug and Julie out with their expenses. Julie misunderstands what Maggie's saying and wails to her that there isn't enough money in the world that'll make up for all she's suffered. etc. etc. Laura walks in at this exact moment and orders Maggie leave and not come back.

 

Julie then pops some of the pills she stole, sneaks out of the hospital that night, and heads to the Greyhound station. She calls Doug, but gets a busy signal, so she calls Laura and tells her that she's leaving town for a bit to sort some things out. Laura calmly tells her that's a GREAT idea!  Julie pops a bunch more pills, then gets on the bus.

 

Marie lets Doug know that Julie's skipped town with a couple months' supply of painkillers in hand and not much else. Doug is in a panic, and blames himself, until Marie reminds him that Julie had been despondent after her sessions with Laura. Doug pieces it all together, and realizes that Laura may not be all right in the head.

 

Everyone is mad at Laura for letting Julie go. Laura is alarmingly blasé about the whole thing, and don't understand why everyone's so upset with her. Julie is doing what's best for her, and Laura facilitated that! She has a whole new direction in life (that's one way to put it). Even Bill telling Laura that if Julie's burns go untreated, they could prove fatal doesn't faze her. She's resolute in her insistence that Julie will be back when she gathers her thoughts.

 

Even Alice can't get through to Laura, demanding Laura tell her where Julie is, or at least to contact Doug to let him know she contacted Laura the night she disappeared, and that Laura approved of her leaving.

 

Julie goes to some hotel room somewhere, and visits a doctor who tells her she's an idiot for running away. She tells him she's running away from her husband so that his love doesn't turn to pity (ugggggh that old line again). The doctor treats her burns and tells her to stop being stupid and go home before it's too late.

 

Back in Salem, Laura blames Marie for interfering, and says that Marie isn't fit to be a nurse. Well, now Marie knows Laura's off her rocker, and goes to Jordan for help. He confronts Laura, hoping to talk her down before things get any more out of hand, but Ghost Mother appears to Laura in the middle of their conversation, and Laura finally blurts out loud in Jordan's presence "SHUT UP, MOTHER!"

 

The cat's out of the bag. Laura's lost it!

 

 

 

 

 

Returning to the Trish Clayton hour, Trish wants Julie on side, so she visits Julie in the hospital, and tells her all about how close she and David have become, hoping to win Julie's favour. Julie, still much preferring David with Trish than with Stephanie, in spite of everything, agrees to bury the hatchet with Trish. She also requests Trish take care of Doug while she's in the hospital.

 

 

 

Chris takes Amanda out for burgers to cheer himself up after Mary's article runs, feeling guilty for letting it slip by without reading it. Amanda tells him to pull himself together, then tells him about the mess she's in with Greg. Chris comforts her, and, according to SOD, they "kiss fervently". I should hope they didn't try this in the middle of the Burger Barn.

 

Amanda puts the brakes on soon after, though. She admits to Chris that she really doesn't want to pursue anything further with him, as she IS still married, and an affair with a married woman could ruin Chris' career (again, oh the 70s). Chris tries to convince Amanda that he doesn't care about anything but the here and now, but Amanda won't budge, and insists she should return to Chicago before things get out of hand. Chris feels once again rejected.

 

After Julie's accident, Amanda cancels her plans to return to Greg in Chicago. Instead, she runs to the comfort of Chris' arms. Chris rents out Mike and Margo's now-vacant apartment so he can have a place to shtoop Amanda in peace. He lays on the promises thick, promising a bright future, and even enlisting her help in redecorating. She still won't move in, though.

 

Greg finally bothers to visit, only to find Neil lurking about. He's certain Amanda and Neil picked up where they left off, but Amanda starts to talk him down, only for Chris to show up to take Amanda out for dinner. Amanda plays this one off as Chris just picking up an antique from the shop. Once Neil and Chris are finally gone, Greg tries to put the moves on Amanda, who is wholly uninterested. Greg suddenly realizes he's been a shitty husband, and his marriage may not be slavageable. Took him long enough.

 

The next morning, Greg decides to head back to Chicago, and wants to try to maintain regular contact with Amanda. Amanda agrees, but is dismissive, and rushes off to work. Greg is certain there's another man. He plies Doug for information, convinced Amanda is sleeping with either Steve or Neil, but Doug only answers that he's wrong on both counts. Doug finally makes Greg realize what a lousy husband he's been, far too dedicated to his work, and not enough to Amanda. Greg stops looking for an outside villain, at last.

 

She then decides to move out of Doug's so that there's no rumours floating about because Amanda's living at Doug's while Julie's in the hospital. She takes a room at the Salem Inn instead. Chris, presumably has balls as blue as ocean, and puts more and more pressure on Amanda to come to the apartment so they can get it on. Amanda won't do it, because, all together now, she's still married to Greg.

 

Phyllis tries to encourage Mary to make a final play for Chris, and encourages her to invite him over to "pick up his things". Mary does this, and tells Chris that she'll have dinner ready, and they can relax and talk things out. Chris plays along, but in his head, tells Mary it's too late.

 

 

Everyone suspects Donna's shoplifting, as she buys Don and Marlena, as well as Tom and Alice expensive jewellery, but claims it's fake. All from her babysitting money. She's apparently still not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, this is where EH's run starts to fall apart. This is....bananas, tbh. I like that Julie's story is involving so many people, and it does play on a lot of psychological beats, but I just can't see Julie being so insecure that she'd debate suicide and run away to hide from Doug because she's had some burns. Like, whaaat??? Julie also isn't stupid, and, while Julie is very vulnerable right now, the fact she wouldn't start to clue in that just MAYBE Laura's being a little bit...uncharacteristically awful right now, beggars belief. Not to mention most of the other people that regularly interact with Laura. Marie seems to be the only smart person left in Salem, tbh, though everyone did clue in fairly quickly.

 

The Anderson storyline, while still compelling, is start to feel a little muddled. I feel like maybe they didn't get as much play during May 1979 since the focus was so heavily on Laura's meltdown and Julie's burns, though.

 

The ratings bear out that after a strong showing in March (#8 with an 8.2, tied with RH), DAYS sunk down to #9 by May (6.3, again tied with RH), so it looks like this story hasn't exactly lit the audience on fire either, so to speak.

 

Let's hope June is something less of a train wreck.

Not gonna lie: this story with Laura the World's Worst Psychologist sounds amazing! Yes, it's an idiot plot like a lot of James Reilly's 1990s storylines were (requiring characters to be significantly dumbed down in service of the plot). But it sounds like all of this would be utterly hilarious to watch (and a lot more fun than the usual "forged antiques" and "forged Anderson company documents" storylines the show was running at the time). 

2 hours ago, SFK said:

What does Gwen have against Abby? I've only recently started regularly watching. 

Your guess is as good as ours. All viewers know so far is that Gwen has been pursuing her vendetta against Abby for months, including drugging her drink with a psychoactive compound that caused her to have hallucinations and be institutionalized.

There's some speculation that Gwen might be Abby's resentful long-lost half sister, maybe conceived back when infant Abby was ill, Jack couldn't take it, and he fled the country. But again, the show hasn't yet had their big reveal about Gwen's backstory (which is presumably coming later this month). 

Thanks so much for these detailed and hilarious recaps of the late 1970s plotlines, beebs! It's interesting reading these summaries, although my main response is "Who ARE all these people?" I'm fascinated by the way that current Days frequently references its 1980s supercouple era and its 1990s super-campy era, but almost never references the late 1970s, not even in conjunction with things that happened to Marlena or Maggie back then. 

Called it in the other thread: back-from-the-dead Ava is Phillip's secret partner in his plan to bring Titan to its knees. Now I just wonder if my predictions about Charlie will be true. 

25 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

I didn't watch much of that era of AMC. But i don't remember Alex being cray cray.

Yeah, as I recall, Alex was actually the "boring" twin compared to Anna; Alex was a sensible doctor, not an international spy. Nowadays, she's being written a lot more like Anna and Alex's evil mother, Charlotte (played by Samantha Eggar). 

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Grandma Kate gets around. I wonder how they're going to explain it, I thought that Jack and Kate didn't even like each other. But I hope they tie it back to Bill and Laura and we get a good Jen/Kate rivalry, maybe even Jen/Abby vs Kate/Gwen.

I couldn't tell if Jack actually had an affair with Kate, or if Gwen just forged a letter that made it seem that way.

Also, although I greatly prefer Kate Mansi over Marci Miller, I'm glad that Miller is the one playing out this particular story. I'm not sure if I'd believe that Mansi's Abby would get duped like this, and I think I'd feel sorry for her. But Miller plays Abby's entitlement and self-absorption in such a way that seeing her get manipulated by Gwen is absolutely delicious. 

13 minutes ago, detroitpiston said:

'I love everything Emily O'Brien is doing, she's great on this show

 

It's crazy Cady McClain had to do the Hope exit letter scenes

Agreed that Emily O'Brien is amazing here. I especially love when she has scenes with Brandon Barash, because I get the sense that the two of them are improvising a bit and keeping each other on their toes. Speaking of Barash, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm glad the show remembered the Jake-Ben friendship today. Both characters could use a talk-to, and the actors have good chemistry together. 

I liked Cady's first full day of scenes (where her performance seemed to be deliberately channeling Missy Reeves), but today, she seemed a little too hard. That imperious sense of authority works with a character like ATWT's Rosanna, but it just seems wrong for Jennifer. 

1 minute ago, AbcNbc247 said:

JJ did seem a little interested in her today though.

I just figured that was Days going back to its roots as a Bill Bell soap.

1 minute ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Glad to see JJ back but I'll have mixed feelings if they end up pairing him with Gwen. I kind of want to see that but at the same time I don't. A JJ/Gwen pairing will probably end up dumbing JJ down a lot but it could also spark a really good rivalry between Gwen and Abigail. 

I haven't read any spoilers, but isn't Gwen going to turn out to be his half-sister? The show's been dropping some hints that Jack might be her father. 

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I wish.

 

With any luck, they’ll just completely preempt the episode and nobody will miss it

That's what YouTube is for. Watching it now, and it's pretty good. Plus, it features Judi Evans, who's looking surprisingly well after her ordeal earlier this year. 

Okay, now that we got the cliffhanger that, according to the DNA test, Tripp is the father of Allie's baby, I wanted to share my crazy fan theory. I'm guessing that the real father--and the man who actually raped Allie--will be Tripp's long-lost half-brother, Ava's other son who we never knew existed. And I'm guessing that will be Charlie, and I'm guessing that he's actually working at Titan as a mole, feeding info on the company to his mother (who I'm guessing is also Phillip's co-conspirator). 

I have no idea if my guesses will turn out to be right, but I'm excited to keep watching and find out!

Also, I'm living for those Jake and Gwen scenes. I feel like other soaps need to study what Days has done with those two, because THAT'S the right way to introduce new characters to the canvas.