bossruen

What an episode! I howled (in a good way) when Jason headbutted Dante. Really quick, well done stunt. Loved the Lucas and Carly stuff, with Lucas’s bliss cross-cutting with Marco bleeding out. Rocco being the one to take out Cullum was inspired. You do not reach adulthood in Port Charles without a body count.

The sigh of relief I breathed when we found out Jordan isn’t pregnant…

The Britt/Rocco thing is a small part of my unified theory of why we’re not getting a Spencer recast anytime soon. It’s because a bunch of other characters are now filling the various niches that made that character complex. The hotheaded young heir with high cheekbones is now Michael (who plays more like a slightly aged Spencer than Chad Duell’s Michael IMO). The YA heartthrob with blood ties to Sonny is now Gio. Whereas Spencer accidentally softened Brit’s heart with quasi-maternal feelings, now Rocco is doing that. 3 is definitely the least significant of these, and I agree that giving Brit a case of the mommies should not be a priority at all. But it tracks!

It is, after all, a “mass psychosis event.” Were we supposed to think Jason didn’t shoot Cullum because he couldn’t get a clean shot without nicking Brennan? Why not just kill Brennan too?

I’m fine with the Dante/Liz chem test. It’s a nice change of pace to see Dante not grumble or scowl at someone. Howling at Cody sounding out “endometriosis.”

The Melrose Place characters played by Thomas Calabro and Marcia Cross—he was a scumbag and she was a psychopath.

I thought Eden was incredible this week, but I’m always here for characters calling Carly and Sonny on their bullshit. Interesting nuance to her scenes with Jason, too, where she suggested that blaming Sonny was just a front. There are layers there. Agree that Maxie and Felicia were both unreasonable with Lulu but Maxie had a line about choosing Spinelli because she felt like Nathan was already gone that nicely dovetailed with the “is he really Nathan?” lingering question. I can’t with Sonny and the shaggy ADA. Brutal. When the incest teens somehow aren’t the least appealing couple of the week… Trina suddenly serenading the Surf Lodge reminded me of when Designing Women would let Dixie Carter sing in later seasons. Maybe it’s Frank’s way of saying “Sorry we back-burnered you for two years.” LOLed at Britt’s photo of Rocco in his Corinthos Coffee jersey, which looked straight off the ABC press site.

I don’t know why it’s taken them so long to chem test Dante and Liz. It’s been a process-of-elimination no-brainer since Sam died.

I don’t know—the younger cast, especially, may feel like they can’t say no if he asks (weren’t there rumors about Mo being pissed when NAC declined?). These actors typically don’t have proper publicists. If I were on the show’s PR team, I would want to protect them from sharing things that may come back to haunt them later.

Absolutely hilarious that he gets away with this. Mo’s whole “browbeat my costars into spilling their darkest secrets on my YouTube channel” shtick is so unprofessional.

Always alarming to see flashbacks to the days when Mo could get his lines out.

Between this and the endless Finola vaykay I’m wondering if they’re furloughing some of the higher-paid actors for budget reasons.

I loved the giant sign that said “Power Grid” on the chain link fence that Joss stopped in front of to make sure she had her explosive device. Then, in case we hadn’t seen it, the camera panned over to the sign after Joss walked away. It was the kind of soap moment that you wish would be paired with organic music.

Was it, though? This person is supposed to terrify our allegedly fearless Anna.

My God, is it possible that Ramsey was even hammier in this return appearance than during his original run? It’s like he thinks he’s doing a Mad TV sketch parodying soap opera acting. How did Finola not break?

I honestly feel a bit bad for TPTB because the audience is constantly comparing every choice to whatever happened in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I don’t need Willow and Drew to be Monica and Alan because I’m enjoying their particular [!@#$%^&*]ed up dynamic. Two years ago, both characters and performances were flat and boring—reconceptualizing Drew as a narcissistic [!@#$%^&*] and leaning into Willow’s pathology as a cult follower with Daddy issues has revitalized both characters and freed the actors to do their best work. When audiences complain about characters and stories like this one, I honestly don’t know what they’re asking for—endless scenes of Laura and Scotty reminiscing about the ‘80s over tea? And for the nostalgia-driven, the show has made the brilliant choice to squeeze every drop out of Jane Elliot for as long as she wants to work. Plus, legacy leading ladies like Alexis and Anna are vital and dynamic. The show is much more balanced between veteran and newer characters than it was during the HW merry go round of 2023/24, and there’s a lot of strength to go around. For my money, the aimlessness around Nathan (attributable to Storms’s absence) and the wet-match Trina/Kai romance are the only things that aren’t clicking at the moment.

Gio and Braedyn are smart actors, nudging the show into writing a romance for them, lol. I’m fine with Sonny receding into Benevolent Grandpa mode but at some point they have to reduce his guarantees. He was a lowly number 4 in episode count for 2025 (after Drew, Carly, and Jason), which is some progress. Yeah, my understanding is that Hearst’s availability is limited. I believe he also just lost his mother IRL, with whom he co-owned a business until a couple years ago.

Casual DAYS viewer here, but I thought the only dramatically compelling material I’ve seen in the past year or two that wasn’t related to a legacy character’s death was Johnny finding out that he was the product of EJ’s rape of Sami, along with Chanel’s miscarriage. Those are two strong actors, and a linchpin next-generation couple for the show. I know Carlivati doesn’t have a ton of fans on this board, but DAYS has been dull as dishwater since he left. It’s relentlessly backward looking, full of flashbacks and nostalgia, long-forgotten characters dropping in for brief arcs (Peter?). There’s no vision, no energy. It feels like soap hospice, keeping only the oldest and most loyal viewers resting painlessly until the inevitable. And the lack of money is impossible to ignore. Actors crammed in to tiny sets (no more than 12 speaking parts per episode, compared to GH’s 20+), with those same two horrible mugging background actors swapping wigs in every scene. It just doesn’t feel like a professional production anymore. I’m always surprised to see hate for Leo and Gwen, who at least are written and played with a sense of humor (although markedly less so post-Carlivati), and Alex and Stephanie, who at least have some chemistry.

She was serving Alicia Florrick realness at times.

Today is the best work I’ve ever seen him do, period, across AMC, GH, or anything else. Embracing Drew’s petty scumbaggery has liberated his acting—not a bad pivot for someone who’s been known more for his abs than his chops for almost 30 years. Did anyone else crack up when BLQ made a beeline out of the mansion the moment Gio told her Sonny was making chicken piccata?

I’ve been saying! This is the only way.

NLG is often “cringe,” as the kids say, on social media, but I like that somebody in daytime has the guts to speak out about [gestures broadly at currently decaying democracy].

It’s cute that they think we need help forgetting about Dex.

Okay I had to Google the Viola Davis thing. JFC, Nance. Twitter used to be a wild place back when celebs still actually used it.

Gotta give those two credit for eschewing the passionless closed-mouth stage kisses we usually see on soaps these days and really going for it. 🤣