brisbydog

Paul is amazing. The growth journey he has taken Xander on, from that smart alec thug who cared about nobody, to this new, mature yet still flawed version, is amazing, particularly since he has had to do it without the benefit of any sort of nuanced writing. And I adore Belle too! Her name is Isabella though; Roman named her after John's late wife when he thought she was his, so it is not a cutsey name, she just has the cutsey version of it. I don't care about Pricetown. If Paulina never appeared again I would not notice frankly.

The show sure has been good as we wind up Ron's tenure, almost like someone was rewriting these last scripts. Apart from Rex, whose visit accomplished nothing, and Roman having the same flashback for the 80th time, I loved everything today. Belle and Philip were really great. Two people with so much history and both so flawed they don't bother judging each other. I think Justin is Xander's lawyer though. He may have to hire Melinda. I really am not hating Alex these days. He and Stephanie are finally working for me. I like knowing pregnant Joy is out there though. I so appreciated Xander bringing up how it hurts to have the gardener thing thrown in his face and Alex apologizing. I sure wish that they'd come over a bit later so Sarah had managed to confess. Enough already. Can I say I'm delighted that Philip and Xander will have to fake a united front to please Mr Shin. Keep on with these two please! Susan was not too annoying today, and I loved that she instantly saw that Belle loves her son. And EJ is "finally" awake but it's been only two Salem days lol

Tomorrow is Ron's last episode (Tuesday)

Lol I love this take. Especially Orpheus

That's my list too but is there room for Paulina?

They tried to get JKJ back for Victor's funeral but at the last minute he didn't show up so they emergency brought back JPL. I think he has a lot of personal issues that affected his portrayal last time, so not all on Ron. JPL is a joy. I can't imagine the other version of Philip bonding realistically with Xander like this.

Titan now owns Dimera but similar to Gabi Chic which is owned by them and managed by Gabi, Mr Shin runs the Dimera division. So he is now an employee of Titan but sort of a vice president to the Kiriaki They had liquidated the cash for the buy out months ago, but in the end it didn't matter as Shin voted that Dimera basically agreed to hand itself over to Titan.

Excellent show. I thought the Philip and Xander confrontation touched on everything it should. Philip's lonely childhood with no connections to Rex or Bo, Xander's feelings that he was always an embarassment to Victor, and them somehow growing to like each other. It's been the big plus in this story and I have truly enjoyed their growth as brothers. I have a feeling Xander is going to get over the Philip part of this fast (it's not like he wouldn't have pulled this himself). The Sarah part will be far worse. Rafe sure isn't in a hurry to find out who shot EJ. Nor is he sharing with the police. Vivian's visit has been a blast. I always enjoy her and this propelled the plot forward which is most welcome. Sami and Rafe are a snooze but that's mostly him. I loved Sami and Viv leaving together. The other "big" return of Rex appears to be forgotten. Did he leave town? Is he still on that one room at the pub? Do I care?(spoiler: nope).

Kayla kept her pregnancy with Stephanie secret for months because Steve was off finding a stupid key with Marina. Jack was the one who figured it out and told Steve. But he wasn't hurt or angry so poor example. I like Sarah loving a very complicated man and trying to manage him. From what I gathered at the Newark fan event that aspect is still playing out. The new writers sound like they don't drop important character beats because they want to jump to the next plot.

Reallly good episode. Again! Xander slowly being told that Philip, the brother he has grown to trust, has been duping him for months was exquisite thanks to the amazing Louise Sorel as Vivian (I knew her when she was putting her daughter's pigeon into a pie on Santa Barbara!). And that she just did it for spite, knowing Philip was never going to pay up, makes it even better. I can't wait for the fall out tomorrow. And Philip, at the start of the episode realizing that Alex is a ticking time bomb who will tell Xander as soon as he can, and at the end realizing it is too late for him to heed Alex's advice and tell him himself. If only Sarah would now tell Xander her part, but I bet she won't, thanks to Maggie who agrees with her that Victor would love his two sons working together. I imagine that is not going to be quite so harmonious now. Wonder if Xander keeps up the facade so they can solidify their takeover? The Estonia stuff was plodding. I just don't feel any urgency. I wish John's children were on this trip to give the scenes some energy. The only part that made me wake up was when Orpheus asked Marlena for help with Christian's custody case? Wait what? He got out of Salem river with that gaping head wound? Swam to New Zealand or whereever Jan sailed off to? Has the resources as a criminal on the lam to get himself a lawyer and sue for custody? I want answers lol!

She's going by Kiriakis these days Loving the show this week! Rafe is so very low key. I really wish Galen would put a bit more oomph into his performance. He should have played that scene with some emotion. Jada/Elia puts in all the work. I'm glad she walked. Everything she said was absolutely correct: his own sister was fooled, and he basically assumed she was sleeping with Shawn again and retaliated. Good riddance. On to Dope #2. First JJ, you should not be interrogating your own girlfriend, second, you have zero physical evidence, third, like Rafe, put some emotional reading into your delivery, you put me to sleep. Gabi rocks. I love Cherie. Glad she walked as well. Even though she was totally outside the house with a gun that night. But I don't think she did it. Sami and Kate were a joy. Just two old enemies sharing gossip. I loved them giggling over Shawn and Jada's hook up. I also liked Sami's run in with Kristen. I think the last time they tangled Kristen was trying to get Xander to shoot her. Philip, Maggie and Vivian were also great fun. I adore Louise Sorel. Philip though is an idiot if he thinks that he can keep postponing the inevitable. Vivian is a ticking timebomb who has no real allegiance to him. I think she is going to tell Xander a version of the forgery that does not implicate herself. She would throw Kate under the bus in a heartbeat, but would she sell out Philip? I think Sarah's part is safe for now. Alex is the most likely to tell Xander that one. He is the other cog in this wheel of lies that is not on board. Bonus: I loved Vivian's note. And Maggie's reaction. Xander and Kristen were the best part. He had no fear of her at all, and no concern that she was going to shoot. He's been down this road with her far too many times. My favourite part was him reminding her that he once loved Rachel as his own, and telling Kristen that she is still a better mother than Fiona ever was to him. That kind of writing has been sorely lacking and makes me wonder if the new girls were already playing around with the scripts. A few years back Xander didn't seem to even remember he knew Rachel, let alone played dad to her for over a year. Can't wait until tomorrow to see what Vivian has to say to him!!

She made some excuse about wanting to talk to him in person so was avoiding talking on phone aa she knew what he wanted to talk about. On the other hand she made a bee line for EJ from the airport, not Johnny

The gated exterior is the Kiriakis mansion, not the Dimera one, but same idea

Holly turned 18 in December. They had a party at the pub and everything on Christmas Eve

Unfortunately two of the actors said that they followed Ron's outlines for months.

Xander literally offered to buy the hospital over Valentine’s. SARAH said it wasn't that dire and not to trouble himself.

I don't find RSW hot at all, but that is all up to the individual. And absolutely Leo is a Mary Sue type insert, which is even worse.

Javi and Leo, Alex and Stephanie... both get excruciatingly long scenes where they have the same conversation where someone is shirtless. Ron loved these characters so much and I don't understand why. Both pairings are automatic skip for me.

Philip and Joy aren't co parenting. He doesn't even know she's pregnant I believe Theresa got an 8 month sentence just for the kidnapping as the forgery took place in Greece.

Paul Telfer and Eric Martsoff said (in January) that the new writers followed Ron's outlines for months and only in the fall shows were they finally getting ideas purely from the new team. So we can expect Ron's dumb stories but with better dialogue and characterizations until at least October.

May or June. And just about everybody

They were actually not that keen on the new writers. They were cautiously optimistic I'd say. Paul was pleased that other storylines bleed into his own as they should rather than Xander staying in his bubble. It was very telling that only three actors publicly lamented Ron's firing: Ron W, Greg R and Julie D. Linsey G is very vocal in interviews about hating her current story and struggling to make sense of Sarah's logic.

JP should be gone by May but returns in the fall.

I was in a zoom with Eric M and Paul T in January and Eric said that the new writers write them as actual 40 something men, instead of having them all act like middle aged teenagers. So at least I have that to hang on to while I endure Leo prancing about and talking like a teen girl

Weirdly low key Friday show but relieved to have a break from Jada and Leo was absent too so that's a win. I actually like this adoption story. Everyone in it is likable and I can't wait to see Paulina and Amy go at it. Hope Chanel is ready to lie about her Bible group lol Holly/Doug and Tate/Sophia are clearly the better pairings.