beebs

3 hours ago, Titus Andronicus said:

 

Kenney left in January 1980.

 

An interview I read from a couple of weeks afterward said it was because of Ann Marcus' firing. That absolutely can't be and so I'm wondering if Harrower was already on the way out and he misspoke. Jason has Kenney with Days through the show that aired January 18.

Yeah, I would say that would have to be it, especially what with Harrower returning to Y&R under his watch. I'd imagine there was a rapport there. I wish I had more insider info there, because it really feels like Harrower didn't get a fair shake. Her stories just seem to get cut off over and over again, and network interference seems like a logical reason. I have seen what that looks like before, and it feels like Ann Marcus had been given the room to tell her (rotten) stories, while Harrower didn't. Just my observation.

 

 

Shall we venture into Harrower's last weeks? Ruth Brooks Flippen starts March 14, these writeups go til' the 21st, so her first week will become self-evident, I think.

 

 

 

 

Linda is furious over Bob's divorce settlement terms. Bob has declared that Melissa should stay in Salem to complete school, and Linda leave town. Linda won't hear of it. Linda feels Melissa has turned against her, and thinks she's ungrateful. Melissa insists she's just torn between her love for both Linda and Bob. Linda coldly tells her "you can't have it both ways, honey".

 

Don has managed to get Linda a new job in Cincinnati, but Linda doesn't really want to take it. Hoping to stay in Salem, she visits Bob in the hospital, apologizing for not coming sooner. She is contrite, and admits that Bob has a right to be angry, but that separating her from Melissa is a step too far. She grovels at Bob's feet, laying on the theatrics thick with how much she cares for him, and to give her another chance...and Bob doesn't say a damned word. Linda continues to lay herself at Bob's mercy, asking how he cannot see how much she "loves" him. Bob finally speaks, telling Linda that it's too late, and if she doesn't agree to his terms and leave Salem ASAP, he will reveal how she left him to die. Linda finally gives in and says her goodbyes, Bob tells her she already said her goodbyes ages ago. OOF!

 

Mary tells Bob she's marrying Alex. Bob isn't thrilled, wondering what Alex wants from Mary to be marrying her so soon. Mary is certain Alex isn't up to anything, as he's just as well-off as she is, therefore couldn't possibly be marrying her for untoward reasons. Oh Mary, my sweet summer child. Chris is defensive of her when he hears the news, and tries to be gracious. He tells Mary that Alex is a lucky man and that if he does her wrong, Alex will have to answer to him. Mary notes that Alex reminds her of Bob, and Chris makes the connection (Mary always has had a rather...excessive loyalty to her father). Chris notes "she's finally marrying her father". OOPS!

 

Linda and Mary say their goodbyes, with Mary being her usually icy self toward Linda, but she does promise to watch over Melissa in her absence. When Linda approaches Melissa, she decides to leave with her mother. FOOL.

 

MASSACRE VICTIMS #4 and 5!!!

 

Beebs' note: This is TWO DAYS into the new writeups. ALL OF THIS. DAYS was wasting NO time. WOW.

 

 

Bob tries to tactfully tell Phyllis that her daughter is marrying her most recent boyfriend, but the news still shocks Phyllis. Bob tries to find out more about Alex, but Phyllis doesn't really know, beyond the fact he reminded Phyllis of Bob. Telling. Mary later tells Phyllis, who pretends she's shocked and hadn't already heard from Bob. She tells Mary the news hurts her, but she'll still be there for the wedding. Speaking later to Bob, Phyllis admits that Alex is a rotten choice for Mary, but she can't stop her.

 

Mary brings Bob a letter from Melissa, explaining why she left with Linda. Mary forewarns Bob that while Melissa loves him, she also loves her mother. Bob is enraged after reading the letter, which explains that she needs to be with her mother, as she will have no one in Cincinnati. Bob is certain Linda manipulated Melissa into leaving with her, and is enraged by the letter. Mary calls Mickey on Bob's behalf, to have Linda and Melissa tracked down, only to learn they never arrived in Cincinnati. Slippery Linda strikes again!

 

Bob is released from the hospital, and Mary wants to care for him. Alex, desperate to get married right away (and get his hands on that sweet sweet Anderson dollar), suggests Phyllis care for Bob, which suits Phyllis just fine, as she and Bob are beginning to reconnect after years apart. Phyllis hints upon bringing Bob home that she'd like this reconnection to become permanent (HINT). Bob lets her down gently, saying that losing so many people so close together has worn him out emotionally. HE CURIOUSLY DOES NOT MENTION STEPHANIE, but "the thing with Linda and Melissa, and losing MARY". Mary's getting married, it's not like she drove herself off a cliff while on pills or something, BOB.

 

Mary asks Margo to be her maid of honour (Mary really has no closer friends than Chris' bloody secretary??), and Alex decides to smooth things over with Chris, and with Bob, by asking Chris to be his best man (speaking volumes about the depth of Alex's interpersonal relationships). Chris agrees not to leave Anderson for Bob's sake, and to being Alex's best man.

 

 

 

 

Jordan observes more and more that there's a certain...something between Marie and Alex, and he notices that Marie is spending an inordinate amount of time counseling unwed mothers. He confronts her about this, certain Alex played some part in her past.

 

 

 

 

 

Marlena returns home, but, upsettingly, without DJ, who is too small to leave UH. 

 

Donna, despite Terry's article in the paper, is still being teased for being the porn girl, so she asks again to move in with her grandmother. Don and Marlena agree, but worry what Grandma Craig will say when Donna tells her the circumstances. Donna then tells them she already explained the whole situation and Grandma Craig is totally fine with it. Don is amazed at his mother's attitude!

 

DJ comes home, and Marlena and Don dote on the boy. Donna loves him as well, but is haunted by the baby she lost. This nagging pain only reinforces her desire to leave Salem. And off she goes (to be seen only three more times after this) to visit Grandma Craig. Looks like it's a visit for now, but became permanent in April.

 

MASSACRE VICTIM #6 (though Donna appears again in early April, she leaves town March 6).

 

 

 

 

David is BIG MAD Trish wants to work to pay Doug back for bailing her out, by singing with the terribly-named rock group "Wet Wash". David doesn't want these dopes near their home or their son.

 

 

 

 

Margo starts to feel weak at work, and Chris gets her to the hosptial. Tom sees that it's bad news, but is nervous to tell Margo, knowing she'll fall apart. (WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING, I WONDER?)

 

Bill calls Margo to the hospital, and Margo already knows the news is bad. She tries to put him off, but eventually relents, heading down to his office to hear that her cancer's back. Bill recommends she start chemo immediately, and agrees to keep quiet about Margo's diagnosis to Mike for now, Margo will tell him herself after Tom & Alice's anniversary party.

 

Tom and Alice have a big surprise party for their anniversary. Mike presents them with a gift from the entire family: their wedding pictures in a lovely frame. The happy couple lead the group to the dancefloor. Mike and Margo soon follow, as do Bill and Laura. Bill remarks how weak Margo looks (dying'll do that to ya, Bill). Bill swaps partners with Mike, and while Bill and Margo dance, Margo quickly runs from the room. Bill and Mike rush her to UH. Margo desperately wants to minimize the severity of this incident, and wants Bill and Tom to not tell Mike how grave the situation is, hoping she'll pull through this, and if not, she'll be able to leave Mike with happy memories of the night before he hears the news.

 

Bill and Laura agree that Mike needs to hear about Margo's condition, and Laura agrees to talk with both of them.

 

 

 

Robert asks Julie to watch DougieCharleswhateverhisnameis while Robert is in France, but Julie isn't up to it, still too depressed from her previous year's ordeal. Julie suggests asking Doug and Lee, but Robert isn't certain if Lee would agree. Julie and Robert both agree that Doug would be thrilled to spend time with the boy, however. Robert asks Doug, who excitedly agrees, but Robert makes him promise not to tell Lee he's the boy's father.

 

Lee agrees to take Dougie in, but when Robert leaves Dougie with Doug, Dougie has a meltdown. Robert realizes the boy has been through too much upheaval too quickly, and realizes he MUST leave with Robert. So Robert takes the boy with him, and after a final performance at Doug's Place, where Robert breaks down crying and Doug has to come sing to him to keep his spirits up, Robert and Dougie share a warm toast and a goodbye with Doug and Julie, before heading for the airport. Julie comforts Doug, who breaks down, realizing Robert and Dougie aren't coming back.

 

MASSACRE VICTIMS #7 and 8! (March 14)

 

As Julie embraces a sobbing Doug, Lee enters the club, and spots Doug in Julie's arms. She's PIIIIIISSED, and declares to herself that "this friendly divorce has gone too far". OOOO SH1T GONE GET REAL NOW!

 

Julie, still bored by the antique business, is contacted by Tony Kingman, a businessman she met in NYC (with the mob bossiest name I've heard in years). He wants her to ditch Salem and head to New York to work as an antique buyer for him. Neil tries to talk her out of it.

 

 

 

 

It seems they're really selling the goodbyes here. WOW, I can imagine why the cast felt the sense of doom and gloom in the air. The show really was gutted during these final weeks of Harrower. I get the VERY strong sense that Rabin made a lot of these big changes, considering how they start almost immediately after he took over as EP, and that press statement about clearing house to remove the "negative vibes" on set. At least here they seem to be done with a sense of reverence for the show's history and audience, unlike Stephanie's departure. Even Linda gets a decent send-off, despite being the heavy in that story.

 

I do wonder if Robert's breaking down while performing at Doug's Place was rehearsed or not. Because, honestly, it doesn't seem like, from what I've been reading up until now, Robert was leaving permanently. So I wonder if that was changed, or if the general sense in the studio that the DAYS they knew was ending hung heavily in the air and that that moment just organically occurred.

 

The energy in these episodes almost feels like the show is ENDING, tbh. If, indeed, these changes were spearheaded by Rabin, it amazes me that he lasted so long as EP after this, because WOW, this is a rather dramatic beginning for what would turn out to be an extremely successful turnaround.

On 11/12/2020 at 11:22 PM, 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.

I actually always really enjoyed Melanie as well. I just kinda...kept quiet about her on here because I knew how loathed she was. I really didn't see the point in bringing her back in 2015, having said this.

 

Agreed re: Melissa Ordway, as well.

 

On 11/12/2020 at 10:31 PM, Faulkner said:

He and Robin Mattson were so magical together on SB that I’m surprised that she didn’t end up back on GL and re-paired with him at some point.

Suddenly I'm grateful she DIDN'T end up back at GL, because you know full well it'd be Hope/Buzz five days a week. UGH.

12 hours ago, jam6242 said:

I always thought Bob Anderson was boring.  I found Mark Tapscott kind of wooden in his acting. The women in his life were more interesting.  Here is a scene after Bob’s death, with Phyllis, Julie, and Maggie.  Sorry for the quality.

 

Thank you SO MUCH for this clip @jam6242. I do feel the scene runs long, but the transitions help me retain my attention. These characters are so fascinating, and to know that it's all in this huge state of flux is just wild to me. And those changes are about to start.

 

14 hours ago, prefab1 said:

TBH, I've been really bored reading about the various Anderson storylines in these recaps, though I can see how some of them might have played better onscreen, with the various scheming women in that family.

 

But it does seem weird that DAYS wrote out their millionaire industrialist family right at the time when other shows were introducing them (GL's Spauldings, GH's Quartermaines, OLTL's Buchanans, AMC's Cortlandts, etc.). They didn't exactly have their finger on the pulse of the 1980s, did they? 

The Andersons' actresses, Stanger and Barnett in particular, are fiery. I really enjoy reading about them because they're both fine actresses, with complex characters that fascinate me. So I'm a bit biased in being along for the ride, even if their stories have a lot of stopping and starting going on, particularly later on. The thing to remember is that the Andersons started off very much enmeshed in the Hortons' stories, as they were introduced as taking Julie in when her husband Scott died after a beam fell on him during construction of the Anderson plant. Julie then married Bob, and Phyllis married Neil. Brooke (now Stephanie) arrived on the show as David's college girlfriend. So they had more ties to the show's core that have been more or less severed, particularly during Harrower's run, which stupidly ended David and Stephanie's reunion instead of heating up the Trish/Stephanie rivalry during what seemed an inevitable custody battle for Scotty. I think too many opportunities were wasted under Harrower with the Andersons, and they became so islanded that it just made the most sense to ship them out. 

 

But I will NEVER understand the move Harrower is about to make.

 

Unless Harrower was under Corday/Rabin's orders to do what she's about to do to steer the ship in time for Laemmle/RBF, she 120% shat the bed with this twist that comes during this month's breakdown. You'll all see what I mean shortly. The absolutely STUPIDEST thing Harrower could've done, and now I see exactly why they had to kill the Anderson story afterwards.

 

 

Shall we? February 1980!

 

 

Mickey fires Linda, because it's now a conflict of interest since Bob intends to divorce her, and he's also certain Linda's read Bob's will. Linda angrily announces she plans to countersue, and implicate Stephanie as Bob's mistress (ick). She then confronts Bob, who's still under the weather, blaming him for getting her fired and for divorcing her, and reiterates her accusation that Bob is sleeping with Stephanie. Bob vehemently denies all of this, and says he had no hand in Linda losing her job. Linda doesn't buy it. She tells him that she'll sue the pants off him, and he'll wish he never met her. Bob clutches this chest and falls to the floor, he's having a heart attack, y'all! Watching him writhe in pain, desperately begging Linda to hand him his heart medication, Linda ponders it a moment, then decides she's saved him once and it got her nowhere, she won't help him again. Linda walks out of the room, leaving Bob to suffer. Phyllis thankfully arrives moments later, and, not being a complete sociopath, immediately calls an ambulance. Bob's pulse is weak, and he's rushed to ICU at University Hospital.

 

At the ICU, Linda waits for news, praying Bob dies before he has a chance to amend his will to cut Linda out of it. Linda, Stephanie, Mary, and Phyllis all await news, with Tom telling them it's touch and go.

 

Phyllis visits Bob in his hospital room, and professes her love for him, saying he's the only man she's ever really cared for. She cries, begging Bob to recover, for her sake, and for Mary's. Linda, meanwhile, offers to take over the plant in Bob's absence, just as she had done previously. Mary knows better, though, and tells her to get lost.

 

But Mary is, indeed, in over her head, and Alex smells fear, apparently, because he comes blazing in, offering to help her run Anderson. And being the fool she is, Mary agrees. Alex sends Mary away, and gloats openly about his latest victory. Blech!

 

While Bob is half-asleep, Stephanie pays him a visit. She tells him that the woman who died in the crash in 1977 was the hitchhiker she'd picked up, not her, and she is, in fact, Brooke. She tells him how afraid she was to tell him, and that she loves him. After Stephanie leaves, Bob calls out softly to her "Brooke...my daughter, Brooke". He heard her!

 

The next day, Bob tells Mickey to replace Linda with Stephanie in his will, and Mickey informs Mary that Stephanie is, in fact, her half-sister.

 

Alex also has news to share: Now that he's taken over as de facto head of Anderson, he's gonna dump Stephanie and marry Mary (and Mary's money!). Stephanie threatens to expose Alex, and tell them that he's been feeding her these ridiculous pills, but Alex has used her addiction to build mistrust within the organization against Stephanie, and tells her no one will believe her.

 

Stephanie, feeling rejected, gets in her car to go warn Mary about Alex. She's probably high as a kite and been drinking, of course. The more upset she gets, the worse she drives, and eventually careens off a cliff. Her car lands upside down. She's rushed to Emergency at UH, where she calls out for Bob repeatedly, but bleeds out and dies. 

 

MASSACRE VICTIM #1!

 

Beebs' Note: I should like to point out, that, if I am to believe what is listed as Eileen Barnett's last airdate, and what SOD says this synopsis covers, it would mean that ALL of the above events occurred over the course of FOUR DAYS. WHAT. THE. EVERLOVING. FVCK?!

 

Stephanie is now such an afterthought, they bury her the next day, and have Margo, of all people, read her eulogy. 

 

Alex has now been given the okay by Bob to run Anderson until Chris gets back from his DC trip. CHRIS ONLY LEFT ON THIS TRIP ABOUT A WEEK AGO WTFFFFF!!! Can you imagine leaving on a business trip and coming back to this kind of a wacky sh!tshow??? My head would explode! ANYWAY, when Alex tells Mary this, she warily asks what's in it for him. Alex claims purely altruistic motives, just wanting to help friends he cares for. Mary, gunning for this month's big Dumbass prize, believes him and kisses him. Alex and Mary begin to be seen all over Salem together, with her seeing the charming side of him that reels her in after her tumultuous time with Chris. Eventually (probably like a week on), they admit their (alleged) love for each other. Finally, Alex proposes to Mary, and she accepts. Yep. Dumbass of the month winner right here.

 

Bob recovers enough that Mary tells him of Stephanie's death. He's heartbroken that he didn't have enough time with her after learning she was Brooke, but Mary discourages him from making a public announcement that Stephanie was his daughter, as she was illegitimate, and we apparently cared about this type of thing in 1980.

 

Chris returns and is utterly dumbfounded by the fact that LITERALLY EVERYTHING has changed in the two-ish weeks he's been away. Chris asks Mary why da hell is Alex running Anderson, and Mary tells him that's the way she wants it. Chris (rightly) thinks that's ridiculous and tells Bob about everything that's going on, particularly with Alex. Bob is even surprised by some of what's happening, and is really shocked by Mary's fixation on Alex, as she hardly knows him. Bob reaffirms that he'd rather Chris be running Anderson than Alex, but Alex throws his weight around, and when Chris defies him, conflict is in the air.

 

Linda tries to beg Mickey and Don for her job back, but they won't budge. Linda asks Don to at least use his influence to help her find something new. No word on whether that trick worked or not. Melissa visits Bob, and he tells her that his marriage to Linda is well and truly over. Melissa sobs in his arms.

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy complains to Marie that she's failing her nursing courses, so Marie ships her out of town to complete her studies with a teacher that once taught Marie. GIRL, BYE!

 

MASSACRE VICTIM #2! (LITERALLY 4 DAYS AFTER STEPHANIE!)

 

 

 

 

 

Mimi returns, tracks Trish down at Doug's Place, and hands her the phony diamond Earl gave Margo. She demands the real one, and Trish has no idea what the hell she's on about, until she remembers the diamond she lent Margo. Realizing Earl pulled a fast one on Margo, Trish marches over to Earl's office and demands the real stone, pronto. Earl feigns innocence, but Trish doesn't play along, threatening to go to the police.

 

Terry realizes Earl is about to skip town and leave HIM on the hook for the porn mess. He threatens to tell all to Don, but Earl pulls a gun on him and makes Terry back off him. Earl calls Don and warns him not to do his Great Teen Porn Extavaganza or else, as his associates won't be very happy. Then Earl burns all his relevant paperwork, and skips town. Goodbyyyyyyye, Eeeeeearl! </dixiechicks>

 

A week or so later, Mickey tells Mike and Margo that Earl's been arrested in Chicago on Narcotics charges. Guess that's the end of him, too!

 

MASSACRE VICTIM #3!

 

Don's Bizarro Porn Festival of Shame happens, with Donna giving her speech about getting caught up in this mess, before Don gives a sanctimonious speech about the evils of porn, and how the parents of Salem should keep a watch over their children.

 

Donna immediately regrets letting Don show the film, as now she's getting eviscerated by everyone at school, and asks Marlena to let her finish school on the east coast with Don's parents. Marlena agrees to talk to Don about it. Don, however, is thrilled when a desperate Terry does indeed end up turning to him, ready to tell all to Don in hopes of protecting himself. Donna's fears are soon allayed when Terry's story hits the papers, confirming her innocence in the entire porn film mess.

 

Mimi comes back and threatens Trish again, but Trish tells her that Earl took the diamond and split. Mimi doesn't care, and says that if she can't get the diamond, then give her $5,000 or Durant will be veeeeery disappointed in her. Trish begs Doug to loan her the money, but Doug, in giving it to her, asks that Trish tell David that she's in trouble.

 

 

Marlena complains of gas pains at dinner, and excuses herself. When she returns, she's wearing her coat. SHE'S IN LABOUR. Hours later, with Don by her side, DJ is born...6 weeks premature. Marlena is scared he's in danger. And she'd be right. Who needs Dionne Warwick when you've got Marlena predicting the future so accurately?

 

 

 

Now that they're well rid of Earl, Mike can go back to dreaming of a future, and Margo can go back to moping about dying. 

 

No, literally. Mike wants a baby, and Margo is so scared of her remission being temporary, that she starts crying any time Mike brings up the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Lee sees Neil, having caught the flu AND anemia while on holiday in Hawaii with Doug. He recommends meds and does blood work on her. Back at home, Lee recovers, then tries to seduce him, but Doug holds back. Lee notices he feels badly when they do have sex, as he's still thinking he's being unfaithful to Julie, and loses his bo...nerve. Doug agrees he's been seeing and thinking of Julie too much, and is apologetic to Lee. Thinking that maybe getting out of the house he shared with Julie would help, Lee suggests looking for a new one nearer to Hope's new school. Doug agrees to help her look, but secretly doubts he's ever going to be happy with anyone other than Julie. I've never seen two adults dance around each other like this in my life. Such childish nonsense.

 

Julie grows tired of Chez Julie, and asks Maggie to partner with her on an interior design business. Maggie doesn't want to overwhelm herself with work, especially at Mickey's expense, while they're working to rebuild their marriage. She declines Julie's offer.

 

Julie then invites Neil over to hers for dinner. Excited, Neil thinks Julie may finally be ready to get involved with him as more than a friend, but Julie is a mopey sack of depression, and though Neil tries his best, Julie isn't much fun. He tries to make a move on her, but she pulls away, and Neil snaps at her that he's "ONLY HUMAN!!!1", before heading for the door. He laments, "goodnight, Julie. It was a lovely dream." 

 

Okay, Miss Melodrama. We know you were just horny and had run through the rest of the women in town. You don't fool me, Curtis!

 

Lee visits Chez Julie to taunt Julie with the news that she and Doug are buying a new house. Julie smiles, and pretends she doesn't want to throttle the snooty southern bitch, all the while realizing that Doug's making a proper commitment to this woman now, so he's obviously moving on without her.

 

 

 

Bill returns home from visiting Laura with great news: She's ready to return home! And she promises to set Bill free if she can't be the woman he married. Promises, promises, Laura.




This...sucks.

This is an absolute mess, and, considering it's still Harrower's writing being wrapped up, it seems to me that she's shifting things about desperately to gear things up for her successor. But...WOW killing Stephanie is a dumb move. Things are SO disjointed, so clumsily written. I absolutely HATE this.

 

Seems viewers did, too. The show fell from 9th and 6.6, to 10th, and a 5.8, its lowest ratings this month (from what I can see) since November 1978 during the Janice custody trial. And the worst is yet to come!

On 11/21/2020 at 11:56 PM, Titus Andronicus said:

I'd like to know who was really calling the shots between Laemmle being announced in January and her actually taking over in April.

I suspect Corday and Rabin were trying to guide things to a spot where Laemmle could take over, but that's pure speculation on my part. I'm already noticing things being unceremoniously dropped in December, so they may have been steering things even then. 

 

It's funny because, on the surface, Laemmle wasn't a bad choice to replace Harrower. She came from a solid background at Peyton Place, and had a good reputation from the sounds of it, but...yikes.

 

 

 

OKAY, Let's start the 80s!

 

 

Stephanie has more sessions with Jordan, and reveals she's been drinking too much ON TOP of the pills, and is worried Alex won't want to marry a woman who's a lush (honey, he won't marry you anyway, so you might as well live your life!). She also is terrified that revealing her identity to Bob will ruin the relationship they've forged. Jordan thinks Bob will be far more forgiving than she gives him credit for.

 

Bob lets Stephanie know her workload will be heavier with Steve in France (and since he won't be back, I guess it'll just stay that way, then). He suggests to her that she get Mary to take over Steve's responsibilities while he's gone, so that she'll be prepared if and when she takes over Anderson in the future.

 

Stephanie suggests that she and Alex elope across state lines. Alex decides at this point that Stephanie is becoming a bore and a nuisance (and is wildly out of character as well, but I digress), and that he must "do something about it". Don't push HER off a baclony, my dude!

 

Phyllis calls Alex at his apartment to let him know her divorce from Neil will soon be finalized. Alex doesn't care in the slightest, and blows her off. He's there with Mary, who he pulls into a kiss. She pushes him away, and as she leaves, calls him a "very dangerous man". Uhh...yeah? What was your first hint?

 

Alex throws a party, and ignores both Phyllis and Stephanie, instead spends most of the evening flirting with Mary. Stephanie and Phyllis are livid. Phyllis takes the step of hinting she'd like to marry Alex, and he responds that he has no interest whatsoever. Phyllis snaps at him, demanding to know who he's sleeping with. Maggie? Linda? Julie? Stephanie? Trish? Cathy? Lee? (All of them? Why not Alice? Donna? MARIE??) Alex tries to reassure her that he's only had a few dinner dates (*bites tongue*), and thinks Phyllis should take things slowly after her divorce, but Phyllis is desperate to marry him, for reasons that are completely beyond me.

 

Mary is officially promoted, and offers Mike another promotion, to an assistant role in the PR Department! Better clear that with Earl first.

 

Alex sends Bob to DC for a meeting with government officials about Chris' solar generator project. He tells everyone except Mary, that he's shipping Bob to LA instead, for "confidentiality" reasons.

 

Melissa has had enough of Linda's sh!t! She confesses to Mary that Linda isn't pregnant, and has been trying to get Neil to GET her pregnant. She's BIG mad at her mama, accusing Linda of only wanting Bob's money and power, and Melissa can't understand why Linda is so awful, when Bob is so good to them. OOOF! When Mary next sees Phyllis, she spills the beans to her about Melissa's confession.

 

Stephanie finds out Bob left Mary in charge of the plant while he's in "LA" and not her, and she's NOT happy, intent to show Bob how hard she's been working in his absence to usurp her sister. But her pill intake and boozing still hamper her abilities, and despite declaring to Chris that she's going to stop taking them, she can't. Physical dependency is a real bitch. Her addiction isn't helped by Bob's excitedly telling Stephanie about how he's grooming Mary to take over (in Stephanie's eyes, take over HER position). Stephanie is determined to make Mary look bad, and have her make very costly mistakes to make Bob second-guess his decision.

 

When Bob returns from DC, he tells Linda how successful it was, and how the solar generator will be a huge moneymaker for Anderson. Linda feels a pang of guilt for not telling Bob about the lack of baby. But just...can't quite tell him. Bob, for his part, has been having pains of his own, in the chest. He has a checkup with Tom, and tells him he's been wavering from his diet. Tom tells him to check himself into UH, but Bob can't, what with the solar panel project on the brink of success. Tom encourages Bob to, at the very least, take it easy.

 

Well, that might be difficult, as Phyllis spies Alex flirting with Linda one day, and makes a beeline to Bob, telling him all about what a conniving bitch his wife is, and how she's making a fool of him, and she ain't even PREGNANT! Bob's chest pains flare up, but Phyllis carries on, telling Bob that Mary is the one who told her. Bob calls Mary into his office, and Mary confirms Melissa's story. Bob doesn't believe the story for some reason, claiming that Melissa is making it up out of jealousy (okay, Bob, sure). 

 

Mary then confronts her mother, scolding her for upsetting Bob like that, and asks her if SHE is the jealous one, noting that Alex has ZERO interest in marrying Phyllis. Phyllis slaps Mary back into 1977 and tells her to stay out of her life, before storming off.

 

Bob has a heart-to-heart with Melissa, who confirms Mary and Phyllis' story about Linda. Melissa breaks down, terrified Bob will kick her and Linda out because of Linda's lies. Bob reassures Melissa that no matter what happens, he won't ask her to leave.

 

Bob, not feeling up to it, sends Chris back to Washington to finalize the solar panel deal, then heads to Neil's office to confront him about Linda's phony pregnancy. Neil starts off by trying to save face, claiming that Linda THOUGHT she was pregnant because she missed a period, but ultimately wasn't. Neil ends up admitting to Linda asking him to fake a miscarriage, and trying to convince Neil to knock her up himself.

 

Bob goes home and lays into Linda for lying. Linda, for her part, plays innocent, claiming she didn't want to disappoint Bob, and that she's still willing to try for a baby with him! Bob tells Linda he didn't WANT her child to begin with! He also expresses that he knows Linda has an ulterior motive for wanting Bob's baby and demands to know what it is. Linda admits she found out that Bob cut her out of the will, and wanted to be back in, so she claimed to be pregnant, and it worked. Bob tells her she won't get another dime from him, and Linda snaps back that she'll punish Melissa for running her mouth. Bob tells Linda that if she lays a hand on Melissa, she'll have her declared an unfit mother in an instant! 

 

Linda still confronts Melissa, shaking her for being so ungrateful when she's (apparently) done SO MUCH for them. Melissa calls Linda a lair and a cheat, and never wants to see her again. Melissa also tells Linda that Bob promised to always care for her, to which Linda counters that if she and Bob split, Melissa will stay with HER, not Bob. Bob walks in at this point, and Linda claims Bob's poisoned Melissa's mind against her. Bob tells her she's full of sh!t, and lays into Linda for trying to poison Melissa's mind, full stop!

 

Tom is extremely concerned that Bob's heart condition has deteriorated, and he could have a fatal heart attack at any time.

 

Bob moves into the Salem Inn, leaving Linda and Melissa at the lakehouse. Linda visits him at his hotel room, begging him to come home, and promising to no longer be duplicitous with him. She claims she "only wanted to give him the son he's always wanted". Bob is revolted by Linda, and orders her from his room. Linda informs him on her way out that she will not make a divorce easy on him.

 

 

Stephanie has an argument at the office (no idea who with), then heads to Alex's to blow off some steam. With drink in hand, she tells Alex she has given him an office at Anderson, so that she can "see what women are hanging all over him". Alex is put out by Stephanie's jealousy, and when Stephanie breaks an expensive tchotchke of Alex's, he snaps at her that she's starting to cost him too much money. Drunk and high on pills, Stephanie throws her drink in Alex's face. Alex throws her out, and demands she never come back. Stephanie leaves, heading for the lakehouse to tell Bob everything, unaware that he's not at the lakehouse anymore.

 

 

 

Trish hears about Steve's sudden departure for Paris, and is worried that Steve will rat her out to Durant, so she gets Terry (of all people) to take new photos of her for the entrance to Doug's Place, even considering dying her hair for it. Earl sees the photos and suggests to Terry that Trish would be "good on the open market" (barf). He also tells him to get Donna's "photograph" ready, cos he's gonna send it to Don to get him to stop his Crusade for Cleanliness!

 

Earl is annoyed that Terry seems to be attracted to Trish, and asks Mike to inform him immediately if Terry goes to Doug's Place looking for her. Mike has to go along with it, because of the debt and stuff. If only Margo had followed through with that call to the Better Business Bureau. Mimi later shows up, demands Trish fork over the diamonds. Trish plays dumb, but Mimi knows better, and invokes the threat of Durant. Trish obliges, and the diamonds are on their way back to France.

 

Don is the Dumbass of the Month, receiving "Donna's nude photo" in the mail, and becoming angry at her for it, apparently unaware that he needs an eye exam STAT if he can't tell that farce of a photo is a fake. Mickey states the obvious that he's receiving this as a message to stop his Uptight Suburbanites Against Visible Areolas campaign. Don goes home and confronts Donna, who vehemently denies posing for the photos. She even goes so far as to show Don the photos she DID pose for. He doesn't like thiose either, but at least they're not the sh!tty fakes. He worries he could be blackmailed with these, and also that, seeing Donna "nude", some letch may follow Donna home at night.

 

Don goes to see Terry, and wants to know if Donna posed for the obviously fake photo. Terry claims to know nothing, but says that someone must be trying to scare him off his campaign (I wonder who it could be?), Don warns Terry that if he's involved...etc. etc. bla bla bla. He also won't let Donna model for Terry any longer.

 

Don heads to the porn theatre, and is apparently shocked that there are teenagers there, because he apparently forgot hormones are a thing. He becomes yet more determined to make sure every porn theatre gets shut down if it's the last thing he does. How noble. SO HE DECIDES TO PUBLISH DONNA'S PHOTO ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SALEM CHRONICLE! (Interesting that it isn't the Spectator, but, hey...)

 

Somehow Don doesn't become the victim of a murder by his own daughter after publishing Donna's photo, and Trish realizes what Terrible Terry is up to. She visits him and demands he give her the photos and the negatives of the shots he took back, as she doesn't want HER photos doctored the way Donna's were. She even threatens to go to Don, revealing how far a girl could go far in Salem as a hooker (remember what she had to do to get out of Italy). Terry hands the photos over but immediately snitches to Earl, who tells Terry it's time to show Donna's porno movie, and invite the press along for the ride!

 

The mayor, who's always been a little fishy, visits Don and accuses him of launching the Salem Inquisition to gain publicity for himself (clearly on Earl's payroll then). He also implies Donna isn't exactly an innocent in all this, and thinks Don is attractive negative publicity on Salem, when he's trying to lobby federal funding for public transit. He asks that Don stay out of the media until he can absolutely prove Donna wasn't posing for porn shoots. Don insists he will find proof, because he is "concerned for the children of Salem". The mayor points out, rather cynically, that "children don't vote or pay taxes".

 

The gross-ass calls start for Donna, with some a$$hole saying he "saw her photos and wants to touch her body". Pretty sure she's not 18 yet, my dude. Another call, this time for Earl, tells Don that Donna's porno is screening, and that he and Marlena should attend to see some "familiar faces" from the community. Barf.

 

Finding out from Terry that the "screen test" she did was actually used in the porn, Donna panics, but Terry warns her that if she names him, Don will lose limbs. Donna leaves an apologetic note for Don and Marlena, saying she didn't know the screen test would be used in the porno until tonight, and leaves town, hitching a ride with a trucker out of town. (for the 95th time since I started writing these things up: THIS WILL END WELL!)

 

Mike finds out about the scandal of Donna's supposed porno, and contacts Mickey to let him know that the film was shot at "a studio where he frequently sees Earl". Mike has a STRONG hunch Earl and the porn films are connected.  Mickey informs Don of the connection, and Don heads back to Terry's studio, where Earl just HAPPENS to be. Don confronts him, demanding to know where Donna is. Earl doesn't know, not having seen Donna for weeks, but offers to sell him the movie and the negatives for $5k, or the film will make its way all over town (at minimum). Don reluctantly agrees to Earl's terms. Earl smugly declares the mob as being "home free in Salem from now on".

 

Don and Marlena file a police report after Donna's missing for over 16 hours. Donna, still riding the Interstate with the trucker, worries he'll turn her over to the police, and leaves HIM behind at a truck stop. She hitches a ride with a guy named Leo, who the recognizes her from her photo, and tries to force himself on her. She fights him off, and manages to track down a state trooper down the road, who drives her back to Don and Marlena's. When home, Don announces his desire to screen the porn film for the press, with a preamble from Donna about how she got involved with Earl and Terry, in the hopes of nailing them. Donna, terrified of the consequences of this, agrees to go ahead with the plan, regardless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlena learns from Neil that there is a kidney donor match for Sam, but it's being contested by the girl's father, Mr. Pearson. Pearson claims that his daughter, Amy, signed up for organ donation when she was mentally unstable. Amy is dying of a brain tumour, and he wants her to "leave this world the same way she came into it". I have news for ya, dude. She's a lot bigger now, for a start...

 

Mr. Pearson hears how mentally and physically painful Sam's kidney failure has been on her, and changes his mind. How nice. YET ANOTHER storyline averted!

 

Brain Tumour Amy dies, Sam goes into surgery. I assume it went fine because that's the last we hear about it.

 

 

 

 

Marie recalls giving birth and giving the baby (who was born prematurely) up for adoption on the advice of her doctor. Later, Mother Superior tells Marie that there wasn't a special dispensation for Marie to become a nun, which causes Marie to feel uncertain whether she has a right to be a nun or not. But Mother Superior doesn't want Marie to ask about it any further when Marie asks why there wasn't one.

 

I have no idea what any of that means, but if anyone is Catholic or knows anything about it, feel free to let me in on it.

 

A bit of clarification, Mother Superior is about to die, and finally confesses that Marie actually shouldn't have been a nun because she had a baby, but because she came to her so abused by Alex, she broke the rules to allow Marie into the convent, as she felt Marie deserved a life of purpose. She implores Marie not to tell anyone else about her baby, as doing so would jeopardize her standing in the order. Mother Superior promptly has a heart-attack and dies. Later that same day, Marie's in contact with the doctor who delivered her baby. The doctor tells her her baby died shortly after delivery, and won't tell her where the grave is. Only that she should "forget about her". Because that tactic ALWAYS works. Marie goes to the hospital where the baby was born, gets ahold of her medical file, and sobs after seeing that the baby did indeed die (allegedly).

 

Marie returns to Salem, and is immediately asked by Alex out for dinner to "get advice on personal matters". Marie tells him to buzz off, and Alex claims Marie is afraid of him. Marie denies the accusation rather dramatically, claiming she will NEVER be afraid of him AGAIN. Ok, Marie. Breathe.

 

Marie is suddenly uncharacteristically icy with Basketcase Cathy, telling her she's tired and busy with working at the David Martin clinic, and giving Cathy the cold shoulder. Cathy decides she wants to move back into the nurses' dorm to "be around people her own age". That would be a nice change from pining after a 40-something letch, to be fair.

 

 

 

 

Robert, stuck in Salem with a sick Dougie, reconsiders Doug's offer of a full partnership in Doug's Place, and decides to stay in Salem. Doug is thrilled. Another potential storyline averted!

 

Robert offers to redraw his will to name Doug as Dougie's guardian if Robert dies. In exchange, Doug must destroy the letter from Rebecca revealing the truth of Dougie's paternity, saying Dougie must never know the truth (for...some...reason). Robert also reveals he will rename the boy Charles.

 

 

 

Julie finds out that Doug loaned Steve $50k a year ago (to pay off the debts he owed to the loan sharks). When she consults Mickey about it, he has no idea about the details, and is puzzled when Julie mentions that Steve took a cane with him to Paris. HMMMM....

 

Neil, once again turning his "idle punani-dar" on, zeroes in on Julie, who rejects him soundly, not wishing to trade in a "best" friend for a lover, despite the closeness they've shared since she unceremoniously dumped Doug. I think Julie and Neil were far closer than SOD gives credit for if she's calling him her "best friend".

 

 

Lee tries to ship Hope off to boarding school, claiming that all public schools are good for is teaching kids about drugs and teenage sex. If he agrees to this, I may reconsider my giving Don the Dumbass of the Month award. Lee then marches into Chez Julie, demands a whole bunch of expensive sh!t, and demands she be charged wholesale for them, as Doug is part-owner. Maggie tells Julie, who is PISSED. Julie can't really fight it, as if she DOES, she'll look like a vicious, bitter ex-, taking her jealousy out on a poor bereaved widow (who just married her dead husband's newly rich brother, but I digress). Julie has tried to be diplomatic about Lee for Hope's sake, but she's now fed up. Maggie asks why Julie isn't fighting to get Doug back, and Julie mopes that she won't fight it, because Doug loves Lee (allegedly).

 

Doug, meanwhile, is giving Tom yet more money, to the tune of $40k, to save UH from going under YET AGAIN (one hopes Tom Horton becomes better with money as the years go on, because right now, YIKES!), and offers to do another variety show.

 

Back at Chez Julie, Doug plays good cop, and tells Maggie that he'll take the items for the full price, and that Lee was "just being practical". Sure, Doug. When Julie walks in, he tells her that he and Lee have decided to put Hope in boarding school, because something something sex drugs etc.

 

Lee decides she wants to take a cruise of the Orient with Doug as her honeymoon. The ship leaves in 10 days. Doug says he can't be ready that soon, but Lee nags at him to go, whining that they don't spend enough time together. Doug says he'll "think about it". So of course, he says yes.

 

Lee tries to make it clear to Robert that ANY emergency that comes up, Robert should contact ANYONE except Doug. This absolutely does NOT sound like Lee is trying to get Doug alone and kill him under mysterious circumstances WHATSOEVER.

 

 

 

Greg comes to Chris' office for some reason to tell him that he and Amanda are starting to rebuild their marriage, and have decided to adopt a Vietnamese child, to give Amanda purpose in her life again. He then tells Chris that Amanda loves him and probably always will. That's some nice coarse sea salt for that wound there, Chris!

 

 

 

Bill visits Laura, who would rather stay at the sanitarium until she has a full handle on her guilt, and the result of her mistakes. Bill remarks he can't wait until Laura comes home and is back to work. Laura snaps at him that he won't accept her unless she's DR. Laura Horton, and can't accept her as a woman. Laura asks that Bill leave her be, she needs time to think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, at least something is happening this time! Still a lot of dropped stories, but the momentum is finally starting to build with at least two stories. It's obvious Bob's death was a long time in the making, and that Stephanie's death was a thoughtless move for shock value. Mary vs. Stephanie could've easily played out for YEARS, with Linda latching onto whomever would help her most at any given time, even if it meant tying her anchor to Chris. What an absolute waste!

 

It feels like Harrower is starting to find her footing, but it's too late now, her time is up!

On 11/20/2020 at 12:15 PM, ChickenNuggetz92 said:

VAULT UPDATE

 

Hi everyone! I am happy to report that I got a new OneDrive account set up and migration of the Vault is now complete! I've just sent out link invitations to people who have previously requested direct access. The links in my signature have now been updated. You may now upload again, as usual - hopefully I won't have to do this process again in a while haha. Please spread the word to those who might now know this yet.

 

Thanks!

Brad

Thanks for the update! I don't think I got an email with the updated access, so I'll probably PM you about it. 

 

That move was FAST! Once again, thanks for everything you're doing. It's so amazing and appreciated. 

If I'm being honest, it feels like none of Harrower's stories go anywhere. It's a lot of setting things up, starting to build them, only to have them abruptly change direction or resolve themselves in an unnatural way that screams of interference from above or a last minute actor departure (in Mary Frann's case). 

 

In fact, the only story Harrower has written that has had a natural beginning, middle, and end was Laura's meltdown, and technically, that was an Ann Marcus story that Harrower inherited. Julie's story has technically resolved as well but it sorta just... Ended with a thud instead of a bang, let's be honest. And besides, it sort of... Transitioned into the Lee/Doug/Julie triangle anyway, so it doesn't feel done yet anyway. And it sounds like it won't be for some time. 

 

Honestly, if I didn't know any better, it sounds like Harrower's ideas were being vetoed by someone above her head, because this smells a lot like the pattern MarDar had during their run, where stories would start, vanish, then end in a single episode, never to be mentioned again. 

December '79 time!

 

I'm super glad they didn't make Alex into Cathy's birth father because OMG THE SLEAZE.

 

Cathy the 17-year-old runaway has dinner with Alex for some reason, and tells him afterwards she'd LOVE to spend the night curled up in his arms, because he makes her feel warm and safe. 

 

**if you feel the urge to hurl, it just gets worse from here, so you might as well hold off til' the end of the paragraph**

 

Alex responds by kissing her, and trying to take her top off. Cathy, still a virgin, doesn't want to, and tells Alex to back off. Alex doesn't like being told 'no' and tells Cathy to leave and never come back. I guess that means she's also fired? Cathy immediately runs to Chris' for comfort. There, she's comforted by Chris' newest dayplayer family member, cousin Stan! (I tried to figure out how grossly inappropriate the age gap was between them, but this guy has literally three credits on his IMDb including his 5 episodes on DAYS, so I don't have much to go on.)

 

She's soaking wet from being out in the rainstorm, and Stan gets her into a bed and warm under the blankets. She talks to him about whether it's bad to be a virgin, and Stan tells her that, after a certain age, it can become a liability of sorts. He then tells her all about what a "beautiful experience" sex is, and then they end up sleeping together. What the actual...

 

The next day, Stan asks Cathy out for a date, but Cathy tells him she NEVER wants to see him ever again, because sleeping with him was a SIN! Stan then tells her that's cool cos he's leaving town anyway, but if she stops being a neurotic basket case, he'd love to see her again. And we never hear from him again, so I guess she never did.

 

Alex tells Cathy he misses her and wants her to come back to work for him. Cathy, this month's big dumbass, leaps at the chance to work for the abusive old schmuck again, and Alex assures her their run-in at the apartment is all in the past.

 

 

 

 

Marie is contacted by Mother House in Canada, and Mother Superior wants her to come up for a "spiritual refreshment", and a reassignment to a new missionary. She visits Alex before she leaves, and they discuss his brother Harley. Alex insists Harley's death was an accident. Marie leaves, and Alex recalls getting so pissed off at Harley, he pushed him off a ledge. He didn't MEAN anything by it. It was gravity's fault!

 

At the convent, Mother Superior talks with Marie about her pregnancy years ago with the child of "the man she feared and despised". So obviously Alex, then.

 

 

 

 

So, watching the available clips of the Sam kidney failure storyline, it seems Sam went to Joe's bar after witnessing Don, Marlena, and Donna discuss having to stay home for Christmas because of Sam's dialysis. Sam feels like a burden, and leaves the clear her head in the storm. Marlena and Don stay up, waiting for Sam to come home, but get a call from Chris. Chris ran into Sam at Joe's bar. They had a good talk, when some drunk recognized Sam from the TV and spilled beer on her. Trying to wipe it off, he knocked her clamp out, and Sam bled out and fainted. Chris picked Sam up and drove her to UH. Neil puts the clamp back in, but Sam is too depressed to leave the hospital, miserable about losing her acting career, and a lifetime of dialysis, and feels like a burden to Marlena and Don. Neil also tells Marlena to back off, as she's babying Sam, and making Sam feel like an object of pity even more than she already does. He asks her to turn Sam's case over to Jordan, if not for Sam, then for her baby. Marlena reluctantly agrees.

 

Sam wants to move back to LA, and continue dialysis there. Marlena looks further into kidney transplants with Neil and Jordan. They are both somewhat dubious, but Marlena points out that the one thing that will keep Sam going is hope to return to acting. Jordan thinks it would be great her for morale, and brings her to Marlena and Don's to discuss it. Sam agrees, and is happy to stay at Don and Marlena's until they find a transplant. Jordan insists the transplant NOT come from Marlena, whose kidneys are already compromised from her pregnancy.

 

 

 

 

Lee resents Doug working long hours at his club, and wants him to sell off the club as soon as Byron's inheritance comes through, hoping to cut him off from everything and everyone that reminds him of Julie. Well, good luck with that, because Doug confesses to Maggie that he's still just in much in love with Julie as he ever was, and only married Lee to give Julie the clean break she insisted every ten minutes she needed. Doug was made to feel as though he was standing in Julie's way to happiness.

 

Robert decides to blow this popsicle stand, and take Dougie to France. Doug tries everything to convince Robert to stay, including offering to make Robert a partner in Doug's Place. Robert feels he needs time alone with "his son" to get to know him better, and feels Doug spoils him (Doug, after all, set up a trust fund for the boy). Doug tells Robert he won't "allow" Dougie to be raised by strangers. Robert snaps back that it isn't Doug's responsibility, because he isn't Doug's. Doug tells Robert otherwise, and says they BOTH share the right to the boy. Hoooo boy, here we go. 

 

Robert finally learns the truth about Dougie's conception by artificial insemination, and is incredulous, but refuses to budge, and the fight's on. Doug and Robert go back and forth claiming that neither of them can lose "their" son, and here comes another custody battle that probably won't actually happen.

 

Robert then tells Julie about Dougie, and Julie is just as surprised as Robert was. Robert is shocked that Julie didn't already know, and decides he doesn't trust Doug OR Julie now for some reason. Because Julie's apparently known for being a brilliant thespian in the name of deception. This story is getting stupider by the minute.

 

Doug goes to Mickey and asks if he has any legal recourse. Mickey tells him he's s#!t outta luck. Part of the sperm donation process involved relinquishing parental rights. Too bad, yo! Doug returns to the club, and proceeds to argue some more with Robert. Dougie hears Robert and Doug fighting over him, and immediately runs out of the club, and into traffic. After nearly getting hit, he heads further into town, manages to find Chez Julie, where he sobs that he doesn't want to go to France to Julie, who comforts him until Doug shows up, grateful that Julie saved the day by being at work and talking to children.

 

Doug gets increasingly desperate, offering to GIVE Doug's Place to Robert, and even stay away from him and Dougie if Robert will just stay in Salem. Robert says he can't, his brother in law is sick (that's some wild relationship he's got with the in-laws, I'll tell ya! I wouldn't even cross town for mine). And then hours before the flight is to take off for Paris, Dougie gets sick, and Neil tells Robert he's got pneumonia and can't fly. GO FIGURE!

 

 

 

Linda notices Melissa has been snipey with her, and demands an explanation. Melissa tells Linda that she knows Linda has been faking her pregnancy. Linda lies through her teeth, and tells Melissa that she just was really late getting her period and it was an honest mistake that she WILL get pregnant, she HAS to. It's too important to everyone's future that she do! Melissa sees through Linda like a storefront window, and tells her she only wants a baby so that Bob won't leave her, and that she'll tell on her to Bob. Bahahah, the kids on this show are fekking amazing.

 

Linda, now desperate, has Neil over and asks a tiiiiiny favour. Can she have him rush her to the hospital after an "accident" and tell Bob she miscarried? Pretty please??? Linda will even throw in some money for his trouble. Neil won't bite. Linda kicks him out and demands he never come back.

 

 

 

 

 

Alex grills Stephanie, who's once again high on her migraine pills, pumping her for info on her background pre-Anderson. Freaked out, and woozy from the pills, Stephanie pretends to forget dates, hoping to throw Alex off. When that doesn't work, Alex reveals that he got a PI to look into her past, and knows she's actually Brooke. Stephanie, backed into a corner, confesses to Alex that she did come back to claim what's rightfully hers and Bob is gonna give it to her. Alex resolves to find out what exactly Stephanie has on Bob. Stephanie, when Alex reminds of what she confessed to, says she made it all up, she didn't know what she was saying. Alex then goes to Chris and suggests that Stephanie isn't all she's cracked up to be, and suggests Bob do a security check on her.

 

Bob spies Stephanie popping another of her loopy pills, and asks if she's sick. Stephanie insists she's okay, but can actually no longer function without them. Thanks, Alex! Julie asks Stephanie to see Jordan about her pill-popping, worried it's getting out of hand.

 

At her first session, Stephanie tells Jordan all about the accident and the migraines, and the fact that Alex just offered her this pill for the migraine and now she can't live without it (why anyone would trust some random pill a guy they barely know gives them when they're an incredibly savvy woman is beyond me, but ok). Jordan tells her to....try NOT taking the pills? Why hadn't SHE thought of that? Duh!

 

 

 

 

Earl has Terry keep the crappily-edited photo of Donna's head on a woman's body to hand just in case Don's crusade starts actually working. As added insurance, Terry somehow manages to use Donna in a porn movie without Donna realizing it's a porno?

 

Don visits Terry's "Glamour Gallery" and asks him who's supplying the porn to all the adult bookstores in Salem. Terry plays innocent, and claims they're all coming from LA and New York. Nothing to do with him. Nope!

 

 

 

 

After Maggie tells Julie about her suspicions about Steve and his canes, Julie confronts him about it, accusing him of filling the canes with coke....a....COKE-CAIN, if you will.

 

I'll show myself out.

 

Steve responds that he'd NEVER risk his "reputation" on something so dangerous. So, presumably smuggling diamonds are just child's play, then. Noted. Steve opens one of the canes he's already emptied to show there's nothing inside. Julie is embarrassed and apologized for doubting her perfect brother.

 

He then proposes AGAIN to Mary, this time with a ring. Mary says "no" AGAIN. Mary tells him she's never even TALKED to him about love, and the charmer tells her that if she says 'yes', he'll TEACH her how to love him. Mary scoffs at this, telling him that's impossible.

 

He then disappears, with Bill telling Alice that Steve received an urgent phone call from Paris, and left town.

 

And I think that's the last we hear of Steve.

 

What a....non-ending. WTFFF!?





So...other than Sam's story, which, I confess, makes a lot more sense because it's the only storyline we can actually SEE play out, this month is yet another disjointed mess. I keep getting the sense that Harrower has spread herself way too thin, and she really doesn't know how to give any of her stories an ending. They just sorta build up and up and then....stop. Then build again and then...change direction. She's really confusing me here, because like...wasn't Alex trying to bankrupt Magnis last month? Now we don't hear a damn thing about Magnis, he's just busy trying to sleep with teenagers and rough up women he's drugging up.

 

Last month was this big build for Margo and Mike's mob story and now...Margo sits in the hospital...and...nothing happens all month.

 

Really really bad story structure on Harrower's part, and for someone that wrote under Bell, incredibly surprisingly haphazard.

 

Also, can't say I'm at all sad that Cathy didn't turn out to be Marie and Alex's daughter, especially after Alex trying it on with her. I get that genetic sexual attraction is a real phenomenon, but this is just SO CREEPY and GROSS. I think it speaks volumes to Quinn Redecker's immense talent and charisma that he was able to last more than 6 months on this show without being killed off, because there is absolutely nothing at this man so far that gives me any indication that this will be a man leading story for the next eight years. WILD!

1 hour ago, Khan said:

 

In a way, that's how I feel about the first JER era to the present.  I can connect to the Bill Bell/Pat Falken Smith era (that is, what little I've been able to see/read about it) and I can connect to the Pat Falken Smith II/Maggie DePriest/Sheri Anderson/Leah Laiman/Thom Racina era.  But, once JER entered the picture, I felt like DAYS had regressed into something I never wanted to see or see again.

Yeah, that's fair. I think the only reason I connected to that era was because I was just at that right age for it, and it sucked me in, so it has that nostalgic quality to it that I remember fondly. But, ultimately, it did more damage to the show, and indeed, the entire soap genre, than anything before or since. I will argue to the death that it, not OJ, has caused the terminal decline in quality and viewership we see today. Compare that to the 80s? I can feel the warmth and emotion radiate from the screen in those episodes, as hokey as I find the stories. When I watch the 90s? I laugh at the absurdity, and roll my eyes at the dialogue. It's a world of difference.

 

 

36 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

@beebs Just want to add my thanks for the write ups. I love discussing past soap storylines and the choices writers faced and decisions made.

The tone of the show changed very much by 83 with a whole bunch of plots that would never have been utilised earlier. It gave the writers freedom to do stuff that never would have been entertained in the years prior to create dram/conflict. eg murders, psychos, super villians, doppelgangers etc.

All to the detriment of the genre IMO.

 

Thank YOU for everything you've contributed to this thread as well. It's been a lot of fun for me, and super-educational!

I feel like there was also this immense pressure to keep up with ABC at this time, and the only way they felt they could do it would be to parrot it. It's unfortunate, but ultimately, it was successful.

 

 

 

 

I lost a chunk of what I'd written for November '79, so I'm slightly annoyed, but bear with me.


 

So Stephanie tries to convince Bob to take Alex's $4 Million loan, mostly because it'd be a great opportunity for him, once the inevitable profits begin to roll in, to take a step back and help out with Linda's (alleged) baby. Bob accuses Stephanie of trying to take over the company for herself (I feel like it was presented onscreen in a far less hostile manner than what SOD tells me), but Stephanie reassures him that she just wants to ensure he has the time for his new (alleged) child.

 

Speaking of the so-called baby, Linda, having put the cart before the horse, tries to get Bob back into bed to NOW try to get pregnant.

 

Magnis hasn't paid Anderson for work they did on time, so Bob confronts Alex about it. Alex chalks it up to clerical error, but Bob isn't so convinced, worried that, especially after Phyllis' stock transfer, Alex is setting up Magnis to perform a hostile takeover of Anderson. Alex denies it, but like...Stevie Wonder could see it coming.

 

Phyllis again demands Neil divorce her, and this time she doesn't f*ck around. She threatens to sue for divorce, naming Linda and Mary as his adulteresses. Neil knows Alex isn't interested in marrying her, and intends to prove it to Phyllis. So he heads to visit Alex, who says exactly what Neil's been telling Phyllis: that he has no intention of marrying her, and that Phyllis simply is starry-eyed in the presence of a tycoon like himself.

 

Phyllis suddenly asks Bob to buy the lakehouse from her for $350k, and if he won't agree, she'll have to sell to someone else and kick him and Linda off the property. Bob is stunned, and tells Phyllis he'll have to consult with Mary before making a decision. This reeks of Alex.

 

Speaking of Alex stank, Mickey reads over the loan agreement, and, while there's virtually no interest, it places the whole of Anderson Manufacturing as collateral. So if the solar panel doesn't sell, Magnis owns Anderson. GEE, IT'S ALMOST LIKE ALEX IS GOING TO SABOTAGE THE SOLAR PANEL SOMEHOW. Mickey tells Bob not to sign it, and when Alex visits Mickey to try to get an answer, is told Bob won't sign, with Mickey making the dramatic flourish of trashing the loan agreement in front of Alex.

 

Alex decides to draw up a new version of the agreement, with Mickey's help. He shortly thereafter divests Magnis of all their hospital properties, which makes Bob worry about their financial status and their commitment to their deal with Anderson, seeing as Anderson produces many of Magnis' medical supplies, and Magnis is Anderson's largest client at the moment.

 

Alex offers Tom a large cheque to keep UH in the black, with, once again "no strings attached", and then another. Tom has offered Alex a place on the UH board, so it doesn't even look suspicious. Alex then signs Mickey's new loan agreement with Anderson, which favours Bob. Alex then tells himself "how else can I shake $4 Million out of Magnis?" Alex is out to screw his own company, hmmm....

 

Alex confides in another Magnis board member that he plans to push Bob into early retirement by next year, and take over as head of Anderson himself, as Magnis is near ruin by Alex's own design.

 

 

Linda remains cut out of Bob's will, but he does ask Mickey to set up a trust fund for her (alleged) baby, and asks that Mary be made to inherit Anderson after he dies. A few days later, he changes his mind and puts Linda back in the will. Linda, now desperate, tells Neil she can't keep faking being pregnant, and needs to conceive NOW if she intends to stay in the will, and in Bob's house. Unfortunately, Melissa hears Linda tell Neil this. OOPS!

 

Stephanie, still under Alex's spell, has been continuing to suffer from migraines (remember how she's had them going back to the 1977 accident). Alex suggests she take a strong, over the counter medication for it, but Stephanie has been washing them down with booze, and this time, goes to Alex's apartment, gets into a lacy teddy, and tries to get it on with him. He tries to talk her down, but she then shows him a picture of his brother, Harley, that she found in his drawer. Alex tells Stephanie that Harley died by suicide, and is angry with her for rummaging through his things. He tries to take her home, but Stephanie wants to screw. Alex gets rough with her, and (ICK ICK ICK) tells her "I know you like it".

 

Marie, shortly afterwards, recalls walking in on Alex and Harley arguing in Alex's apartment in New York, moments before Harley fell out the window and died. Marie knew Alex hated Harley, but isn't sure if it was suicide or murder.

 

 

 

 

 

JULIE IS OFF TO SAN FRANCISCO TO GET HER FACE FIXED! Post-surgery, she's told her face grafts have a 30/70 chance of taking, which I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but Julie seems fairly confident, so I'm guessing this is a positive result? Julie finally gets her head in check, and decides, regardless of the result, she will return to Salem and to Doug. GIRL, YOU WAITED TOO LONG!

 

Doug vows to stop fixating on Julie, and Lee vows the same re: Byron, and they agree to start sharing a bedroom. Doug decides, since he's not getting any younger, and he can't live the rest of his life without the WAP, he'll marry Lee! STUPID!

 

Julie's doctors reveal that they are the most talented plastic surgeons in the known universe, as Julie's bandages come off, revealing a face as unblemished as a baby's behind. MIRACULOUS! It's like she never opened the stove to begin with! Because that's how skin grafts work. She immediately tries to call Doug, but Lee answers. She lies and says Doug's not home. Julie tries again later, but Lee disconnects the line, and tells Doug there was no one there. She and Doug then take off out of town and elope!

 

On their honeymoon, all is well until Doug calls Alice, who tells that Hope broke her arm at school and has been crying out for her dad to come home. So much for that! Back to Salem they go. Lee whispers "let's go back to OUR little girl". Blech.

 

Which is basically what Hope says when they get home. Hope is mad when Doug tells her Julie isn't coming back, madder, and even madder when Doug tells her he's married Lee. Feeling betrayed, she orders Lee leave and never return, demanding Julie come back (heh heh heh, the kids are smarter than the adults around here, I see). Lee tries to get in Hope's good graces, talking about how much they love each other. Hope, in turn, resents that Doug and Lee got married on the sly without telling her, and demands she stay with Tom and Alice instead.

 

Julie wears a dress that apparently shows off her ta-tas very nicely, and heads to Doug's Place, hoping to reconcile with her ex-husband. Too bad he then gets on stage and announces his new wife! Neil sneaks Julie out the door, and Julie makes him promise to never tell Doug she was there.

 

Neil confronts Jordan the next morning at the hospital, still upset over Julie's breakdown. He accuses Jordan of letting his feelings for Julie cloud his professional judgment. To which Jordan counters that this is a test for Julie's strength and ability to cope on her own. Neil thinks Jordan's sicker than any of his patients.

 

Julie pays Doug a visit, hoping to see Hope to facilitate the transition for her, but Lee answers the door. Lee lies and tells Julie that everything's sunshine and roses with Hope (who's at school). Julie agrees not to interfere, provided Lee won't interfere with her relationship with her ex-stephalfsisterdaughterinlaw. As Julie leaves, Doug steps into the room, and marvels at Julie's magical face. Julie grits her teeth and wishes the happy couple all the best, and tells Lee to take good care of Doug "but then you probably already have". 

 

I love bitchy Julie.

 

Hope goes to Julie and tells her that Doug doesn't love her anymore, and that Lee sends her to Tom and Alice's all the time because she's in the way. The manipulative little scamp wants to live with Julie, who tells Hope to try to get along with the conniving bitch for daddy's sake, and sends Hope on her way. When home, Doug and Lee scold her for coming home late, and Hope grumbles that no one would care either way, and that she doesn't love anyone anymore, and that Lee's only nice to her to get Hope to like her, then storms out of the room. I like this Hope.

 

Julie tells Jordan she doesn't feel comfortable continuing therapy with him AGAIN. This time because she feels Jordan's caught feelings. Jordan feels rejected and proves Julie right, by accusing Julie of blaming him for Doug's marriage to Lee. Julie then talks to Marie, and tells her that she still loves Doug as much as she ever did. Marie tells Julie the obvious: Don't kill yourself stewing about it. Go talk to him already.

 

 

 

 

Steve is back. He takes Mary for drinks at Doug's Place, and suggests they get married, then sees Trask show up and runs over to try to buy back his cane. Trask, oblivious as to why he wants it so badly, agrees to sell it back. Steve's saved (for now), and goes after Lee for payback for their plan working. But Lee won't give Doug a divorce to get Steve a cut of her settlement. She's perfectly happy gettin' that money AND that D. Steve threatens to expose that Lee was screwing around on Byron if she doesn't follow his directions.

 

Lee's also got trouble in the form of Byron's attorney, Desmond. Upon finding out Lee married Doug, he warns her that if she makes a play for the inheritance, Desmond will expose her adulterous ways and contempt for her late husband in a heartbeat.

 

Steve formally proposes to Mary, but Mary won't do it after the Chris debacle, and besides, Steve hasn't even told her he loves her yet. "Oh you KNOW I do," he says, then asks Mary on a ski weekend. Steve better hurry with that ski weekend, because Mimi sends a letter saying that Durand/Durant/whatever his name is was sent to jail but is about to be released, and will likely come to Salem to track down his Box O' Sparkly Canes.

 

 

 

Cathy agrees to move in with Mickey and Maggie (I thought she already had but...ok). But she INSISTS on paying room and board. She turns out to be a runaway from foster care, and doesn't know her real parents from a hole in the ground. She claims her reason for tracking them down is mostly professional, since she's enrolling in the UH nursing program and needs a medical history from them. Mickey is concerned Cathy will be in for disappointment and rejection, and doesn't want to delve into it, but Cathy is insistent that she MUST know.

 

Bill is worried they'll see Cathy being admitted to the nursing program as a touch nepotistic (in a sense), grills Cathy on her motivation for joining. Cathy tells Bill she's joining the program, not to please Tom, or Marie, but herself, sounding like a motivational poster: "I wanna be somebody, and I'm gonna be!" 

 

 

She'll have to be somebody without Alex's help, as Alex plans to leave town soon. So much for room and board, Cathy. But Alex tells her the next day that he only told folks that to see how they'd react. WTF is this man up to?

 

Mickey writes Cathy's foster family, the Breton's, asking for info on Cathy's birth family, but gets a "return to sender" back. Cathy starts sobbing again that she's now a NOBODY! And will be for the REST OF HER LIFE!! So much for motivation. She then gives up the nurses' program, because she's DIRT. And came from DIRT. And she's not SMART ENOUGH to be a nurse because she's NOBODY, and...(do you get the gyst yet?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam is deteriorating fast, so Neil demands she start dialysis, but Sam sobs and whines and moans about it. Neil tells her she has to do it, but Sam doesn't wanna. Neil hooks her up to a dialysis machine the next day. Neil tells Don that Sam will survive, but will never recover. Marlena suggests donating a kidney, but, being pregnant, neither Don, Jordan, nor Neil will hear of it.

 

Marlena suggests to Don that they look for a larger apartment now that Sam's out of the hospital. Don worries about having Sam lurking about now that her kidney failure has caused Sam to put her acting career on hold. Will it lead to renewed resentment of Marlena, and how will Sam respond to it? Would Marlena keep all her limbs this time?

 

Don doesn't want Marlena stressing herself out while pregnant to deal with Sam, but Marlena insists, despite the fact Neil tells Marlena HER kidneys have been compromised by the strain of her pregnancy. Neil urges her to get rest instead of running herself ragged.

 

Sam feels like a burden, and goes to a local bar to drown her sorrows. A bar patron gets handsy with her, and as Sam pushes him off, knocks the clamp for her dialysis out of her arm. Sam bleeds out and faints.

 

 

 

 

Don defended his opponent in a smear campaign, yet still managed to win his council seat. Mickey thinks the mayor is behind the smear campaign, and that Don's integrity will come back to bite him in the arse in short order. And if Donna's topless photoshoot is any indication, that day may be coming very soon.

 

Lester, Marlena's kooky patient that was siphoning money from Trask, demands Don, as city councilman, put forth legislation to shut down all the porn shops opening up in Salem.

 

Ohhh here it comes. Don sets up the "Clean Up Salem" crusade! Mickey suggests to Don that it goes deeper than porn, and believes (rightly) that there's a syndicate involved that has infiltrated the city. Earl, to make sure the campaign doesn't succeed, has Terry perform the most laughable photo editing job in human history, superimposing Donna's head onto a nude woman's body, and sell the photo to a porno mag. Terry complies because he also owes Earl a lot of money.

 

Beebs' note: I remember seeing the end result before, and it's as bad as those celebrity phony nudes they used to do in the early internet days where the person's head is on an angle that isn't humanly possible. You could even see the added ring of photo paper around Donna's head. It was SO BAD.

 

Someone from Earl's gang of idiots calls Don and tells him if he doesn't drop the "Keep Salem's Filth Behind Closed Suburban Doors, Please and Thank You" campaign, he'll be soooooooorry!

 

 

 

 

Mike drops off a payment to Earl that turns up $300 short. Mike insists he didn't steal any of it, but Earl doesn't buy it and has someone fire a warning shot through Mike's window. Mike finds out and tells Earl he's going to the police. Earl reiterates that such a move would cause an "accident" to happen to someone in Mike's family, and Mike hasn't got any evidence to show the cops anyway. Mike refuses to play along with Earl's game any longer, but Earl won't give up so easily.

 

Neither will Mike. He visits Mickey, and asks what he can do to stop Earl. Mickey suggests looking in the payment envelopes he's given to pass onto Earl, as maybe there's something more than money inside that could incriminate Earl. Mike strategically apologizes for going off on Earl, hoping that his apology will keep Earl from putting too close an eye on him while Mike tries to get the drop on Earl. Doesn't work. Earl immediately calls one of his henchmen to do just that. That night, at Doug's Place, Mike finds a contact list inside one of the envelopes. Mike thinks he's hit the jackpot, but the henchman catches Mike snooping, and goes to Anderson the next day, to shout at Margo that Mike's "gat a big maouth, too big fahr 'is own good!" and shoves Margo down the stairs. BYE MARGO! Chris finds her at the bottom of the stairs and calls an ambulance.

 

At UH, Earl shows up at Margo's hospital room with a bouquet of flowers. Mike wants to know how Earl knew about Margo's "accident", and Earl just says he's concerned. Mike mutters repeatedly about wishing he'd killed the man when he had the chance.

 

 

 

 

 

Stories are finally moving this month. I feel the sidelining of the Andersons is really picking up now. It seems like they were aiming to supplant the Andersons with Alex Marshall and his much darker stories. It's a shame because I was really enjoying the interplay between Mary, Bob, Stephanie, and Linda, with Phyllis and Neil popping in and out of the action. Alex was fine as a part of those folks popping in and out, but he now seems to be eating their story, and I don't like it. Harrower seems to be biting off way more than she can chew, storywise.

 

Steven and Earl and the mob are finally giving Stephen Schnetzer something to play, but it comes across as slapdash, with a half-hearted attempt to romance Mary that seems to go nowhere.

 

Doug/Julie/Lee is building up, but I can see why Lee was so reviled by the audience. She isn't exactly a bitch you can root for. She's just...psychopathic and mean. It's not like Linda, where you can still root for her despite the awful things she does.

8 minutes ago, Wendy said:

Hope and Julie also had a half-brother/brother in Steve Olson, last played by a pre-Another World Stephen Schnetzer, all the way back in 1979! Then he apparently left town and...poof. The end. What's HE been up to for the past...I don't know, 41 YEARS?

 

Another Horton male just cast off. (Yes, he is an Olson, but his mom, Addie, was a Horton!)

 

Maybe a bit problematic with another Steve in Steve Johnson on canvas, but that seems a minor issue.

We've been going through his run on the show in the DAYS BTS thread, and...yeah, it seems he's still alive, and with plenty of potential. A brilliant troublemaker in that age bracket that could've acted as a corporate raider type for the new century once AW ended, but...another opportunity squandered.

And hell, just refer to him as Stephen, and you're fine!

 

8 hours ago, Khan said:

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate these monthly recaps, @beebs?   They have REALLY lifted my spirits.

 

Reading these synopses, however, I get the feeling that DAYS was a show in desperate need of new direction.  We all can complain from now until doomsday how much the '80's ruined the show with all the run-and-gun stuff, but the truth is, there was no way the show could revert back to the Bell/Falken Smith style of storytelling.  The ratings were dropping, and there was really no one around who can do that famous style of storytelling as well as Bell and PFS.

Thanks, @Khan! Means a lot to hear you say that! It's been a LOT of fun writing them out, and learning more about this lost time for the show. I'm hoping to keep going through to the end of '83, since I think we all pretty much know what happened past then. But we'll see.

I sense that there were so many factors challenging DAYS' success at that time, and it would've been really difficult to maintain the tone that Bell and PFS had set up without a very solid changing of the guard to maintain the momentum. Unfortunately, I feel PFS burnt out before she was able to do this, and Corday's desire to see Ann Marcus take the job really stifled any such plan. Surely there were other successful writers of the period who could've maintained that level of quality at the time. I do wonder if the Dobsons could have been swayed from GL at that time, or if their wildly-varying quality would've once again proved a liability at DAYS. Labine/Mayer would've probably been a decent fit...though, of course, they were running their own show at the time.

 

I feel like the shift was inevitable, as you say. I just wish they would've kept the more adult tone the show had previously had, as I feel there was a very distinct shift to DAYS become a show for kids after 1983 that I just can't connect with the same way.

 

5 hours ago, jam6242 said:

Bill Hayes has said that Bill Bell originally intended for Doug to lead Sister Marie astray in 1970, but tossed that story plan aside when he saw the chemistry between Bill H and Susan Seaforth.

Thank you, @jam6242 for that info. Yeah, I think the direction they did choose was probably for the best, though I would've enjoyed seeing Marie back in action sooner, and not have her history become so dark under Harrower.

32 minutes ago, Dr Neil Curtis said:

Days- Melissa Anderson is definitely needed! She was needed when Victor starting seeking interested in Maggie, could have played with the history of Ivy/Pete/Melissa during that story. Now that Hope is gone Melissa needs to be there and Sandy Horton a blank ass slate to work with and tested with Roman. Too bad they killed David Banning and Bill.

Killing David remains the biggest WTF of all time to me. There was a golden opportunity in that moment to either bring Gregg Marx back or hire a new David for the Eli story, as well as reintroduce Anne Milbauer (personally, I'd try to recast her with Hillary B Smith), make her Susan Martin's daughter, and have her get involved with David. A golden opportunity to have a short visit from Denise Alexander presents itself there, and immediately folks have a much stronger connection to that entire wing of the family. 

 

Instead they just...have him fall off a motorcycle offscreen? For real??? Waste. 

 

I also really love the idea of Marie being the Horton maitriach. She is so necessary today and, again, not a word from her in years. 

Honestly, watching the 11/18 episode (thanks for the recommendation @DynamiteKiddo), and I'm impressed! It feels like Ron's starting to find a bit of a groove without Corday breathing down his neck. Does anyone know who wrote that particular script?

 

If it hadn't been for the whole angle of Gwen trying to sleep with Chad, I would have argued that the most logical person for Gwen to be would be André's daughter, come to seek revenge against the woman who killed her daddy. But...unless they're undoing the blood relation again? I dunno. I just would rather not have it be yet another secret Kate baby.

 

 

ETA: oh duh. She arrived being in a relationship with Jake, so she can't be Andre's. Ughhh. 

5 hours ago, BoldRestless said:

Since I couldn't put it on the vault here it is on YouTube:

 

 

This is so amazing as well. THANK YOU!

13 hours ago, ChickenNuggetz92 said:

 

Oof, I was worried something like this would happen! Let me investigate. Worst case scenario is I have to migrate everything to a new vault but I've been keeping an active backup. It might take me a few days - hang tight everyone!

 

Update: As it turns out, the storage on the vault has been reduced from 5TB to 1TB. One of the joys of purchasing OneDrive Business Accounts through eBay is dealing with kinks like this. Let me purchase another one, and I will migrate everything there. It'll take some time to migrate the data as I'm limited to my own internet speed (thankfully I have fiber internet).

Thanks for that @ChickenNuggetz92, and definitely let us know when it's back up and running/new access codes and all that. Appreciating all the work you've put into this project, especially with the corporations so desperate to keep everything hidden as of late!

20 hours ago, asafi said:

 

Any chance to see somewhere the story of Marie falling in love with her brother, Tommy AKA Mark Brooks?

Only via summaries. No one has posted any episodes past between 1966 and 1976 that I've seen anywhere, unfortunately.

 

 

On 11/17/2020 at 11:30 PM, Paul Raven said:

When Marie returned as a nun Bill Bell wanted to do a story about her being tempted to forgo her vows but it never came to pass. Bill was struggling to tell current stories in the half hour and I guess the controversial aspect put a lid on that development.

I would be incredibly interested to see how that would've played out. Is there any information on who she would be drawn to in this storyline? 


I find it fascinating because Harrower seems intent on doing things differently and really pushing the psychosexual narrative back into the show, but she just...doesn't have the finesse of Bell or PFS, and a lot of it steps WAY over the line in many cases to me in a way that reads as cynical. I find early DAYS' steps into controversy worked because they managed to reflect the dichotomy between the old fashioned values the Hortons represented and tried to uphold in their public life, and that they truly believed to be the "correct" things to do, with the realities of the world that tended to clash with those values, and their attempts to "do the proper thing" usually ended up making their problems exponentially worse. There's really none of that in Harrower's work, it's just salaciousness for the sake of shock value in many cases. I think Harrower had potential to do very good things, but may have been under pressure to do shocking stories to give the show a shot in the arm and just couldn't do it in a graceful way.

 

 

Anyway, that's just my two cents, onto October:


One paragraph in and Mike already wins Dumbass of the Month: He asks Earl to add Margo's $1000 onto his loan so he can pay Trish and David back. Earl is fine with it, so long as Mike runs errands for him after work. Mike's dug himself a beautiful hole, hasn't he? He tells Margo about his side gig, and Margo asks what kind of errands Mike needs to run. Mike responds by stamping his feet like a two-year-old and telling her to mind her business, and leaves. MARGO WILL NOT BE SUSPICIOUS AT ALL NOW, SURELY.

 

Margo goes back to Earl and tells him that Mike will pay him back ASAP and that he can find someone else to run his errands. I'm sure with Margo's firm and intimidating voice, Earl was incredibly moved by this.

 

Just as I suspected, Earl gets back to Margo later in the day and tells her he'll need Mike for the next six months or so. Soz. Margo threatens to tell the Better Business Bureau on him (OH NOES!), and Earl tells her that if she does, Mike will have an "accident", like a mysterious house fire...and no one would know who's to blame! Believe it or not, only NOW does Margo realize Earl's a crook. This story has been going on HOW long now?? Time you got your nose out of your "How To Plan Your Own Funeral" book, Margo.

 

Earl then repeats his threats of "mysterious accidents" to Mike, and warns him that he will be kept on for 'as long as he is useful', which will apparently be a long time. Good job, Mike.

 

 

 

 

Chris has designed a solar panel of sorts, but Anderson is struggling to get production up and running due to a cashflow problem caused by Mary's cockup with the government contract. Alex offers Bob the money to get production started, no strings attached (he says). Bob, for once, has the good sense to be suspicious, and turns Alex's offer down.

 

Alex then takes Stephanie to dinner, and tries to convince Stephanie to butter Bob up and get him to accept Alex's offer. He then propositions her, and Stephanie thinks he's joking, and goes home alone. Alex, not one to give up, tracks Stephanie down at the office a few days later, and suggests a much more intimate dinner the next time. Stephanie gives in, and heads to Alex's apartment for dinner, where he gifts her a gold necklace, before taking her to bed.

 

Apparently wining and dining (and bedding) Stephanie has worked, and Alex sets up a personal loan to Bob for the $4 Million needed to start production of Chris' solar panels. He even finds time for the girlfriend he's two-timing, and arranges for Phyllis to trade her Anderson stock for Magnis stock. Things are getting messy, and Bob frets upon finding out about Phyllis' little trade. Her trade may have cost him controlling interest in Anderson.

 

At the office, Mary walks in on Bob and Stephanie in an embrace. Mary sees the embrace as another sign that Bob and Stephanie are having an affair, and runs off before Stephanie can explain that it wasn't indicative of anything sexual. Stephanie does approach Mary later to explain this, and reiterates that she sees Bob as family, and that she's no rival to Linda. Mary actually believes her.

 

Later, Alex meets with the one and only Harold Trask to discuss University Hospital's heretofore unheard-of financial troubles. Alex suggests that, though Tom's doing a great job at chief of staff, the money troubles started when he took over from Greg, and that maybe he needs an assistant, like Neil, for instance.

 

 

 

 

Bob, sick of Linda's nonsense, has Mickey take her out of Bob's will. When Linda finds out, she lies to Bob and tells him she's pregnant, because, of course, Bob wouldn't want to disinherit an heir! Bob is not impressed that Linda's (allegedly) pregnant, saying he's too damned old to be a father again. But Linda acts wounded by the suggestion she abort, and reminds Bob how good a father he's been to Melissa.

 

 

 

 

Marlena calls Sam in LA, and Sam insists she isn't back on drugs, but she's still feeling lousy. Marlena decides to fly down to see her. There, the doctors tell Marlena that Sam needs hospitalization as her kidneys may fail. Marlena persuades Sam to return with her to Salem (Don's gonna LOVE that one).

 

Returning to Salem, Marlena discovers Don debating whether to run for city council full-time (since he was filling in temporarily as a favour to the mayor last month). Don is uneasy about campaigning while Marlena is pregnant and while Sam is ill, but Marlena urges him to run. He's pushed further towards running by Alex, who contributes $15k to his potential campaign.

 

Neil runs tests on Sam, and discovers her kidneys are very likely failing, and that she'll need a transplant, or she will be on dialysis, possibly for the rest of her life. Sam takes the news with her usual poise, sobbing that she'd rather be dead.

 

Donna inadvertently compromises Don's campaign almost immediately, by contacting a local "modelling agent" named Terry Gilbert, hoping to do some modelling to help pay Don back for covering her shoplifting sprees. Yeah, too bad Terry's modelling agency is a front for porn! Dumb Donna strikes again!

 

Donna's been hired on, for a whopping $7.50/hr ($26.90 today, I might add), and we find out Terry and Earl the Very Legitimate and Above-Board Loan Shark are in cahoots. Earl tells Terry to hold onto any pictures taken of Donna until after the election, as they could be worth a fortune.

 

 

 

 

Julie spots Lee and Doug together, as Doug is buying the emeralds at Chez Julie, of course. Doug doesn't see Julie before she runs off, but Lee does, and is thrilled. Her little plan is working.

 

Robert visits Julie, and lets her know that Doug hired Jordan to treat her. Well, that really sets Julie off, since Doug is still interfering, even though he has a new woman (she thinks). Her trust broken in Jordan, she assumes everything she's told him is being filtered to Doug, and cancels the facial skin graft. All this to spite her loved ones, who she thinks are more concerned with her looks than her mental well-being.

 

She tells Jordan as much the next time he visits, while he tries to get her to recall all the progress she's made. Enraged that he glossed over the fact Doug hired him, she lunges at Jordan, enraged, but realizes at the same moment how ridiculous she's being and breaks down in his arms, apologizing for being such a mess. JUST THEN, DOUG WALKS IN! He figures all of Jordan's advice to stay away from Julie is a ruse to get into her bed! (I mean...maybe not consciously but like...it kinda reads that way, tbh). Julie, while apologetic for her outburst, can't get over the fact he covered up who hired him, and asks Jordan to stop therapy sessions, having lost trust in him.

 

Jordan, realizing what's happened, goes to visit Doug. Doug isn't there, but Lee is. Jordan tells her that he and Julie aren't having an affair, she's simply going through "affection transference". Lee manipulates Jordan's words and suggests to Doug, when he returns home, that Julie HAS fallen for Jordan, and wants Doug to GTFO.

 

Julie, meanwhile, goes to see Laura at Bayview. Laura, now being surprisingly rational, tells Julie to get the surgery done, and go back to Doug. 

 

Well...little late for that, because Doug hears Lee's bogus version of Jordan's explanation, gets drunk (again), and goes home to find Lee in lingerie, ready to go. And go, they do.

 

Trish, starting to worry about how much Doug is drinking (how many people in Salem are lushes at this point?? YEESH!), goes to Julie and begs her to talk to Doug, even as a friend. Julie won't do it, knowing how much she's screwed his life up already. Trish shows some more backbone and snaps at Julie that she'll do it herself, and not to worry anymore.

 

After going back and forth on it, Julie forgives Jordan, and AGAIN decides to go ahead with the facial skin grafts. Just call her Julie The Metronome.

 

 

 

Steven signs over his partnership of Chez Julie to Doug to pay Doug off for covering his gambling debts. Julie doesn't want anything to do with Doug, but agrees, since Steve DOES owe him the money. Looks like they're writing Steve out now, as Steve doesn't even directly approach his own sister about this, instead getting Mickey to inform her. I suspect we will not hear much more about Steve after this.

 

 

 

Dayplayer intern Joe invites Cathy, the 17-year-old runaway, to a "swinging party". Marie overhears Cathy accept. Cathy gets wasted, and Joe takes her back to her boarding house, where he tries to force himself on her. Marie is lurking in the hallway, and busts into Cathy's room, scaring him off. Marie comforts her as she sobs.
 

Maggie convinces Mickey that taking Cathy in isn't coming from a place of needing to be a mother (yeah right), it's a need to help someone who's in trouble. Mickey relents, agreeing to have Cathy stay with them on a trial basis.

 

Connecting Alex to yet ANOTHER character, he hires Cathy as his maid, and Cathy confesses to Marie that she's smitten with her new boss. Marie bites her tongue so hard she leaves imprints. Cathy also now wants to live on her own, since things are going her way now (you know, after like...two weeks). Chris warns Cathy to stay away from Alex, saying "there are other guys who could show you a good time and get serious about you". DUDE, SHE'S 17! ICK!




What is with this show as uncomfortably inappropriate intergenerational stories in the late 70s? And why are they so often involving Donna??? Like...most of these are underplaying how creepy the stories are, and it's just...weirding me out. There is a LOT of exploitation of teenage girls on this show in this era, and it's just too much. Blech!

 

I don't feel like we got a satisfactory end to Steve. It's like...just as his story ramped up, he just...handed his story over to Lee, and disappeared? Did Durant kill him? Did he say a proper goodbye? What about Trish's diamonds she taped to her desk? It's just so WEIRD how none of Harrower's storylines are following through so far. The set-ups are there, and yet they'll disappear or shift back into 1st gear just as they start to get momentum going?  It's a very odd era, to say the least.

DAYS needs to bring on Melissa for sure. Recast Nathan and give him a personality this time. Noelle would add something certainly.

 

I'd be tempted to bring Carrie and Austin back with Noah in tow, but they have to give Austin more to do than be dumb this time. He's an accomplished musician. Run with that. Hook him up with Eve and cause a rift there with Carrie while Austin brings music back into her life. 

 

Johnny DiMera I would only bring back if Sami was there again full time. 

11 hours ago, te. said:

IIRC, Marie became a nun because of what happened with Tommy.

That's what I always thought, though it appears she simply left for New York at the time, and then wasn't heard from for awhile, which, I believe, is the time period Elizabeth Harrower seems to be trying to fill in (or retcon) . Because having three doomed relationships and a suicide attempt in the span of 18 months isn't enough to drive you to a convent apparently. So she had to make the time leading up to it even worse! 

2 minutes ago, prefab1 said:

Current DAYS might just be for you, but I will say that the strength of the show tends to be in its acting and dialogue, which doesn't always come through in internet summaries or discussions of its plots. 

 

For instance, Cady McClain's Jennifer had a great little scene today where she was talking to JJ about how tired she is of Jack always screwing up and hurting her, then trying to apologize after the fact. 

I will concede that what saved DAYS for me, even in the TomSell era, was the day-to-day writing, which was often ELECTRIC thanks to the talents of the Cullitons and Melissa Salmons. What episodes I have seen recently have been entertaining, again for similar reasons, and the acting has stayed strong throughout, absolutely.

I think the long-term storytelling is what is really letting this show down. I wish they would ease up on the looney tune stuff and not tell their stories from such an oddly regressive point of view, because it really lets down the awesome cast and writing staff they have.

50 minutes ago, SFK said:

I'm starting to get into this show, it was pretty inoffensive today (i.e., no Ben). I'm still reticent about what they're doing with Allie. I fear that she'll be turned into some antiquated "lesson" in what becomes of impulsive young women (slut-shamed). Meanwhile, good looking young men rape and murder yet deserve umpteenth chances at redemption.

Yeah, that's....that's basically the way it's been for awhile now.

I tuned out about two years ago, but still follow the goings-on via online and...yeah, that's pretty much it.

 

You're probably better off reading up on the Bell/Pat Falken Smith era than watching what's going on now, tbh.

 

ETA: God, I sound so cynical. If you're getting something out of it, I have watched a couple episodes here and there and enjoyed it, but nothing grabs me the way it used to, put it that way.

4 minutes ago, DynamiteKiddo said:

Xander not being Justin’s Alexander is one of the more stupid things they did new character wise over the last 10 years.  And that was Tomsell, who were definitely more invested in Adrienne & Justin than any other head writing regime, save for maybe RC.

Yeah, but TomSell were also almost comical in their stubborn refusal to introduce extant legacy children, with the exception of Theresa. They would almost exclusively introduce all new characters and shove them down folks' throats (Melissa Archer's Serena, who everyone screamed should've been Sarah, the entire Ozark yokel family), or retcon their new creations into being the sons and daughters of established characters (Beige Paige, Paul).

 

Xander was just yet another, seemingly more blatant middle finger to the fans in that regard.

21 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Never really sure what Harrower had in mind for Jordan. There was a hint of an interest in Marie but nothing came of it.

Meanwhile Marie moves to the front burner...Lanna Saunders was one of my faves, bringing so much to the role.

I hated the fact that she was given the awful back story of a S&m/druggie affair and a possible murder. Also hate that old trope that events that happened in the past involve people who randomly cross paths again years later or have a connection to a small town miles away.

Hardly the basis of a grand love story but Lanna made Marie a real character and engendered sympathy.

Maybe the original plan was Alex/Marie/Jordan with the latter two endgame.

As the story goes on we'll see some odd events and story directions.

 

Steve is another character that had no real purpose or direction.He was recurring throughout his stint which says something. The opportunity was there to make him the black sheep and cause all sorts of trouble as a part of the Horton family but he stayed on the fringes.

The whole diamond smuggling story was abust.

 

Final thought. As I said I loved Marie/Lanna but bringing in a 40 plus character on a show that was top heavy with older folks seemed a dumb move at a time when the youth move was big in daytime.

Maybe Sandy Horton would have been a better choice?

Do you know if they ever explain when the events Harrower has inserted into Marie's backstory are pre-or -post 1965? Because it's not really clear, and it seems like a major shift in personality for Marie from what she was when the show went on the air. I absolutely love Lanna Saunders, myself, but this story already seems a little bit "WTF?" to me.

 

ETA: From what Tune In Tomorrow tells me, she had an affair just before joining the convent? So basically, filling in the gap between when she left town in '68 and returned a nun in the 70s? Interesting. TBH, I'm a little less bothered by that than I was before, but considering what you've described@Paul Raven, I'm still less than enthused.

 

 

We're on September, aren't we?

 

 

Linda's got it in for Stephanie, and decides she'd rather have Steve, of all people, take over Stephanie's post at Anderson. She talks up Steve to Mary (her new bestie, it seems), and hires a PI to tail Stephanie, certain that she'll find what she needs to bury Stephanie before she gets too close to Bob (again, ick). Mary makes the suggestion to Bob, who passes it onto Stephanie to hire Steve in the PR department, hoping that his presence will be a welcome distraction for Mary, who's still down over losing Chris. Mary is now even more downtrodden after being informed that Amanda's baby is very likely to be Chris'. Steve accepts the position, handing the reigns of Chez Julie to Maggie.

 

Stephanie continues to be Julie's only friend, and confides to Julie that she's worried by the news that Alex now owns the hospital where Stephanie had her surgery after the accident. Stephanie seems certain that Alex wishes to expose her. Stephanie makes Julie promise to never reveal her true identity to anyone. Julie agrees, as long as Stephanie does no harm to Bob. Stephanie, her heart having grown three sizes, agrees.

 

Alex wastes no time in using the info he has to intimidate people, sending Stephanie a letter with a photo of Brooke, noting how SIMILAR they look, and how they should meet!

 

But this information doesn't make it to Linda's PI, who turns up nothing. Linda is still not beaten, however. She theorizes that if Bob and Stephanie end up sleeping together (ICK ICK ICK), and Bob tries to put Linda out, she will have the perfect neutralizer for Bob's PI file on her after her affair with Neil. Good look with that, Linda!

 

Phyllis also sees something a little more than professional between Bob and Stephanie, and warns Bob that, yeah, he's still cute, but he ain't THAT cute, and if Stephanie is interested in him, it's more about the money and status than his dashing good looks. She also notes that Stephanie is more than talented and ambitious enough to run Anderson all on her own.

 

David, sick of Stephanie's backbiting stemming from her bitterness at their breakup, asked Bob to transfer out of her department. As a result, Linda suggests Steve replace David in the same position, which Bob takes her up on. Linda, of course, knows what a manipulative little s#!t Steve is, and hopes having Steve be taken under Stephanie's wing will backfire, and put Stephanie out of a job.

 

 

 

Sneaky Lee enters Doug's dressing room at Doug's Place, and introduces herself, stunned by his resemblance to Byron (I should hope so, or else DAYS has one hell of a makeup department). She lays on the heartbroken widow act thick as texas toast, hoping to woo him out of some of his inheritance. And what an inheritance it is! $5 Million+. In 1979 money! Doug, being the bleeding heart he is, is more concerned about Sneaky Lee's relatively meagre inheritance. Don't worry, Doug. She's after the whole thing.

 

Doug has, by this point, given up trying to push himself on Julie, but makes a point to remind her that by divorcing him, she's cutting herself off from Hope as well (which seems kind of odd because Hope is still her sister...so....it's not like she's completely without access or cause but...go off, I guess). Hope comes home from summer camp and immediately asks Doug about where Julie is and when she can see her. Doug tells Hope the truth, that they're divorcing. Hope immediately blames herself, and Doug reassures Hope that Julie just needs time to herself for now.

 

Jordan, in another session with Julie, contends that by not getting the skin grafts done, she's punishing herself for marrying her mother's husband and finding happiness with him. This is apparently a step too far for Julie, and OUT Jordan goes! Therapy over!

 

Hope, desperate to see Julie, finds out where her apartment is and goes to visit her. Julie won't open the door, and tells her to go away (??!?!). The small child runs off crying. It's a wonder Hope isn't more screwed up than she is, tbh. Then again, character nuance generally went out the window on DAYS after 1983, so...

 

Hope, establishing her stubborn streak early in life, sneaks over to Julie's again a few days later, and parks herself at Julie's door until Julie lets her in. Julie, petrified Hope will be horrified by Julie's burns, is reticent to open the door, but ends up inviting her stepbabysisterdaughter in. Hope, instead of being scared of Julie's scar, notes that it's "just a mark", and that Julie's still beautiful. Julie is overjoyed by being told the obvious by children.

 

Lee and Doug go to dinner, and Lee continues the wounded widow act, calling Doug her "one link to happier times". Doug, the old sap, invites Lee to move in with him temporarily. After all, she is his brother's wife, it's the least he can do. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Doug is in the running for Dumbass of the Month for a second month running. Doug isn't ready to let go of Julie just yet though, despite even Lee's urging.

 

 

 

Amanda tries to prove that Greg isn't her baby's father by visiting Tom, and asking him to determine when she conceived. Tom, however, says that, because it's 1979 and we don't have your fancy pants DNA tests yet, he can't tell her with any real certainty who's baby it is until after the baby is born.

 

Chris tries a different approach, and visits Don to ask what legal rights he has if, in fact, the baby is his. Don tells him that, because Greg and Amanda are still married, Chris has no legal right to the baby, and if Amanda tries to divorce Greg, he has a significant legal advantage over her, and could easily contest it.

 

Amanda, stressed to the gills about having to stay married to and potentially raise a child with Greg the Git, wakes up the next morning with horrible stomach pains, and thinks she's going to miscarry. She immediately calls Julie, who, for the first time since the accident, forgets about how "terrible" she looks and rushes to Amanda's side, insisting she contact Tom for tests. 

 

Tom runs the tests at UH, and tells her she won't miscarry, but that there's a problem and he's going to call Greg. Amanda won't hear of it, but, once again, the d!ckhead's her husband, so he needs to know (everyone, please remember what your parents told you: Yes, your face WILL stick like that if you hold it too long). Julie, suddenly getting her brain back in working order, advises Chris to stay away from Amanda while this is happening, as Greg will blame Chris if anything goes wrong, and that Amanda "needs the protection of Greg's name". I don't know what that means, but it sounds important in a chauvinistic, of-its-time way. Chris, as many others do, tells Julie to keep her nose out of everyone else's business, and that the baby is his, and he won't be kept away. Etc.

 

Julie, upset by Chris' outburst, and still emotionally fragile, turns back to Jordan for comfort. Jordan is proud of her for forgetting about her face for five minutes, and tells her she reminds him of someone he loved and lost in his past. They're definitely trying to insinuate something between Julie and Jordan.

 

Jordan warns Julie she better do those skin grafts soon or she'll run out of time. Julie doesn't want to do another surgery. Jordan tells her it's because she's afraid of what would happen if the surgery was successful. She counters that she's actually afraid of her loved ones' piteous reactions if the surgery fails. Jordan urges her not to stay stuck in the rut she's currently in, encouraging her to move forward, to free Doug and survive alone (presumably with him instead).

 

Doug, however, won't let go of the past, and uses Byron's inheritance to buy Julie a house (as you do). She won't sign the deed, claiming she doesn't want attachments, and wants to be left alone. Jordan tells Doug he needs to let go of Julie, claiming he's clinging to a past that acts as a roadblock to Julie's emotional recovery. Jordan sees Julie's recovery as being tied to her freedom from her past (I wonder why he would think that).

 

Julie makes her decision: She'll have the surgery, but in San Francisco, and asks Jordan to accompany her. Jordan is elated, and notes that the surgery is far more likely to be successful, as it's a partial surgery, only on her arms and chest, not her face. As it is far more liable to take, a successful surgery would be a huge confidence boost for Julie. AND IT IS! No more scaly boobs for Julie! Now, Jordan's next objective, get Julie to get the grafts done on her face.

 

 

 

SO MUCH FOR THE BABY! It's moot because the pregnancy's ectopic, anyway, and Amanda needs to abort ASAP or bad things will happen. Marie tries to comfort her, but Amanda just sees the pregnancy as a waste. Greg finally sees sense and agrees to a divorce, conveniently just as they find out while performing the abortion that Amanda had ovarian cancer and they had to perform a hysterectomy on her. 

 

Chris tries to be supportive, insisting they can adopt, but Amanda sobs to Marlena about being an "incomplete woman", and laments having to go through an early menopause. Julie stupidly tries to get Amanda back together with Greg, because he apparently realizes he was a shite husband now, and he'll never do that ever again, he promises. Julie thinks Chris is all wrong for her and their backgrounds are too different and that it'd never work. (Shut up, Julie. Go back to whinging about your face!) Amanda tells her she actually has a deep-rooted love for Chris, and wants to be his wife...and then changes her mind about five minutes later, telling Chris that he has a need to have his own kids, and The Incomplete Woman can't give him that, so she'll go back to Chicago and suffer being Greg the Git's arm candy for the rest of her life. Chris tells her he despises her for making him fall for her and then taking it away...then tells her not to forget he loves her. Boy, make your mind up!

 

Amanda then tells Greg she wants to go back to Chicago with him, and he promises her the moon, the stars, and, I'm sure, also a fern and a pay raise as well. They shlep off to Chicago together, never to be heard from again.

 

 

Margo hears the news about Amanda, and nags Mary to go bug Chris to maybe comfort him, hoping they'll reconcile. But Chris bites Mary's head off, telling her she's wasting her time. Ouch!

 

 

 

 

 

Earl is persuaded by Margo's gift of a diamond, and frees Mike to take the promotion with Anderson...kinda. He still has to work an hour minimum daily at Doug's Place still. So much for freedom.

 

 

Durant's guy goes to pick up the crate of canes from Chez Julie, only to find that there's two missing. OH S#!T! Maggie sold two! Steve lets Maggie have it, and Maggie is immediately suspicious, wondering whether Steve is doing some backroom dealings on the side. "I know what a deceitful person you are," Maggie tells him. Steve is livid, threateningly demanding the canes back immediately.

 

Steve gets one cane back from Alice (no specifics on how he manages this), but Trask, for once, isn't lurking about Salem. Instead, he's off in Europe on holiday! Desperate, he immediately overplays his hand and visits Trish, demanding she turn the diamonds she stole over to Durant. Trish plays dumb, and Steve threatens to expose her whereabouts to Durant. Trish counters that if he does, she'll expose him in return. He pleads with her, saying it's a matter of life and death. Trish responds by scrounging together $1000 to give to Margo, hoping to buy back the diamond from Earl. Margo gives Earl the money, but gets a duplicate in its place, not knowing any better. Better stick to funeral planning, Margo.

 

Simpson, Durant's henchman, tells Steve that Durant is holding Steve directly responsible for the missing diamonds. Steve, feeling the heat, continues to badger Trish into giving up her diamonds to get Simpson off his back. He then promptly changes tactics, phoning up Lee, and trying to coax her into working with him to try to bilk Doug out of his inheritance, to try to get his hands on some cash to put Simpson and Durant off.

 

But Simpson is too impatient, and breaks into Chez Julie to try to get the diamonds from the safe. Maggie, out with Bill while Mickey's away on business, just happens to be popping into the shop to pick something up she left there during the day, hears a sound in the back room, and pulls out the gun Steve kept in the desk drawer for protection. Simpson, when confronted, grabs the gun and struggles to get it out of Maggie's hands, but gets shot instead, and despite Bill running in to resuscitate him, Simpson dies.

 

Maggie admits she didn't intend to use the gun, and reveals the gun was Steve's. So Steve gets pulled in for questioning. Steve denies knowing Simpson or any reason why he'd be lurking about the shop looking for jewels in the safe. The lieutenant doesn't buy a word of it.

 

Steve then goes back to Trish's, and demands she keep quiet to the police about what she knows, or he'll get her put up on smuggling charges. Trish finally cracks to David under the strain, and admits she gave Margo the $1000. David confronts Mike about the money (with more than a hint of lingering insecurity between the two regarding Mike's past affections for Trish). Mike has no idea what the Hell David's on about, since Margo hasn't told him about any of what she's been up to. David doesn't believe him. Mike confronts Margo, who confesses the whole story to him, leaving Mike's ego bruised because he feels she doesn't trust him to meet their expenses...which...you know...he can't (oh the insecure men of the 70s, more concerned about their pride than common sense). Mike storms out like a two year old, and Margo sobs.

 

Lee isn't budging either, so Steve tries to put pressure on her, telling her that if she doesn't agree to their little scheme to get newly-wealthy Doug to buy the Carmichael emeralds for her, he's gonna sell the emeralds he's holding at Chez Julie's on her and keep the money. She asks Steve how she'll pay Doug back for the purchase, and Steve insinuates that Lee pay him back in the bedroom. He also makes it clear that it would work to Lee's advantage as well to follow Steve's plan, as Doug buying Lee this jewellery would irritate Julie so much, that she and Doug would never reconcile. Dumbass Doug dutifully buys the emeralds, recalling how much Julie loved them. He begins to delude himself into seeing shades of Julie in Lee, and falls right into Lee's trap of the lonely, needy widow. Fool.

 

 

 

 

Don takes a job at the mayor's office. And we don't hear another word about it.

 

Don hears from Sam's agent in LA that Sam collapsed on the set of the show she's been working on. Marlena finds out, and wants to be on the next plane out, but has been dealing with some pretty bad morning sickness, and Don's against her going. They agree to have Neil check on her to make sure she's up to flying. Neil finds Marlena is slightly anemic, and recommends Marlena take it easy with work, and avoid stress. Like, you know, visiting her sister across the country who can't get it together and locks people in rooms and threatens them. That kinda stress.

 

 

 

Phyllis once again asks Neil for a divorce, but the answer is the same. Neil won't give her a divorce so she can marry a scumbag like Alex. He even goes so far as to threaten to contest a divorce action, naming Alex as the cause of the marriage breakdown. Neil knows Alex wouldn't like the publicity. Phyllis knows Neil has her number, and walks away in a huff.

 

Mickey, hearing that Magnis Corp. is not in especially good financial shape, warns Phyllis that the deal she's putting together with Neil for a stock trade is a bad one. He instructs her to wait, as if Phyllis sells her share in Anderson, Bob no longer has controlling interest.

 

 

 

 

Marie, now recovered from her incredibly low alcohol tolerance, befriends a 17-year-old runaway working in the hospital cafeteria, named Cathy. SOD tells us that Marie "knows what trouble a young girl can get into." Apparently, while Marie was in New York, she was lonely as hell and got hooked up with Alex, who would beat the hell out of her. Yikes!

 

Marie asks Maggie to take Cathy in, but Mickey doesn't want to...at first. He then relents, reasoning that anyone that Marie likes must be worthwhile. 

 

Alex meets Marie in Jordan's office and gets handsy (with a nun in a habit! Alex! You scoundrel!), but Marie is horrified, vocalising her disgust with Alex's "sordid lifestyle". Alex reassures her that he's more discreet now, and has a new image that he doesn't want spoiled, and so encourages Marie not to say anything about what went on between them.

 

 

 

Bill and Marie visit Laura at Bayview. Laura tells them she doesn't see Ghost Mom anymore, but is still erratic and oscillates between sweet and loving, and angry and vengeful. Bill is frustrated, admitting it'll be a long road for Laura's recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Amanda story seems cut short. I wondered if Mary Frann had a project on the go that she needed to leave the show for, but she didn't land another big job until the next year, so I wonder what caused the story to end so abruptly, especially since it was obviously set up to be a substantial Chris/Amanda/Greg triangle story there. Lord knows, Amanda's newfound confidence and agency quickly went out the window as soon as she became The Incomplete Woman. What a disappointing end to another major character.

 

It really does feel increasingly like they were trying to put Julie and Jordan together. I don't really know whether that would've worked or not, but it had potential. Certainly as being the one to rebuild Julie's confidence after Laura's psychosis-related destruction of her self-worth, it would've been interesting to see, but I get the feeling it didn't go anywhere from here.

 

There are hints, moreso in TIT than SOD that Maggie and Bill are spending more time together at this point, hinting at more tension between Mickey and Maggie, with Bill once again the third in the triangle with his brother. I don't know how that would've come to pass, nor do I think I would've been down with it, honestly. 

 

Steve is being used a lot more, but this story with the Box O' Canes is dumb as hell. I expect by Christmas, he'll be wearing cement shoes or something to that effect.

 

Not liking the increasing sidelining of the Anderson story either. A sign of things to come?

10 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

Salem Strangler -1981   https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=417796836044290  

Thank you for this. That story was really the shot in the arm that DAYS needed to stay on the air, and it's wild to see the bridge between old and new DAYS so effortlessly merged in these few short scenes.

Honestly @Paul Raven , I find Julie's motivations incredibly frustrating and out of character. While I'm not yet at the point where Doug would marry Lee, I find Julie's insecurity really bizarre, though I suppose in a time of trauma, you could be very vulnerable to a trusted family member's manipulation. And it seems from what few episodes we have to work from, that EH's day-to-day writing was fairly strong, so maybe the motivations just don't hold up as well without the actual episodes to delve into?

Let's see how things develop from here, as we're now around halfway through Harrower's run.

 

AUGUST!

 

Okay, so Tune In Tomorrow gave some details SOD seems to have glazed over from July, so I'll try to sneak those in if SOD doesn't add those into their August summary.

 

 

 

 

So basically Bryon (who is apparently Doug's half brother but they're both played by Bill Hayes and Byron just looks a little older) is dying and is married to Lee, who hopes he kicks the bucket soon (charmer from the start, I see). Steve is convinced Byron and Doug are related, and this is what prompts Byron to buy a ticket to Salem. Doug gets drunk after Julie ditches him to get her own apartment to mope alone in, and fills Neil in on the fact he was raised an orphan and his real name is Brent Douglas. Desmond, Byron's lawyer, later convinces Doug to meet with Byron. Steve and Lee get on like a house on fire (too bad the same can't be said for Steve's sister, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

 

Byron arranges a phone call with Doug, who is stunned when he realizes he's actually talking to himself his brother! Byron, so overcome by the realization he's finally found his brother after so many years, insists Doug come to see him straight away...and then dies about a minute later. Oh well. Desmond calls back to tell Doug that Lee preferred a private service, but the burial will happen in West Virginia, and Doug is more than welcome to come to that.

 

Doug makes the arrangements to head to West Virginia, and consults Mickey about looking further into his family tree. Mickey thinks it's a rotten idea, which would just lead to more upset than answers.

 

Lee, meanwhile, contacts Steve, and tells him she wants to buy back some of Byron's jewels that were auctioned off in Paris, because they have "sentimental value". Seems Steven was facilitating their sale or something that effect. Lee asks Steven to hold the jewels until Byron's estate is settled. Too bad she can't afford to buy back the jewels anyway, it seems. Lee then finds out Byron "only" left her a condo on Park Avenue, a limo, and a $35k/year income (for reference, that's like getting $125k/year today, tough life!), and is livid. She gets even more enraged upon hearing that Byron changed his will last minute to give most of it to Doug and not her. She plans to fight the will, despite it being airtight, and despite the fact she risks being disinherited entirely if she DOES dispute it!

 

 

 

 

David tells Julie about Doug's ordeal, hoping she'll emerge from her dimly-lit sad apartment, but Julie doesn't DARE open the lines of communication with Doug. She apparently "loves him too much" for that. End this dumbass story now, please. God.

 

Doug gets desperate enough to talk to Jordan about coercing Julie into therapy, and it works, as Jordan manages to convince her the Hortons put him up to it, instead of Doug. He starts to open the door to Julie's world, just a crack, and tells her he believes she may be just as scared of the operations being successful as of them failing (they're evidently setting up Jordan as a spoiler for Doug and Julie, then).

 

But Julie's not quite over Doug yet, as Steve finds out when he starts talking s#!t about Doug to Julie, who snaps back that if she ever starts thinking like Steve does, she'll hate herself more than she already does.

 

Jordan employs some reverse psychology, taking the skin graft operation off the table (if only in Julie's mind), and goes over the events that led up to Julie's accident. They realize that Julie can't get over the terror of the moment she caught fire, and Jordan shakes Julie forcefully, and shouts at her "The rest of us see the same scar and it's not nearly as horrible to us as it is to you!"

 

What a way he has with the ladies, no?

 

Doug wins this month's Biggest Dumbass In Salem award, deciding to use Hope as a bargaining chip to stop Julie divorcing him. He decides to tell Julie if she walks away from Doug, he'll take Hope away from her too. *headdesk* Doug, Doug, Doug.  SMH.

 

Julie is persuaded by her landlord, who insists she's beautiful despite her scars, to pose for a painting of his. Watch out, Julie! The last two times you posed for paintings, you nearly got shot, and then had some woman hit on you. This probably won't end well for you, especially when dayplayer characters are too entranced by you without provocation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve is back being a slime again, this time arranging to smuggle a carton of canes containing diamonds back to the US, on the promise he doesn't make like Trish and start hiding them under his desk or any such nonsense. Once they're back at Chez Julie's, Steve tells Maggie they're only worth about $250 each...Maggie then sells two of them...one to Trask (of course), and one to Alice.

 

Steve does another weird thing, when he buys Mary a glass figurine, much like the one Chris bought Mary months ago after he smashed one at her house, and bought one to replace it (remember the gift that Mary returned and gave Chris the money back for?). Steve purposely leaves the gift in a precarious place so that it inevitably falls and smashes. His motive?? ....Iuuhhnuh! They...never explain it, actually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda is freaked out because she just found out she got knocked up by Chris, and is terrified Greg won't let her go through with the divorce. She also worries that if Chris finds out about the baby, he'll beat the s#!t out of Greg for holding things up. She decides to go to Chicago and hope Greg doesn't have another hissy fit this time, and maybe THEN she'll get her divorce. 

 

She goes to Greg, and once again can't get through to him, eventually breaking down and revealing her pregnancy to him. Greg does the math and apparently SOD failed to mention that Amanda also slept with Greg while he was in Salem? Kind of...important to bring up, guys. Get it together? Anyhoo, Greg insists the baby is his, and once again ignores Amanda telling him she's in love with Chris and wants to divorce Greg, saying she should move back to Chicago and he and Amanda can raise the baby as theirs.

 

Beebs' note: Who the Hell would want anything to do with this arrogant jackass? In all the years I've read about him since he joined this show, he is the most bullheaded, arrogant, patronizing a$$hole I've ever encountered and I have spent an inordinate amount of time wishing someone would just punch him dead in the face!

 

Chris, sick of Gross-ass Greg, goes to Chicago behind Amanda's back, and confronts the smug son-of-a-b!tch. Only to find out that Amanda's pregnant, with Greg's child (in Greg's deluded mind). Chris calls bull$#!t, and vows he'll be back.

 

 

 

The ridiculous dayplayer story with Don's client Trask and Marlena's patient Lester ends when Marlena arranges for Trask to meet (and be emotionally manipulated by) Lester's son, Arthur. Don is pissed when he finds out what Marlena is up to, but it works...somehow. Trask sees how much Arthur loves his father, and is moved when he discovers that the embezzlement has been to help out poor schoolteacher Mrs. Lowell. He offers to drop the charges, and provide her with the funds she needs as long as Lester stays in therapy with Marlena. Isn't that sweet?

 

Not long after, Marlena tells Don she's pregnant (uh oh). They ominously set this one up with Marlena telling him that the baby will be "our gift to each other, and a lifetime reminder of our love for each other!"

 

 

Riiiiiight.

 

 

Sam returns to Salem, and complains of kidney trouble and pressure in her back. Neil thinks it's just a milk infection (I meant to type "mild infection", but since I cracked up at my exhausted typo, I think I'll keep it and you can all laugh with and/or at me). We all know that's never the case on a soap unless there's about to be a headwriter change. Things also apparently didn't work out with Joanne's lawyer, Jerry, as Sam is apparently complaining to Marlena about a guy named Phil she's seeing. Oh well.

 

 

 

Bob buys Stephanie a swanky new car as a reward for all her hard work at Anderson. But Stephanie, still suffering from flashbacks and trauma related to the crash that nearly killed her, is terrified to drive. Without revealing too much, she tells Bob about her phobia of driving. Bob convinces her to renew her license, and to take short trips to get used to being behind the wheel again. Her animosity toward Bob diminishing by the day, Stephanie is beginning to debate revealing her true identity to Bob.

 

Linda responds to the news of Stephanie's gift by buying HER OWN $12,000 ($43k) land yacht, explaining to a livid Bob that it would look incredibly uncouth for a married man to have his secretary driving about in a nicer car than his wife. Bob asks what kind of game Linda's playing. Linda responds innocently, eyes aflutter, "whatever do you mean?"

 

 

 

 

Marie feels guilty for having time on her hands, apparently. And spends a lot of this time feeling like she needs to atone for her great sin of unwittingly falling for her brother and such. She has a glass of wine with Doug one night, and recalls her "wild days" (I would call Marie a lot of things, and wild is NOT one of them, but okay), and proceeds to faint. Some nuns can't hold their alcohol, I guess. Doug calls Neil to have some tests run on Marie. Marie wakes up, pale and weak, muttering to herself about forgetting her sins or they'll never be forgiven. Even for Catholic guilt, this is EXTREME!

 

The next day at the hospital, an overdose patient is wheeled in, reminding Marie of an apparent accidental LSD trip Marie took at a party that we've never heard of until now? Apparently someone slipped it into her drink despite the fact she was on the show around the time LSD was becoming a thing and literally never saw this? Guess it wasn't just Reilly who messed with history. Anyway, Marie starts having a crisis of faith and asks God for a sign that she didn't just join the convent to escape her ridiculous life (I have news for you, Marie...)

 

 

 

Miracles do happen! Margo grows a spine! She calls out Mike for his endless late nights working at Doug's Place, and his unnecessary exhaustion. She tells him she'd rather sell the house than see him kill himself trying to pay it off. When she asks how in debt Mike is, he admits he took out a high-interest loan from Earl. Margo suggests asking the family for help, but he doesn't want them to know how deep he is. Margo decides she's getting a second job to help pay the loan off, because she's fed up of Mike's nonsense.

 

Margo then goes to Trish and asks to "borrow" one of the diamonds she found under Trish's desk so she can pawn it to pay the debt off. Trish agrees, so long as neither Mike nor David find out about any of it. Back home, Margo asks who Earl is, Mike insists he's "just a businessman", and that nothing illegal is going on WHATSOEVER. Mmmhmm...suuuuuure. Margo gives the diamond to Earl as collateral, in exchange for Mike not having run errands for him anymore. Convinced the diamond is "hot", Earl wants it duplicated.

 

 

 

 

Shocker! Alex is chairman of Magnis Corp., whom Phyllis traded the Anderson shares with Neil for. Alex joins Phyllis in Salem, but they keep their relationship on the down-lo while in Salem, and allows Neil to steal kisses, thinking he's winning her back. Alex wants to get insider info on Anderson ahead of their manufacturing deal with them, and hopes to buy Lakewood Psychiatric Hospital. He asks Marlena to head up the new hospital, but she needs to talk it over with Don first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quieter month, and once again, SOD seems to drop hugs chunks of the stories, leaving me to have to fill in missing bits from Tune In Tomorrow, so I apologize if there's anything disjointed about how it's written. I do feel Elizabeth Harrower's run, for all its many flaws, is so far much stronger than Ann Marcus' run. It's less reliant on typical corny soap tropes to keep the action moving, and it connects up the cast a lot better than Ann Marcus did, and are far more rooted in history and the characters, but I do find her stories are a bit heavy, and not especially subtle. Some of her motivations are also a little dubious, and I REALLY don't think Doug would be so desperate as to risk harming Hope to get Julie back in such a weirdly vindictive way. It just doesn't work for me.

 

 

2 hours ago, Khan said:

 

I've always believed that if we, the viewers, didn't see something happen on-screen, then it didn't happen.  You have to be fair with the audience.  Otherwise, the trust between them and you, the writer, is gone; and once it goes, it's hard, if not impossible, to win it back.

Which I also think explains a lot of viewers' trying to connect Kate Roberts to Kate Winograd. They want it to make sense to the history they saw and maintain that goodwill toward the show and its writers, even if the writers aren't extending them the same courtesy in return. 

 

These shows grossly overestimated the lengths they could abuse the audience's trust. But I can't say I'm totally shocked. They had reason to believe, this being an example, that the viewers would follow regardless. 

I gotta thank everyone for all their contributions in this thread. They're adding SO MUCH for me. I've been loving learning about the show's history and seeing the bits and pieces I'm too young to remember watching on TV. What a treat to even see the bits and bobs we are able to!

 

Tying Vivian to Laura's return was a stroke of genius, but I agree that Bill really should've been more heavily featured during this time to really play the emotional beats of it all properly. As it stood, it seemed like he was barely present for the story at all!

 

 

Shall I get started on July '79?

 

 

So because SOD was on a bizarre once-every-three weeks schedule, The last week of June wasn't in their recaps. And boy did things get wild with Laura after that.

 

Spectre Mom orders Laura to lock herself in her room, swallow all the pills she prescribed herself for her psychosis, and hang herself. Alice arrives, demanding Laura let her in, but Laura refuses. Laura thinks twice momentarily about ending it all, but Ghost Mama insists the only way Laura will have peace and leave her guilt behind is to go through with it. "Join me. You have to do it now!", orders the voice inside Laura's head. The pills taking effect, Laura tightens the noose, and....BILL BUSTS THE DOOR DOWN. The day is saved. Bill gets Laura to barf up the pills. But Jordan, trying to reach Laura and pull her back from the brink, realizes the pills she ingested may cause long-term damage, and insists Bill institutionalize her immediately. Bill realizes Jordan's right when Laura sobs that her mother follows her everywhere and wants to kill her. She wants Bill to take her somewhere her mother can't get to her. He realizes this is the right thing to do, as Laura immediately switches from telling Marlena, Marie, Mickey and Tom that Bill is taking her to the country for a rest, because she wants and needs help, to immediately shouting at them all that they're fools and she's the sanest person in the room.

 

The one thing Ghost Mom was right about, Tom almost immediately offers Marlena the job of replacing Laura as head of psychiatry. Marlena turns the offer down, still likely a little insecure after Laura's gaslighting campaign, and Tom gives the position to Jordan, if only temporarily.

 

Jordan confides in Marie that Laura is making progress. She is now talking rationally about Ghost Mama, but has turned her back on psychiatry, feeling like she can't trust her own mind to help get her through this. She sometimes can't even remember who or where she is.

 

 

 

 

 

Julie begins to wonder why Laura The Great isn't visiting anymore. Marlena, who's taken over her case, lets her know that Laura's at a sanitarium, and Julie BLAMES HERSELF for it, wondering if her case drove Laura over the edge. I swear, it's like Elizabeth Harrower never read or watched a single episode with Julie in it before taking over. Good GOD, she writes Julie like she's made of glass.

 

The Hortons are planning a picnic (I assume for the 4th of July), so Dr. Goddard lets Julie out for a few hours to attend. Julie doesn't really want to, since she doesn't want to face people's pity yet. Marie correctly guesses that these fears are bulls#!t Loopy Laura planted in Julie's mind. Julie eventually changes her mind and does end up attending the picnic. She also agrees to sign Mickey's insurance papers, provided Maggie isn't held at all liable, and that Doug never know, as she doesn't want to hurt his pride.

 

 

Robert takes Dougie to France to visit his family and get comfortable with them, just in case something happens to him, he doesn't want them to be strangers to the boy. Hope being away at summer camp, leaves Doug alone to prepare for Julie's return. Doug hopes to take the opportunity to pick up where he and Julie left off before her hospital stay. He'll have to wait awhile, though, as Julie overhears Dr. Goddard say the skin grafts didn't take, and they'll have to do a Round 2. Julie's heartbroken by the news. The operation was painful as hell and the last thing she wants to go through it again. She decides against it, spouting more self-deprecating sob stories about how she'll likely never be the woman she was before. Steve convinces her to at least go get a second opinion, so off Julie goes to Chicago...only to be told exactly what she was telling Doug and Steve, that there's no guarantee the skin grafts will work this time either! Undaunted, Moneybags then heads for Mexico for a THIRD opinion! Any bets on what she hears?

 

Yeah.

 

Yeah, you guessed it.

 

Julie comes back home, sobbing woefully that she'll be a disfigured mess forever, and that she doesn't want to trap Doug in a life with a hideous beast with a bit of scarring on one cheek (I know, I know, the scarring is worse on her arms and chest, but come on, Julie!), so she unilaterally got a divorce in Mexico because life with a woman with burn scarring is apparently a fate worse than death. She loves him too much to let him be chained to the likes of her. Gag me. Doug is pissed off that Julie thinks so little of him that she thinks marriage to her is a trap because she's no longer physically perfect. He rips up the papers and demands they fly back to Mexico together to undo the divorce. Julie won't do it, insisting that she's dragging him down, and gets her own apartment.

 

Steve goes to Paris, finally. This time to go to charity antiques auction to pick up some stuff for Chez Julie, and to reunite with Mimi (I would've dumped this scrub ages ago, Mimi. I don't know what you see in him). While Steve is away, Julie asks Maggie to stay on at Chez Julie's. I don't have a bloody clue what prompts this sudden attitude change, but Julie suddenly gets a pissy attitude with Maggie, and snaps at her "you owe me a debt". MEOW!

 

At the auction, Steve makes friends with Byron Carmichael, who he mentions resembles an older version of Doug. Byron's dying of cancer, and invites Steve to his swanky home (this story would go such a different way today...well...if soaps were anything like they were in the 70s, that is). Steve fills Byron in on the details of Doug's life, and Byron buys a plane ticket to Salem. This...sounds...I am very concerned with what is about to happen.

 

Alice is this month's Only Sane Person in the World, and pounds of Julie's door, refusing to leave until Julie opens up. Once inside, she begs Julie not to dump Doug, and provides her with her usual sage wisdom, but Julie feels she'll be turning Doug into a nursemaid if she were to stay with him. 0/1

 

Alice having failed, Bill tries the bad cop approach, tearing a strip off Julie when he visits the next day for divorcing Doug and hiding from the world. He's probably projecting a bit, methinks. But he also is fairly certain Laura's therapy fekked up Julie's confidence, and makes it clear to Julie that what she was told by Laura was from a place of profound mental distortion, and not to take it seriously. Julie insists that Laura was "the only one in the family who didn't keep things from me!" 0/2

 

Just as Julie seems beyond help, it's Stephanie to the rescue!

 

Stephanie visits Julie, and encourages Julie to get the skin grafts done as soon as possible, revealing that she was once in a terrible car wreck, and the skin grafts helped her start a new life. She shows Julie the scars near her hairline, and then, shockingly, reveals that she's actually Brooke!

 

She tells Julie that, if Julie gets this operation done before it's too late, she too, can start a new life.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris goes to Mary's studio to pick up his things. Mary makes a last ditch attempt to get him back, hoping he regrets breaking things off as much as she does. Except, Chris thinks it was a good idea, and Mary is pretty pissed off about that, reaming him out for using her to advance his career at Anderson, and calling Amanda a tramp. How To Win Friends and Influence People, by Mary Anderson.

 

She then orders him to leave, and he gets in his jeep. As he drives off, Mary runs out with a pile of his clothes he left behind and throws them at his jeep. He can't see, and grazes Mary with the jeep, knocking her over. Steve, who's on his way to pick up Mary for a date, sees Chris knock Mary down with his jeep and believes he intentionally ran her over. Linda sees the ordeal as well from the lakehouse.

 

Mary runs back into the studio to make sure she's okay. Chris parks the jeep, runs back to the studio and bangs on the door to make sure Mary's okay, but Mary, quite rightly, tells him to buzz off. He eventually complies. Steve comes by shortly after, and insists Mary lie down, before calling Neil to check up on her. Chris later calls the studio, and Steve tells him he dialed the wrong number and leaves the phone off the hook.

 

Neil eventually arrives, deducing that Mary is just a bit shaken up, but physically okay. The X-Rays bear this out, Mary doesn't have any broken bones, but lets her know that emotional trauma from the incident may linger.

 

Linda uses what she saw to her advantage with Bob, lying and saying that she heard from Mary that Chris intentionally mowed Mary down and took off straight away. She reminds Bob what a bad temper Chris has to try to further tarnish the poor guy's image in Bob's eyes. Amanda, wisely, warns Chris to contact his insurance company in case Mary decides to go scorched earth on him.

 

Bob asks Mary how she's feeling. Mary claims lower back pain, and embellishes that Chris hates her SO MUCH he wanted to CRIPPLE her! Oh brother. After hearing Chris' completely different take on the accident, Bob isn't sure who to believe, and wonders if Steve, seemingly the only witness, has something to gain by blaming Chris.

 

Steve, at the same time, is trying to rile Mary up to get her to get more X-rays, hoping something will turn up so he can encourage Mary to sue Chris (Steve is awful lawsuit-happy, isn't he?). This time, Mary actually agrees with Steve's idea, and makes an appointment with Don. At the appointment, Mary tells her tall tale of Chris' rage and vitriol...and Don doesn't buy it for a second, telling her she's clearly just out to get back at him for dumping her. Unfazed, Mary takes a new approach, and visits Chris unannounced to "drop off a book he left behind". Mary tells him a sob story about her bad back before Amanda walks in the room. Mary's livid to see her, and calls her every name but a child of God before Amanda can get a breath in. After the bunny boiler leaves, Amanda tells Chris how worried she is that Mary may mess things up for him at work, after all, she is the boss' daughter.

 

Mary's last stop on her Sympathy Tour 1979 is Tom's office, where she's told exactly what she's been told by everyone else: You may be injured in a way that X-rays don't show, but your greatest injury is probably to your ego.

 

Linda tells Bob about Mary's intention to sue Chris. Bob's not impressed, and intends to talk Mary down before taking drastic action, but will support his daughter 100% regardless (fool). Linda keeps quiet about having witnessed the accident until she sees something concrete she can gain from the information.

 

Next, Bob sends Chris, whom he's still extremely supportive of, to San Francisco to speak to Magnis Corporation regarding a new manufacturing contract, which could save Anderson from the major cutbacks Bob was concerned about after Mary's government snafu. Bob does this, in part, because he suspects that Chris' old fashioned nature will cause him to, once at a distance from Amanda, second-guess his hitching his cart to a married woman, and maybe, hopefully, he will find his way back to Mary.

 

Fat chance of that the way Mary's acting: she tells an incensed Bob that she will, in fact, sue Chris, despite having no discernible injury to show for the accident. Bob insists she's just throwing a tantrum to get Chris' attention, but Mary contends that she wants to show the world how vicious and thoughtless Chris is. Chris, I guess once again being thoughtless, decides to bring Amanda with him. Bob hopes that this will make Mary so angry that she'll fight for him instead of suing. Linda suggests Bob only wants this so that he can have Chris run Anderson one day (a thought that turns Linda's stomach, since she never did much like Chris).

 

Linda, seemingly warming to Mary, gives Mary advice with regards to Chris. She tells her that if she sues Chris, it'll drive him further toward Amanda. But if she forgives him, and publicly, they may stand a chance. I love how Linda frames it as well: "make sure you get what you really want". That's a very Linda thing to say.

 

Phyllis encourages Don to suggest to Mary to seek counselling with Marlena (followed that one?), hoping that Marlena will talk Mary out of suing. Don refuses, so Phyllis goes straight to Marlena and proposes the same thing. But Marlena won't bite unless MARY suggests it.

 

Linda slips up, saying she remembered a party Bob threw months ago, but covers her tracks with a quickness when Bob calls her out on it, reminding him the doctors' said Linda had "selective amnesia", and only forgot the bad things in her life. This doesn't placate the old fool, and Bob calls her out for lying to him for months. Tempers die down somewhat, but Linda still senses Bob is stressed about the situation with Mary's extended tantrum, and finally confesses to Bob that she saw the accident. She admits that Mary threw the clothes at Chris' car, and could've gotten herself killed. Bob wonders why Linda kept the truth a secret so long, but Linda covers and states she didn't want to make Mary look like a liar. Bob, still burnt from Linda faking her amnesia, isn't sure he believes her about Mary's malicious intent regarding Chris.

 

Stephanie tries to reason with Mary, and pleads with her to back off the lawsuit with Chris, if only for the sake of Bob's health, warning her that Bob might have another heart attack from the stress of the situation. She reads Mary for filth, saying everyone knows she's just out to get back at Chris, and that getting Chris fired would be a hollow victory, and Mary knows it. Stephanie FINALLY gets through to Mary, and Mary and Chris come to a truce, agreeing to remain friendly colleagues.

 

 

 

 

Amanda moves out of Doug and Julie's, again to try to alleviate any potential rumours about Doug living with ANOTHER WOMAN while Julie's away. She takes a room at the Salem Inn, which disappoints Chris. She reminds him she is, for now, married, and it would look bad on both of them. Greg, finding out about his impending divorce, comes to Salem and demands Doug tell him where Amanda is. When Doug tells him she's out of town with Chris, Greg suddenly realizes "well, damn! I've been a sh!tty husband! WOW!", and figures Amanda is just lashing out by taking up with Chris. A mere infatuation, the clueless doctor surmises.

 

He thinks his little epiphany will win Amanda back over, and refuses to give her a divorce "now -- or EVER!"

 

Yeah, yeah.

 

 

When Amanda DOES return, she tells Julie all about her great love and how Chris is the greatest thing since sliced bread etc. etc., and Julie, thrilled for her, tells her to follow her lead and get a fekking divorce already. At Amanda's room at the Salem Inn, Chris and Amanda are gettin' busy, when Greg bursts in, and shouts, screams, and hollers how he'll never let Amanda divorce him, and he'll cut her off at every turn!! After more assorted histrionics, Amanda tells Greg she knows there's no hope for their marriage. Greg acts like he didn't hear a damn thing she said, and tells her to go back to Chicago with him for a year, and THEN they can talk about a divorce. Like talking to a brick wall, I swear.

 

Chris realizes the only way he can get Amanda away from Greg without a prolonged fight is if she goes back to Chicago with him, THEN files for divorce when Greg realizes what a dumbass he's being.

 

 

 

 

 

Phyllis, eager to dump her Anderson stock at the behest of YOU KNOW WHO, trades the shares with Neil for his stake in Magnis Corp. Once that order of business is out of the way, Phyllis then asks Neil for a divorce, which Neil promptly refuses. Surprisingly not for an entirely selfish reason, however. Feeling that Phyllis is being negatively influenced by Alex (who is finally being addressed by SOD by name), Neil senses something predatory in him that Neil wishes to protect Phyllis from, and as long as Phyllis is married to Neil, she won't marry (another) Mr. Wrong. Phyllis informs Neil that she stopped "belonging" to Neil a long time ago, and that their marriage is over. 

 

The good news for Phyllis is that her gamble is taking over Neil's Magnis stock paid off! Magnis enters into a contract with Anderson, and all should be flush with cold hard cash in no time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trish goes to David's to visit Scotty, and is met by a horny David, who puts the moves on her and they end up sleeping together. So I guess that's a thing again. David asks Trish the next morning to move back into his apartment. She agrees as long as he forgets about Trish swiping Scotty and moving to LA, and never brings it up again, and Trish will forget about David's affair with Stephanie. David thinks this is actually a good idea, and throws out a painting Stephanie gave him as a peace offering to Trish.

 

It's been literally a week, and David's already talking to Trish about moving them all into a house together (sigh). Trish, sensibly, tells David to cool his jets, since she's not even sure if this reconciliation is gonna work yet or not since it's LITERALLY BEEN A WEEK.

 

The only rush Speedy Gonzalez isn't in is to get to work, and Stephanie's sick of it. She accuses David of taking advantage of their past relationship to come and go as he pleases. David says he does good work, despite his lateness, but Stephanie isn't putting up with his crap anymore.

 

Trish agrees to move into a larger apartment with David and Scotty. Mealy-mouthed Margo comes by to help Trish pack, and finds a bunch of diamonds taped under Trish's desk (???). Trish yanks them away from Margo, and makes Margo promise she won't tell anyone about them. Apparently among the "terrible things" Trish did to get back to Salem all those months ago include stealing these diamonds, because Steve's business partner, Durant, tells Steve about it while Steve is in Paris. Durant wants REVENGE! (muahhaha). Steve volunteers to track Trish down for Durant.

 

 

 

 

Dumb Donna might not have learned her lesson after all. As Alice is watching Jennifer in Laura's absence, Donna takes a job babysitting the child of a nameless wealthy woman (watch it be Trask's wife LOL). Said nameless rich lady then complains when some items turn up missing from her home. Three guesses who took 'em.

 

The lady now has a name, Mrs. Nevell. And OOPS NEVERMIND! She found the missing gold bracelet under a couch cushion. LOL. No harm done. Don apologizes to Donna for assuming the worst (but like...she kinda walked into that one, for real).

 

Don meets with Mr. Trask again, who is now more than ever convinced that his accountant (Marlena's patient Lester) is stealing from him. Lester insists he hasn't done anything wrong in handling Trask's finances, and then confesses that Don is representing Trask. OOPS! The fight is on at home, with Marlena trying to reason with Don that Lester is emotionally unstable etc. etc., but Don, though understanding, is all law and order about this, and wants Lester to be PUNISHED. 

 

 

 

 

Mike, still broke-ass, can't pay the loan shark his instalment on the money he borrowed to cover Loony Laura's momentary tantrum over his gift/loan. So Earl the Loan Shark suggests he start working off his debt by accepting Earl's clients' cash payments while working his valet job at Doug's (all together now: this will end well).

 

Mike plans to quit working at Doug's when the Magnis deal comes through with Anderson, but Earl warns him that that's a nay nay! He gone break ya fingers, Mikey! Earl spooks Mike so that when Chris promotes him at Anderson, Mike refuses the position, saying he HAS to stay on at Doug's Place. Chris is baffled, because who da hell would turn down a DOUBLING OF THEIR SALARY?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm actually pretty stunned Stephanie revealed herself to Julie like that. It's not as though Julie was that big a fan of Brooke to begin with, but it's nice to see them getting closer and connecting over this. Stephanie is becoming the voice of reason, and it's...weird!

 

Mary is a bit of a basketcase, but in a way that totally makes sense. I like how they're writing her, even though she's incredibly retaliatory and spiteful. It's that relatable kind of insecure, emotionally volatile character that's not often seen anymore without becoming a caricature.

 

I keep waiting for things with Linda to boil over, and they almost do, and then they...don't? Very odd.

 

I know Byron is tied to Lee somehow, isn't he? I feel like there's a lot of stories starting to tie together, and it's a far more connected show than Ann Marcus' DAYS was. I haven't figured out yet whether that's a good or a bad thing, tbh. 

5 hours ago, Franko said:

The stunt looked better than I expected. I wasn't expecting they'd show so much of it.

Yeah, I'm actually impressed by it. I'll say one thing for Harrower's DAYS, she certainly took the trouble to SHOW, not tell the action, and it was a better show for it. I think the influence of Y&R and GH around this time meant DAYS really had to step up their game in terms of visual effects, and in some ways, action in their stories to keep up, despite their stories remaining FAR less action-based, and far more dialogue-heavy than what GH would do.

 

Thank you @jam6242 for posting the clip! 

 

LOL @Franko, yeah, Laura's reactions are so incongruous, it reads almost like black comedy, except I know full well it wasn't actually played that way on-screen. I suspect SOD's writing doesn't help that assessment. They've never quite caught the tone of the show quite the way DSN did, and I can't quite tell why, but when you actually watch the episodes, the writing is much stronger than their writeups suggests. I feel like they gloss over a LOT of the subtlety from the dialogue in a way DSN didn't.

 

 

ANYWAY, let's get to June...

 

Julie finally listens to the doctor from out of town and returns to Salem for surgery. Doug lavishes her with attention, and reassurances that he'll always love her, regardless of her appearance. Julie admits to having contemplated suicide, but didn't want to leave Doug with a lifetime of guilt.

 

Doug takes her to the hospital to prep for surgery. Stephanie, of all people, comes to visit her. Stephanie lets her guard down, earnestly revealing to Julie that she knows what Julie's going through, and reassuring her that she will be alright, and to trust her doctors. Not making the connection as to WHY Stephanie can relate so well, Julie is relieved and in good spirits, regardless. She feels she's known Stephanie all her life (I could offer a few explanations for that). The visit even reassures Doug that Julie's back to normal, and encourages Julie to recover soon so that they can get back to the bedroom and try for that baby they've been working towards.

 

That child will apparently not be Dougie, according to Robert, who draws up paperwork saying that, if anything should happen to Robert, Dougie would go not to Doug and Julie, but to Robert's sister in France. Why? Because Doug and Julie are too preoccupied to take care of the boy. 

 

Julie preps for surgery, and a slew of visitors come by to butter her up with endless compliments about how beautiful she is inside and out. I'm surprised they don't throw her a parade with fireworks as well. Regardless, this is the confidence boost Julie needs, under the circumstances. Especially since Laura's campaign of pessimism continues, with Laura even warning Julie as she's wheeled in for surgery that "you have scars on your psyche that no doctor can erase." (For fvck's sake, Laura! Just put the gun to her head already!)

 

Marlena, thankfully, counteracts Laura's doomsday scenario, telling her she has the strength to pull through.

 

The skin graft is a success, so now Laura decides it's time to start attacking Julie's psyche again! This time, going after her plans to have Doug's baby. She suggests that Hope will resent Julie for having Doug's baby, leaving less time for Hope and making Hope jealous and resentful of Julie.

 

Dr. Goddard, Julie's plastic surgeon, informs her that the surgery was successful, and that there's a good chance her body will accept the grafts. Stupid Julie makes a point of lavishing praise on Laura for helping her face reality, and that she has complete faith in her lunatic Aunt.

 

 

 

Jordan informs Bill of Laura's hallucination, but Bill is dismissive, even believing Jordan to be trying to steal Laura's job. Marie sets him straight, and Jordan encourages Bill to talk to Tom about Laura's condition before the whole hospital is put at risk.

 

Laura then bursts into Marlena's office with a stack of casefiles, dumps them on Marlena's desk, and declares that they're Marlena's problem now, for Laura is going to work with disturbed children in a clinic. She tells Marlena she feels she had a major breakthrough with Julie because Julie made it back to Salem with all limbs still attached. She then goes home, rips a few medical journals off the shelves, and scrawls all over them in red pen, announcing to Rosie and Bill that she's going to begin a whole new career, and wants to celebrate her (alleged) accomplishment with Julie's case.

 

The next day, Laura completely forgets having filled Marlena's desk with paperwork, and accuses Marlena of STEALING it! Then, when alone, tells herself that Julie's better off dead and that she never wants to see her again, and that Julie would be a better person if she learned to live with her scars. Laura, getting ready for bed, then proceeds to hallucinate being burned just like Julie, and begins screaming in agony. Bill rushes in, but Laura plays it off, claiming she just closed a drawer on her finger...which is a perfectly normal reaction to closing a drawer on your finger. I let out sustained bloodcurdling screams at momentary pain regularly. Don't you?

 

Jordan insists that Laura needs to be put in Bayview, not heading up a psychiatric ward at a major hospital. Marlena draws a line there, still dealing with lingering traces of PTSD from when Sam locked HER in Bayview, she begins to make excuses for Laura's behaviour, downplaying it to try to prevent her friend from experiencing the hell she did. Jordan retorts that Laura will cause more harm to her patients if left to run amok, noting her condition, if left untreated, will likely continue to deteriorate.

 

And deteriorate it does. After driving Mike to loan sharks, Laura's Ghost Mother decides she's Marie Kondo and thinks that having small children about the house doesn't spark joy. She convinces Laura that Bill would be much happier if he didn't have a small child to deal with. So she tells Donna, who's babysitting Jennifer as Rosie isn't available that day, that Laura will take Jennifer for a walk, and to stay at the house and not answer the phone. So Donna does, until the umpteenth call from Bill, who she finally fills in on all the bizarre things that happened, and the fact that Laura and Jennifer have been away all day.

 

So what did Laura do with Jennifer? She put her on a Greyhound bound for Dayton, as one does with a three-year-old. Laura then returns home, and accuses Donna of killing Jennifer, before lunging at her! Just as quickly as she does, Bill steps in. Laura instantly calms right down and wonders what all the commotion is about, then stammers and mutters to herself, wondering where Jennifer is. Bill files a missing person's report at this point.

 

Marlena arrives, and tries to walk Laura through her day. Laura insists she was working at UH all day (she wasn't), and insists Donna has Jennifer, randomly screaming out to Donna to bring Jennifer back at once. Marlena, exhausted from these exercises, and the stress of having to deal with her friend's extended breakdown, asks Jordan to take over the case. She feels too closely connected to the case to be objective. Jordan, in consult with Marlena about the case, suggests that the voice instructing Laura is likely an extension of her subconscious, and if that voice is of her mother, whom she KNOWS was insane, and Laura allows that voice to guide her actions, Laura must also have stepped over the line into insanity herself.

 

In Dayton, the bus driver asks Jennifer why she's sitting alone and where her mother is. Jennifer explains that her mother put her on the bus alone. The driver immediately turns her over to the police. The next day, the driver recognizes Jennifer's face in the newspaper, and tells them that she's the girl he found on his bus. The cops fly Jenn back to Salem. Laura greets Jennifer like any sane and rational mother would, tearfully, and vowing they'll never be apart again. Bill stupidly sees this as a sign that Laura's back to normal and just needed a nap or six. Marie is, as usual, the only person in the house with any sense or functioning brain matter, and tells Bill that Laura PROBABLY still needs to get some help cos like...sending a pre-schooler alone on a bus to God-knows-where and then trying to kill the babysitter after accusing her of killing your daughter MIGHT be slightly more serious than needing a couple days off.

 

Laura agrees. So she orders the same drug that her mother used in order to treat herself. I know I say this a lot, but this will SURELY end well!

 

 

Phyllis' new boyfriend is trying to convince Phyllis to sell her shares in Anderson. Neil worries she's being taken advantage of, somehow, and expresses as much to Bob. Bob has his trusty PI on call to look into it for Neil's sake.

 

 

 

Mike is this month's Ultimate Dumbass, spending $400 on a new jacket for Margo, who doesn't realize that he doesn't have any money because he's already up to his neck in debt from trying to keep her happy. After this, Loony Laura snaps at him, demanding the $500 she lent him for the house back because "you can't just keep borrowing money and thinking it's a gift". Mike does the dumbest thing and goes to a loan shark, then pays a bewildered Laura back, who wonders why Mike's so insistent on paying this back when it's a gift.

 

 

 

David keeps harping at Trish about how she pissed off to LA with Scotty. Trish wishes he'd shut up about it and forgive her already. David decides he will and kisses her lovingly. Barf.

 

 

 

Chris continues to prod Amanda to divorce Greg. She FINALLY listens, going to Mickey to ask him to file the papers, stating that she and Greg are completely out of touch with each other now. Mickey suggests marriage counselling, but Amanda stands firm, it's time. She also sheepishly admits there's another man...

 

Their next night out, Chris and Amanda are on a picnic in the moonlight. Relieved that she's finally setting the ball in motion to escape her marriage to Greg, and feeling genuinely happy and in love with Chris, Amanda finally feels comfortable to sleep with Chris, and they have a nice little al fresco romp, presumably finally relieving Chris' blue balls that were making him so pushy all these weeks.

 

 

 

The cause of Donna's sudden influx of cash is revealed: She isn't paying for the things she brings home. 

 

She goes to Chez Julie to buy Marlena a birthday gift, and Steve is working the shop. He shows her some rings, and then gets called away for a moment. So Donna takes it upon herself to slip one in her purse and leave. Charming.

 

Donna claims it's an old family heirloom, and Don and Marlena buy into that load of nonsense easily.

 

Later, at Doug's Place, Steve compliments Marlena on the ring, then sees Donna and makes the connection. He makes a mental note to check the inventory log at the shop later. Donna's not lookin' so slick anymore. Steve checks the records, then confronts Don with the evidence. Don has a hard time believing it (why, I don't know), but once he compares Marlena's ring with a picture of it Steve kept at the shop, he quickly write a cheque to cover for Donna's sticky fingers, and asks Steve to keep Donna's continued...teenageness quiet. Don then lays into the brat when she gets home. Donna eventually confesses and goes back to whining and begging Don to forgive her and promises to never ever do anything like that again she swears to God amen.

 

 

NEW DAYPLAYER DRAMA! Marlena's patient Lester Hall admits to her that he embezzled funds from the same Harold Trask that Steve swindled money out of when he was going on his lavish antique trips to France. Lester says he was doing it to help a cash-strapped teacher. Now, unbeknownst to Lester or Marlena, Trask knows about it, and is pressing charges, with Don as his attorney! Prepare for more nonsense drama in 5...4...3...

 

 

 

Putzy Bob's demeanour thaws further toward Linda. He wants to spare Melissa the pain of her parents' divorce, and suggests he and Linda return to sharing the same bed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel this mix between feeling intense pathos for Laura, knowing that a lot of mental illness plays out in similarly bizarre ways (in full honesty, it hits close to home, a friend is dealing with similar hallucinations right now and it's...frankly, debilitating), and busting out laughing at the absurdity of how this is playing out. I have a strong feeling, judging from the 6-19-79 episode, that the subject was treated with a degree of respect that SOD just can't capture, but the twists and turns of the story are honestly just...stupefying. And the fact that no one is bothering to tell Julie that, ummm....maybe your Aunt isn't actually helping you right now? Blows my mind!

 

I like that they're once again dropping hints about Stephanie's identity. I would've loved to see that play itself out naturally, and how the relationship evolved between her and Mary once Mary found out who Stephanie really was, and that she was her sister. Killing her off was a stupid decision, and really hampered any attempt to keep the Anderson branch of the show on the canvas after 1980, Chris Kositchek notwithstanding.

 

I do like how Harrower is writing Amanda. She was always very much the victim under PFS. Always pingponging between Neil and Greg, and never really seeming to have much agency of her own. It's refreshing to see her being written as taking charge of her own life, and choosing someone who actually seems to appreciate her and make her feel special as a person, as opposed to being a prize to claim.

 

Donna's stories stay stupid. The less said about them, the better.