Days: Alison Sweeney on "The New Sami"

[px780]

Word. Even the fact that she stayed is a little surprising to me after reading her comments. Which- it's weird to me to read her talking about Sami because she so thoroughly is the character on-screen at this point. I don't get that with other actors and their interviews.

I'm still a little nervous about where this is going, a bit moreso with her response to the question about Sami and a baby turning to the Dimera side. It could be interesting, but it would be incredibly frustrating to watch after seeing Sami mend fences with her family (even if she has to risk her life to get them to love her again). To me it's like, if she hasn't turned already then why bother with the story now? Plus before I'm fully willing to be tormented by the show again I need a little happy time. Not much- a couple weeks on the backburner, maybe- but something.

And I agree that EJ can be redeemed- anyone involved with the Dimeras can, what with all the chips in people's heads- but I would rather they not go there. The show could use a killer (no pun intended) short-term villain, imho, and EJ fits that really well.

[Bree]

IF DAYS can turn Jack from a rapist into an anti-hero, then EJ can also be redeemed as well. He does have feelings for Sami, but they're weird and twisted. And don't forget Sami had her way with Austin thanks to drugs. I'm not saying this is payback for the things she's done (and neither was her rape by Alan Harris), but it's interesting when you have someone who for so long has taken advantage of others is experiencing some of the same, and you watch how they react.

[DaysFanJean]

Did Jack ever cold-bloodedly murder someone? EJ is a cold-blooded killer and I just find that beyond any redemption.

[Ilovemydays]

In a soap anything can happen. EJ could even be under the influence of mind control.

Spoiler: EJ will turn out to be a

DiMera Pawn, used to pave the way for another!

John came to Salem not knowing who he was. He simply was "The Pawn." The Pawn after unraveling the bandages from his extensive plastic surgery, came up with the name John Black. He took a job in hospital security and found a friend in Dr. Marlena Evans. Marlena tried to help John black regain his memory through hypnosis. Some people speculated that he could actually be Stefano, who had the money and means to create a drastic physical transformation if he wanted one. When Marlena got a peek at John's tattoo, she was shocked. It was a phoenix, and she thought he could indeed be Stefano as others suspected...

http://www.soapcentral.com/days/whoswho/john.php

[Roman]

And that rumor was gotten by Days Cafe. It would be a great stroy, but even I stopped posting stuff from them, becasue half the time it's stuff they read other MBs and they post it as either rumor or fact.

[Moriah]

I don't doubt that EJ can be redeemed (but a Jack story it sure won't be, Daytime isn't capable of such great storytelling anymore). But he isn't redeemed now, he just committed the crime. That's why I find it ridiculous for the interviewer to see him as such a viable option for Sami, as if literally nothing happened. Besides, with the exception of L&L from 20 years ago, pairing redeemed victimizers with their victims rarely flies. It usually works better when they're paired with someone else who can see them with fresh eyes.

[mateo22]

I don't think that I really want Sami with EJ at all really, just more interested in the possibilities that can come from a Dimera/Brady baby. I'd like for this to be something that really rockets LUMI as a serious couple more than anything. I'm just excited that Sami has finally grown up and that Ali has finally gotten some good material!

[ademption]

Hi Moriah, long time no see!! Great to post with you again. Ali's comments brought memories back of that incident a few years ago, when Salem Critic got on Ali for refusing to say anything about Lucas slapping Sami in the churchyard after Roman's death(?) during the Salem Serial Killer storyline. Remember she tried to please fans on both sides of the issue? Ali is a very nice giving actress, but part of her job is to stick up for the show and generate interest so that both fanbases are enthusiastic about watching Days. I also disagreed with her comments, but I understand why she was giving those comments. She's a representative of Days and the whole hot triangle is part of Days' publicity. It's interesting that on her own message board, she seems to give another side to her perspective about the EJ/Sami scenes last Friday.

I have mixed feelings about Hogie's writing of Lucas/Lumi. For one thing, IMHO, Lucas is still islanded as a character, which is dangerous in the soap world. Despite his status as one of the few remaining adult male Hortons, he hasn't interacted with members of his family that much, like say Shawn for instance. He mainly shares scenes with Sami and Kate and periodically with Victor. I'm hoping that perhaps with the Sami rape storyline we'll see Lucas interact with more characters and that this story will be not only a Sami story, but a Lucas one as well.

Secondly, Hogan Sheffer hasn't written Lucas as a character that Days' viewers can root for (other than us diehard Lucas' fans). We know that Lucas is insecure about his relationship with Sami based upon his past experiences with Nicole and Carrie. On the positive side, he does have a protective streak when it comes to Sami. We've seen those 2 dimensions of his character play out fairly well. The pranks with Will and then later on pouring the paint can on EJ's head were a bit much. I guess HS was trying to display Lucas' immaturity in an extreme way. Those scenes fell a little flat to me though.

However, an insecure and immature man, as pointed out by EJ, isn't what Sami needs now, given her maturation over the past several months. The divide is widening and I could understand why non-Lumi fans are now questioning why Lumi should even be together. I can also understand why non-Lumi fans would question the relationship with Lucas just talking about having sex with Sami. Their conversations have become one note. There's no romance, just Lucas asking that Sami make love. That's it. No going out to have a romantic dinner together, dancing etc.

When Sami refuses to have sex with Lucas, Lucas says that he's fine with it, but then later on acts petulent. It's classic passive aggressive trait, which is consistent throughout the history of Lucas' character.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY CLUSTER

http://emoclear.com/clusters/passiveaggressive.html

I like Lucas' personality including his passive aggressive streak. But I can understand why most people don't like it, especially for a romantic lead or as the male counterpart of a supercouple in the making. My hope with the rape storyline is that Hogan Sheffer works on Lucas' passive aggressive traits. As I mentioned in another thread, perhaps Lucas could make a deal with the devil in this case Victor that Victor help Lucas take down EJ and in exchange Lucas helps Victor with Phillip's custody suit against Belle/Shawn? It would get Lucas out of the Sami/Kate island so that he would interact with more characters and give him his own story. More than anything, Lucas needs to become his own individual, not Sami's appendage. I've said that for a long time and I hope that is where Sheffer is going with this rape storyline. Also, Sheffer needs to make Lucas a character that average viewers would want to root for. Most people don't like his passive aggressive tendencies, so maybe HS will work it into the story where Lucas works on those issues and becomes a bit more aggressive, especially towards his mother, Kate.

If not, I don't see a bright future for Lumi, Lucas or Bryan D. It would be a shame b/c I really do like Hogan Sheffer's style of writing. I'm trying to remain positive. For one thing, HS didn't have to write that Lucas dream about Kate and Will when Lucas was passed out from hypothermia on last Friday's show. I know a lot of people were perplexed that the dream sequences were included in that episode, but I think HS was trying to provide insight into Lucas' character. Kate's seeds of doubt about Sami weigh heavily on Lucas' conscious, but Will is the one constant--the one person that gives him the will to live (think back to Will giving Lucas the will to wake up from the coma a few years ago).

Anyway, I can only hope for the best. HS seems to get the other characters pretty well. I'm hoping that he'll be able to flesh Lucas' character out a little more and turn him into a romantic lead, not only for Lumi's sake, but for Lucas and Bryan D's sake as well....

[Bree]

Hogan and his crew really need to get Lucas interacting more with his Horton clan. Every writer DAYS has had while Lucas was on isolated him, except for some great scenes between he and Maggie during his short-lived alcohol addiction story. Hogan has brought a lot of more family and character interaction on, so I'm not sure why Lucas continues to only exist in Sami's world.

I think many people don't like Lucas because for so long, writers have portrayed him as a yes man for Kate, and if it's one thing a lot of people can't stand, it's momma's boys. The previous writing has really hurt his character. It's time for Lucas to get some good story and for his character to be explored. Sami's had fourteen years. It's his turn now.

[DaysFanJean]

I like Lucas because he is a loving, caring person. Bryan portrays an excellent father/son relationship with Will so there is no doubt whatsoever that he isn't one loving/proud father. What is one thing both Sami and Lucas have is a genuine devotion for their son. Lucas has a much more tender heart than Sami. I find that sexy. I think Bryan is way sexier and fun than EJ...let's also say, more human LOL. Hogan said he was going to make a Nick/Nora detective team of Sami and Lucas and I'm holding him to his word. Truly, I don't even like Sami without Lucas.

[Cheyenne]

Good point! I don't get why people necessary would want EJ to be nice guy. Yeah of course the Ejami fans want that, but the rest... why? I like the character way better when he's really showing his evil side. I hated when he was all snooty and smirking for months and every opportunity he got. It was just too annoying.

[Ponz]

The Luke and Laura story happened 26 years at a time when social attitudes to rape were alot less progressive than they currently are. The term 'date rape' had not even entered popular discourse when that story was written. The same story would never be accepted by today's audience. Add to that the fact that EJ has shown absolutely NO REMORSE for his crime (Luke and Jack showed remorse immediately) and the notion of EJ and Sami as a viable romantic pairing is simply insane.

I doubt EJ will be redeemed but if it does happen, it will be another woman and not Sami who accomplishes it.

[Ponz]

I have to disagree, ademption. It's the interviewer (who is not a DAYS employee) doing the hedging. If the writers intended it to be a gray area, they would not have had Sami refer to the incident as 'rape' just before it happened. There's also a reason Lucas made so many references to 'rape' in the episodes preceding the crime. The official DAYS site at Sony refers to the incident as 'rape', as does Ali on her site. And there was a spoiler in TV GUIDE saying that EJ 'sexually assaults her at gunpoint'. IMO, this is enough evidence that TPTB want it seen as rape.

[Moriah]

I was glad to see those scenes too. It made me think, I doubt previous writers would have kept him in the episode as anything but a body on the floor, with Sami in the centre of the story. It would have been nice if Hogan had chosen to make Lucas one of the characters he wants to revitalise, like Sami and Marlena.

I'm more optimistic than you are about the viewer opinion of Lucas and Lumi. I think they're very popular due to chemistry and history, even when Lucas is written badly. I gave up on Lumi when I felt he turned into nothing but an Austin clone under JER, yet Lumi remained popular. I think the issue with Lucas' character is that us diehards know his personality very well, but more casual fans don't because of the inconsistency across previous writers and the damage done to him by Langan. It's the reason we had gripes with the writing for him under JER, while others online rarely spoke about it. After 13 years, this is a character that still needs establishing as an individual, not Sami's man. More family interaction would help, but I think to really help the character we'd need something more drastic, namely, his own story.

The more JER turned Lucas into Austin, the more I was desperate for JER to turn him back into the bad boy he used to be. So I didn't have a problem with things like the pranks (but I didn't watch much of it so it may have come across worse than I thought). But I think a mistake Hogan is actually making is he's almost adding flaws. Lucas coming across as so pushy with the sex, being unromantic and even pretty mean to Sami now that they're together? That's OOC, IMO. Things like him being a mama's boy stood in the way of him being a leading man in the past; not being sweet enough or loving enough was never the issue. It's those "swoon" moments that really make male characters and couples work for the viewers, and they could easily do them with Lucas so I'm not sure why it's not there.

I actually agree. I don't think DAYS has a specific publicity objective to whitewash the rape. I think it's just one of those things that some people may not think to associate with the word rape. While they still think it's bad, rape is a powerful label that makes the mind go from "bad" tp "horrible crime," so if people like the TVGuide interviewer haven't made that jump, they respond differently. From what was seen onscreen, it didn't seem like they tried to make this not be rape, and they certainly could have if they wanted to.

[ademption]

The reason why I think this purposeful downplaying of the rape scene is part of Day's publicity department is that I just find it too much of a coincidence that first SOW and now this TV Guide interviewer were doing it. Where did SOW get the idea that EJ and Sami were just sleeping together? Maybe my conspiracy theory radar is going off too strongly and there's nothing there, but I find it strange that both publications owned by different corporations chose to take this angle. Don't the mags typically say "rape" on the cover instead of "sleep together" or "forced to cheat"?

For another thing, I think that soap mags, particularly with articles containing spoilers, just repeat what the soaps' publicity department tells them. I don't believe that soap mags give original news in these articles, but regurgigate whatever angle the publicity department wants them to cover. I think that Days would like to play up the rivalry b/w the Lumi/EJami fanbase. If Days' publicity didn't give EJami fans something with which to look forward, the concern would be that they stopped watching. Given Days' recent ratings problems, the show wouldn't want that, would they? In other words, I wouldn't be surprised despite the writing and what we see on the screen, that Days' publicity would try to play the EJ/Sami incident last week both ways to please both fanbases. You see by Daniel's response to my tirade over at the comments section of this article, where he pointed to a section of the article and said "see, I wrote something positive for Lumi fans too; it just wasn't biased towards EJ; blah, blah, blah..."

Secondly, the reason why I took DC's interview so seriously is b/c Days publicity tends to give him scoops about stuff. For instance, he was the one that said that EJ was Elvis long before anyone else. Supposedly he figured it out, but again, I think that Days publicity/HS gave him that scoop. Same deal with JKJ coming back as Phillip. The trend for his columns is to float an idea in those columns, see what the public's response is and then the show takes action. That's why I got hardcore up in that comment section about any suggestion of making Sami being romantically paired with EJ after last Friday's show.

I hope my vibes are wrong and I'm overanalyzing (what's new?). But I just didn't want to take the chance that Daniel or Ali for that matter were giving us some foreshadowing in that interview.....