DAYS: Lucas & Sami have received the official "Kiss of Death!"

[Keith]

Austin. Drugged him into bed.

[KLN]

Austin.

She put a drug in his drink, then dabbed on some of Carrie's perfume to make Austin think that he was with Carrie. She got him into bed and had him nut inside of her in order to get pregnant with his baby. After all was said and done, Sami stopped his wedding to Carrie with the announcement that she was pregnant with his child. Of course, the child later turned out to be Lucas's son, which Sami also lied about and kept under wraps, but that's all beside the point. Sami raped Austin by giving him a date rape drug.

[Keith]

Couldn't keep it concise and simple like me, eh Kennifer?

[KLN]

LoL, have you ever known me to be simple and concise?

[Keith]

Let me think about that for a minute...

[Actor87]

I remember when that all happened. But that is a whole different kind of sexual violence in the soap opera world.

If you drug someone, it doesn't count. That's just called "tricking them into bed". Did Sami FORCE him to nut inside her" as you so delicately put it? Did she FORCE him to have sex with her? No, she didn't. He was under the impression she was Carrie so he did it willingly.

However, when someone FORCES someone to have sex with them against their will, and in a sober state of mind, that IS rape...lol....in the soap opera world, at least.

[Keith]

Let's not get into another what is and isn't rape on 'Days of Our Lives' debate.

[KLN]

You don't have to PHYSICALLY FORCE someone to have sex with you in order for it to be rape. You don't have to be beaten up in order for it to be rape. Rape doesn't have to be physically violent, because the emotional crime has still been committed. If you drug them with Viagra and a sleeping pill then climb on top, that's rape.

[Actor87]

I'm not talking about what is considered rape in the real wide world.

I'm talking about..what is considered rape on a soap opera in the present day and time.

[Actor87]

Who said she gave him Viagra? I don't think Austin had any trouble "gettin' up" for a naked girl that he thought was his girlfriend/fiancee.

[KLN]

Well then in that case, EJ didn't hold Sami down and force her to have sex with him, either. He gave her a choice to say yes or no. He didn't say that he would abuse her or hurt her if she declined. She was given a choice to say yes or no. Of course, if she had said no, EJ wouldn't have helped her save Lucas's life, LoL. But that's beside the point.

In your eyes, did EJ rape Sami or no? Because both Sami AND EJ have referred to it as rape. EJ even apologized specifically for raping her.

[Actor87]

No, that IS the point.

From Sami's perspective, her only option was to save Lucas's life. Or let him die. The boy she's known since childhood. The man that is the father of her child. There was no other option but to say "yes". And even in saying yes, her desires, her feelings about the whole ordeal were "No, no no".

From E.J.'s perspective, he had only one option, too. To plant the DiMera seed into a Brady woman. Sami happened to be the lucky lady that he fancied. If she said no, her boyfriend died. If she said yes, he succeeded. And he KNEW that Sami would see it from her perspective and he played on that. He forced her to make a choice that wasn't there.

[Gray Bunny]

Speaking of RAPE, EJ is a big fat RAPIST. And I think daytime has seen enough stories where the rapist becomes the romantic hero... Luke Spencer, Jack Deveraux, Lawrence Alamain, etc.

EJ is a DiMera and Sami would rather watch Austin & Carrie having wild monkey sex than to be near the DiMera spawn ever again.

Sami & Lucas are suffering from the boring married couple syndrome? Well, that's what happens in soap world. Remember when John & Marlena were finally reunited in 1997 after the whole Kristen/Susan ordeal? The "I love you's" and orgasmic looks on Marlena's face and eyebrow switching of John was enough to make me almost vomit, it was so sweet it almost gave me a cavity. But any couple that has faced diversity for so long needs that period of wedded bliss before another crisis befalls them or temporarily splits them up.

It seems fans want a couple broken up as soon as they've finally gotten together. LUMI was the hot ticket couple during and after the dreadful serial killer mystery. It was the only burgeoning love story throughout that whole period and viewers ate it up. If Lumi wasn't a successful romantic pairing, they would've been separated and spun off into different love stories by now.

Also, the Sami/Lucas dynamic has EVOLVED. They were once best friends, then bitter enemies, and now happily married. If they were still bitching and fighting over Will, we'd be sick to death of their endless merry-go-round.

[KLN]

Tim, you make fantastic points. However, despite it all sounding great and making sense in black and white, something about it just doesn't appeal to me when I see it on screen between Sami and Lucas. They just don't have the right kind of chemistry. It doesn't work for me. And I don't want to like them just because I'm supposed to or because it makes sense.

Still, despite knowing that EJ raped Sami and that should be plenty of reason to dislike the possibility of that pairing, I can't overlook the chemistry between James Scott and Alison Sweeney. They have "it!" The writers might've screwed up by having him rape her, but the chemistry between the actors is still there and getting stronger with each episode. Because of that, I can't just write them off as an impossibility. I want them to work through their issues and somehow fix the mistakes. The fact that they're so complicated makes them all the more fascinating, IMO. It's not comfortable, and it's not supposed to be... but it's mesmerizing to watch.

I can just see them working together all summer long to ensure the safety of 'their' baby from the DiMera family. They'll end up going through so many things together, and by the time everything is said and done, there's going to be a small part of Sami that hopes EJ is the father, after all they will have gone through to ensure 'their' child's safety.

[sema608]

^^^ ITA. I'm HOOKED on EJ/Sami. EJ is a gray character. I can see him fighting the demons inside him to protect the one he loves. That spells a juicy story in my eyes. Also, Sami has many layers. Not only are both characters multi-layered, it's too hard to ignore their intense chemistry. I already skipped over the rape issue. The chemistry is too strong to turn me away. I also love the fact that they shared similar paths in life. The writers MUST give them a try. If they don't, it would be a complete waste of talent and chemistry. They must go for it!