DAYS: Why Drake and John?

[dragonflies]

I honestly can't see Hogan writing for Marlena, even if John is gone or not. I've seen nothing from him at all that indicates he has an interest in writing for her character at all.

Plus why does John have to be "gone" for him to write for her? That's crap and lazy writing.

[DaysFanatic777]

I'm a longtime fan of this show, and the beauty of this death is that it can resonate for a very long time. It's not some small deal that we will forget in ten minutes. We aren't sitting here talking about Lauren's death a few eps ago. This is the first death to produce real drama in....well since Maggie in the killer storyline. This time though, I think there's not much doubt at all that he's dead. I think it may come back to haunt the show in the next few months. I think (despite the money issues) getting Wayne N. back as Roman could ease some pain.

Now, Dee is the heorine again. She's strong, independant, not relying on John to rescue her. More like the Marlena of old. Besides that though, I see no longterm benfits for the show. It's just good right now.

[dragonflies]

It was like GH killing off Alan, sure it had an impact, but now? Nothing. There was no point to it at all, same with John's death IMO

[JackPeyton]

i couldnt disagree more.

Hogan has from the start talked how about his Marlena love and how she needs to add heart back into the show. I do agree that he wanted to kill John from the start but couldnt.

and this is soo far from lazy writing, IMO. Days in the past 2 weeks has been the most complex and thought out daytime drama on the air in years.

[dragonflies]

So basically Hogan is such a hack that he can't write for Marlena outside her marriage to John?

Wow not someone I would want writing for this soap

[Vanguardian]

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I mean, if he wanted Marlena away from John couldn't he have divorced the characters or something? Why kill him? It's all great drama now but once things have settled down then what?

[Vanguardian]

I don't think Hogan is going to stick to his word and write for Marlena either! This is the first piece of juicy material that she's been given in god knows how long, and probably the only good material she's going to have. After this, Marlena will be tossed aside while Hogan writes for the younger (and lame) characters.

[JackPeyton]

i stand by this... this was a brilliant and great choice. killing john black, as long as he stays dead, is amazing, it was sudden. death is sudeen and does come out of nowehere. as for the no buildup, i like it that way because it is even more sudden. I dont think this was random or came from out of nowehere. I do belive this was hogans first story he wanted to tell but couldnt for whatever reasons. it is a great umbrella storyline that involved everyone on the show and can provide major long term storylines.

as for marlena, i think this does free up the char. i loved john and mar, but he always seemed to tie her down and make her a bore. i have wanted him gone for years now to free her up so im glad its finnaly happening.

but whatever, haters are gonna hate. because god forbid you actually like something on a soap opera in this day.

[sungrey]

Oh, I don't think it's a case of haters hating. Sure, I hate what they did to John, but I'm looking at it from the angle of what it will do to the ratings. We're all sticking around to watch the show even after the funeral and into the future. But I'm looking at where this show is one month from now, three months, six months... if the ratings take a turn down to about 1.3 or 1.4 -- where Passions was when it got canceled by NBC -- then you can argue killing John was indeed the straw that broke the camel's back.

I don't think we have to worry about ratings that low myself, but it depends on how many of the J/M crowd choose to abandon ship.

[ZaraB]

I think the show could regret it in the not too distant future. Basically, HS tried to retire both Bo/Hope and John/Marlena at the same time - accounting probably for a lot of declining ratings (he lost Jack and Jen as well). With an aging soap watching population, this probably is an attempt to marginalize Marlena to matriarch status (replacing Alice in some way). OLTL tried to do that to Viki, and has finally been forced to hire a new love interest (very reluctantly, I suspect). No one wants to be told they're near retirement age, especially now as people are aging better and living longer. If (more likely when) they try another romantic pairing, there will be criticism because it won't live up to John Black/Marlena. Hogan will lose credibility if he 'resurrects' John.

[StevieM]

Reading a post like this just reminds me of how badly Matt and Missy got screwed. Posters casually include SN&MBE in the big six. But Matt and Missy were never treated like mega-stars. Except they were once the biggest stars on daytime. They were NOT comic relief. When they returned they deserved good character portrayal, good airtime and good story.

But the show just blew it. They had a couple of mega-characters and they just walked away from them. There was no reason for it. And, sadly, most posters here probably don't even know what I'm talking about.

Oh well....what might have been.

Steve

[JackPeyton]

Oh i know ur not just hating.

I look at it this way - DAYS IS DONE IN 09 - and id rather watch great storylines til then play out. and this is a great storyline.

and i may be along but i really dont see losing DH, who i love. or John as a huge loss for days.

[marlenafan]

That makes so much sense!! Hogie wanted to write out John from last year. I think two things stopped him. 1) Corday at the last minute probably didn't have the balls to go through with it and was afraid of the ratings drop and fan backlash for destroying one of daytime's most popular couples 2) Hogie realized that this would probably make E.J. irredeemable since he was the one that would have been responsible.

Before John got shot, he and Marlena were very involved on the canvas. You saw them working together, trying to solve mysteries, banter back and forth, make love, in danger together, etc. People started to say how much they were enjoying Jarlena and that was the perfect setup to make sure John's death would have had more emotional impact. That was the time they planned to kill John until Corday saved him. Remember how Hogie kept saying that he wanted to make Marlena more realistic, independent, and as fiesty as she was years ago? They were also trying to win her an emmy. John's death is the way that he planned on accomplishing all of that! Drake knew John's time was up from back then.

[marlenafan]

I don't think it was a matter of not being able to write for Marlena outside of John. Its more of not being able to write for John outside of Marlena. When you think about it, what more can you write for that character? Everything has basically been done! He would have to be bumped down to a supporting character anyway. John has always been a lead character but it was only because he was paired with a lead actress, not because Drake had any sort of phenomenal acting skills. It is NOT a coincidence that Drake has never been nominated for ANY emmy award for ANYTHING he has done in the last 21 years. As much as I love John and Drake, he isn't the type of actor that can stand on his own. He needs to be paired with other people and then its hit or miss. Sometimes he's good, sometimes he's not. If they had to sacrifice John so that Marlena can be front and center again, then I have NO problem with that (and I am a big Jarlena fan, especially when JER wrote for them). Only Deidre can save the show right now(as she has numerous times in the past) and since she is the highest paid actress at DAYS, they had to cut out the highest paid actor so that Dee can get some more airtime.

[Cheap21]

I kind of find it hard to beleive that htey are actually getting rid of him. I wouldnt be surprised if he pops up in a few months. This is Days afterall and people rarely stay dead