DAYS: Discussion for the month of November

[All My Shadows]

Today's episode was definitely dull. The only scenes I enjoyed were Victor/Vivian. Vivian is just as intriguing as I was hoping she'd be. Loving her so far.

Question: Did oldWill (Gerse) quit or was he fired? Because if the show dropped him for the stud, that makes me feel bad for him and laugh at the same time. He was an awkward one, that oldWill.

[dc11786]

I like that the show was playing the Brady/Nicole relationship heavy today. I wished for more from their confrontation since Zucker and Martsolf play off each other so well, but I don't think the material was meaty enough. I found this surprising since Brady confessed to Arianna he still was in love with Nicole. As someone who has hated Lindsay Hartley, I was impressed. A great scene. I felt for Arianna, and I'm not sure how Felisha Terrell would have handled it, but Hartley was great.

The Vivian/Victor scenes were interesting. His comment about her getting her degree in family psychology was a hoot and I thought Aniston and Sorel were very comfortable with one another sharing barbs. Still, it was odd that it was at the Java rather than something more upscale like Chez Rouge, but the budget is what it is. Victor's insinuations that they had nothing to build on was wonderful as it was something Vivian obviously would like. Vivian learning of Stefano and Kate's marriage was a delight. These two were fun.

I had some trouble with Hope searching Carly's purse for information. I like that she held back because she seemed a bit too eager. I found this surprising because I loved the way Alfonso delivered Hope's line to Abe in regards to why Carly was still there. She didn't play it as angry or bitter, but rather disappointed. Usually, I'm rooting for Hope in all of this, but the writing is bit tough.

Was it ever clarified what job Abe was giving Hope or did he nix the idea? I missed a bit of their conversation.

The Chad/Will scene was deja vu. Didn't Will and E.J. have almost the same exact conversation when E.J. learned he was Grace's father? I know Will offered to send him photos of Grace. I did like the concept of the scene between Chad and Will, Chad being thankful Mia got to know their child and Chad wanting to know more about Grace.

Gabriela Rodrigues reminds me of Melissa Fumero. I don't mind Gabi and I'm curious to see how she plays with the rest of the younger set. Her entrance involving the absent mother seemed a bit lame, but I do like that they seem to be incorporating Arianna more into the canvas. The relationship between Arianna and Gabi seems interesting enough based on Gabi's struggle with Arianna's past. Hopefully, this will develop into something more interesting, whcih I'm suspecting is to involve E.J. based on their recent interaction.

I'm glad "Days of our Lives" isn't trying to maintain the intensity of the last week or so. In recent years, I think soaps have been trying to make ever episode explosive and run through story quickly as a result. I do agree the episodes themselves could use a bit of pep, but I'm not sure if that has more to do with the actors or the writing itself.

[JackPeyton]

He was gone for some time before Dylan came on as will.

I know they wrote him out after they screwed the who shot EJ storyline to live with austin and carrie. i think he was briefly back before vanishing again. Then Taylor S came on as Mia and the show had casted Mark Hapka as Will but thought he was to old to play against her so they dropped him, hired Dylan patton and then gave Mark Hapaka the role of Nathan.

[Shawn]

Hope is a stupid, annoying bitch.

I love Carly and am happy she's back, but boy did they destroy Hope for her return.

[aMLCproduction]

I wish Hope would sit down some where and stop crying. SHe is really insecure over Carly.

Really enjoyed seeing Abe this week. He looked healthy.

Really enjoyed Vivian making the rounds around Salem.

I can't wait until Pilar comes to town. What is the point of keeping dry ass Roman around?

And the big baby switch twist was Nicole kidnapping Syndey? Yawn. I must say all the other stories on DAYS have really picked up this past week.

[soapfan770]

Yeah Hope is getting annoying but I remember from the Billie days she was always insecure about Bo. I think it stems from a deep resentment of Bo moving on with his life after Hope was presumed dead with both Carly and Billie instead of being the lonely widower always pining for her. Bo's also been the jealous type towards Hope whenever she with other men like Franco and Patrick. Plus both haven't always been honest or faithful to each other. To Hope's credit she was ready to go back home after realizing she could make things work but then Bo told no, it wasn't safe. Which ironic because Hope has been worried about her and Ciara being unsafe.

So I'm a bit peeved by Bo and Hope lately, but its perfectly in their nature and this current estrangement seems largely a reminded of past problems left unresolved. I just don't want to see Hope and Bo sleeping with Justin and Carly, rather let them work it out themselves with no affairs, deaths, kidnappings, Princess Gina, serial killers etc.

Oh yes, I loved the scenes with Victor, Vivian, and Kate! Also enjoyed scenes between EJ, Sami, and Stefano as well as the Carly and Maggie.

[Shawn]

What you say does make a very valid point. I just wish that the writers would explore the reasoning you mentioned. It would be such a realistic, emotional, riveting story to see Hope finally open up once and for all to Bo about all of her insecurities. Unfortunately, TPTB are just making her out to be a jealous shrew who won't stop whining. Kristian, and Bope, deserve better IMO.

[YRBB]

The Nicole/Brady love thing is very, very touching. One of the few genuine romances that I, personally, can actually feel. It feels like a lot of it is due to the acting--EM is just bringing it without being over the top. I hope they toy with this for a long, long time

And the Chad/Will tell-me-your-memories thing was very short, but made of character-driven WIN.

[ChiTownBoi03]

Just caught Friday's episode. Good stuff...I am really intrigued by this kidnapping angle. I think "in my head" I figured it would come to something like this, I just figured it would happen *before* she went to prison. Brady's love for Nicole is still so very obvious, even after he discovered what she had done. He still seems like he understands everything she is doing...maybe he'll be the one to redeem her...or at the very least get her to accept reality. Go Sami for slapping the s**t out of him though...homeboy is lost in love. Sami just been handing out them slaps like candy!!

I was pretty bored with everything else. Carly's return is doing nothing for me, perhaps because it looks like they're changing up history a bit. Carly keeps saying Lawrence wasn't the man she married or fell in love with, he became a different man. But if I remember...Lawrence was not a *good guy* before they left town right? I mean, he did some pretty nefarious things. However, there was a period where I wasn't regularly watching, so he could have softened (??) at some point and I missed it. Carly also mentioned Lawrence could not have children, but they...had Nicky together right? Fact the last actor who played him (who had a little thing with Kate) even looked like Carly. It's all pretty cloudy. The more this story plays out, the more uninterested in it I become...so I just FF through all of that jazz.

[Toups]

I remember you had a kidnapping in your projection a few months back. LOL My projection was pretty close: "Thinking like JER, I would have Sami discover her baby is alive in either November Sweeps or during Christmas (you know how JER loved "Christmas miracles"). And it would resemble Marlena, Sami's mother, getting Belle back on Christmas Eve 1993. Also, the person who finds out the truth and hands the baby back to Sami would be Rafe (since he's the one investigating Nicole), and you build on the Sami/Rafe relatioship. The scene could be like Sami's thinkig of Grace (maybe at the Horton ornament hanging), it would've been Grace's first Christmas........and then Rafe walks in with Sydney."

So the scenerio of Rafe finding Sydney and reuniting her with Sami on Christmas is still an option.

Sami's a slapping machine! Brady getting slapped was great.

Okay, so Carly had a child with another man - because Lawrence found out he couldn't have any more kids? So when Lawrence out, he shipped the baby girl off somewhere and later threatened to kill her? So now Carly found out that her daughter is living at Maggie's which can only mean either Melanie or Mia is her daughter. Since Carly's already had some scenes with Mia, it's gotta be her, right? So who is Mia's dad then? That could be an interesting storyline down the road. But yeah, I agree that this storyline isn't all that exciting. I can't project a story in my mind right now, I can't anticipate anything.....I can't connect to it right now....I can't "see" where the story is going. I hope something happens soon so I can get a sense, in my mind, of where they're going.

[ChiTownBoi03]

[dc11786]

Did I miss the moment where they revealed it was Carly's daughter that they were looking for or was this down played? Suddenly, Bo is talking about how Carly will be living with her daughter, but the revelation was played as if the audience already knew this information. That said, I like the idea and hoping it is Melanie over Mia. There is a lot more story to play with Melanie as Carly's daughter rather than having Mia as the baby Carly gave away. This said, I struggle with the concept that Carly would give away her child after believing Nikki was dead for so many years. Overall, I thought the flashbacks of Lawrence and Carly worked to explain the situation though. I guess given the choice between a dead child and giving it away, I guess Carly's choice makes sense.

Once again, I think I'm beginning to understand the justification behind Hope's decision to investigate Carly's secret. The last time Bo kept a major secret was when he learned Chelsea had run over Zack. Hope doesn't want another secret coming between them even if this really doesn't have anything to do with their own marriage outside of Carly's presence in Bo and Hope's home. Speaking of Chelsea, it was nice to have Bo and Chelsea have a chat on the phone Friday. I've been hoping for someone to mention Chelsea.

I thought the scene between Sami and Brady was well done. Sweeney was particularly strong opposite Martsolf. I love Sami mentioning, yes, she does know how it feels to lose a child. The whole story has been wonderfully set up and executed. I LOVED Sami's line about Brady and Nicole. "You may be off crack, Brady, but you're still addicted to Nicole." Delicious. One of my favorite lines.

I wish there was more meat to Kate and Stefano's marriage. I love how Kate has just assumed the role of queen of the manor with such ease. My only regret is there wasn't more clashing betwee Kate and Nicole. The two Mrs. Dimeras were wonderful why they were together. Kate running into Vivian was great, but I do wish it had played out in the Kiriakis living room. I did love how Vivian is crashing there and her scenes with Hope were nice as well.

I love Nicole's disguise. Yeah, Nicole, no one is going to notice you in that. The owner of the place she is staying at is wonderfully trashy.

Other than Monday, which I found dull, the rest of the week was entertaining.

[aMLCproduction]

I know right. I thought I was trippin.

[Toups]

I think we were close because there was a lot Jim Reilly in this year long story - I saw some Reillyisms that I connected to, especially the pacing.

Yeah, I think you had Brady playing a key part on this. When Ari comes back from maternity leave, you can use Brady and the Bricole romance as a way to redeem Nicole a bit.

LOL about JER, you're so right. Looking back at Reilly-1, there was always something exciting when one storyline ended. This is where Tomlin has to step up - his big one year storyline is now over, so lets see if he can sustain the momentum with the people involved in this story. If you look at Tomlin's second biggest story this past year, the Chloe/Dan affair, once the secret was out, they really haven't done anything all. They have no story right now. There's not even any set up or hint of their next story. I really hope we don't see that with EJ/Sami/Rafe.

Yeah, the revelation was very week. It was like, "Oh, BTW, I'm going to be living at Maggie's now, which so happens to be the place where by daughter lives." And Bo doesn't even ask who her daughter is. I think Melanie would be a better choice too because Mia is such an uninteresting character. So if Melanie is Carly's daugther, then Carly had an affair with Trent? Or we make Melanie not Trent's biological daughter and we reveal who her real dad is down the road and make Melanie's father a more interesting character.

Yeah, I wish they'd do a better job with Hope too. Bringing up that secret would be a good idea.

Agreed. Kate and Nicole have such a long history. I wish they would have more scenes together too.

[aMLCproduction]

This is what I was talking about a few weeks ago when jack keep trying to brain wash me that days was almost perfect. I was/am afraid Days would not have a good follow up after this baby switch.(beacsue they put all their eggs in one basket) If this had been JER's story, sure it would have dragged on for 15 years BUT he would have so many twist involved that we would not have had that slow period this past summer. JER's stories kept u guessing till the very end( Their were no slow periods)