Days: Coming Out In Salem

[juppiter]

Anyone can fake being a generally decent person. Anyone can pretend he is alright while he is actually suffering inside. After all Will has been through I can buy that he would pretend to be strong for his family while actually he is messed up. Not a stretch at all.

[DRW50]

But are they being dealt with? Is saying ZOMG he saw his mother doing exactly what he should expect of her, he's going wild, dealing with their history? It's being presented as something that would devastate him and cause him to become a very different, vile person. So that gives the impression that the show is saying his upbringing wasn't that bad and only now is he going to be damaged, since that's also the way it was with Sami.

[juppiter]

Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you.

[DRW50]

Yes but he wasn't being presented as a fake, or pretending, or so damaged that he would become a flunky for the underworld. Only now that he's gay and saw Sami sleep with EJ is he supposed to be damaged goods. It's all whiplash plotting.

[juppiter]

Well, no, he didn't just become gay overnight. And I don't see why it has to be "presented" a certain way... We can read between the lines and assume Will had reason to act out all along and has simply reached his breaking point. I mean yeah they could have had Will being all smiles and then locking himself in a closet and crying or something, but I can accept that there was an undercurrent with the character that we weren't seeing. They are fleshing out the character more, so I don't have a problem with it.

[DRW50]

The idea that Rafe was some ideal father figure for him. Rafe wasn't that. He had his share of conflicts with Rafe. There was no happy family Sami destroyed. His relationship with Lucas, which is essentially MIA. Then there's his relationship with Marlena, which is supposed to be important to him, yet he can't really confide anything in her or be affected by her. Everything in Will's life is now irrelevant compared to Sami and his becoming the new Sami. It's just very rushed.

That's another thing I don't quite get with this story. Are they saying that Will being gay is Sami's fault, and that this is just a part of her bad parenting? Is there a reason why his homosexuality only became part of the story when he was going to become a dark character? Is the story just going to end up being all about Sami's mistakes, Sami yelling at people about what's been done to her, etc.? That's most of Sami's stories, really. If they were just going to do this again, couldn't they have built it up better, instead of presenting it as, essentially, some overnight delivery of Will's evil gay self-loathing shame?

There's been no balance to any of this that would present another side to being gay. Sonny is barely even a character - if he spouts platitudes I'm not sure why Will would care. It just comes across as some kind of melodrama from the 70's, about a screwed up mother and the gay son who burdens her.

It is true for any character, yes, but John and Marlena had had decades of story by the time they left. Will doesn't. He should have all the potential in the world. Instead they're already rushing his stories and making him about what advances the plot. When a character becomes a plot device, they lose most of their potential.

I guess I feel like if they wanted to tell a story of a young man who was struggling to not be an !@#$%^&*] and then he snaps, they could have done a much better job of it, and they could have had a much better catalyst. To me they just wanted to dust off some old history for false dramatic irony. It didn't really work for me. Maybe if I was watching at the time of the John/Marlena affair I might have believed it more.

[JackPeyton]

I dont think this is about his relationship with Rafe, i think it is about his baby.young siblings relationship with Rafe. They are very close to him. So close that EJ got rafe 2 to try and do damage to it actually. So to say there is no happy family Sami is ruining is just... idk. honestly. like wow. But Will and Rafe are also very close, of course they have their issues but they work through them. Lucas is out of sight, out of mind like every character on soaps. And as for Marlena, i dont think that because he isnt able to open up in the month or so shes been home means anything. I actually feel like there is not enough will/sami interaction, so again im not sure as to how/why you think he is nothing but essentally a sami prop.

I think Will is going to blame Sami. Many gay people who can not accept it seek to blame someone or something instead of owning it. I highly doubt days is going to go with will is gay because sami is a bad mother. I do however think, and hope, they let will go with that for awhile, realizing that it isnt true of course. and his homosexuality has been subtly played on screen going back to at least july. his refual to deal with it and bottling it up is what is leading to his dark turn, again something rather realistic. I actually dont think Sami has this huge, overbearing, allconsuming role in his homosexuality you do. I think it is a beat to play, along with many many others.

There's been no balance to any of this that would present another side to being gay. Sonny is barely even a character - if he spouts platitudes I'm not sure why Will would care. It just comes across as some kind of melodrama from the 70's, about a screwed up mother and the gay son who burdens her.

What rushed story? he has sat on the sidelines almost all year. They started to hint he was gay over the summer and its only now really boiling into something. And what plot is he advancing, aside from his own? They are essentally creating a storyline around will, his issues, his relationships that will likely involve half the cast. How that = easily disposable i dont get.

I

Again, i am lost here. This isnt a story about Will struggling to not be an asshat. its about him refusing to deal with issues, letting other issues get to him, and acting out, trying to run, being a typical 18 yearold really.

as for false dramatic irony, again.. wow. couldnt disagree more.

[JackPeyton]

I think when he gets wasted at christmas and calls her out, thats starting to deal with it. Her not seeing what is going on with him, as always, is dealing with it. Was he supposed to see her ruining his siblings life and confront her, have a heart to heart, hug it out, and it all be ok? No. Its building. its boiling. It will explode.

[Khan]

I don't know, Vee, I don't think I'll ever see James Scott as a female lead.

[Shawn]

Okay, I know that i don't see eye to eye with you on a lot of things Days related, but...WORD. Mother effin' word.

[Ira]

We also haven't seen Will become a "vile" person yet either, or have any indication it's to do with upcoming gayness. He was a horrible kid when he was young, I remember him shoving Abby off a swing, I remember him lying to his mother and father and playing them against each other to get what he wanted. When he came back from Europe, his mother was in some sort of stable relationship and he was finally able to act "normal." We've seen it time and time again, Will forgives his mother when he sees her doing something good -- he was on her side when she was gonna marry Austin back in 2006, but when he found out about the blackmail of Lexie, he trashed her and wanted nothing to do with her. He also lived with Austin/Carrie because he's pretty much upset with his father too, as we've seen through his interactions with Kate.

So far, his only anger has been expressed at Sami. He's not taking it out on anyone else. He's upset that she keeps screwing up her life and making him think things will finally be better and he's worried if he's doomed to be just like Sami. I don't think the show is equating his "doomed" to be him being gay, we haven't SEEN that yet. But he knows he's gay and he knows he's lying to Gabby and he's obviously thinking he's doing all of this because it's in his nature. We've seen him discuss Sonny to his friends and family, I don't get any sort of hint that Will things being gay is WRONG, but that it's just not a life that he wants, he wants to cling to Gabby and have a "normal" heterosexual relationship to give himself the family he never had. But Sami's latest mistake is just making him see that a leopard can't change her spots and he will never have what he wants either.

[DRW50]

I don't doubt that he was a nasty kid, but none of that has been a part of the story now. The story has been that he was a nice, if somewhat troubled, young man, until he begins to think he is gay and sees Sami/EJ. Then he becomes out of control, nasty, he terrifies his girlfriend, he goes around destroying things. I think the show is trying to say he's just an unpleasant person and that will get worse and worse. I guess it will change once he comes out, but the whole point of the story seems to be stalling that as long as possible, even if it means him becoming EJ's lapdog.

[Michael]

I don't really see any indication, aside from how they've made a few "Will acts like 90s Sami" comments, that Will is going to be a "toxic person" or "evil." Basically he gets drunk, yells at some people, and then tries to blackmail a man he and his family hate in order to benefit himself. It's not like he's cutting Abigail's brakes and kidnapping Sydney and just generally being hell on wheels...

[DRW50]

Scenes like his trashing the kitchen, Gabi's fear of him, seem like more to me. I doubt he's going to go around cutting brakes but the character has become an increasingly unstable personality, one that other characters recoil from.

[Vanguardian]

Interesting posts! But I'm still waiting for the concrete proof that Will gives to imply that he's gay! Today's episode just left me feeling, once again, that he's pissed off with Sami for "making him feel" like someone who is unworthy of Gabi. It was like he really DOES want to be with her but is afraid of coming across as some sexually irresponsible louse like his mother. It also makes me think that the gay stuff might just in fact be an act of rebellion. In other words: "If mommy makes me feel like someone who is unworthy of the person I really love, then I'm going to shock her and piss her off by going in a direction she never expected." And kissing boys while in a drunken stupor would be a good start.