DAYS: June 2013 Discussion Thread

[will81]

What I have noticed with Days is that the writing leaves a lot of room for the actors to explore. This generally separates the good from the bad. As well as having little to no rehearsal and little direction, if you are already a weak actor it is only going to magnify your lack of ability.

In terms of John having feelings for Kristen, you have to read between the lines, and if Drake had been better at this it would have been slightly more obvious from around NYE. Kristen was completely raw emotionally with him and bared her soul, in those moments Drake/John softened slightly, but not enough to really show the conflict. It happened several times and without a hit you over the head scene, Drake could have sold his feelings as John.

While I agree the change is more plot driven, there was the room for it and it was hinted about several times. The lack of direction (which I agree comes from a lack of knowledge about what is being written and a lack of time) really has hurt some aspects of the shows story. From interviews with Eileen and Jaime Lynn Bauer it is pretty clear these actors are being thrown to the wolves most days.

I think this is why you have some great performances and some not so great. Blake, Eileen, Dee, Lauren and a few others have done their homework and know their characters well enough to give more to the script and with little help.

I would also say there is a disconnect between the HW and script writers. I think the weakest aspect of this show is the HW, it is the daily scripts that have saved these stories and made them interesting. If you were to talk about the baby storyline I wouldn't think much of it, but since the beginning of the year watching it has been great, same with Kristen/Brady.

[jfung79]

Great analysis, will81. The other side of the "layers" and "depth" I keep gushing about in the writing is that the actors have to be good enough to pick up on it. It's not going to be spelled out necessarily -- although there are times when the writing will go into things like, "What do you want?", "I want ____," and "Is this is what you really want?" which pretty much telegraphs there are multiple possibilities there. With John for example, there were multiple times that Brady was saying his dad was subconsciously jealous and confronting John about it, even before any hint John had a plan, so it was implied early on that it was possible those feelings were there. Also that was Marlena's fear from early on, part of the reason she didn't tell John about Brady and Kristen. Where there's that much smoke, it shouldn't have been a big leap for the actors to see they should consider there was some fire behind the smoke.

I feel like pretty much the whole cast has picked up on the layers though, even Drake Hogestyn to a certain extent though he is probably the weakest in the cast. And I think it's a good thing that not everything is spelled out too much. I don't see it as a lack of direction. I agree the script writers have really made it work but I don't think it would be possible without the framework set by the head writers too. They could very easily have had one-dimensional stories like Kristen wants revenge, the end, or Nick hates gays, the end, but it was clear quite early on that there was more depth there, not just from Eileen Davidson or Blake Berris adding it but from the hints such as Nick's flashbacks to Vargas and Kristen being on the verge of telling Brady the truth as early as February.

I love DAYS's smart writing that trusts the audience and trusts the actors. (Well, besides this "cut if off" malarkey ...)

[JackPeyton]

I dont know how thats possible, honestly.

John is a pretty basic character. Understanding where he is now isnt a hard task. He is not acting highly out of character or anything.

I do think h wants to work of course, and maybe he is trying - but he is truly atrocious and has been for a great many years now.

[DRW50]

John's been a lot of things over the years - probably the only constant he had left was his love for Marlena. Now he has feelings for Kristen. I think that would throw an actor for a loop.

I don't think Hogestyn's ever been a good actor, he's just had charisma and an interesting look and good body. We're getting to the stage where that's really not enough, and he doesn't seem to be able to salvage what's left of the character. Most of the charisma and humor are also gone.

It's kind of fitting that EM has sort of replaced him on the show in that department, although I guess Brady doesn't have the one big true love like John has.

[JackPeyton]

He played this story before, he played Marlena possessed by the devil and he was a priest, he played robo john, he played pawnjohn, he played marlena as the serial killer and being over instantly to be in love with kate.

This is far from a stretch to play some inresolved feelings. Esp because he played beats of it last year and throughout this story. It isnt like one day John just decided he was into Kristen.

[DRW50]

Yes but I think most of the old material was with the undercurrent of Marlena as his main love (although wasn't there some controversy over him supposedly being more in favor of John/Kate). I think the current story may have just been too difficult for him to process, for whatever reason.

[JackPeyton]

but... marlena is still his main love. john isnt in love with kristen, he just has these lingering feelings for her.

id totally see your point if he just all of he audden wished marlena dead and needed to be with the great love of his life Kristen, but that isnt it, at all.

And Marlena was a non-factor during John/Kate, for the most part. I do remember the JM fans being pissy cuz he was selling john/kate as a viable pairing.

[DRW50]

I guess part of it is that this isn't just a situation where there's another woman, it's a woman who terrorized Marlena.

[JackPeyton]

but that hasnt been an issue for John.

John has defended and championed for other, Marlena included, to move past what kristen did and give her a chance from her return.

[DRW50]

I know, I just meant, I wonder how it was to play from his POV, especially since I don't think he digs very deep into his character.

[teplin]

I do think Hogestyn is trying, it's just that he's not a gifted natural actor -- his instincts are all wrong, and with no direction to guide him, he makes very poor choices. Ironically, I think he's been pretty bad since RoboJohn -- when he made a big deal of working with an acting coach to develop his approach to that character. He has played John like a sour old man since his return, and the natural charisma he displayed in years past is just completely gone. I think this twist about John's feelings for Kristen would have been believable if Hogestyn knew how to play subtext, or was directed to play subtext. But I don't think the writing has done him any favors, either -- John's actions and motivations have been the weakest part of the Kristen story.

[Antoyne]

While RoboJohn made me laugh, it ruined whatever charisma DH had as an actor. John's current incarnation is actually worse than RoboJohn. He truly does come off as an old man who [!@#$%^&*] his pants and has no one to clean it up.

[SouthOfSoap]

OMG! I totally missed that. That means the odd lady dancing like a lunatic in the HTS was intentional on the writers. Just like in real life, it must of gone viral in Salem. Sami chasing Bernardi was coincidental to the video, but it links Sami to him. A video on youtube of Sami chasing someone wouldn't get any hits, but that girl got thousands! None of us thought it was relevant and we were going wtf at the time lol. That's genius.

[Soaplovers]

Yay to Drake H not filming since March.. I'm hoping the show sticks to their guns this time and don't invite him back. Marlena was a very vaiable character for ten years before he came onto the show in 1986, and I think she will continue to be viable while he is gone.

There are so many directions they can go with Marlena.. none of which involve a new love interest. So I'm hoping that while he is gone, we are seeing Marlena mixing it up with the Dimeras, her family, and maybe even a few scenes of her in a professional setting.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Marlena herself doesn't function well as an lead character anymore. I would keep her ass strictly supporting.

Deidre Hall isn't that much better than Drake, IMO. The two of them together have been awful for years. Though, while Marlena seems to have found a place in a more supporting position, John doesn't function well as a character anymore from the episodes I've seen.