DAYS: November 2013 Discussion Thread

[Ira]

What's interesting is Nick ISN'T being written out, despite many characters in his story leaving. I'm not sure what the status of Arianna Grace will be, but I think Blake Berris is perfectly poised to a fun villain on this show.

[edgeofnik]

Actually, that's not exactly true. Remember, Kristen thought her one chance at happiness was over after the last wedding. She felt that even though she made the right decision to choose love (and Brady) over her revenge with John/Marlena, she STILL lost. When Brady came back to her, she decided not to use the video at the school opening. Even though we know Kristen wouldn't have been keeping that darned flashdrive with her 24/7, at least she kept saying that it was because she wasn't sure about Brady. It wasn't until Pre-Canam, that she was certain. She pretty much had given up the Marlena vendetta for happiness with Brady.

[AlexElizabeth]

I always love when you guys post a ton of gifs, so I'm gonna do it!

Marlena's face cracks me up here

WTF? She dyed her hair? Guess we'll see it on screen in 2016.

[Antoyne]

Lol at seeing Ali's new hair in 2016.

The wedding episodes were so good until of course they cut to [!@#$%^&*] Taniel. I need to know who Shawn Christian is banging on this show.

[Juliajms]

Doesn't it seem more likely AS stopped bleaching her hair? Her roots are pretty dark when she's blond.

[DRW50]

I liked that scene of Eric throwing his robes off. It was ugly and rushed, as it should be. I wonder if they are going to have him leave the priesthood now.

[Cat]

He really does have this 'soulful' look which TPTB must have been looking for when they decided Eric was going to be the local hot Catholic priest. I would add that GV has improved in leaps and bounds since he arrived. At first he was stiff (out of practice) in his acting. Working opposite AZ, EM, AS and ED really helped. He also seems to have formed tight friendships with Alison Sweeney and Eric Martsolf; it shows in their scenes together and in his comfort level generally.

When Eric tore off his formal priestly robes, or when he looked in disgust at Kristen's white flowers lying on the floor, GV represented the disturbing undertow to this entire plot. It was well-balanced with the campiness and crazyness, and it meant the payoff had even more crucial impact. Because this man was raped, violated against his will.

So many little details that I loved, like Kristen reaching out to hold EJ's hand in fear (right now he is her only ally), screaming to Marlena that these were ALL LIES (even though we know the truth) and slipping out in tears as everybody watched the replay. Then there was that look Jennifer gave Kristen, and the look Victor gave Maggie before he went, pocketed the CD and left. The way Kristen tried to run from Brady (for the first time in fear of him) when he burst into the mansion to confront her.

I wish they had focused the entire episode on the church and the fallout. I guess cutting to the filler was meant to whet our appetites for the A story? I guess I could live with cutting to Nicole as she is a big victim in this story. But god, watching SC trying to act against AZ was pitiable. And I don't care about Cameron like I did Chad. Maybe it's best that Abby start completely fresh. Though I was troubled by her scene with Orangutaniel as it felt like he was on the point of coming on to her, and she was protesting a little too much with her anger. I mean, from a soapy SL point of view, having the daughter go after the mother's latest love would be kind of epic, but that doesn't mean I want to see it involving McHairychest.

CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY and Eric vs. Marlena/Kristen vs. Brady. This past week has been Days' finest week in years. YEARS. What they are going to do without Kristen on the show, I really don't know. I'm kind of worried.

[DRW50]

When they had the Eric/Kristen drug episodes, I was wary of what they might be doing, because of the possible impression that what was happening was just hot sex, and who cares about the rest. I'm glad they didn't go with this idea and instead have said this was a rape, and it doesn't matter how it looks, it was a rape.

DAYS and all the other soaps have an awful history with rape, especially men being raped. This story has the potential to be one of the first that treats a man being sexually assaulted as something serious, not sexy or hilarious. I've watched this entire industry guffaw over scenes of men being raped. I'm glad that DAYS is not letting that happen here.

Vaughan is, as you said, soulful, and he has a spirit that is what soaps need, especially leading men on soaps. It's such a waste that GH never cared, and almost seemed to resent him for never being as horrible as they wrote him to be, but I'm really glad he's had some chances to show his value.

[Cat]

With your last paragraph, Paul Michael Valley (Ryan on AW) comes immediately to mind because he was the epitome of this good cop with layers, passions, some flaws and this HUGE love for Vicky. When he was killed off, it was the warning shot across all of Daytime that TIIC were over this kind of tentpole character and wanted to write darker, more 'interesting' males. Hence, for example, the clusterfuck over at AMC with Zack and another Ryan.

But I digress. GV has always had this slow stillness, and he uses his eyes to great effect to project what maybe he can't with the dialogue. It has worked well here because in a fairly short amount of time, his Eric is a character I actually care about. Maybe because IRL he reminds me of one or two friends I have.

Once again balance (not a word I have often associated with Days in the past) has been used here, right the way down to how that scene was put together. TPTB acknowledged that this was a crazy, campy scheme of Kristen's, but there was also this disquiet with how, uh, virile Eric became with the drug. Like a crazy rabbit. At first it was funny and kind of hot but there was always this sense at the same time that it was very troubling. The way Kristen looked at him, passed out afterwards, folded that sheet over him to cover him up -- like she couldn't bear to see how much she had violated him -- confirmed how I was going to view the entire episode thereafter. And the after-effects -- the sickness, the shaking, the fainting, the physical signs of violation and distress. The anger, the lashing out. Even though Brady initially misconstrued what this video represented, there were many people at the church who understood what it really showed -- especially Marlena, Sami, EJ (and of course Nicole and Daniel who weren't there but probably know better than anybody what tortures Eric went through afterwards).

The way Kristen was able to edit the material (at first she was going to have it show Eric raping her!) also underscores the fact that we are seeing an event from three separate POVs (Kristen's, Eric's shaky memories, and we the audience) and it is a bit like in rape trials when it becomes a case of he-said, she-said and if you weren't there, you may not really know how things went down. I thought it was an interesting filter through which to show this rape. That even a priest might not be believed that it was rape (because you know IRL, there would be people in the parish saying "no smoke without fire," "he's a young, good-looking man after all," "it's always those Catholic priests!" etc). That is maybe the most insidious thing about rape in general and its treatment in society today, no? The He/She Secretly Wanted It argument?

[AlexElizabeth]

I also wish the whole episode had been focused on the wedding, like they did with the Nick/Gabi wedding earlier this year. I couldn't believe all hell was breaking loose at the church and then they'd cut to Cameron/Jordan shooting the breeze. [!@#$] is majorly hitting the fan at the wedding and then oh hey... it's game night at Daniel's! Though I'm just glad Daniel was uninvited to the wedding, but of course they shoehorned him into the episode anyway. Luckily someone put up an edit of just the wedding stuff on youtube. Great stuff!

What was the anniversary episode last year? I can't remember at all. I don't even remember last year's November sweeps other than Nicole accusing Jen of killing her baby and Kristen coming back.

[Soaplovers]

It's a shame that ED is leaving, because they could have further delved into the rape issue. I'm wondering if this was planned before ED told them she wanted to leave, or if this was done to write her out? Another thing that the episode underscored was that once ED leaves, and the fall-out is played ... what is next? Seeing the other scenes in the episode underscores just how the show put too many of their eggs in one basket! Perhaps, they should analyze the intense filming schedule and possibly take a month off from shooting since I have a feeling the breakneck filming schedule is why many of the newbies are jumping ship at the end of their contracts.

also, reading the news about a certain male actor returning makes me think that Ken Corday should not be calling the shots since he isn't willing to stop living in the past.

[SFK]

Just co-signing on all of the praise for Friday's show. The whole damn week was amazing. Victor had me cracking up too, and I actually gasped when he went to replay the video because I was afraid that he was going to old man fumble and accidentally erase it. How out of this world that they all sat there, in church (!), and watched the video all over again. Classic!

ED, I am so sorry that I have missed so much of this woman's work. When she was going off on Marlena, she was playing her actions so strongly that she was winning me over when I knew good and well that every damn word was a lie!

Is DOOL going on a hiring spree after all of these departures? I know ED and CM left on their own accord, but how about the actors playing Chad, Cameron, and Nick?

That stupid cookie flashback, I could "hear" it from the other room.

[DRW50]

If you get a chance you should try to watch some of the Kristen/Susan/etc. saga from 97-98. It's ridiculous, but it's fun and entertaining - it might remind you of some of the silliness Agnes Nixon used to have on AMC to balance the serious drama.

Casey Diedrick (Chad) wanted to go. Not sure about Cameron. I think he was let go.

[AlexElizabeth]

Who is poor Theo going to hang out with now that Chad and Cameron are gone?

[cassadine1991]

His cousins, Johnny and Sydney