DAYS: November 2013 Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Considering that she had a complete mental breakdown the last time she was with Daniel, I'm surprised at that.

[Cheap21]

Is this really the end for Kristen? I keep hoping for a final scene with Stefano, helping her set up a new life in Europe. Hopefully a phone call was filmed before they both left

[cassadine1991]

Well weren't there casting calls for a Kristen lookalike

[AlexElizabeth]

[DRW50]

Nicole's excessively complicated relationships with her exes (a whopping four on the canvas now - five if the show remembered she was married to Lucas...) always interests me, especially as some are sort of "Let's go for a beer" and others are more about love and yearning, and get very ugly very quickly. Sami has that too, but some of the relationships don't have the same depth of writing or performance (Sami/Rafe, mainly). It's pretty fascinating to think about, because the generation above them is very much OTP, true love forever - Marlena is really the only one who had more than one true love, but thanks to Mush Taylor and writing issues, you just connect her with John.

[Skin]

Nicole feels like she is always the bridemaid in all of her pairings (metaphorically speaking). Brady, Lucas, EJ and Daniel all loved others above her and she always came in second to other women which makes for an interesting character study. She's literally teaming with insecurities and inferiority complexes. That being said I don't feel she is a strong stand alone character and her value is always attached to her current suitor more than anything she can generate on her own. She's the textbook of a decade long supporting character.

[Bright Eyes]

Not with Lucas. Nicole never cared about him at all. It was Lucas that was heart broken by that relationship.

[Skin]

My point was that Nicole isn't the great love of anyone despite having spanned numerous relationships, which on Days seems a bit odd because everyone is shacked up with someone in particular (i.e. OTP). Especially for a character that's been on the show as long as she has. This makes her an interesting deviation.

[DRW50]

Soaps were built on characters like Nicole. You can do anything with her, and she almost always makes it work. You can always understand what she's feeling and thinking at any given moment, just by looking at the look on her face. She has so much continuity and history that AZ plays, even when the writing forgets.

I think the part of DAYS that has ties to Bell or Irna Phillips tends to live on through characters like this. She's not a huge epic frontburner character, but she keeps everything churning.

[DaytimeFan]

In that respect, Nicole is quite similar to Kate, just in a different generation. Up until Stefano, Kate was very much a runner up in her relationships, even with Victor who loved himself more than her. They are the characters upon which soaps are built. And they're the two best actresses on canvas.

[DRW50]

That's true. And Kate was never really a true love forever character either. One could say she "won" Victor, but most of LK's run was a Victor who was rarely truly with her, and who was horrid toward her much of the time. And she loves Stefano, but that relationship was also fraught with toxicity and mistreatment. It's too bad they won't bring Bill back, as that was probably her closest to a good man she loved, and they had such a nice, bittersweet chemistry in his return.

[AlexElizabeth]

I just watched Wed/Thurs episodes. Johnny was so cute! I hope they never recast him. I love that kid.

What was the point of Will going to CA if Chandler was still going to be playing him when he came back? I figured Will would have a new face when he returned.

Maggie and her tears

[JackPeyton]

I totally think Erics assumption it was Nicole was valid, and that is what makes this issue so compelling for the couple. They are both right. She has changed, but at the same time a few months of trying to be a better a person doesnt change a lifetime of being far from it. He had pieces that fit together and pointed at her, its understandable why he accused her. he didnt just decide it was her and rush to condemn her, he had pieces, and flashes, for awhile and then it all started to make the whole picture.

As for the papers, how would that prove nicole didnt do it? All it means is she couldve deicded to do it after he asked her to bring them.

I so hope for nicole/daniel, i like them.

Wow. I so completely disagree. I thought this was one of their most in character and realistic fights. Sami was mad that EJ knew her brother was raped and was going along with covering it up, i found that clear. I think AS played some really subtle things, such as when EJ of all people threw her raping Austin in her face it was written all over her face that how dare he since he raped her. I think she also nailed the controlled rage and hurt, and then the sadness when seeing eric. I love sweeney but ive never claimed her to be the strongest actress, but she impressed me today. Scott on the other hand didnt seem to know what he was doing, sadly, and that took away from the scenes because he is usually very strong.

And yes, without a doubt he knows she drugged and raped him. She mentioned when telling him the video looked consensual, that he was drugged, that she did this out of revenge, that he was rembering but that nicole was there and she is in the clear, and that she was going to drug him again, etc. Thats why he was so quick to turn it around onto eric.

I def think she will forgive EJ when she learns of the timeframe, but this fight was great - and needed.

I agree, totally.

I do wonder how much time in advance they knew she was leaving. The baby angle of her story seemed suddenly dropped, and while the wedding seemed well planned the exit did seem rushed. I am not upset about it though, as I do think it was a good exit and the show made it clear she was alive and well via her text to EJ

I dont think thats going to happen, JM i believe had a broken leg at this time.

Yeah, no idea what for though. Maybe they needed one for on camera non-face scenes?

I love how good of friends Nicole is with Brady and Daniel. Like, they may hookup or date and have a falling out but they have such a solid relationship and if one needed the other they would be there. freindships are so rare on soaps today and i wish that were not the case. A big reason i enjoyed the jordan/abby/gabi scenes today was that i think all need friends badly. i also wish the show hadnt dropped/not played maggie/mar as friends, because maggies outrage at victor would be so much more IMO.

[JackPeyton]

i think CM went on a vacation and it was a way to explain no will but still show gabi/sonny in the apartment and dealing with baby and stuff.

[SouthOfSoap]

I'm going to miss ED so much. She has made this past year amazing on this show. That said, I would have liked to have seen her at least one last time, maybe getting out the car and flipping the bird to Salem metaphorically before hightailing it out of town.

I'm not sure how long the police can actually legitimately search for Kristen though - no jury in the world would ever convict her based on that video and the results of Daniel's toxicology tests.

Nicole and Eric slayed me on Friday - those scenes were so powerful. I also loved how they were contrasted against EJ/Sami and how people deal with conflict - R.Culliton crafted an amazing script there (obviously a good breakdown helped too).

I loved that Sami abandoned her original reason for seeking out Eric and just supported him. That's major for the character - her bond with Eric is possibly her strongest in that she can stop being self absorbed.

Maggie was much better on Friday than Thursday - she reigned in the histrionics to give a measured introspective performance.

They had scenes at the hospital earlier in the week/late last week. I think Abby told T she was meeting a friend because saying she was meeting someone she doesn't really know sounds looserish and would also open the door for T to pounce on her, something she doesn't seem to want...yet lol.

ED said she told the show she was planning to leave in March, meaning it was a done deal in late March/early April. That means they were already filming August. If scripts are one month ahead of that, it means they didn't really have that much time to rewrite what clearly was going to be a pregnancy SL. Days and their crazy production model....