DAYS: November sweeps promo

[DRW50]

I think a lot of the rape story has been about Eric and his feelings and doubts all along.

[Skin]

I think there is a difference in say the way the rapes of Marty Saybrooke, Bianca Montgomery and Emily Quartermaine's were written and the way Eric's has been written.

[DRW50]

Well, Emily's became about why she wouldn't put out for her husband. I do think there's a difference with the other two as well, but mostly just because there is the added element of other people in Salem seeing this as a hot romp. But they've always had Eric knowing it wasn't and his illness and trauma afterward mean the writing back him up.

[Skin]

Maybe I just don't like the way it feels like it's all about Kristen, and how the rape is just being used as a ploy to separate the inevitable Nicole/Eric reunion. Ultimately I feel like all the rape storylines above felt paramount in that the story was all about the person dealing with the aftermath of the rape and being centralized on their surviving a brutal, violent crime. Eric's story just doesn't feel like that.

[SouthOfSoap]

I think your starting context of the character is off-kilter. He returned from jail having been incarcerated for murder whilst hooked on pills some 5/6 years ago. They picked the character up from there, not the geeky good guy he was introduced as in 2006/7. Jail destroyed Nick. I'm glad that was never whitewashed away.

The purpose of his return was twofold - one was to inject conflict into Gabi/Will/Sonny's storyline and the second was a tale that from some traumas in life, you can never recover. I thought his story up to the end of May sweeps was well crafted and told exceptionally well. I thought it had lost it's way since then but I have decided to reserve judgement until the denoument because the show has subtley hinted at what it has been doing the whole time, I just need that confirm or refuted. It wasn't straight up told for a brain dead audience who need to be told (repeatedly) rather than shown, it rather played up Nick's shame and self-hate - not something he was going to blab around town. I'd have to disagree with you that it was 'labored', but there is no point in writing a thesis about it when you only keep up with the show through spoilers and messge boards.

[JackPeyton]

Well, Eric was violently raped and left to pick himself up and figure out how to move on from there. He wasn't even aware new as raped until recently. And just found out who did it. He has been haunted by traumatic flashes and dreams of what he thought may be his breaking his vows and then he questioned that. He did piece together that he was raped and using what little he had lashed out at who he thought his abuser was, Nicole. He didn't want to deal with it beyond that, he cut her out and tried to move on but was filled with such self loathing and hatred for what happened to him. Still, he didn't open up about it - and now the truth has come out. In front of everyone. His mother played a tape in his church of him being raped. His rape was made very public. He physically assaulted the husband to be of his rapist because he couldn't attack her, and his rape was being denied. He was being told it didn't happen, that he caused this.

I disagree that his rape hasn't focused on the aftermath. That's all Eric has really done since it happened. Try to piece together what happened to him, by whom, and why. His rape is very different than the ones you listed, they all knew what happened and even really who did it. Their dealing with it was able to start instantly. His wasnt. Nicks however was brutal and I felt his story was him dealing with it, in all the wrong ways, until he really had to face it and admit it happened. Sadly it kind of lingo shed at that point. As far as rape on soaps go I think both of these were very well done. And as far as male rape goes I don't think anything comes close.

I'm happy his rape hasn't been handled like Bianca's let's make her have a baby and Emily's let's blame the woman honestly.

[Sindacco]

I agree. Some say it's character destruction because Nick used to be a good guy and he's a Horton, but I think this has been a fantastic character arc. Killing Trent, becoming obsessed with Melanie, going to prison and then coming back this past year. When he first joined the show in 2006 he was the stereotypical nerd, and I never cared about all the random stuff that Hogan Sheffer threw at him in 2007.