DAYS: January 2014 Discussion Thread

[AlexElizabeth]

LOL

[Cheap21]

Kate looks like Jordan's mother. Really CS should have been made Cassie

Sami is annoying the heck out of me. I wish she'd just believe EJ

Damn, Dr. Daniel SuperHero Jonas to the rescue again.

I imagine Nick somehow escaped and went into hiding

[RavenWhitney]

The Nick murder plot is laughable. It seems thrown together after putting all their eggs in Kristin's plot. Nick was hardly on the show for months after his rape reveal. Sami was just on trial for the dirty cop murder. They will all get away with it and Gabi will leave. They have some work to do to make the show must watch tv again. I still say it's lazy plotting or bad planning or both.

[JtSmarts]

I'm hoping something big happens with EJ and Abby next week, and it all blows up at Sami and EJ's wedding.

[beebs]

The Nick murder plot is good to me, especially from a logistical POV. Blake Berris has been doing filming of different projects, no?

So having Nick be on screen only occasionally, then having him in this murder plot has been very good, and a great way to use him, IMO. Especially after the last big story with Ari-Grace and Nick/Gabi's marriage stuff. He needed to be on screen less anyway. Unfortunately this isn't the 90s and there isn't the budget for us to be showing him doing all this plotting the same way, so instead it's a lot of him wandering around town square, which isn't ideal, but it worked.

 

Frankly, I think they've done great with what they've had, and EJ being the calm voice of 'reason' has also been good. And of course they'll get away with it, considering

There's MANY good ways for this story to go, IMO. It's not sloppy storytelling, it was very specifically a sloppy coverup, which they are addressing with EJ's involvement.

[slick jones]

I like the video but Jen Lilley's scene chewing style grates on my nerves. I couldn't stand her overrated job as Maxie on GH, but she is just too OTT in all of her scenes. I was hoping she would OD so Eve could come back to be a real rival 4 Jennifer "I have to work from home today" Horton!

[SouthOfSoap]

Finally watched Thursay and Friday's episodes - both by Melissa Salmons. I notice they give her the heavy EJami dialogue and scenes to write because she seems to have mastered the art of manipulating the audience into actually believing Ejami make sense. Of course, it's been a slow stealth process over the last 12 months. I know I buy Ejami as a couple when I watch their scenes. It's only afterwards when I take a step back to get a broader perspective, do I shake my head at the thought of Ejami. But bravo to Salmons and the actors for making it so convincing in the scenes.And dare I say, interesting.

LMAO at Kate looking at Abby's text to Nick "Ugh, get over it!"

The show gave a passive aggressive farewell to Chandler by having his last scenes with a dayplayer. I wish the show had gone the whole way by having Greetings! Man say Farewells! to CM. Anyway, I'm calling it now - Greetings! Man is helping nurse Nick back to health! (Now watch me be wrong...)

I know it is a minority opinion around here, but I really like Gabbi/Camilla Banus and I will miss her when she goes. I never thought I would ever type that because her first 6 months were awful on the show but I think BB made her raise her game and while the role isn't demanding, she does it well. That being said, she still needs to pay for Andrew/Melanie.

If I was an addict and had a sponsor like Maggie, I'd never be clean. I actually thought Suzanne gave a good performance with her tough love, hold to the line support as sponsor and never meandered into histrionics. But there was an undercurrent of shaming in all she said (or how she said it), and that really can't be in the program, can it?

I like how the roles have flipped in Ericole.

That is sad to read, because I was planning on youtubing her Y&R scenes today. Still going to, but thanks for the heads up.

They can't rap at all, but it was still very funny. Ciara

[jo.frank88]

Another good week this past week. I feel it was a little slower moving - but that's probably a good thing with it being New Year's week. Still very well written though! Here's my thoughts

1) I love how many jokes that closet has gotten. First Sonny was in the closet. Now Will was hiding in the closet. I love the comedy!

2) Brady's intervention was good.. but I wish it could have been dragged out for a few episodes. I would have liked to see Brady really break down (maybe that is still to come), have him crying in Maggie's arms. It's seemed like we missed some opportunities with it.

3) I'm really liking how Liam's introduction has been very slow. I really want to know more backstory on him.

4) Loved Sami/EJ working the bar together on NYE (and of course seeing T!) and I loved Ali/James' stuff on Friday. They just play off each other so well! It's always great drama. I love their Rhett-Scarlett relationship

5) I also really appreciate Abby/JJ's sibling relationship. For so long it seemed the show had a hard time writing friendships, sibling relationships, parent-child relationships. All we saw were lovers or ex-lovers. It's so refreshing to see JJ/Abby have a close sibling relationship.. and not only that but friendships between Abby/Gabi, JJ/Rory, the Kate/Gabi/Sami interaction, JJ/Will, etc. It makes the show so much healthier!

6) I for one LOVE the birdwatcher!

7) I can't wait for the Jordan storyline to pickup. I CAN'T WAIT to see more Bryan Dattilo coming up and him interacting with Jordan and Jade Harlow's character! Lucas is a TRUE HORTON and deserves and NEEDS to be focused on by the writers! I'm not saying Lucas should be "leading man" 24/7.. but he DOES need storyline!

8) I totally agree that the Kate/Sami scene on Thursday was totally thrown in. Having Ali's hair under that sock cap... and the scene definitely felt like filler. I'm cool with that every once in a while though.. as long as it's still believable. They did a good job of sneaking that scene in.

9) Moment of the week for me... Chandler's last episode! Of course it wasn't an intended send-off since his departure was so abrupt. But I'm really glad his final scene was with Freddie. I'm also glad he had scenes with Ali and James in his 2nd to last episode. I wish he would have had a scene with Dee there at the end, but again I know it wasn't really a "planned" exit (especially from the writer's perspective). But Chandler had quite a bit of airtime his last 2-3 weeks, so that was nice. The character of Will Horton is my favorite Days character of all time and I thank Chandler for doing such a great job with Will and wish him all the best!

Happy 2014 everyone!

[beebs]

If I hear Maggie talk about a "progrum" one more fekking time...

[SFK]

That was hilarious. I love Kate.

You should still check out ED on Y&R. She's... lovely (?), it's just that I kept waiting for her to make a snide remark or pull one of those Kristen faces, yet I knew it was never going to happen.

[DaytimeFan]

I always say Lauren Koslow is DAYS' biggest asset, parachuted into any storyline, any scene and she makes it work, always. I love Kate too.

Yes, ED is lovely on Y&R because that's just who she is and let's face it, there's nothing like Bell lighting to help an actress out...yet Kristen is her finest creation, somehow Ashley just doesn't ring as true.

[SFK]

I meant to ask this months ago when she was still on the show, but how would you all compare and contrast Kristen with Vivian? From what I understand, they seem to have shared a similar nutty diva presence. I don't know how long they were on the show at the same time, and I'm curious about how they were used when (if?) they were.

DOOL reminds me of AW which I've referred to as "diva heavy" in the past. At one time, you had Rachel, Felicia, Donna, and Iris all on at the same time, which makes me think of Marlena, Vivian, Kate, and Kristen. (Kate really reminds me of Donna, who I know was another one of your favorites, DaytimeFan.)

[Ira]

Kristen started out as a good character, but then became a villain. And though she engaged in some funny themes, was always mostly bad. She's never had a redemption edit the way that EJ has, for instance.

Vivian, on the other hand, is more in line with a Stefano. She's tried to kill people, she's always been pretty evil, but when they were back into a corner of wanting to keep her vs. the evil she'd done, she became a defanged comic relief sort of character. She was returned to her darker ways with her last return, which I was very thankful for.

Both very human characters, not cartoony all the time like a Mitch Laurence, because they've always had familial ties that have grounded them in the series.

[DaytimeFan]

Kristen and Vivian were on the canvas together between 1993-1998, Eileen Davidson's entire run as Kristen (Louise Sorel debuted in 1992 and departed in 2000). They were in several storylines together and worked well together, two excellent actresses sharing excellent chemistry in a sort of ally mentality.

The difference is that Kristen was a 'damaged' person who became evil and really left right as all her evil schemes collided, whereas Vivian was always evil, but as she remained on the canvas she became more of a 'diva' and a comic foil/rival with Lauren Koslow's Kate, among other characters. Vivian became somewhat kooky, but was still great fun to watch and her first exit was affectionate (her man servant Ivan won the lottery and he and Vivian left Salem in a limo waving out of the sunroof in an episode that was devoted solely to Vivian), while Kristen's first exit involved Kristen being sold into slavery on a tropical island. Both of their returns emphasized the 'dark' edge of their characters, but Eileen got far more consistent writing and a more stable time period at the show (Louise was written off courtesy of the disastrous arrival of MarDar and all those overhyped vets of the 90s).

I would definitely agree that Kate Roberts has shades of Donna Love to her, but also Carmen Duncan's Iris Cory, with a dash of something unique to Lauren Koslow. She is, in some respects, the last of the 'rich bitch' characters in daytime.

DAYS succeeds because it actually writes for it's female characters. I've always thought, aside from a few male actors, it has been the women who have always propelled DAYS most effectively. The male characters are sometimes interchangeable. The women never are.

[SFK]

Wow, thank you both for such clear, thorough responses. I really get it now. I wish I was into DOOL back then. I remember reading about the Vivian/Victor/Kate embryo s/l for example. Is MarDar a play on Marlena and Murder? I'm thinking it has something to do with the secret island where all the murdered characters were stashed away?