Days of our Lives September 2014 Discussion

[DaytimeFan]

In this economy...

[Michael]

The most shocking thing about today's episode was finding out there's a Chinese restaurant in Poplar Bluff.

I swear to God Daniel, if the new

[Cheap21]

Nicole has been an awful mess since she hooked up with Daniel. I have no use for her anymore.

Totally didn't see EJ proposing to Sami and them getting another wedding. Guess it's to make up for that f--kery that was the last one. I bet people loved Kate calling her "a weak willed slave to a really bad man"

I knew Chad was working with Stefano to play Kate. She's an idiot to buy his lies

Best dressed chick in the game. I love how for the most part she's buffered from this show's awful styling. Its like Lauren Koslow decides to do her own

[DaytimeFan]

I think she does her own styling too...she looks way too good, way too different, to be involved with the DAYS costume department. Otherwise, it might just be that LK gets to dip into the wardrobes of B&B and Y&R thanks to her Bell days...

[SouthOfSoap]

Shifting the scale of moral relativism is the result of bad writers/network execs with authoritarian agendas that a whole genre fell down a rabbit hole, and its just a distraction. He is what he is based on his onscreen history.

As for viewers supposedly preferring Sami over her sisters is more by chance than design - Christie Clark was very popular, as much as Sweeney if not more, when she upped sticks for London in 1999 - who is to say she wouldn't have remained as popular if not more had she stayed with the show?

Regarding leading men, you are correct, but DAYS hasn't done this - that's not to say that DAYS doesn't have leading men who are not strong, they did in the past, but the story is told from the woman's pov whether that woman is a heroine or an interloper or whatever...

[SouthOfSoap]

I'd say Alfonso is well dressed and styled too. The rest are hit and miss (Sweeney, Lilley, Hall etc.) or consistently awful (De Paiva, Rogers, Reeves, Zuker etc.)

I wonder how much say the actors get in picking their outfits though? Based on their choice of outfits at the fan event in Vegas, I'd say plenty lol. However, maybe the show picked their clothes for fan events too.

Mansi and Zuker in particular have awful outfits here.

[Juliajms]

Eric is really pissing me off these days. For someone who is supposed to be a former priest he treats Nicole like dog sh!t. Meanwhile, I know he still wants her and that he's going to cave soon enough, but the way she keeps coming back for more of the verbal smack down he's all too happy to dish out makes me sick.

Meanwhile, Jen is a character I enjoy watching suffer at the hands of Anne and Teresa, but I wish she would tell Daniel to f*ck off and stick too it. He's so rude to her every time they meet I just want her to slap his smug face.

Hope should have told Caroline about Aiden. I think she would have taken it a lot better if Hope had told her directly.

I like NuChad more and more by the day. I hope he runs Ben out of town. That actor is insufferable. On a show with a small cast, they can't afford to have a dud like this. T has more charisma and in Abby's place I would choose him in a heartbeat.

[Skin]

Regarding Moral Relativism, my main point is that regardless of where EJ is on the moral spectrum, he is still a lead. There is no specific moral guideline or template that prohibits a character from being a lead or a protagonist. The days when literary works could only detail or feature a heroic lead have long since past, in both soaps and other written works. The words Villain Protagonist and Anti-Hero are examples of that. My main argument is that EJ (and soaps as a whole) is embraced as a villainous (or less than morally virtuous) lead and this ideology has spread to other soaps as I previous mentioned. He is still deemed a lead in all possible ways. He is a dramatic lead, a romantic lead and literary one with a view point that takes precedence over other characters. I think that qualifies for all the criteria that needs to be met. If one likes that or not is a separate issue. While he is not a hero like Bo or John, he most certainly is just as much a leading man as they both were.

In regards to fan popularity, that wasn't the main point of my argument. My argument is regardless of the popularity Carrie or Belle have or had, it's Sami who won that particular war from a show influence and cultural importance perspective. She's the one that lasted. She is the one who wins the narrative and historical reverence out of the three of them. If there is a line up of most important female characters in Days of our lives, AS' Sami is coming out on top before either of them do. Even if Christie Clark is as popular as Alison Sweeney, or even if she is more popular it doesn't really matter. It is still Sami who has defined a larger period of this show's history and it's Sami who has the 20+ year long legacy that is a backbone of Days. To put it in another way, it's Carrie who has to prove her relevance to the show each and every time she comes back for a brief visit, not Sami in that regard. Sami's place in Salem is well cemented. I definitely think that is a valid conversation for the topic at hand that we previously spoke about in regards to the transition of moral relativism and increased popularity of the villain protagonist/viewpoint the show and many other soaps have steadily adopted. The EJ and Sami characters have changed the way leading stories are told for Days. We're seeing that even now with three current storylines featuring Kristen, Eve and Theresa. These characters are not cut from the Hope/Bo, Austin/Carrie or John/Marlena archetypes. Yet viewers still identify with them, have popularity and are deemed the most enjoyable parts of the show.

[~bl~]

Sometimes actors will wear wardrobe to public events. Since Days tapes so far in advance, it'll take forever to see if any of these outfits appear in Salem.

[SouthOfSoap]

Tueday's episode:

So glad Eve told Theresa to calm the f*ck down

All the Kristen scenes feel so flat. That makes me sad.

Beige believing JJ is pure wtferry.

Dannifer - please just stop this juvenile nonsense.

Eric coping skills for life are awful - he should be in counselling, (and not with Friar Dbag).

We get a Melinda Trask mention but no scene? I would have loved to see her rip Eric a new one.

[Faulkner]

At a very first glance, I thought AZ was Nene.

[SouthOfSoap]

Wednesday's episode:

Theresa might as well fly a plane over Salem with a message "I whacked John". Girl is hopeless.

I liked Hope and Caroline - it must be so awkward to know your daughter-in-law has been done wrong by your son.

NuChad is growing on me.

I will throw my tv out of the window if Daniel and Kristen ever hook up.

Nice-ish episode overall.

That dress also makes her look more busty than usual.

[SouthOfSoap]

Thursday's episode:

I like that they splurged out for a set for Kate and Clyde's dinner instead of having them go to TBD

NuChad and Stefano in cahoots to dupe Kate was a nice touch - old Chad wouldn't have agreed to that, but it works with this one

Kate giving the truth to Sami was amazing - Koslow is so amazing. Needless to say, it went over deaf ears though.

A lot of romance in this episode - Abby/Ben, EJ/Sami

Caroline freaking out at Hope was natural, but she has no leg to stand on. Brady pride...

This week has been a massive improvement over last week.

[jo.frank88]

Thoughts for the week:

1) I'm loving BIlly Flynn. His Chad is a little edgier than Casey's - I feel more mystery... but I really can see him becoming a leading male role.

2) FINALLY we see Marlena's sling for Dee Hall's broken arm we first heard about 6 months ago! haha. I'm glad the writers (or actors improving) at least mentioned "What happened to your arm."

3) JJ/Paige continue to be so boring. I think there really could be potential between these two - but Paige has to be written differently. I have to have a reason to care about her.. maybe a mystery with her father? some secret? something!

4) Absolutely loved the Hope/Caroline conversation about Bo and the divorce. I am so proud of how the show is handeling this hard situation they're in... And those scenes were well played both by KA and PM.

5) Loved seeing Lucas on Friday and his scenes with Will, Abby, and Sami were all great!

6) Is it just me - or does anyone else feel like the sets/lighting/even some camera angles were different this week - I really enjoyed the look of the show - production-wise it just looked a little better than usual.

7) Best part of the week - - - SUSAN BANKS!!! PLEASE let her have scenes next week with Marlena, Kristen, John, Sami! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I will put up with a full week's worth of Daniel-hyping and every other character bowing down to the Dan-shrine if only Susan can have some scenes with those 3-4 people!!

[AlexElizabeth]

I'm kind of digging nuChad too, though I'm not here for him and Jordan.