DAYS: May 2016 Discussion Thread

[frequentsoapfan]

[!@#$%^&*] like that is why I'm taking another break from soaps. Outside of checking in on this board I won't be watching.

[Khan]

How do we even know for sure this Aiden is the real Aiden?  What if he is the doppelganger and the Aiden who died was the real Aiden?  I mean, this IS DAYS we're talking about.

[Soapsuds]

And thus this is why fans just throw their arms up in the air and give up. I was shocked at today's episode not because of the doppelgänger but that Days would try it or do it again. Days ran out of ideas years and years ago. If this is all Days can come up with it's time that the sands in that hourglass stop. Corday needs his soap canceled or should I say his parents soap.

[Cheap21]

I think its really Aiden bc they went out of their way to show those extended flashbacks of him being in confinement and tortured with what was happening back home. That was unnecessary and the focus should have been on the present day confrontation with Hope if it were another fake. Of course they can always retcon this but Im almost certain the intention of that episode was to have it be the real Aiden show up

[ChitHappens]

Exactly!  A doppelgänger for a 12th tier character?  Insane. 

[DRW50]

 

That scene is probably going to end up on all sorts of bondage blogs...not that I can blame them.

 

 

Fans put up with much sillier writing than this during the show's last high-rated years. Remember when Stefano sent a dozen (or however many) Marlenas around the world to confuse John (not that hard to do...)? The problem with DAYS is less nonsense like this and more a huge tonal issue, lack of focus, etc. I'll take nonsense like this any day over more shock value rape.

[Michael]

I will say, stupidity of the explanation aside, that I like that they're trying to do some interesting things with episode formats. I don't think this episode or the Abigail-centric one in the mansion 100% worked, mostly because the story is too thin to cover 38 minutes, but the production efforts are interesting, and I think it's a good thing for all the remaining soaps to be trying. You don't have to re-invent the wheel, but some experiments like this are welcome.

 

Now if the writing would make the same effort...

[Vee]

Sure, audiences will put up with all sorts of nonsense if the writing or sometimes just the performances are there. GH got a lot of mileage out of this in 2012 and 2013 and even portions of 2014 while that show went to complete [!@#$%^&*] in so many other ways - the Robin rescue arc was ludicrous and protracted on many levels, full of sci-fi but the payoffs were there and so were the performances. Same with Michael's showdown with Sonny the following year. Same with a lot of the current Pratt-written drama on Y&R, much of which is in lame, tacky or derivative storylines - the key is that 90% of it rides on performers the show knows can carry it and they play them hard and constantly. Gina Tognoni, Sharon Case, Peter Bergman, Melody Thomas Scott, Eileen Davidson, Jason Thompson can sell.

 

The difference between all those shows and DAYS is that DAYS stopped really caring about either writing or performances long ago, because they also don't care about something bigger than both of those - consistency, or any kind of narrative integrity. Y&R's current trajectory may be a cheap, cut-rate version of their best years, but they're committed to it. The GH era mentioned above was often a disaster, but it was only recently that it began to feel like they weren't even trying and were marking time, as opposed to doing all the wrong things with great gusto. On DAYS things change on a dime and are scrapped at a moment's notice constantly, every week, every month, every quarter, every year. Nothing means anything and nothing can be counted on. The audience knows that and that's why DAYS fails, and they keep piling worse and worse shock value [!@#$%^&*] on top of it and then either walking it back or doubling down. Nothing means anything because they don't care enough to make anything stick or commit to any creative vision for their show. The endless circular behavior is exhausting to watch, it's been exhausting for the better part of a decade and it's the reason I gave up investing in DAYS a very long time ago. Nothing will ever change about the fundamental failure of this show until Ken Corday is removed. And that's never going to happen.

[victoria foxton]

Out of nowhere almost everyone in Salem is sick. Out of nowhere Gabi's sick. No build up whatsoever to the virus story. The only gay man in Salem has to be the most gravely ill with the mysterious virus. Paul wasn't even shown. Gabi's chubby gay Asian doctor was played by such a bad actor.. All of a sudden Ciara is going to be Chad's live in nanny. Aiden's return is the worse back from the dead story in the history of soaps. At least on today's episode a lot of characters were featured. Unlike yesterday's ''very special'' episode where only Aiden and a dead bird were featured for most of the episode.

[DRW50]

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSt_xAfEeLM

[Cheap21]

Oh I forgot about that and that is one of the worst if not worse. Served zero purpose and they killed him off within the same week he got brought back. It was just for shock value. The Aiden stuff has only been a thing for 2 episodes. I think its too early to say its the worse in soap's history without seeing it play out first.

 

If not for those flashbacks, Id be questioning Aidan more. How  convenient that his fingerprints are no longer on file. Makes you wonder if he's not a doppleganger that Andre sent to get evidence out of Hope to clear his name and throw her in jail for Stefano's murder

[DRW50]

I do wonder, as I feel like he's just going to be an obstacle to Hope/Rafe anyway.

[RavenWhitney]

Albert Alaar is the next one to be fired.  He's responsible for this horrendously bad version of Days of Our Lives.  Monday's episode was a new low.  Griffith is an utter failure as a soap writer.  On YR he had the luxury of writing stories a few months in advance and the show was a duller than dishwater.  On Days he's forced to write nearly a year in advance and all he can do is rip off portions of bad/violent movies and rinse and repeat.  It's so sad. I think the good news is that Griffith will never work in daytime again.  I have to say, I believe starting september will be days last year on the air and I'm starting to have faith that after this nutsy/violent/crazy Griffith versions, Higley/Quan will actually bring in tears, nostalgia and soapy soap back to days.  Can it get worse than this?  He has destroyed every veteran character with evil, murder and insanity.  Hope, Rafe, Jenn, Eric, Ben...And he got paid to destroy a show.

[cassadine1991]

Alarr isn't going anywhere, the cast raved about him in interviews. If you really think Higley/Quan is going to be better you seem to forget her previous stints. If Daytime continues to keep using writers like Pratt, Higley, Altman, Passanante, and CarlIvati; you know damn well Griffith could be the next Hw at GH

[Soapsuds]

And MBE praised him in his direction during her Emmy win speech.