DAYS: Actor leaving

[dio]

hopefully, he dies @ either Princess Gina or Stephano's hand from sticking his nose where it doesn't belong... because something this story needs is freaking STAKES, and a main character being killed would help with that. 

[AlexElizabeth]

 

Gina killing Rafe and then Hope having to deal with that once she returns would be awesome.

[KMan101]

 

Yes it would, I agree! That's exactly what should happen, IMO.

 

However, since Rafe's around until at least August/September, if not longer, ugh, hopefully Gina doesn't last that long (even though I kinda prefer her to Hope at this point, but I think this could end up making Hope likeable again, hopefully)

Edited February 9, 2020 by KMan101

[te.]

I don't think they'll kill him off. I have feeling he'll just fade out or just leave town. Honestly, just put him down to recurring since they've made Gabi such a main player on the show, so keeping a bit of the Hernandez clan around in a small capacity might not be the worst idea.

[pdm1974]

Galen has always come off as a very nice guy. So, that part really sucks. I've felt that Rafe was played out for a long time now though. It feels like he's been paired with almost every female on the show except for Maggie and Julie! The show has struggled with a post-Bo Hope. It's hard to follow that up I know. I think they should try and pair her with a character completely different from Bo (no cops, etc.)

[Khan]

I think DAYS just should admit they've hit a dead end with Hope and either beg Peter Reckell to return or send Hope (and Gina) packing.

[Wendy]

 

I read the argument that Bo had romances besides Hope, so why can't Hope post Bo? But what they fail to take into account is, the writing for Bo's subsequent romances still honored his love for Hope while allowing Bo to move on.

 

Today's "writing" is just exposition from plot point to plot point with zero in between. And even with Carly and Billie, build up occurred. Which also does not happen now. Insta-love or bust is the new formula.

 

Some say Hope/Aiden worked. I never liked them, but the fact is, I think the way it was handled even there stunk, making Bo a deadbeat. The 50th fixed that (to allow for the Bo/Hope reunion before he died), but it still damaged a long-time character at the expense of the new romance, which never happened to Hope.

 

So there are differences.

 

I WILL say, if there were good writers, I think a Bo recast would work with careful casting. I loved Peter Reckell and his Bo and always will, but he's gone. RKK did work, for all of the gross backstage shenanigans. So I think - if the casting process proceeded with caution, it could work a third time.

 

But with so many variables against it? Yeah. Unless KA is content with Hope being a talk-to, I don't see where she can go from here. And Gina, from start to finish - '90s onward - has done no favors for Hope, so...

[Khan]

 

Agree. 

 

Just the fact that they brought back Princess Gina -- which, despite KA's obvious enthusiasm at portraying a different character, was never her or Hope's finest hour -- tells me they're at a loss with Hope.  Which is not a slight against KA.  She's definitely grown as an actress since the '80's (although she's also become much harder).  However, KA/Hope Williams Brady faces the same issue that most, if not all, of DAYS' veteran actors and characters face, which is the hangover-like results of the JER era, when all the insane, OTT, plot-driven, history- and logic-ignorant storytelling left these once-rich, vibrant characters emotionally stunted and hollowed out.

 

Sure, the ratings were high back when JER and his successors were having characters possessed by the devil or brainwashed into believing they were pseudo-European royalty (and the Universal Soldiers who love them), but look at how that has affected the show in the long run.  Now, when budgets and such necessitate a return to less far-flung, more character-driven storytelling, doing so is impossible, because, in almost all cases, the preceding two decades of preposterous writing have done their irreparable harm.  You can't depict Hope truly coping with life as a widowed law enforcement official -- tentatively re-entering the dating scene after losing her soulmate, juggling that with her duties with the Salem P.D., facing whatever end-of-life issues await her dad and stepmom/sister without Bo for support, bracing herself for life as a single grandmother, etc. -- after she's been under the influence of a satellite-controlled microchip in her brain.  (And Jack Deveraux?  I can't even begin to know how to write for a man who's literally been resurrected from the dead more times than Erica Kane has been married.)

 

Subsequently, viewers are stuck with crap like "Princess Gina 2: Rolf's Revenge" and "Steve or Stevano?".  Stuff that, on its' face, is bad, but even more horrendous in an era of 99c-store budgets and temp agency-like episode guarantees.

 

Say what you will about the action/adventure- and romance-driven '80's, but I feel like Sheri Anderson, Leah Laiman and Thom Racina left this show and its' characters in a much better place than did JER, Sally Sussman Morina, Tom Langan and others in the following decade.  If DAYS were coming off THAT era, and NOT the '90's and '00's, I think it'd have a much easier time transitioning back, if not to the quality of Bill Bell/Pat Falken Smith, then certainly to something more sustainable than what we're still getting.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Khan

[Wendy]

Oh, I have been VERY vocal about hating the James Reilly era. Those temporary high ratings came at the expense of the very fabric of this show, which - while having larger than life adventures in the '80s - still had its roots in love, romance, and family.

 

The '90s were basically Reilly's...issues...on display while using the characters as chess pieces with little regard as to who those characters were. Shock value replaced actual stories, and the show was poorer for it in the long run. The show had the car-wreck effect for a moment with the rising ratings, but the devil possession and brain chips and what have you basically gutted what this show was. I'm betting both Ted and Betty Corday wept bitter copious tears in the Afterlife.

 

And, while I ironically really was not into ATWT (but familiar with it because of my late grandmother), I do recall Marland's rules, one of them talking about writing for characters the AUDIENCE loves, even if they may not excite the writer. And, in Hope's case, I do think JER resented Hope/KA because of her popular romance with Bo, and desperately tried to "even" the playing field for Billie in having Bo's kid. And there was his...well, STRANGE interview where Reilly insisted Bo could NEVER reunite with Hope as Bo said his vows to Billie before God or whatever...

 

What the hell did he think Bo/Hope did at THEIR wedding(s)?

 

All this to say that Reilly's strange peccadilloes and biases would warp many a character on this show - even freaking Alice and Tom Horton - and what we are stuck with now basically was rooted in his lunacy. Carlivati, a fellow campy hack, seems to love emulating it, and sadly, I don't ever see Days being character-driven ever again.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Wendy

[Khan]

 

I think it COULD be that way again, but it would mean making some VERY tough choices and clearing away many characters who, in almost all cases, are well-loved and have been on for decades.  In a sense, DAYS would need to be rebooted -- with new characters and families that have little to do with the present show -- and, to be perfect and frank, that's what Ron SHOULD have done with the time jump.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Khan

[dragonflies]

*shrugs* I like him have no issues with Rafe, just hated him and Hope together.

[edgeofnik]

@Khan You're exactly right about TJ. It would've been a great to introduce a few new characters, who would've been attached to existing characters and in the middle of 'existing' storylines. We could've learned about 'how' and 'why' they are on canvas through the TJ. 

 

DAYS has a lot dead weight.

 

What's the point of Jack/Jennifer at this point? Send them on some foreign investigative journey.

 

The grandma quotient is far too high: Maggie, Marlena and Kate. I say keep Katie full-time and give Maggie and Marlena 13-week arcs each year. Since we know DH/SR don't appear on screen together, it would work perfectly. The Tony/Anna drop-ins are a good model. It's nice to have familiar and popular actors/character involved for very specific purposes and then disappear.

 

DAYS should be done with 'killing off' legacy characters. 

 

[spike99]

why don't DH/SR appear on screen together??

[KMan101]

 

Yep.

 

But Kristian somehow seems untouchable. 

 

They used to. Maggie and Marlena were besties in the 90s and 00s. It's a complicated story that someone can explain better, but supposedly there was tension between the ladies when Deidre returned in 2011. After Maggie/Suzanne had spent the last two years basically becoming the 'matriarch' of the show in her absence. Not really sure what transpired, if anything. But they've oddly not shared a scene. Maybe in passing once or twice. Which is so bizarre since their kids are so intermingled. 

 

Also, apparently, Albert Alarr is a Maggie/Suzanne stan, hence the cutting of family scenes for Marlena and John and the odd focus on Maggie. Someone decided it had to be a competition between them (Alarr allegedly doesn't like that Marlena and John have so many kids, which could explain why certain ones aren't on the canvas). It shouldn't be. Some of the fans' biggest complaints are Maggie mothering Brady and now we have Marlena nowhere near Will and Will staying in prison for Maggie! lol. It's just ridiculous.

 

For the record, Suzanne and Deidre hugged at a fan event a few years back so I don't know if it's between them. It's just really bizarre. Suzanne probably felt slighted when Deidre returned.

 

Ron's got his problems as a writer but he's clearly being pulled in numerous directions. This is not a new problem.

Edited February 11, 2020 by KMan101

[Gray Bunny]

 

Ugh. So dumb. 

 

Wasn't there an alleged rift between Hall and Crystal Chappell when Hall returned in '91?  The story was that Hall's return would take away from Chappell's screen time (which was a lot) but when you look at the timeline, that excuse didn't add up. Chappell was on from 1990-93 and Deidre returned summer of 1991, so 2 of the 3 years Chappell was on, so was Deidre.