16 minutes ago, Vee said:

 If you want to talk about a similar antihero on this specific show then yes, I suppose you could make a case for that. 

 

😮 

 

I'll quit while I am ahead, when you get a response like this, that's when you know you've made your point. 

30 minutes ago, Skin said:

I really can't think of a character who was like him in that he straddled the line of 'good/evil'  like he did on the show, yet still received warm reception from fans and the audience, enough to still want him to either win or have a happy ending.

I never felt that way about EJ.

 

I always loathed the character. I wanted him to lose and die.

Edited May 25, 20214 yr by janea4old

9 minutes ago, Skin said:

I'll quit while I am ahead, when you get a response like this, that's when you know you've made your point. 

 

If that was your point, then yes, you made it - he was a character who had a strong effect on the canvas, like many others. If you want to deify E.J. (or oh, I don''t know, Babe) as transformational for the genre or to the fabric of DAYS as a whole, then no, I'm sorry, that's fantasyland. Firing Reilly, just like hiring him, is what changed DAYS, and that firing corresponded to E.J.'s ascent as a character.

4 minutes ago, Vee said:

 

If that was your point, then yes, you made it - he was a character who had a strong effect on the canvas, like many others. 

 

I think that's my point, I wasn't looking to 'deify' anyone, so much as just connecting a couple of dots together from a few overall trends. EJ was a unique character in that I genuinely couldn't find another character like him unless I went back an entire generation prior to his debut, coincidentally his rise to prominence occurred at the same time Days went through a tonal shift, changing the narrative direction of the show. After that you can make of it whatever you wish and draw your own conclusions. 

Edited May 25, 20214 yr by Skin

He wasn't even half as good as Roger Thorpe or John Dixon.

On 5/23/2021 at 1:58 PM, soapfan770 said:

 
EJ really should’ve have been Benjy or some lost son of Tony & Anna instead of the ridiculous notion he was Elvis, whose own origin was absolutely silly to begin with. A Passions story before there was a Passions lol. 
 

 

EJ had a such a promising start but the whole blackmail rape was a disaster IMO that when EJ and Sami had gross grief sex in 2011 I turned Days off for good for  a couple years there, especially since Days had spent two whole years pushing the idea Rafe & Sami were the new Roman & Marlena. 

As for Carlivati, I’ve seen his name hyped up and also very disparaged lol for years but Days is the first time I’ve seen his work first hand. Entertaining overall but he clearly went to the same writing school of thought with Hogan, Kriezman, Hamner, Pratt etc. when it came to “redeeming” villains. The fact Ben Weston exists is utterly absurd but straight out of Sheffer’s old playbook.

 

Exactly. He shouldn't have been Elvis Jr. LORD. Sigh. 

 

I definitely would have loved him being Tony and Anna's. I remember before they dumped Carrie in 2006 didn't EJ recognize her or vice versa? Ah what could have been.

 

I agree on him having a promising start otherwise. I wasn't going to go there but yeah the rape soured me. I also despised the pushing of Rafe and Sami as Roman and Marlena 2.0 and EJ as their Stefano. It didn't work. I also felt like Lucas was continually shoved aside by this point, but that's another rant for another day lol.

 

And then to have EJ/Sami become some supercouple? Nooooooo. I think it could have worked had they not had the rape (and better writing would have helped). I only enjoyed Sami/EJ when she was turning against him for his affair with Abby. I was ecstatic when Scott left and EJ was shot and left for dead like nothing. LOL.

 

I'm willing to give it a go but I'm just so mixed on the character I wish he'd have stayed dead (he became an albatross on Sami's back), but I get Ron, OF COURSE, wanting to go there. And agreed on Ron. I see potential, I always have, but he's SO messy (and petty) and just ... short sighted ... he needs a stronger Co-HW.

 

On 5/23/2021 at 7:51 PM, j swift said:

I think DAYS has actually done a good job at setting up the canvas for EJ's return.  Obviously, he'll be a spanner in the Lucas/Sami relationship, but this time there is enough fan support for the reunion of those two characters that it makes that a viable triangle. 

 

Also, we have former lovers Nicole and Kate being single.  Nicole tends to wallow as a character without a love interest, and Eric has been gone for nearly a year, so she needed something to do.  BTW does anyone in Salem recall that Rafe and Kate dated?

 

The emergence of Jake and Brady in business sets up some interesting story potential for EJ.  The recent Susan shenanigans, and her subsequent exit, means that DAYS won't need to deal with EJ's odd origin story.  Also, given Clyde's part in EJ's exit, it sets up some story potential for Ben, aside from Ciara.

 

SO, while he could have been a number of other characters, strategically, this seems like the correct time for EJ to return.  I just hope he isn't wearing a mask.

 

I agree that, storyline wise, it's the perfect opportunity to bring him back. I'd love to see the character just embrace being dark and cunning. I'm so torn on this character lol. I'm open to it yet I also wish he'd stayed dead. Hopefully the recast gives him a fresh start, like Barash did with Stefan (big mistake killing him for that stupid heart plot).

Edited May 25, 20214 yr by KMan101

I don't have a problem with E.J. being around, or them recasting E.J. or using him. I don't think he is irreplaceable or monolithic. If it becomes the E.J. Show again that's a mistake.

On 5/24/2021 at 5:04 PM, Skin said:

 

😮 

 

I'll quit while I am ahead, when you get a response like this, that's when you know you've made your point. 

Well, I miss how you make points so that was an interesting discussion to read between jobs yesterday.

On 5/24/2021 at 4:40 PM, Skin said:

Yeah despite commentary to the contrary there were definitely moments on the show where EJ was a major machination to plot where he fed story of multiple players in Salem, and it was like that for like 7 years. There were definitely moments where it felt like he was involved in way too much at times, but the soap liked putting him in the thick of so many things, as a lynchpin. It makes me think they knew what viewers were interested in watching, and just went hog wild. When I look at what Days was in 2003 - 2006, and then compare it to what Days eventually became post 2010, it just feels like a completely different show. I remember Days in 2003 and 2004 and it was a hot mess, compared to what Days was in like 2012 and 2013.  

 

EJ was often ubiquitous, even appearing in stories where he really shouldn't have been involved at all (every time he was involved in the whole Steve/Patch stuff, or he shared scenes with Bo and Hope it honestly felt like overkill). That Mayor storyline with him and Abe was ridiculous, along with having him involved so heavily with Will (more than even his own father). But the soap liked him being an agitator to Safe, and giving Nicole stories so that was that. 

 

I really can't think of a character who was like him in that he straddled the line of 'good/evil'  like he did on the show, yet still received warm reception from fans and the audience, enough to still want him to either win or have a happy ending. You would have to go back a generation or so to find maybe Tony or Jack who came on the show in the 80's for that similar reception. I hesitate to find an equivalent of a male lead who played the role of anti-hero so effectively that he popped in all of his scenes regardless of context be it dramatic, romantic or humorous.  

 

do you mean on any soap or just DAYS because that's literally Luke and more recently Sonny. Sonny legitinaletly transmuted the entire fabric of GH/soap to the point where "he's bad, but so and so are worse!" etc. became the norm. I don't think any other soap character has changed an entire soap or the soap landscape in the way Sonny has, for better or worse. 

 

EJ otoh, was very meh but JS was gorgeous and charisatic and everyone hated/loved Sami and AS bolstered the character in a huge, huge way. JS/EJ wasn't a transformative character in the way that MB/Sonny was, because he didn't change stories/characters he touched like MB/Sonny did. You are giving EJ/JS way too much credit, imo. EJ was a really hot guy with an "untouchable" air about him, that was brought down to earth by his feelings for Sami. Sami humanized EJ which is what made fans start to fall for the character beyond his looks. 

I'm definitely open to him having a new face. He's in the new summer promo along with Johnny who is finally in Salem. Johnny better be EJ Jr. after spending all this time as Daddy's Boy LOL. The actor looks like he could play scheming.

11 minutes ago, KMan101 said:

I'm definitely open to him having a new face. He's in the new summer promo along with Johnny who is finally in Salem. Johnny better be EJ Jr. after spending all this time as Daddy's Boy LOL. The actor looks like he could play scheming.

Where’s the summer promo? For some reason no one posts the promos anymore.

 

nevermind I found it.

Edited May 28, 20214 yr by Antoyne

no tea no shade, but EJ racast looks a mess in the promo and Bryan Dattilo looks a mess as usual. Why does Alison Sweeney have to be saddled with such tragic love prospects? Meanwhile Greg Vaughan's loking gorgeous as ever. Siiiigh! 😍

On 5/28/2021 at 7:29 PM, dio said:

no tea no shade, but EJ racast looks a mess in the promo and Bryan Dattilo looks a mess as usual. Why does Alison Sweeney have to be saddled with such tragic love prospects? Meanwhile Greg Vaughan's loking gorgeous as ever. Siiiigh! 😍

   WTF??!??!?!?!?!?!?!?    Bryan Dattilo(Lucas) NEVER looks a mess, and I think Dan Feurriegal(EJ)  looks far from a mess!

4 minutes ago, David_Vickers said:

   WTF??!??!?!?!?!?!?!?    Bryan Dattilo(Lucas) NEVER looks a mess, and I think Dan Feurriegal(EJ)  looks far from a mess!

Completely agree!!! I'd suggest someone above getting their eyesight checked

 

yeah... no. I'm sorry, but we need to raise standards for men on these shows. Women have to keep it tight and right, but men can just look like slobs w/ double-chins, and it's like that's fine? Nope. Peter Reckell looked amazing all the way until the end, and Matthew Ashford continues to look good even tho he's *older* than both of these guys. I cannot. 

 

i mean people used to drag tf out of Freddie Smith and his double-chin for "letting himself go" but BD and nuEJ looks fine and dandy? Come on, now. 

 

Edited May 30, 20214 yr by dio