13 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I think Marlena being physically attracted to a bad boy would work like 25 years ago.  It's too late now, but I think there is something to Marlena/John's sexual attraction that could have been explored back in the day. Their affair could have been a little dirtier and grittier.  Less like Marlena was choosing between the taller and hotter of the 2 Romans.   Kinda like EJ/Sami, but like less rapey

Exactly.  That's what I meant.

4 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Lol sorry about that. I moved it to the Bravo thread. 

I was like why is it on the days thread?😂

Me thinks Faulkner is tipsy.😂

Just now, Soapsuds said:

Me thinks Faulkner is tipsy.😂

Lol, I’m stone-cold sober, which is more worrisome.

10 minutes ago, John said:

Me thinks its a combo of alcohol & Cocaine

How this loser is on the air and has a son is mind boggling!

2 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Lol, I’m stone-cold sober, which is more worrisome.

Haha...right😉

My aunt just called. I haven't heard from in ages until recently... Yeah she was tipsy! Wishing me a happy new year.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

I also think Marlena has put up with a lot of [!@#$%^&*] for John.  Not the devil, but like a lot of other things.  I honestly don't think it's a bad idea at all in theory, but I consider John/Marlena a tentpole on Days and I guess I don't need other options explored? 

Same. To me Jarlena is a really solid couple and they're pretty much what I think of when I think of DAYS. I don't see the show ever splitting them up at this point (unless an actor leaves obviously), nor do I want them to. 

22 minutes ago, Khan said:

Exactly.  That's what I meant.

Gotcha.  It could have been a little different especially with their odd sex locations lol.  They were just going for it.  But I do think it would have pushed Marlena into a weird corner with that.  She was the main heroine and you couldn't push it too far in 1993.  You literally couldn't just say John got her off better at that time.  It had to be solely about love and romance 

Edited January 1, 20223 yr by carolineg

12 hours ago, Vee said:

And in fairness, with Viki and Clint it was not the same. Not just because Clint Ritchie was long dead at that point and Brian Kerwin had been quite popular as Charlie (I was pretty sore about Viki and Charlie's breakup, as that was probably both Ron's best couple and best story at OLTL), but because Jerry verDorn's Clint was a markedly different iteration, having inherited the mantle of his father he had defied throughout his life. I felt it made thematic sense for the character and was very well played by JVD who sold it to the hilt while keeping Clint's humanity, but it was a divisive change in the character and the Viki and Clint who reunited at the end of the network run were very different characters than they'd been when together. I felt the chemistry and combustion, the searing intelligence between Slezak and verDorn worked, but not everyone agreed. It's not quite the same thing as the supercouple legacy of Deidre and Wayne Northrop, the original performers at DAYS.

I think you can tease Roman and Marlena and still play out those beats, romantic and otherwise, strongly with the original actors, but for me it would end in Jarlena because I think that is where both the heat and investment has been for so many years. People mock Deidre and Drake and at times justifiably, but they headlined those product ads (I can't remember what product!) a few years ago for a reason; they are iconic, and I just could never buy Marlena going back to Roman for good at this point unless John were dead.

ETA: I do agree Kristen has never gotten over John. What is really interesting was the suggestion that some part of John was still fascinated by her, hence taking her to bed a few years back during Eileen's second contract run. I never thought they'd go there with his character.

In the flurry of activity last night I didn't read this properly.  Did John actually sleep with Kristen?  I thought they were just making out in bed so Brady would catch them.  Admittedly, I didn't tune in to all that story back in the day. 

John/Kristen are always an odd coupling to me.  I can buy they are still attracted to one another on one hand, but on the other John hasn't really shown much interest in her since 1995 and most of his fantasies were about Marlena anyway.  I wish the show was a little more clear on the intentions.  ED's Kristen seems still into John, but SH's Kristen seems into Brady.  They play that aspect of the character very differently.

13 hours ago, carolineg said:

I think it would be one thing if it was Marlena's only viable option like Viki in theory, but Marlena has 2 and it's just not worth re-doing it all for something I don't think most viewers would like.

It wasn't even that - they let Kerwin go near the end of the show in the summer of 2011 to do Viki and Clint, IIRC. It happened as an outgrowth of the Echo affair storyline. I had seen it coming years before though, after Ron made a point to drop an incongruous Viki/Clint easter egg into Viki and Charlie's pre-wedding celebration in 2009, when they found an old wedding gift from Asa for Viki dating back to her first marriage to Clint, saying 'you are a Buchanan and always will be.' Clint was at that point enmeshed as the inevitable loser in the emerging Bo/Nora reunion storyline while engaged/married to Nora himself, and was not being teased with Viki again in any way; that took another two years. Ron plans and waits, these days generally way too long lol. But back then I already knew, even though he'd created Viki and Charlie, done a wonderful job and was clearly committed to them on some level, that he had the nostalgia bug and probably intended to get her back to Clint sometime, somehow. And eventually he did. But anyway, that's wildly OT. HNY!

On 1/1/2022 at 12:06 PM, carolineg said:

In the flurry of activity last night I didn't read this properly.  Did John actually sleep with Kristen?  I thought they were just making out in bed so Brady would catch them.  Admittedly, I didn't tune in to all that story back in the day. 

John/Kristen are always an odd coupling to me.  I can buy they are still attracted to one another on one hand, but on the other John hasn't really shown much interest in her since 1995 and most of his fantasies were about Marlena anyway.  I wish the show was a little more clear on the intentions.  ED's Kristen seems still into John, but SH's Kristen seems into Brady.  They play that aspect of the character very differently.

One of the reasons I prefer Stacy.

Eileen's a legend. You won't find anyone who loved her more than me but I feel the same as you.

Even when John and Kristen were together all he cared about was Marlena. That was the driver of her insecurities.

Reject adoptee finds love, fulfills her dream of a family of her own only to find his heart was never hers. Add the miscarriage, Stefano's influence and she snapped.

Edited April 3, 20232 yr by KLN

In all fairness, the SHOW is using SH when the storyline is about Brady or the current stories.
ED's cameos are far and few between so when they use her it is for nostalgia purposes; in scenes that involve John and Marlena.
I am not sure it is so much an acting choice than just the way the show is using them at the same time for different purposes.
ED had plenty of chemistry with Brady when it first played out; that's why the story worked when it really shouldn't have.

If the writing was there to support an impossible recast with a talented actress, I would give it more of a chance. I gave it a chance, the writing isn't there, so it didn't work. I don't see any new Kristen that works; I see a idea that has never been effectively executed, never will be with the current poor writing, and probably can't at this point. And when they're already shivving her by regularly bringing Eileen back, I don't see a point in continuing.

On 1/1/2022 at 1:06 PM, FrenchBug82 said:

In all fairness, the SHOW is using SH when the storyline is about Brady or the current stories.
ED's cameos are far and few between so when they use her it is for nostalgia purposes; in scenes that involve John and Marlena.
I am not sure it is so much an acting choice than just the way the show is using them at the same time for different purposes.
ED had plenty of chemistry with Brady when it first played out; that's why the story worked when it really shouldn't have.

Fair points.

Edited April 3, 20232 yr by KLN

23 minutes ago, KLN said:

She's a perfect tragic anti-heroine

You described Kristen as "a perfect tragic anti-heroine".
WHAT? Kristen should NEVER be written that way!
Kristen is a villain!

34 minutes ago, Vee said:

It wasn't even that - they let Kerwin go near the end of the show in the summer of 2011 to do Viki and Clint, IIRC. It happened as an outgrowth of the Echo affair storyline. I had seen it coming years before though, after Ron made a point to drop an incongruous Viki/Clint easter egg into Viki and Charlie's pre-wedding celebration in 2009, when they found an old wedding gift from Asa for Viki dating back to her first marriage to Clint, saying 'you are a Buchanan and always will be.' Clint was at that point enmeshed as the inevitable loser in the emerging Bo/Nora reunion storyline while engaged/married to Nora himself, and was not being teased with Viki again in any way; that took another two years. Ron plans and waits, these days generally way too long lol. But back then I already knew, even though he'd created Viki and Charlie, done a wonderful job and was clearly committed to them on some level, that he had the nostalgia bug and probably intended to get her back to Clint sometime, somehow. And eventually he did. But anyway, that's wildly OT. HNY!

Interesting.  I don't feel like I can speak about OLTL intelligently (or non-intelligently as I do sometimes) because I was more of a casual viewer.  Clint/Viki reuniting made sense to me in a way Roman/Marlena wouldn't.  To me, I would consider this Viki's main pairing even if she had sucess with other pairings.  With Marlena, you have 30 plus years of John/Marlena build up and her choosing John over Roman again and again.   It would be odd for her to pivot away from that at this stage in the game.  Do I think there is unresolved issues with her and Roman?  Yeah, I do.  I think the show dropped the ball a lot with them.  I feel like there could have been numerous issues with Roman feeling a closeness with Belle because she was his daughter first or a lingering bitterness over John/Marlena and there really isn't.   If Wayne had returned in 1997 I think this would be a whole different ballgame, but Roman has been sidelined over the years for John and because of a crap recast.  Again, Roman brings nothing to the table that John doesn't.  He may be Carrie/Sami/Eric's bio dad, but John easily can fill that void as well because Drake has a longer history with those actors (outside GV as Eric-and I think that's the least complicated relationship out of all the kids for John).  In this case, it's just one supercouple begat another more popular supercouple, but if Wayne came back I probably would be willing to give it a try.  Anyway, Happy New Year as well!

31 minutes ago, KLN said:

One of the reasons I prefer Stacy.

Eileen's a legend. You won't find anyone who loved her more than me but I feel the same as you.

Even when John and Kristen were together all he cared about was Marlena. That was the driver of her insecurities.

Reject adoptee finds love, fulfills her dream of a family of her own, only to find his heart was never there. Add the miscarriage, Stefano's influence and she snapped.

John/Kristen were weird in 2012 too and I never understood why the writers went there. Same with John/Hope. There were better ways to tell the same story. John and Kristen were hot for each other for about 5 minutes back in '93 but that's it. Drake and Eileen have chemistry but... nah. Marlena and Kristen were always the story.

I've said it before but Kristen has evolved for me. She's more than just J&M's foil at this point. She's done horrific things but she's her own character with her own perspective, nutty as it is. She's a perfect tragic anti-heroine. Personality disordered out the ass. You can get MILES of story out of her, IMO.

Brady/Kristen mirror each other and Stacy/Eric have chemistry. There's nothing there with John and Kristen, minus anger and bitterness.

I don't dislike Eileen. I love what she brings. But Stacy's Kristen fits the show better and I prefer her now. She's earned her spot.

Yeah, I guess that's what I don't understand with the 2 Kristens.  Kristen has moved far past John, but everytime ED comes back we are made to think it's unresolved and there is an attraction, but there really isn't.  John closed the door on Kristen years ago and the stuff from 2012 was very strange because John just wouldn't do that to Marlena, but whatever.  I was happy they brought Kristen back.

I did think Kristen/Brady worked in a dirty, tawdry way.  ED/EM have chemistry for days, but it's not a love story or long term pairing.  But I might not ever be able to get over ED's Kristen telling Brady she was his new momma back in the day.  

I just wish the show would chose a lane with Kristen or even just a single actress.  

4 minutes ago, janea4old said:

You described Kristen as "a perfect tragic anti-heroine".
WHAT? Kristen should NEVER be written that way!
Kristen is a villain!

Kristen is a villian, but she does have tragic anti-heroine qualities.  She was a good person.  John/Marlena being a**holes kind of turned her crazy.  They were the ones drooling all over each other while lying about their feelings.  Kristen was a hot mess, but those two did sort of bring it on themselves.

Edited January 1, 20223 yr by carolineg

On 1/1/2022 at 1:12 PM, janea4old said:

You described Kristen as "a perfect tragic anti-heroine".
WHAT? Kristen should NEVER be written that way!
Kristen is a villain!

.

On 1/1/2022 at 1:15 PM, carolineg said:

I just wish the show would chose a lane with Kristen or even just a single actress.  

Kristen is a villian, but she does have tragic anti-heroine qualities.  She was a good person.  John/Marlena being a**holes kind of turned her crazy.  They were the ones drooling all over each other while lying about their feelings.  Kristen was a hot mess, but those two did sort of bring it on themselves.

Kristen is layered and complex if they let her be. Like any other character.

I think some people are stuck in old bias... nostalgia, whatever.

Edited April 3, 20232 yr by KLN