Days of Our Lives: December 2021 Discussion Thread

[victoria foxton]

Shane and Marcus started lusting for a recently widowed Kayla at the same time.

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[KLN]

That's why I loved @Khan's idea for a Kate/Roman/Laura triangle.

Regular guy Roman, ice queen Kate and uptight Marlena-adjacent Laura.

Josh Taylor needs to go. Gift him a few seasons of golf and throw an extra $100 in the Christmas card.

They need Northrup back so he can get the change Roman was shorted.

Edited January 2, 2022 by KLN

[carolineg]

At least it seemed like Marcus always had a crush on Kayla.  Shane's Kayla lust came out of nowhere.  For some reason I thought Marcus was first though. 

Works for me.  For some reason I have a hard time picturing WN with JLB's Laura.  I don't know why, but I do.  

I mean, JT has to have enough money to retire now.  He's been "playing" Roman for 25 years now.  God, that was hurtful to type.

[KLN]

Me too.

I love JLB but I'd recast. There's a plethora of actresses in her age range who could pull off the rigidity of Laura with believable romantic appeal opposite Northrup.

Edited January 2, 2022 by KLN

[carolineg]

It's weird because I could easily see him with LK's Kate in my mind.  But LK has chemistry with everyone.  I wouldn't be opposed to a Laura recast as long as they bring her back alive lol.  I like Anna and Tony just fine, but I could see Anna and Roman being tried again too.  I can't remember if they had chemistry in the past.  Anna's origin story was pretty bizarre though.

[Khan]

For obvious reasons. 

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No, there isn't, lol.  But, that might be due, at least in part, to my lack of understanding over how Kristen came to be in the first place.

Did DAYS create Kristen first, and THEN they hired Eileen Davidson?  Did ED even audition for the role?  Or, did DAYS hire ED, because she'd been popular for years on Y&R, and THEN created a character for her?  If it was the latter -- and I've often suspected that it was -- then it wouldn't have been the first time DAYS had hired a popular star from another soap without having a real character for her to play (hi, Genie!).  However, as Genie's DAYS stint taught us, it takes more than sheer "star power" to make a new character "pop."

ETA: Yes, ED's Kristen "popped," but, IMO, she popped for all the wrong reasons: Susan, Penelope, Sister Mary Moira, Thomas and all the other lookalikes that I'm forgetting.

Sorry, it's late, and I probably should be in bed.

Not necessarily.  Roman could have easily flipped out over losing first his identity, then his wife, to John.  It's a bit SEARCH FOR TOMORROW-ish, but at least Wayne could have gotten some good scenes out of it.

As I keep saying, all I wanted from JER and from DAYS was a fair fight.  Let Marlena be caught emotionally between John and Roman, and then let her tell you, as the writers, where her heart truly belongs.  Don't go in with preconceived ideas of who is endgame and who isn't.  Just let the characters tell you where they want to go.  Because this is a very, very, VERY peculiar situation.  Even for a soap opera.  Even for DAYS.

If, as the story unfolds, you see that too much time has passed, and that Roman and Marlena are attempting to recapture a past that cannot BE recaptured (which makes sense, given everything that had happened), then, fine, let Doc go back to John.  But, do it in a way that respects Roman, and respects the audience who still loves him.  Make it a priority to maintain the essence of Roman Brady, as played by Wayne Northrop, even as time and circumstances have changed him (as they should). 

Whatever you do, DON'T be lazy and make Roman the de-facto heavy in the triangle (the dull and unreasonable husband who can't or won't accept that his marriage is over) just because you think John's peen is magic.  Let Roman and Marlena be adults about this: they can see that they're growing apart, so they mutually decide to separate, before John and Marlena can have airplane sex.  Marlena reunites with John, and either Roman leaves town, or he stays and "works on himself" (attends therapy, addresses issues stemming from his years of imprisonment, etc.).

...OR...

If that's simply too damn hard for you, then, yes, just accept that the triangle is ridiculous on its' nose; let Doc chase after and coo over John's junk; and then, once you've acknowledged that years of torture have caused him to break completely from reality, have Roman go full-on Sam Reynolds and kidnap Jo Marlena before meeting his grisly demise in the woods. 

Simplistic and melodramatic?  Yes.  But, so was much of JER's writing for the three.

Same.  Even then, I knew that the supercouple/action-adventure formula of the '80's was played out and that DAYS needed to change direction.  However, I never expected them to change into THAT, lol.  If anything, I felt DAYS should have returned to basics, like GH did when Claire Labine became HW.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Khan

[Khan]

 

 

 

One name: Donna Mills.

[carolineg]

I believe Eileen was hired before Kristen was created.  I believe she was snatched up directly from Santa Barbara when it was cancelled.

No your paragraph made sense it's just a lot to comprehend when you break it down like that lol

Here's the thing with John/Marlena/Roman.  They seemingly dropped it when John/Isabella got together and picked it back up when Isabella died.   Roman/Marlena were backburnered for most of 1992 until the Pit stuff started.  We really didn't get to see them one way or another.  Roman was undercover for a lot of this time.  Even if Marlena was struggling with her feelings we didn't really see it until John/Marlena were back in love.  Apparently, the affair was always the plan with or without Isabella it just got delayed when SG didn't re-sign.  I honestly think that effected the story telling a lot and back burned Marlena/Roman until it was less tacky for John to go after Marlena post-Izzy B's death.  Did Roman get a bad edit on this?  Yes, but he also was the one pushing Marlena to just go back to the way things were.  I get the feeling Days/Corday/the writers never really wanted Wayne back but it was part of Deidre's demands in her return and they were stuck with him.  I didn't really want to see Roman or John be the bad guy.  I think the affair just moved a little fast.  The ingredients were all there just a lot of Roman's point of view was missing or just crappy.  I honestly don't think OGRoman changed that much.  He was always kinda disrespectful/sexist to Marlena and her job.  RoJohn and Marlena just changed and Marlena liked the new version better.  Regardless of whether or not Marlena was hotter for John's peen (obviously she was), John did kind of treat her better.  I don't think the audience ever stop rooting for Roman.  I still loved him.  I just think the audience liked John/Marlena better as a couple.  It happens.  Roman is still 100% the wronged party in this. The show did Wayne, Roman, and Ro/Mar wrong for sure, but I still don't think it was a bad choice to go with John/Marlena in the end.  But YMMV on this.

[Khan]

Ah.  Kind of like how GH snatched Denise Alexander away from DAYS before they really knew what to do with her.  Of course, GH didn't resort to turning Lesley into a villainess the way DAYS did with Kristen.  They just gave her a long-lost daughter. 

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Especially when Drake wasn't exactly unpopular as Roman.  As much as I love Deidre Hall, I really feel like she forced TPTB into an impossible situation with the "Tale of Two Romans" crap.  Honestly, I would have been happier just to keep Drake as Roman.

[KLN]

Pretty sure it was the part in bold.

She was an implant from another soap with eyes to make her a female romantic lead that never materialized.

Then JER decided in his black/white worldview that if she wasn't f_ckable she'd be the fall guy and that gave her new purpose.

Honestly it worked.

Remember what the devil said to Kristen when Marlena was possessed the first time? JER knew what he was doing.

The Banks siblings were never the draw for me.

Edited April 3, 2023 by KLN

[Vee]

caroline and I have been over some of this before and I'm spent as far as my old DAYS investment goes, so all I'll say is it's nice to see attitudes change on JER. Some of us were talking about Reilly's weird evangelical beliefs and psychosexual issues damn near 20 years ago here, and that was back when folks who were far too loyal to the show they grew up watching still felt he had some kind of brilliant plan for the tacky-ass Salem Stalker. It was always bad. Anyway: The man was not well, carry on.

[KLN]

It's a two way street.

JER had issues but I liked his tonality and craftsmanship.

Everyone views characters and stories through the lens of their own biases and experiences.

Did I not just see a JER appreciation thread that got traction here? Everyone views things differently with time.

I was roughly 10 when I started watching Days. I have my own experience but it doesn't mean anyone else's experience with the show is wrong.

Salem Stalker ('04/'05) was wrong in my face. I couldn't fathom Reilly throwing stuff on the page with no plan.

Edited April 3, 2023 by KLN

[te.]

I think the plan for The Salem Stalker storyline was very simple - first, do a shocking storyline to drive the ratings. Two, get rid of cast members/characters he felt he had no use for and free up characters that had been stuck in couples for decades. I think it's fairly obvious he did not originally plan for the Melaswen stuff, so I'd be curious as to how he was going to make Marlena innocent (no way he was going to write off his precious Marlena).

[te.]

I'd assume they knew Crystal Chappell was leaving at the time they were hiring Eileen, so they were probably hoping she would take off as a young female romantic lead since Carly had actually managed to become popular despite being an obvious Hope replacement. Of course, she really didn't become the popular female romantic lead they were hoping for which probably allowed JER to make her batshit crazy instead.

[carolineg]

The affair did drive story for years and years, but at the end of the day, Drake should have stayed Roman.  Or at least it should have been changed back when Wayne left before Shawn/Belle hooked up.  I know I have said my piece about the Tale of 2 romans being one of the worst stories ever.  So stupid.  I always wonder why Dee was so insistent on bringing Wayne back.  Did she have some sort of issue working with Drake back then?  Because, when you think about it, her returning really did screw Drake/RoJohn over.  Obviously not in the long run, but initially.

 

The Devil also said she would turn evil under her father's influence.

Anyhow, I have fond memories of JER, but as an adult a lot of his stuff was simplistic and juvenile.  I also think it's not the same watching edit clips or everything at once.  It's not as silly when it's only 1 hour a day.  The same scenes/dialogue get repeated over and over when you sit and watch multiple episodes or a story arc.  I think it changes the experience because a lot of clips on you tube are specifically edited for a story and that's really not how it was meant to be viewed.

I always thought Lisa Rinna filled CC's role.  With ED, she was allegedly brought over to solely be John's love interest. Someone (not JER of course) at the network thought Deidre was or looked too old to be Drake's love interest.