Days of Our Lives: January 2022 Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Ron is so tacky!

[Khan]

Amen.

Say what you will about Martha Williamson and her syrupy show, "Touched by an Angel," but whenever they DID talk about the devil -- and like Bill Cosby's angel character said, in one episode, "We don't like to talk about him much, because he isn't worth talking about" -- the show treated the battles between good and evil very, very seriously.  They strove to entertain, yes, but they were also very careful not to glorify the devil or make him look like just another fairy-tale villain. 

This isn't "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," and the devil is not just another Big Bad.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Khan

[Jeff]

I knew Marlena's exorcism was too neat and wrapped in a bow, and this wasn't over. As I was watching Friday was waiting for the New Year's Eve cliffhanger with the possibility the Devil might jump into someone else. Not sure Johnny would have been my first choice, but guess there's a reason, we'll see. If this must drag on, I do like the idea of a male possessed this time IDK why maybe something different, lol.

Edited January 1, 2022 by clubkidjeff

[FrenchBug82]

Ron C. thinks he is emulating Reilly's DAYS but he is closer to later Reilly's PASSIONS.

[te.]

I hope we go into February sweeps with Marlena being pregnant by her grandchildren's Satan babies, violently shooting them out in the middle of the Horton Square where the Satan Babies attack and eat various useless characters faces. In the aftermath, Kristen finally becomes the talk of the town when she opens Face-R-Us and sells masks to the Salemites who got their face eaten, while Marlena is cast out of town wearing a boulder around her neck.

 

Go JER, or go home Ron.

[Mona Kane Croft]

When Vivian returned almost a decade ago, and plotted to bury Maggie alive, she had a man-servant that she referred to using an unusual title. Does anyone remember what she called him?  I'm not asking his name, but by what title did Vivian refer to him??   It was some sort of antiquated phrase.    

[carolineg]

@KLNI am going to move over to the current month.  Sami/AS does remind me of Marci Walker.  There is nothing graceful about her, but she has such an angelic face you never thought she was capable of such evil.  I have never thought about it, but there is nothing about AS or Sami that is delicate or subtle.

The trifecta of newly returned Eric, Sami, and Roman right now make me want to punch them all repeatedly.  Thank goodness JA was hot because Eric is a whiny little baby man.  Roman wanting Marlena back is fine, but I just don't get why the kids and his family were pushing so hard for a reunion when they knew John/Marlena loved each other.  That seems like they are setting Roman up for heartbreak again.  And man, do DH and JT have anti-chemistry.  Marlena doesn't even pretend not to cringe when Roman touches her lol.  I know JT is bff with Corday and Wayne was on PC, but there wasn't any other available actor in town to take over Roman?  One that Deidre didn't actively looked disgusted by or didn't play a memorable character previously on Days for a decade?

I always thought Hope was more involved in this story and better friends with Marlena and John, but she doesn't really pop up until the jungle stuff.  And Kristen is doing nothing.  She is just standing around bothering John and waiting for Roman/Marlena to reunite.  What a waste!

Anyway, I will probably stop re watching soon because the Jungle story is the line in the sand for me when the show starts going horribly downhill.  

[KLN]

No clue but I hated him, her hair and everything about that return.

What a waste of Louise.

[KLN]

It tanked so fast. The jungle story was awful, you could tell they were at a pivot point and just trying to figure out how to get John's penis into Hope.

I could tell right away new winds were blowing even though I didn't know at the time JER was leaving.

I didn't even know I was a JER 'fan,' f__ked up as he was, 'til I experienced the scrambled ass "what do we do now?" identity crisis that was Days of Our Lives from 1998 - 2004.

JER coming back was a nail I didn't see at the time 'cause he'd taken up permanent residence in cuckooland, but I DID appreciate (some of) the familiar themes because it was at least a direction.

There was cruelty in his writing round 2. More than before. I think of Mimi barren as punishment for abortion. Maggie blugdeoned with a liquor bottle.

The characters in general were more cynical, hateful and reflective of a nastier world people like Reilly helped create without knowing it. 

After that came Dollar General Days, Crystal Chappell's drunk ass, Melanie Jonas and a worse identity crisis than before. I was out.

Then they nabbed ED and I was back for a while, half-heartedly, but honestly I was halfway watching before she left.

There was something about the cracklike addiction of Reilly (with a budget) and his ability to tap into the self-serving, "it's me-or-you" nature of (some) humans even when they tie a bow on it and say "Jesus said." His black/white worldview lent itself to the art, albeit in an ultimately unhealthy way. 

Jesus said love. JER never got that. He wrote romance like a muhfukka but he literally never got love. You could tell in his writing. Tortured man. I hope he's at peace now.

Marlena with JT's Roman.

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What a disaster. They need Wayne back.

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by KLN

[KLN]

Accurate.

Right sensibilities, huge ego and lack of taste, similar to Reilly.

Also like Reilly he needs a co-HW.

Edited January 3, 2022 by KLN

[carolineg]

The Jungle story was so silly.  I didn't see John/Hope coming and I still was naive so I didn't even get that anvil.  I just thought it was strange lol.  Nothing would ever come of it!  Someone at some point said JER might have always been thinking about John/Hope because he was the one that found her as Maison Blanche.  It's an interesting thought. John was a strange choice to find Gina/Hope, but I thought the John/Hope/Gina stuff was more SSM and Langan.   But I know JER really loved his Bo/Billie. 

I assume the show knew ED was leaving at this point, so she never really got a story post-reveal.  She was in scenes doing things, but Kristen was just treading water as a character.

Honestly, I was convinced for years JT and DH disliked one another in real life because of how they interacted, but there is 0 evidence of that.  Maybe DH was just really bummed for her buddy Wayne, but I swear Marlena has more chemistry with a potted plant than this Roman.   JT really doesn't bother me much anymore in general, but to this day I can't believe him and Marlena were even friends let alone lovers/spouses.   

I really started falling out during the Saved by the Belle years because I hate all iterations of SORASed Belle.  I swear I was convinced Sami had succeeded with her black market baby scheme and this lame KS version of Belle was fake and a cooler real Belle would appear someday because John/Marlena's only child wouldn't be that obnoxious.  Obviously, that didn't happen.

 I watched some of the SSK stuff and JER's tone was definitely darker and more violent and cruel, but I do think the story started out really well.  I was interested in at least.  Outside of that mess, I thought there were some interesting beats like John's drug addiction and John/Kate as a couple.  I even thought Sami/Stan was at least creative.

I did watch the Alex North stuff because I liked Wayne so much, but that was a mess.  You gotta love the show for having the balls to use real Roman/Marlena flashbacks for a completely different story. I drifted away after because John was in a coma for 17 months then died and the Sami show was never my thing.  I will say the John death and Marlena hell bent on revenge was some of Deidre's best work.

I hate(d) CC and Carly and was bitter the DH's got fired so I missed most of that era.  Although I know I have gone on record here saying I liked Melanie and Molly Burnett lol.  I thought she was a likable actress.  I say that without any irony lol.

I thought most of Eileen's return was fantastic.  My only gripe was how easily she broke up John/Marlena after everything they had been through.  Overall, I thought it was the exact shot in the arm the show needed.  Bringing Brady in was genius.

The thing about Ron is that he starts of well.  He was excellent on GH in the beginning then fizzled out spectacularly with the Kate DID stuff.  I do appreciate Ron's use of veterans and I think he did great with the shoot the bride Marlena/John wedding arc he just needs someone to reign him in or a cowriter.  

[KLN]

John and Hope were pushed hard. Drake and Kristian had weird chemistry, sure, but not in a million years. Not after the hell John just went through for Marlena. Even brainwashed it was stupid and tawdry.

Those teens ATE the show when Langan took over. Kirsten's Belle was a rude alarm that only went off to songs from the Legally Blonde soundtrack.

Molly Burnett was good for what she was but I resented pretty much everything about Days from that time period. Starting with Daniel and Melanie.

Agreed about 2012. J&M acting brand new with each other and John being tempted by Kristen never rang true to me.

I heard about Shoot the Bride as they were writing it. I wasn't watching but I knew they wanted Eileen. The time jump was meant for that but it got pushed back. When they finally recast Kristen I was like, "well... that was fun, later."

It could've been pinnacle Kristen/Marlena but ED was a no. Total "won the lottery/died the next day" moment.

Now after catching up with less attachment and giving her a chance I actually prefer Stacy.

Edited January 3, 2022 by KLN

[John]

am gonna guess un like Marlena this time, Johnny has no clue that he has been Possessed. #Days #DOOL #JoDevil

[David_Vickers]

HELL NO to any of this happening.  Hoping this was just a joke LOL.

[carolineg]

Yeah, obviously, they were pushing John/Hope and have on and off until like last year lol.  That was just the first story they really interacted in that had that weird vibe.   So I honestly thought it was a strange one off thing until Jope became a huge thing.   DH and KA had some chemistry, but it was an odd time to go there.  After all the Bo and Marlena romance struggles. It would have been better if Bo and Marlena joined them in the jungle, but we got jungle madness from it and we got to see Stefano's shrine to Marlena lol.

And it's not like anyone liked John/Hope.  I have seen maybe a handful of people in 20 years say they enjoyed John/Hope lol.  Such an odd hill to die on for multiple regimes.  The show just kept going back to it and back to it for no reason.

The John/Kristen story was a lot in 2012.  Especially after Marlena sticking by John through RoboJohn, paralysis, and him going to jail.  Not to mention him sticking by her through amnesia, Romansbaby, her actually being a serial killer but not, etc.  It took half a year to break down something that was built up for a quarter century by someone John had legitimately not mentioned since 1997.  And John/Marlena weren't together for a long time after.  Neither was on much, but they didn't reunite for years.  Oh well, it's a soap, things happen, but almost too much time had passed since Kristen was on for it to make sense.  The idea was there and I overall liked it, but John/Marlena never would have broken up over that.

With the teen invasion, I actually liked most of the teens except Shawn/Belle or maybe Shawn/Belle as a couple more than anything.  Those two were pushed so hard and I guess they were cute, but the show really boxed those two in as the next great lovestory and they were so virtuous and chaste.   Even Carrie/Austin and Sami/Lucas had sex lol.  Waiting til marriage?  Ugh.   Belle you were conceived on a conference table for christ's sake-lighten up.  It's sad when both your sets of parents are hotter and sexier than you.

Shoot the Bride was good.  I enjoyed almost all of it.  Bringing Hattie back was obnoxious and having Xander being able to live a mostly normal life in Salem after shooting Marlena is a choice, but it was a good use of most of the cast.

 

On to today's show.  Out of all the things MarDevil did, Ron talks about Marlena and Kayla kissing at length.  WTF?  That's not even important at all.  Can Marlena apologize to her family members first?

Drake was really a one man show in the background with his facial expressions and gestures.   I usually don't mind it, but I wish someone would have told him to tone it down today.

What's this weird thing they have been doing on Days with people in bed or a state of undress just entertaining guests?  Marlena was in a robe all episode, Ciara/Ben didn't leave their bed while talking to Jake, and Johnny was shirtless in bed with his wife just having an extended conversation with his own twin and her boyfriend in the last few days.  I am not even that formal, but you would think Marlena would have at least thrown a sweatsuit on or Johnny a shirt lol.

So far I am liking Johnny as the Devil.  Carson Boatman is a real find.  

And I really like Sami/Lucas, but the hell is going on?  Going away together?  Sami has been pushing Lucas away for months and now they are going to leave town together?  Whatever.  If Ali can't get a decent shooting schedule we don't need her, but it's not fair to Lucas or BD.