Beyond Salem Chapter 2 Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

 

I laughed when Marlena was like ok this should work and stab.

She's dangerous in these series. She can Karate chop you and stab you.

I know I'm going to regret it but I want this.......

 

[AbcNbc247]

Hey, we all want this 

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It should be alright if they can get both Chris and Colton under contract.

Edited July 16, 2022 by AbcNbc247

[carolineg]

Marlena's Dr. Skillz are very intense.  Why not stab Steve with her magical potion?  It's not John. She's at no risk at losing that bondage loving with that.  Although how she got the brainwash antidote after almost being fired is beyond me, but she is a woman who was in Salem and Hong Kong at the same time so I don't doubt her powers

[Soapsuds]

I thought Marlena gone crazy.  

BS2 was ridiculous! A lot of holes in scenes that the viewers had to figure out what was going on because the show didn't. The writing was very sloppy.

I noticed that the episodes on BS2 were much shorter than BS1. Why was that? 

Edited July 16, 2022 by Soapsuds

[carolineg]

I just can't get over how unaffected Deidre Hall was while playing this.  She looked like she could care less about everything.  "Hey, John I love you!  Oh, you slightly pushed me into Paul?  Game over. Hope it works out John!"

The whole show was messy, but I didn't actively hate it.

[DynamiteKiddo]

So I hate to hate on this, because I love the concept of the Peacock specials and this was a lovely idea, but this was disappointing to me on multiple levels.

First, they did not invest in this like BS1.  I understand they have no $$, but even the stock establishment footage was not assembled with same effect that it was in BS1 (or even, quite frankly, Chad & Abby in Paris or The Last Blast Reunion).  Like, this wasn’t any more of an ambitious adventure than The Alamanian Peacock, but that was presented so much more believably.  They did not sell this as a splashy action adventure—like at all.  The movement from locale to locale was so insane and I don’t think one, not one, set worked.  Conversely, I did not feel the need to nitpick any of this in BS1 because it was done so earnestly.  Production felt like a major afterthought here.  I mean I thought the two best looking scenes were the editing of Harris MorganMichaels speeding away with John and Steve in the van and Thomas Banks’ sniper situation in the hotel above that Canadian park.  That is not good lol.

And the biggest issue was defaulting to the older super couple cast.  While I’m not a B&H fan, I initially thought them headling this was super solid and I totally understood including S&K, given how close they are.  But this almost entirely subverted zero expectations, which I think is the beauty of this platform—you can do stuff outside the box and even if BS1 didn’t push boundaries, it at least played with them.  Nothing about this was “different” except for Paul & Andrew (they should have been way more front and center) and that actually sexy sex scene with Li & Gabi.  One of the big problems with “Days” has been its inability to move on and reinvent itself and this cheeseball stuff with B&H, S&K, and J&M was SO indicative of that.  And they didn’t even include Hope in Hong Kong where all the stories converged!  WTF?!?

I know some people thought ED was unneeded in this, but she is smart casting because of her broad visibility between Y&R, Real Housewives, and, of course, her iconic “Days” roles.  This is shady to SH, but anytime they can get ED, they should.  Like having LR’s Billie headline the first chapter was absolutely the right move.  Chapter 1 felt so fresh and this felt the opposite.  And even though I really, really don’t care for him, from a marketing perspective, Steve Burton was probably a smart move.  I think it’s just really misadvised to force everyone to work with him after GH.

Anyway, on a positive note, I thought Megan worked shockingly well, Paul & Andrew were everything, Wendy showed a lot of potential, and after not understanding including Gabi & Li… I totally got it, even if RH continues to prove he is so awkward.  And Hope’s reunion with Bo and Zach was obviously lovely, as was LD, even though most of the Heaven stuff was cringe af.  And I loved the song for the opening!  Also, this reminded me how much I actually like Lucas Adams as Tripp and, honestly, they didn’t need to recast Joey considering this is who we got… jmo!

[Soapsuds]

Great post! I totally agree!! 

For some reason they haven't gotten the recast of Joey right. 

[carolineg]

The nuJoey is kind of goofy looking.  I don't really get the point of him when Tripp fills the same role and Lucas Adams is cuter and better.

[Soapsuds]

Tripp could have easily been a Joey recast. 

[Soapsuds]

Now I can't get the song out of my mind. I guess it could be Paul and Andrew song since the danced to it.

 

Some Andrew/Colton Little pics

 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Well, I was in the hospital all day yesterday so I didn't get to begin to catch up till 10 this morning. Now I've made it through E5 of Beyond Salem & I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. It definitely picked up with E2. And, all of the Megan predictors were right about her intention. I would love to know what they plan to do with Hope & with Bo. I still had more Steve Burton than I would've liked. And, I really don't see Heaven as cheesy. I think the pace in the middle being too hectic & there being too much Harris are the only critique I have to make, which is like some kind of wonderful! The prisms could have looked better. I never got a clear listen to the doctor name attached to the prisms. I don't know why Bo was building a boat in a bottle. I am glad I decided to watch this. At one point I was planning to skip it.

Yes he did! Just as I thought might be the case. I mean this is the guy who floated a fake decapitation spoiler just so we'd be grateful he did not really do it. This guy is not acquainted with limits, boundaries, etc.

[AbcNbc247]

I love that song. It’s stuck in my head too

80s duets are the best!

And, agreed that Colton Little is very handsome 

[janea4old]

The doctor with the prisms at the cryogenic chamber did not have a name.  He was not credited in the closing credits.
@JAS0N47's BeyondSalem2 cast chart lists him as U/5 Doctor, actor Peter Arpesella.

Per Jason47's weekly guest cast list, Will Utay hasn't appeared as Dr. Wilhelm Rolf onscreen since January 2021.

The latest SOD says that Will Utay has taken leave, and the part of Rolf has been recast for the main show. Richard Wharton begins playing Rolf beginning with airdate July 22.

Maybe a recast Rolf for BeyondSalem2 would have been too confusing? so they simply used a "doctor with no name" for BeyondSalem2.

[Contessa Donatella]

But, at the DiMera company presentation, Li said Dr. So-and-so's Prisms. It sounded like Torvatt. Why did they have him say a name?!  At any rate I am satisfied. Thnx for posting. You give good "catch up".

I saw in a promo or picture the new stand-in for Rolf. He looked adequate.

 

[janea4old]

Ron never put that out there.  It was leaked on the forum here at SON back in late January 2022 that Abigail dies somewhat savagely but the manner of death was not specified.  As months went by and that got spread around the internet, random people started speculating about how she would die.  At one point there was a decapitation rumor that came from a person on social media who claims to have spoilers stating it as fact.  At one point Ron saw a tweet about the decapitation and replied to the comment noncommittally and jokingly but he never said it would actually happen.  I took Ron's tweet as being bemused and not as confirmation.