Days: December 2022 Discussion Thread

[janea4old]

Eric was raised by John (when John was believed to be Roman).  And and a little bit by Marlena's parents in Colorado). But mostly by RoJohn(Drake).  There were all those periods when either WayneNorthrupRoman or Marlena were presumed dead.

The same is true for Sami, except that she left Colorado early and came to Salem as a teen, while Eric remained in Colorado until adulthood.

Eric should be closest to John, but they don't write him that way.
Sami should *also* be closest to John but she got fixated on the John/Marlena affair she witnessed when she was a teen.

I agree that the show has rarely (if ever) written any twin bond between Eric and Sami.

They currently have Eric living upstairs above the pub - down the hall from Roman. Meanwhile Brady is living in the John&Marlena's place that apparently has a zillion bedrooms.   Belle and Shawn live in Bo&Hope's house.

Edited December 9, 2022 by janea4old

[carolineg]

Oh, definitely.  In theory all of Roman/Marlena's kids should be much closer to John than they are.  Although I do believe Marlena's parents raised him longer than RoJohn (with SORASing it's unclear)

It also would be nice if Eric expounded on why he stayed in Colorado so long (i.e. running away from his parents divorce, the hot mess that was his twin, etc).   But....I have never found Eric to have the depth I think he should have because of his upbringing and what not.

[janea4old]

When Carrie was a child and Sami&Eric were babies or toddlers, Anna had agreed to have Roman&Marlena raise Carrie -- and then Anna left town.   Carrie thought of Marlena as a mother figure.

DrakeRoman(John) raised Carrie, too, while Marlena was kidnapped/dead/etc.   

At least the John/Carrie bond is acknowledged -- John always seems like her father (and not JoshTaylorRoman).   I loved the John/Carrie scenes in Beyond Salem One.   John still calls Carrie "Pumpkin".
 

They currently have Eric living upstairs above the pub - down the hall from Josh Taylor's Roman. Sometimes Eric interacts with Roman downstairs in the pub.  I think the show is trying to *imply* that there is an Eric/Roman bond, but some of us viewers just don't see it -- I think Roman/Eric don't seem that close due to Josh Taylor being rather dull as Roman.
 

Yes that would be interesting to learn.

Edited December 9, 2022 by janea4old

[janea4old]

Remember this August 2020 interview with Greg Vaughan regarding his exit from DAYS which would be airing in Sept 2020 (His exit had already been filmed before the COVID pandemic shutdown began).  GV said this as to why he had decided to leave:  "I felt like a glorified extra in everybody else's storyline".

"I didn’t feel like all of the things that were being told to me were being delivered. I felt like a glorified extra in everybody else’s storyline, and I never felt like Ari [Zucker, Nicole] and I were given a, “Hey, you’re going to be our couple.” So, it was time. My deal was over and that was it. They kept trying, right to my very last day, to keep me. [Co-Executive Producer] Albert [Alarr] pulled me aside and said, “Six more months. Give me six more months.” But the shape of the show, the direction of the show was kind of a little bit everywhere. The more and more I started to pull away, the more and more I felt that I wasn’t connected anymore. I didn’t feel that they had their eye on me in any way to grow with me."
He says a lot more, that's just a few snippets. The whole thing is at this link:
https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/icymi-greg-vaughan-eric-days-interview-2/

_________________________________________

The Day of Days fan event was Saturday November 12th, 2022.  Many fans attended and also various members of the soap press interviewed the actors.

Here  is Michael Fairman interviewing Ari Zucker and Greg Vaughan at Day of Days, Nov. 2022.
I didn't post it earlier because it seemed somewhat spoilerish.
Now what they are describing is airing so there are no spoilers anymore.

Greg Vaughan gives his thoughts about being given more in-depth story now and what he discussed with Ron about that.
(This Nov. 2022 interview seems to follow up... on what he said in that 2020 interview about what he had been promised vs. being disappointed at being a glorified extra.)

GV tells Michael Fairman that Eric and Nicole are leading characters.
(He doesn't say *the* leads. I think his meaning was that Eric&Nicole are leading and not supporting characters, while there are other leading characters also.)

GV gives in-depth insights into Eric going dark.  And not being a priest anymore.  Very interesting!  It's twelve minutes long and worth watching the whole thing!
 

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Edited December 9, 2022 by janea4old

[Joseph]

I guess That's because He was Father Cutie (or Doofus like Kristen said) For Over 10 years, he had a long time to learn to be on his own, and sometimes I think it made him kinda uneasy to be on the same place for very long too, Brady and Sami However were never away from their parents for very long, they still emotionally dependent of them

Yeah, I mean GV has acting chops, but Eric is usually a shallow character, the most depth they've ever given him was during the hight of Kristen Raped Eric Story

[carolineg]

It's nothing against GV.  I have thought Eric's always lacked depth even when Jensen was playing him.  I know it's probably an attempt to make Eric so different from Sami, but he comes off dull and boring a lot.  I also have always thought Brady and Eric were a little too similar and fill nearly the same role.

Edited December 9, 2022 by carolineg

[janea4old]

That's exactly what GV said in that Nov. 2022 Michael Fairman interview. LOL.  He was tired of playing a dull and boring priest. (I know you said the writing for Jensen's Eric (before being a priest) was written as dull too, but still.)

Edited December 9, 2022 by janea4old

[carolineg]

Well GV is right lol.  JA's Eric was probably even more boring than GV's though.  

I actually thought Eric was more interesting when he was an addict and hooking up with Jen.

Overall, I don't mind Eric/GV or his stories, I just wish there was a little more to Eric.

[DynamiteKiddo]

JA’s Eric was such a nondescript younger hero… his self-destructive pull to Nicole was probably the most complex thing about him, lol.  I so fondly recall Lucas/Nicole/Eric/Greta because that was climaxing when I started watching.

So I think with GV’s Eric—in the beginning, he was really just a foil for Nicole . . . and the forbidden priest.  It was all about her, never him.  Then after the rapetape at the Brady/Kristen wedding, there was a real opportunity to do a much meatier, longer crisis of faith and downward spiral.  But I honestly don’t remember much until the $h!t with Serena & Xander, which eventually involved Daniel because the show idiotically accommodated AZ & SC’s wishes for art to imitate life (seriously this was insane for TomSell as they had spent their entire tenure with Daniel/Jennifer and Eric/Nicole front burner).  Then Eric was backburner’d being a goofy drunk until he killed Daniel.

So what I loved about the post-Daniel stuff was that we got 2 holier than thou, very controlled characters start to recklessly unravel and lie and just be so messy.  I loved that iteration of Eric/Jenn.  But it was very backburner and very dark during maybe the show’s darkest period.  And even though I hated losing GV, Eric leaving for Statesville on the “on location” bus with the shaky cam was sooo poignant, esp. contrasted with how he returned as a wide-eyed priest a few years earlier.

Since his 2017 return, apart from his relationships with Jenn (which I thought was lovely, but not like Major obvs.) and Sarah (which was not lovely lolol), his whole story has been “will they or won’t they??” with Nicole.  And it hasn’t had to be… he should be wrestling with all his betrayals and his hero complex should be actually examined, rather than just being a source of Nicole’s insecurity and frustration.  And I appreciate having him go dark rn… but RC is majorly screwing it up!  I know we hated Daniel, but Eric and The Town, for God knows WHAT reasons, LOVED Daniel Jonas… having him flippantly, drunk or not, talk about driving drunk was a LOT and Nicole should have been feeling some kind of way!  Also trashing Belle and doubling down on it was a weird choice, obviously just to get him with Sloan lol.  This is as subtle as a brick so far and it’s unfortunate.  I’m also really disturbed that the show is legitimately blaming Nicole for Jada choosing to have an abortion for like really sound reasons . . .

But there was talk upthread about Eric’s family relations, or lack thereof.  Ya, you guys, I don’t really feel it.  He has nice moments with his parents, but it’s not a connection I really feel.  His scenes with his sisters are fine.  I do like him opposite other family members, like Allie, Kayla, Steph, Theresa, etc.  The one family relation that I do think is REALLY earned and good is with Brady . . . probably because there is sooo much history, hurt, and love there.  The show has invested so much in this relationship and it’s really paid off.

[carolineg]

I definitely agree about Eric's most interesting period being when he was drunk.  Sami and Brady get so much more depth that Eric feels forgotten.  Even Belle, in theory, has more depth.  Eric has never gotten a romantic relationship that worked or felt important the way him and Nicole do.  I understand it's popular, but only Jen/Eric got real writing and that was never meant to be anything more than tragic.

Again, agree about the family connections.  Eric has nice scenes with Marlena/Roman/John, but I have never felt the connection Sami, Brady, Carrie, or Belle have with them.  

Anyhow, it is bizarre Nicole is getting blame for this abortion even in a roundabout way.  Jada is a grown woman that wasn't ready to have a child if she was so easily swayed by one conversation with Nicole.  

[AbcNbc247]

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[j swift]

I wonder if it was always the intention to have Eric secularized? 

Again, I never know who wrote what and when, but if Eric was introduced as someone who was meant to leave his vows for the lure of physical romance, that's kind of f#%^ed up.  As opposed to if one writer wanted to write him as reformed moral guide, and the next writer wanted him to be romantic hero.

I'm not personally offended, but the way DAYS mocks Catholicism seems like it would ostracize a portion of their audience, and it would not be tolerated if they picked on another minority group.   As a Jewish man, I wouldn't like it if they had Jewish characters only speaking in Brooklyn accents and eating matzo, or celebrating Christmas just because they preferred the decorations.  So, I think portraying women in old-fashioned nun's habits for humor, using old men with Irish accents as priests, and having a male character give up his vows just because he gets a stiffy, seems a bit disrespectful.

Edited December 10, 2022 by j swift

[AbcNbc247]

Well, look who the head writer is 

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Not only does he acknowledge that he has a ton of biases, he embraces them.

Edited December 10, 2022 by AbcNbc247

[j swift]

Yeah

There's an odd message that they'll make fun of a woman in a wimple this week and then have everyone look longingly at the Christmas tree next week, as if the two images have nothing to do with each other.

[Joseph]

Sequels of the rape maybe?