Days: July 2023 Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Yup!

[Contessa Donatella]

Chad was ready this morning! He shoved him really hard. A punch could have followed up nicely. 

[j swift]

I wonder how much of the dislike of Alex is due to fans' parasocial relationship with the actor.

Cue people responding that they don't follow RSW on socials - then my comment is not meant for you.

Because there is something refreshingly creative about a male character who is conflicted by his desire for intimacy versus his libidinal urges.  Especially, when we consider that this a character who we, as an audience, has known since birth.  So, we can hypothesize about how his relationship with his stepmother, and growing up among his half-siblings, has affected his ability to connect with others.  DAYS is filled with couples who instantly fall in love, so it can be interesting to see a guy struggle to find a satisfying partner.  And we frequently discuss historic characters that we wish would return, so Alex checks that box.

On the other hand, the prior role that this actor played was distasteful, and his social media presence is beyond basic. So, it leads to the age-old questions of can we separate the art from the artist?  Or, in this case, the intentions of the character from the hack actor who plays them.

It also brings to mind that I hate the character development for Sloan.  She began as a self-aware professional woman who was forthright about her needs.  Cut to six months later, and she's changing DNA tests and possibly faking a pregnancy to hold on to an ex-priest who is hardly a catch. I was enjoying the sexual liberation of Sloan, only to be disappointed that she has developed the same relationship neediness of every other person in Salem.

Edited July 24, 2023 by j swift

[janea4old]

 

 

This picture is not a current photo of Sheri on set.
It's from Sheri Anderson's tweet from April 3, 2018,
for the party celebrating Drake's 4,000th episode.
https://twitter.com/sheriawriter/status/981311861105811456

Edited July 24, 2023 by janea4old

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks for the info. That's very interesting. Someone asked Deidre about Sheri on her FB page with regard to the show now, etc. & in reply she showed that picture. Dadgum. 

[ranger1rg]

I'd be fine with that.

The truth is, Ben and Ciara don't need to be together.  If VK makes herself unavailable and the show doesn't want to recast, break them up. Their shippers will complain for 5 minutes or less.

[AbcNbc247]

Tbh, I think a lot of it has to do with the writing. 

[j swift]

I still believe that is debatable, because the character of Alex is interesting on paper.  Few other soaps have a guy who is openly interested in three ways sex, while exploring issues regarding intimacy in therapy.  The closest I recall was early Ryan Lavery on AMC.

And, you can't go more than a week without someone wishing for the return of a legacy character.  Everyone who doesn't watch, but still comments, suggests saving the show by proposing the return of some obscure child character that nobody's thought of in decades, as if Sarah Horton set the world on fire.

Which leads me to think that there are other variables at play - if only for the purpose of a lively debate amongst fans, no ill will intended aka no tea, no shade...

[dragonflies]

Did something change? Cause last I knew Sami was good with John, no grudge anymore

[Michael]

I think the way they introduced Alex -- even apart from the casting, which obviously irritated many people -- was just way, way too heavy-handed. I know they wanted to set him apart from Ben, but the wardrobe, the glasses (and the constant chewing on them), the lounging-around-in-his-great-uncle's-living-room-naked-with-Sloan... it just all felt very "Look how much this COOL GUY loves SEX!!!!" to me. Add to that the limp, forced pairing with Stephanie -- which entailed him bumping into her once, becoming "besotted" with her (which looked more like stalker-y obsession), and then him having to learn the basic concept of sexual harassment -- plus the inconsistencies about his upbringing, which have made it tough to get a handle on the guy because we're unclear on whether Adrienne raised him, if he was ever close to Anjelica, whether or not he and Stephanie were raised as cousins, etc. And I hate this forced rivalry with Maggie and him having to call her "Auntie" every 30 seconds despite never having met this woman before last summer.

Basically, I think the ideas work when you articulate them the way that you do above, @j swift, but I don't think the execution has lived up to that very often.

[j swift]

don't forget the new hairstyle with those odd microbangs...

[Michael]

As always on Days, there have been some, uh, follicular choices going on there.

[carolineg]

I find personally Sami wavers back and forth depending on the writer at the time.  I honestly thought John/Sami were fine years ago, but then something will happen she will hate him again.  IMO, under Ron Sami tends to be more at odds with John than not.

For me, the obnoxiousness of a show introducing a non twin/look alike character with the same actor is something I hate.  I think it really insults the intelligence of the audience and is completely unnecessary. Alex would have to come out the gate amazing and instead he was in a weird 'disguise' and the show made tongue in cheek Ben jokes.   There were definitely ways to keep Ben around and cast an Alex that didn't have such a clunky beginning.  

[Contessa Donatella]

I think many fans hated Ben the redeemed serial killer because they believe in redemption in some cases but not all. Then Alex came on & he wears or plays with glasses, showed off lots of pretty panties for 3 weeks & was pretty much a male chauvinist pig with obnoxious nicknames for his elders. He nailed anything female with a pulse. Then he acted out straight male fantasies with Challie. Fell in love for the first time & became even more obnoxious. Ben & Alex use the same facial expressions. Ben & Alex have the same body language. He's not good to or with other men. He's not good to or with women. Just like Ben, he reveres Marlena. It was appalling that he let on to a client that Maggie was old & inexperienced. The whole Alex-gate thing with Stephanie when Kayla died was so out of bounds. Then you have to ask yourself if you like RSW at all. If I did long ago I sure don't now. They're just digging a hole. 

[Michael]

They've gone back and forth sooooo many times. In 2002-03, Sami had gotten to a good place with John, and then JER returned and she randomly hated him again. The way I see it now, it doesn't take much for something to re-ignite her fury at him -- like when she caught him and Paul "digging up Will's grave," but after Marlena got shot at the wedding and almost died and Belle was foaming at the mouth to pull the plug, Sami and John seemed to have gotten to a better place.