Nice episode and lovely tribute to Maggie/SR.  I actually wish there were more flashbacks with her children and maybe a few with the Hortons and Marlena since that was a strong friendship, but that's nit picking.

@AbcNbc247As far as Shawn, I can see him having a strong place on the canvas without Belle honestly.  Shawn's downward spiral pushes Belle away and it actually opens him up to being paired with other actresses in his age range and there are quite a few.  I think he would be interesting with Jada or Sloan when the Eric thing implodes.  But Belle/Shawn always should have had a strong place on the canvas, so it probably won't happen.

Spoiler

I wouldn't be against a recast Belle either.

 

Even as a teenager being the perfect age for the Last Blast crew, I always hated Shawn and Belle as the forced coupling they always were. I've been waiting for them to be finished for what feels like forever. I like the idea of Shawn and Jada long term. Rafe would be gone. I'd kick him off the force and put him back in mechanics. The profession works on the UK shows, it can work here. I'd also give him a friend. I'd say Sarah as the only other adult Horton, but I do not like Linsey Godfrey in the role so she'd be axed. I'd probably bring on the never seen Spencer Olson for that reason. But again, this might all be moot because Brandon Beemer doesn't exactly excite me. I could never knock Jason Cook because of nostaligia, but obviously he's not an option. Personally, I've always wanted Chad Brannon in the role.

1 hour ago, Bright Eyes said:

Even as a teenager being the perfect age for the Last Blast crew, I always hated Shawn and Belle as the forced coupling they always were. I've been waiting for them to be finished for what feels like forever. I like the idea of Shawn and Jada long term. Rafe would be gone. I'd kick him off the force and put him back in mechanics. The profession works on the UK shows, it can work here. I'd also give him a friend. I'd say Sarah as the only other adult Horton, but I do not like Linsey Godfrey in the role so she'd be axed. I'd probably bring on the never seen Spencer Olson for that reason. But again, this might all be moot because Brandon Beemer doesn't exactly excite me. I could never knock Jason Cook because of nostaligia, but obviously he's not an option. Personally, I've always wanted Chad Brannon in the role.

I keep advocating for them to hire Stephen Schnetzer as Julie's brother Steven Olson. 

Yeah, they were involved in real life, but I'm surprised they never dipped their toes into a potential Shawn/Chloe pairing.... 

7 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

Yeah, they were involved in real life, but I'm surprised they never dipped their toes into a potential Shawn/Chloe pairing.... 

Same.  I think BB and NL are on good terms though.  I remember the show teasing it with Cook back in the day, but it would be a very realistic pairing unlike her pairing with Xander. 

I was compelled to watch today's episode, something I haven't done in years, instead of just read the recap. I am so glad I did. All the two hander scenes were well done and well paired. The only false note for me was Bonnie/Justin. Those scenes would have been so much stronger if she were Adrienne. However, the Bonnie/Maggie scene near the end really worked for me so comme ci comme ça. In fact, I'm happily surprised they put a good amount of focus on her relationship with Mickey, too, and didn't just have him be a passing mention or have Maggie say Victor was the love of her life. It was all maturely written in regards to both relationships. 

Of course, the next best surprise was seeing how honest they were about who Victor was. At least his character got to be respected in death.

I do think it could be a strong moment for Julie and Doug at some point to see their thoughts about Doug's mortality. They have to know their time together is more short lived than long. Probably too macabre/complicated for this show.

The Kate/Chloe scenes were probably the next best thing next to Maggie/Julie, but poor Lauren Koslow being made to hold her phone throughout the whole episode to glance at a picture of Philip was so unnecessary. Once at the beginning and then calling him at the end would have sufficed.

On a superficial level, it's funny to have not watched for years and then see this episode and realize how much some people have aged. It's kind of confronting 🤣.

 

Edited August 18, 20232 yr by Bright Eyes

5 minutes ago, Bright Eyes said:

On a superficial level, it's funny to have not watched for years and then see this episode and realize how much some people have aged. It's kind of confronting 🤣.

Perhaps they should do what General Hospital has been doing these past few years and make everyone blurry.  

(Seriously though, it is SO jarring to me to see that airbrushed blurriness whenever I check out GH; I keep thinking there's something wrong with my eyes) 

 

Edited August 18, 20232 yr by Gray Bunny

1 hour ago, Bright Eyes said:

The only false note for me was Bonnie/Justin. Those scenes would have been so much stronger if she were Adrienne.

Judi was in #SoapTwitter for about 3 days around last weekend & she really stayed & really engaged with many people. And she was delightful!! But, I got a sense for how much she hears, "We know you love playing Bonnie but we really really miss Adrienne!" And, this is Salem so why can't she come back from the dead?!!! She seems to really GET THAT & would be fine if Adrienne were to be ALIVE. Of course she is one smart cookie so she may just know how to handle fans. 

1 hour ago, Bright Eyes said:

I do think it could be a strong moment for Julie and Doug at some point to see their thoughts about Doug's mortality. They have to know their time together is more short lived than long. Probably too macabre/complicated for this show.

And likely too painful for Susan & Bill to play. 

6 hours ago, carolineg said:

 

@AbcNbc247As far as Shawn, I can see him having a strong place on the canvas without Belle honestly.  Shawn's downward spiral pushes Belle away and it actually opens him up to being paired with other actresses in his age range and there are quite a few.  I think he would be interesting with Jada or Sloan when the Eric thing implodes.  But Belle/Shawn always should have had a strong place on the canvas, so it probably won't happen.

  Reveal hidden contents

I wouldn't be against a recast Belle either.

 

That does sound like a good idea. They just really need to use Shawn more effectively. I definitely wouldn't mind Shawn/Jada or Shawn/Sloan, even though I still think Shawn/Belle are endgame. 

We could have had a whole Sloan/Rafe/Nicole/Eric/Jada/Shawn/Belle/EJ mess last year and it still could have been playing out now.

14 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

That does sound like a good idea. They just really need to use Shawn more effectively. I definitely wouldn't mind Shawn/Jada or Shawn/Sloan, even though I still think Shawn/Belle are endgame. 

We could have had a whole Sloan/Rafe/Nicole/Eric/Jada/Shawn/Belle/EJ mess last year and it still could have been playing out now.

For me, personally, being without Belle frees Shawn up a lot.  Outside of my hatred for MM's Belle, most of Shawn/Belle's stories have revolved around Belle.   Belle's affairs, Belle's feelings about Jan, Belle's feelings for Phillip, Belle being possessed, etc. etc..  Shawn gets very little point of view and he will finally get his chance without being Ken to Belle's Barbie.   I don't think BB is the greatest actor, but he's much less grating than Belle.  They can be endgame-it's fine.  There is just a solid oppurtunity to explore Shawn so I am sure the show won't take it and show him once a month. 

24 minutes ago, carolineg said:

For me, personally, being without Belle frees Shawn up a lot.  Outside of my hatred for MM's Belle, most of Shawn/Belle's stories have revolved around Belle.   Belle's affairs, Belle's feelings about Jan, Belle's feelings for Phillip, Belle being possessed, etc. etc..  Shawn gets very little point of view and he will finally get his chance without being Ken to Belle's Barbie.   I don't think BB is the greatest actor, but he's much less grating than Belle.  They can be endgame-it's fine.  There is just a solid oppurtunity to explore Shawn so I am sure the show won't take it and show him once a month. 

Are we sure Shawn is going to be without Belle?  I think DAYS could recast Belle.  I would prefer that over her being out of town, or killed off.

12 minutes ago, David_Vickers said:

Are we sure Shawn is going to be without Belle?  I think DAYS could recast Belle.  I would prefer that over her being out of town, or killed off.

Spoiler

No idea.  I agree she could be recast.  I think single Shawn would be more interesting though.

 

Marlena's absence was both remarkable and understandable.  On the one hand, the scene where Maggie was murdered during Marlena's serial killer era was iconic.  On the other hand, Marlena did not share a lot of memorable stories with Victor, and the episode focused on him, so it made sense that she wasn't there.  I mean, Julie and Victor actually had much more of a history than Marlena and him.

Hidden for those trying to avoid spoilers

Spoiler

My read of the MM exit interview is that there's no planned resolution for Belle.  She said that her lightbulb moment came when they said she was fired, but they wanted her to re-occur from time to time.  So, now that MM is leaving for good, they may have written an ending for Belle, but it doesn't sound like it is the immediate plan for Shawn to be single.

The worst case scenario is Belle going off to fictional South Africa to live with Claire, while still remaining married to Shawn.

 

Edited August 19, 20232 yr by j swift

Marlena remembering Victor is in the preview for next week.

It's so weird they keep marking these anniversaries with the death of someone in that person's generation.

Edited August 19, 20232 yr by Michael