4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

And idk why but I enjoyed Stefan/Ava today as well, even though I’m not liking their storyline at the moment and Clyde needs to die. But it may actually improve if that happened lol. And with Ava calling Stefan Jake today, it seems like they may be going with some kind of transference storyline and I actually don’t mind that. 

I liked Ava & Jake together for that brief time before they offed him. And, actually I really liked Jake & that has not been the case with Stefan. He was okay with Gabi but nothing special, although the writing they had was pretty darned pitiful. 

22 hours ago, Gray Bunny said:

Agreed. She's no Carrie Brady. 

Speaking of her, Happy Birthday, Christie Clark! 

6.2/10 for today's show mostly for Jada and Stephanie.  I like them both as potential younger leading women because they are smart.  I appreciate that Alex and Harris rely on them for career advice and support.

4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

It was the right decision to have Stephanie’s ex and Jada’s ex be the same person. That opens up this storyline to so many more possibilities.

Why is Everett more interesting when people are talking about him than when he actually see him on screen?

4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I wonder if anything’s gonna happen now that Brady gave Tate his credit card.

Nothing good, but again, who needs to give their credit card over to someone else in 2023?  I know it provides a visual for TV, but in reality wouldn't he just add it to his kid's Apple Wallet and set a limit?  They still write the show like it is Julie shoplifting on the first episode.

4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Does anyone still stream Mrs. Davis? 😂😂😂

Gotta get that cross-Peacock promo

Edited December 13, 20231 yr by j swift

4 hours ago, EdibleFlowers said:

Out of the current crop of characters who would you cut? I’d get rid of Stephanie, Patch, Kayla, Tripp, Wendy, EJ, Ava, Harris, Rafe, Sarah, Xander, Brady, Maggie, Roman, Chad, and Alex. 

Well, we do this often enough as well as those of us trying to get Gina Tognoni on cast as Sami or Billie or someone. And, so many of us want Sydney. But to your list I would definitely keep Patch & Kayla, Tripp & Wendy, EJ, Brady, Maggie & Chad. 

So, I would agree to cut Steph, Ava, Harris, Rafe, Sarah, Xander, Roman & Alex. My cut list would begin with Leo & I approve of the recent loss of Dimitri, Theresa would be gone, Gwen would not return, Stefan & Everett outta there! 

Both Kristen & Susan Banks would rotate in & out, short arcs. And, if they had some dynamite writing for Xander as the true heir, then he could stay. No question that Constantin would get the boot. 

Really I think most of us would be happy if the show got rid of Leo alone.

The Jada and Stephanie scenes were nice.  Harris was an odd choice to add to the mix, but it didn't bother me too much.  What is the deal with this show and Blake Berris's looks?  Even back when he was Nick the show would go out of there way to say he isn't conventionally attractive.  And Jada he looks nothing like Jason Biggs!  BB isn't really my cup of tea, but he is handsome enough.

EOB continues to disappoint as Theresa.  What an odd set of scenes between Brady, Theresa, and Tate.  How terrible of them to fight like that in front of their son.  And Theresa just brushes it off to go have sex with Alex lol.

I don't really care too much about this Ava/Stefan stuff.  The two work well together I just don't find this story interesting.

5 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Really I think most of us would be happy if the show got rid of Leo alone.

This show has 32 contract characters. 90% don’t belong on the show. Because there are so many actors on contract, they have low guarantees which means stories don’t get the appropriate amount of screentime, making stories choppy and full of missed beats. Leo isn’t even the worst character on the show. 

For me, the biggest problem with this show is the cast followed by production values and dialogue/script editing.

With regard to Jada and Stephanie's scenes, I always forget that it is The Brady Pub and not the fish market (sign of my age).  So, between The Pub, The Bistro, and Small Bar, I just realized that Sweet Bites is the only eatery on the square that doesn't serve alcohol.

Edited December 13, 20231 yr by j swift

3 hours ago, j swift said:

 

Edited December 13, 20231 yr by EdibleFlowers
delete

On 12/12/2023 at 11:29 AM, carolineg said:

I don't dislike Stephanie or anything, but I just don't find her compelling enough to have three men chasing her.  She's nice and pretty, but I don't find her to have any distinct personality traits.  Someone like Jada is much more interesting and gets half the screen time.

Complete eyeroller that Stephanie would have all these guys chasing her. Even better is that none of the three is really what so-in-demand Steph wants.

 

22 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

Complete eyeroller that Stephanie would have all these guys chasing her. Even better is that none of the three is really what so-in-demand Steph wants.

 

And from spoilers 

Spoiler

Harris gets thrown into the mix when Stephanie wakes up in his bed.

This girl must have something I am not seeing.  I didn't think Abigail was all that special either so I might just have poor taste lol.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

And from spoilers 

  Hide contents

Harris gets thrown into the mix when Stephanie wakes up in his bed.

This girl must have something I am not seeing.  I didn't think Abigail was all that special either so I might just have poor taste lol.

Your taste levels are just fine. This is beyond ridiculous, and I hope to God the actress is embarrassed with this writing.

6 hours ago, j swift said:

Why is Everett more interesting when people are talking about him than when he actually see him on screen?

Maybe it’s because when he’s onscreen, he’s just creepy 😂😂

5 hours ago, carolineg said:

The Jada and Stephanie scenes were nice.  Harris was an odd choice to add to the mix, but it didn't bother me too much.

Same here.

I kinda like the messiness of it.

2 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

Your taste levels are just fine. This is beyond ridiculous, and I hope to God the actress is embarrassed with this writing.

I don't think I would like it with any character on the show to be honest.  I could see if Stephanie had enormous wealth or something and 1 of the guys was after that, but all these men seem to just be obsessed with her because she's her.  It's weird.  I mean, it seems like Chad does like her housekeeping/childcare skills too though. 

20 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Maybe it’s because when he’s onscreen, he’s just creepy 😂😂

Same here.

I kinda like the messiness of it.

Again, anytime we can sort of see SBu do non-Jason things it's a plus.

While I am willing to suspend disbelief that Stefan is so focused on Gabi's wellbeing that he is ignoring his CEO duties to run a bistro, but it is a stupid detail that he can call Clyde in prison.  One imagines that they wanted to spare the expense of another actor and another set for the scene. But it is silly to show Stefan yelling about dealing drugs in the town square, just feet away from Jada at the Pub.  They did the same thing last week with Stefan yelling to Vivian over the phone.  At least, they could stage these scenes out of the public eye.  I mean, he's plotting a murder, and not even trying to keep it a secret.

Also, I find the rapport between Chad, Everett, and Xander amusing, and I like the use of The Spectator for story purposes.  But, I think that they are missing a step. Chad seems to have bought the paper without leveraging his risk through a loan.  It would be nice to add a bit of realism that Chad is motivated to make the company profitable because he stupidly invested his children's future so that his girlfriend would stop flirting with her former lover. 

I know ranting about realism in Salem is like wishing that scenes were well lit (never going to happen), but I had to get it off my chest.

Finally, are we supposed to forget about Li's murder and EJ's hitwoman just like everyone in Salem?

 

Edited December 14, 20231 yr by j swift

Today was very couple heavy and a lot of those scenes were really nice. 

I loved John’s gift to Marlena. Plus, it looks like Marlena may play a bigger part in the baby switch then I thought and I think that’s a good thing. 

I also liked John and Marlena each counseling Xander and Sarah over how they’re feeling about each other right now. I’m looking forward to their reunion, but I’m also looking forward to the next conflict between them when it comes out that Xander is really Victor’s son 😂

I guess I should be annoyed that EJ and Nicole were happy at first and then received the baby’s ashes, but once again, they stole the show. They’re really good together, even though I’m still Team Ericole. Dan and Ari definitely do have their Emmy reels ready for next year. Their performances really have elevated this storyline in something different. It almost makes all the bad, nonsensical storylines and characters irrelevant.

Tate/Holly were good today as well. I hope this isn’t the end of this part of their storyline. I still say they need some friends their own age though. 

I did laugh when Johnny said to Chanel, “Never underestimate the Dimeras” but yet Stefan can’t do a single thing about Clyde. And also when I noticed the guy with the awful wig sitting behind him at the Bistro 😂😂

But, I do gotta admit, Johnny does look good in a fencing uniform 😍😍😂

One thing I did not expect was all the talk about Tate returning to boarding school.  I thought he was expelled, but suddenly he might go back?

I also appreciate that this baby switch story keeps referencing Nicole's earlier baby switch.  Every time someone returns from the dead, it is as if that's never happened to most of the families in town.  But, the baby switch is informed by history.