DAYS: January 2025 Discussion Thread

[TEdgeofNight]

I enjoy Leo. He’s a riot.

Cannot stand Javi. Bad actor. That whole Lady whistle blower storyline sucked. The actor who played lady whistleblower was beyond terrible. Take acting lessons! 

[Antoyne]

Lady Whistleblower actor has like anticharisma but at least the character hates Leo as much as I do. This whole story being for the sole purpose of putting Leo and Javi back together is another reason Ron’s firing can’t come soon enough.

[Contessa Donatella]

I created a countdown calendar. At first I loved it. Today I'm annoyed with it. Why? 91 days, that's why. 

[AbcNbc247]

Three months to go until Ron’s last day!

And luckily, Marlena was used correctly today. First with Tate and then with Steve. I liked how she counseled Tate over Rachel and everything else he’s going through. We haven’t seen enough of their relationship lately and I’m glad that we were able to. 

And again, all this talk of John 

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And I really can’t stand Sophia’s mother, but I don’t dislike the storyline, even though it was rushed. We’re finally seeing why Sophia is the way that she is and the actress is doing a pretty good job too. I wonder how 

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Hopefully, this all gets tied to Doug III and his storyline. Holly’s gonna need a shoulder to cry on

As for Kristen and Rachel, sorry, I just don’t care lol the ship has sailed for Bristen and it’s still time for the two of them to be written out. Brady’s been handcuffed to the two of them for far too long. 

But I don’t think the ship has sailed for Shelle though lol I liked their scenes, even though they didn’t do that much today. I’m still hoping that they play the long game with the two of them. 

[Antoyne]

Today finally felt like an actual soap opera again with no Body and Soul in sight to ruin the show.

[j swift]

It is odd to think that Rachel and Sophia, who were central to today's episode, will both be replaced very soon.  It seems jarring mid-story, but hope springs eternal.

Also, so soapy that nobody seems to text or use their IPhone, like when Sophia's mother confronted her at work, rather than just leaving an all-caps text, like a normal person.

I can't help but be distracted by Marlena's windows. I thought it was a penthouse, but they are so close to that other building?  Every scene, I kept looking at the window and wondering why Doc has such a crummy view.  I mean, Brady can walk from the Dimera mansion to Marlena's condo, so why doesn't she look onto the square or someplace pretty?

I appreciate that they dress Tate, Holly, and Sophia like high schoolers,it sort of reinforces Amy's point that they seem too young to make their own choices.  But that bow on top of Rachel's head, and her dialogue, betray her age.

 

[John]

I just don't like they hot pregnant must marry story

This isn't handmaid's tale

Adoption is a great option

Sophia and Tate do not want to be parents

Edited January 23 by John

[j swift]

It is ironic that on GH Anna just had a scene with Joss where she admonished her for making them bring Cyrus in too soon, without sufficient evidence, and thereby allowing him to cover his tracks.  Which felt organic and dramatic.

Meanwhile, Jada is questioning Kerry and Hattie, while having zero evidence and no means of even charging them with a crime.  It doesn't make Jada seem very clever.  In fact, it seems very stereotypic that the female cop is being led by instinct rather than facts.  Given Jada's excellent training, one would think that she could avoid the same pitfalls that undermined Rafe.

Meanwhile, there are no consequences for Mayor Paulina as she goes through three DA's and two Police Commissioners in a year, and winds up hiring the daughter of her husband's best friend as the new DA.

And, here's an odd coincidence, courtesy of WornOnTV, Kayla on DAYS wore the same Blouse/sweater as Natalia on GH (fyi, it was recycled from Lois's closet)

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Edited January 24 by j swift

[AbcNbc247]

A lot of questions about today.

Rachel made it all the way to Aremid? Plus, this creepy old lady is Rachel Blake? Where’s she been since 1996? Why would she stay dead again so soon after she got her daughter back?

And trying to kill Ava? Wasn’t the one thing she wanted was for Kristen not to become like Stefano? Paging @carolineg @Gray Bunny and other posters who watched in the 90s. Am I remembering that correctly lol

Unless she’s not the real Rachel Blake.

And besides, a sudden retread of Aremid seems really random to me, especially since that part of Kristen’s history has basically been ignored since she first came back in 2012. If they wanted to do this, they really should’ve established it a lot better and for a little longer. I mean, if they could give the worst character and one of the worst storylines on the friggin show classic soap opera pacing last week, they certainly could’ve done the same for characters and storylines that people actually like. 

And not for nothing, but how did it take this long for Kristen to want to search the tunnels? You’d think that would’ve been the first she’d look (and find Rafe in the process lol) Kinda shows what a waste of time all this Fake Rafe stuff is. 

I really enjoyed Chad and JJ comforting Julie though, and that she agreed to see Marlena. Something tells me that they’re both going to need each other in the next few months. 

Edited January 24 by AbcNbc247

[carolineg]

Rachel the Elder lived until the Paris story.  She died in the tunnel explosion when John/Marlena were trying to escape Stefano's lair.  She shot Stefano and both were presumed dead, so it's not crazy to think she made it out too.

Anyway, Rachel was firmly on Marlena's side and knew Kristen was evil.  She tried very hard to get Kristen (and Peter) to be better people.  Rachel's greatest fear was that her children would turn out like Stefano and Rachel was always a good person.  

If you read a wiki page about Aremid it would make sense for Rachel Sr. to be hiding out there, but nothing else does about this story currently.

[Contessa Donatella]

Hip Hip Hooray! I'm not kidding. It was such a relief to me that Marlena was used this way, which is a good & also appropriate way. Also, I think this is the first time we've really seen her & Tate relate to one another, which is kinda crazy since they live in the same TINY apartment.

Me,  too, I detest her mother! But, unfortunately I also detest this whole storyline. This is not the 50s. This is 2025. Can we say dated, trite, cliched? I think we can!!! And, while I'm at it, why not have either Tate or Sofia cite the statistics of people who responsibly use birth  control but still become pregnant? I mean, why not?

Sorry but I disagree here. I think Shelle is dead & gone.

[Gray Bunny]

I'm still at the beginning of Thursday's episode, but yeah that is funny that Rachel would make it all the way to Aremid considering it used to be quite a drive, so much so that I distinctly remember Marlena and an amnesiac Stefano taking a private plane to get there in time to see "Tony" just before he died (nevermind the fact that there was a "terrible storm" that prevented them from taking "Tony" to a nearby hospital, all the while Marlena & Stefano get there just fine by plane, but whatevs, it was 1995, I can let it go now, lol) 

[Contessa Donatella]

The absolutely phenomenal story by that wonderful Canadian woman whose name is right on  the tip - oh I know, Margaret Atwood - anyway, what I am trying to say is that there is nothing going on in DAYS that is in any way like THE HANDMAID'S TALE. Basically it's about 2 things. 1. Nationalistic "Christians" who think the US should be run as a theocracy but who pervert the teachings of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways but that all favor wealthy white men. And, 2. something has happened in this civilization causing a whole segment of the population of women to be 100% barren while a different segment of females are very fertile. So, those in power take young fertile women prisoner & use them as baby-making machines, presumably impregnated in a ritualistic mating although many of those men are also infertile so many of those babies are actually the product of young fertile males working as guards, drivers or gardeners. 

To me, what this compares to is the US 1950s. 

[j swift]

I love/hate episodes like this one.

My first instinct is that the Woman in White is Rachel's hallucination rather than being real.  For me, the clues were in the details.  She couldn't dial the phone, or hold the candlestick.  So, I think she'll wind up being a figment of Rachel's imagination.  

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Also, they made a point that Rachel had $100.00, so maybe she ubered to Aremid?

It is so soapy that characters are in the middle of a crisis, but stop to tell each other long bits of exposition about their history. I was waiting for Kristin to tell EJ, that right after her visit to Aremid is when she decided to entrap John with a fake pregnancy which lead to his birth!  (it is so weird that they continue to only interact as siblings).

My one quibble was EJ telling Kristen that he has employed Stefano's resources to find Rachel.  Meanwhile, Kristen is the CEO.  Why isn't she doing that?  It felt sexist, as opposed to helpful.  Also, I like the idea of a Kristen/Arnold romance, which is where I thought they were headed today with the tunnels, but didn't.

On the other hand, Julie's grief is being written with surprising sensitivity.  Except for the unnecessary Cat sighting.  I really liked that Julie is more focused on her mourning than the mystery of the necklace, or whatever is happening with Doug³.  It feels more organic, and DAYS always shocks me when they are able to balance the absurd with human drama. That mix is definitively DAYS for me.

Edited January 24 by j swift

[j swift]

Two more ideas:

I wonder if Cat's mention of having a similar past to John's indicates some connection to either to Aremid or John (I hope not).

Also from the Aremid wiki, I laughed at this detail: Rachel called John, who was a young priest, over to her house to talk about Stefano. Stefano eventually planted a bomb in Rachel's husband's car, but Rachel was also in the car when the bomb went off. Rachel lived, but was badly scarred. Stefano believed that Rachel was dead and he kidnapped and brainwashed John because John knew that Stefano killed the Blake's. One of the thousand retcons of John's origin story with Stefano.