DAYS: January 2025 Discussion Thread

[carolineg]

I agree with this.  Some of the dialogue is very foreshadowing and it feels...Idk, crass or insensitive?  Like you said this diagnosis is generally terminal and I do appreciate Days for hoping things would work out for Drake.  It's just sad Marlena and his family will be missing him for months and then John will die without saying goodbye or having a few more good moments.  I would be okay with Marlena and his family seeing him off screen.

I feel like even with Doug and Victor being in a different room or on a trip there was at least the implication they were around and having moments with their loved ones.

[Liberty City]

I agree, but this also feels in-character (somewhat) for John to be on assignment.

[janea4old]

Yes Drake's actual diagnosis is almost always terminal. However, I don't know how many of the cast/crew/staff knew anything other than he had "personal time off" or something vague of that nature, or a nonspecific health situation.  The family kept things very private and did NOT want the details leaked at all. 

I think only very few of the cast/crew/staff knew the actual diagnosis.  Obviously Greg Vaughan knew, because, after Drake passed away, GV shared on his instagram texts that he had exchanged with Drake.  And after Drake passed, Christopher Sean said in an interview that Drake had told him the truth privately in a dressing room.  I think others said so too, in interviews.
I don't want to get into the details of which actors knew what and when, as those details and interviews were all already posted on the Drake thread.
As I said, many did NOT know, as the family didn't want it leaked.

My point is this:  I don't have BTS knowledge, so I don't know when the writing team and directors knew what.   Eventually they were informed, as we know that management communicated with Drake about writing in John's death.  But did Ron know?  Or was it not known until the new writing team came in? 
This I have no idea about, no idea at all.

But yeah, if Ron did know, then the writing does seem insensitive or at least awkward.

Edited January 13 by janea4old

[j swift]

I was thinking, with the recent actor passing on GH, that the audience may get “grief fatigue”.  As much as it is instinctive to want to honor the death of a cherished actor, we went from Victor, to Doug, and next John's funeral.  Which is why I like the idea of John being permanently away on assignment. 

There must be a way to memorialize the actor, while maintaining some romance and levity within the story universe.  This much loss can be overwhelming.  And, I am concerned about how it will affect the tone of the show.

[carolineg]

Yeah, the assignment/mission part doesn't bother me.  It just would be nice to know either John could get home sometimes or his family was able to visit him.  We don't have to actually see it.

That's fair and I don't think non-essential people would or should know.  I think Ron would be an essential person who would have known just to figure out the parameters and timing of Drake's absences.  But I don't have any insider info either.

 

I would have to wholeheartedly disagree.  The losses recently have been depressing.  There is just no way I would continue to watch a show that let John just linger off screen.  I hated when they did that with Stefano.

John was one of the greatest heroes on Days of our lives.  Marlena/John were a leading supercouple for years.  Just because the soap world is experiencing multiple, sad losses doesn't mean Drake/John don't deserve a tribute.

And honestly, one of their leads passed away.  The tone of the show is going to be sad unless Ron just decides to 'treat' us to 5 days a week of Leo and Body & Soul

[j swift]

What I propose is a way to memorialize the actor, while maintaining the character.

Because the losses are going to keep on coming; inevitably.  The average age of the actors on DAYS keeps creeping upward.  So, who gets a special episode, and who doesn't, are the real challenges that lay ahead.  And, perhaps there are creative ways of dealing with these deaths that doesn't involve protracted stories that linger on for a year?

I know that my lack of commemorative values are unpopular, yet valid. I don't attach merit to tombstones, benches, and memorial parks, unlike many. But, it does become exhausting over time. 

Edited January 13 by j swift

[carolineg]

I suppose there is an argument on who gets a special episode or not in the future, but how can you not give a huge memorial to Doug, Victor, or John?  

How do you memorialize an actor that played a character for decades and continue that character's story?

The only place I agree with you on is the protracted storyline that lingers, but with the taping schedule that remains the way it is.  I wish Days could figure a way around it.

And while I get it might be exhausting to you that people die, I am pretty sure most of the audience wants to see closure for a character that lead the show for almost 40 years.

[Antoyne]

Thank you for both of your posts. Leaving John as a lingering character is an insult to Drake’ and John’s legacies. Grief fatigue or not.

[Contessa Donatella]

Me, I not only want closure but a proper saying goodbye. Plus, if we're lucky & the writing is good there's the chance for catharsis. What I don't like is things lingering on & on, waiting instead of experiencing.

[carolineg]

Yeah.  I am not saying this was @j swift's point, but Drake dying at a time when other prominent soap actors also did was obviously something out of his control.  I can't imagine him not getting a huge tribute just because some other legendary cast members died before him and it might change the tone of the show.

The show is going to be changed without John.  There isn't a question.  Drake/John leave a huge hole on the canvas.

Outside of the audience feeling the loss there are many cast members that do as well.  Looking at how many returns there are planned it seems important for those people who truly knew him as well.

Anyway, this is a tangent from my first point and that is the fact I don't love this current John story and it's very depressing.  I don't find celebrating John's life and giving him the hero send off he deserves depressing.

[SouthernChick]

Cat is growing on me. I’m glad she is sticking around and hope she gets the job as Marlena’s assistant.

[j swift]

Given the timing, and the number of rewrites, I am wondering how Cat's tale about John saving her mother jibes with Steve's memory of the event?

We know Steve was there.  We also know that John doesn't recall the specifics because he was being mind controlled by the deck of cards.  But, wouldn't Steve have known Victor's plan to save Katherina?

Also, while I like that Stephanie told Sarah about the fake letter.  Once again, the timing is too rushed.  It feels like Stephanie and Philip went on one date and then broke up, and Stephanie and Sarah have been close friends for around two seconds (I know they all have more history, but I am commenting within the context of this story).

I hate Sarah keeping the truth from Xander.  I wish that Philip had more leverage. For example, if Kate threatened to out Kayla for giving Sarah the serum, then everyone would have a valid excuse to keep quiet.  Stephanie would want to save her mother, Sarah and Xander would want to protect Kayla.  It would all make sense.

 

Edited January 14 by j swift

[Antoyne]

Stephanie instantly telling Sarah about the forgery is so unbelievably rushed, just like Stephanie even finding out.

Sarah hates when Xander lies so I’m wondering how long she’s going to keep this secret.

[Michael]

I suspect they're just not going to address the Steve part of it, or they'll throw in that he didn't actually know the purpose of the mission and had to be kept in the dark, or something that won't really make sense but they see it as tying up loose ends. This story is so overly complicated and nonsensical that I'll just be happy to be done with it, although the fact that Cat & co. are Konstantin's grandchildren remains insane and something I struggle to process.

Totally agree about the Stephanie/Philip/Sarah business. Why did Stephanie and Philip have to be rekindling their relationship in order for her to overhear what was going on? One thing I haven't enjoyed about the last few years is that they overload everything with so much plot that nothing gets space to breathe. I sort of like the idea of Sarah keeping this from Xander, but it doesn't feel super-motivated, especially with how she was crowing to Stephanie about how Xander has changed (how and when has she seen evidence of this?!). Kate doing some heavier manipulating would've done wonders here.

[j swift]

But, that's why it stuck out today.

Marlena ran into Steve and Kayla, but rather than comparing stories about Cat. She only asked about John and talked about how she hates cooking for one.  Which is weird because (1) she doesn't have a kitchen, and (2) I thought she existed on exclusively on strawberries and cream.

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Edited January 14 by j swift