As one that loved RoJohn/Isabella back in the day, the Brady/"John" scenes were so well done, yet still a gut punch. Maybe because, the scene where John told Brady about Isabella's hopes as she was dying from pancreatic cancer just seemed...sadly ironic, since Drake - in reality - died of the same awful disease that was fictionally used for Isabella.

Of course, absolutely no one could have predicted that eerie irony 32 years later, but still. 

That said, Eric Martsolf - as like everyone else holding vigil with "John" - did a wonderful job. I only wish that the show would cease with "John's hanging on!", etc., since we know the reality of the situation.

Still, everyone and everything surrounding this goodbye has been handled so well.

2 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

-- I didn't want to be the first person to mention it, because I've complained so much about Chandler Massey's smirking and grinning in the past. He just cannot get through a scene without breaking -- that grin broke through every time he ran into another character today.

He looks young -- and good -- but I am not a fan of this acting. He's not trying.

-- I agree with others here about this goodbye. The bandaged John is a throwback and a full circle moment, but it's gone on too many days already. I especially hate the "He's getting better" stuff. That doesn't work since we all know how this ends.

-- I'm glad to see the return of all these characters and I love the flashbacks, but I think DAYS could have done all that without the bandaged exit.

Glad you agree about Chandler’s smirking. It’s the reason I criticize him. He hasn’t grown as an actor, unfortunately. I don’t fawn over him because of his looks. I wish he’d never appear until he loses his smirking style of acting. 

Dee is doing a great job but yes, the story with the bandages isn’t the best. I get it- Drake wasn’t available and its a throwback to how John came to Salem, but it’s tough to get into the scenes when we know it’s not Drake under the bandages. 

My god the smirking was back in full force today. He almost started smiling after Johnny mentioned he wouldn’t be there if EJ hadn’t raped Sami. I will say I did like seeing him with Dee as they’ve always had great chemistry. 
 

They really are giving a lot of false hope with John getting better. I wish they hadn’t done that. Monday is going to be devastating.

I really liked all the characters mixing and mingling today. 

Nu-Rachel is still too sweet for me.

Loved all the flashbacks. Everyone looked so young.

Really enjoyed Brady’s scenes with John today.

 

Next week is going to be such a sad time... I just feel it based on what was shown today.

I'm wondering if the whole John being bandaged thing being a throwback to how he first arrived on the show was a Ron C idea since it just seems as though this would be something he would come up with.  If so, it's good that Cwikly/Ford are in charge with the implementing of the idea instead of him.

Just a delayed thought from the Ciara scenes earlier in the week, or last week.. and how she had an odd way of dressing/acting.  I chuckle because little Ciara did say that she admired and wanted to be just like Kristen when she grew up.  So the fact that her outfit choices are so odd/off beat and her manner is a bit OTT just fits.. especially since Eileen's Kristen had an odd sense of fashion and that frantic OTT undertone to her delivery.

With that said, a part of me wonders how Eileen's Kristen would have handled the scenes being done this week in regards to John's situation.   

8 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

I can't believe how many different interactions we got in today's episode. Many we hadn't gotten before or for the longest time.

That’s one of the things I’ve liked since the new writers came in; more interactions between characters that they hadn’t really had scenes with 

Huge kudos to the production team and the writers - we truly got to witness some beautiful and heartfelt moments between John’s extended family.
DAYS really pulled off a touching and fitting goodbye for both Bill Hayes (Doug) and Drake Hogestyn (John). You could feel the love and respect for Drake throughout. He came across as a real “super dad,” deeply loved by so many. And Deidre... wow. So strong, holding it all together - she deserves her own standing ovation.

A few thoughts that came to mind…

I wish we got a short scene of Roman sitting with John - just to thank him for looking after his kids all those years (Carrie, Sami, Eric), and to acknowledge that John and Marlena truly belonged together. It would’ve been such a meaningful moment of closure.

I kept hoping Kristen would sneak into John’s room to say goodbye - maybe apologize for all the pain she caused, and tell him she really did (or does) love him. But I get it - it wouldn’t be the same without Eileen Davidson. Still, how incredible would it be if Eileen came back for a few episodes and we got some classic flashbacks?

And Sami. Where is Sami?! A goodbye scene between her and John felt essential - with her finally thanking him, and apologizing for all the heartache between them. So much history there.

Really hoping we’ll see all of John’s kids and grandkids at his memorial - and also Maggie and Julie. Marlena could really use the support of those who’ve known her the longest.

15 hours ago, TEdgeofNight said:

Glad you agree about Chandler’s smirking. It’s the reason I criticize him. He hasn’t grown as an actor, unfortunately. I don’t fawn over him because of his looks. I wish he’d never appear until he loses his smirking style of acting.

11 hours ago, Antoyne said:

My god the smirking was back in full force today. He almost started smiling after Johnny mentioned he wouldn’t be there if EJ hadn’t raped Sami.

Chandler Massey smirked in EVERY scene in which he appeared. He's not a good actor. He cannot get into character, ever, and plays every scene like he's Chandler running into an old friend on the street. I hate it because actors should take their work seriously and respect it and everyone around them.

 

5 hours ago, asafi said:

You could feel the love and respect for Drake throughout. He came across as a real “super dad,” deeply loved by so many.

It's all so real, to the point where there's no sense trying to separate Drake from his character.

I snarked a lot over the years about Drake Hogestyn's acting -- very arch, lots of tics, over-the-top at times -- but I also think he was a great soap star. There was so much humanity in everything he did, and he was always a comforting and stabilizing force on screen.

Flashbacks on soaps are almost always special and fun, but does anyone come across as more loving and filled with humanity than John? I don't think so.

DAYS has suffered

a lot of loss in the past few years. For me, this one hits the hardest.

On 5/30/2025 at 9:17 AM, janea4old said:

 

I agree with both of these takes.  I have no problem with a person being horny and trying to justify it to themself with whatever rationale.
        edit to add here:
        and/or I have no problem with just being horny for enjoyment and zero rationale

I just can't believe there's any deep emotional love to what Belle is feeling about EJ

I had no problem with Abigail lusting after EJ -- at first. The horniness was fun in the first encounter.  But I disliked how the show wrote later on ... as if Abigail was catching feelings.  

Exactly 💯 I only liked Ejabby for the sole purpose of breaking and freeing Sami from her rapist. They had Chem out the a@@ and it was messy fun until they tried to make it more then it needed to be. KM Abigail was more like MA Jack so her being a messy smug thot wasn't much of a stretch. I didn't really take to her Abigail until the Ben/Chad affair and the Cabin abs is a serial killer story for the 50th.

Do people have the same problem with Sami and Kristen being rapists who have been married several times? I don't often deal in moral equivalencies, because we would obviously need to consider their relative capacity to overpower a man's ability to consent.  But, their motives were similar to EJ's.

Honestly just wondering since the EJ thing has never been an issue for me.

Edited May 31May 31 by j swift

19 minutes ago, j swift said:

Do people have the same problem with Sami being a rapist who was married several times, and was the romantic lead of the show for many years?

Honestly just wondering

Valid question. Decades ago I didn't understand how this works, but then I learned.  But I never saw her as a romantic lead anyhow.

I still dislike rapist Chelsea on Y&R.  And that show pairing her with her victim was just awful.

Edited May 31May 31 by janea4old

Am I the only one who hates how this show treats Claire? She's a glorified extra This girl comes from stock the granddaughter of the shows 2 biggest supercouples and they treat her like she's a throw away. Her pop pop is dying/dead and her other grandpa is saved awoken from his coma, alive because of the selfless heroic actions of her maternal grandpa 😭💔There is no reason why she wouldn't be here to say goodbye. Olivia Rose isn't doing anything I bet she love to come back and say goodbye. I just don't understand the motivation & thought process when it comes to some decisions. This show is probably still salty about how they didn't succeed in trying to assassinate Claire, on the alter of her dicktimized bird brained aunt & her serial killer boyfriend/husband with the audience. 

Also unless they're keeping it under wraps Sami not being back in time to say goodbye to John is a huge fumble. If it had to do with Ali availability then they should've pushed back the fallout of Johnny learning about his sperm donor raping his mother and the subsequent confrontation with Elvis & Sami to conceded with John's coma & death so Sami/Ali were here for it. It's just a huge piece missing from this. As much I hated Sami's overdramatic looney tunes treatment of John long after she was in her 30s, became a grandma, her & John had one of the best dynamic complex heartbreaking father/daughter relationship's on both daytime and the show. It would be full circle as John's end of watch nears, that Sami apologizes for her treatment of him & admits she does love him. He was just as much as a father to her as "Roman", in a impossible situation that turned everyone lives upside down(The 2 Romans, Roman Intitial Death, The Affair)through no fault of his own. How fitting if she called him dad one last time & how thankful she is for his unconditional support and love. He squeezes her hand one last time, calls her Samantha and finally let's go after hearing the words he spent decades longing for in my eyes😭

1 hour ago, j swift said:

Do people have the same problem with Sami and Kristen being rapists who have been married several times? I don't often deal in moral equivalencies, because we would obviously need to consider their relative capacity to overpower a man's ability to consent.  But, their motives were similar to EJ's.

Honestly just wondering since the EJ thing has never been an issue for me.

Yes in Sami's case lots of people took issue with her being with Dumbell Austin outside of the Carrie issue, cause she drugged him and raped him by pretending to be Carrie. Austin didn't consent & well Ejami fans have used that as a smokescreen against the backlash of Sami & EJ being paired. It's also not so much as being paired with someone period, but paired with his victim & his victim sister. That's a line that should never be crossed by Belle/EJ esp Belle cause Sami isn't the only person in her family that EJ has terrorized. For all points and purposes since she was aged to a teen, Belle has been a daddy's girl so on top of the betrayal when it comes to Sami it's also with John. He ran him down & murdered him after raping her sister. On top of all the other evil [!@#$%^&*] he has done. "Good dick", ONS with a monster one time is one thing we all have lapses of judgements, it's whole different thing to be a whole bird who throws her self respect out the window for a roll in the hay relationship with a monster & act like you have selective amnesia about his many crimes towards your family. While getting on your self righteous hoiler than thou horse about others.

No there wouldn't be as much as outrage if he was paired with someone like his equally rapey Black family terrorizing sister, or Ava, Gabi or even Nicole. So it's not as much as about him being paired with someone period, it's more of who he should never be paired with his rape victim, her sister's or anyone in the family of the man he viciously ran down. I don't expect much of anything from EJ but I expect a lot more from Belle.

As far as Kristen goes Brady has been called everything but the word of God rightfully so for being with his rapist, his brothers rapist, the psycho who terrorized his parents for decades, family, the woman he claimed to love after she violated her by using a mask of her face🤦‍♀️to pretend to be her so he would sleep with her. Drugging his sister ie,: Sami. If Kristen was paired with someone that wasn't her victim or victims like Alex, Xander, [!@#$%^&*] even Ben no one would really care for the most part. So I hope this gives you a little insight and I hope you know I wasn't trying to be rude.

17 minutes ago, NiqueAlexis2020 said:

As far as Kristen goes Brady has been called everything but the word of God rightfully so for being with his rapist, his brothers rapist, the psycho who terrorized his parents for decades, family, the woman he claimed to love after she violated her by using a mask of her face🤦‍♀️to pretend to be her so he would sleep with her. Drugging his sister ie,: Sami. If Kristen was paired with someone that wasn't her victim or victims like Alex, Xander, [!@#$%^&*] even Ben no one would really care for the most part. So I hope this gives you a little insight and I hope you know I wasn't trying to be rude.

Kristen also raped John post-Paris with a Magic Mirror.  Her pregnancy was "delicate" and they couldn't be intimate.  She had already lost the baby, needed to get pregnant immediately again and set a Stefano tricked out Magic Mirror to hypnotize John and John thought he was  having sex with Marlena.  John woke up the next day and thought it was a dream.

36 minutes ago, NiqueAlexis2020 said:

So it's not as much as about him being paired with someone period, it's more of who he should never be paired with his rape victim, her sister's or anyone in the family of the man he viciously ran down. I don't expect much of anything from EJ but I expect a lot more from Belle.

This opened my eyes and appeals to my logic.

But, don't you also think that the fact that they are so ill-suited means that, by soap-opera-laws, they aren't a long term item?  I like how Belle is written now, so I appreciate the fact that she is in this story.  But, I don't believe anything will become of it, and I think EJ is going to mess it up very soon.  Which explains why I don't get too worked up over it.

I'm also suspending my outrage until I see how EJ treats Belle during her mourning.  If he cheats with Cat, then we'll know that he was never meant to be happy.

Edited June 1Jun 1 by j swift