Yeah... today was a bit of a misfire.

I haven't had a problem with the shift in Xander and Sarah's storyline, and the two of them constantly being at odds which each other now, but Xander not being able to take care of Victoria is ridiculous. Despite what's been going on, everyone's always said what a good father Xander is, so to see him struggling so much today was the wrong choice. There had to have been a better way to start this possible association between Xander and Gabi. 

But I did enjoy most of Stephanie and Kayla's scenes. Their relationship has improved so much under the new writers. The whole One Stormy Night thing is still DOA though. I'd rather see Stephanie doing PR for the hospital, which could lead to something interesting happening.

And I do find the new FBI-ISA interagency task force to take down EJ and the Dimeras a little interesting too. But I do admit I would find it a lot more interesting if Andrew was the one leading it with Rafe instead of Cat. How do you start an ISA storyline and not include an already established ISA agent character (that the fans basically fell in love with) in the storyline? What do they have against Colton Little? 😂

As for Gwen... Skip.

Sarah has kept that little girl from Xander for two months. He was not kept in the loop about her new fear of dogs or any changes. Like Gabi said two months is huge for a toddler that age and she needs to learn to be around her dad again. 

So tired of watching Stephanie and Alex quote page numbers from her porno and screw. What a pointless pair 

 

17 minutes ago, brisbydog said:

 

So tired of watching Stephanie and Alex quote page numbers from her porno and screw. What a pointless pair 

 

I agree. They are pointless. I haven't forgotten that Alex is really the serial killer. Another insane cast by Ron Carlivati. Plus, the actor sucks!

Stephanie has been totally wasted since she reappeared. I haven't cared for any of her storylines.

Edited July 16Jul 16 by Soapsuds

Deidra is a beautiful person, not just in appearance but in the way she treats others - with kindness, grace, and warmth

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

I agree. They are pointless. I haven't forgotten that Alex is really the serial killer. Another insane cast by Ron Carlivati. Plus, the actor sucks!

Stephanie has been totally wasted since she reappeared. I haven't cared for any of her storylines.

I don't know why the show didn't keep Joy around.  I assume the show wanted every trace of body & soul gone and I suppose she wasn't terribly popular, but there's at least built in drama having Joy pregnant with Alex's baby.  It's better than a romance novel story.

And, yes, Stephanie has never had a decent story since Abigail Klein took over.  Abigail Klein is more interesting playing herself on the old Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader show lol.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

I don't know why the show didn't keep Joy around.  I assume the show wanted every trace of body & soul gone and I suppose she wasn't terribly popular, but there's at least built in drama having Joy pregnant with Alex's baby.  It's better than a romance novel story.

And, yes, Stephanie has never had a decent story since Abigail Klein took over.  Abigail Klein is more interesting playing herself on the old Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader show lol.

Would the show have even known if Joy was popular or not by the time she was written off? I feel like with their taping schedule she was probably already done filming by the time we got her on air 😂

I feel like Ron would often write out / skip character's pregnancies tbh on screen. Sarah, Kristen, Joy... who else? It wouldn't surprise me if he intended to bring her back down the road. 

1 minute ago, Antoyne said:

Would the show have even known if Joy was popular or not by the time she was written off? I feel like with their taping schedule she was probably already done filming by the time we got her on air 😂

You are probably right.  It looks like AlexAnn Hopkins was only on the show for 5 months lol. I don't think I even had time to fully form an opinion on her.  I didn't hate Joy.   The show pivoted her from Johnny and Chanel to Alex and the whole thing was a waste. 

I just think if you are going to make her pregnant by Alex-use that.  Otherwise, Joy could have left town and been reset as a character to come back later on.  Now she's tied to Alex (assuming she continued with the pregnancy).

It strikes me as a redundancy issue.

RonC's out, along with his newest character Joy, and replaced by Ari, who was introduced the same way (sleeping with a guy as soon as she was introduced), but make her younger and part of a broader set of characters like the teen crew.

Ari and Joy play the same role structurally (the girl with loose morals who might steal your man), but poor Joy was established at the wrong time given an exiting writer.  And we certainly don't need them both in Salem at the same time.

 

Edited July 16Jul 16 by j swift

7 minutes ago, j swift said:

It strikes me as a redundancy issue.

RonC's out, along with his newest character Joy, and replaced by Ari, who was introduced the same way (sleeping with a guy as soon as she was introduced), but make her younger and part of a broader set of characters like the teen crew.

Ari and Joy play the same role structurally (the girl with loose morals who might steal your man), but poor Joy was established at the wrong time given an exiting writer.  And we certainly don't need them both in Salem at the same time.

 

I don't think Joy/Ari are redundant.

Joy could have moved into the Titan storyline because Phillip gave her a job.  Phillip could have pretended to be the father or Joy could have found out about Phillip's secret.  Her and Phillip could work together to break up Alex/Stephanie, etc.

Ari has her own story with the teens.  

I do agree Joy was most likely brought in at the wrong time and a casualty of writer changes, but I think Joy/Ari could easily exist on the canvas together.

Agreed that Joy and Ari could co-exist together, especially since they’re in different age groups. 

Joy could be a part of the ongoing Kiriakis family mess somehow. And could also be there for JJ as he’s getting over Gabi. But I do agree that giving her a baby was not necessary. I guess Ron didn’t think he was going to be fired lol 

And I still believe that the baby was more for his RSW than anything. He gave the guy three kids in three years 😂😂😂

4 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Stephanie has been totally wasted since she reappeared. I haven't cared for any of her storylines.

They had the perfect chance to get her away from Alex and they didn’t take it 

Edited July 16Jul 16 by AbcNbc247

Yes, they are different ages (by design).

But, I would not enjoy it if Joy and Ari were both trying to destroy relationships at the same time.  Whether it's Stephanie & Alex, or Doug³ & Holly, it would just be the same story (man tries to hide a secret affair), on different days, using a different set of characters.

Salem is too small for redundancy, even if they are generationally separated.  Which explains why we can't have Rachel Blake and Rachel Black together anymore (lol).

Edited July 16Jul 16 by j swift

23 minutes ago, j swift said:

But, I would not enjoy it if Joy and Ari were both trying to destroy relationships at the same time.  Whether it's Stephanie & Alex, or Doug³ & Holly, it would just be the same story (man tries to hide a secret affair), on different days, using a different set of characters.

That's where we differ.  Holly/Doug 3 were never a couple.  Ari/Doug 3 are at least sort of a pairing.  Holly and Tate are back together, so any scheming or destroying of a relationship would be on Holly's part at this point.  Besides it looks like the two girls barely care and are both going to drop kick Doug when they get out of the kidnapping situation lol.

Joy would bring a different dynamic to Stephanie/Alex.  She doesn't even have to scheme, but just try to hide the pregnancy paternity from Alex.  Plus, there are interesting places to go with Phillip, Brady, Xander, Johnny, Chanel, Belle, etc because these people either have a past with Chloe or Joy has a past with them.  Alex, Xander, Johnny all working at Titan with her could be interesting.  

Anyhow, I have given more thought to Joy than the writers did, but I still think she's a character worth bringing back at some point and very different from Arianna.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

, I have given more thought to Joy than the writers did, but I still think she's a character worth bringing back at some point and very different from Arianna.

Agreed on all fronts, Joy is old news, back to the present episode complaints....😉🎬

Let's give credit where credit is due. DAYS is finally re-learning how to braid plots across the boardroom, bedroom, and courtroom. I am currently enjoying DAYS taking three worn out soap topics (an unplanned pregnancy, and a corporate takeover, and a murder/shooting mystery) and interweaving them more than they had been in the past.  Those tropes may be familiar, but what’s new is how they’re being layered with each beat moving multiple stories instead of siloed arcs

Johnny's arrest/trial may lead to him being a Dimera mole at Titan.  EJ's tampering with evidence is going to effect his relationship with Belle and may even ripple into the hospital board storyline.  Tony is using Xander and Sarah's relationship troubles to try to get Dimera back in the hands of the family.  Gabi is going to flirt with Xander during Ari's kidnapping to align with Tony.

There's not only clear, character-based motives, but there's a sense of community even when certain stories are backburnered for a week.  Last year, if a week went by, and we didn't see amnesiac Abe watching Body&Soul, I was thrilled because that meant nobody else talked about it for a full week.  But, yesterday's Kristen and Gwen scene went a long way to demonstrate how things have changed and people in Salem remember that they all live together in a relatively small community.

And while we don't need to spoilers to predict what is going to happen next

Spoiler

EJ's actual shooter is going to be someone dispensible, not Johnny. Chanel will finally see the video and realize it was doctored, Johnny will become close to EJ during the trial and that will cause conflict with Chanel.  Eventually it will come out that EJ tried to frame Chanel to save Johnny and they will reunite.  JJ is going to be mad at Gabi for flirting with Xander. Etc....

I still want to see it played out, which is usually not the case when I can easily predict where a story is going.

Edited July 16Jul 16 by j swift

While I liked a lot about where DAYS is headed in general, and I said so earlier—there were two things that didn’t sit right with me in terms of narrative coherence.

First, the reframing of Cat’s motive and role feels abrupt and contradictory. When Shane first reactivated her for the ISA, she was introduced as a former analyst—brain over brawn, tech-savvy but not field-ready. That framing had a fun ironic edge: the glamorous woman who’s actually a codebreaker, not a femme fatale. But today, we get a speech about how she’s unsure if she’s ready for “field work,” like that’s been the arc all along. On top of that, her reason for working with Rafe has now shifted from honoring her ISA obligations to honoring the hospital for saving her sister. I don’t mind layering motives, but the show hasn’t done the work to stitch those together. It feels like they swapped in a new emotional rationale midstream.

Second, the reintroduction of the “silent partner” theory around EJ’s hospital acquisition doesn’t hold up against earlier episodes. Back in May, EJ clearly stated that he was using funds from Titan-DiMera to buy the hospital outright. There was no suggestion at the time that he lacked resources or needed a backer. If Shane floated the silent partner angle weeks ago, and now Rafe and Cat are reviving it, we need to see why that suspicion makes sense based on what we already know. As it stands, it reads like a mystery being invented after the fact, not one that’s been seeded or supported by the existing plot.

Happy to be proven wrong if I missed a clue earlier, but these two pivots—Cat’s role and EJ’s financing—stuck out to me as unearned shifts.