12 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Stephanie, keeping the secret from Alex and everybody about who's really investigating Titan could be interesting though. They're boring and this could be a pretty good messy conflict for them. And with her doing PR for Titan, it could get even messier.

I feel like we keep waiting for an exciting Stephanie story and it never happens.  It seems like there are always options, but they are rarely taken.  And she's probably one of the most interesting 30's heroines on paper with her never being married, never having children, and having a solid career.  Unfortunately, we waste days on her having sexy times with Alex instead.

10 hours ago, carolineg said:

I feel like we keep waiting for an exciting Stephanie story and it never happens.  It seems like there are always options, but they are rarely taken. 

I've noticed that too.

Hopefully, they're building something up for if/when 

Spoiler

Jeremy comes back 

That way, it would be easier for Stephanie to turn to him, if Days takes that route.

So, the guy with a criminal record is the jury foreman. OK 😂😂

And yeah, Adam is a character that should not exist. 

Other than that, I enjoyed today, even though I wasn't a fan of some of the choices that people made. They really should have waited until after (if) Sarah and Brady get together for her to realize what Sophia did with the baby. And I really hope that someday we get an explanation as to why Sophia wants to be with Tate, but chose to give up his baby. Her, not being ready to be a mother does not seem like a good enough reason at all, especially if she's so determined to not give up on him.

Btw, who was that new employee at the Pub? 😍

There were a lot of good scenes today though, especially Brady/Tate and Marlena/Rachel (in the beginning anyway). They really are believable as father and son. And Brady seems more and more John-like every time he has scenes like this. Marlena, trying to calm down Rachel, and reminiscing about John was really sweet too.

And while I had mixed feelings about Kristen and EJ scheming again so easily, especially after their scenes yesterday, I thought they both did a really good job acting wise. 

16 hours ago, janea4old said:

 

Young Will Horton shot EJ.  It wasn't shown and he wasn't caught.  Shortly afterwards, he was sent to live in Switzerland with Carrie and Austin for a while.  Lucas knew Will did it, but Lucas took the fall for him and went to prison. 

Oh yeah, that's right! And when they did the recreated flashbacks, they used Chandler Massey's real-life younger brother as Will. 

Welcome back, Shawn! We've missed you... and those eyes 🥰😂😂

And at least they gave a reason why we haven't seen him in a while. I liked that he had a scene with Belle. Now, they just need to talk about her dumping EJ lol and him hanging out with Brady, Sarah and Rachel was a surprise that I didn't mind. 

While I enjoyed the court scenes and the aftermath of them, I feel like they rushed them a little bit. Maybe they should have waited until the end of the episode to have Kristen rush in and confess, in order to give us a good, though predictable, cliffhanger. Plus, it would've been better than the one that we got. I've been really impressed by Stacy Haiduk this week though, and today was no different. She especially stood out in Kristen's final scene with Marlena. The acting has been really good, and for the first time in a long time, Kristen is coming off as an actual mother. That's another change that I've been a real fan of since the new writers came in. But I still think the character is played out, and should be written out once all this stuff with Rachel is resolved.

But I'm glad that Johnny is finally free. And that he still had no time for EJ. Hopefully, that'll be the next conflict for him and Chanel, after they've had some time to be happy lol 

And, it looks like we have a new interrogation room set too.

I liked the Belle and Shawn scene!

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même Kristen.

At this point, her habit of showing up to court or jail in clubwear feels less like a wardrobe choice and more like a Days tradition. The last time she was released from prison, she strolled into Marlena’s penthouse wearing the black version of today’s see-through, skin-tight dress. It’s been done so often, I’ve started thinking of it as the Dimera equivalent of the Horton Christmas ornaments. 🇫🇷😉

That aside, today’s episode had some strong script choices. Making Kristen more vulnerable was smart. It gave her depth and made her dynamic with EJ feel more grounded. Their scenes worked better today than earlier in the week, which felt a little rushed. The sibling bond between EJ and Kristen is still murky. Not long ago, EJ kidnapped Kristen’s seriously ill mother and used that leverage to manipulate her. So their sudden closeness needed more setup.  

Kristen’s motivation to protect Rachel makes sense, and it adds complexity to the Sarah/Brady/Rachel/Victoria dynamic. By the end of the episode, I felt a genuine connection between Kristen and her family that could be useful for future storylines.

Also worth noting: it’s rare for Days to let one storyline ripple into the next, but the fallout from Johnny’s trial is doing just that. It’s affecting Belle, Chanel, Shawn, Kristen, EJ, the hospital, Titan-Dimera, Alex, Stephanie, and even Tate and Holly, thanks to Brady and Maggie’s involvement. That kind of continuity is rare, and it’s working.

 

While I thought the trial was ridiculous I am happy with how the Who Shot EJ story is wrapping up. I hope this means Kristen will be off the canvas for some time.  In my opinion Kristen is a character who should be brought back for arcs to drive story for others and then leave.  She should not be a full time character.

It was obvious when they SORAS’d Rachel that she was the killer. Cwikly & Ford need to really amp up the storylines. Julie buying a bookstore doesn’t interest me. 

4 hours ago, j swift said:

Also worth noting: it’s rare for Days to let one storyline ripple into the next, but the fallout from Johnny’s trial is doing just that. It’s affecting Belle, Chanel, Shawn, Kristen, EJ, the hospital, Titan-Dimera, Alex, Stephanie, and even Tate and Holly, thanks to Brady and Maggie’s involvement. That kind of continuity is rare, and it’s working.

I love storylines like that on soaps. It's character driven, and character driven storylines like that are so much better then plot driven nonsense like Body&Soul, which get wrapped up and forgotten about without any effect on anybody or anything. 

I'm hoping that the trial is the catalyst for the next storylines for all of these characters.

Dr. Marlena is usually the one with good, practical advice. Not today.

She really thinks it's a good idea to LIE about who shot EJ? To "protect" Rachel when she can at anytime recover her memories of the shooting? To allow someone else to go to jail for murder when that person is innocent?

Marlena, I think the death of your John played havoc with your entire system.

52 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

Dr. Marlena is usually the one with good, practical advice. Not today.

She really thinks it's a good idea to LIE about who shot EJ? To "protect" Rachel when she can at anytime recover her memories of the shooting? To allow someone else to go to jail for murder when that person is innocent?

Marlena, I think the death of your John played havoc with your entire system.

Idk, since the sacrificial lamb on all this is Kristen who Marlena should hate, I really don't have issue with it.  Kristen has committed a litany of crimes she got away with-including raping Marlena's own son and the entire John situation.

Is it out of character?  Probably, but I assume she believes she and Brady can help Rachel more than Kristen could and the lack of Kristen's influence (and other Dimeras) will help.

And this has not been shown in writing yet, but if Marlena was a little bit bitter about the years she and John lost together because of Kristen I would understand.

I like the position they've put Marlena in with this. I wish they were doing more exploration of what a quandary it is, how she's justifying this decision, etc. The idea of Marlena and Kristen aligned to keep a secret is a juicy one -- I wanted to see more of their history in the scene between them. Let Marlena remind Kristen that they're only in this position because of Kristen's parenting and how warped Rachel's norms are. Have Kristen assume that Marlena likes seeing Kristen locked up. There's a lot to play there. They downplay their history so much since the recast. It's like Kristen is... I dunno, Nicole, someone who's been involved with Marlena's child and has caused problems, not a personal rival.

8 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

Dr. Marlena is usually the one with good, practical advice. Not today.

She really thinks it's a good idea to LIE about who shot EJ? To "protect" Rachel when she can at anytime recover her memories of the shooting? To allow someone else to go to jail for murder when that person is innocent?

Marlena, I think the death of your John played havoc with your entire system.

I attribute this to grief over John... and also a way to 'get justice' for all the crap Kristen pulled on her and John back in the day.   So I think this was in character for Marlena.

It's also why you shouldn't counsel people that you have a personal relationship with because your objectivity is cloudy.... to say the least.

11 hours ago, Michael said:

I like the position they've put Marlena in with this. I wish they were doing more exploration of what a quandary it is, how she's justifying this decision, etc. The idea of Marlena and Kristen aligned to keep a secret is a juicy one -- I wanted to see more of their history in the scene between them. Let Marlena remind Kristen that they're only in this position because of Kristen's parenting and how warped Rachel's norms are. Have Kristen assume that Marlena likes seeing Kristen locked up. There's a lot to play there. They downplay their history so much since the recast. It's like Kristen is... I dunno, Nicole, someone who's been involved with Marlena's child and has caused problems, not a personal rival.

Agreed.

It's clear that they're doing this for Rachel, but it would be nice to get a comment from one of them about how far they've come. But I do appreciate that they haven't made Marlena and Kristen bosom buddies all of a sudden.