I loved the Philip and Belle scenes. JPL and MM play well off each other.

3 minutes ago, SouthernChick said:

I loved the Philip and Belle scenes. JPL and MM play well off each other.

I get so mad how much I’ve warmed up to JPL as Phillip this go round. JKJ will always be my preferred Phillip but the hatchet job RC did on the character when he was last there, I understand why and if he’d never come back. JPL was SOOO hammy when he first came back I couldn’t stand it but he’s toned it down and I actually really enjoy some of the humor and light hearted ness he’s infused into the character. Also he has the necessary chemistry with Lauren Koslow that I require from anyone playin one of Kate’s kids.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of our beloved Antoyne, I’ll limit myself to just two observations about today’s episode:

1. Is it a continuity error that yesterday Cat was job-hunting because Marlena was scaling back her hospital hours, yet today Xander is confirming an appointment with her? Is Marlena only keeping patients she knows personally? Or is this just another case of Salem’s magical scheduling?  And why did she lay off Cat if she still needs someone to confirm appointments?  I assume Cat was still being paid during Marlena's grievance leave, so this seems like a poor excuse to get her employed at Titan-Dimera.

   1. I was really hoping Gwen would hate Cat for getting in with Jack so quickly.  But, I guess we're all supposed to love Cat now, so nobody can hate her.

   2. Also, the narrative choice to have Rafe tease Cat about Gwen backstory with Chad, but not actually just give her all the tea, like he did with Stefano, seems like a poor use of an expository figure.  Logically, there's no reason Rafe wouldn't fully warn Cat about Gwen.  Unless the obvious occurs, Gwen, suspecting a mole, tells Cat a secret.  Cat gets exposed as the mole, and Gwen earns points with EJ for saving them from the FBI/ISA/FOA/FDA/FCC and all other 3 letter named agencies.

2. Once again, DAYS’ tragic hair and makeup team pulled me right out of the story. First, Philip woke up with a tan so intense I half expected the sheets to be tie-dyed. Then, in the very next scene, Xander strolls into the office wearing the same shade of base—like they dipped both men in the same vat of pumpkin spice. Custom blend, anyone? Why on earth would a Scotsman be that particular shade of citrus?

Edited August 26Aug 26 by j swift

Days was definitely……….lethargic today. Dull, boring. Waiting for something, anything to happen. 

2 hours ago, j swift said:

 

1.  

   Also, the narrative choice to have Rafe tease Cat about Gwen backstory with Chad, but not actually just give her all the tea, like he did with Stefano, seems like a poor use of an expository figure.  Logically, there's no reason Rafe wouldn't fully warn Cat about Gwen.  Unless the obvious occurs, Gwen, suspecting a mole, tells Cat a secret.  Cat gets exposed as the mole, and Gwen earns points with EJ for saving them from the FBI/ISA/FOA/FDA/FCC and all other 3 letter named agencies

Well, Rafe does love to be a gossip girl, so I imagine he'll continue telling Cat everything at some point 😂

5 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Well, Rafe does love to be a gossip girl, so I imagine he'll continue telling Cat everything at some point 😂

Speaking of which, I'm for the novelty of a new set, but can't the FBI rent Rafe an office with a window?  Cat and Rafe can't even sit down at the same time in that broom closet.  I would blame the downsizing efforts of the current administration, but they weren't even inaugurated when this episode was filmed.

6 minutes ago, j swift said:

Speaking of which, I'm for the novelty of a new set, but can't the FBI rent Rafe an office with a window?  Cat and Rafe can't even sit down at the same time in that broom closet.  I would blame the downsizing efforts of the current administration, but they weren't even inaugurated when this episode was filmed.

I'll just assume that there's a window on the far side of the room that we never see 😂

But I still think their storyline is a little DOA though... and that Andrew should've been their boss.

2 hours ago, j swift said:

At the risk of incurring the wrath of our beloved Antoyne, I’ll limit myself to just two observations about today’s episode:

1. Is it a continuity error that yesterday Cat was job-hunting because Marlena was scaling back her hospital hours, yet today Xander is confirming an appointment with her? Is Marlena only keeping patients she knows personally? Or is this just another case of Salem’s magical scheduling?  And why did she lay off Cat if she still needs someone to confirm appointments?  I assume Cat was still being paid during Marlena's grievance leave, so this seems like a poor excuse to get her employed at Titan-Dimera.

Marlena said she was keeping only a few private patients. Xander was always going to be one of them

Not much happened today, but I liked the sense of family and community that today had.

Finally, Brady got to bond with both of his kids at the same time.

I like that Brady is going to have Steve investigate the adoption. I still think that they should have waited a little, at least until after if/when him and Sarah get together, because this kinda handcuffs the two of them before anything happens between them, but I don't mind the storyline. Him and Steve discussing how John would be there for Rachel was really nice too. Brady seems to be getting smarter every day lol and Tate looked good too. His clothes were something that I would wear. 

I also enjoyed Sarah/Holly, and that Sarah tipped Holly off about Sophia. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next even though Rachel Boyd's acting is still... ehhhh. And also because Sophia's actions will never make sense to me... unless there actually is another reason why she gave up the baby. Idk. I do wonder how Madelyn Kientz would have played this.

And, I like that Stephanie got to have scenes with Kayla, but we really should be seeing all the stuff happening at the hospital that they talked about, instead of just hearing about it. Stephanie and Kayla going head to head with EJ could be really interesting. It would honestly, be a lot better than the book thing. 

17 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I'll just assume that there's a window on the far side of the room that we never see 😂

A non-window always bugged me with Paulina/Abe's place that's now Chanel/Johnny's. 

One thing Paul Rauch could do well was creating a look of natural lighting. If there's a "window" on the 4th wall we don't see, we'd be sure to see sunlight shining through some Venetian blinds. 

1 hour ago, Gray Bunny said:

One thing Paul Rauch could do well was creating a look of natural lighting. If there's a "window" on the 4th wall we don't see, we'd be sure to see sunlight shining through some Venetian blinds. 

Well, maybe if Days had money 😂

Another episode with not much happening. Step it up, new writers! Where are the stories? I’m watching out of loyalty. 

7 hours ago, Gray Bunny said:

A non-window always bugged me with Paulina/Abe's place that's now Chanel/Johnny's.

That set is really bad. Inexcusable for a set used as a home for main characters.

 

2 hours ago, TEdgeofNight said:

Another episode with not much happening. Step it up, new writers! Where are the stories? I’m watching out of loyalty. 

Yeah, I agree. Just not enough going on. Throwing in a snake that escapes its tank is not exactly exciting stuff -- especially when the snake is never shown.

I don't mind Stephanie and Alex as a sexy romantic duo.

But, it makes no sense why Stephanie can't tell Steve that she authored the book.  Her father just offered to look the other way at Stephanie's boyfriend's company's fraudulent dealings.  And now she can't tell him that she wrote a romance novel?

I think they were correct to find a minor conflict for Stephanie and Alex with relatively low stakes.  But this whole anonymous author thing is illogical. 

• Who is Steve going to tell? 
• Why wouldn't Philip just look at the author's contract in the Titan digital archives? 
• How much press would a first time romance author expect, and if Stephanie runs PR, wouldn't she be in charge of the press? 
• When did the book go on sale that it is already saving the company?

The whole deception is built on a faulty premise.  I mean, do you think Michael Crichton's publisher and family didn't know he wrote under another name?

EDIT (2 hours later): Why am I comparing Salem to our planet?  It would be inconsistent for me to have enjoyed the farchata trial, and now fault them for not knowing how pseudonyms work.  I retract my quibble.

Edited August 28Aug 28 by j swift

The friendships were on full display today.

One thing that Days has always done well is the friendships that characters have with each other. I'm glad that that's continuing.

Marlena and Sarah's talk about Kristen and Rachel was really good. The only thing I would suggest is that everything going on should be tied together more and seen more through Marlena's eyes. The effects of John's death, the dreams she's been having, Johnny's trial, Rachel shooting EJ, and Susan's premonitions should be taking more of a toll on her, which could explain the dreams, and whatever's going to happen to her in the future.

Speaking of Susan, she needs to go away. I guess she has somewhat of a purpose, since her son and grandson are such important parts of the canvas right now, but I still think she's not necessary. Does Days feel like they need her for humor or something? They don't. I'm glad Marlena basically told her to get lost. 

And, Johnny possibly becoming a Professor at Salem U? Idk. 

Philip and Belle's friendship really stood out to me today as well. We continued to get a much better understanding of why Philip is the way that he is. Their trip down memory lane was actually kinda nice. And they remembered his fake leg too lol I think we can add Philip to the list of characters that have gotten improved writing since the new writers came in.

I also really liked Sarah and Xander's final scene, and I wish it had gone on a little longer. As short as it was, it still felt like classic supercouple angst. 

Btw, this is a nitpick but everybody really needs to go back to calling the company Titan, not Titan-Dimera. Dimera shouldn't exist anymore.