DAYS has been better, but the Babies Rabies is too much.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

A lot of the material might drag if you are that far behind, but as a day to day soap I think you are getting a lot more character development and interesting scenes about character perspectives and lasting, real emotions like Julie, Maggie, and Marlena's continued discussions about grief, Xander's talking about his anger issues, and Brady talking about trying to live up to John's legacy.  It feels much less gimmicky than it has in years.

That all sounds good to me. It makes me think of BTG Month 2. It was slow but a lot of development did happen. 

Three years on Peacock already! I'm so thankful that the move ended up working out. 

There was a lot of Javi and Leo today, and surprisingly, and for like the first time ever lol, I didn't mind it. Now that we know the truth about Javi's baby, and also why he decided to become a paramedic, I'm a little interested in seeing what happens next. I really believe that this storyline wouldn't be happening if Ron was writing and I'd like to see what's going to play out. They still need to get Javi away from Leo though.

But yeah, Al's acting and facial expressions were a little... 😂😂😂

Speaking of acting, as much as I enjoyed Tate and Sophia's scenes, I still think Leo Howard needs to work a little more on his acting when Tate is supposed to be angry. He still plays it as a little too laid back. Sophia's obviously lying to him and he doesn't seem to be all that upset about it. But it's good to see the bookstore set be put to use. It's another place for characters to interact and have scenes like this.

It was a little too bad that we didn't get to see Professor Dimera's first class though lol I understand why but I'm still not entirely sure about this storyline.

As for Brady, the improved writing continued for him today. It's been so good to see him act like a real parent and not let his kid walk all over him.

And now that Rafe is running a DNA test on Tesoro, I would if the thing that we've all suspected about the baby is gonna turn out to be true. Plus, at this point, it would be better than another switched test 😂

13 hours ago, Taoboi said:

That all sounds good to me. It makes me think of BTG Month 2. It was slow but a lot of development did happen. 

I actually find DAYS to be an excellent binge. I was behind by about a month recently and just binged to get caught up and really enjoyed it.

Let’s just say that Al Calderon won’t be winning any acting Emmys. Bad acting. Al’s a victim of the quick pace of daytime. You get 1 shot at the scene and he blew the 1 shot and they moved on. Classic bad soap acting. 

8 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

But yeah, Al's acting and facial expressions were a little... 😂😂😂

You're being extremely modest. He was absolutely abysmal. He sounded like a whimpering dog, and he needs to practice crying in a mirror or videotaping himself, because that squinty face he kept making made the scenes cringe and embarrassing to watch. At least Rachel Boyd, the alien from another planet, can do dramatics. Better than him anyway.

22 hours ago, Vee said:

Please no. Those threads about a predominantly Black soap don't need to be inundated with 12 posts a day about how there's not enough of the white guy.

And endless posts thirsting over him.

Acting aside, that whole Solona story felt like a convoluted attempt to imply Javi and the baby’s mother weren’t using drugs; without actually saying it. Which somehow makes it feel even more damning.  Personally, although it's a tough call, I'd be more understanding if they were high and unconscious, rather than just exhausted and forgetful.

I kept thinking of all the possible ways they could’ve written the toddler’s death, and “roasting in a car” wasn’t even close to the shortlist.

There’s more going on here than just single-take limitations. First, they needed a reason why “the gay couple” couldn’t adopt. Then they decided Javi needed a secret past; something messier than Johnny’s murder trial. So now we’ve got a dead child. But they still want Javi to come out of this without any lasting character flaws. So the baby becomes a toddler, and the death is framed as suffocation, not direct negligence. Though, we’re never told whether Javi had any reason to believe the mother couldn't get her child to daycare.

It’s a mountain of exposition for any actor to climb. And like Sofia’s breakfast monologue, it’s always going to feel clunky when a character dumps their entire backstory in one scene. That kind of reveal needs emotional pacing, physical movement, and space to breathe. Instead, Javi’s stuck delivering this trauma in a single medium shot, no close-ups, no reaction coverage. Just flat lines and stiff blocking. It doesn’t read as human sorrow—it reads as nuts.

So, I was distracted by all the incorrect choices made in trying to rule-out Javi and Leo as parents, rather than simply saying that they don't have a stable home to provide to Tesoro. I mean, Leo's eviction from the Salem Hotel is also a negative mark on perspective adoptive couple's ability to care for a baby.

 

Edited September 12Sep 12 by j swift

Too many unbelievable things happened today.

1. I 100% agree with @j swift.  The Solana story was even worse than AC's acting.  Why on earth would a normally responsible mother not only forget to bring her child to daycare, but then forget she was there entirely, walk into work, and then proceed to work for 20 minutes?  Schedules change all the time and I assume she put the child into the car and children aren't generally silent.  And, again, I don't know why we need this story on top of the very legitimate reasons Javi wouldn't be able to adopt to begin with.

2. Holly just dropping Rachel, of all children, back off at school before calling Rachel's brother or father and apparently without even informing a teacher or the principal.

3.  Rachel's uber and jail trip for the 2nd time

4. Tate's inability to read any social cues and see Sophia is obviously lying and horrible at it.  Melinda really should have gone over the story with Sophia much better.  Sophia can't even answer simple questions.

5.  Johnny being a teacher at all.  

At least Rafe and Steve were being intelligent today.

Cwickly/Ford are awful headwriters. I’d take Ron back anyday but I know he’s off doing his own thing.

2 hours ago, Bright Eyes said:

You're being extremely modest. He was absolutely abysmal. He sounded like a whimpering dog, and he needs to practice crying in a mirror or videotaping himself, because that squinty face he kept making made the scenes cringe and embarrassing to watch. At least Rachel Boyd, the alien from another planet, can do dramatics. Better than him anyway.

I was in a hurry this morning 😉😂

And I remembered that the squinty eyes made me laugh a little. It almost looked like he got stung by a bee.

In hindsight, I think are much better stories that they could be writing for Javi, but I'll always be glad that they're giving Javi his own character.

And, if this leads to him and Leo breaking up, I'm all for it.

10 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

And, if this leads to him and Leo breaking up, I'm all for it.

Unless Javi is going to leave Leo in the car while he shops in the square, I don't see this being a major stumbling block in their relationship. 😉

2 minutes ago, j swift said:

Unless Javi is going to leave Leo in the car while he shops in the square, I don't see this being a major stumbling block in their relationship. 😉

Now, I'm trying to think up some fanfiction 🤔😂😂

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

Too many unbelievable things happened today.

1. I 100% agree with @j swift.  The Solana story was even worse than AC's acting.  Why on earth would a normally responsible mother not only forget to bring her child to daycare, but then forget she was there entirely, walk into work, and then proceed to work for 20 minutes?  Schedules change all the time and I assume she put the child into the car and children aren't generally silent.  And, again, I don't know why we need this story on top of the very legitimate reasons Javi wouldn't be able to adopt to begin with.

2. Holly just dropping Rachel, of all children, back off at school before calling Rachel's brother or father and apparently without even informing a teacher or the principal.

3.  Rachel's uber and jail trip for the 2nd time

4. Tate's inability to read any social cues and see Sophia is obviously lying and horrible at it.  Melinda really should have gone over the story with Sophia much better.  Sophia can't even answer simple questions.

5.  Johnny being a teacher at all.  

At least Rafe and Steve were being intelligent today.

Your entire list is spot-on, and @j swift perfectly explained the mess we got today.

The entire episode was a WTF to me, including Al Calderon's horrendous attempt at grief. I wouldn't want to see his story played out on screen, but it sure doesn't work when it all happens off-screen either.

 

I... thought the Solana backstory worked? I mean, an exposition dump of that nature is always tough, but there have been SO many news stories about exhausted and disoriented parents leaving children in hot cars for an entire workday, leading to their deaths. It happens a LOT. The legal cases surrounding those incidents have received a lot of coverage. I definitely couldn't watch the whole thing play out onscreen, but as backstory that adds depth, I find it pretty compelling.

I even thought the acting was okay? I think where it faltered is that we had almost no buildup to this. We had two mentions that Javi previously had a child, and then BAM. A normal person would probably go to that level of histrionics in revealing a story like that, but we didn't have weeks of intrigue and near-misses and half-truths before the whole thing came spilling out. That, and the pretty static way it was shot, really undercut the whole thing. Greg Rikaart had a great expression as Leo when he hugged Javi and then looked over his shoulder with this "Holy sh*t" look.