I’ve been racking my mind trying to think about what I could possibly say about Days this week. There are things brewing that could be good but I don’t have any faith that they will be. The current stories are good in concept but poor in execution. So I guess that’s what I’ll talk about, what is and what could be.
What could be good? The DiMera battle for DiEmpire. Why? Because it involves Stefano, Tony and EJ. I guess we can include John but I don’t really have interest in him. On the periphery it will also include Anna, Sami and Marlena. There’s really nothing like a battle for power within a family. On soaps, it can be awesome. How many times have we watched the Quartermain’s back stab one another on GH in an attempt to take over ELQ? It’s always been good soap! But here…what are we going to have? I honestly don’t know. What should be happening is EJ and Tony should appear to be going along with Stefano’s plan to oust John from power. This should not be difficult since John only got power due to Steffy being in a coma, but for some reason Days is pretending this is an issue, so I will pretend as well. Anyway, act like the good sons in front of Steffy and plot behind his back. Get control back with the DiMera family and then wrest control from Dad.
Simple right? What we’ve gotten so far, and I’ll admit it is early, is Tony acting completely out of character. He’s the driving force for trying to take over DiEmpire and that doesn’t go with the Tony we’ve seen renouncing the DiMera name and having no interest in DiMoney. Fine, I can buy he’s changed his tune because he doesn’t want John in control, but it’s rather random. I wouldn’t be remotely surprised to find out we’re seeing Andre instead of Tony though. I hope not, but he’s acting more Andre-like than Tony-like these days.
Meanwhile, my beloved EJ is also renouncing his father and claiming he’ll fight for his birthright. I understand, he wants it for himself and for Johnny but he’s being very passive about the whole thing. He’s letting Tony guide him and playing it all very blase’. I don’t get it, it’s not fitting with the EJ we’ve known for a couple of years now. I am hopeful that he’s putting on appearances for both his father and Tony but I’m not sure. This could and should be my favorite story but right now there’s a lot of talking and no action. I hope they’re going to DO something soon.
What else could have been good? The destruction of Chelsea and Dan. You saw Tripp’s and my blogs gleefully waiting for the end of Chan and our deflation over how it was handled on screen. Again, the story was there, it just lacked in execution. Chelsea finding out about Kate and Dan should have been an explosive storyline. She should have walked in on them having hot sex or at least kissing and lost her damn mind! But what did we get? A small confrontation followed by a meeting in the pub to discuss things and a quiet dismissal by Chelsea. Look, I’m glad she’s not acting as if her heart is broken, she shouldn’t be. Her relationship with Dan was a sham and I’d like her to realize it, but there should have been at least some anger and tears and accusations. This is a soap, not a board meeting!
We also have the autism storyline sloooooowly plodding along. And when I say slow, I mean sloooooooooowwww. It’s a snooze and a half really. I’m not sure how you’d jazz it up, it’s a good idea but it doesn’t making for riveting watching. First, you have Abe & Lexie, who I’m sorry, are one of the most boring couples in daytime. I’m not invested in them or their relationship, I’ve seen her cheat one too many times and maybe because Abe is your stereotypical “good” guy, he’s just not interesting. I don’t feel this story should have gone to Bo & Hope, they have far too many issues they’ve come through recently to have to deal with this, but I imagine I would have been more invested had it been them. Lexie only interests me when she’s being DiMera-like, so watching her cry and be stressed turns me off. I want to like it, but I’m not. It doesn’t help that Night Shift is doing an autism storyline at the same time and doing it better. They have a single young father struggling to accept his sons diagnosis, a pretty doctor who’s becoming involved with both father and son and a support group where you actually learn about autism. The acting isn’t on par with what we have on Days but the story is better. Sad since Higley experienced autism first hand.
What else? The custody battle for Allie between Lucas and Sami could have been interesting if we could have seen it. But no, today a judge sends word through EJ that they have to share custody. How cool could a trial have been? Half the town could have been called to testify against both mother and father. Murders, attempted murders, rapes, blackmail, all of it could have been rehashed! But no, we just get word of joint custody and a halfhearted confrontation between Lucas and Sami. Honestly it feels like the air has been let out of everyone in the cast, save perhaps Nicole.
John/Marlena are reversing roles; he wants her now while she doesn’t want him. Sorry, don’t care. We all know “twu wuv” will prevail so no reason to get remotely interested in that storyline. Trent/Nicole/Melanie/Max could be interesting but we already know Roscoe Borne will be gone soon, so nothing to invest in there either. I liked the idea of Philip and Morgan but Kristen Renton has been let go, so no point in caring there either. I am looking forward to Melanie/Nick but with cast cutting occurring, I worry that Melanie will get dumped and it’ll go nowhere.
I just wish that the writers would get something right for once. The ideas are there but they’re not playing them out to their potential. I hope that things straighten out soon. There’s too much talent in the cast to continue wasting them on unfulfilled story lines. Let’s hope there are better Days ahead.
This is a soap, not a board meeting!
Hee. So true.
I agree (obviously) on what you said. I think what bugs me the most is Tony’s decision to be a real Dimera (is he even a real Dimera? Has that been answered? With the Un-Tonying of Andre I’m totally confused) coming out of the blue. I have no problems if they chose to do this but BUILT to it, instead of he making this out of the blue decision just cause his dad woke up. He sure didn’t care about Stefano the last time he was walking around. It makes no sense.
As do many storylines. I do have high hopes for Mick but as you say, since that story has the most potential, it’s probably the most likely to get cut and she get fired. UGH.
Tony is not an actual DiMera by blood, I believe, but I could be completely wrong about that. It’s probably been retconned again and not discussed onscreen. He does consider Steffy to be his father in his way I guess. Sigh. The DiMen at war could be a great story but in the hands of Higley I figure it’s going to putter along to some inane resolution.
I hope I’m wrong about Melanie being let go, I just figure she’s the one who’s been around the shortest time so she could be the “other actress” who is still not known at this time. I hope I’m wrong. I want it to be Chloe. hehe You know me!
Yeah, I think Tony was a Dimera, then the son of the gardner, then John’s brother although I think that DNA test was with Andre, and now he is apparently John’s quasi-nephew. I would just like to see him on a horse.
I’m sad about KR, I really liked her at first until she turned into a teenset Blanche Dubouis with the constant crying about her “daddy”.
I’d love to see Tony on a horse again. That was one of the best moments ever. I think that’s what earned Thaao his emmy nod, not Clowndre! Though I kinda loved him too.
I didn’t care for crying Morgan at all, but I did like the fiery side of her. I liked her better with Philip mainly because I think NB sucks as an actress. God only knows what’s going to happen in the middle group now.
Oh the boredom!! Every intersting story line is either going along at a snails pace or has been wrapped up by throwing cold water on it and calling it over. So what does that leave us – daily doses of the poorly written, insult to real people dealing with autism story. And what are they doing to EJ? He has been with Sami so long he is acting like her. I want Nicole, no, no changed my mind I want “Samanther”, no, no I want Nicole, no Samanthar. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! And it looks like Kate is going to have a medical crisis again – Duhhh didn’t we just do that?
Man I’m so glad I’m not alone in the boredom. I can’t believe how much I was enjoying the show a couple weeks ago and now it’s lulling me into a coma (never fear, it’s a Days coma, can be overcome in no time!)
You nailed it though, they wrap stories with little fanfare, Chan ending should have been huge but it’s just a discussion or two and then we’re on to the next thing. Time for Kate to get sick, again, because we can’t think of any other way to get her and Daniel back together.
I don’t know what is going on with EJ. I am fanwanking that he’s plotting and we’re just not seeing any of it. hehe It’s possible that he’s torn between the ideal he’s always had of a family and his desire for Nicole, but they’re really not showing us that, we just have to infer that it’s a possibility. I assume that the writers don’t know what the hell they’re doing, so the actors don’t know what they’re doing, so they don’t know how to play anything. This week he wants Nicole, next week he’ll want Sami, we’ll back and forth it til Ali leaves to have her baby? I haven’t a clue. I’m to the point I don’t care who ends up with whom, I just want a damn resolution somewhere within the pentagon, sextet, whatever it is. I used to care, now I don’t. Great job writers!
Nolebucgrl, great post and I agree with much of what you said. Bored beyond belief here…and pretty confused by the schizo behavior of a lot of characters–mainly EJ. I am so upset by what’s been done to his character this summer. Also hate what’s happened to Sami (and yes I still do want to see them given a good story!). I do hope that GT and CW coming on board will help to stablize things somewhat, but who knows–if the esteemed ES couldn’t steer this ship, who can? I just think that these are dark, dark days for this show. Combined with the news of KR’s firing and the upcoming ‘bloodbath’ (including one or two vets), I am seriously concerned about what’s going on backstage and I think we are really seeing the negative effects of that playing out onscreen. There have been two recent interviews, one by Drake and one by Nadia, that speak to current work conditions (Drake) and to how people aren’t being given a lot of information/backstory as their character motivations, scenes are being shot out of order, nobody really knows where things are going story-wise, etc. (Nadia). Very enlightening, very upsetting. I can totally understand why people are so bored with and confused by the show right now. Nobody seems to know where things are going. I don’t think that’s good for anyone’s morale, fans or actors.
Thanks, Christi and welcome! Always love hearing from other Days viewers. I really am afraid that the backstage uproar is what led to a couple of weeks ago being a lot of fun and now being a lot of crap.
Very interesting info you give us from the Drake and Nadia interviews and I totally believe it. I said on TWoP that I believe that the reason nobody seems to be into their scenes is because they don’t know what they’re supposed to be conveying. Is EJ supposed to be wanting Sami now? Is Sami wanting EJ or Lucas? Is EJ pining for Nicole? If they don’t know who they’re going to end up with (and I don’t think the writers necessarily know) then how do they know how to play it?
I can’t believe that we have yet to hear who else was fired, by the way. I mean, why tell us KR was let go and not give us the other actress? I get that the vet on the bubble is not fired yet so why release, but if they did let someone go, why not tell us?
I get upset when I read that people thing JS or AS are phoning in their scenes, because we don’t know that they are. I think nobody knows what the hell is going on and morale has got to suck. Hopefully they’ll decide on a direction and the actors can start playing it out. If they’re still not “in” scenes then yeah, it’s on them, but right now I’m pointing my fingers at the writers.