Stefano corrupting Johnny! (Soaps.com)
Pre-thoughts bone to pick with the writers:
Consistency is important in storytelling. Keeping the characters the same, throughout the years, with a little growth now and again, is imperative. I gather because there are way too many characters on the show, the writers have started a few storylines and then dropped them just as quickly. One example - Didn't EJ and Tony plot to take over the DiMera Empire? Whatever happened to that? I love Tony. I'd like to see Tony and EJ do something constructive. The character of EJ was brought to the show as a villain, so let's get him back to basics. He doesn't have to be the gloved killer anymore, but he should still be evil. Otherwise he's a big bore, prancing around the mansion like Sami's lap dog, wondering whether or not she is in love with him this week. That's pathetic and boring. Wouldn't you love to see EJ doing dirty work with Tony? *rubs hands together* At least have him working on somebody's case in Salem, other than Nicole's.
Get rid of some of the cast that isn't needed. Get rid of the deadwood and keep the good actors, the vets and tell stories around more of the cast, so the cast gets more airtime or even equal airtime.
End the maddening triangle storylines and put couples together that work well together, then write storylines around them. Pair off Roman with Kate, or Marlena with Roman. We care about Roman and want to see him happy. You have a huge enough cast as it is. Don't bring in new characters like a nu-Brady. Give the current cast the show proper jobs for the storylines that you intend on telling, so that we can see them at work. Lucas is an accountant at Titan? When will we ever see that tied into a storyline? What a stupid job to give him. Give him a job at the hospital, a job at Mickey's office, or have him doing something creative - artistic. That way, you could have his art showing around town, he could be anywhere and we'd buy it. Don't have so many baby storylines or pregnancy storylines. Two women on the show are pregnant. Horrors. We're adults. We don't want to see babies crying on our soaps. Most of these women who watch listen to babies crying all day. You think they want to see it on a show, too? We want to see sex, love, drama, intrigue and adventure in the daytime. At least if you're going to have babies, send them to boarding school as soon as humanly possible so they're good and messed up upon their return, 10 years from now, at age 17!
And finally, in regards to storylines, stop beating dead horses.
REDRUM:
Whodunnit? Let's get this out of the way first. I'm not going to be launching into this too much in the coming weeks, because I'm getting a few more suspects out of the way and Bo and Roman simply refuse to consider that their family could be suspect. I will simply discuss the ones that Bo discusses - bias and all! Not that he is known for being a good cop, but his instincts are getting better. I'll admit that. I know some of you are already tired of the story. Like me, you have a short attention span. Nobody cared about Trent but Matt and I, and we only liked him because he was a fine actor and saw him as having great potential to integrate into Salem. I like a good whodunit. It gives us a nice break from the mundane, and this time, it's actually putting Salem PD in a good light. After the week we've had, I'm closer to being convinced that Melanie did it, but blocked it from her memory. We saw her threaten him with the murder weapon, so unless someone else like Claude or Mayor Mariano came by and killed him, I will assume it's her. I think we'll find in the coming weeks that there'll be another murder and I'm wondering if there are two murderers.
Line of the week: Trent to Melanie, "I didn't turn you into an internet bimbo." Classic abusive father. I love it!
Steffie:
Stefano's scenes with Johnny, AKA Giovanni, were cute, though warped. He read about the family legacy to the little adorable tyke and John commented that Stefano must be desperate to recruit a new soldier that young! Little does John know that Stefano's got two more recruits on the way!
Philly:
I think Morgan has officially left the show. She got a bit of a sendoff from sorority sister and friend, Chelsea, who told off Philip for treating Morgan poorly. And now he has moved on. At warp speed, in fact and suddenly he's in love with Chloe. Time flies... but at least he's not going to be paired with Melanie.... is he? At least she's not as vapid as Chloe. I'd like Philly boy with a woman of substance. Too bad the ones in Salem are already spoken for. I wonder if we're in for another pathetic triangle when Brady Black returns to tie up loose ends with Chloe. That or Brady will dump Chloe and she and Philly will get together. Either way, Eric Martsolf has signed a four year contract, so get used to seeing him around Salem Place. Oh. That's right, there is no Salem Place. *mopes around*
Nick, Kate, Chelsea and Daniel:
Nick was a lot of fun, drunk, but what's with the DUI? Get a grip, Nick! You're a good guy, and we want you to stay that way. He admitted to Aunt Maggie that he has feelings for Chelsea still. Eh? I didn’t see this one coming, especially not after that rant. (Watch here - Nick gets a backbone. I really didn't. Did you? It appears as though the show is cuing up for a Chick reunion. All signs point to it. Dansea fans will have to look away. I foresee letter writing campaigns in the horizon.
Kate:
***Spoiler Alert*** Dansea fans, hold on to your lunch. Kate and Daniel "Date" will have sex again next week. This, after Chelsea tells Daniel to move on, Friday. I'm on the fence about this. I wasn't invested in Chelsea and Daniel, but I am rarely invested in any couple. I thought it was possible that she could forgive, but keeping secrets is never an easy thing to forgive of another. By the way, I mentioned a while ago that there'll be a vet to go and two females, from the show. I was told from the show that it's not Kate, but I asked quite some time ago. When we discussed it again, they said they couldn't discuss it because it was storyline related, and a bunch of smaller sites spill the goods before they are supposed to, the show is afraid to tell anyone anything anymore. Nice. Miss_nicole asked about this on Wednesday, on the boards, so I responded here - on the message board. We also got into the two Passions newbies, FBI Luis and Ethan/Brady.
Chelsea:
Chelsea found out Monday that Kate's ill. Philly told Chelsea he couldn't betray Kate's trust by going into detail but Kate didn't want him to tell anyone anything, so he had already broken that trust! Jeesh. And besides, once a broken trust occurs, all bets are off. Chelsea could have gone to Kate with what she knew. And since Chelsea works at the hospital, couldn't she just innocently wander by Kate's room and find out for herself what's going on? Course, she didn't need to… Dr. Daniel was right there, discussing Kate's case with her a few days later, when he asked her, of all people to bring Kate back to the hospital. Shouldn't he have called Lucas or Philip? No, because then Chelsea couldn't tell him to move on.
Jarlena:
Don't hire this babysitter. (Soaps.com)
So if Jarlena parts for good, will the writers partner her with Roman, who needs a woman? Will John become interested in Nicole for more than friendship? Or will she end up with EJ?
Sami, Lumi and Ejami:
I have a hate on for Sami right now. The less I see of this character, the happier I am. She is selfish and whiny, pouty and a rebellious teenager, and if I were writing the story, she would be alone for an entire year, focusing on herself and her kids. EJ and Lucas would be in other relationships, so that we could preserve their sanity.
Sami and Lucas: I don't really know what to say about Lucas and Sami. What was with the kiss? Was that meant to tease the Lumi fans and give them hope, and to piss off the Ejami fans? Talk about confusing. I enjoy their chemistry. No, I'm not talking about sexual chemistry. When Sami's not yelling or whining, she and Lucas are fun together, but on Days, that is meaningless. They Sami with two guys who she has good chemistry with. Chemistry aside, the show has to judge wisely who she'd be best with. Lori wrote us up an article just for Lucas, who seems to be so unlucky in love. Read that here. Back to the kiss. Sami thought it was EJ, we're not sure who Lucas saw during the kiss. Was it Chloe, was he half asleep or was it Sami? I still think Lucas may help Sami to hide the pregnancy from Stefano, but how could he do it? Will they pretend the baby is Lucas', or will she hide out at the Horton Cabin on Smith Island until she's due, and hold big purses in front of her burgeoning belly when EJ comes around? I still can't see Sami with either man right now. She's got that uber-on-edge personality and her jealousy is overwhelming. What's in store for she and Nicole? Will they all live at the mansion in a twisted living arrangement?
Sami spent the entire week discussing her pregnancy woes, which was a dreadful bore. I liked the nightmares Monday (Tuesday?). They were fun, with Stefano corrupting Johnny. I think the show should SORAS the kids, so we can have a little fun with them! I think Sami's right and Stefano already knows she's pregnant. Stefano is always one step ahead of everyone. In fact, I think Stefano must have hidden cameras in the manse, because on Tuesday's show, he told John that he knew everything. Oddly, John also had cameras set up, too, so are they using the same ones? Share and share alike! What do they do, sit side by side and watch the boring goings on of the diaper changing and broken dates?
Lucas made a funny: "It's not like I haven't seen the goods before!"
Nicole:
Desperate and needy this week. Maybe she should make friends with Stephanie. She was desperate to tell EJ about the baby, but Sami got in the way and she cried 'Wee wee wee, all the way home'. Then to top it off, Nicole gave EJ an ultimatum,(bad move, since he pointed out they barely even know each other) and when he wasn’t ready to give her the answer she wanted, (how could he?) Nicole decided not to tell him about her pregnancy. Who is writing this storyline? Women really aren't this desperate. EJ cares for both women, and I think he must be holding out for Sami. What are your thoughts? Even though I think Sami's still kind of pulling his strings, his dialogue is really good, lately. He's asserting himself more, though the end of the week we saw a quieter side, because he suspects something is up with Sami. Stefano gave him advice and seems to think that being at each other's throats means you're in love. Hardly! EJ needs someone new to discuss love and infatuation with.
Bimbo of the week award goes to...
Stephanie. Even abusive Max thought so. "Use your head for a second," he spits out, rudely, when she rants about how she thinks he's covering up Melanie's crime. If my man spoke to me that way, he'd be single in a flash, but not needy Steph, who kisses the ground Max walks on. Still, he's right. She should know that he wouldn't send "Ma" down the creek without a paddle! She needs to start trusting him, or he'll dump her. She needs to lay off Melanie, because he needs to see the Internet Bimbo for who she really is, on his own. I don't see chemistry between Max and Stephanie anymore and I don't see them together that much longer. They're no fun anymore, anyway!
I digress. When Bo and Roman came with a search warrant to Uncle Max's room, Stephanie says, "This is insane. He's your brother." Roman reminds her that Max is a m-u-r-d-e-r suspect. It doesn't matter if he's the Queen of England! When they find the bloody shirt in Max's (ugh) disgusting dirty laundry, they had no choice but to take him in. I was proud of the Salem PD, who usually couldn't find their butts if their heads were up them. I really want to see more good detective work! My jaw dropped in awe when Internet Bimbo called Steph needy and pathetic. Ouch! Killer dialogue. Got my attention!
Abe & Lexi:
Lexi and Abe lost Theo this week. He left the playground, because chatty Cathy, his babysitter, was gossiping on the phone to her gal-pals instead of doing her job. I was happy to see Lexi rip her a new one, as she should. This kid has special needs, for goodness sake. Talk to your stupid friends in the car on the freeway, on the way home, like everyone else does. I'm kidding of course. Little Theo showed up at University Hospital, where he found Chelsea. He has formed a bond with her, which, if I cared, I'd think was really sweet. If I knew Theo, before he was diagnosed, I'd care. Believe me, but since they rarely showed the kid, I'm not invested in him. Maybe it'll change in the coming weeks. I'm also worried that the writers will find out that this storyline, though important to tell, isn't worthy of soap operas, and drop the storyline or worse, say he was misdiagnosed, when they get bored of telling it. You know the drill.
Abe runs for Mayor. It's nice to see an original Days storyline! My wish for this storyline is that they'll do it properly, with candidates we all care about, one way or another. Bringing Mariano into Salem had to be done in order to get the ball rolling. I get that, but shouldn't we first see how much of an arse this guy is, for a few months, before there is talk of Abe or anyone else running for Mayor? I'd rather see another candidate in the mix, such as Victor. That'd get my attention. I actually care about Victor. Instead, we've got some guy (Mariano) we don't care about, and Abe. Doesn't take a genius to figure out who we're all going to root for! -faithful, sweet, loving, dependable and honest Abe. Meh. It's just not exciting. How about we kill off the current Mayor, and Abe has to run against Victor? Make it difficult for us to choose! Remember, Abe couldn't put slippery Stefano in jail if his life depended on it, for years, so do you really think he'd make a good Mayor? I'm 'eskeerd'.
Next week... Kate snaps at Chelsea about forgiveness, EJ tells Nicole he's happy she's pregnant but he needs time to sort this out coughpaternitytestcough, and Lucas tells Chloe that Sami will live with them for the time being. Yeah. That'll work out! Until then, have a fantastic weekend and please let me know your thoughts, below!
- Christine Fix
As well, the Days writers have never been known to finish storylines or do them justice. That's why I don't think it's a soap worthy storyline. Know what I mean?! I see it more as a story of the week at night, where it can be told properly. I have little faith in the writers that they can tell any storyline, let alone such an important one. Hope that clarifies!
