I've had a few emails this week about the news item that was posted on the Days page of this site. The news article indicated that - once again - rumors are flying that both Days and Passions are facing imminent cancellation by the network (NBC). The emails that I've received on this subject expressed mixed emotions; some people are happy and some are sad but most expressed ambivalence. The fact that most people are ambivalent could be a double-edged sword. One would hope that it would be the wake-up call that The Powers That Be over at Days of our Lives need to make some serious changes; but I'm afraid that instead, they could view it as a reason to go ahead and cancel the show. Unfortunately - though I'm taking the news item with a grain of salt because we've heard these rumors before - I fall on the side of ambivalence. I know that I will be sad to see Days cancelled (though probably only because of the nostalgic attachment I have to the show and the characters) BUT I think a large part of me might also be relieved. In a way that is hard to explain, but easy to understand, I find it difficult to sit through the show lately. For the most part, I'm not enjoying the soap anymore as it is often depressing, plodding and rife with too many miscommunications/misperceptions, not to mention the constantly recycled and unoriginal storylines. I don't have any special insight in to what will so I guess we'll just have to adopt the old "wait and see" attitude.
The best part of the week was the Rolling Stones concert footage on Friday! How neat was that?! From the look of it, Austin, Sami, Lucas and Carrie really were at a concert! It was kind of surreal to see Mick Jagger jumping around on stage singing "Start Me Up" while the foursome bopped away in the audience (although Sami and Austin were not sitting with Carrie and Lucas) but cool at the same time. Fun with the Stones aside...this past week reminded me why I never liked Sami with Austin. She is just "blahhhhh" with him - there's no spark or spunk...just giggling airhead and annoying puppy-dog "I'll do anything just to be around you" kind of attitude. The only parts that I did not fast-forward (besides the concert) were when Nicole entered the scene and when Carrie and Lucas were sitting on the bench talking. Lucas was obviously using the Salem brain that day because he told Carrie that if she contacted Austin and told him that she was still in love with him; he would drop Sami like a hot potato. I believed him, too bad Carrie didn't. We all know that it won't be as easy as all that...it should be, but it won't. We viewers will have to sit through months of misunderstandings and convoluted storylines before Carrie and Austin will realize that they both love each other. How fun...
Claire's medical drama took front stage this week as the poor infant suffered from one crisis after another - kidney failure, not enough blood for a transfusion, liver failure...you name it; this tiny little baby who is suffering from some dreaded infection has run the gamut of problems. A lot of people have emailed me this week to ask if I think Claire will die. You know...I really think she might. I can't say that it would surprise me all that much. JER does these kinds of things periodically and story-wise; it might be a good twist to throw in. What really really bothers me about this story - other than Lexie and the stupidity of Claire's so-called medical issues is the fact that Shawn continuously says that he feels as though Claire were his. It drives me completely and utterly insane that TPTB feel it is necessary to have Shawn say these things twice a day, every day. They really only need Shawn to make that kind of comment once, we viewers all ready know why he feels that connection; because he IS her biological father. Why do they feel the need to have him make the statement more than once? Maybe they think that the viewers won't buy in to Shawn's impulse to help Claire unless they beat the viewers over the head with Shawn's "connection" to the child that he does not know is his? Though I rarely connect with Shawn and Belle, I really felt for Shawn at the end of Friday's show. He should be the one to support Belle while their child fights for her life. I still want Shimi to stay together but I don't think it's fair that Shawn doesn't know that HE is Claire's father. Just when I think that I don't want Shawn to ever find out about his daughter; he has a scene that makes me want to call him up and tell him the truth. I have to praise Jason Cooke because he is doing a fabulous job with this storyline!
I'll admit that Belle wasn't quite so annoying this week. I still can't stand the fact that the girl is always crying about something but at least this week, she had a reason. Her scenes with Shawn didn't bug me as much as they usually do; in fact they had a smidge more chemistry together than I usually see between them. BUT what does all this mean for his relationship with Mimi? I think it is quite obvious that Shawn is still in love with Belle. I think that was proven by the fact that he asked her whether, if Claire hadn't come along, he and Belle would still be together. In my opinion, the situation is being set up so that as soon as Shawn finds out the truth about Claire - he will drop Mimi like a hot potato and go running back to Belle. What worries me is the conversation that Mimi overheard between the nurse (can I just say GMAB!!!! As IF the nurses would be gossiping about a patient like that as they walked down the hallway. That's a serious breach of medical ethics. Sheesh!). Due to the incredibly convenient piece of information, I'm sure that it won't be long before Mimi figures out that Shawn is the father of Claire and will then most likely attempt to cover it up. I envision a scenario where she puts all the pieces together in the presence of Kate (or catches Kate talking about it or something) and somehow Kate will not only convince her to keep her mouth shut, she will end up convincing her to help to keep the secret. And for the people who continue to believe that somehow Mimi betrayed Belle and Shawn - she mentioned on Friday that she does NOT know that Shawn and Belle slept together. All she ever knew was that, when the EMTs arrived at the barn, they found Shawn and Belle with no clothes on. When Mimi questioned them separately about the incident, they didn't remember having sex and therefore denied it. So...no...Mimi has not kept anything from either of them.
To my great surprise; I actually enjoyed the scenes between Kate and Victor this week. Although I had guessed the eventual outcome (Kate succeeded in convincing Victor to go along with her subterfuge for the time being) I did not anticipate how much I would enjoy their scenes. I had forgotten how well these two characters interact together and how well they suit each other. Though I found her actions despicable, she did manage to come across as semi-human in her scenes with him. Seeing them together made me realize that I only really liked Kate's character when she was married to Victor. To me, it was only after their break-up that her character plummeted to the depths at which she now rests [though I know that perception is flawed because she did some horrible things to Bo and Hope while she was married to Victor; but at the time he was paralyzed from his stroke and couldn't rein her back in). I hope TPTB bring these two back together eventually because Victor seems to be the only person who can control Kate. He sees her for the lying, scheming manipulator that she truly is. It's such a refreshing change from John's impression that Kate is such a wonderful friend and mother. Besides all that, Kate and Victor's scenes were fun to watch simply for thrill of seeing Victor take a strip out of Kate. He made many good points, not the least of which was that by changing Shawn's blood type on his medical records, she could have been responsible for his potential death if the hospital gave him the wrong blood by accident. I was seriously disappointed with Victor though, for failing to tell his son and grandson the truth. In my eyes, he basically chose his son's happiness over his grandson's happiness. I know that the fault lies more with the writers because they set it up so that every time Victor tried to tell Phil, some reason popped up why he could not (I hate that kind of writing). And then after some very convenient sympathetic scenes of Phil pining for his daughter; Victor decided to keep quiet for the time being. Not only was I irritated with Victor but also because, once again Reilly has opted to travel down the predictable story route instead of taking it down a new path. Imagine if Victor had followed through on his threat to have Kate arrested? Imagine if Victor had sat Philip down and told him the truth then and there? Both those scenarios would have been much more ideal than what actually happened. Sigh...
A surprising thing occurred to me this week...I had totally forgotten about the Marlena/Alex/John storyline and now that it has reappeared onscreen, I realize that I don't give a flying patootie what happens next. I'm very disappointed by that insight. I have enjoyed the character of Marlena for many moons now and I'm sad to see what TPTB have done to this character. She is just a shell of what she once was. Even during the scene when she was comforting Belle about Claire...it just seemed hollow to me. I can't stand Dr. Alex North. I don't care what his motivations are or where his story is going but it can't happen soon enough to suit me. I want John and Marlena back together and I won't be happy until that happens. I now consistently FF through this story (especially when Kate starts trying to comfort John; yuck) and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon.
Before you ask...no, I don't think Chelsea is dead. [For those of you who didn't catch it; Chelsea was in yet another car accident). I find it hard to believe that, after months of dragging us through the 'Bo and Billie look for their daughter' storyline; that TPTB would kill her off so easily. A lot of people think that Chelsea will die and her organs will be donated to Claire. That's a nice idea and all but Chelsea's organs would be MUCH too large for Claire. Even from my limited medical knowledge, I think I can confidently assert that if Claire were to have a transplant, the organs would need to come from another baby. I think the most likely scenario for Chelsea is that her accident will give her a new appreciation for life and her newfound family. Hopefully that will mean the end of the two-faced, selfish and angry young woman that we see every time Chelsea has screen time. The only good part about the storyline this week was that we got to see Max again.
I wanted to take a minute and ask you guys - my faithful readers and senders of feedback - if you could send me your "New Years Wishes for DAYS in 2006." Keep them as brief as possible and I'll post as many as I can in my "Look Ahead to 2006" column; to be posted at the end of this year. Thank you!!!
Reader Feedback: Thanks to everyone who wrote in! I love reading your comments and feedback about the show and this column; so keep them coming!
From Paula:"I would love to see Sami and Lucas back together I don't want to see her with Austin he belongs with Carrie. Nichole and Tony can get the hook up. I have been watching Sami since she has been on the show and she has always suffer the most out of everyone. So please let her be happy with Lucas and let them get married already."
From Malinda:"I love reading your column, keep up the good work. I would like to comment to Daphne, week of Nov 21. Yes it is alight for Mimi to date Shawn. Belle is MARRIED! If Belle still cares about Shawn she would want him to go on and be happy and what better person than your best friend. About Alex and Marlena, YUK. In answer to Pams ? Marlena could not have gotten a marriage license, not once, twice but 3 times if she was still legally married to Alex, he came back and is alive but that does not void her marriage to Don, Roman or John and by law her and John are still legally married until they divorce. What are Day's writers thinking?? I have been watching Days for many years and know many people who have already stopped watching. Hopefully they will make Sami good and it would make for good story to have Belle turn bad, she just does not have the personality that Kirsten Storms did."
From Lisa:"Anyone who says Sami is evil does NOT know her the way TRUE and LOYAL soap fans do! They see her do bad things but don't understand why, so they label her as evil. The world isn't just black and white. Things aren't always THAT simple! Sami HAS had ALOT of bad things happen to her. I make no excuses for a lot of the things she has done but I can see why she behaves like a loon sometimes. Not one of her family members have EVER given her any positive attention when she was younger and even now! Yet her "perfect" parents never even bothered to get her counseling when she was younger either! Everyone blames Sami for everything in their life that goes wrong because it's easier for them NOT to take any responsibility themselves. Yet they accuse Sami of doing that! So ironic! No one wants to see Sami and Lucas chasing perfect Carrie and Austin again! There isn't even anything THAT great about them! Why sacrifice the Lumi pairing for a more boring pairing like Carrie and Austin? It's not fair to loyal Lumi fans! It's a slap in the face is what it is! Days has become so predictable, it's already lost a lot of its fans! Until they can think of something original, they will only continue to lose fans big-time! Lucas and Sami are a lot more popular than Carrie and Austin anyway!!! They should be chasing THEM! Not the other way around!!!"
From Lu & Justin:"Thanks Pamela, you and your readers say everything that we want to say. My son and I have been watching Days forever (I got him hooked years ago) and we cannot believe this whole Sami/Carrie/Austin feud is back on again, give us all a break here. Once again TPTB rehash a dead storyline that so many hoped was behind us. We too were looking forward to Carrie's return, but not to get involved in the messed up Sami love triangle again, that girl can't even get high school right. And the whole Kate finding out Claire's paternity truth was a joke to anyone who has ever been near a hospital. Who the heck can figure out blood type matches that quickly, unless maybe they're an expert in the field, and I take it by Kate's questioning to that lab tech that she's not. It's just an insult to the dedicated viewers, all this nonsense that we know cannot possibly happen in the real world. And all these storylines that are so darn predictable, geesh! Some final words-how did Carrie become CEO of a company in the U.S.? Does she have the education, and experience? Unless High Style is some little dinky fashion company (and I take it that it's not simply because she's in L.A.),it would take years for anyone to reach that position. I wish it were that easy to obtain that position that quickly in my company. Oh, and since when does the CEO show up to work in a sexy halter top???? OH pleeeeeease PTB, give us some reality on DAYS, it becomes more and more like Passions every day....it's a sad day in the soap world."
From Sally:" I know that a lot of people like Mimi now, But I do not feel that she has apologized for everything she has done wrong. The only things that she has admitted is that she had an abortion, and lied to Rex. She has not admitted that she lied to everyone about Jan and helped her keep Belle and Shawn apart. This whole storyline is ridiculous. I am long time viewer, since the mid eighties, and I can't even believe the storylines lately. I don't feel this is a good way to keep the show alive and on the air."
From Cindy Young-Johnson:"I was just reading the article on this web site about the potential end of Days of Our Lives, at least on NBC. It seems to me that the network has done nothing but sabotage this program and if it is cancelled I won't be surprised. If the article is correct it was in the last negotiation that it was insisted that JER be brought on as head writer. I think that is when the decline of the storylines began. I am not sure if the network wanted to strike the final blow into this once great Soap, but it in essence is what they have done and this irritates the hell out of me. I really think there are some excellent performers on this show with storyline potential that could make it a blockbuster in soapdom. But instead of using the acting talent on hand and being innovative, the writers rehash old tired stories like love triangles, gimmicks like amnesia and paternity. Why not hire the extras they need, make events truly events on the show, and bring Days back to the glory it once knew?"
From Stephanie:"I agree that the baby Claire storyline is getting totally dragged on. Does anyone else think that its odd that there are sooo many people allowed to go in and out of baby Claire's hospital room at any given point in time? And isn't it odd that no one, especially Belle or Philip, are required to wear hospital scrubs while with the baby? I wish they would make this a little more realistic."
From Antoine:"I completely agree with your plea on not rehashing the Sami/Austin/Carrie storyline. They somehow made it work in the 90s but it does not make sense for Sami to pursue Austin, when she was just about to marry Lucas. Lucas and Sami belong together just as much as Shawn and Belle belong together! I am so glad Alice believes Shawn and Belle belong together. She was the ONLY one who believed Bo and Hope belong together when Hope was about to marry Larry, and look what happened? She was right!! Alice is always right about these things, she is the mother of Days of our lives and the mother of love! No matter how they manipulate the situation Shelle are going to make it after all. One thing I completely don't understand is Bonnie. Why is she trying so hard to push Mimi and Shawn together? She is treating this like Mimi is not going to be worth anything unless she marries off into wealth. What a lesson she should be teaching her daughter! Instead of her trying to push Mimi into a boyfriend she should be pushing her off into college and in the books. Have her make something for herself so she will not have to rely on a husbands trust funds. A man that will always have his heart with another woman. Kate is a little confusing too. She wants Marlena and John together which is the right thing because they love each other. But she wants Belle and Philip together as well? She wants her son to be married to someone who is only in that relationship because they got married. Some how I see a little double standard here. She knows John loves Marlena as much as Shawn loves Belle. See the double standard? No right mother should ever want her kids to be with someone who doesn't love them!!"
As everyone knows, former Two Scoops columnist, Sari, has decided to retire from her commentary duties. In the quest to find a replacement for her, the site is going to ask for YOUR help and input to help determine who will share writing duties with me. If you think that you have what it takes to become a Two Scoops columnist, we'd like to hear from you. Please send over a sample column along with a brief introduction message telling us about you and why you'd like to be a columnist. You can send your submissions to Dan at dan@soapcentral.com
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