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Another week of very little action on Days of Our Lives… It’s clear to see why Ken Corday thought there needed to be a drastic creative change for the show. There’s just a load of non-stories playing out on the screen with characters that no one is really invested in, especially not for a 50th anniversary year. To think that more than half of the year has gone by already and most of it has been spent on elephant statues, irrational nanny hate and family history re-writes, it’s really sad. We’re only a month away until the new regime’s material begins to show in full force and I know I’m not alone in my excited anxiety.
Pathetic merry-go-round
This last week was dominated by Eric Brady, Nicole Walker and Daniel Jonas’ budding love triangle. But from the amount of time spent on them talking in circles around their issues, it felt like I’d been watching them for ages – or at least far too long. Last week, I lamented over the pairing of Daniel and Nicole and how I feel that he’s not worthy of her. By no means am I blind to all the bad that Nicole’s done but in comparison to him, she’s just a much more well-rounded character who deserves a lover in the same category. This week, Eric officially threw his name into the fray for Nicole’s heart and two years after his return to Salem in priest robes, I can say that I could care less. He’s become just as bad as Daniel.
Nicole was arguing that the only reason Eric professed his love was because of the extreme situation they’d found themselves in. If he hadn’t realized, it was a bit of a pattern for the two. Eric can fall in love with her as many times as he wants but he’ll only stray, become her enemy then desperately fight for her back; a vicious cycle. I was upset that Nicole wasn’t more upset about Eric’s flip flopping heart. It’s kind of scary how easily they turned such a strong female character into someone who’d blubber after men who have no problem spitting on her name one minute then trying to suck up to her in the next. Nicole may have matured but that doesn’t mean she has to lose her edge and self-respect.
My only hope is that, with the new head writers’ switch, this love triangle either disappears or is wrapped up very safely. Nicole needs a new man in her life that will treat her with dignity and respect, Eric needs to get out of Nicole’s orbit and find a woman who isn’t hateful like Serena Mason and Daniel can just leave town. He’s beyond salvageable at this point. There’s just really no enjoyable aspect to watching these three blubber after one another in this sad, repetitive dance.
Like mother, like daughter
A vengeful Eve slips drugs into Jennifer’s drink!
In one situation, a mother and daughter found themselves still at war over the same awful traits they share while another might find herself unknowingly inheriting something even more awful from her mother. Eve Donovan and Paige Larson are still not on speaking terms after the mother slept with the daughter’s boyfriend, kept it a secret and so on. Paige still can’t seem to move on from this incident and sure, it’s been two months but after promising to keep her distance from both her mother and JJ Devereaux, she’s always ramming her way into their lives to taunt them. Jack Jr. is doing his best to move on by sidling up to Bev again while Eve has finally resigned herself to watching her daughter from afar rather than chasing her down for forgiveness. But Paige just cannot do the same. After cheating her mother out of a precious family heirloom and $10,000 dollars, Paige still can’t help but nastily gloat whenever she crosses her mother’s path. Maybe it’s just me, but if I were in her situation I would have gotten my little revenge then distanced myself from everything. Why bother continuing to set yourself up for the drama? In soap operas, it makes good drama for all the random conflict to keep occurring but things also have to make a bit of a sense too. The Paige who shut herself away from JJ after their first breakup needs to resurface and help this new Paige let go and live on. Maybe outside of Salem?
Much like her daughter, Eve can’t let anything go either especially when she feels as if she’s been wronged somehow. To be fair, I do understand her anger after overhearing her daughter choosing to forgive Jennifer Horton instead of her. Paige is just being nasty to be nasty now which must really hurt Eve. I feel like that moment should have been the catalyst for Eve’s gaslighting plan instead of – whatever happened when she decided to drug Jennifer weeks ago. Was it just because she hated her or because she “made Eve lose her daughter?” I can’t recall but to me, hearing her own daughter choose to bring her mother’s nemesis back into her life should have broken her down. I would have loved to see some emotional scenes from Kassie DePaiva, sobbing while spiking Jennifer’s drink. Instead we got the same old.
Even so, I’m extremely interested in this turn of events that is a great little nod to history. As far as I can remember, no one’s really touched upon Laura Horton’s history of mental illness and the fact that it might be hereditary. There was certainly a beat missed when JJ was struggling with his addictions, they could have easily pinpointed his grandmother’s issues, maybe take him in for psychological evaluations just to rule out any underlying problems. But of course that was all glossed over. With the amount of times that people have gaslit Laura, one has to wonder if Jennifer is well equipped for these situations and if Eve’s plot might backfire. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch Jennifer lose her mind for a little bit. Hopefully it sticks.
A piece of fertile ground
Could Stefano Dimera be holding Jack Devereaux on Melaswan as an organ donor for critically injured EJ and Kristen Dimera? Or could he just want another Dimera grandbaby? Theories all across the spectrum were thrown around months ago when Stefano began to pressure his youngest son, Chad, into reconciling with Abigail Devereaux. No matter how wild or boringly tame the theory, anything was possible as long as Stefano was involved.
But this time, none of us were right! This time the writers actually fooled the viewers with a twist – not a huge twist, not even an extremely interesting twist but maybe one with potential. Stefano was not on the hunt for another Dimera baby, but instead on a piece of land that Abigail is set to inherit down the line from her former Irish caretaker. Definitely a little interested in that sudden turn, especially when Stefano mentioned that no one but him knows why the land is so valuable. Apparently something’s there that could ensure the Dimera dynasty will continue on in high financial spirits for a long time. The entire time Stefano’s relaying this to Chad, Clyde Weston is listening in from the bugging device he planted in the Dimera study. Now it was only a short while ago that Victor Kiriakis and Stefano decided to join hands to take down this backwoods mob boss, so could this all be just some kind of rouse? I doubt Stefano Dimera doesn’t have his manor swept for bugs every hour on the hour; he’s got a lot of enemies in the tiny town of Salem. I can’t imagine him spilling all this information right into Clyde’s open ears.
We’ve gotten word that a lot of scenes were re-written and re-shot with Dena Higley and Josh Griffith’s arrival, so I have to wonder if this Irish turn of events is their doing. The story is intriguing in a way that could pan out very interestingly if done right. With Steve Johnson, Ava Vitali and Bo Brady set for returns maybe they’ll play a role in an upcoming Ireland adventure as they did back in 2008. Instead of a beloved Brady dying this time, perhaps it’ll be an adventure that leads up to Clyde’s demise? Victor and Stefano may very well be just setting a trap for Clyde, waiting for his greed to lead him to his end. I’ll definitely be watching how this storyline pans out in the coming months!
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