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Pans of the Week
Miracle Baby
Nicole is taken into police custody. (JPI)
Is anyone else mad at that damn Holly Jonas for using her magic to save Brady Black’s life? I know I am! What a complete and utter cop out was that story’s culmination. Last week the show did well by actually showcasing emotional beats from Brady’s family members, viewers knew he wasn’t going to die but to see his family rally was some strong material. My favorite of those scenes being Victor Kiriakis trying to reconcile the impending loss of his precious grandson. I think I would have even preferred Dr. Valerie Grant to have found some hidden secret cure for all that ails Brady than for Nicole Walker to show up with her stolen baby, weep and then proclaim Daniel and Holly had performed God’s work when Brady’s heart stabilized. Yes, this is a soap opera staple, we’ve seen it countless times, it’s really nothing new but that alone should make writers want to move away from it. Especially after spending years heralding Daniel as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Almost every line during these scenes was about Daniel and everything he would have wanted, his feelings towards this and that. It was so damn silly.
What the show had last week with Daniel’s ghost visiting is what should have been the miracle for Brady. That made sense in only the way that a soap opera ghost scene could make sense. Daniel’s donated heart responding to the daughter it never knew and that Brady only knew for two weeks was stupid. Just really dumb. Or wouldn’t it have made more sense to the story — hell, it would have even been more romantic too — had this “miracle” been because it was what Brady wanted? While still conscious, Brady had told everyone and their mothers that he wanted to start a new life with Nicole and their kids. The writers want to make this rehash couple into something viable yet Brady’s literally living for Daniel. So who are we to root for if anyone? Is this Daniel and Nicole pairing or is it Brady and Nicole? This story was so heavy handed, so contrived and we had to suffer through it for most of the week. Uncle Ron couldn’t come soon enough.
Did anyone else crack up when Eric Brady enlisted Jennifer Horton’s help to sneak fugitive Nicole into Salem University Hospital… through the front entrance, without a disguise or cover where anyone could see her. Literally anyone!
Island of Lost Dreams
One of my favorite soap bloggers Jack Ori at TVFanatic made me realize something I hadn’t noticed while watching during the week, something so crucial to this deserted island story that it shouldn’t be an afterthought or forgotten about. None of these people are trying to get off of this deserted island! The plane went down and instead of everyone trying to figure out a way to signal for help, the focus shifted to Chad Dimera and Gabi Hernandez’s neverending saga and Lani Price’s creepily insatiable libido. The only sort of escape attempt was done off screen by JJ Deveraux, highlighting just where the writers’ priorities lie.
Chad gets caught in his lies. (JPI)
Every character in this island has some sort of dramatic tie to another. Mix those connections up with a life or death plot like this and this storyline should be electric! This story could have harkened back to the fiery, sexy summer stories of DAYS gone by but it’s nowhere near that. The stakes haven’t been raised even a single notch. These characters have crash landed but all of their conversations and interactions could happen at Club TBD and still feel the same. Don’t throw these characters together in this new locale without committing to it 100%. Being trapped on a deserted island is more than not being able to shower or squealing about bugs, it’s literally about trying to find a way to survive. Everything else should come second.
The writers desperately need to sort out their priorities. There’s enough potential drama between all these characters that none of it should have to be forced. That’s how you craft actual character drama, not the plot based filler that viewers have been continually fed.
Enemy of The State
Chloe Lane will never be a winner on Days of Our Lives. No matter the head writer or characters she interacts with, Chloe will always be written as the loser who is less than everyone else. Does she deserve it sometimes? Hell yes! Chloe has often made her own bed only to be forced to lie in it but there are also plenty of times that I feel she’s wrongfully dealt dirty cards.
Everyone wanted to have a go at the songstress this last week as if she was the one who pulled the trigger on Brady. She and Brady were working on settling their differences before the incident; I think she had every right to want to visit her ailing friend. I also think that John Black had every right to not want her there in this time of intense grief. In many ways Chloe set this dangerous train in motion that ended with Brady nearly bleeding out but did she pull the trigger? Did she order the man who pulled the trigger to do so? Not at all! Literally no one is taking in consideration what Chloe did for Nicole and why she decided to keep Holly away from Nicole — ahem, because of the man who actually caused Brady to lie dying in a hospital bed.
Eric tries to stall Chloe. (JPI)
Chloe gave Nicole the baby she always wanted and as one of her best friends, wanted her to have the full life she’d always wanted to. Would she be able to have that with Deimos Kiriakis? Not at all, Chloe knew that just as well as the viewers. While I do think the writers took the story too far by making Chloe appear to be a kidnapper suffering a mental break, the initial basis of the story was something unique and clever. This should have been a story focused solely on the two girlfriends and their friendship. Chloe did none of this to hurt Nicole but to help raise her back up to the woman she knows Nicole can be, just like the viewers. Instead everyone is blaming her for keeping the baby away when Chloe literally predicted something like this would happen for Nicole’s involvement with Deimos.
The constant Chloe focused blame needs to stop now as well as the ignoring of Deimos’ involvement in this fiasco. Honestly, this whole scenario needs to stop. After seeing the massive fallout from all of this, Chloe should want to no longer prolong this pain for her friend, I think having more people tell her the harsh truth (like Eric did) rather than beat her down would be more beneficial to the situation. Maybe then she’ll be more open to the idea of reconciling with Nicole. I just want these two women to be best friends against the world again. I want to see them co-parenting as they both have major love for each other’s children, both of whom are siblings via the same miraculous sperm. It’s about time they come together to form a unique little family unit. And wouldn’t it be lovely if that unit didn’t include a single misogynistic Salem man?
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