DisneyBoy

For those struggling through this season, feel free to block out the music, the shopping and the stresses and just treat yourself well. It's okay if you can't do the holiday stuff. You do you. Take it easy, watch something that makes you laugh, eat something tasty. And never let others diminish your sense of worth. You're great.

They did. I remember them prancing down the aisle like douchebags and then the bomb going off that separated them. Who was the kidnapper again? I loved that guy. TIIC blew out the budget for Ben and Ciara and gave Ericole the saddest little wedding ever. I've never gotten over that.

Did Arnold enjoy being Fake Rafe and raping Sami? Was he mean to her kids? How was he found out? ...was he even Latino to begin with or did he race swap too? Today's episode was so boring. So much for a nice Xmas Eve plot.

I liked her too, initially, but it went on for twice as long as was necessary, I think. And she really didn't have much range. Ron overdoes the quirky and lacks the finesse Riley once brought to those kinds of characters (like Susan, back in the day, who worked largely because of Eileen's unique talents). Then again, I found EJ's wry, weathered secretary who materialized out of thin air during the writers strike a bit silly too, so Ron's not the only one who can misstep with quirky.

I didn't see her live, cough cough, but the version I saw with Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti was stellar. Just perfect. I'm open to other casts, but Patti just killed it.

2024 isn’t quite over just yet, but it still seems like a good time to look back on the year and assess what we've watched, so very loyally. And what a year it’s been. From the strikes and the unexpected passing of both Bill and Drake to the ousting of Ron C, a lot has happened. BEST -Dan F’s work as EJ. He’s run the emotional gamut this year, from loyal to stressed, cruel to kind, enraged to indifferent. It’s been so nice seeing a meaner side of EJ again lately, and Dan has managed to remain entertaining through it all. He’s finally come into his own as this character and I hope he gets Emmy attention for his efforts. -Xander taking center stage. Paul Telfer was always a great addition to the show, but he’s greatly improved in the acting department. We saw some real tears this year and more range, and it was a delight. Xander reuniting with Sarah was long overdue. His killing of Konstantin and rage over Sarah’s accident show that he hasn’t lost his brutal impulses, but that the writers have found more believable ways of channeling them (sort of – poor Brady). His reunion with his mother was interesting. There’s just been a lot to enjoy from him this year. -The funeral for Doug. It was wonderful seeing classic older characters return to Salem – and I hope it happens again soon! – and remarkable that Susan was able and willing to perform in spite of her own grief. The singing of “Always” at the memorial was perfect. Hope and Jennifer’s scenes together were touching. The flashbacks were plentiful and appropriate. It all felt like classic soap stuff. Losing Bill was definitely not pleasant, but seeing him and Doug given a classy send-off during the anniversary episode was heartwarming. -The return of Louise as Vivian. She’s always a delight but this time around her delivery was particularly on point. All of the line readings were sharp. She's such a treasure in this role. Vivian's desire to help Philip get Titan back made all the sense in the world. It’s a shame her storyline apparently ended off-camera, but hopefully we’ll get to see her and Ivan again soon. -Marlena and Maggie sharing scenes again. They stayed apart for years and seeing them seemingly mend fences was a welcomed relief. -The perfect casting of the two young actors playing Tom and Alice in the flashbacks earlier this year. It was a beautiful way to give current audiences a sense of who they were and the show’s history. And it wasn’t even expected! Kudos to Sherri and the team for coming up with something so memorable and so well-executed. -Brady having to deal with his son Tate, and the ramifications (somewhat) of being an absent father. They could have done more with this angle, but still, it was good to see them interacting and Brady having something to do other than fight off Kristen. -Eric and Nicole getting a happy ending, albeit a quick one. The reunion seemed like it would never happen, but in spite of everything, it did and with a little bit of fanfare too (not much, but better than nothing). -Drake. Knowing what we know now, it’s quite remarkable that he didn’t bow out sooner and continued to show up for filming. It was especially nice that his final episode featured John helping out his son and grandson…though, of course, we wish there had been more time for him. RIP Drake. You are missed and this series won’t be the same without you and John. It really won't. -Sloan, whose performance wasn’t necessarily brilliant, but was quite good and, if circumstances had been different, enough to justify more time in the Salem. -The LONG overdue release of Lucas, who is finally back to being a regular citizen. -The departure of Stefan, who has been useless for a long time now. -The Romance of Chanel and Johnny. They continue to have chemistry and be pleasant to watch (well, until recent events anyway). -Rafe and Jada’s slow-but-steady romance. It hasn’t been a big front-burner storyline but might be better off because of it. Rafe has regularly topped this list annually as one of the worst things in the show, but he’s almost tolerable now as her dullard fiancee. Give him his happy ending and send him off into the sunset already! -Gabi and JJ. It’s been a long time, but they still have something sweet there between them. Plus it’s just nice to see him again. -Paul and Andrew’s engagement, signaling a happy ending for a character who has continuously lost out in love. Hopefully we get some more of them and a big wedding. -The return of Belle as a main character. Martha is great and never should have been taken off-contract. -Those awful, amazing scenes of Holly ripping into Nicole for being a lousy mother, and Nicole’s heart breaking in real time as she received the verbal abuse while trying to hold it together. Holly was a complete brat for crapping on her mother like that, but those were probably Nicole’s best scenes in a good long while. The pain was real. -Sophia and Tate. Obviously, they weren’t supposed to be the more compelling pairing, but with the recast Tate and the terrific actress playing Sophia, something cool happened there. Hopefully the show doesn’t make her a villain and waste it. -Fiona. I don’t think the actress quite nailed her performance, but I liked her anyway and am relieved they didn’t botch the casting of Xander’s mother. -The work of Sherri and the interim writing team. Obviously, it’s difficult during a strike to justify crossing the picket lines, but knowing a veteran who helped shape the series was back in the drivers seat for a while (albeit likely with some limitations in place) was a relief. The show did not fall apart, and it was because of their work. It was a thankless position, most likely, but taking it and keeping things moving kept Days alive. And now it's been renewed yet again. So kudos to the unsung heroes. WORST -Do I even need to say BODY & SOUL? Well, I’ll say it anyway: BODY & SOUL. Horrendous. One of the worst storylines in the history of Days of Our Lives, both in concept and in execution. From the sounds of things, not only did everyone involved dislike this hokey, lame-ass story idea, but it also got Ron canned. Why Abe and Kate would throw their retirement money at saving a soap opera he only watched because his kidnapper forced him to sit through it while drugged is beyond explanation. The meta commentary was never cute or clever. It often felt like Ron was making fun of the genre and his own job, which is weird. Not even having enough budget to cast new actors to portray actors on BS and instead forcing bakery owner Chanel and corporate moron Alex to suddenly want soap stardom just underscores that this plotline was more effort than it was worth. And it still isn’t over. So many of us are trying to avoid episodes about it that I have to assume the ratings/views have suffered a bit. It’s incomprehensible how it was given the green light or not nipped in the bud sooner. -Connie the cartoon. What could have been a fun short-term storyline turned ridiculous quickly and basically ate the show for weeks. I still can’t believe they had her talking to a cardboard cut-out of Li, or that an actress of so little skill was given such a massive spotlight. -Leo. His “redemption arc” seems to have involved forcing characters to suddenly find him imposing on them cute and endearing. Marlena watches Drag Race with him! Javi falls for him as soon as they meet! Kate employs him, even though he tortured her beloved Will and Sonny! None of it makes sense. Leo might have been redeemed into a fun occasional presence in Salem who broadened the canvas by representing a different kind of gay man than Will or Sonny or Paul. Instead, he turned into the head writer’s self-insert/pet character who can get away with anything, including verbal diarrhea. Body & Soul seemed written specifically as a narrative vehicle for him. Everything about him is irritating. He cannot disappear soon enough. -Gwenresa, which is a carry-over from last year. I have sympathy for the position Emily OB was put in, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that she was an awkward recast in the role and that the writing torpedoed any likability Theresa once had. Some may have enjoyed Theresa’s downfall, but JL made her a likable character during her run and now that’s all down the drain. -The drawn-out Baby Swap and Konstantin/Theresa storylines, all because of the writer’s strike throwing things out of whack. Both should have been wrapped up much sooner. Not sure why TPTB didn’t pull the trigger and just move on, even if Ron wasn't back yet. -Maggie agreeing to marry Konstantin in spite of everyone around her telling her he’s not to be trusted. It was nice that she eventually knew he was lying and tried to outsmart him in the end, but it never needed to get to that point. Maggie isn’t a total moron, is she? -The thwarted ending of the Baby Swap storyline, which saw Sloan abruptly leave town when there was still so much to deal with. Ron wisely brought her back for one quick confrontation with Nicole, but it still wasn’t a big enough climax given all of the build-up. There should have been months of revenge on her and EJ's parts, and Ericole slowly, convincingly becoming a dynamic pairing again while dealing with their scorned Exes. Maybe that was the plan. Guess we'll never know. -Eric and Nicole’s reunion being pretty lackluster and failing to address any of the reasons their previous attempts at a relationship fell apart. It seems now like we’ll never see them together on the show again, so it would have been nice for the writing to try to bring things full-circle and resolve their problems instead of side-step them. -The Ari Zucker stuff. It was all behind-the-scenes but still, such a weird ride to see her speak out against abuse…and then turn around and support an abuser. Because of her lawsuit, we’ll likely never see Nicole Walker again. And Eric, by extension, is pretty much gone as well. -The silliness of Dr Rolph magically coming up with a cure for the spinal condition of a patient he hasn’t even examined (Sarah) and Xander then nearly signing over the entire company he’s only just inherited in order to get it, with no proof it even works, when he could probably use his now vast network of resources to find Rolph, offer him a deal and cut Kristen entirely out of the equation. I know this show plays fast and loose with science, logic, the law, pretty much everything really, but these types of plots are so juvenile and have so many obvious plotholes it just kills the enjoyment. -Terrible writing? Can we just use that as a blanket term for everything sucky that didn’t need to be sucky? From Fiona randomly deciding to throw Sarah down the stairs (as if that would solve anything), to another forged letter from the late Victor popping up to create more drama, to Melinda the DA throwing her career away to help Sloan (whom she barely knew) keep a stolen baby, to Gabi supposedly getting blown up by a bomb in the DiMansion…and yet walking away unscathed? So, so much stupid stuff happened this year. -Melinda agreeing to work for the woman who murdered her daughter. Cuz money. Or something. !?! -Saint Ava. Yeah, fine, she’s not claiming to be a perfect person, but holy cow when did this lunatic become a respected citizen? Why is Roman letting her work at the pub?! Why is Brady dating her!?!? -Holly the drug addict who fell into a coma for weeks and weeks and weeks. The actress really never sold the concept of Holly as a pothead willing to take dangerous drugs. And the coma thing went on way too long. It was a weird arc to give the character, justified by practically nothing. -Tate being in love with Holly in general. I never understood it. Not only did they almost grow up as siblings when Brady and Nicole ran away with them to Canada, but Holly has never treated Tate with much respect. It’s impossible to see what he likes about her, and the fact that he suffered legal repercussions for her overdose for months on end should have turned him off of her permanently. It’s crazy that it didn’t. -Nobody believing Tate, and him having to be imprisoned and go through rehab when anyone with half a brain could easily realize he didn’t know the first thing about drugs, much less show symptoms of being an addict. That was BIZARRE. Especially as his two addict parents kept visiting him and talking over him about how he has to face up to his issues. What a load of crap. -Alex’s horrendous treatment of Justin once he found of Justin wasn’t his “real” father. What an asshole. Justin should have been permitted to think less of him once the truth came out and he came crawling back…but instead it was all swept under the rug. -Double weddings. In the square. With interruptions. I’m so sick of all weddings being…that. -The continued talk of Abigail. Just leave her in the past, FFS! Bringing her back does nothing. And now we don’t even know where her freaking body is, so I guess we're STILL not done with her yet? -The Green family drama (Greene?). First we had Konstantin, mourning the daughter he thought John the Pawn executed decades ago. Then, it turned out she wasn’t dead at all, but he never found that out? Even though she grew into adulthood and had FOUR children? Huh? Convoluted much? Aaron and Felicity I don’t mind…but they could have easily been part of some other new family and not wrapped up in this silliness. Plastic Surgery Abigail/Cat and Sketchy Doctor Mark are weird, and now their weird mother is in the picture too. It’s all…very weird. -Paulina nearly compromising her pregnant daughter’s health by running around town in a blizzard to find her while she was radioactive. There's one for the history books! WTH kind of person – much less a MAYOR – gets a pass on that kind of behavior? And also, she’s still annoying 99% of the time. So I guess I could have just listed "Paulina" and left it at that. -The general misuse and neglect of Kate, an excellent character portrayed by a strong actress who has been saddled with a dull love interest and even more dull status quo. See also the general misuse and neglect of Lucas, Tripp, JJ, Eli, Chad, etc. There are a lot of good characters not getting much of anything to do. -No recasting of either Shawn or Philip, both of whom desperately need it. The former has no spark anymore and the latter has far too much. Agree? Disagree? What makes your list for Best and Worst parts of 2024?

Jack is so awkward now I don't see anyone easily being friends with him. I'm glad to see JJ and Gabi together again...

I've heard mixed things actually. Everyone loves her, sure, but this production isn't perfect. Her voice isn't ideally suited for the role either. People really rave about stuff lately that isn't nearly as amazing as they make it out to be.

Was wondering when we'd meet her. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I'm really curious how they will correct course. Also, are they the ones who came up with the "Johnny finds out about the rape" plotline? That bodes well, at least in my eyes. Maybe they'll stop letting certain characters off the hook.

I'm catching up today and I have to ask: how many freaking funerals must Abigail have? Dear Lord. Why would the time capsule be buried at her gravesite when they're still waiting to find out when where her body is? Aren't they just going to have to dig the grave up again once they find it? This is the most nonsensical, falsely sentimental empty gesture they could have shoehorned in. They could have just kept the box on a shelf in the Horton living room and then figured out where to put it. Besides, putting something in a grave probably means it's never going to be seen again by anyone. Did they take out all of the stuff that was in there previously? Or are they burying all of those treasures from Grandma Alice along with this stuff as well? Plus there's still the issue of the necklace that was stolen, right? So...are they putting that in the box again if they can? Wouldn't they have buried some private items, like letters or pictures, with Abigail the first time she was put to rest? I just can't make sense of this. And then - did you guys see this? - Chad just put the box on top of the tombstone without digging! Like, it wasn't even in the ground or anything! Are the squirrels going to nibble at it and eat the treats inside now? I'd laugh but it's just so hokey. This show is obsessed with Abigail. And I swear if these are anvils because they plan on recasting her yet again and bringing her back for the umpteenth time, I would really like them to reconsider because nobody gives a shit at this point. For real. Abigail brought nothing to the show but needless drama about who gets to bang her and I'm sorry to say that... but it's the truth. She was never some great, brilliant journalist or some wonderful member of society and she dragged Chad down as a character. The sooner the show admits that and moves on, the better. Plus, I find it really tacky that in the aftermath of Doug's death, they're somehow turning the family's grief back into grief for Abigail. Like, can we just focus on the fact that Doug is dead? For Real dead? Never going to come back to the show dead? Enough's enough!

I don't mind if it's short-term as long as it's a good relationship that doesn't demonize her. She needs to be normal for a while. If this is purely to stall before Stefan comes back then JJ is just getting the Lucas treatment. Hopefully the new regime changes Ron's plans and leaves Stefan out of the series going forward. He brings nothing.

See, it's the possibility of stuff like this that makes me not tune in some days.

Anyone else feel like some of these characters' pasts are just too complicated for any of their present-day responses to neatly reflect their experiences? I appreciate it when the show tries - Belle hating Xander and feeling loyal to her ex, Philip, for instance - but as stated, there were events that could reasonably lead her to the opposite conclusion - Xander was named in the letter and is "better now" and Philip framed Brady for murder.

Wait....Fake Rafe? I missed that whole storyline but...why on earth would he be needed again?

Guess EJ gets shot next Friday then.