DisneyBoy

Great to see Thomas today :) He's such a good actor. Love him and BF as father and son bonding. Chad can stay single permanently if it means we get meaningful relationship development between him and his kids. Disappointed the card subplot seems to have gone nowhere though. Is Thomas playing any part in it at all now? If not...was it just a stall? Something to kill time? YMMV, but Kon and Maggie are often kinda sweet together. I hate the underpinnings of this storyline because a more nuanced "they like each other but it's not the right time" senior romance storyline would have been appreciated. Those things do happen, even if they aren't super dramatic. Just like babysitting! Jarlena being kindly old grandparents on babysitting duty for a whole episode shouldn't be so thrilling to me, but when the usual headwriter makes everything into !!!MOMENT!!! and we know we're only going to get quiet sensitive writing like this for a few more weeks, I'm eating it up with gratitude. Thanks Sherri! Simple stuff like that is what soaps were built on. Real people. Real feelings. Heck, I even got into the niceness of Jada and Rafe being together. He finally has a gal who only wants him and doesn't see him as a consolation prize. Awww. Congrats. Now marry her and leave town pronto you boring doofus!

A respected Canadian news anchor who was let go essentially for not dyeing her hair anymore during the pandemic got herself nominated for a major award even though the network didn't submit her work. She submitted it herself and based on that, was recognized. Makes me wonder if Ari Zucker could have managed the same thing somehow...they aren't in the same profession but the concept is the same I think. The work should be what's rewarded.

Kristen did time. I don't remember for what or how she got out - it wasn't enough, given ber history - but it was during Chloe and Brady's reunion cause I remember her manipulating Rachel into hating her and reporting back. I wish we'd see Mr Shin from time to time.

I'm doing my first watch of the show after putting it off. I got through season one and am halfway through season 2. It's picked up a bit but... ...its not very good. The characters aren't vibrant and loveable or compelling. I applaud that ASP is doing something different from Gilmore Girls, but the gap between these shows in terms of appeal is huge. The costumes and sets and extras are all great. That's it. They overuse vintage music every episode, but it can't hide the fact that there is no engine moving things forward. Maisel has a silly quest to become a comedian. I really don't buy that she needs it to be happy. And her comedy sets aren't very funny. She mostly complains needlessly about her almost perfect life as a laugh track plays between remarks. I used to LOL during GG at the great comedic timing and dialogue gags in scene after scene. There was no shortage of funny stuff. Here, not so much. Her father is not landing at all. He seems mean and if I'm supposed to find his career or intensity endearing, I don't. Her mother and rich friends are fine but again, there were one-off characters on GG that made more of an impression than these characters collectively do. Madeline and Louise were hilarious compared to Maisel and her pals. I like her husband/ex-husband, he plays his part well, but he's not funny either. Just believable. Borstein is extremely talented but her character isn't given much to work with besides swear words and a chaste lesbian lifestyle. She's trying her best, but its weird seeing her never land anything through no fault of her own. The plunger is cute....for a second. Then she's back to nothing. And back to Maisel...is it supposed to be funny the way she completely ignores her own kids? I'm not laughing. Seriously, what's wrong with you lady? I'm starting to think this series got a lot of praise to make up for the awards ASP never won for GG. Does it get much better? No spoilers please.

Seems quite solid. Hmm. With great writing, she could be a knockout addition to the show. (Don't worry, I'm not expecting that to actually happen.) What has Xander said about his mother again? Did the writing ever contradict itself over the years? And how old was she when Victor bed her? 20? She seems quite young. Victor must have had 40 years on her.

Welcome! Marlena still gets possessed on occasion, for old time's sake. Victor passed away last year and his illegitimate son, Xander, is unaware that the man who tortured him and kept his paternity a secret for decades is actually his father. May I pour you a drink? After meeting some of the new characters, you might need one.

What's this...? Audiences don't enjoy plotlines that ruin well-established characters completely by having them do inane and idiotic things for months on end to force drama? *Drops Daytime Emmy Award* Question: what did Kon say to justify him staying in the US? What's his cover story? We know he wants to get Maggie's money, but what explanation did he invent to cover for suddenly abandoning his restaurant and life in Greece?

I just read this and couldn't hazard a guess as to what material they submitted to justify nominations. They're very random choices. Neither were standouts. Who would you have rather seen nominated? Based on last year, maybe Nadia/Chloe for Lead Actress? Her storyline with Xander was dumb but her performances were very solid. I'm not sure who to even suggest for Lead Actor. Is that really how it works? Yeesh. Her work these last few months has been good to great. Her episode admonishing Holly a few weeks ago was excellent. Her mourning her baby was good too. I could easily see her getting nominated for those scenes.

Excellent question. I'm personally sick of Sloan's skimpy bathrobe dresses in winter. We get it - she's thin! She's sexy! She's also a lawyer looking for clients and a Mom and newly married! ...though I did like the 80s shoulderpads on her court blazer last week.

I hate Leo. I think under different circumstances I could enjoy this type of character, but I really don't. He's an awful person no matter how you look at him, rattling off indulgent dialogue constantly and yet still being tolerated by people who should want him to shut up and go away. And somehow, he's the only gay representation this show still has? Seriously? How did that happen? Even the Fairy Godfather joke he keeps making is awful. He's wedged into stories he has no place being in.

Good point. And really, running around chasing stories? At her age? Nicole lives with a millionaire (and would get a nice settlement, hopefully, out of a divorce from him) and has her possibly-drug-addicted daughter to keep an eye on. I'd think whatever she was doing at Basic Black would be less stressful than that.

Some weird stuff in today's episode... -Nicole's been looking after Holly for "a year"? Shouldn't that be "all year", since she only got sick on January 1? -Isn't it a stretch for Nicole to personally dislike Stefan since Holly never said she got the drugs from him, and he's hardly the first or only drug dealer to operate in Salem? -Chad interviewing EJ about their family, even though it was called-out in the dialogue, is weird as hell. Chad was never a reporter for one thing, and for another, he had to know EJ wouldn't answer his stupid question. The DiMeras all bail each other out. -Why did Julie and Johnny think letting Paulina leave voicemails would be worse than answering her calls? She called THREE TIMES IN THIRTY MINUTES. Let the voicemail deal with her annoying ass. -Since when is an intelligent 20-something year old woman incapable of walking through the snow for half an hour without killing herself? It's insane that they were panicking this much. On a separate note, Stefan as played by BB has never, ever been threatening or intimidating. His "surprising" escape from justice was in no way a shocker because when he walks up I always expect him to ask me to pass him a beer. He can't make a big "villain entrance" because he's not a compelling villain. He can frown all he likes, but I still just see a Jake...not a Stefan. Can we please let this character go already? I will say, on the plus side, as much as everyone rags on her, I am glad to see Julie getting a fun misadventure storyline. She's a veteran character who tends to pop up here and there, and rarely get anything of substance to do. She shouldn't have intruded on the honeymoon, but it's nice to see her being Julie and having a life.

Wasn't she a reporter when Xander first came to town? Yeah, come on Show, give the man at one leg to stand on! Couldn't he have blossomed into a hotshot photographer again? Why is Eric so utterly useless? It feels like they're doing it on purpose.

I just realized Annalyn McCord doesn't appear in that group photo...wasn't she hired for a full year?

*glances at RSW, JH, GR, SH and GG* That certainly USED to be the case...

Oddly, artificially blonde Abigail was more tolerable than greasy brunette Abigail in the long run. That was due to the writing more than anything, I suppose, but seriously, was I the only one who found her brown hair constantly looked greasy? Maybe it was the product they used on it. The less said about her black hair, the better.

If it is Ari coming back...do folks think she should be blonde or brunette? I know there have been a lot of young blondes in Salem these last few years (Alli, Holly, Claire, etc) but I really liked that Ari took after Will visually. Then they made the change to have her take after Gabi and I was slightly bummed.

I busted out laughing at the end of this trailer!!! "She's RADIOACTIVE!" 🤣 Yes Doc. Yes, she is. Maybe she can bump into Ava, BenAlex and a few of the other irritating residents during her search?

I think a better soap would find all the nuances and explore the shame, anger and disappointment and likely help Telfer land a Daytime Emmy. With DAYS and Ron, I doubt we're going to get all that. There's potential for sure. Hopefully it isn't squandered.

When did she have an election? If I was in Salem, I wouldn't want either of them as Mayor. She's nearly the destroyed the town, and he's still supportive of her. No thanks! Whaaaa......!? 😅 For reals? Like, if he didn't want to take out the trash, she'd just wave a picture in front of him and trigger his brainwashing??! And what's a pagoda got to do with it? I've never seen the card up close so I'm a bit lost. LOL

Dang. I hoped Sloan would stick around for months of fallout. But then, they've kinda already made her into a retread of Kristen from the 90s, so maybe it's best that she isn't kept around indefinitely to just spiral, as so many of the lovesick females tend to on this show. I don't follow Belinda's content really so thanks for that clarification! I still hope they wrap up this Jude nonsense in May, though. It's dragged on forever. It's one of those storylines that could have lasted 8 weeks, or been in the background for a decade waiting to be resolved. This is neither. I'd hoped when Sherri took over that Ken would have been okay with her wrapping up Ron's stories as-needed, but apparently not. A shame. Could someone apologize to me? That kitchen utensil scene was so unbelievably dumb that I felt like my brain cells were being fried watching it.

Who is that older gal with the shorter reddish hair on the left? She looks familiar... (Edit: Marie Horton?) Honestly now after watching that, I think they just didn't bother with Hope and Bo because of the money they would want, and put those funds to use getting the rest of the actors to return. Guess they figure Shawn and Ciara and Belle cover it. SS is way in the back on the right (hi Cass!) and yup, Ava and Stefan are there too. No sign of SH as Kristen though.... Relieved. Sorry Emily. They had nothing good for you to do in Salem. I saw a pic on social media of New Gabi with some new guy....anyone else see it? He had a cropped tshirt. Looked like he could be a new Sonny maybe but they just announced his real name and nothing else (Al something). There's a pic of Cass and Paulina together on social media....so awesome to see them together again!

I thought I'd heard that the main plots weren't getting resolved until July...but Belinda at Soap Dirt on YT is saying May Sweeps is when the baby switch comes out? I'd like that because maybe it would mean there's still time for some kind of Ericole reunion...but I'm not sure when Nicole is gone. Since we've heard nothing about Greg V leaving is it safe to assume he is staying? I would have enjoyed (or rather, settled for) Eric, Holly, Jude (or whatever his name will be) and Nicole all leaving town together for a few months...and then maybe Holly and Eric "visiting" since their contracts probably aren't up. Nicole leaving on her own is messed up. Dying even worse.

Oh fully - Jack (and Laura) were wrecked for stupid Gwen by the awful writing. Of course, I still find in general that Matt is overeager in most scenes, even going back to the 00s. He and Paulina would be very unbearable.

Matt's acting was abysmal in his last returns? No offense intended to his fans but...it was. He's a legacy character, sure, but he and Cady were well-matched in their ability to weird me out in all their scenes. I cringed. The others are also not fun to watch. It was a Not Fun To Watch list 😄 Also not fun/cringy to watch: Bryan really has a gentle handsomeness though that contrasts nicely with the (sorry gents) slightly more douchy energy some of the others put out. Eric needed to stay out of the sun for two months before the shoot. Paul needed to smile a little less and let his massive frame do the talking. RSW needed to....you know what? I'll let you fill in the blank for yourselves! Did the ladies ever do something similar? A Maxim spread maybe?