DisneyBoy

He was struggling seriously with alcoholism, which got him fired from DOOL as the original Stefan. Apparently he had to be carried off set or something. He tried to get clean after that, but things took a turn. It's so tragic for his family to lose him :( Glad SN spoke up for his friend. If the scab writers have the reigns for several months, maybe they can find a believable way for Nicole and Eric to come back together. The regular writers have struggled badly with them. Even their sex romp on the table and covershoot for Bella were pretty weak. Maybe these new guys (and Sherri!) can heal their fractured relationship finally and leave it in a better place for the regular team to carry on with. Sorry Dan/EJ, you're fine for the moment, but I want Ericole back and better than ever. ...and yes, I realize I'm alone in that LOL.

This sounds terrific. Is there an anniversary the show is celebrating? Whatever the excuse, I'm just glad to see the vets gathered and celebrated. Deserved. I hate that Theresa and Brady have been written this way but love that Tate is able to judge them for it. Another smart way to get Johnny and Holly interacting. I don't think she's had a single birthday since the Xmas she was born. I hope they reference the snowstorm...or better yet, actually throw some snow around the set! ...still not seeing an end to the Baby Swap drama, though.

Wow. There was a great flow to this episode. Felt like a completely different show. One event, all the characters involved getting their moments. Nice work scab writers! And thank you guys for FINALLY being the first to show how exhausting having a young baby can be. In the last decade, I can't think of another single scene in which a character who was desperate to be a parent suddenly had to deal with the sleep deprivation that accompanies it. It was so realistic to show Eric and Sloan struggling first thing in the morning. Less realistic was Sloan's skimpy shirt/dress thing. I mean...come on. It's December. Are you trying to die? On a related note, Leo sleeping on a park bench, in December? Wait. Actually....carry on. Was it idiotic that Sloan would abandon her stolen kid out where anyone could snatch him? Definitely. But again, they established the sleep deprivation angle, so it's almost forgivable. Stefanie may be boring, but I'm glad she's not a nutcase or shrew or obsessive. Tripp is equally "normal" but since those types are rare around Salem, I have no issue with either of them. Nicole stole the baby. Hmm. I'm starting to feel pretty jerked around by this show suggesting Nicole has accepted her baby's death, and then actually not, and then yes, and then no... I don't know what the scab writers had the authority to do about overarching storylines, but I hope this is the final stretch for this one. May Nicole get the dna tested herself, Sloan meltdown, and all of us move on. And let Leo be involved in as little of it as possible. Can we trap Leo in a storyline with Ava and Paulina and BenAlex? Please?

Well said and thanks. I mean, I like the actress, she isn't incapable of being Holly...but as you put it, there's no there there. I try to give new actors a chance, especially when there's a SORAS in effect, but the more I see her with Nicole, the more confused I am. It's all so stilted.

I really thought the idea of a dead child's ashes being delivered around the holidays was tasteless, especially since the baby is alive and well...but now I'm wondering if the scab writers were thinking "Geez, we really need to follow-up on this 'oops we incinerated your baby' justification that phony Dr gave". Maybe, pre-strike, there would have been no follow-up there. At least here, they gave it some weight? I did like seeing Johnny and Holly in their fencing outfits. It builds the sense that they have privileged hobbies befitting rich kids, and also that the house is big enough to have rooms for that sort of thing. ...but I'm still having a big issue with Holly you guys. I like the actress well enough, but she doesn't seem like she grew up with Johnny around (as we're supposed to believe has been the case to some degree), and her interactions with Nicole are so so strange. AZ doesn't seem to be bonding with her costar. Her saying to Holly "oh my daughter, Holly, I'm so happy to have you!" or whatever was detached and weird. I just don't see them as mother and daughter. I really, REALLY wish we'd gotten an 11 year old girl to play Holly for a few weeks even just to create the sense that Nicole has been a mother. We've seen a blanket, a very young girl, nothing and how a 16 year old. It just doesn't feel like this young woman has actually been around for the last few years growing up. Just me?

Maybe I'm crazy, but imposter-type characters should not be allowed at Xmas celebrations. Those are special episodes. Keep it to the main core characters. Otherwise, we have pictures like that, that make us roll our eyes because Bad Guys are amongst the family members. So, SO nice to see Doug, however.

Guys, after the Satanic tiki torches, I'm so not looking forward to more fire in the Horton House. The fact that the place is going to get burned worse is super depressing to me. It's the holidays. Can't NICE things happen there instead?

Are these the scab writers now officially? So Sheri A is headwriting?

....when was Ava involved with Jake?? "I've never needed an excuse for people to kiss me", sez BenAlex. How about punching you? Repeatedly? Tate defending his mother is going to turn into him trashing her aggressively. Just like Dear Ol Dad. Ugh. Chad's dialogue with NotNick about how deeply he was going to be involved in the paper sounded....porny. 😄 Just me? NotNick writing Abigail a fan letter...?? Oh f*** offffffff 🙄 The tree at the Pub has brown garland? Yuck. Please fire Harris. The propping is too much. He's Supercop now? Where's Hope to put a stop to that? Stefan, you do not get to kill Clyde. Get in line. That privilege should go to a good dozen other characters well before you. Hey, Brady copped to being a jerk! Wow. Took a while.

Welcome! Yup, it's dire...but it was actually really bad right before Ron, current head writer, came aboard. Characters were trapped in separate storylines for months. Family relationships were barely acknowledged. Did you ever see Summer? Dr Dan? They were awful, show-eating characters. Granted we have those now too, but at least there's a bit of history worked in and a decent mix of stories. The pacing is a mess, though and the camp factor is out of control. 🙂 Please, come sit here by me! ....I....wouldn't go that far. I think we are all capable of ignoring this BS character assassination, just as I plan on ignoring Lucas kidnapping Sami (seriously?) and Eric being a deadbeat Dad to Holly (though you'll catch me yelling about that on here from time to time). This version? Absolutely. Theresa overall? No. She's still a fave. Jen L did a great job with her and made me tune in. Wasn't it Alarr who orchestrated this screw-over? She wasn't available for enough weeks of filming, so they lied about the storyline and secretly gave her part to Emily...right? Was it him or Ken behind this? 🥺 Um...no. Let's not have her get assaulted. No worries. We all do it on here! And the lack of daily comments on these forums makes it clear most of us are struggling to watch regularly. It sucks. The show can still be saved, narratively. But will it?

Not to be a massive downer, but I'm starting to wonder how many more times we'll see Doug. Holidays are coming up...but he's been scarce since DVD's guest spot. I don't look forward to the pain SSH will experience, I can tell you that 🙁 She's in a rough spot.

Yes.

Anyone else want Nicole to just snatch the baby up like a football and bolt outta there like a quarterback? ...also, is Kristen still living at the DiMansion? Wouldn't she be revelling in Nic's pain? She hates her, for her various hookups with Brady... (Not saying I miss her right now, though.)

I caught the scene of Lucas tussling with Dimitri and was relieved to see him again. This show has done him so dirty. Kate calling for a guard while closing the door made no sense though.

Better him than Ben.

^^^ THIS^^^ I hate how this busted logic has been used a dozen times in the last few years to get everyone off the hook for everything. Even Joey, who got out of jail because, voila, Ava is back...even though he smothered her. Like...he still did that. Her having survived via Dr Rolfe Magic shouldn't immediately equate to his sentence being over. How convenient. Somehow Dimitri is going to avoid all charges because Nicole's kid is really alive...even though he did sorta kidnap him and leave him with strangers just to save his own ass after causing a car wreck (I missed that episode, but that's what happened right?) In Salem, you can kidnap someone and then use your knowledge of their whereabouts as a bargaining chip to get all charges dropped against you. Unless your name is Lucas, in which case it's straight to jail, forever, no exceptions 😒 Back to the point, Actually Not Dead shouldn't equal You Are Totally Innocent. I like Xander and Sarah well enough but the writers have really botched the trajectory of their relationship by making her have such selective outrage.

I just saw a guy with Eric's exact beard. Spooky.

Love ya Wendy, but please don't help them with the insanity. I sometimes fear they'll hear somehow and run with it...

You make me laugh in public, boes, and I am grateful 😊 Perfect description for them. The could be friends of Mr Rodgers... You make me laugh in public, boes, and I am grateful 😊 Perfect description for them. They really could be friends of Mr Rodgers...

Or they could just write them as a married couple with married couple challenges. Would be nice.

Nobody cares anymore. He probably will...but I prefer Xander Cook. Sounds better. Why she's interested in him at all? Oh my GOD ENOOOUUUGGHH. 🙄

I wish such bad things for Leo. If he wasn't on contract and popped up randomly every 6 weeks or something, I could tolerate him as a weird/annoying townie type...but inserting him into other people's stories and letting him keep going on and on and ON with the double entendres and puns and quips constantly just makes me wish for a Salem slasher. What's so sad about this baby story is that it wouldn't have taken much effort to make it less stupid. It just feels like a 10 year old is writing it and doesn't realize all the ways in which it makes no sense.

Hey everybody - baby ashes for the holidays! Awww! ...??

Bye! 🥳

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