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I think they were referencing Gabi's father, now in jail. They had Gabi and Kate talking about how intense Kate's feelings were for him a few weeks back. It makes no sense. They barely dated on-and-off much less fell in love. I haven't heard Kate say a thing about Rafe in years.

Please tell me what it is you enjoy about them. It might help me endure this. The only thing I see that might be appealing is that they are "pretty" together, but to me they sort of look like they're related ...so that's obviously kind of weird...

How is Brady still employed at Titan after f-ing off to Canada a few short weeks ago with no intention of returning? The nepotism in Salem is sickening.

There's been worse? I found as I watched the first few episodes of this season that I was really shocked at how all over the place the designs were. Half the time it seemed like the contestants didn't even know how to succeed at the challenges even when they were relatively straightforward. I've only made it to episode 9 so I still have a ways to go but I honestly can't stand Bert and Joshua and all of drama that they create. I wish you all hadn't spoiled who wins this season but oh well, I guess that's the price of me showing up so late to the party.

Rafe hasn't been interesting since he nearly lost his Peter Reckell for having boinked Stefano's woman. :P And thank you for the compliment. Believe me I would write something completely different if it was entirely up to me, but just from all of the spoilers and tidbits I've read, this seems like a likely course. I'm trying not to get my expectations up. Knowing this show they could just as easily bring Kristen back one more time to fall out a different window after slobbering all over Brady and acting nuts. I really really hope they don't. Eileen is capable of giving really nuanced performances and Kristen is at her best when she's a human and not a cartoon. Plus, I'd rather see them develop Susan or her brother or her sister for now. I think they need to have a really good plan before they bring Kristin back. And I am hoping that they keep Will around for longer than just a couple of weeks.

Fair point. I guess I just like Hope enough that I don't want her to be stuck with Rafe. Quite a step down from Bo and Aiden 1.0. Would you be happy watching the show if I was a writer? I'm pretty sure the internal politics are what sabotage Days more often than the talents of those writing the scripts. The show often has good ideas the same way they often cast good actors but don't give them the chance to shine.

If there any problems with a writer's strike or an actor strike stemming from Union negotiations, at least DAYS will have 6 months of material in the can to hold them over. Just trying to look on the bright side of things even though I agree with you. When is Billy Flynn's contract up? I can't imagine he would want to stay with the show if it continues struggling the way it has and he's trapped in crappy storylines the way he has been for the last year. I honestly hope he stays until the show gets canceled because he's one of the few really good actors they have, even if I'm a little bored with him right now. He's better than Lani, Jade, Joey and even Sonny combined.

I'll admit the situation with Theo is far from a big problem. The character is likeable and pretty much works as far as I'm concerned but I don't think he does well in these romantic plot lines. Maybe I'm just doubting that Kyler is acting all that much in his scenes and suspecting that Kyler himself is gay, which is really neither here nor there and not even worth speculating about. But as it stands, I just think the show will be better off exploring Theo's autism in a non-romantic sense and keeping his character limited to relationships with his siblings, Abe and other friends. I would much rather have a storyline right now about what kind of career Theo is interested in pursuing thsn about how he's waffling between these two girls. Seriously, what is Theo going to be doing for money in the next few years? The show often forgets that it's young characters should be pursuing their education and struggling to find work. I disliked how Will's life just sort of kind of fell into place without any specific focus. In the last year or so they tried to make him into a writer but that felt very haphazard. I definitely hold out hope that Claire will become interesting again because last year when she was hoping her parents would get back together and blaming her mother for screwing up their family at least I could understand who she was. The current incarnation just feels really confused. And she's definitely not likeable which is a shame. Yeah see I just watched that episode yesterday and nowhere in the explanation did Nicole state that she kissed Eric - just that they woke up in bed together and that's when Brady's just shrugged it off. Of course I was watching it as I was falling asleep so maybe I'm not remembering it correctly. I don't see Joey crushing on Tripp (LOL) but I am officially behind this new actor being a permanent part of the cast. He really fits in with Steve and Kayla and if they can manage to excise any references of Ava from his plotlines in the future I think they will have a new leading man akin to Billy Flynn or Greg Vaughan. I just so hate that he's connected to Ava. Hopefully wrong will realize what a find he is and do some course corrections before trip ends up becoming the new Jade.

It's really fun reading all of your stories but I have to ask - what's the danger with raw eggs now versus raw eggs 20 years ago? Is there something I should know? I assumed you could still eat raw hamburger meat or raw cookie dough so long as you haven't left it out on the counter or in a bowl unrefrigerated for too long. I have to say, I was raised to be very careful so I can't claim to have had any of these experiences that the rest of you guys did, LOL. It sounds very freeing to have just been dropped off at the movie theaters to do as you please at the age of 11 or hitchhike to the beach. I wish we could trust people and let kids run free like that.... Does couch surfing at a total stranger's place or taking a cross-border lift with a stranger count? Okay then, maybe I have been a little daring at times...

I have to really recommend a documentary about the Superman film that was never made called The Death of Superman Lives. It's quite a few years old now but it's a really awesome look at the Nicolas Cage Superman movie that got pretty far into production. Some of you may have heard Kevin Smith talking about it over the years and how he was directed to write a big polar bear fight into the script. His anecdote is funny and in the movie but what I really liked about the documentary was the wealth of pre-production artwork that was really interesting. I don't think the film would have been a hit if it had been released but it certainly would have been an interesting spectacle and our first look at the character of Brainiac who has yet to make it to the big screen for some reason. I also stumbled upon a documentary about the Hollywood actor Billy Hayes on YT, though I think it was just a made-for-tv doc. I had never heard about the actor but he was openly gay in the early days of Hollywood and basically pushed out of the business for it, in spite of being a big box office draw. He ended up having his second career as a designer of celebrity homes while staying with the same partner throughout those years. Apparently he told the studio head who wanted him to marry a woman and stop being openly gay that he would only leave his partner if the studio head left his own wife. LOL that takes serious guts. I think I'm interested in documentaries having to do with Hollywood and pop culture. Did any of you watch that documentary about the guy who wanted a date with Drew Barrymore? Obviously they didn't end up happily married but I was wondering if this thing was just a goofy film or something worth checking out...

In my ongoing excitement and anticipation of Will, Sami and Eileen Davidson's returns, I thought I would post my ideal situation for that upcoming storyline. Maybe this belongs in a predictions thread but since it's all based on the spoilers that have leaked so far I figured I would post it here. Since we know Sami is going to be making one string of appearances then taking a break and returning for a second string of appearances, my guess is that in her first arc she would be returning to town either for John and Marlena's wedding or Hope and Rafe's. Ideally, I would like for Sami to call Hope out on marrying her ex-husband which is kind of creepy and weird, and it would be even better if Kate got in on the action (having boinked Rafe) and cause Hope to reconsider the whole thing (full disclosure: I hate Rope.) I would also love it if Sami's return allowed for her to spar a little bit with Nicole before Zucker leaves the show. Perhaps they could have a flare-up over Nicole's affair with Eric and Brady (I'm just going to go ahead and assume here that Eric and Nicole are going to hook up before she leaves town and a triangle will ensue.) By that point, I assume that Sonny and Paul are going to be getting together. I could see Sami having to give her blessing to that and then choosing to leave town to pursue some other lead in her ongoing search for EJ. This would probably be about the time that Will would start to enter the picture. From what we already know it's likely he will be brainwashed so perhaps he could start lurking around town and Sonny could start getting weird feelings and then as the date of Sonny and Paul's wedding approaches people could start getting glimpses of someone who might be Will. Marlena could reach out to Sami and Sami could come back in town for the official wedding only to get the shock of a lifetime when Will walks in and interrupts Paul and Sonny's I do's. This would be the start of her second stint. Sami would have pursued some lead for EJ to Tennessee during her break, having heard of some doctor that can bring people back from the dead. With Will in hand she would go back there and end up figuring out that the person that she had heard about was Rolfe, who comes clean about having brainwashed Will for Stefano for whatever reason. And at this point we would see Susan Banks Crumb re-emerge. We would hear that she had learned from Marlena about Sami's attempts to find EJ and gone to Tennessee herself to see what she could dig up. She would still blame Sami for EJ's death and be very disappointed to learn from Rolfe that EJ is in fact dead and gone and was not saved by him or Stefano. The fact that Sami got her son back would initially infuriate Susan but once they returned to Salem, Susan would eventually realize she's glad at least one of them was able to reunite with their child since she understands the grief Sami must have been feeling. Knowing she has to return to her other children, Sami would leave Will with Marlena and John and depart to tell her other kids their father really wasn't going to come home after all. At this point we would learn Susan has actually been Kristen in disguise the whole time as she speaks with Rolfe about his mistakes that lead to Sami tracking him down in the first place. Since first receiving Rolfe's assistance, Kristen has been keeping EJ alive overseas with Stefano's help and they can never be discovered. Rolfe promises to keep his mouth shut and "Susan" leaves town again. Sonny would be deeply troubled by Will's resurrection and him being a different person now would make it impossible for them to restart their relationship. Paul would be mistrusting of Will and eager to move forward with his new life with Sonny. In the end Sonny would end up choosing to leave town after helping Will regain some of his memories. Will would do the same to spend time with Sami and his siblings, leaving Paul alone on the canvas. .... that's basically kind of how I see it playing out. Obviously I have no idea which characters are showing up when, but from the bits and pieces we've heard so far, I kind of see this as the best case scenario. I am totally over the character of Sonny and especially Freddy's take on him. I think Paul is viable if he's freed up to pursue other stories in the future and since Will isn't staying indefinitely, I could see both him and Sonny going their separate ways and leaving town and Paul taking his life in a new direction.

True, but Theo (or Kyler...or his acting approach?) overall is giving some folks that vibe. It doesn't help matters that Claire hasn't been given a clear motivation for wanting to be with him, making the whole relationship seem even more artificial. I don't think it's hard to imagine that he's adjusting to his sexuality gradually and in two years time for him end up coming out. Is no one else seeing shades of Will here? Admittedly this is a TV show so they're probably not going in that direction because if they were it would be much more overt but still... It's just not working for me to see him as a straight character interested in women. Although I also think they've done a terrible job of defining his autism... Bingo. Last time Theo had anything autistic going on was during that panic attack last fall when he was looking after Thomas and Ariana. I even remember that feeling like it came out of the blue and was an awkward way on Dena's part to say "We haven't forgotten he's autistic - see!!!" Since then, I can't think of a thing he's done subtly or otherwise that made me think he was autistic. And he has been having plenty of contact with people. Better writers would have absolutely taking the time to explore how he would deal with all of the touching of sex and whether or not that would be a difficult boundary for him to overcome for the sake of his relationship. ...anyway, today. Eli rolling his eyes in the background of scenes is making me love him. Him rolling his eyes today at Lani volunteering to be hypnotized was fun and I seem to recall he also rolled his eyes at some of the shenanigans happening during the Martin house drugging. I don't care if it's not in the script - I appreciate it. We are not alone in hating this writing! Eli speaks for the people :) Maybe they can make him be the character on the show who calls everyone out on their stupidity. I can't with Hope's comments about Rafe treating "the children" well. How much contact have Rafe and Shawn even had the last two years? The only time I can think of Rafe having any influence over Ciarra was when he was trying to tell her not to be mad at her mother for killing Stefano. Hope, your kids are grown-ass adults who have no use for Rafe! What grown woman in her presumably late 50s would be sitting there talking about how nice it is that Rafe traits the children well? Brady suddenly getting jealous of Eric is beyond absurd. Again: could these characters act like adults who have lived the lives we've seen them living? Nicole was with Eric first when Brady was still a child. Brady got involved with Nicole knowing how long she spent trying to get Eric to marry her. For him to suddenly be acting like Eric is putting the moves on Nic is idiotic. Either he believes that Nicole will never be interested in Eric again or he walks away from the relationship out of respect for his older half-brother. I would think Brady would have a bit more loyalty than to try and.... oh wait, this is the guy who tried to marry his father's ex-fiance right? Nevermind. Why do Hope and Rafe have to get married at all? If the show is smart they would simply have Hope swear off marriage from this point onwards given the total horror show that was her last wedding. When did Brady find out about Nicole kissing Eric? I watched Tuesday's episode but it didn't happen then. I missed part of today's episode. Did he only find out today? In the span of this one episode I've heard people refer to the Martin party as having taken place anything from 1 to 4 days prior. Am I just confused or was the script confused?

I've been interested in checking out some documentaries that are more upbeat. I still haven't seen the Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work film but I think it could be Illuminating and funny. I definitely don't have it in me to watch documentaries about people going to prison or dying or that kind of stuff right now. Any recommendations?

Meaning the character will be back for Xmas?

Bygones.

... I realize I haven't been paying strict attention to the storyline but...hun? LOL If any of the younger characters on the show read as gay it's definitely Theo. I didn't notice it at first but after it was pointed out I can't unsee it. I think Kyler was able to walk this mysterious sort of line where I just believed his awkwardness was to do with his character being autistic. Now his relationship with Claire has completely changed that. For one thing the poor girl has absolutely no body and no sex appeal. She looks completely unhealthy and has been acting like a shrew and I can't imagine any guy would look at her and want to go for a roll in the hay. No offense to the actress of course but it's really uncomfortable seeing the show depict her as having recently lost her virginity in light of what I can only imagine is an alarming BMI number. Tapping that might break that.... And then there's Theo with his ripped physique and soft-spoken ways and total lack of conviction talking about how he loves either Claire or Ciara. No offense to the actor of course but the character really does read as though he'll be coming out of the closet within the next 6 months. Just me?

...which pisses me off even further. If it was a crappy wrap-up then just do it and never mention it again. Now, they've built on it but are still ignoring making Victor implicated.... It galls me because I'm 95% sure Victor was the real kidnapper and when they switched it to Kate I was robbed of my chance (as a relatively newish viewer) of seeing him get the Villain Revealed treatment. Folks always talk about all the awful things Victor has done and how he isn't a good guy at all but I've never actually seen it myself...and I want to. It seems like that's a chapter from his past that the show sometimes acknowledges but otherwise avoids, even when occasionally pointing out that he still seems to have underworld connections and a willingness to commit crimes that he won't discuss often (except perhaps when warning Sonny that running Titan will requiring him to do questionable things to succeed, for example). I know I'm beating a dead horse, but Victor hated Theresa and with justifiable reason. She nearly killed his son-in-law John and then pushed Brady back into drugs multiple times and then overstayed her welcome in his house and constantly stood up to him in a very defiant way. I didn't mind seeing them develop a mutual respect for one another, but it felt like that beat should have only come two years down the line. It was too soon for me to believe he had completely forgiven her for being kind of a wrecking ball in everyone's lives. I fully believe he did kidnap Tate and I would have so enjoyed seeing Brady and Maggie having to deal with that reality and Victor being painted again as a bit of a villain. John Aniston would have rocked the storyline even if it was poorly written and I'm upset that we were robbed seeing him have to deal with the consequences of his "evil" actions. The show seems to want to use him as Pop-up Victor without ever having to get into the details of why he does bad things or the bad things he does and it drives me kind of nuts. It's kind of like how EJ was constantly involved in criminal things, only with him, the show wasn't as hesitant to actually depict that side of his life. Plus the whole reveal of Kate being the kidnapper completely threw her under the bus and really made no sense. The least they can do is have Sonny and Victor have a conversation about Sonny having to clean up Victor's illegal artifact smuggling side business so that it doesn't impact Sonny's tenure as CEO before it even gets started. A simple moment between Grandfather and Grandson acknowledging how the Grandson now sees clearly some of the uglier side of his grandfather's professional habits and how he can relate to that, having wanted the stolen amulet for himself.

And what about Thomas? Thank God he's still a tyke but still, she knows she's marrying a man who is wanted by a Mexican drug dealer. After Ben and Clyde both tried to take Thomas, you'd think she would protect him from any possible threats by telling Dario to handle this own shit. Besides, Rafe is former CIA or something right? He should be the one helping Dario. I'm also confused - if Dario is faking this whole thing just to marry Abigail, is he still on Mateo's Kill List? Abe (I think it was) seemed to have verified that he was....so clearly that wasn't a lie.

I just realized that Chad has been stuck in this stupid triangle for a year now. And shortly before then, he had Ciarra sniffing around. Been a rough year for the guy...

Does anyone else remember how Kate dodged responsibility for kidnapping Tate by blackmailing Deimos AND Victor over their smuggling of rare antiquities? (Note: Spell-check originally changed that to 'snuggling antiquities'....awww!) And then, she told Chad about Deimos' side business, which lead to this amulet nonsense? ...well...shouldn't it also have come out that Victor was in on that business? Sonny got his hands on the thing...wouldn't it be a logical storypoint for it to come out Victor was also involved in illegal art smuggling?

Is Val just a replacement for Lexi?

Almost everything is off YT now. It really does suck. I knew of a FB page with clips but NBC found it and threatened them. So stupid. It's not exactly like its hurting the ratings for fans to have access to old episodes... If you find anything good PM me and let me know!

I am too. Can't watch this anymore.

I hope it's Dario or Rafe. Begone Hernandii! This ep was baaaaad. Okay scenes with Ericole (best use of ghost Daniel, even with his stupid haircut) but the rest was amateur hour on all fronts. I officially have nothing to watch except the occasional Eric scenes. Ron's writing can't kick in fast enough for my liking.

Andre was pardoned as well and announced it at Will's wake.