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In hindsight, if Arianne Zucker had played the scene like Judi Evans - 100% committed, red-faced, blubbering and screaming hysterically - I would have completely bought her tirade against Eric. She cried well enough at the end of the episode, but by that point all of her earlier bitching just sounded way too sober and reasoned for me to forgive it. Judi would have totally rocked that scene and known how unsympathetic her character sounded and compensated for it. Do you think the director told Arianne to just play it straight? It really did damage the character for her to be so harsh in the face of being rescued by someone she knows is virtuous and kind... Edit: Judi was glowing today. MBE looked great too. Can those two have a happy storyline?

Wow - Ciara's leaving already? Didn't expect that...will her disappointment with Theo really see her running off? Or will she go off to visit Caroline? Is she even finishing out her school year? They're really milking this Brady might die stuff....I'm immune.

I'd say no just because the current Belle has been with the show far longer and seems to get along really well with the rest of the cast. She recently appeared on some talk show with Marlena and Kate even though she isn't taping on Days as far as I know. I think that ship has sailed and frankly I'm amazed that it doesn't bother me because Kristen Storms really was Belle to me whenever I would check in with the show years ago. I just think the actress doesn't really look that much like Marlena anymore and has a too youthful vibe. The current Belle looks like Marlena and seems old enough to be a mother to Claire. I think with much better writing she could be very interesting player on the canvas.

Could it be any worse than what we've been seeing lately?

....like the Orwell doohickey. Okay, so sanity warning - MUTE ALL OF NICOLE'S SCENES TODAY. ...is she out of her f-ing mind?? Xander was about to rape her and Eric intervened after getting Holly to safety and she can only bitch at him? ..is this because Ari loves Shawn so much? Is she asking Dena to make it so Nicole will never forgive Eric again? Because she sounds so checked-out in her performance I just can't figure this crap out. And then there's Chloe trying to explain her plot-motivated nonsense. Dena: NO ONE WOULD EVER BEHAVE HOW CHLOE AND NICOLE HAVE BEEN BEHAVING.

I kept waiting for it to have a plot point all of its own. There's no way you could wear that and the show would fail to address it...right?

I really hope Marlena gets her own personal one-on-one scene to discover that Will is still alive. I can only imagine how good Deidre Hall's acting will be if the show actually gives her a moment like that to handle all on her own. Marlena and Will were very close. I actually kind of hope she's the first person to see Will is alive. If everyone in town just sees him walk into a room it will be very anticlimactic. Angelica would be Jack's mother?

Yep, that just about covers it. His character really knew no boundaries. He was involved in everyone's business but praised for it and he just seemed to assume a big part of everyone's lives. He became the lead character in the show but for no clear reason. He wasn't a veteran character - he was shoehorned in as being Maggie's son when continuity showed otherwise. Every woman on the show wanted him or got to be with him...including Kristen who hated his guts and had no reason to want to sleep with him whatsoever. And that character often showed an arrogance and condescension but I found really unappealing. It's perfectly fine for a good character to occasionally be condescending, like for example Marlena, but the actor kind of has to own it and the show has to own it too. You can't have everybody talking about the guy like he's a saint when he showed just as much attitude as basically anybody else in town. As written, Eric is basically a saint. He never seems to get upset with anybody and is constantly giving back to the community. He's self flagellates over every little mistake he makes. It's annoying how perfect it is. But according to the fine citizens of Salem, Dan was the Saint and Dan was perfect and Dan was wonderful...and Eric sucks? If the show basically gives you absolutely zero reasons to hate a character because of how perfect they are and how sweet they are, how are we supposed to feel any one is justified in picking on them? I think the thing that sealed my hatred of Dan was at the Nicole romance because it really came out of nowhere and didn't feel adequately developed. They were having a big dance scene in the pub for no reason and then they over-dramatized his death and I thought we'd finally be free of him. But as others have pointed out here we are almost two years later still hearing about this schmuck. From what I remember he was brutal towards Nicole for destroying the evidence that Eric was raped. He tore her a new one for weeks on end about that. Even if he eventually started to like Nicole, how would she ever allow herself to be with a man who slammed the door in her face and shamed her constantly that way? I think the real problem here is the fact that Nicole and Dan were involved behind the scenes and given that Nicole had been on the show for a long time, the producers probably tried to accommodate their relationship with an on-screen one. The fact that Shawn still makes appearances on the show is ridiculous. Dan was not that relevant. Nicole should have definitely moved on by now. If the character had been slightly more compelling than I would be perfectly fine with how much attention he's been having. But compared to another character like Will who was very compelling and well-loved and groundbreaking and brutally murdered deliberately on screen and yet who seems to get a mention once every 6 months....Dan gets treated like some kind of God and it's disgusting. Victor is totally okay with Deimos, who helped imprison and torture Bo and caused his death, and he'll even let the guy live in his house...but simply seeing Eric in the Town Square having a talk with Jennifer makes him irate? It's such bull.

It's not just you. I noticed at Steve and Kayla's wedding in February that almost all of the current teen girls are practically anorexic. Jade, Ciarra and especially Claire are definitely not healthy. I think the loose wardrobe hides it to some degree but if television cameras make you look 10 pounds heavier this girl is in serious trouble...and somehow I doubt anyone will intervene. The thinner the better, right Hollywood? That punch at the end with Eric and Xander was everything. I can't wait to see these two guys go head-to-head. It's been a long time since we've seen too formidable male characters having a knock-down drag-out battle. I think the last time was Bo and Aiden but even that didn't seem especially exciting considering Bo was severely injured and Aiden was just a lawyer. Eric is an ex-convict and Xander obviously takes good care of his body. With any luck they'll have one awesome fist fight. I was a little disappointed that Eric got Holly out of the compound so quickly. It felt like it only took two short scenes and she was on the jet. This show used to know how to milk tense situations like that and show us step by step what was happening. Oh look - it's Prague again! *eyeroll* A couple of flowers cannot disguise that extremely unique carved wood dresser that was at the back of the exact same set three months ago. Considering they film in LA, would it really be so expensive to take the characters outside and walk them through some garden or beach somewhere and pretend it's Greece? I know Bold and Beautiful used to film a rooftop gym scene every couple of weeks...are there no gardens around the studio where they film Days? I can't figure out if Andre was dressed in that school sweater because he wanted to show off to everybody that he was in severe denial about his age or that he had earned his D for DiMera. I love how this show expects me to believe that Andre would fly all the way over to Greece to try and stop Chad from stealing but would have no interest in going to Prague when Stefano was suspected to be alive. Suuuuure. Him and Hope casually sharing scenes together is way too Scooby-Doo. I still have absolutely no idea where they are going with his character anymore and I've run out of patience to even pretend to give a damn. This amulet thing is stupid, Dena. Claire being jealous is also stupid. You couldn't have propped Ciarra more overtly today if you swapped The Hourglass out for her face in the opening titles. Since when has she given a damn about clean drinking water or global initiatives? John Aniston as always was great. I never cared about Victor but these last few years he's brought a lot of dignity to the show. (I thought I was done watching this show after Theresa left. What happened?)

Don't you just love how Shawn's picture has him giving duck face and beckoning us into his armpit? Classy.

Weird how? I think the actors are doing really good job of showing Nicole trying to smooth talk her way into Xander's good graces and also Xander still being somewhat smitten backslash annoyed with Nicole. I don't remember how far their almost romance went before Xander went crazy and tried to hurt her - that was almost 2 years ago wasn't it - but I think they found a pretty good balance today. If Xander was acting like say Orpheus and being all sinister and cold towards her, I would have found that boring and a disappointment. He was always a more charismatic character than that and given that he really is just sitting there waiting for Deimos to show up, it makes complete sense to me that he's playing cards with Nicole and offering her drinks. I don't think he expects to get her in the sack but he probably enjoys toying with the fact that she had some attraction to him initially. I'm just thrilled that Nicole seems to have located her brain and started thinking strategically, even though it didn't exactly work. Her opening the door to play cutesy with the guard was pathetic, but her trying to appeal to Xander was a wise move... if overplayed. I thought she had leaned long ago how to do a slow con... Sonny continues to leave me really unimpressed. But then I'm totally lost about Maggie as well. Is she really so stupid that she thinks that Deimos is doing anything good right now? And I really had to stick my fingers in my ears and say la la la when someone started talking about how Victor only sees the good in Deimos now. In my personal headcanon, Victor just decided to step aside and give Deimos what he wanted and see how quickly it all burned to the ground. If this show really wants me to believe Victor likes or trusts Deimos...no. I liked Marlena's jacket and I even liked Valerie's scenes with Eli today. She didn't actually break down and cry but she got pretty close to it and that's the most emotion I've ever seen from this actress. I think she's finally starting to find her footing. Eli however still feels really green. I didn't like the way he just walked out on his mother after she basically begged him to forgive her. The actor could have done more with that even if it was written into the script. He didn't seem like he was overwhelmed with emotion or anything. He just stood up and walked out a bit like a robot. It seems like all the women on this show end up begging men for something on an almost weekly basis. Eric continues to be awesome. I really hope Dena lets him and Nicole have some fun without getting mired down in guilt for a change.

...which they could have altogether avoided by not aging Ciara up almost ten years overnight. Before NuCiara showed up, we believed Bo was only missing two years or less. Still bitter. About so much.

I am also surprised to hear this. That character was dead weight on the show and they never did anything with him, even after Seven was introduced. Are you sure this is an accurate story?

Isn't Hope supposed to be on desk duty?

I would enjoy having Bo back...but the narrative contortions required would ruin it. As it was, I hated the 50th because of what his return did to Aiden. Imagine the mess him coming back would create now...

I hope they allow Chandler to have been the Will who cheated. "It wasn't me!" is too easy an out for the writers and they've already used every lame trick in the book lately to excuse their plotting. Aiden had a doppelganger? No, Show, he didn't. We saw him struggle with choking Hope out on camera. Andre survived dying? How exactly? I'm tired of them using easy outs. Get creative and figure out how Will endured Ben's assault...

I saw this online, without context, and thought I should post it here... ..?!? You believe it?

Holy ---- !!! I almost bought that they were bringing him back...

I wish there could have been a few moments in his run where he was likable and felt actually like the Real Will. I don't remember any. It's a shame. He looks so much like Alison Sweeney. He really was in an impossible situation... ...what was Will doing immediately after marrying Sonny? I don't remember his SL...

Can we never mention again the stupidity of Sami leaving town to have a movie made of her life? Great :) Yup and yup. I hope Will's mere presence ruins Paulson without Will having to be a bad guy and do or say anything. Frankly, I'm kind of hoping Sami's return to town does the same to Hope and Rafe. Let them both be the elephants in the room that cause other couples to get weirded out and break up. Also: Well done Days. Now don't screw this up. (If they manage to get Kristen and Theresa back too, I might have to attempt a backflip).

I did too, but surely there was another part for him. They keep hooking Ciara up with sexually sinister brother figures....heck, they even had Jennifer say "...after all she went through with Chase..." The show is reminding us that Ciara was raped by her then-brother...and then have her walk into the pub with the actor who would have been playing her brother if he was still alive. NASTY. LOL, me too. I love Xander. He never overstays his welcome, and he always tells it like it is. I enjoyed every one of his scenes today because someone was finally calling Nicole out on her stupid history for the last few years. Sad that Xander seems to be the only one willing to say that Nicole's anger towards Eric is really misplaced love. Is the show finally going to give fans the Nicole and Eric romance they've been waiting years for? Or is this just another tease? You have to admit - it's a classic soap set up for injured Brady to ask his brother to go rescue Nicole, only to have Nicole and Eric fall back in love and Brady be frustrated and Nicole be all torn between the two men. If Dena can manage to write it adequately, I'm all on board. Today's episode really felt like a Friday episode didn't it, what with Eric boarding the jet and Brady's heart giving out and Deimos threatening him and Nicole vowing to break free. I couldn't swallow Maggie thanking Deimos for finding Brady though. That woman should want to kick Deimos repeatedly in the nuts every time she sees him. I eagerly await the scenes - and here's hoping we get em - of Victor and Maggie taking turns kicking Deimos on the floor.

...but she couldn't do that directly. Then Hope would be allowing her daughter to date what Hope suspects is her brother in some other reality. Why did they cast the same guy anyways? Weird.

Some good stuff in Friday's episode: - Claire and Theo finally had some decent dialogue and sweet scenes together. I really wish they would focus more on her music career and this was a step in the right direction. I liked the reference to Philip because that entire plotline with her being Chloe's assistant was completely forgotten about, even though Chloe is technically still in town and, in theory, still pursuing her music career. Why haven't those two had a scene together since last summer? - Eric accepting the mission and getting some help with Jennifer even though she's fully aware that it will probably cause him serious legal problems. I'm not used to seeing Jennifer play outside the box and her willingness to use any contacts to try and locate Nicole or Xander was really cool of her. - This was the first time I ever saw any real fire from Valerie. Can the show just have Valerie giving Rafe shit for his stupidity all the time? It works for her and it definitely works for me! - While I really hate Jade's sex tape idea, it is kind of an attempt on the show's part to include something topical. No one would care about the Kardashians if not for their sex tape and it would make sense that someone as young as Claire might briefly consider the idea of making one. I just hope the idea isn't followed through with. It would be far too easy for the show to paint Claire as this monster for trying to rope Theo into embarrassing himself that way. I really don't want her to be the bad girl to Ciara's perfect soulmate... The Weird: - Xander's explanation to Nicole about why she's being kept there is so vague I'm surprised Nicole hasn't given it more thought. He obviously doesn't seem to care for Holly at all nor does he seem in love with Nicole. If all he wanted was revenge sex, it could have been much more easily accomplished. If Nicole is smart enough to question where he got all of his money for his private island in Greece I should think she would also wonder why the heck Xander gives a damn about her at all considering she really wasn't one of his primary targets last fall... - Was it just me or did Kristian take a moment when Ciara's date walked into the Pub to have Hope silently flashback to her dream sequence with the same actor last spring when he played Zack? It felt a little bit like the actress was acknowledging something the script wouldn't. ...I have to say I severely hate the fact that two of Ciara's lovers so far have both been her brother in one way or another.

Agreed. I find him lacking in sincerity and appeal but lookadat - he's everywhere! So good luck avoiding him. I personally think he'll hurt Live in the long run... can't bear to watch him.