Black Knight

Tad

So Jordan's secret is apparently finally to be revealed, yet the storyline is still so boring that the writers didn't make it the Friday cliffhanger, even though they have James Read. That kind of says it all, because Nicole showing up at the priest's office was not exactly the stuff of excitement, either. But at least it's finally Wedding Day. Yay! The sooner Wedding Day is over, the sooner they can get to the boardroom meeting.

Yeah, I don't think Timothy would have any trouble getting a judge to order a paternity test. I'm surprised by the talk of Brandon/Callie being endgame, because in these first two episodes of the new season, it's seemed to me that the show has backed all the way off from a romantic relationship. Admittedly I've never wanted them to be a couple, so that may well be coloring my interpretation, but I haven't seen the longing feelings and looks that they had constantly last season. Plus, what was huge for me was that Callie called him her brother in this episode without so much as a twinge of discomfort or anything else, and it seemed to roll right off him as well. It's probably just sloppy writing on the show's part and not a sign of Robert having a secret agenda, but the supposed story of Robert's lawyers insisting that Callie have a paternity test done and sign away her claims to his money before they'll let him sign the papers terminating his rights is weird to me. Legally, terminating his rights would do just that - Callie would have no rights to his money anymore because she's not legally his daughter. The lawyers should want Robert to sign the termination paperwork ASAP, not be holding that up for...another piece of paper that accomplishes the same thing. Also, like, way to underline to the possible gold-digger daughter that Robert is indeed very rich, thereby giving her incentive (and time) to change her mind about being adopted so that she can go after his money instead. I know Callie's not thinking about the money, but Robert's lawyers are obviously worried that she is, and they're handling it in counterproductive fashion. Methinks Robert needs more competent lawyers, assuming he's not just lying. But either way, I don't see Callie going to live with him.

Theresa Tad

Tad

I find upholding one motive for rape over another motive for rape squicky. First, it glosses over the core of what rape is - forcing sex despite the non-consent of the other party. I don't care whether it was done out of a desire to hurt, a desire to control, a desire for sex, or out of some sort of twisted love. What's relevant is that the other party didn't want it. I remember when EJ raped Sami, and the most disgusting thing about that scene was when it was over and it showed very clearly how much EJ had enjoyed it and was still enjoying the "afterglow," while Sami was anything but happy. But EJ did not care, which doesn't speak well of his "love." And, to go back to the above - if we swap Kayla with Sami, I don't think Kayla would have felt any better to know that EJ raped her out of "love" rather than because he was jealous and angry and hurt because of her relationship with Steve. I do. He was even thinking during his wedding night with Jennifer about how he'd screwed Eve over. Jen even asked him why he was thinking about Eve just then, and Jack didn't answer that, but he did congratulate himself on Eve not getting "one red cent." That's why Eve followed Jack and Jen out to California when J/J were on their honeymoon, to confront Jack about the money.

Theresa Tad

Except that Sami was telling Abe that she would have fun things for the kids to do after the ceremony. So I guess she really doesn't intend for anything to happen on the wedding day itself. I don't think that can be the plan. She can't be entitled to anything (except child support, for which her marital status is irrelevant) when she'll have been married all of a day before they break up. Plus EJ can easily obtain an annulment on grounds of fraud. I think she and Kate plan to get rich by taking over DiMera somehow at the board meeting.

Tad Ciara

Sami did have a line the other day about how Abby would still have plenty of work to do after the wedding because of the board meeting. So I guess she's supposed to be there in some kind of work capacity.

I was thinking the same thing. Also, the key difference between Sami and Jen is that Sami doesn't give a shit that she doesn't have friends. It seems, from Sami and Kate's conversation, that the wedding is supposed to go off normally and the hijinks are going to be saved for the board meeting? Maybe that's when the slideshow gets shown, and Sami's planning on including a couple of pictures from the wedding of Abby standing by her side as maid of honor, and doing the reading, just to make Abby and EJ look even more awful and tawdry in everyone's eyes. If some stupid tug of war over Rafe of all people derails the Kami plans, I'm going to be pissed. He's so dull.

Hope Ciara

Hope Theo

Theresa Brady Hope

What made me nervous about it was that I was wondering if this was supposed to be the "sudden burst of energy before death" that dying people sometimes experience. It happened with my terminally ill grandmother - she spent many weeks doing nothing but lying in bed or on the couch, and then one night she was suddenly very active and happy. She died in her sleep a few hours later. It was hard for Cosima to even stand up to welcome Helena to the Clone Club, Felix had to help her get up, she was leaning heavily on her cane, and even Helena commented that Cosima shouldn't be up, and then suddenly Cos is dancing. I was like, "Shit, this is her last hurrah." So glad to have been wrong! I hope Rachel survived, because to see her with an eyepatch would be fantastic, and she'll be guaranteed to be crazier than ever (and with Helena borderline-sane nowadays, they need a crazy clone). But, as much as Rachel messing with Cosima infuriated me, I actually thought Duncan was a really big asshole. It never sat well with me that he stayed away all those years, leaving Rachel with DYAD, without trying to contact her - complete contrast to Sarah - and now he's been reunited with her for all of five minutes and basically declares her unredeemable. I know she's crazy and did a lot of bad things, but he was supposed to be her father. I feel like parents are supposed to be a little more persistent in trying to help their kids before writing them off. He just checked out on her far too fast for my taste. When he basically whined about her remembering how much he and his wife loved her and she cried that she didn't remember? That was heartbreaking, her admission, but it's like it didn't even register with him. He still had to give her that remark about how she didn't deserve him. And actually, I agree with him, but not in the way that he meant. Bye Duncan. I won't miss you. Very much looking forward to next season. The military has no idea what it's in for with Helena. Heh.

I remember when Jack and Jen got married and went to Disneyland on their honeymoon. An angry Eve followed them, something to do with not getting money from Jack in their divorce, and there was a funny scene where Eve caught up with Jack at Disneyland and confronted him. Jen could be seen in the background, happily filming the amusement park with a camcorder, and then she turned around and saw Eve and Jack. Cue dramatics. I love Kassie dePaiva, but could they really not get Charlotte Ross back? According to IMDB, all she's done this year is one episode on Nashville. It irritates me that they can't use old footage because of the Eve recast when practically everyone else who was relevant to Eve back then are still being played by the same actors or were last seen with the same actors.

I wanted the show to give the Frost character a happy ending. Bizarrely, there had even been unintentional setup earlier last season - that girlfriend of his who moved away. I really wanted the writers to just have Frost decide that he loved and missed her too much to continue to be away from her, and go to be with her. Lee Thompson Young's death is so sad that to have Frost killed tragically just feels like piling on in a way. But I certainly understand the argument for why R&I has gone this route. I'm not so sure that Frankie and Maura's conversation was intended to completely dispel that subplot. If it had been, I don't think their characters would've promptly made very unsibling-like comments about each other's lips right after they got done saying that they're like siblings. That to me was an indication that they're just putting the attraction on hold for now - Maura will get involved with someone else, Frankie will get jealous, it'll end up being a triangle. The new showrunner already said that she's a big believer that you can't just say "Kidding!" to the audience, and while she was talking about Jane's pregnancy there, I don't see why that philosophy wouldn't apply to Frankie/Maura as well. Last season the writers established that Frankie has had a crush on Maura for a long time. So for Frankie to really mean his words that Maura's like a sister to him would seem to me to be the same sort of "Kidding!" that the showrunner's already come out against. Not that I want Frankie and Maura together. (I always wanted Maura and Frost to be together, actually. Sigh.) So, the first episode with the new showrunner: I'm not a fan, really. The dialogue was lacking. It was easy to tell the culprit as soon as she appeared, so that problem certainly hasn't been fixed. And while this isn't the showrunner's fault, Lee Thompson Young is a real loss to the show. I feared that losing Frost was really going to mess up the group chemistry, and that's what I saw. Frankie's fine, I like him, but he has a very different vibe than Frost and the current group doesn't have the same magic. The show had something very special, chemistry-wise, in the first four seasons with the group of Maura, Jane, Korsak and Frost, and it's why I stuck with the show despite the extreme lameness of the cases. I'll keep watching this season, for Maura and Jane's friendship, but if Jane actually has the baby...that might be the final straw. At least the actor who plays Casey is busy on another show and so hopefully won't be available for any appearances, because I always found him and Jane snoozeworthy. I am excited for Maura's new man, though - I've always liked Enver Gjokaj and he can certainly play the kind of character who can hold his own opposite Maura. She's out of Frankie's league.

Rafe Paige Theresa

I returned to DAYS to see AS off into the sunset, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the story they're giving her. It's very fitting that Sami's exit storyline is her scheming to screw people over, and I love that she's teamed up with Kate to do it. I knew they had to be working together, but the hug made my jaw drop. Watching it a few times, it looks to me like Sami stuck her hand out intending to give Kate a well-done handshake, but Kate ignored the hand and went for the hug. I like that I can't figure out exactly what the plan is, since Sami clearly intends to make both Abby and EJ pay, and the board meeting is the day after the wedding. Does that mean the wedding is actually going to go off "happily"? If so, when is Abby getting her public humiliation? Sami did have some line today about how Abby was still going to have work to do after the wedding was over because of the board meeting. And it appears Stefano is not in on the plan. God, if Kate and Sami manage to screw both EJ and Stefano over? That would be the awesomest awesome. DAYS should just end this story with a shot of Kami on a beach somewhere, toasting each other with cocktails, and end the entire series right there. Roll credits, finito. Seriously, they're never going to have a better ending than that. But since this show will continue on, I'll settle for Sami telling Marlena on her way out of Salem that Kate's become a better mother to her than Marlena, because, BURN. Sami ducking out of the way so that Abby would get doused was hilarious. And both women were definitely targeting her with the cake. Sami was still nearly spotless when it was all over. Abby was silly for trying to stop the "fight," but I have a feeling that if she'd tried to go to the sideline like any sane person, Kami would've just moved around so she was still stuck between them, getting pelted. Heh. (I don't think the audience is expected to root for Abby. This is Sami's exit storyline, they want people to root for Sami and to enjoy what she's dishing out to Abby and EJ.)

You know, I do think Shae attacking Tyrion immediately makes more sense than what went down in the book. She thinks he murdered his own young nephew. She betrayed him during the trial, and now he catches her in his father's bed? Ain't no talking getting her out of that. If he were a man of normal size, then she'd try talking because even though the odds of that working are poor, the odds of her winning a physical struggle are even poorer. But with someone of Tyrion's size, I think the smart play is to go on offense. But at the same time, it also makes his being able to kill her more believable, because she's engaged in trying to kill him rather than getting away. I never really got how he was able to kill her in the book - so she's lying in bed, and he grabs the Hand chain she's wearing, and manages to strangle her even though she could easily pick him up and toss him away? (In another chapter, Cersei picks him up and spins him around in the air like a kid, so it's established that he's of small enough size and weight for a woman to manage that.) It only sorta works on the page because that's not visual, but I don't think it would work on TV, much like how they found that the book portrayal of Dany and Drogo's wedding night didn't work when they tried to film it that way. After all the screaming on Twitter and Tumblr, and James Hibberd of EW writing an entire spoilery article about it, I'm guessing a lot more viewers know about her now. I've already seen a lot of people making comments about having googled Lady Stoneheart (and then getting pissed about her absence once they find out who she is).

Rose Leslie was on contract for this season, though, whereas had Fairley come back for this episode, she probably would have done so in a guest star capacity as her contract ended last season. I think if you're a contract player, it doesn't matter if your face is flashed once onscreen, your name shows in the opening. I think Varys going with Tyrion is a good change. Their dynamic will liven up the scenes of Tyrion traveling. I'm one of the lonesome few that enjoyed the travelogue chapters, but I realize that's not going to work for a TV show. (Although I do hope we get to see some visuals.)

Yeah, I'd been thinking that by just having Lady Stoneheart not speak, they wouldn't need to put Fairley's name in the opening credits. Years and years ago, the show Angel famously concealed the surprise appearance of a character by not having her speak, so that they didn't have to have the actress's name showing up spoiling viewers. I thought Stoneheart should have been in last year's finale, so I'm really disappointed that she's not in this finale either. Dammit! I was so excited for Stoneheart in this finale that I spent half of today watching Red Wedding reaction videos.

I can see that. In the moment, "not perpetuating the experiment" to me sounded an awful lot like "the clones can die, including you, Cosima," especially since he tagged it with "no offense," which almost always is tagged onto something that is offensive to the listener. But there's just something about Duncan I don't trust, which is definitely biasing my viewpoint. Granted, almost nobody on this show can be trusted completely - I only completely trust Cosima and Felix - but I think various other characters can be trusted about some things, and I don't have any kind of read on Duncan at all. Who or what does he really value? For instance, Delphine has been untrustworthy in many ways, I didn't and still don't trust her promise to love all the clones, but I do trust she wants Cosima to live (which is actually one reason I don't trust her with the other clones, because I think if it came down to them or Cosima's life she'd sell them all down the river and accept the consequence of alienating Cosima). Am I to believe Duncan values Rachel? He left her with Leekie and DYAD, and never tried to contact her all these years. (Yeah, Leekie allegedly killed his wife and he was on the run, but it's basically the opposite of how Sarah acted when Kira was taken, where she was going to get Kira back or die trying.) He told her rather casually about how her infertility is a feature rather than a bug, with zero consideration for how she might feel about that. So I don't know. Maybe it was really his wife who insisted they act like normal, loving parents and he went along with it while she was alive, but for him it's all about science and he has his own agenda...

I think not only were they all military, they're all AWOL. I'm pretty sure that's what the Paul-is-a-ghost thing from the previous episode is about - "ghost" means he went AWOL, and that's what's being held over his head by DYAD. I don't know why, but Helena's "Not really" when Grace frustratedly asked her if she's listened to anything creepster Henrik has been saying cracked me up. Maybe because Henrik does seem like one of those guys whose sermons would be really boring to listen to. I know Delphine is kicking herself, and I'm worried Cosima and the other clones will blame her, but I don't really see what else she should have done. Her "may have been compromised" indicated that she was considering that Rachel just wanted her to think that. But nor could she be sure, and Sarah definitely needed to be told of the possibility. Honestly, I don't really think it was anyone's fault. Mrs. S and Benjamin had all of five seconds with Rachel-as-Sarah and so did Felix. I didn't care for how in the preview Also in the preview: Duncan's comment about allowing DYAD to perpetuate the experiment - "no offense, Cosima" - unnerved me. So he's willing to let all the clones die, then. At least, that's what it meant to me.

It was Dominic's baby - we found that out last season when Harry read the paternity test results. So they're taking Siobhan's storyline from the UK Mistresses version and giving it to Karen instead. It does make sense because, like I said on the old TWoP forum, it was really weird to have Siobhan being even dumber than Katie in S2 (not that Katie was ever smart). I'm not so sure about Joss/Harry hooking up. Savi and Harry clearly aren't done with each other, and one of the very few things the show's writers have been consistent with is that Joss is devoted to Savi. It seems like Savi's story this season is going to be the triangle with Harry and Dominic (and, I guess, Kira), since the writers have given the S2 story her UK counterpart had to Karen. April's new man is hot. Stupid for walking around his studio barefoot (which I guess makes him fit right in IQ-wise), but hot.