4evaQuez

Because of how unhappy I am with current Days and our current "teen" scene, I wanted to agree with you that I'm nostalgic for the Ciara/Claire, etc., teen scene. I mostly wanted to agree as a way to insult current Days. However, when I thought about that teen scene I realized that I still think they're just barely serviceable. 1. Ciara - I still think the actress was set up to fail. The show gave the actress entirely too much too soon for a new character. Not long after her introduction, Ciara has to deal with her father coming back from the dead and then dying again. Her stepfather attempting to kill her mother. Her stepfather being "revealed" as the necktie killer before the real reveal. After all this, she had to deal with being raped by her stepbrother on the Horton family couch. Even a young Meryl Streep would have struggled to characterize Ciara. I actually think the original Ciara actress had a much better mother/daughter rapport with KA/Hope than the recast. Although the recast was a better actress. I think if the show had stuck with the rumored Ciara characterization, a young Erica Kane, the actress and the character would have greatly benefitted. Personally, I think Hope and Bo raising a young Erica Kane makes total sense with their personalities and family dynamics. What could have been? 2. Claire - I think ORK was the strongest actor in this teen scene. Unfortunately, I thought the writing let her down to being a great character. First, I'm not even certain if I could characterize ORK's Claire as a heroine, antiheroine, or villain. It's not because she had such dynamic writing that created a complicated character that was hard to interpret; unfortunately, it's because the show seemed to have no idea who they wanted Claire to be and often Claire felt isolated from the cast or as an appendage to Ciara. (I think the appendage was more to recast Ciara than the original Ciara). Claire was connected to the Brady, Horton, Kiriakis, Evans, and Black families. (I can't remember when John's parentage was retconned for the last time, but I think ORK's Claire was a blood Dimera at one point, too). The show often made Claire feel superfluous, and I still remember how excited we would get on the board whenever she would have family scenes with anyone outside Ciara. The alleged rumors that KA/Hope didn't want to be seen as the grandmother to a teenager also didn't help Claire. This stopped the Ciara/Claire rivalry from reaching new heights that would have elevated their interactions, raised stakes, and even added context to their interactions. Instead, their "family" scenes always felt constrained because Hope was not their anchor, and the show has done such a poor job of managing Shawn D's legacy - and Belle to a lesser extent - that Claire often felt aimless and superfluous as a character. My unpopular opinion is making her a pyromaniac was the most the show seemed interested in the character - even that was just angst for Cin. 3. Joey - I've never liked the Brady/Johnson branch of the show. Joey was no exception. I thought the only interesting thing he's ever done was kill Ava, and the show retconned that. The show won't even give Tripp and Joey any type of rivalry considering Joey attempted to kill Tripp's mom. I don't think the show lost anything when Joey left, nor do I think it gains anything when he returns for his brief visits. My unpopular opinion is I wish the show had given Joey a coming-out storyline. It still would have been a few years after Will, and I think it could have been interesting for Steve to not be accepting. There also could be a good contrast and rivalry with Tripp doing the less "masculine" medical career and Joey doing the perceived more "masculine" detective or cop career. It could have been interesting to see how the citizens of Salem and Steve responded to a gay "masculine ideal." Without that, I see Joey as just another forgettable Brady, and the show apparently agrees with me. 4. Theo - I don't think the show knows how to write black male characters. Nor do I think the show writers are comfortable portraying black male characters as 'whole people. I also have my suspicions that the show is still concerned with portraying black male / white female romantic relationships. I could never take the idea that Theo would get with Ciara or Claire seriously as a romantic partner because I wasn't certain if Days would actually invest in a romantic pairing. I felt the same way about Abby and Cameron. Did Eli ever have a white love interest? I know there were Sami and Brandon, but at this point, they were literally decades in the past. As a result, I didn't find anything interesting about Theo because I didn't think the show would ever take him seriously as a character regardless of his legacy status and connections to the canvas. Even with the recast, the show seems to isolate Theo and overly emphasize his relationship to Paulina, instead of John, Marlena, Roman, etc. The show does a good job with his relationship with Chad at least. 5. Chase - As you mentioned, that was ruined pretty quickly. I think Chase was supposed to be the Chloe of this group. A character with no biological relationships with any of the major families that could have a somewhat outsider perspective and we could see their relationships with the various families grow over time. Unlike Chloe, Chase had a wonderful anchor with Hope and Ciara and was an honorary Horton. After the rape, there was nowhere to go with the character. I would argue that Ciara was the only person who actually recovered from what was mostly a failed teen scene. Even with Ciara, that took a recast and an unexpected pairing that blew up - Cin - however, Ciara took a back seat to that pairing. That pairing was about Ben, and Ciara's legacy and importance to the cast elevated him and salvaged her from being a character as forgettable as the rest of her teen scene set.

Not onscreen. Sarah was reintroduced to the canvas after Dan's death.

She did. Sarah and Dan being siblings has come up several times. It came up when Eric and Sarah were fighting Chloe and Brady for custody of Holly. It came during an argument with Chloe vs. Sarah and Sarah said she disliked Chloe for how she treated Daniel. She also vehemently defended Daniel's honor to Chloe. Not long before Chloe's last departure, Sarah mentioned her offscreen relationship with Parker as her nephew. It's not consistent, but it has been mentioned.

I wish the show brought back David Banning, Eli's father, and his brother Scott Banning. It makes no sense that they would kill Eli's father off when there's so much storyline potential between David/Eli/Valeria. There's also sibling rivalry potential between Eli/Scott. David could even have a daughter since he's been off canvas for so long. Give Scott a wife and two kids, and Julie has an entire line that could interact with Hope and Jenn and their family lines. The show now has an intact extended Horton family that makes sense. Bringing Eli on canvas and then seemingly being afraid to pair him with a white woman and not expanding his immediate Olsen/Banning/Horton family was a recipe for disaster for the character. He became an accessory to Lani who did have a much more extended family. Hell, her extended family and parentage changed multiple times to provide her storylines.

I agree Joy would be wonderful. However, I think the only issue is who would be her anchor on canvas. It would have been great if they could have introduced Joy (and a teen Parker) when Chloe, Craig, and Nancy were on canvas. She'll at least have a year's worth of ties to the canvas by the time Chloe left. If the show brought on Parker, I guess they could emphasize his ties to Maggie and Sarah and Holly - if she returns - and then bring in Joy that way. I also think JT would have been a good addition to the cast when Hope/Bo/Ciara were still on the cast. He would have had an honorary connection to the Horton/Brady family without being blood related to anyone, I think. Again, it feels too late with the Williams/Brady portion of the show absent. The should could also SORAS Evan and Jan Spears kid. Jordan Ridgeway also had a kid that could be SORASED. However, I don't remember who the father was. There are a few kids on the show that have little biological relations, but it seems the problem is there aren't any anchors for them.

Sami and Theresa are first cousins on the Brady side. So Will and Theresa would be cousins, too.

Carrie was married to Lucas

You're only supposed to get ornaments after marriage.

That has to be the worst Day of Days promo I've ever watched. I'm not certain I'm interested in anything. That being said, I wonder if we're getting prepped for some virus storyline. Gwen...I mean Theresa...looked ill when she was kissing Brady. Holly (?) also was on a ventilator. Maybe they're not connected, but that was the only thing that somewhat interested me. ETA: I also wonder about the Horton house being on fire. My initial thought, after my shock, was if BB's/Former Nick Falon's new character set it on fire. It would add new stakes to what I assume will be a Stephanie/Jada/Rafe/Chad/BB's new character storyline. It would also give BB/Former Nick Falon and Julie a reason to interact in a nudge, nudge, wink, wink fashion that Ron loves.

As much as I dislike Sarah, I'm sad to say I didn't get any enjoyment in the Kate/Sarah scenes. First, this isn't the Kate who framed Sami for Franco's murder or poisoned Chloe. This Kate is rather tame, and she's been tame for quite some time. Getting snarky with Megan (sp?) Dimera was the last time she had shown any fire to me. (Yes, even the scenes with Vivian haven't been particularly scathing as far as I'm concerned.) Second, the show has never invested in Rex and Sarah. I mean they don't even have a couple name online. (Sex is right there!) Yes, I know they have a lot of (offscreen) history, and Rex was apart of adult Sarah's reintroduction storyline. However, that was mostly off-screen and short-lived before the Emily/Mimi/Bonnie baby lie was revealed. There's the on-the-run storyline with Mackenzie, but they weren't in a relationship. There's Chicago but that was mostly off-screen. Now there's this fake wedding, but Sarah has made it perfectly clear she has no romantic feelings for Rex. Rex even knows she has no romantic feelings. Third, while I love Kate in Mama Bear mode and she has generated stories for Austin, Lucas, Philip, and Billie as a Mama Bear, this kinda goes back to my last point. Kate simply isn't that character anymore, and Rex doesn't have the same established relationship with Kate as a mother or a protector. Their relationship feels pretty generic and mostly to serve the Karmen (Kate/Roman) relationship. Fourth, Kate and Sarah don't have a history interesting enough to give those scenes gravitas. A reignited Kate vs. Sami? YES! Kate vs. Chloe? YES! Kate vs. Bo or Hope? Kate vs. Carrie? Not really anymore since that's so far in the past but I'll take it. Even Kate vs. Belle could be juicy. Kate vs. Sarah? Not at all. Xander, Eric, Gwen, Kristin, and maybe Rex have a relationship or antagonism with Sarah to really give her scenes a pizzazz of history and rivalry. Kate simply isn't it.

I've always wanted a Parker/Sydney pairing.

I hate that NB left the show. With Tate and Holly being SORASED, I'm certain a teenage Parker would have joined them had she still been there.

I actually think Chloe leaving is in character for who she's been for the past several years. Chloe let Lucas go when he needed to help Allie with her drinking problem - which the writers seemingly forgot about. Chloe also didn't resume her relationship with Brady because she didn't want to negatively impact his relationship with Rachel. Part of Chloe's reasoning for being against Leo and Craig was how Leo would impact her relationship with Craig, her father. Chloe's belief that parents and children should be together has been quite solidified over the past few years. I think it's in character for her to leave Xander, so she doesn't impact his relationship with Victoria. To your point about it being 2023, I agree, but I don't think Chloe would. Ironically, this would be the second time Chloe revealed the paternity of a child that had drastic repercussions for Sarah and Rex. The first time was with Emily/Rex/MiMi/Sarah/Bonnie.

For me, I don't despise Sarah for the things she does; I despise her for LG's interpretation and how the show frames Sarah's actions. Sarah, for whatever reason, is played and framed like a spiteful I Love Lucy character. LG plays Sarah either as comic relief or as unnecessarily cruel. The show, similar to KM's Abby, also doesn't allow people justifiable rage at her actions. Eric should hate Sarah for life for the Mackenzie lie. We know if Nicole had done such a thing the would provide years of drama. I have no faith that the paternity lie with Xander will result any anything substantial or noteworthy. Chloe is by far my favorite character. People rightfully hated her after her affair with Dan on Lucas. People rightfully hated her after her affair with Philip on Daniel. People rightfully hated her when she schemed against Jennifer. People, unfairly, shunned her after her Holly/Nicole/Deimos storyline. The show plays Sarah's actions like comedic relief. Isn't Sarah Horton just so wacky? I'm also annoyed that the show isn't doing more with the Mackenzie history. We see flashbacks of Sarah/Mackenzie/Xander which led to the baby switch. Then, we see Sarah wake up with Xander holding Victoria. She doesn't have any fears? She isn't demanding Xander prove he hasn't switched her child again. She names Victoria after the man who facilitated the baby switch in the first place. Maggie and no one else is reminding Sarah this is the second time she's lied about paternity. I also hate how Sarah goes out of her way to demean Mickey Horton's history. I'm not even a Mickey fan, but since she was introduced she goes out of her way to make sure everyone knows he isn't her "real" father. (Although he raised her and she has his name and family. But okay). That Victor is the love of Maggie's life, etc. I just find everything about how she is played and framed infuriating. Sami is another favorite of mine and it isn't until the late 2000s (with EJ's introduction and Carrie leaving campus) that I think she has similar issues of being a terrible person while the show is trying to frame her as a heroine.

Chloe didn't lie about Parker's paternity. She had no idea Caroline Brady attempted to switch paternity results. She thought Daniel was the father. (At the time it was believed to be Philip before the retcon.) The Holly storyline was a mess that was obviously changed a lot behind the scenes. However, once Chloe discovered that she had forgotten that she was inseminated with Daniel and Nicole's embryo, she actually attempted several times to tell Nicole. However often Deimos would interrupt, and once Chloe had a stroke while attempting to tell Nicole. Chloe finally did admit to Nicole Holly was her child. However, unlike Sarah, Chloe was actually shunned and a town pariah for several months after this storyline. People would literally randomly verbally accost her for her actions. (I find this funny in hindsight since Chloe's reasoning was Deimos was evil and would harm Holly. Nicole ended up killing Deimos, so Nicole eventually proved Chloe right.) However, we know absolutely no one will hold Sarah's feet to the fire for her second paternity lie. I despise Sarah