2019 Wrap-Up: The Best and Worst of DAYS

[DisneyBoy]

...and what a year it has been! Definitely not boring. No siree.

 

BEST

-Victor tries to strangle Ben with his bare hands. Plausible? No. But intensely satisfying.

-Real Nicole reunited with Eric, and the continuation of their love story (which wasn't a given a year ago)

-Nicole and Sarah tearfully coming clean about their feelings regarding Eric and the unexpected pregnancy. A really mature honest moment that left me liking both characters infinitely more, even if they ultimately made the wrong decision.

-Xander's softer side with Sarah

-Hate sex between Gabi and Stefan 2.0

-Hope and Rafe finally divorcing (and while the death of Holly was staged, I thought it was kind of clever to use the death of a child in a car-related incident as a way to push Hope into a dark enough place to end her marriage to Rafe.)

-Caroline's Memorial and the cast members who returned for it...though I feel it should have been given more screentime than it got.

-Julie seeing the good in Gabi for the first time. It was nice to see her admit she'd been wrong for a change.

-Maggie painfully falling off the wagon. Beautifully played by Suzanne.

-Evan the manny...for now.

-Chad's business partner Juliette from the Digital Series, who not only called Abigail out on being insane but actually had a semi-decent scheme, and some chemistry with Chad.

-Hattie hanging out at the Black townhouse for Xmas.

-Kassie's awesome performance as drunk, self-pitying Eve the day of the double wedding before the Time Jump.

-Nicole, Brady and Eric putting the past behind them.

 

 

WORST (this is gonna be a long one....!)

-Ben and Will as cellmates. Completely insane. Nobody who remotely loved Will, which is half the town, would allow that to happen. And the prison would never put them in the same spot anyways because one is supposed to be executed and the other isn't. And one attempted to kill the other. So much stupid.

-All of the people cheerleading Ben who shouldn't be, especially, Marlena and Will.

-EVERYTHING Ciara and Ben.

-Kristen's getting pregnant. No.

-Xander going along with giving Sarah's "aborted" baby to Kristen.

-Jordan going crazy for no reason.

-Claire going crazy for no reason.

-Eve's completely stupid plotline of marrying Jack.

-Mayor Jack, the Amnesiac.

-Princess "What's My Accent?" Gina.

-STEVENO. Good God.

-Kristen 2.0 masquerading as Nicole for months. And sleeping with Brady. And him not knowing the difference.

-Kristen 2.0 and Lani as the world's worst would-be nuns.

-Lani the Moron Detective who refused to haul Gabi in or confiscate her cell phone.

-Gabi's cell phone application of death!

-Vivian 2.0

-The departures of interesting and underutilized characters (Chloe, Lucas, Tripp, Claire, Jordan)

-Haley's deportation drama (your DA Mama couldn't get two steps ahead of this?)

-JJ and Haley.

-Brady and Kristen Round... Six?

-Gabi's Over The Top widow routine

-The Return of Abigail

-Abigail proudly bragging about murdering Andre in the Digital Series. Yipes.

-The sudden return, recast, ruination and death of Doctor Shaw

-All of the pointless drama about Jack's memory, which came back all of a sudden because of a slight bonk on the head. Lame.

-The vague and off-camera dissolution of Carrie and Austin's marriage. Why..?

-Kayla and Justin. He'd really move on that fast? She'd really cheat on her husband just because he's out of town and acting distant...? She wouldn't hunt him down for answers? Really?

-Sonny's inability to have convincing chemistry with Will anymore. Depressing.

-The horrifying fantasy sequence on Halloween of Marlena strangling her beloved grandson Will. Gross.

-Nicole constantly crying.

-Pissy Eric.

-Druggie JJ holding "Nun" Kristen at gunpoint. Probably one of the most embarrassingly melodramatic things I've seen this show do ever.

 

STILL NOT SURE WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS

-Ted Laurent

-The Time Jump

-The many strange returns of Rolfe. I like him....but....

-Tony and Anna reunited...but then he's married to Kristen...but then he's  proposing to Anna...but then he's going to take over the company...but then they both vanish to Europe...what kind of bonkers plotting was this?

 

 

...what sticks out to you as the best and worst of the year?

[BuckeyeLou]

Disney Boy, you had some good selections.  I like the 'redemption" story for Xander better than the one for Ben.  Xander has done some terrible things, but Paul Telfer's chemistry with Lindsay is really good & he is a doing a good job of selling me on his good heart(while still retaining that 'bad boy aura"), at the moment, I am a Xander/Sarah fan(I cant stand Eric, who is a controlling, angry, mopey guy & hard to root for).  I am a fan of Suzanne Rogers and thought her storyline of "falling off the wagon" was well done, she always does well in scenes with different characters(providing solace for Brady, Xander, her husband, Victor)...I am also a fan of John&Marlena...they are the steady couple of the show.   I Loved Patch & Kayla, back in the day,  but now the writers have ruined their story, and I'm not a fan of this Steve/Stefano storyline.  The worst storyline was Kristin wearing the Nicole mask and Brady being so dumb, he could not tell the difference?!  Kristen has worn out her welcome, for me.  I'm seeing some good results from the Time Jump, we have different characters inter-acting and not the same groups of people all the time.   But, I do miss the romance & adventure from 'back in the day".... Sigh, I'm getting old 🙂

[WendyCR72]

I will make this extremely short and not-so-sweet:

Best:

Xander/Sarah/Mickey

Stephen Nichols' return

Jack/Jenn

 

Worst:

EVERYTHING else. Including, but not at all limited, to, the following:

Princess Gina (UGH.)

Steve-ano. (Big ol' HELL FUCKING NO.)

Ben propping.

Adrienne dead.

And too much more to list...

[Rafael]

A similar tOpIC has just appeared recentlY over at Soap Central . 

 

Il quOte from there 

"Robin Strasser is a pillar of soap history. Having her on any screen is can't-miss-TV. But Vivian's whole return felt rushed and downright sloppy this time around. For all of her faults, Vivian's schemes have always been carefully plotted. She has a collection of henchmen and do-badders at her disposal. Yet, this time, she was inexplicably held prisoner. Then, she shot Kate impulsively, at high noon, basically in the middle of the town square. Finally, her weirdo exit where she chalked up leaving her brain-dead son in a hospital bed as something he would have wanted her to do was too plot-point contrived for a woman whose constant has been her fierce love for her "boys."

 

Yes , It makes One wonder why thEy even bothered to create the character of Stefan by making him Stefano's latest long lost offspring.

Even fauxVivian did not seem to give a shyte about him . 

Il say it again,his existence was pointless. They should have brought back Nicholas AlamAin instead of creating Stefan. 

On top of that Stefan and Quinn Hudson's existence sort of undermined Vivian as a character especially Quinn. Vivian was fiercely devoted to her nephews Lawrence ,Nicholas and John and her faux son ,Philip ,who did not really like her .

Its like these writers forgot that Vivian's maternal devotion to her nephews was her way of coMpensating for the fact That shE had no kids of her own . That is one of the things that defined her character. 

So in a nutshell, Robin Strasser's Faux Vivian was One of the worst aspects of the show this year . 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Rafael

[Rafael]

 BEST:

- Lani and Kristen becoming BFFs 

- Return of Paul Telfer on contract 

- Return of Jack Devereaux 

Too bad the storyline surrounding his return was nothing more than political exposition .But iT was good To see Matt Ashford returning to the show.

-Return of Tony DiMera

Tony should have never been killed off. Him becoming the patriach of the DiMeras Would have been poetic justice after the way in which Stefano has always treated him.

-Victor strangling the serial killer

WORST :

-Destruction of Diane Collville 

-  The disgusting pairing of Serial Killer and Ciara .

-Haley Chen 

- Jordan's sudden turn to the dark side .

-Princess Gina and Steve-ano

- Adrienne's death 

-Sonny and Will reunion

This couple is played out

-Dr Rolf's anti-death serum

-Stefan and Gabi's hate sex

Hate to be a party pooper but thOse scenes fell flat .

Would have turned out better if Camilla's scene partner had tons of sexual gravitas which Brandon Barash lacked.

If her scene partner was Tyler Christopher ,who has plenty of gravitas , the scenes would haVe worked . They would have overcome the ridiculous stOryline which led to their hate sex. I still have a hard time buying that after a few trashy rOmps ,Gabi then falls in lovE with the man most responsible for her imprisonment and infertility. Hell, Gabi regards this man as the love of her Life. What a joke !!

- Constant propping of the Serial KilLer

- Tripp and Haley 

- Claire becoming insane

Compete waste of a legacy character S0RAS'd for no good reason. Claire's familial ties Should be used as a springboard to groom her to be the next Marlena . 

- Diana trying to kill Marlena 

- Leo being Diana's son and the subsequent "Is leo John's son ?" debacle.

- Austin going to Paris and macking on Abby. Such a waste. !!

They should have used Chad and Abby's Paris adventure to reintroduce Peter Blake-DiMera and have him meet Chad and sorta reunite with Abby ,his ex step daughter. 

- Time Jump 

- Eric/Sarah /Rex triangle

-The destruction of Noelle CUrtis , a character we have not seen since the late 1980s . Having her sleep with Rex was stupid . Not having her show up was also stupid and us not seeing the repercussions of this nonsense was also stupid. Why did Carlivati write this crap ? What was the point exactly? 

- Max Brady not returning in some form for his mums funeral. This was so wrong considering how hard Caroline fought to adopt Max.

- Justin and Kayla . UGH !!

they should hAve rather revisited Justin and Hope as a pairing. 

-Kristen's shenanigans

- Lani vs. Gabi is lame

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Rafael

[tribeca]

The worst women getting killed off and no one caring 

best 

Eric and Nicole reunited and being happy together 

worst   not seeing them as a happy couple 

best Ben finally in jail 

worst Ciara turning on everyone to help Ben   Ignoring her mom strange behavior Acting superior to others   At least she found time to get some good push-up bras and a spray tan 

worse Sonny he lost his husband his mom and seems lost as a person/character   He always seemed close to his mom.   I don’t buy he was fine with his dad moving on so quickly  

worse Claire going crazy to prob Ben 

jordan going crazy to prob Ben 

best the return of Belle and Shawn to help their daughter  I enjoy both these characters alone and as a couple.   
 

Best Gabby in revenge mode   This character works best in revenge mode

worst Lani not even trying to fight back 

 

 

 

[FilmTVGeek80]

BEST:

Will and Sonny finally reuniting and being allowed to be happy for more than a nanosecond

Eric and Nicole's reunion

Despite a crappy storyline - Jack and Jennifer's reunion

Stefan the rapist getting killed off

The goodbye scene between Chad, Sonny, and Will

Eric standing up to Xander

Any Lucas/Will/Sami scenes

WORST:

The pointless, and ridiculously hammy, returns of Diana and Vivian

The reunion between Jennifer and Jack was only great because of the chemistry, and performances, of MA and MR, but everything else sucked ass because it was ultimately pointless and everything Jack did got swept under the rug

Getting rid of Lucas

Dragging out the Eric/Sarah romance. Not because I didn't like the chemistry between the two but because the return of Nicole loomed over it and it was obvious how it was going to end. 

Will in anyway forgiving Ben

Ben/Ciara

Xander/Sarah

Xander's woobie face (the lone face he knows how to make to convey sadness or mild annoyance or confusion...)

Brady/Kristen

Bringing back tired, repetitive storyline (Princess Gina, Stefano and his "queen of the night."

Disgusting Xander standing over an unconscious Sarah about to let her womb be raided

Gabi's tired revenge plots

Gabi and her over the top widow routine given the shallowness of Gabi and Stefan's supposed grand romance

Lani letting Gabi run roughshod over her

But, by a country mile, the worst is the constant propping and supposed redemption of reprehensible characters (Ben, Xander, Kristen.) It was absolutely sickening watching the over the top propping of Ben all year, culminating at the end of the year with Will actually forgiving Ben and helping him out in any way. That grossness just got multiplied with Xander's supposed redemption despite his complete lack of remorse over his past crimes. His continuing to do disgusting things like him going along with Kristen stealing Sarah's fetus and whatever he's up to with Viktor. Yet, I'm supposed to swoon since he has some chemistry with Sarah and is nice to two characters. Almost worse than both of those character's "redemptions" is the show trying to sell Kristen's redemption, despite the horrific stuff she did this year alone. What's even more eye-roll worthy is the show trying to sell her story has some faux feminist redemption story. 

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

WORST:

Xander's woobie face (the lone face he knows how to make to convey sadness or mild annoyance or confusion)

+1

[DisneyBoy]

On 12/31/2019 at 6:36 PM, FilmTVGeek80 said:

The goodbye scene between Chad, Sonny, and Will

When....when Chad left for France? I don't remember this at all.

[CanaryFan98]

2 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

When....when Chad left for France? I don't remember this at all.

Yes they had a goodbye scene at the police station before he and Abby remarried and left the show.