Current Plots Discussion II: Discussing Today's Episode and Current Storylines

[boes]

11 hours ago, DaphneCat said:

Fortunately for all of us, they cut the John and Marlena slobbering all over each other act short today.  Not NEARLY as painful as I feared.

It certainly could have been worse.  Though it did leave me wishing that John and Marlena's food fetishes were sauerkraut and onion sauce instead of strawberries and cream.

I could really get behind that.

And......let me see, let me see......oh!  I really like Xander's hair.

As for Konstantine, the guy gives me hives.  He's way too smarmy and everybody should know that there wasn't anyone in the world, family included, that gushed over Victor the way this joker does.

Edited November 9, 2023 by boes

[Soapy Goddess]

6 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Have they reached Tom and Alice age yet?

I'm pretty sure they've surpassed Tom & Alice who I believe were in their 50s/60s.

[brisbydog]

Oh and another thing... Victor never called Steve one of his best employees. He derided him and treated him as a low grade funky then murdered his girlfriend. Steve should know just from that comment that Konstantin is either a liar or never knew Victor

[DisneyBoy]

3 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Oh and another thing... Victor never called Steve one of his best employees. He derided him and treated him as a low grade funky then murdered his girlfriend. Steve should know just from that comment that Konstantin is either a liar or never knew Victor

Ah ok, see, I wasn't a viewer then so I didn't catch that. Now I get why Steve was instantly repulsed.

[brisbydog]

1 hour ago, DisneyBoy said:

Ah ok, see, I wasn't a viewer then so I didn't catch that. Now I get why Steve was instantly repulsed.

He used Steve to do all the lowly criminal tasks then when he got close to Kayla used that intel to break them up as a favour to Bo. He also had Britta shot and killed when she and Steve were finally back together (Bo put Steve's eye out fighting over her) not caring that Bo still cared about her. Victor was a very evil man, and if Konstantin was bffs with him he can't be much better.

[Desperado]

I don’t like the new character played by Blake Berris. He oozes stalker vibes and been there, done that.

Just as I was finally warming up to Li Shin (I really enjoyed his therapy scenes), they bump him off.

Of course, with Rolf in the vicinity, one can never be counted dead. Still…

Camila and Remington seem to have been written pretty quickly. And why go through the therapy scenes mentioning a long lost love? Is she about to show up in town?

Are we still seeing scenes from when the bad man was still there? I keep thinking that when he got annoyed at people, he wrote them out of the show and that could explain things.

[brisbydog]

1 hour ago, Desperado said:

I don’t like the new character played by Blake Berris. He oozes stalker vibes and been there, done that.

Just as I was finally warming up to Li Shin (I really enjoyed his therapy scenes), they bump him off.

Of course, with Rolf in the vicinity, one can never be counted dead. Still…

Camila and Remington seem to have been written pretty quickly. And why go through the therapy scenes mentioning a long lost love? Is she about to show up in town?

Are we still seeing scenes from when the bad man was still there? I keep thinking that when he got annoyed at people, he wrote them out of the show and that could explain things.

Yes. In fact he directed this episode 

[Artsda]

Maybe Gabi shouldn't blackmail people all over threating, fake child abuse, fake kidnapping all for stocks if she can't take payback. She wants to play dirty. 

Good EJ for locking her up back in jail.  

Not happy that was end of Belle, that they made her look stupid on purpose trying to get charges dropped when there's a lot of evidence. 

[brisbydog]

So I am supposed to believe that Xander ran a multinational conglomerate company like Titan while covering up a baby switch full time yet can't manage a small local paper while having Sloan do all the work in a custody battle? Sure, show. I do buy that losing Lady Whistleblower was a blow (lol) to their readership.

Chad is going to take EJ's advice again. And have it blow up his relationship. Again. Isn't he?

Leo and Dimitri still really work for me. I love that Leo was able to talk him down from killing Jada. "You're not a killer! Ok you aren't one anymore". Greg must have a blast learning all that dialogue, Leo never stops talking

So Melinda doesn't actually have a baby yet but is cool telling Eric to go out and start shopping for stuff? Why is she written so dumb? Sloan needs a better attorney. I like that she is always reluctant to go along with Melinda's dumb ideas. She is still salvageable as  character once Ericole inevitabally and boringly reunite. I could go for her with EJ.

Also. I notice Eric isn't mad at Sloan for having him served with a subpoena. He is such a judgey character but only for those he has decided are unworthy. Watch it Sloan, your time is coming

Edited November 10, 2023 by brisbydog

[DanaMB]

2 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Sloan needs a better attorney. I like that she is always reluctant to go along with Melinda's dumb ideas. She is still salvageable as  character once Ericole inevitabally and boringly reunite. I could go for her with EJ.

I’ve thought that for awhile. I think they’d be good together. 

[DisneyBoy]

5 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Leo never stops talking

Spoilers for 2024?

[BuckeyeLou]

Ugh...why is Eric written as so dumb?!  He hears about an available baby & he rushes around like a Fool, needs to buy all the baby equipment...he does not ask any questions?  Doesnt he want to know the details about how they are getting this baby?  Arent there legal papers to sign?!   And Everett is an annoying character who seems to think if he hangs around Stephanie long enough she will fall back in love with him...again, another Fool!  Where is the Salem Brain?! :)

[boes]

7 minutes ago, BuckeyeLou said:

 Where is the Salem Brain?! :)

It died of starvation a while back.  

[brisbydog]

5 hours ago, boes said:

It died of starvation a while back.  

I don't know, I feel Steve had it this week

[Artsda]

Jada is really stupid not calling for backup when she had the gun on them.  Instead she uses Leo as an assistant?

EJs plan isn't bad but not because of Stephanie and Nick Fallon new name.  But that he's going to have part of paper back which is Abby's birthright and have it for her children. 

[brisbydog]

25 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Jada is really stupid not calling for backup when she had the gun on them.  Instead she uses Leo as an assistant?

EJs plan isn't bad but not because of Stephanie and Nick Fallon new name.  But that he's going to have part of paper back which is Abby's birthright and have it for her children. 

Exactly. Chad can hand back half the paper to Jack. 

It's kind of Leo's birthright too though, which makes his success as a columnist kind of cool

[tribeca]

Stephanie could easily not work with whatever her x name is.   Not sure if she is keeping him around because she still has feelings or as  backup for when she breaks it off with Chad.  
         I liked EJ advice about buying the paper. It should be in Abby‘s family and Chad is Abby family.  I don’t really see a future with Stephanie and Chad anyway. 
  Roman is cheap.  Here is two free bowls of clam chowder for a wedding gift. 

[Frozendiva]

Maybe one of the clams will have a pearl. Oh no, those are oysters…

[DisneyBoy]

On 11/10/2023 at 9:54 PM, brisbydog said:

It's kind of Leo's birthright too though, which makes his success as a columnist kind of cool

"Leo" and "cool" in the same sentence doesn't quite compute for me.

8 hours ago, tribeca said:

 I liked EJ advice about buying the paper. It should be in Abby‘s family and Chad is Abby family.

Agreed. I'm not eager for Jack to return to the show (sorry Matt A fans) but it would be nice to undo some of the evil Gwen unleashed.

[brisbydog]

9 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

"Leo" and "cool" in the same sentence doesn't quite compute for me.

Agreed. I'm not eager for Jack to return to the show (sorry Matt A fans) but it would be nice to undo some of the evil Gwen unleashed.

Curious... were you watching 1988-1990? I feel like those of us who watched Jack then have so much residual love for the character Matt A showed us

[DisneyBoy]

Nope, that was before my time. I've seen some clips of Matt and Missy looking fresh-faced from that era, but honestly his abilities have worsened with time and she is not someone I root for, so I haven't missed Jack and Jennifer in the least.

But I get it. Hey, Kristen was once my everything so...yeah. I feel your pain!

 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Curious... were you watching 1988-1990? I feel like those of us who watched Jack then have so much residual love for the character Matt A showed us

I think there are even Jack fans who don't want him back because the show clearly doesn't know what to do with him. It's like they watched under Reilly and decided that's who the characters are even though Reilly was awful for so many.  Ditto the storylines they want to revive from that era.

Although if Sheri Anderson really did write some upcoming episodes, I'd love for him to be in those. 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Irlandesa

[DisneyBoy]

Good observations ^ But even if Jack returned now there'd be little for him to deal with that would be fun. Gwen is awful (and gone?), him being Xander's BFF made no sense, and Laura and Abigail are dead. Him and Jennifer in couple mode was nauseating. He's just too cheesy and broad a performer now. Strange how Drake vastly improved and Matt declined...

I'd rather see Billie return. She's got a history with Dimitri and there's Lucas in jail and Kate's marriage with Roman, tepid though it is. Plenty of stuff for her to be involved with.

I don't love Billie, mind you, I just think her absence is strange. I feel like that character has unfinished business.

[brisbydog]

5 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Nope, that was before my time. I've seen some clips of Matt and Missy looking fresh-faced from that era, but honestly his abilities have worsened with time and she is not someone I root for, so I haven't missed Jack and Jennifer in the least.

But I get it. Hey, Kristen was once my everything so...yeah. I feel your pain!

 

I never really cared about Jennifer, it was all about Matt's performance and his complicated relationship with Steve. His redemption arc took years and he was so good 

5 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think there are even Jack fans who don't want him back because the show clearly doesn't know what to do with him. It's like they watched under Reilly and decided that's who the characters are even though Reilly was awful for so many.  Ditto the storylines they want to revive from that era.

Although if Sheri Anderson really did write some upcoming episodes, I'd love for him to be in those. 

Exactly. The more recent Jack at least wasn't the buffoon we were served up in the Greta era. Sheri created Victor I would love her to write the eventual Xander reveal.

Edited November 12, 2023 by brisbydog

[brisbydog]

26 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

Good observations ^ But even if Jack returned now there'd be little for him to deal with that would be fun. Gwen is awful (and gone?), him being Xander's BFF made no sense, and Laura and Abigail are dead. 

 

His friendship with Xander made so much sense. Jack was once Xander, the town outcast who had to try to prove he had changed but kept messing up. It was actually genius to have Jack try to guide him. I hate that they trashed that.

 

 

[norcalgal]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think there are even Jack fans who don't want him back because the show clearly doesn't know what to do with him

This is me. In fact, it seemed like every time Jack returned, the writing kept making him or his story craptastic.  

• Sleeping with his unbeknownst mother in law Laura?
• Being blamed for not being in his family’s life even after they found out the reason was Jack was kidnapped by terrorists?
• Acting like a asshat when he returned to Salem with amnesia? 
• Time and again taking Gwen’s side even after all the reveals of how Gwen effed Abby!

So no thanks to any more Jack returns.

[CanaryFan98]

5 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think there are even Jack fans who don't want him back because the show clearly doesn't know what to do with him. It's like they watched under Reilly and decided that's who the characters are even though Reilly was awful for so many.  Ditto the storylines they want to revive from that era.

Although if Sheri Anderson really did write some upcoming episodes, I'd love for him to be in those. 

Yeah I'm one of those people. I rather J&J and JJ not return to this show unless Days ends and we see them one last time. Otherwise I rather they stay gone(along with Bo/Hope etc)

[DisneyBoy]

Bo's storyline for the last decade has been a mess.

[BuckeyeLou]

The whole scene with Leo & Dmitri delivering Nicole's baby was just so crazy!  I didnt know whether to laugh or roll my eyes.  And Why would Dmitri show up to Sloan's door of all people?!

[Artsda]

I laughed at Leo telling Dimitri he was not doing anything. 

Dimitri showing up with a baby he thinks is his family member to give Sloan is nonsense.  This baby switch is just Nicole and Sami reversed but Dimitri and Leo added in was not needed.  Dimitri never heard of a fire station drop off. 

 

 

[worleybird]

So on Monday's end of the show cast list, Lauren Koslow was dropped. Is she off-contract? A few weeks ago they dropped Brandon Barash to recurring. For ONE WEEK. He was back with the contract players the next week, but dropped down a little bit in the list. 

[BuckeyeLou]

Well, at least Sloan was dubious, at first, of Melinda's plan...she wanted to do the right thing.  And when the heck has the baby been fed?!

[Artsda]

Melinda can die anytime now.  While Nicole did do this to Sami, Sloan should have not listened at all. 

EJ I actually feel sorry for the most, he will be the one who loses it all. 

 

[brisbydog]

We all know in 5 years or so Eric's son will be 16 and pursuing Victoria and all the baby swapping will be long forgotten 

[WendyCR72]

On 11/13/2023 at 3:30 AM, DisneyBoy said:

Every character's Bo's storyline for the last decade has been a mess.

Fixed it for you! 😋

[norcalgal]

37 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Melinda can die anytime now.  While Nicole did do this to Sami, Sloan should have not listened at all. 

EJ I actually feel sorry for the most, he will be the one who loses it all. 

 

Can someone explain to me why Melinda is sooooo invested in Sloan having a baby?  I truly don’t understand this part.
And I don’t understand how Sloan/Melinda think they can get away with stealing Nicole’s baby.  Too many people know about the Dimitri part of it, so (assuming) when he’s caught, they can add kidnapping to his crimes if he doesn’t tell the truth about who he gave the baby to. Further, how do Sloan/Melinda intend to get hospital employees to go along with their story that Dimitri took the baby to the hospital but he died. The hospital must have protocols/records regarding a dead newborn.  Wouldn’t EJ demand details, details, details?!  
I think AZ had some facial work done based on the Nov. 13 episode I saw.  

[nilyank]

2 hours ago, Artsda said:

EJ I actually feel sorry for the most, he will be the one who loses it all. 

 

Like in the original baby swap story, EJ lost one daughter (Nicole's dead baby) and wasn't told, found out after Grace died that Sami had his daughter and they both grieved Grace's death not knowing that Sydney was their actual daughter. Then a few years later, Nicole lied/changed paternity results that Rafe was the dad in between sleeping with Daniel for half her pregnancy when he lost another kid with Nicole.

The second that Nicole said that she was pregnant EJ should have known that he would end losing the most as well as being still stuck with Nicole.

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, norcalgal said:

EJ I actually feel sorry for the most, he will be the one who loses it all. 

Good.

EJ deserves all the bad karma he can get. He has never really changed from his villainous rapey days, so... *shrug*

And I don't even like Sami much, but yeah.

[DisneyBoy]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

Like in the original baby swap story, EJ lost one daughter (Nicole's dead baby) and wasn't told, found out after Grace died that Sami had his daughter and they both grieved Grace's death not knowing that Sydney was their actual daughter. Then a few years later, Nicole lied/changed paternity results that Rafe was the dad in between sleeping with Daniel for half her pregnancy when he lost another kid with Nicole.

The second that Nicole said that she was pregnant EJ should have known that he would end losing the most as well as being still stuck with Nicole.

Wait...Nicole has lost 2 babies by EJ prior to this one??

Someone tell the writers. It's not part of this arc at all.

Leo has no business being part of Nicole's baby drama, and neither does Melinda, who is too smart for this swapping shit and has nothing to gain by pitching it to Sloan.

I gave up partway through this episode. It's beyond dumb. Sloan seemed to agree.

Dimitri, with all his money and super agent mojo, couldn't figure out how to help the baby? What a loser he's become.

...the scab writers can't get in here soon enough. 

Although it was nice to see an actual car with a real dent in it. Who splurged?

[DisneyBoy]

Dan was on fire today.

Leo deserves the ending Will once got. Please kill him. Twist his head off.

Melinda - WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!?

 

Edit: Ok, so Dan couldn't actually cry, which was noticeable....but man oh man, that last scene was not planned out well. It needed less dialogue, better blocking and a few cuts to different angles.

We just saw two good actors trapped in an endless close-up, improvising their way through difficult material and knowing they'd only get one take. Dan kissed her what...14 times? AZ crumpled what...4 different times? They were clearly guessing at how to move and trying to be authentic, instead of comfortably playing out a tough scene, knowing they're in good hands.

It's just way too much pressure on the performers to do it all. Where's the artistry? Where's the carefully setting up the scene so no matter what the performance is, it elicits the right emotions from the audience?

Was it awful...? No. Was it what it could have been? No.

Edited November 15, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[peachmangosteen]

This week has been really good so far. I wish AZ was doing better work though. She's been such a glaring weak link.

Melinda is truly cracked for no literally reason and I love it. It's so hilarious lol. I was rolling today when they tried to explain her insanity by bringing up Haley.

[CanaryFan98]

52 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

This week has been really good so far. I wish AZ was doing better work though. She's been such a glaring weak link.

Melinda is truly cracked for no literally reason and I love it. It's so hilarious lol. I was rolling today when they tried to explain her insanity by bringing up Haley.

If she did this to Rachel/Mackenzie I would at least understand it however this has zero motivation and Melinda being a POC will be thrown under the bus for this.

[DanaMB]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I wish AZ was doing better work though. She's been such a glaring weak link.

During today’s scenes I felt like she was tired of playing the same thing with Nicole’s babies and just didn’t put much into it. Not that I care.  I hate this storyline. 

[Artsda]

So is Dimitri gone? 

Dan was good today going from anger to distraught. 

So Eric gets a baby and Nicole's baby dies in a matter of hours and nobody will put it together?  What about when Nicole and Leo meet Eric's baby. 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Artsda

[SouthernChick]

Just go ahead and give Ari the Emmy right now. Nicole crying broke my heart!

[norcalgal]

1 hour ago, Artsda said:

So Eric gets a baby and Nicole's baby dies in a matter of hours and nobody will put it together?  What about when Nicole and Leo meet Eric's baby. 

Some other plot holes:

Nicole/EJ ask for the baby’s body so he can be buried (Salem Hospital: what baby?)

Kayla hears Dr. What’s-his-name was the one who attended to the baby and either asks him questions about the entire event - or - Kayla wonders why a cardiologist/internal medicine/oncologist - any non pediatrician specialist was attending to a newborn. 
 

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, norcalgal said:

Kayla hears Dr. What’s-his-name was the one who attended to the baby and either asks him questions about the entire event - or - Kayla wonders why a cardiologist/internal medicine/oncologist - any non pediatrician specialist was attending to a newborn. 

I think you're giving Kayla way too much credit here lol.

But yea, how are they gonna explain the fact that there's no body? Surely they won't just have Nicole/EJ not even ask lol.

[brisbydog]

What on earth is Xander supposed to do? He has seen his daughter 3 times since she was born. Konstantin has logged more hours with Victoria than her father.

He wants to co parent. He stated this again today. He does not want full custody. Yet Sarah still does not comprehend that she is the problem

Now Konstantin is arranging a faux kidnapping to score points with Sarah and Maggie (I assume he will return the baby as the 'big hero'). You know Sarah will freak out on Xander and accuse him of snatching the baby.

Trigger warning for those who have not watched yet: Greased up Half Naked Alex. Barf

[boes]

Yesterday's show had some pretty good scenes, IMO.  Excellent acting from Dan and Ari, I thought, movingly portrayed grief that for once, didn't feel forced.  

But - there's always a but - GV as Eric looked particularly stupid in all of his scenes.  Part of that was the editing, having someone ask him something at the end of a scene and then keep the camera on his silent face just a second or two too long, but man, I wanted someone to hold a mirror up to his face to see if he was still breathing.

Out of all his brain dead scenes, the worst one, or the best worst one, was when he was telling Marlena that he was going to get a baby real soon.  That blank, bright-eyed smile, combined with him also telling her about Nicole, and Marlena doing her little bird chirp of congratulations and her saying, "you're FINALLY going to be a father like you've always wanted" sent me right over the edge into inappropriate laughter.

It's gone beyond ridiculous that everyone tells him that he deserves to be a father, that he'll be a great father, that any baby would be lucky to have him is silly enough, but yesterday, for that litany to continue in the midst of what's happened to Nicole was sublimely ridiculous, especially with him looking especially dumber than a box of rocks in every scene.

Show can't be aware of how it all looks, can it??

Edited November 16, 2023 by boes

[brisbydog]

43 minutes ago, boes said:

Yesterday's show had some pretty good scenes, IMO.  Excellent acting from Dan and Ari, I thought, movingly portrayed grief that for once, didn't feel forced.  

But - there's always a but - GV as Eric looked particularly stupid in all of his scenes.  Part of that was the editing, having someone ask him something at the end of a scene and then keep the camera on his silent face just a second or two too long, but man, I wanted someone to hold a mirror up to his face to see if he was still breathing.

Out of all his brain dead scenes, the worst one, or the best worst one, was when he was telling Marlena that he was going to get a baby real soon.  That blank, bright-eyed smile, combined with him also telling her about Nicole, and Marlena doing her little bird chirp of congratulations and her saying, "you're FINALLY going to be a father like you've always wanted" sent me right over the edge into inappropriate laughter.

It's gone beyond ridiculous that everyone tells him that he deserves to be a father, that he'll be a great father, that any baby would be lucky to have him is silly enough, but yesterday, for that litany to continue in the midst of what's happened to Nicole was sublimely ridiculous, especially with him looking especially dumber than a box of rocks in every scene.

Show can't be aware of how it all looks, can it??

I was offended the birth mother rejected Sloan based on some crap in Lady Whistleblower's column but no mention was made of Eric literally running down Saint Dr Dan and killing him while driving drunk.

GV does zero for me. I am hoping when this is all done Sloan is with EJ.