2023 Wrap-Up: Best and Worst DAYS Moments

[DisneyBoy]

Can you believe it's been another year?

And what a year. Really.

For those of you who have participated in these threads before, it's becoming painfully clear that the list of BEST moments/elements keeps getting shorter with every passing year, doesn't it?

I'm trying to be positive, really I am, but....it is what it is.

 

BEST

-Telfer as leading man Xander Cook (Kiriakis!). Carry on. Good twist building on character history.

-Dan and Ari, as probably the best pairing of the year, with EJ and Nicole seemingly getting along well. Hard to believe they could seem happy together...

-Hope for us (hopeless) Ericole fans, in the form of a baby.

-A pretty decent funeral and fallout storyline for Victor, though they'd have been wise to shoot something in advance, given all the time John gave them. We'll always miss you, Mr Aniston. Thank you!

-The return of the one and only Louise Sorel. It was too short. You are delicious and we love you.

-Susan being alive. Her death was dumb.

-Yo Ling un-Daddyed.

-The SHes, who keep on trucking and show a love and devotion to the series that warms my heart.

-The sweet Chanel and Johnny reuniting in spite of their awkward character histories.

-Eve apparently getting a clean bill of mental health. (fingers crossed)

-Li, who in spite of bad writing, remained charming, believable and a welcome presence with chemistry in his pairing with Gabi.

-The decently written Crazy Nurse storyline, which played out pretty well, with a slow build.

-Sloan, who has grown into a fine addition to the supporting cast.

-Decent recasts for Tate and Holly.

WORST

-ReRon. Y'all warned us, but dang is this worse than we were expecting. Enough with reusing old stories, FFS! We aren't enjoying it! You're being lazy, not "paying homage" or whatever. I'm sure there's blame to share there, but still, this is just nuts. And it's killing the show.

-...as are PET CHARACTERS. Such as...

-Gwenresa, the recast that simply was not needed. At all. JL could have left the show after Theresa swapped out the letters, leaving BenAlex to think he was Victor's son. Her character didn't need to stay, suck face with a moron, get called every name under the sun and betray everyone...and apparently all for money, which we know she has plenty of. What a trainwreck. The story would have been almost completely the same without her in it, simply to be used as a punching bag. I can't believe JL was fired like that, and all because she wanted to honor John Aniston. A mess. A needless, unentertaining mess. And yeah, Emily is still just Gwen. 🙄 You can't get around that with a wig. Also...

-BenAlex. Will it never end? Just go.

-And Ava, who...I mean....why? Why does she still breathe? And also....

-LEO THE SHOW-EATER. Not funny. Or sympathetic. Or entertaining in any way. Just a self-insert (one assumes?) who loong overstayed his welcome. Seeing Dimitri get wasted as his lovesick cheerleader is baffling. Way to take an actor with potential and wreck them. Leo is offensive, corny, and neither sexy nor devious enough to keep sticking around. But he just never leaves.

-...bringing us to Paulina, who wears out my mute button something fierce. She's exhausted me. Go. Please go.

-And Harris, who really would never in a billion years go from reckless assassin to cop just like that. I don't care that he's made Ava slightly more tolerable. Scram.

-And for the dozenth year running, Rafe! There's the door man.

*seeing a trend here?*

-I want to include a mention here of the mass firing of female actresses/characters, possibly linked to the AA scandal. This year, we said sudden goodbyes to Chloe, Gabi, Theresa and Belle, and considering what they had to put up with BTS, that sucks.

-Also sucky? That they wasted money bringing Bo and Hope back, but scrapped plans to film Bo and Victor back together. Instead, Bo's in a perma-coma. As if anyone still cares. Bringing him to life after all these years just to do nothing with him? Pathetic.

-The "deaths" of Marlena, Kayla and Kate, which felt so uninspired and pointless I hardly watched them.

-NotNick, an unfunny recast gag and a useless character. (I can't remember his name even.)

-Megan, who became the saddest caricature of a villain in a better-off-skipped return from the dead.

-Chloe and Xander. Two pretty people do not a compelling pairing make. Sorry but this was a bad look for Chloe, banging the stud who nearly killed so many people she claims to love.

-Sarah, who needs to pick a side of the fence already and stick to it. Her waffling is a major turnoff.

-The Baby Switch That Never Made Sense. There's about two dozen plotholes in this storyline, so my thoughts can be summarized by saying: Melinda shouldn't be doing this, Sloan shouldn't be doing this, Nicole shouldn't have suddenly been able to carry a kid to term (invalidating Holly's entire origin story), Leo should have had nothing to do with this, basic DNA testing should have  resolved this, the hospital accidentally cremating the "dead" baby should have ruined them, the building apparently still has no security cameras, and ultimately, its just another weak rehash of a much better plot from several years ago.

-The fondly remembered Edmund getting thrown under the bus after a 20+ year absence. Super classy.

-Gabi, Stefan and Brady faking child abuse. How that got to our screens, I will never know. Disgusting.

-Li getting streamrolled in favor of Stefan, the rapist.

-Gabi back in the slammer and getting roughed up some more. 

-Kristen the smug and her repulsive daughter.

-Marlena's permanently wooden delivery.

-Stephanie and Chad's overcommitted and underwhelming romance.

-Stephanie's many suitors. How?

-Shawn D's first real dramatic storyline in years marred by the actor's inability to sell depression and some herky jerky pacing.

-Shitty pacing, with plots disappearing and then popping back up only to vanish again before they can really climax or resolve.

-John and Marlena skipping/missing Victor's funeral...!!!

-Justin being hammy (sorry Wally)

-Everyone getting out of their considerable legal troubles with no issues, except for certain characters who are arbitrarily jailed forever (Lucas).

-Abe's awful, drawn-out amnesia storyline. Depressing much?

-Sloan's idiot brother.

-Whatzername who banged Shawn? The one with all the hair? Talia? Yeesh.

-Constantin, whose story began well enough but then began to annoy. The fake accent hasn't helped.

-The abrupt SORASing of Tate and Holly. Too soon. Its jarring.

-Kate saddled with Roman. This is not the pairing I ever wished for her. They are a joyless mismatch.

-Tripp and Wendy who I nearly forgot to complain about because that's how boring they are. Nothing passionate about them.

-Gwen. Still hate her. Hate that she got the paper away from Jack. Hate that Chad had to buy it back from her. She is the worst.

 

 

What are your Bests and Worsts of 2023?

Edited December 29, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[boes]

Very well said, DisneyBoy!

I'm on track with most of what you said, but I would add, in the "Worst" category,

"Eric always wanted to be a father (my current bugaboo).  Show seems to forget that he WAS a father, or supposed to be, to Holly and he was a Father when he was a priest.  A celibate one at that.  Those guys aren't supposed to either be or want to be biological fathers.  Also, Greg Vaughn has less animation and a blanker stare than a Jack-in-the-box.

As you said, but it can't be said enough, 

Get rid of Leo and Paulina.  They're both prime examples of poorly crafted and even more poorly casted, characters.  Also, they're making me wear out my mute button.

Show not recognizing gold in Martha Madison when they see it and getting rid of Belle, again.  A good actress, and a character with so many possibilities, but not enough, apparently, for TIIC of DOOL.

Gwen, of course.

Where have all the Hortons gone??

Now, on the good side,

EJ and Nicole.  Who would ever have thought it?  It looks now like that ship will sink when the truth comes out, but this pairing has really made Dan's EJ click, at least with me, and AZ sparkles with him.

Chanel, doing pretty much anything.

Xander, like you say.  I hope he and Sarah last for a while this time.  I love his relationship with Maggie, too.  

Rafe is dispensable, but I like him more with Jada than I ever have.

That's all I've got for now.

 

[nilyank]

Worst: Everything on this show is either a hit but mostly miss or downright offensive.

I don't care about most of the characters no thanks to the shoddy writing.

The things I liked about the show are a dim memory. 

So here are my best and worst:

Best thing that happen to the writing of the show:

The writers strike. Anything that prevents Ron from being the headwriter of a show always works for me.

Best thing to happen to a rotten character:

Tie. Lucas goes to prison for kidnapping Sami. It will be the longest job that he has ever held without nepotism: convicted criminal

Supreme baby karma for Nicole. First after Nicole watches as Eric get involved with a younger less baggage version of herself. Then she gets knocked up by Eric because they were both drugged (super romantic for them I'm sure) but the paternity tests get messed up and she is all so sad that Eric is not the daddy. Of course, the baby switch where Nicole now thinks her child is a bunch of ashes. Nicole was never mentally stable after miscarrying a child or stealing possession of a child (Sydney, Holly), but she isn't going to get better with that quack that is on her case. May Jude stay forever away from her.

Dumbest people on Earth

The voters of Salem. They voted for Paulina to be mayor. Sure she was previously voted to be the state governor of whatever state Salem is in, but she lost her job over that business of trying to coverup the connection of Chanel with the death of Sloane' mom. Prior to that she was going to bullzone Salem's  Horton Square inside mall that those dumb Salem citizens seem to like.

Best tribute to a legend with a show of limited budget

John Aniston / Victor Kiriakis. Back in the 80s, I started watching this silly show about supercouples and outlandish storylines, but it was the character of Victor that made stay and watch this show. Yeah, he was a baddie but in a show filled with a lot dumb people, Victor was smart baddie who had charm that I was happy to root for him.

The show got as many of loved ones back for the funeral. If it wasn't for the show being filmed so far in advance, maybe they would have been able to have that Peacock Bo story tied into this.

Best use of history/character:

Like John, Paul Telfer / Xander, I adore this charming baddie since he first showed up. Of course, I originally hoped that Xander would have been Alexander but ultimately, this allowed Xander to develop his own character and tie to characters.

We had years of a prickly relationship between Victor and Xander, so to have it come out that Xander is secretly Victor's son works and checks off all boxes with me. Like Victor, he grew up with nothing and had scramble, scheme in one criminal activity or another. Xander also like Victor had very little in family and we spend the last decade trying to form his bonds/relationships. He worked closely with Victor in both criminal and legitimate enterprises, so if Philip is not going to be in Salem, I truly accept Xander to continue on for Victor.

Worst use of history

Everyone believing Alex to be Victor's son. Forget messing up the relationship between Victor & Justin, and Justin & Alex, it is inconceivable that people think that Victor would have take the word of Angelica over a piece of paper. Justin would not have believed Angelica. In fact, the first thing Justin would have gotten a dna test done immediate on Alex, because this is stupid.

Storyline that has been beaten to death, lit on fire and ashes spread across the world.

John's backstory. Pawn. Brady. Baseball player. Alamain. Priest. Fake priest. Art thief. Dimera love child. Dimera Brady love child. Not Dimera Brady love child. Secret assassin student. Dick Van Dyke's son. And now back to fracking Pawn.

Who cares. The show should stop once they made him an Alamian. Every additional backstory after that just got dumber.

In none of these backstories reveals, John has never gotten more than a blip of a memory prior to his pre-Pawn days. 

This is just going to be dumber that all his previous backstories put together.

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by nilyank

[DaphneCat]

10 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I want to include a mention here of the mass firing of female actresses/characters, possibly linked to the AA scandal. This year, we said sudden goodbyes to Chloe, Gabi, Theresa and Belle, and considering what they had to put up with BTS, that sucks.

 

2 hours ago, boes said:

"Eric always wanted to be a father (my current bugaboo).  Show seems to forget that he WAS a father, or supposed to be, to Holly and he was a Father when he was a priest.  A celibate one at that.  Those guys aren't supposed to either be or want to be biological fathers.  Also, Greg Vaughn has less animation and a blanker stare than a Jack-in-the-box.

This ties in to my WORST - the obvious misogyny that is getting more blatant as plots unfold.  Nicole is basing her reproductive decisions on (and I know I sound like a broken record on this) THE MAN WHO ABANDONED HER OWN CHILD!!!  No mother should ever forgive that, much less fawn over what a GREAT father he will be and want to produce a child for him.  Add that to the fact that she's perfectly willing to forget the only child that she's aware of on BOTH her birthday and Christmas Eve to wallow in her own sadness makes her not just a terrible mother but a terrible character.

Sloan went from being an intelligent, take no prisoners, bad-ass (bonus points for owning her sex life and refusing to be slut shamed) to a needy pathetic person who's ONLY focus is keeping a man - who we know is going to dump her.

Theresa has been basically portrayed as a single mother while Brady went around horn-dogging after Kristen and paying attention to his only REAL child - devil-spawn Rachel - but we all just KNOW he's going to be father of the year and have a great time bonding with Tate over what a terrible, terrible person Theresa is when the whole will debacle comes out.  Another female character trashed for one of the "good guys."

Sarah is coming across as rather fickle  and not particularly bright.  "Susan is dead so Xander can't be trusted around my baby" - even though Xander wasn't directly responsible for Susan's "death."  "Susan isn't dead so now Xander CAN be trusted around my baby."

Wendy started out as someone who had confidence and curiosity - investigating things that seemed wrong, even if she wasn't always successful.  Now she just exists to be Tripp's love interest.

I'll give Maggie the benefit of the grieving widow doubt to excuse her obvious stupidity about Konstantin.

BEST

I agree with all of you that Paul Telfer/Xander is one of the best. 

I also like that they are using the vets - even if I think trying to make John and Steve geriatric action heroes is incredibly stupid.  The only thing good about this Konstantin plot is that John and Steve are using their brains and investigating their suspicions.  Show, you CAN have older people involved in current plots - but know their physical limitations.

I also like that people seem to be coming out of their silos a bit more and having interactions with people they normally wouldn't.  I actually forgot that Stephanie and Tripp are siblings until they had them have a conversation.  

[brisbydog]

Ok let's see if I can add anything to the above. Let me first say that I love this forum because everybody here has opinions that jive with mine lol, no Rafe lovers or Benalex worshippers here!

Best:

I was already watching this show for Paul Telfer, but making Xander Victor's son was the best thing the show did this year. It made so much sense, and while I've seen a lot of people saying "Victor would never treat his own child that way", I say he totally would. I remember eighties Victor. I like to think Victor saw the spoiled brat that Phillip was and decided to do some sort of experiment with the two boys, to see if denying one everything would turn him into a younger version of himself, as opposed to the entitled motherboy that Phillip became. I hope that the writers do something really good with this revelation, and set Xander up to be the new Kiriakis leader, which brings us to...

Dan F as EJ. So good. He has turned this character into the best husband, who is somehow still a complete dick to most everybody else. If Xander is the new Victor, then EJ is the new Stephano, and I hope to see them sparring more in the future. I loved their scenes where they negotiated each other's crimes over Rex's prone body. More of that please!

Steve suddenly becoming the Patchman I used to know and love in the eighties. Was good to see him being bad again. I know Konstantin hasn't really merited the smack down he got yesterday (yet) and there is no reason for Steve to be so up in Maggie's business, but I don't care. I came into this show in 1985 for him and he still works for me.

Use of flashbacks and history around Victor's death. Apart from Brady's, which made no sense, most of them were excellent and really tied into the characters, particularly Xander remembering Victor giving him the coin that father's give to sons, and Nicole recalling him tossing her out of a window. Miss John Aniston so much. 

Worst:

Benalex and Gweneresa. Two of the worst characters revived into two more awful characters. AND they are together in most scenes. 

Turning Sloan into a pitiful woman who needs to hang on to her man. And why? Why is unemployed, mopey, whisper talking Eric such a prize? She could do so much better. Also why on earth didn't they go the surrogate route, since ERIC HAS ALWAYS WANTED A CHILD OF HIS OWN and Holly didn't cut it since he abandoned her not biologically his ass

Wendy and Tripp. So boring. So boring that two words is all I have for them

The entire baby swap plot. I enjoy the karma hitting Nicole, and unlike most of the internet I am not lapping up the story and feeling so sorry for her. I resent it taking up 90% of the show. It is overkill. And I know it will end with her dumping EJ and taking back up with Eric again, so why would I care?

Abe's amnesia. Does anybody even remember (haha). Paulina. Everything Paulina. Her screeching and his chuckling. Kill me.

Chad and Steph. Almost as boring as Wendy and Tripp. Saved by Everett who is intriguing, but far too interesting to waste on Steph. I'd say give him to Sloan eventually but she is too hot for him, so she needs to have revenge sex with EJ when the truth comes out.

Harris has the most airtime of any male character in December. Let that sink in. Did anybody ask for him? 

Rafe, Jada, Chanel, Johnny. Inoffensive but if they are not on I don't remember they exist.

Why isn't Clyde dead yet? You are a terrible Dimera, Stephan-O. Letting kids die on your watch because you don't want him to get mad at you. Pathetic.

Getting rid of Belle, Chloe and Phillip in one week. I enjoyed Chloe with Xander cause I'm shallow, but I would have liked to see her win over Brat Rachel and banish Kristen from dumb Brady's life forever.

Melinda...wtf... does her motivation make any sense? 

Letting Alaar run rampage over this show and getting rid of any women (other than Ari) who stood up to him. I hope this is fixed next year under our new female EP.

Onwards and upwards! Hoping for better in 2024!

[JarlenaFan2023]

23 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

 

WORST

-The "deaths" of Marlena, Kayla and Kate, which felt so uninspired and pointless I hardly watched them.

 

I was honestly worried about Deidre, Mary Beth and Lauren's status on the show when the orchid illness first happened then it evolved into hate of Megan (loved Miranda's acting though).  Of course, I'm biased as Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn are the reason I watch the show (go ahead and hate me now).

Edited December 30, 2023 by JarlenaFan2023
Clarity

[DisneyBoy]

On 12/29/2023 at 12:36 PM, brisbydog said:

If Xander is the new Victor, then EJ is the new Stephano, and I hope to see them sparring more in the future.

I've come around to Dan...but no. LOL, sorry but no. He's not. Joe M was really one-of-a-kind, and the soaps that were fortunate enough to find that calibre of actor (Charles Keating on Another World being another one) should count their blessings because they're impossible to replace. Days had two - Joe and John A.

Heck, I even like Xander a great deal, but he doesn't have the same vibe as Victor, and no one will. And yes, I do mean range of acting ability and screen presence. Xander has a lot going for him, but John was a master, and Joe was as well. I can't count the number of times Joe dealt with campy writing and dumb twists and always made it sing through his performance.

That said, it's interesting to me that Dan's tenure saw him (permanently?) separate from Sami, reconnect with Nicole and even boink Belle...and the fandom hasn't turned against him. James was EJ to so many people, and people obsessed about him and Sami together (not all of us, but some)...so seeing Dan's stint undo that key relationship and still be considered viable is interesting.

I've liked him best in Dad mode with Johnny and son mode with Susan (something James was given no opportunity to do).

...but he's no Stefano. No one ever will be again, and I hope the producers and writers realize that, and find new talents with new things to offer rather than relying on the "DiMERA!!!!" legacy to prop weak characters, as they have with Stefan, Jake, unDead Megan (who scared no one) and now Dimitri.

Rant over :)

13 hours ago, JarlenaFan2023 said:

I'm biased as Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn are the reason I watch the show (go ahead and hate me now).

Aww, no one will hate you for shipping them :) Heck, I'm the resident Kristen Blake/Eileen Davidson nut around here, and I've shipped her with both John AND Brady for years now (blushes). We like who we like, and Jarlena, even in these cooler days, are a fun couple with their own appeal. Heck, I like John WAY more now that I ever have. Kudos to Drake there, I suppose.

[DisneyBoy]

On 12/29/2023 at 12:36 PM, brisbydog said:

Harris has the most airtime of any male character in December. Let that sink in. Did anybody ask for him? 

Ugh...he does? Barf. I mean, no offense dude but...you have been wedged in here and we all resent it.

I do want to add that Nicole calling Amnesiac Abe "Dad" in the hospital was a really sweet moment. Yeah, it's a sugary, obvious thing to do, not incredibly creative or original, but it never happened before, and Nicole, in her grief, seeing Amnesic Abe still being there for her probably made it slip out. It was touching. To me at least.

I forgot to include the Ruination of Gabi on the "Worst" list. Seriously that character was just awful this year. Not fun. Not enjoyable. It's like they were on a mission to make her mean and selfish and grating. Her pairing with Stefan was never good, and only got worse and worse over time, no matter how much sex they showed them having. I didn't even see her final episode. Felt like the "real" Gabi had been gone for quite some time.

Edited December 30, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[nilyank]

34 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

I do want to add that Nicole calling Amnesiac Abe "Dad" in the hospital was a really sweet moment

I found that dumb not sweet. Abe was never Dad in the last two decades and while he has been nice and sometimes gives her fatherly advice, that is not their relationship.

 

43 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

That said, it's interesting to me that Dan's tenure saw him (permanently?) separate from Sami, reconnect with Nicole and even boink Belle...and the fandom hasn't turned against him. James was EJ to so many people, and people obsessed about him and Sami together (not all of us, but some)...so seeing Dan's stint undo that key relationship and still be considered viable is interesting.

 

 Watching EJ being nice to Nicole is baffling as she is not worth it especially as Nicole is grieving a dead baby that she wanted to be Eric's. Nicole only agreed to marry EJ because Sloane tampered with the dna test and she was stuck with EJ as she watched Eric continued his relationship with Sloane.

EJ as a character has barely tolerated Nicole except to use her as a substitute when he couldn't be with Sami. With AS not on the show, the show have shoehorn them as some kind of friends with benefits (not friends) with a whoopsie pregnancy, switched dna test, and marriage only because of the baby.

When the truth comes out, the relationship will go bust but I prefer EJ reading the original, untampered dna test and accusing Nicole of fudging the result and kicking her out and dumping, rather than Nicole running to Eric.

I would take EJ with anyone else on the show than Nicole.

[brisbydog]

1 hour ago, DisneyBoy said:

I've come around to Dan...but no. LOL, sorry but no. He's not. Joe M was really one-of-a-kind, and the soaps that were fortunate enough to find that calibre of actor (Charles Keating on Another World being another one) should count their blessings because they're impossible to replace. Days had two - Joe and John A.

Heck, I even like Xander a great deal, but he doesn't have the same vibe as Victor, and no one will. And yes, I do mean range of acting ability and screen presence. Xander has a lot going for him, but John was a master, and Joe was as well. I can't count the number of times Joe dealt with campy writing and dumb twists and always made it sing through his performance.

 

You misunderstand, I don't mean that Xander and EJ are the new incarnations of Victor and Stefano, just that they are the most likely to lead each family into the new generation. They obviously each have a very different vibe, but they each have the ruthlessness of the previous era.

I miss John and Joe immensely, as I do Mac and Frances and John Clarke. They are all irreplaceable.

[tribeca]

I took a break as the show was getting a little boring.  Boring stories are the worst. 
Li wasn’t the best actor but he at least entertaining so of course they got rid of him.  
Have to think about what the best is.  

[JarlenaFan2023]

First time I saw Deidre and Drake was 1993 when Marlena was delivering Belle at the Horton Cabin.  Hooked me from the start.  I ended up losing touch with the show after that until right before COVID.  Each time I've met Dee and Drake at Day of Days (2022-2023) it's just solidified my love for #Jarlena even more.  It was funny at 2023 Day Of Days when I asked Deidre and Drake about bloopers and they couldn't come up with much so opened it up to the entire cast.  If you watch this video DATED OCTOBER 19, 2023 it SHOULD start right when the Day of Days host guy Tony asks me to introduce myself. I don't have any idea who shot this.  You can also see me walking around (my back is to the camera in a white tshirt).  It was hillarious when Drake was telling his blooper and said "say every INCH of it" (I'm paraphrasing it and might not be exactly what he said). 

Spoiler

I'm hearing over on FB that John is about to get a story (aparently they're about to revisit The Pawn in some way). Looks like it might also involve Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols),

 

Edited January 5 by JarlenaFan2023
Added Spoiler tags

[DisneyBoy]

I need to add to the list of Best Moments that intimate scene between Bill and Susan that closed out the Christmas episode. I'm so glad the show gave them (and us) those moments.

RIP Bill.