Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode

[Apprentice79]

4 hours ago, buffynut said:

4 hours ago, buffynut said:

Really?  I totally remember Belle being born, but don't recall Abigail's birth.

10 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

Abigail was born the moment that Isabella died in Venice Italy with John and Brady as a baby by her side....Jack delivered Abigail...Isabella and Jennifer were both pregnant at the same time and wanted their children to grow up together....Sheri Anderson foreshadowed that Abigail and Brady were a destiny couple...Had she remained on the show, they would have been....

[Apprentice79]

4 hours ago, buffynut said:

That's how Clyde showed up in Salem?  Because she was jealous of Jordan?  All that happened when I was just starting to watch again, and there were so many new-to-me characters that I had trouble following things.  

Which reminds me, back when I started re-watching and came to this forum, I had trouble following posts, as so many characters were being referred to by nicknames.  Is there less of that now, or is it just easier now that I know all the characters.

Well... Claire does have her music goals.

Really?  I totally remember Belle being born, but don't recall Abigail's birth.

I agree, they need more younger characters. I do (mostly) like Jade though.  But I miss young Ciara and Chase. :(

Abigail was born the moment that Isabella died in Venice Italy with John and Brady as a baby by her side....Jack delivered Abigail...Isabella and Jennifer were both pregnant at the same time and wanted their children to grow up together....Sheri Anderson foreshadowed that Abigail and Brady were a destiny couple...Had she remained on the show, they would have been....

[JBC344]

2 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

Rafe and Kate had a sexual relationship for a bit. It ended for reasons I can't remember and Kate decided she was in love with him or some crap. He moved on with Jordan and Kate was jealous and mad that Jordan had the audacity to get near HER man, so she did some digging, found Clyde, and brought him to town because she wanted to cause problems for Jordan. Clyde beat Jordan and Ben and raped Jordan when their were kids, which is why neither of them wanted anything to do with him. He also blamed Jordan for her mother's death....something involving a car crash...it was stupid. Kate didn't know that Clyde was a child abuser and rapist but it was beyond obvious that something was wrong with him, and given Jordan's reactions around him, it wouldn't have been difficult to put 2 and 2 together, especially given Kate's experience with Curtis. No one ever found out about Clyde's past and Jordan was never allowed to confront Kate and beat the shit out of her. 

That whole Jordan/Clyde/Ben/Kate/Rafe storyline was a huge mess.  You could tell by the writing that they really didn't know what direction to take for that storyline.  We always knew Clyde was nefarious the minute he showed up but you could tell the writer's kept teetering back and forth with how bad to make him.  First he was a hillbilly who may have rode his kids to hard growing up, then a drug kingpin looking to take over Salem, then a grieving widower who still wasn't over his wife's murder, to finally a child abuser and rapist. 

It wasn't just Clyde, they didn't know how to write for Jordan or Rafe either in that storyline.  Considering halfway through they had Rafe cheat on Jordan and go back to Kate. I think the writers knew that they screwed up this whole think which is why we had Clyde quickly disposed of for a crime that had nothing to do with anything he had done in Salem or any of the Jordan stuff revealed. 

I would of much rather had seen Kate and Jordan team up against Clyde and work to get him put away.  That whole storyline just made Kate look stupid for no reason. 

There were rumors when Chrishell was cast that she was actually going to be playing a disguised Cassie, but that storyline got scrapped and they came up with this Jordan plotline.  Now that I think about it, it seems to make more sense considering when Guy Wilson did that Spotlight On interview he mentioned that the character of Ben was supposed to be introduced a year before he came on the show which is well before Jordan was a character in Salem.  So they probably scrapped the "Cassie returns" storyline and made Chrishell "Jordan" as a way to link the character of Ben to.  Just speculation but possible.

[Apprentice79]

1 minute ago, JBC344 said:

That whole Jordan/Clyde/Ben/Kate/Rafe storyline was a huge mess.  You could tell by the writing that they really didn't know what direction to take for that storyline.  We always knew Clyde was nefarious the minute he showed up but you could tell the writer's kept teetering back and forth with how bad to make him.  First he was a hillbilly who may have rode his kids to hard growing up, then a drug kingpin looking to take over Salem, then a grieving widower who still wasn't over his wife's murder, to finally a child abuser and rapist. 

It wasn't just Clyde, they didn't know how to write for Jordan or Rafe either in that storyline.  Considering halfway through they had Rafe cheat on Jordan and go back to Kate. I think the writers knew that they screwed up this whole think which is why we had Clyde quickly disposed of for a crime that had nothing to do with anything he had done in Salem or any of the Jordan stuff revealed. 

I would of much rather had seen Kate and Jordan team up against Clyde and work to get him put away.  That whole storyline just made Kate look stupid for no reason. 

There were rumors when Chrishell was cast that she was actually going to be playing a disguised Cassie, but that storyline got scrapped and they came up with this Jordan plotline.  Now that I think about it, it seems to make more sense considering when Guy Wilson did that Spotlight On interview he mentioned that the character of Ben was supposed to be introduced a year before he came on the show which is well before Jordan was a character in Salem.  So they probably scrapped the "Cassie returns" storyline and made Chrishell "Jordan" as a way to link the character of Ben to.  Just speculation but possible.

I also heard that Jordan was supposed to be an abused wife running away from her husband..It is why she had all of those fake IDS...The husband was supposed to come to Salem at some point....Jordan was poorly developed like Madison before her....

[Kitty Redstone]

I thought the Clyde origination story went like this.  Kate went to Poplar Bluff looking to dig up dirt on Jordan, first meeting with Clyde's troglodyte helper.  Then she met Clyde, who quickly caught on that Jordan was actually Tammy Sue and Ben was Oliver, figured out who Kate was and where she lived, and showed up in Salem.  At that point, the story was that Tammy Sue stole drug money from him, grabbed Oliver to save him from Clyde's abuse, and took off.  I remember Kate looking quite disconcerted when she first spotted Clyde in Salem, but they never followed up on that and had her instead start a sexual relationship with the creep. 

The whole story was a mess.  Kate is a smart and vicious operator and should have definitely known that something was wrong with Clyde.  And I still can't believe someone as sophisticated as her would waste one second on someone as backward as Clyde.

[kitmerlot1213]

I'm actually kind of loving that we've had two references in the past two days of Abby's being allergic to fidelity.  Yesterday we had the mention of her having sex with EJ when he was engaged to Sami, and then today Clyde talked about her cheating on Ben with Chad.  Again, what a winner Princess Abs is :):)

I liked the scenes with Brady, Theresa, Nicole and Deimos--Brady and Theresa don't quite trust Deimos, but Xander has them both so terrified for Tate's sake, they'll do anything for a safe place to stay.  And I liked that Brady pointed out that Victor would be just as likely to take Brady and Tate in and leave Theresa to fend for herself.

Edited September 16, 2016 by kitmerlot1213
wrong spelling whoops

[DisneyBoy]

I was hoping for a bit more suspense in the Kate and Clyde confrontation today, but with it sandwiched in between all of the talking scenes the other characters were having it didn't feel anywhere near as tense as it should have. In fact, I would even go so far to say I didn't especially like Lauren's muted performance, which is rare. I didn't really get a sense of terror with Kate. It just felt like she was delivering her lines, and then once Chad showed up didn't put up a single effort to protect herself or him. That struck me as odd.

It is so nice, though, to see her and Chad have a relationship again after almost 2 years of radio silence. One would have thought she might reach out after Stefano's passing but Kate has been so isolated and bumped around in storylines. Her "I love you" seemed odd if only because they haven't shared the screen in so long, not because it wouldn't be true for her character.

Deidre admittedly isn't doing much on the show these days, but I'm finding her acting to be really flat. She just uses the same reactions to everything.

The montage at the end desperately needed a better song.

[Apprentice79]

Why is Deimos getting the Daniel treatment? why must he be in this Orpheus storyline? I don't understand why the show likes to ignore established characters and shove down their retcon characters down our throats..The propping of Deimos is really overdone! Shane and Kim should be in this story..Stockholm did start as Victor's revenge against them....Orpheus did shoot Shane and it was his near death in Stockholm that led him to start forgiving Kim for sleeping with Victor in Miami.....I guess the writers forgot about that.....Victor and Shane working together to protect their families against a common foe would have been really good and the show could have explored their history..No, Higley is using this to push her agenda with Deimos.....Deimos the savior..Whatever! I have not forgotten that he killed Bo.....

I loved the flashback with Orpheus.. The best villain ever...So scary, so creepy, cold and methodical in his quest for revenge.....His presence on the show makes Andre obsolete...Andre should not even be alive, but, that is another rant for another day....

I loved the conversation that John had with Steve about including Kayla in the decision making about her safety....He knows Kayla so well..John was her brother once upon a time..Why is he not still Roman? I still remember that conversation that Kayla had with Rojohn talking about her dad's favoritism for Kim and how that had affected her over the years....Mary Beth Evans was really good in that scene, venting about her frustrations about her role in the Brady family...

Kate and Clyde were also good...I should have felt sorry for Kate, but, I did not..kate has been too arrogant and entitled for a while and she needed to be humbled.. I do love the Kate/Chad bond.....

Xander and Nicole are still hot..Finally, Nicole got a man that wanted her for her, but, they had to make him a psycho...

Brady is still an idiot..His mom Isabella Toscano was so awesome, what the hell happen!  To be fair, I can say that for all of the legacy children..

I enjoyed the show today.....However, since this is Higley, I don't expect it to last...

[JBC344]

I've always loved the Kate/Chad bond.  You're right they have done a disservice with having them disjointed from one another for so long.  I remember when Lauren Koslow did her Spotlight On interview for Afterbuzz she mentioned that her and Casey Deidrick (original Chad) had the idea that Kate was really Chad's mother not Madeline.  Not that the writers were going to write that in but they said it helped them establish the Kate/Chad bond early on.  It is probably why the "Chad becomes a Dimera" storyline is so heavily skewed to his relationship with Kate as opposed to Stefano.  Lauren also says her and Billy always have that at the back of their minds too, but they just don't get as many scenes as she did with Casey.

There is no reason why Kate shouldn't have been on Chad's side during this bull*** custody battle storyline.  It would of been nice to see Chad and Kate grow closer over Will's death, considering their initial bond was over Chad being Will's best friend.

[LeftPhalange]

I don't understand why the writers refuse to ever have Kate pay for anything. They couldn't even let her squirm for longer than two minutes before Chad busts in and saves the day. 

Nicole is acting stupid. You'd rather fend for yourself rather than stay at the K mansion temporarily and be surrounded by guards? Stop it. 

[DisneyBoy]

...I like to think that even Nicole wants out of this stupid Deimos storyline.

Now that you guys have pointed it out, I totally see the subtext to the Kate/Chad relationship and I think it was a really smart move on the actors part. It just it just goes to show how much better the series could be if the writers and producers would listen to the insights of their extremely talented veteran cast members who are creative storytellers in their own right.

[Kitty Redstone]

Too bad Kate didn't take off one of her stilettos and bury it in the back of Clyde's skull.  The guy is delusional.  It was funny at the end, though, how all three escapees came together to commiserate about their failures. 

It's ridiculous that Billy Flynn and Lauren Koslow haven't had more scenes together.  So much of his time was wasted on Kate Mansi, while she's been in a bubble dealing with one loser character after another.

Nicole not wanting to stay at the mansion is silly.  It wasn't that long ago that she was trying to help Victor bring down Deimos.

buffynut, there is less nickname usage.  Which got me thinking about all the posters that used to be here (both those who used nicknames and those who didn't).  I can think of nine or ten off the top of my head and wonder if they've given up on the show.

[annabel]

There is much less nicknaming which I appreciate. I used to just scroll on past posts that had a lot of names I did not recognize

[DisneyBoy]

I just realized...last week Kate was revealed to be guilty of drugging Theresa/having her drugged and kidnapping Tate. Today, however, she cannot defend herself against Clyde even with help from Chad?

Consistency is lacking. If she's formidable, then let her be formidable.

Edited September 17, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[Frozendiva]

It was a dull Friday episode.

I had no idea that Kayla had surgery.

Deimos, I hope you are not playing a long con. Well, maybe I do.  To turn into someone that any woman would want, being nice and helpful for two minutes will have most folks wondering about what agenda you are hiding. Admit you have been a jerk, a creep, evil, etc. Talk is cheap, so show that you have changed.

Nicole, the mansion is more of a fortress than Daniel's old apartment (if you are still living there). The Salem Inn probably has better security.

Nice to see Chad and Kate bonding a bit - like old times. Maybe she will be retconned as his biological mother - but she has had so many forgotten offspring. One of her shoes could easily have knocked Clyde out.

Didn't like the musical montage at the end and hit the FF button.

[DisneyBoy]

I finally just watched through Wednesday's big  would-be wedding episode and I have to say it was a pretty good one. Unlike the rest of you, I didn't laugh when Maggie stood up...you guys made it sound like it was a big dramatic moment and she took her sweet time doing it. Instead it was kind of impulsive and fast. Still stupid because of course that wouldn't stop Orpheus but rather emotional in its intent. I feel bad for Maggie for being willing to throw her life away for Victor. She is totally stuck in one of those marriages where she knows the guy doesn't have anybody else to save his soul.

I've come around a little to Theresa's dress. Maybe it had something to do with that cool train. I guess I just hoped that aa young hip designer would come up with something more distinct than that. The corset area really didn't look great. But then, this show has never made any effort to give us a real sense of what Theresa's style is like. Why start now?

The guy playing Xander really should have been kept on the show and not turned into a threatening thug. I definitely thought he and Nicole would be a great alternative to Nicole and Eric, which by that point had basically burned out. I continue to see potential in him but I fear this storyline is going to end badly for the guy. Poor Xander.

It really says something when I'm rooting for the villains on this show to win and to stay. Aiden and Xander were both thrown under the bus needlessly, and as much as I hate Clyde the actor who plays him is terrific.

Freddy, meanwhile, it's just abysmal as Sonny this time around. He has a perma-smile and I don't know why. Everyone was nearly killed, man! Be concerned! I used to think he would make a great leading man and take over for Victor one day. Now I kind of wish they had recast with another actor who had more versatility. Not everyone can be Billy Flynn however and transition well from one story to the next.

Orpheus is tremendous and I wish we had been dealing with him for a few months instead of Andre, who has amounted to Much Ado About Nothing.

It was beyond stupid that he let Brady go however and kept Paul. Even if Brady wasn't alive when Orpheus died he said he had been doing research about John and Marlena. He would have obviously known who Brady was. But I suppose it wouldn't have looked convincing for the actor to try and hold Brady hostage when the guy is over 6 feet tall and built. Even Paul looked a bit silly squirming when Orpheus wasn't really doing much of anything to him.

The scenes between Eve and Nicole were nice but felt a little bit like the actresses were doing another project altogether. They bring such warmth to their characters when the writers give them the space for it. Unfortunately both Eve and Nicole are pretty damaged women. I don't expect for a second that they will actually become friends. This is probably just Dena's attempt to mix things up in the short-term.

I still definitely think that Claire and Ann should have been at the wedding.

I noticed folks on other message boards picking on the fact that Jennifer Lilley doesn't shed actual tears when her character is supposedly crying. I didn't spot it until recently and now I can't remember if she used to cry better in the past. I'm a fan of her acting and I hope that before she goes she can at least turn on the waterworks once to shut those people up.

Edited September 17, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[LeftPhalange]

19 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

I finally just watched through Wednesday's big  would-be wedding episode and I have to say it was a pretty good one. Unlike the rest of you, I didn't laugh when Maggie stood up...you guys made it sound like it was a big dramatic moment and she took her sweet time doing it. Instead it was kind of impulsive and fast. Still stupid because of course that wouldn't stop Orpheus but rather emotional in its intent. I feel bad for Maggie for being willing to throw her life away for Victor. She is totally stuck in one of those marriages where she knows the guy doesn't have anybody else to save his soul.

I've come around a little to Theresa's dress. Maybe it had something to do with that cool train. I guess I just hoped that aa young hip designer would come up with something more distinct than that. The corset area really didn't look great. But then, this show has never made any effort to give us a real sense of what Theresa's style is like. Why start now?

The guy playing Xander really should have been kept on the show and not turned into a threatening thug. I definitely thought he and Nicole would be a great alternative to Nicole and Eric, which by that point had basically burned out. I continue to see potential in him but I fear this storyline is going to end badly for the guy. Poor Xander.

It really says something when I'm rooting for the villains on this show to win and to stay. Aiden and Xander were both thrown under the bus needlessly, and as much as I hate Clyde the actor who plays him is terrific.

Freddy, meanwhile, it's just abysmal as Sonny this time around. He has a perma-smile and I don't know why. Everyone was nearly killed, man! Be concerned! I used to think he would make a great leading man and take over for Victor one day. Now I kind of wish they had recast with another actor who had more versatility. Not everyone can be Billy Flynn however and transition well from one story to the next.

Orpheus is tremendous and I wish we had been dealing with him for a few months instead of Andre, who has amounted to Much Ado About Nothing.

It was beyond stupid that he let Brady go however and kept Paul. Even if Brady wasn't alive when Orpheus died he said he had been doing research about John and Marlena. He would have obviously known who Brady was. But I suppose it wouldn't have looked convincing for the actor to try and hold Brady hostage when the guy is over 6 feet tall and built. Even Paul looked a bit silly squirming when Orpheus wasn't really doing much of anything to him.

The scenes between Eve and Nicole were nice but felt a little bit like the actresses were doing another project altogether. They bring such warmth to their characters when the writers give them the space for it. Unfortunately both Eve and Nicole are pretty damaged women. I don't expect for a second that they will actually become friends. This is probably just Dena's attempt to mix things up in the short-term.

I still definitely think that Claire and Ann should have been at the wedding.

I noticed folks on other message boards picking on the fact that Jennifer Lilley doesn't shed actual tears when her character is supposedly crying. I didn't spot it until recently and now I can't remember if she used to cry better in the past. I'm a fan of her acting and I hope that before she goes she can at least turn on the waterworks once to shut those people up.

Eric and Nicole didn't go anywhere because the writers wouldn't allow Eric to do anything other than be lied to and victimized. I thought making him a priest was stupid, but having him go a little dark and lose his way could have been compelling. As usual, though, the writers wasted an opportunity to tell a good story.

Andre is truly a joke and I don't know what he's still here. He's even less scary than Stefano.

Sonny's return has amounted to nothing. Him being the child of legacy characters isn't enough to make him relevant, they need to give him something to do. Something other than whining about Deimos or inevitably putting him back together with bland Sparkle.

[salvame]

Anyone else feel like the "redeemed" Deimos is actually plotting some sort of massive revenge plot - seems like he is gathering everyone into one place so as to bring on the ultimate revenge.

Watching the antics of the 3 Amigos, I can't shake the feeling that there is going to be another mass killing followed by the realization those killed really only ended up in an alternate universe.  Sorry, not sorry, but the revenge scenes this week were mostly just comedic relief.  The "fight" scene between Chad and Clyde was just so staged and awkward feeling.  One of the funnier moments in recent history.

[DisneyBoy]

I don't think they'll go to the alternate universe route. This show is all too happy to kill off any characters it happens to feel are expendable in the moment.

Plus, the alternate reality New Salem thing was a rewrite. Originally all of those characters were supposed to be well and truly gone, but the fans were so outraged over losing a whole crop of veterans at once that the showrunners doubled back to keep them around. Imagine if Marlena had gone to jail for murdering all of those people! I don't think the show would still be around now and if it was, it would have a completely different central cast.

Quote

The "fight" scene between Chad and Clyde was just so staged and awkward feeling.  

There are a lot of things about the show that could be improved upon. I definitely felt like with a little effort they could have used different shots and camera angles to add some dynamism to the Theresa/Xander fight, or even the reveal that Xander was in the condo. Back in the day, this show knew exactly how to surprise and thrill the audience with something as simple as a character appearing in a scene. Stefano got that kind of treatment all the time. Now they don't think about lighting as much, or about music cues, and that goofy montage yesterday was proof of it. I like a good montage, but the music has to work and that song was so bad I thought it was them revisiting the Moaning Eve theme from last year.

The most egregious example of this was with Stefano. His big confrontation with Marlena in the castle threw Joe under the bus big time. Here's a guy with memory problems just trying to make it through another day at work and they edited his scenes so that you're acutely aware of the fact that he's reading off giant cue cards several feet away and then having to make eye contact with an actor several feet to the left. He was a veteran! They should have shot the scenes in such a way that he never had to shift his eyes away from the cue cards, or that they could edit around his eyes if he did. That's how you stages sequence to put your actor in the best light.

Even after the castle scenes, we continued to see these kinds of problems happen with Joe. It got a bit better when he was having one-on-one scenes with Chad a few weeks ago, probably because the app those scenes were so short. Or maybe they learned their lesson a bit better. But still.

All this to say I didn't think the confrontations this week we're all that bad. They could have been better but they were decent and that's about all I can hope for from this show anymore. I think the last time they genuinely put effort into trying to make something visually unique was when Ben was revealed as the killer last year and we got all of that ridiculous over the top lighting in his apartment and long takes of him pursing his lips and squinting. If that's all they knew how to do when trying to improve the way that they present this material I can't expect much.

It makes me appreciate how much more artistry used to go into soaps. They actually used filmmaking techniques instead of seemingly just shooting the thing and slapping it together.

Quote

Anyone else feel like the "redeemed" Deimos is actually plotting some sort of massive revenge plot - seems like he is gathering everyone into one place so as to bring on the ultimate revenge.

Initially, I suspected they might go the Nick route and have him be nice only to become evil again once the show realized they'd written him too stupidly to keep him a main character. Of course, they could also decide to keep him around for the long haul as a replacement for John Aniston, which would be sad because I don't think this character even comes close. I like Vincent just fine, but they didn't play to his strengths and he has had 47 storylines in his first eight months. I don't believe a word this character says anymore because there has been no consistency and very few consequences for anything he has done.

I really look forward to seeing Nicole move on with Dario...but I suspect Dena is already trying to prep her to be Brady's next love.

Edited September 17, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[TigerLynx]

If it wasn't for the posters on this board, I wouldn't even bother skimming through episodes of the show to keep up with what is going on. 

I have the same problem with the SLs that I have had for years now.  Characters I used to care about have been ruined, killed, or written off.  Previous intelligent characters are idiots in order to make the SLs move along.  There have been so many retcons nothing makes sense anymore.  Characters are either to boring or despicable for me to care about.  I can't even look forward to them being killed off in an entertaining way because Ken Corday and the writers don't know how to do entertaining. 

Andre Dimera should have stayed dead.  He had the perfect ending in 2007 when he killed himself, and framed Shawn Sr. for murder.  When Marlena poisoned Stefano in 2008, and put him in a coma, that should have been the end for Stefano to.  I hate that Eric was ruined and sent to prison especially since Kristen Dimera got away with everything she did to him.  Chad's last name being Dimera does not make him a bad guy.

Deimos and Aiden are played by good actors who could have added something to the show, but the writers ruined them before they ever had a chance.  Jen Lilley is a great actress who's character has been stuck in one dead end SL after another.  The younger set is either played by really lousy actors/actresses, or the writers have done a horrible job with their SLs from the beginning.

The supposed good guys do the exact same things as the bad guys, but because they are good, they get a free pass.  If anyone calls them out on their crap, they are cast as the victim because how dare anyone suggest they aren't all goodness and light 24/7.

And because it can't be said enough, Sami, Kate and Nicole do not need to be rescued by anyone.  Aside from the millions of schemes and crimes they've plotted over the years, some of which they got away with.  Kate and Nicole have attempted cold blooded murder in the past, and Sami has shot more criminals than the entire incompetent Salem PD has in years.

[buffynut]

19 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

buffynut, there is less nickname usage.  Which got me thinking about all the posters that used to be here (both those who used nicknames and those who didn't).  I can think of nine or ten off the top of my head and wonder if they've given up on the show.

I'm not glad that the nickname-heavy posters are gone, as more posters usually makes for better discussions, however, I did think there was nickname overkill when I first found this board.  

16 hours ago, annabel said:

There is much less nicknaming which I appreciate. I used to just scroll on past posts that had a lot of names I did not recognize

And sadly I too used to scroll past long, probably thoughtful, posts just because I couldn't understand them.

16 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

Didn't like the musical montage at the end and hit the FF button.

Diff'rent strokes, I guess, as I liked the musical montage.

13 hours ago, salvame said:

Anyone else feel like the "redeemed" Deimos is actually plotting some sort of massive revenge plot - seems like he is gathering everyone into one place so as to bring on the ultimate revenge.

Watching the antics of the 3 Amigos, I can't shake the feeling that there is going to be another mass killing followed by the realization those killed really only ended up in an alternate universe.  Sorry, not sorry, but the revenge scenes this week were mostly just comedic relief.  The "fight" scene between Chad and Clyde was just so staged and awkward feeling.  One of the funnier moments in recent history.

I know I don't trust "redeemed" Deimos, so I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be all fake.

It's hard for the 3 Amigos to be believable, because for them to be really scary, characters have to die, and fans have been complaining for a year that the show is too dark, so killing off more characters likely isn't going to be popular.

4 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

The supposed good guys do the exact same things as the bad guys, but because they are good, they get a free pass.  If anyone calls them out on their crap, they are cast as the victim because how dare anyone suggest they aren't all goodness and light 24/7.

This is probably my biggest complaint of the past 9 months or so.  Poor Eric is the only one who went to jail and though his crime was reckless, it wasn't intentional. 

[WendyCR72]

As far as I'm concerned, Eric should have gotten a medal, not prison, for killing Dan. If ever there was a horrible character... He should meet up with GH's Dr. Matt Hunter, who looks remarkably like Jason Cook's Shawn, who was imprisoned for killing a psycho ex of his half brother, who was trying to kill said half brother and his wife.

[Michel]

7 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

There are a lot of things about the show that could be improved upon. I definitely felt like with a little effort they could have used different shots and camera angles to add some dynamism to the Theresa/Xander fight, or even the reveal that Xander was in the condo. Back in the day, this show knew exactly how to surprise and thrill the audience with something as simple as a character appearing in a scene. Stefano got that kind of treatment all the time. Now they don't think about lighting as much, or about music cues, and that goofy montage yesterday was proof of it. I like a good montage, but the music has to work and that song was so bad I thought it was them revisiting the Moaning Eve theme from last year.

The most egregious example of this was with Stefano. His big confrontation with Marlena in the castle threw Joe under the bus big time. Here's a guy with memory problems just trying to make it through another day at work and they edited his scenes so that you're acutely aware of the fact that he's reading off giant cue cards several feet away and then having to make eye contact with an actor several feet to the left. He was a veteran! They should have shot the scenes in such a way that he never had to shift his eyes away from the cue cards, or that they could edit around his eyes if he did. That's how you stages sequence to put your actor in the best light.

Even after the castle scenes, we continued to see these kinds of problems happen with Joe. It got a bit better when he was having one-on-one scenes with Chad a few weeks ago, probably because the app those scenes were so short. Or maybe they learned their lesson a bit better. But still.

All this to say I didn't think the confrontations this week we're all that bad. They could have been better but they were decent and that's about all I can hope for from this show anymore. I think the last time they genuinely put effort into trying to make something visually unique was when Ben was revealed as the killer last year and we got all of that ridiculous over the top lighting in his apartment and long takes of him pursing his lips and squinting. If that's all they knew how to do when trying to improve the way that they present this material I can't expect much.

It makes me appreciate how much more artistry used to go into soaps. They actually used filmmaking techniques instead of seemingly just shooting the thing and slapping it together.

I actually thought the shots used while Ben was killing Will last year were well-done and well-shot.  The dim lights, the POV shot representing Will's line of sight when Ben told him that he should've stayed away, and the alternating shots between Ben not wanting to kill his friend and said friend begging for his life before he finally died . . . I don't know.  I just liked how it was done.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Michel

[TigerLynx]

I still think Ken Corday had Will killed off as a big FU to Alison Sweeney for leaving and making a successful career for herself away from Days.  Then left AS with the lousy choice of not returning for Will's funeral, or having her return be about Will for two seconds, while the rest was all about EJ.  Lucas and Rafe were the loves of Sami's life, and I will never believe otherwise.  Actually, Lucas is the real love of Sami's life, and Rafe was the guy the writers insisted was the love of Sami's life because for some reason they decided Sami/Lucas wasn't a good enough love story.  EJ was the obsessed psycho who ruined Sami's life every six months because how dare she not let EJ walk all over her and boss her around.

[DisneyBoy]

Will would have been fine without Sami around. Killing off Will was directly in response to people not liking Guy Wilson or the writing, in addition to the homophobia that the show had to deal with when they had him come out.

[Kitty Redstone]

7 hours ago, buffynut said:

Diff'rent strokes, I guess, as I liked the musical montage.

I liked it, too.  The funky, bluesy tone was so different than the usual soap montage song.  I'm hoping the small departure from convention is a signal for more (good) changes to come.

[LeftPhalange]

8 hours ago, buffynut said:

It's hard for the 3 Amigos to be believable, because for them to be really scary, characters have to die, and fans have been complaining for a year that the show is too dark, so killing off more characters likely isn't going to be popular.

The escapees could be believably scary without resulting to murder. That's just the lazy route the writers usually take. Psychological abuse like gaslighting is one alternative.

Edited September 18, 2016 by LeftPhalange

[boes]

I just finished Friday's show.  Kate was good, Kate and Chad even better.

Jawn was more twitchy than usual.  Must be his thong got wedged.

And Kayla....who I like, a lot most of the time.  Perhaps this wasn't the best time, considering who is on the loose and looking for vengeance, to decide to get all prissy with Steve for not asking you for advice?   That scene made her look pretty.

Edited September 18, 2016 by boes

[Sandman]

On September 16, 2016 at 3:00 PM, JBC344 said:

I've always loved the Kate/Chad bond.  You're right they have done a disservice with having them disjointed from one another for so long.  I remember when Lauren Koslow did her Spotlight On interview for Afterbuzz she mentioned that her and Casey Deidrick (original Chad) had the idea that Kate was really Chad's mother not Madeline.

That's interesting; I don't think I've ever heard that theory before. (Would that make Kate the mother of more children than anyone else in Salem?) I remember Kate and Original Recipe Chad having a certain respect for each other -- he seemed to treat her as better than most of his Dimera relatives -- his unwicked stepmother, if you will. But I never remember them exchanging "I love you"s before. I don't hate the idea, certainly. Chad could definitely use somebody in his corner. And I did like seeing Kate standing up for herself against Crappy Clyde.

[teacake]

Perhaps this wasn't the best time, considering who is on the loose and looking for vengeance, to decide to get all prissy with Steve for not asking you for advice?

I thought her issue was more about him immediately trying to control her and lie to her about it instead of including her, which has been a problem for them all along.  It was kind of a nice turning point for me that they worked through it a little.  I did laugh when they jumped from Marlena scolding Kayla like a two-year old, to helping her do exactly what she wanted.  They don't show the important stuff.

God help me, but I don't know if I can survive another round of random people moving in and out of each others' mansions.  Dena's back.

[boes]

53 minutes ago, lska said:

 

I thought her issue was more about him immediately trying to control her and lie to her about it instead of including her, which has been a problem for them all along.  It was kind of a nice turning point for me that they worked through it a little.  I did laugh when they jumped from Marlena scolding Kayla like a two-year old, to helping her do exactly what she wanted.  They don't show the important stuff.

God help me, but I don't know if I can survive another round of random people moving in and out of each others' mansions.  Dena's back.

It'll be Salem's version of Big Brother.  Just PLEASE don't film Victor in the shower.

[Happytobehere]

15 hours ago, boes said:

I just finished Friday's show.  Kate was good, Kate and Chad even better.

Jawn was more twitchy than usual.  Must be his thong got wedged.

And Kayla....who I like, a lot most of the time.  Perhaps this wasn't the best time, considering who is on the loose and looking for vengeance, to decide to get all prissy with Steve for not asking you for advice?   That scene made her look pretty.

They made her look petty because she doesn't want the man who has a crap track record of deciding he knows what's best for her when everything he does is the cause of what's wrong with her, once again deciding he had more right to decide her life and future than she does; and was set to do it again right after swearing for the umpteenth time that he has seen the light.  He would have essentially held her prisoner in the hospital were it not for John.  First, that was stupid because how many hostage situations has Steve himself been a party to in that very hospital.  Second, did being under police protection in said hospital help his former skank (who is the cause of Kayla needing surgery) from his dim witted, murdering son?  Third, when John (who has been dumbed down over the past many years) is the smartest person involved in your conversation, you have to be pretty damned stupid.

[Michel]

You know, it might just be me -- and I'm okay with it if it is -- but I think Dena's learned quite a few things during her time away from the show.  I've actually really enjoyed these last two weeks.  Scenes between and among characters who wouldn't normally interact.  So many emotional beats hit.  So many emotional and familial bonds remembered.  So much character-driven content rather than plot-driven.  Reminders of the past, whether storylines or off-canvas characters.  And people finally being made to take accountability for past errors.  It's all things she didn't do last time, or if she did, very rarely.  I think she must've read the criticism about her and decided to make changes to her style, and as a result, I'm actually seeing quite a few interesting storylines that are all tying into one great, big one.  Of course, it could also be Ryan helping to balance her out, in which case, good for him for doing so.

Are there still some problems?  Well, of course.  The teens, for one.  Among other things I won't get into right now.  But she does seem to be on track to correcting even that problem.

Kudos to you, Dena.  Kudos.

12 minutes ago, Happytobehere said:

Second, did being under police protection in said hospital help his former skank (who is the cause of Kayla needing surgery) from his dim witted, murdering son?

Given that we all wanted Ava gone, anyway, shouldn't we be singing Joey's praises, not labeling him "dimwitted?"

[Bwill3133]

I'm catching up but I haven't hated everything. I like VI but Deimos getting inserted in nearly every story has gotten old.  Kate's dumb and evil for being the mastermind behind Tate's kidnapping ( I'm still convinced someone else was behind it and a dart was thrown to a board of who it was and it landed on Kate..) but I didn't care for the smug between Victor/Deimos confronting her. So her blackmailing them didn't bother me too much. Putting her back in scenes with Chad is step 1 to helping Kate get back to at least a gray character. 

I guess Chad and Gabi is happening? JJ being an ass is not helping. I still like those two but I'm not against a Chad/ Gabi flirtation. Also their issues came out of nowhere but I guess they had to do something with them since they were never on before and back burned. 

Brady and Theresa didn't have too many people at their wedding. I guess Orpheus picked a good one to interrupt. And Maggie really you weren't going to leave without Victor? What about your kids or grandkids? I realize the only child you cared about is dead but you have other ones to think about. 

[Happytobehere]

2 hours ago, Michel said:

Given that we all wanted Ava gone, anyway, shouldn't we be singing Joey's praises, not labeling him "dimwitted?"

Everything Joey has done for over a year has been deeply stupid, so I stand by him being a dimwitted murderer. Also with Higlemonster back inj charge, don't think for one minute that we have been saved from the tales of Ava as Higley adored her monster and clearly has never been a fan of Kayla.

[Kitty Redstone]

I hope Ava is sincerely and truly dead and am not sorry she's gone.  She was a horrible character.  However, how she was murdered was deeply disturbing and it absolutely ruined Joey for me.  He killed someone who was unable to fight back, and it was premeditated from beginning (when he pulled the alarm) to end (as he felt the life drain out of her very, very slowly).  It took several minutes for the little psycho to do this deliberate deed ... and none of his friends and family are the least bit concerned that they're sharing their lives with a cold-blooded murderer.  It's so strange that no one seems to care.  Abe and Marlena shouldn't let Theo and Claire anywhere near him.  Ciara shouldn't be around him either, but since her mother is also a cold-blooded murderer/crooked cop she's not really in a position to complain.  Still, someone should. 

[Apprentice79]

I think that Joey is salvageable, however, it would take a  writer with talent and skills to do something like that..Sadly, with Dena at the helm,that will not be the case....Steve was a loathsome character when he came on the show..I remember him being really bad and enjoying it.. The actor who plays Joey is too green to be able to give him layers and motivations for his awful acts that Stephen Nichols did years ago as Steve....The show should have never aged those kids and Josh Griffith was the worst writer to have ever written for Days..That is quite a feat for this show.....He destroyed so many characters with his awful storylines.

[Sandman]

Did the show back off from making Clyde a sexual abuser? I noticed Kate reminded or accused him of having beaten both Jordan and BOllie, but she stopped short of saying he had molested Jordan or anything similar. It seems I remember something of a retraction of that strand of the plot before Clyde was moved off the canvas; but I can't recall exactly. Or is it just that Kate never learned the whole truth? (Honestly, I've wiped most of Jordan/Tamiflu's and BOllie's plot lines from my brain.)

[Apprentice79]

22 minutes ago, Sandman said:

Did the show back off from making Clyde a sexual abuser? I noticed Kate reminded or accused him of having beaten both Jordan and BOllie, but she stopped short of saying he had molested Jordan or anything similar. It seems I remember something of a retraction of that strand of the plot before Clyde was moved off the canvas; but I can't recall exactly. Or is it just that Kate never learned the whole truth? (Honestly, I've wiped most of Jordan/Tamiflu's and BOllie's plot lines from my brain.)

Kate does not know about the sexual abuse.....It never made any sense to me that Jordan never told anybody about it..She should have told Ben about it.....She had a weird truce with Clyde and that never made any sense to me..  Nothing made sense about Jordan or Ben...Tomsell had no idea on what to do with her or anybody on the show..Everything with them was flash with no substance..Look at the mess that was the triangle of doom with Will, Sonny and Paul....Everybody was so unlikable and gross..Contrast that, with the John/Marlena/Roman triangle, that was must see TV....The thing is that the affair between John and Marlena was telegraphed two years, before they actually did the deed....Once they reunited on that pier, after Marlena came back for the dead, it was over..It was just a matter of time, until fate, put them back together....With Sheri Anderson, you knew what was endgame, but, she knew how to take you on a wonderful journey to get there...

Edited September 19, 2016 by Apprentice79

[Kitty Redstone]

Clyde was holding the death of Jordan's mother against her.  I think the mom was killed in a car wreck and Jordan was the driver.  Clyde accused her of killing her mom on purpose for some reason.  Maybe the mom was pregnant or something?  I don't know.  It made no sense. Jordan should have shouted that her step-father raped her from the rooftops, and let the chips fall where they may.

[Apprentice79]

10 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

Clyde was holding the death of Jordan's mother against her.  I think the mom was killed in a car wreck and Jordan was the driver.  Clyde accused her of killing her mom on purpose for some reason.  Maybe the mom was pregnant or something?  I don't know.  It made no sense. Jordan should have shouted that her step-father raped her from the rooftops, and let the chips fall where they may.

Don't forget that creepy scene where he threatened her and got on top of her, and telling her that she wanted it, justifying his depravity. It is something that abusers always do their victims, shaming and intimidating them into keeping quiet...Once he did that, Clyde was no longer a viable villain.....A villain has to have staying power, once they cross a line, they should leave the show, either in handcuffs or in a pine box....I did like the way that Griffith and Higley wrote him, that scene where he beat the crap out of Aiden was mesmerizing, but, Tomsell making him a child molester was a game changer for me...It spoke to their incompetence as writers....

Edited September 19, 2016 by Apprentice79

[shesajar]

On 9/17/2016 at 3:00 AM, salvame said:

Anyone else feel like the "redeemed" Deimos is actually plotting some sort of massive revenge plot - seems like he is gathering everyone into one place so as to bring on the ultimate revenge.

I don't want Deimos to be full on evil, but I would prefer what you suggest to what we're seeing on screen. Good Deimos is fine, Saint Deimos is a little hard to take. Gray Deimos would be best, though., and when you have someone who could pull it off as well as VI can, it'd be a shame not to give him some good, layered material. (they're capable of writing that, right?)

It's been a hugely busy and stressful week or so for me, so maybe this is just the mental exhaustion talking, but I really enjoyed this past week. An umbrella story with freaking Orpheus?  Hell, yeah! Loved Kayla and Marlena sort of complaining about the overbearing men in their lives (and loved Marlena's annoyed "Of course John's here....")

Clyde and Xander disgust me, but Xander is pretty to look at, and I actually buy him as a menacing figure. Clyde may be played by a better actor, and maybe it's the ridiculousness of the whole Poplar Bluff/hillbilly shit, but I never got why anyone would be afraid of him; he just grossed me out.  I've wondered ever since Jordan left the show if they were going to retcon his rape of her, but they never did, and the time to do so has long since passed. Still, other than making Kate feel even more like an ass (which, don't get me wrong, I am always up for!), I don't know why it would even matter anymore if it were revealed.

[Revlonred]

I'm catching up, fast forwarding here and there.  George Deloy (Orpheus) is a treat to see again; he's giving it his all and hasn't missed a beat.  Drake's facial expressions have a special place in my heart; I really hope he is okay.  He just throws himself into, well, his facial expressions.  Mary Beth Evans looks really pretty in her head bandage.

[DisneyBoy]

Well today was largely skippable. Too much Rafe and Deimos. But hey you Xander fans - he got shirtless, LOL!

This Deimos 2.0 stuff has Maggie acting like a total doormat. Theresa nearly kills John and he is still wary of her to this day, but Deimos paralyzes Maggie only two months ago and she's already happy to be living with him and trying to bring the whole family together? I don't think I've ever seen her kids on this show but I'm hopeful that some of them come back because their mother is clearly not thinking of her own well-being anymore. She is purely Victor's keeper.

Does she still own that dinner club? I thought I heard mention of it in the last few weeks or months but since we haven't seen the set in years I'm a little confused about that...

It's a shame Chloe's return storyline sucks so bad. I would have rather that she and Philip were messing around without our knowledge and that's what led to the pregnancy. Her getting her career back on track and having a baby is more than enough plot. Throwing Deimos into the mix just annoys me.

Claire is starting to be a pest. Hope Dena doesn't ruin her. She and Theo are the only two decent kids on this show.

Eddie being responsible for the breakout is a bit weird. So he essentially killed a man that had nothing to do with the mugging that Dario set up? Great. That makes Dario indirectly responsible for a murder. Sigh.

In interviews, Dena has spoken about wanting to bring some good times back to Salem. I wonder when they are going to start...so far there's a lot of darkness on the horizon.

Edited September 19, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[rcc]

We lost half the show because the mayor of NYC had a press conference but when they came back we see Claire giving Grandma Marlena a hard time about being out and about while the "evil" men are out there. Then we get to see Drake trying to say his lines while munching noisily on a donut. Please, no more of that!

Orpheus closes the show with that "evil" look of his and Xander grinning. Is this becoming a pattern!

[LeftPhalange]

I don't understand why they've stuck Chloe with another kid. Why can't she just focus on her career? Why does 50+ year old Deimos need a baby, especially when he hasn't even been around that long? Involving a new character in every current storyline and quickly giving them a child with a *legacy* character isn't a good way to get fans to like them.

I don't understand what was discussed in the Eduardo/John scenes. What did Eduardo do?

[Petunia13]

JPL/Phillip's hair looks so much better now that he's not bleaching it and isn't all long & feathered. But hes still a serious pass when it comes to sex. 

KDP/Eve looks amazing. 

I always like seeing Abe. 

Sorry I am catching. These storylines are so damn boring (but not as bad as Y&R).

If Gabi hooks up with Chad and Failure is out there rattling she will blow a gasket. She's extremely violent and psychotic- however Gaby is no slouch when it comes to self defense. Also Gaby is beautiful and Abby can't stand anyone shining in her presence or any man she has been with moving on. 

How many morally repugnant/crazy men do we need on canvas? I guess the only 'good' men in Salem have to be idiots. Like Brady, Rafe, ect. 

[BlackMamba]

???

Claire was TOO SHOOK when Marlena was giving them orders!  

You can tell Marlena was ready to smack the hell out of Claire if she kept getting fresh with her! 

"If you gonna live with me you will follow the rules. "  And that tone.   Yes honey!  Claire think she's Sami Jr,  but Marlena done seen that attitude too many times.   

When is Iyanla gonna guest star and do" Fix My Life" with Dario?  I'm so over his daddy issues.   ??

Nice to see Maggie walking even if it's on crutches.

This episode mostly felt like filler but not boring or too wasteful. 

[buffynut]

I'm having a hard time fitting the show back into my afternoon schedule.  I did turn it on for the last 15 minutes today and enjoyed what I saw.

I know some of you don't like Paul, but I enjoy the father/son chemistry between Drake and Christopher.  Loved them sitting there eating donuts! LOL.

I totally dislike Dario though, which is strange because when they first showed him in LA I liked him and thought he and Nicole had chemistry and might become a couple. Then once he came to Salem they turned him into a jerk.  Was the "Dario" character on the show before? I know they referenced his past with Victor, but I wasn't sure if it was a real past, or a retconned one?

[madhacker]

5 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Well today was largely skippable. Too much Rafe and Deimos. But hey you Xander fans - he got shirtless, LOL!

 

So say we all!!

Seriously that was the highlight of the episode was Paul showing off doing push-ups on his knuckles. Why oh why did they have to turn him into a psycho. What kills me is they could've had him be bisexual and have him hook up with Sparkle after Sonny left town. At least that would've given Paul a decent story line and the sex scenes would've been so hot (c'mon you have to admit that)....but I digress.

Edited September 19, 2016 by madhacker