Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode

[LeftPhalange]

Having the Eric/Marlena scenes in the same episodes as the Hope/Rafe/Judge Fitzpatrick scenes really highlights how vulgar the murderer and her accomplice are. Eric accidentally killed someone, served his time in prison without complaining- even if it was short -, but still shows remorse and deep pain over what he's done. Meanwhile, Hope intentionally kills a man, tries to cover it up, whines about going to prison when caught, has half of Salem trying to get her released, (inadvertently) escapes from prison, hides out, blackmails Andre into not doing anything to jeopardize her freedom, is cleared of all charges and shows absolutely no guilt over what she's done. 

Edited February 22, 2017 by LeftPhalange

[Rowan]

At least when she woke, Gabi's first coherent thought was of Ari. Chads's coming off badly to me in this whole scenario. I know that might not necessarily be fair, but he just does. I do hope he tells Abigail what happened. I wish I liked Dario or at least the actor, but he does nothing for me. I like the this Abigail and since it looks like they are chem-testing the two, I wish I could care. 

GV always comes off as a little dumb to me, but I felt him for a few scenes today. At least he's easy on the eyes, however, the beards got to go. 

[FnkyChkn34]

39 minutes ago, LeftPhalange said:

Having the Eric/Marlena scenes in the same episodes as the Hope/Rafe/Judge Fitzpatrick scenes really highlights how vulgar the murderer and her accomplice are. Eric accidentally killed someone, served his time in prison without complaining- even if it was short -, but still shows remorse and deep pain over what he's done. Meanwhile, Hope intentionally kills a man, tries to cover it up, whines about going to prison when caught, has half of Salem trying to get her released, (inadvertently) escapes from prison, hides out, blackmails Andre into not doing anything to jeopardize her freedom, is cleared of all charges and shows absolutely no guilt over what she's done. 

She showed guilt for months before she was caught.  And now she thinks that she didn't actually kill anyone, so if she thinks she didn't actually kill anyone, what does she have to be guilty about?  That was one of the goals of Steve and Shane's plan, to make Hope think that she didn't kill anyone.

[LeftPhalange]

6 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

She showed guilt for months before she was caught.  And now she thinks that she didn't actually kill anyone, so if she thinks she didn't actually kill anyone, what does she have to be guilty about? 

To me it felt like she more agonized over possibly going to prison and being away from her family than she was over murdering someone. And her thinking Stefano is still alive doesn't change the fact that she shot him point blank while he sat in a chair with the intent to murder him.

[FnkyChkn34]

27 minutes ago, LeftPhalange said:

To me it felt like she more agonized over possibly going to prison and being away from her family than she was over murdering someone. And her thinking Stefano is still alive doesn't change the fact that she shot him point blank while he sat in a chair with the intent to murder him.

I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out in the future, whether she feels guilty or if the writers just drop the whole thing and move on.  She may rationalize her actions by being temporarily insane and overcome with grief, and Stefano goaded her in to killing him, to relieve the guilt.  And the fact that she thinks he didn't die (and did he or didn't he?) definitely changes the facts.  As she testified and the court agreed, the "murder" wasn't premeditated; she didn't really intend to kill him.  

[nilyank]

Quote

As she testified and the court agreed, the "murder" wasn't premeditated; she didn't really intend to kill him.  

Then why did she bring Bo's gun to see Stefano? Like most Days plots, it was stupid and no one thought anything out.

[Michel]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

When she was missing, you would think her brother the cop and former FBI agent would have been all over that case.

I think he would've been criticized over that, too.  He'd have been in a no-win situation with the fans no matter what he did regarding that.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Michel

[buffynut]

I used to like Rafe. In fact, when I started watching again in summer 2014 he was with Jordan, and I liked them as a couple. Then he cheated on her with Kate(?) and Jordan dumped him.  I also liked Rafe in fall 2015 when he was working to help Chad prove his innocence in the strangler murders.  My dislike for Rafe started when the writers rushed his romance with Hope and even had Bo ask Rafe to basically take his place with Hope.  And then of course the Stefano murder and cover-up soured my mind on them even more.  At least Rafe wasn't in on the "Shane was Stefano" scam.

I keep thinking that if they had just slowly let Hope and Rafe realize they were becoming more than just partners/friends, and not co-conspirators in a murder cover up, I might have liked them as a romantic couple. But with all that's happened, it's going to take some good writing to make me not cringe when I see them on screen being romantic.

So obviously, I didn't enjoy their scenes today. And the Chad/Gabi scenes bored me almost to tears. Their "romance" was too rushed to be believable too, so I tune out their scenes.

I did enjoy the Eric/Marlena scenes though. Still missing John. I assume that's who Marlena was talking to on the phone. Hope that means he'll be back soon.

Edited February 22, 2017 by buffynut

[LeftPhalange]

2 minutes ago, buffynut said:

I used to like Rafe. In fact, when I started watching again in summer 2014 he was with Jordan, and I liked them as a couple. Then he cheated on her with Kate(?) and Jordan dumped him.  I also liked Rafe in fall 2015 when he was working to help Chad prove his innocence in the strangler murders.  My dislike for Rafe started when the writers rushed his romance with Hope and even had Bo ask Rafe to basically take his place with Hope.  And then of course the Stefano murder and cover-up soured my mind on them even more.  At least Rafe wasn't in on the "Shane was Stefano" scam.

I keep thinking that if they had just slowly let Hope and Rafe realize they were becoming more than just partners/friends, and not co-conspirators in a murder cover up, I might have liked them as a romantic couple. But with all that's happened, it's going to take some good writing to make be not cringe when I see them on screen being romantic.

I started to dislike Rafe when he had that little emotional affair with Sami's sister, but I didn't REALLY start to borderline hate him until this crap with Hope started. The two of them together are absolutely sickening. 

[Silver Raven]

Jeez, Eric, get over yourself.  Either kill yourself or shut it.

"Hope, I wanted to tell you how worry I am about David."  Oh, yeah, David, that guy.  No biggie.

Andre dating Trask is a funny little twist.

I wonder whom Marlena called about Eric.  Roman?  Nicole?

[Frozendiva]

Eric, maybe consider some new wallpaper for the farmhouse - it's a bit girly. In the grand scheme of things in Salem, you're one of the few who has shown any remorse.

I don't think I'd find it romantic for a dude to plan a picnic on a park bench on a winter day. S'mores yet? Really? Eventually Shane or Steve will tell the truth of  faking Stefano being alive and then probably later, announcing his real 'death'.

The judge was far too lenient. However, there are probably more Horton criminal cases coming up so why waste more tax dollars on Hope? What will she do now? Go back to being a cop? Designing jewelry?

Don't find Chad and Gabi all that believable - at least not yet. Nothing for me to want to root for them to be together. Reality? That Chad divorces Abs and is single for a bit. It probably would take several hours of heat to get the body temp back to normal. And cold will affect the extremities for years.

[Happytobehere]

7 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

Having the Eric/Marlena scenes in the same episodes as the Hope/Rafe/Judge Fitzpatrick scenes really highlights how vulgar the murderer and her accomplice are. Eric accidentally killed someone, served his time in prison without complaining- even if it was short -, but still shows remorse and deep pain over what he's done. Meanwhile, Hope intentionally kills a man, tries to cover it up, whines about going to prison when caught, has half of Salem trying to get her released, (inadvertently) escapes from prison, hides out, blackmails Andre into not doing anything to jeopardize her freedom, is cleared of all charges and shows absolutely no guilt over what she's done. 

Don't forget framed a man for her crime -- yes it was Andre, but it was Hope's sense of entitlement and belief that she is above culpability that enabled Her, Rafe and Roman (all police officers) to do it.  Let's also not forget the Steve and Shane (a former and current representative of law enforce the) inspired faking of Stefano being alive.

[DisneyBoy]

I love how the writers think that they can slip it past us the way the characters are saying Stefano faked his death to "escape". Escape what? He was a free man in December 2015. If they had bothered to develop Hope finding out about Stefano hiring Aiden and arranging to kill her, then Hope threatening to expose that might have caused him to want to flee.

...while I am glad they didn't follow up on that because it was stupid to begin with, they never came up with a single explanation for why Stefano would need to fake his own death and that is the huge plot hole in this entire mess of a storyline. And it wouldn't have taken much. They could have said that Stefano felt that Andre was poisoning him slowly and wanted to get away...they could have said that Stefano had any number of plans in the works that would have benefited from no one suspecting he was the mastermind behind them...but nope. He just felt like faking his death that day...?

DA Trask really hit the nail on the head when she said Justin needed to pick a narrative: either Stefano wanted someone to kill him or wanted to fake his death. Dena obviously didn't put as much thought into this as one of her characters did. I wonder if the episodes writer snuck that dialogue into the script as a sort of meta reference to how stupid the plotting was.

I don't think there's any way for them to redeem Hope after this. If they tried to make her contrite now, well after it would have been appropriate, it would just drag out what's already a crappy story. And to whomever said that she was only panicky last year because she was worried about being separated from her family, I completely agree. Maybe KA's acting just didn't convey the necessary shame or remorse along the way.

... which brings me to Eric. I actually think they've written his story pretty well, albeit in bits and pieces over the last few years, but I don't find it moving as much as really tiresome. Greg Vaughn could easily be this shows saving grace right now in the right storyline and instead they're having him cry in the corner. I guess Jennifer is going to be the one to make him love himself again? Pass me a bucket please.

I still feel like they dropped the ball with regards to Jennifer and Daniel, who supposedly had this epic romance. Wouldn't Jennifer have been the most upset about losing Daniel? He was her second chance at a happy ending, supposedly. I always felt like the show wanted us to think she still carried a torch for him. I would have assumed Nicole would have been over his passing much faster than Jennifer, but of course it's the reverse that's the case, to the point of Jennifer now wanting to have sex with the guy who killed him...

Could we have Taniel turn up somewhere so that Eric can be redeemed from his sin? Maybe someone can find a Polaroid of Stefano beating Daniel with a spray can?

I don't want to see another day of smug Rafe and Hope. I have no idea why Andre is backing off, except that the writers think it's an intriguing twist. This Nice Andre crap is going to get retconned right out the window as soon as a better writer steps up with an actual idea about what to do with the character instead of having him supposedly "lay low to earn their love."

[kitmerlot1213]

SSH did a good job with Julie's grief about David and her regret over the disintegration of their mother/son relationship--very believable.  I'm still put off by both Ciara and Claire calling Julie "Grandma" when she's Hope's sister--I know she's married to Hope's dad but it's still kind of strange.

The "actress" playing Ciara has been on the show for over a year now right?  And dear GOD, but she is just as awful as when she first started.  There is zero inflection in her voice, even when she's yelling.  And I really hate how she thinks she has the right to call out Claire--you don't need to concern yourself with what Claire's doing, just concentrate on your own boring ass.  She's pretty damn unlikeable.

Claire on the other had is like JL's Theresa--they can be kind of bitchy but there's still a warmth and compassion in them that comes out in unexpected ways and makes them more appealing characters--at least for me.

I kind of love watching Abby try and knock down the angel statue--when she tried to hit it with her purpose and she let out this frustrated scream, I just about lost it.  I also really enjoyed watching her angst over Chad and Gabi--sucks to be the one on the outside doesn't it?

I was also rather sickened by JJ's attitude with Lani regarding Gabi--they're both standing around crowing about their awesomeness and how grateful Gabi should be to them, but isn't Lani and JJ's cheating the reason Gabi broke up JJ?  If I was Lani, I'd be embarrasses to utter Gabi's name.

[rcc]

The actress playing Ciara will be gone soon and thus ends the big casting mistake when they hired such a bad wannabe actress.

[DisneyBoy]

Quote

I kind of love watching Abby try and knock down the angel statue

When is that thing coming down? I absolutely hate it. It's a shame Sami's isn't in town to vandalize the thing.

Quote

Claire on the other had is like JL's Theresa--they can be kind of bitchy but there's still a warmth and compassion in them that comes out in unexpected ways and makes them more appealing characters--at least for me.

I don't think she's quite as good as Jen Lilley yet, but I completely agree with your description of Theresa. I just can't believe the show started to get Claire thinking about her music career last summer and nothing has come of it since. The producers have a real aversion to giving women careers on this show don't they? Hopefully when Eve comes back Claire's ambition and passion for music will return with her.

Edited February 23, 2017 by DisneyBoy

[Kitty Redstone]

First time I've watched the show in months.

I agree that SSH did a good job today and that VJ/Ciara has shown absolutely no improvement.

Why are they still talking about Daniel?  Are there plans to revive the character with yet another moronic back-from-the-dead story?

The new Abigail is better than the old Abigail but the character is still a tiresome bore.  Killing her off truly and permanently would create far more drama for Chad, Jennifer, JJ, Dario and Gabi than another romantic triangle.

I remember when Valerie first came on the show that she was keeping her son a secret.  So now everyone knows she has a son but not that David was his father?  And she never told David he had a son, either?  Do we know why she kept Eli's parentage a secret?  Also, what happened to David?

Abe and Maggie had a nice moment today.  I've always liked Abe.

Edited February 23, 2017 by Kitty Redstone
clarity

[Silver Raven]

Quote

I don't think she's quite as good as Jen Lilley yet, but I completely agree with your description of Theresa. I just can't believe the show started to get Claire thinking about her music career last summer and nothing has come of it since. The producers have a real aversion to giving women careers on this show don't they? Hopefully when Eve comes back Claire's ambition and passion for music will return with her.

But that was all wrapped up in the Chloe and Philip story, which has gone away.

Jebus, Claire is such a bitch.

Right.  Hope is ill.  That's the word for canoodling.

"Friends are supposed to get along."  They aren't friends, dammit, they're aunt and niece. But Ciara calls Julie "Grandma".

Was there nobody else in David's life to come to his funeral?  Where was Scottie, and his family?

They should have taken that stupid statue down as soon as Abigail came home, anyway.

I wish they would quit playing that song under Chabby scenes.  That woman's breathy baby voice makes me want to poke out my eardrums.

Yeah, that's right, Abigail, Dario wants to be your friend.

Ooh, Eli knows.

[Rowan]

Sack up, Chad. Tell her you want to explore things with Gabi. I'm tired of the sad panda face already. 

Eli is a looker. Hope he can actually act. For every Jen Lilley there's a Vivian Jovani on this show. 

Abigail wants to be honest with herself, she just has too many enablers. C'mon, girl, you can do it. Let him go. He's going to come back, anyway. 

[Michel]

As much as I do like Marci as Abigail way more than I liked Kate, I still have to admit that she reaped what she sowed.  Everyone who knew of her being alive told her to go back to Chad.  But she chose not to.  If she'd just let Chad help her work through her Ben trauma the whole time and not gone into hiding for so long, he wouldn't have even had the time to get as close to Gabi as he did.

To give her some credit, though, at least she owned up and admitted that today.  So . . . yay for growth and/or progress?

Edited February 24, 2017 by Michel

[Frozendiva]

I was hoping that the statue will turn in to a Dr. Who weeping angel and take Abs to another time.

She's at least owning that her marriage is in trouble because she faked her death. A bit of er, karma. Chad and Gabi probably would have gotten close no matter what - something would have affected Abs and Chad's marriage - on their own end.

Hope sure got ill quick - maybe home too soon from the prison break and her injuries. She could have sat at the back of the church, even in a wheelchair.

Wonder when the Claire/Ciara catfights will start. The two have some boundary and unresolved issues - like Ciara still wants Theo.

[nilyank]

Julie said that Hope said it was food poisoning. I would laugh if it was because of the smores that Rafe got her.

[Michel]

11 minutes ago, nilyank said:

Julie said that Hope said it was food poisoning. I would laugh if it was because of the smores that Rafe got her.

If not that, then it could've been something from Steve and Kayla's wedding reception that didn't agree with her.

[JBC344]

8 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

First time I've watched the show in months.

I agree that SSH did a good job today and that VJ/Ciara has shown absolutely no improvement.

Why are they still talking about Daniel?  Are there plans to revive the character with yet another moronic back-from-the-dead story?

The new Abigail is better than the old Abigail but the character is still a tiresome bore.  Killing her off truly and permanently would create far more drama for Chad, Jennifer, JJ, Dario and Gabi than another romantic triangle.

I remember when Valerie first came on the show that she was keeping her son a secret.  So now everyone knows she has a son but not that David was his father?  And she never told David he had a son, either?  Do we know why she kept Eli's parentage a secret?  Also, what happened to David?

Abe and Maggie had a nice moment today.  I've always liked Abe.

As Valerie was sticking around longer in Salem she did reveal to Abe that she has a son.  Also Theo caught her conversing with him on the phone a few times and assumed it was another romantic interest. No one knows that David is Eli's father, and Valerie never told David this either.

We don't know why she kept Eli's parentage a secret from David, but in terms of Julie, I believe Valerie was always hurt that Julie was never really a fan of her and David being in an interracial relationship when they were young. I think one of the reasons that they had Julie so enamored with getting together with Valerie when she first came back to town was Julie's guilt for the way she treated Valerie back then.  It certainly explains Valerie avoiding her like the plague.

Since Valerie has been back I get the feeling she at least was warming to Julie, especially since they had that earlier conversation about David and Valerie got to see how much regret Julie was harboring over her distant relationship with David. I think even Valerie may have been on the fence on whether to reveal Eli to everyone.  I think David's death sent her into a panic, hence the sudden rush to get back to DC.

David was killed in a motorcycle accident. 

[Kitty Redstone]

Thank you, JBC344! 

I'm glad to have not missed why Valerie is keeping that David is Eli's father a secret.  Hopefully her reasoning will make sense.  I also got genuine warmth between Valerie and Julie at the service.

Today when Julie brought up how she wasn't a mother to David for his first few years and how she thought it did irreparable harm to their relationship, Maggie used Daniel as an example of a mother and son overcoming years of separation and becoming close.  It was interesting that she didn't also mention the awful Summer.  Has that character been excised from everyone's memory?

Edited February 24, 2017 by Kitty Redstone

[Lady Iris]

Was Daniel's character written off or did the actor want to leave? Does anybody know? I realize nobody may care but I'm curious anyways :)

[JBC344]

2 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Was Daniel's character written off or did the actor want to leave? Does anybody know? I realize nobody may care but I'm curious anyways :)

I believe that the actor wanted to leave.  Or at least that is what I heard.  Since leaving he has done some independent movies and guest spots on tv shows.  My understanding was that it was probably amicable between both parties.  Also the actor is in a real life relationship with Ari Zucker (Nicole) so I think that may explain why it may be easy for the show to have a certain personal access to him.  So it's probably easy to get him to pop in for these flashback scenes, especially since they involve the advancement of Ari's character.

You really did hit the nail on the head about the show "over inflating" Daniel and Nicole's epic love.  As you and another poster mentioned above, his relationships with Chloe and Jennifer were so much more prominent that what he ever had with Nicole. 

I love Nicole as a character but agree she has been hampered down by her "controlling" relationship with Deimos, and this "grieving widow" phase they have her in over Daniel's death.

[Silver Raven]

What is Terrence's last name? Why does Eli go by Grant?

Screw you, Lani.  Anybody who says, "I hate the movies..."  She's being really annoying about shooting down anything JJ recommends they do together.

Damn, good on you, Chad, for getting up out of a hospital bed and having sex right after returning home.

Oh, God, that song again!

[TwistedandBored]

I know it is wrong to like them knowing how much endgame Chabby apparently is now days but I am totally enjoying all of these Chabi scenes. I don't care how long it lasts but for now, I am shipping them. 

[Michel]

I'm always down for new (or new-ish or rarely-seen) screen pairings, so I liked the Chad/Theo scenes today, as well as the Abigail/Claire ones.  (Marci and Olivia even looked like they could be sisters!)  Especially since each scene partner had parallel situations going on -- Chad and Theo having feelings for two girls each (Chad with Abigail and Gabi and Theo apparently now with Claire and Ciara), and Abigail and Claire wary that other women are moving in on their men (Abigail with Gabi, Claire with Ciara), and both not knowing how truly right they are.

Chloe, in fairness, Brady put Nicole before you when you were letting him think you were dead due to no other reason but your own vanity and insecurity.  As far as Brady knew, Nicole was the only woman in his life at the time.  He had no idea that she knew of you being alive and was actively trying to keep you both apart.  Or did you suddenly gain a selective memory over that fact?

I hope we get more of a look into why Valerie feels like she has to keep the secret about Eli, because right now . . . I'm not seeing any reason to do so.  As for Eli himself . . . the actor's kinda cute.  And he can act, it seems, so that's a plus.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Michel

[Petunia13]

Abby has been bat shit crazy and possessive over men for years. Chad you knew this and chose that. 

[Frozendiva]

Chad, you had a pretty good idea of who Abs showed herself to be - her affair with your brother, her relationship with Ben, her setting him on fire, her mental instability. Maybe you are with her due to guilt and obligation over Thomas. She also knowingly faked her death. Yeah, you're kinda stuck, even though you may wish to pursue something with Gabi, or really, any other woman. Being with her is only a temporary way to drown out what you'd really rather be doing.

Chloe, run to New York and to your parents. Sheesh. You are probably at least 35 years old. You are almost 15 years too old now to 'make it big' in the music biz and probably need to consider other options. Easy thing to do - run back home. Maybe Nicole is not in a good place right now, but there are thousands of women out there who are probably worse off and they still have their kids! You are not the judge and jury. Brady seems to have temporarily taken possession of the Salem Brain.

JJ, you deserve a bit better than Lani, who now seems to have googly eyes for the tall, dark, handsome stranger at the church.

Eli is an FBI agent? He puts smug Rafe to shame and into the land of small town sheriff or constable. I get the secrecy due to the times - the 70s or early 80s. No real reason to keep his father away from him. Unless there is more to the David story than is being let on.

Chad and Theo were good together. Theo, missing his grandpa, and Chad just wanting to turn the family in to something reputable.

[Kitty Redstone]

3 hours ago, Michel said:

I hope we get more of a look into why Valerie feels like she has to keep the secret about Eli, because right now . . . I'm not seeing any reason to do so.  As for Eli himself . . . the actor's kinda cute.  And he can act, it seems, so that's a plus.

Agreed.  He's very good looking and can believably emote.  I like him already.

So Valerie's reasoning for not telling David about Eli was because David wasn't ready to be a father to Scott?  I'd never heard anyone even mention Scott so I looked up the character's bio on one of the soap sites.  He was last played by Ric Hearst!  (I've loved him since he first showed up on GH years ago, but sadly his character was sacrificed again and again and again for the repulsive Corinthii.)  It'd be great if Days brought back RH to play Scott - Julie would have a grandson, Eli would have a half-brother, Hope would have a half-nephew (right?) . . .

Lady Iris, I'd also read that Shawn Christian wanted to leave so he could do other things.

Sonoma, I think Ken Corday was using the character of Daniel to fulfill some pathetic personal fantasies and that's why he was so prominent as the surfing doctor town sage.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Kitty Redstone

[annabel]

I remember when Ric Hearst was on! I didn't remember who he was though. He had a storyline with Melinda Clarke who was somebody's daughter IRL and went on to be on The OC. I think their storyline had something to do with being in a cult.

[Kitty Redstone]

Interesting!  The character profile was brief but said Scott/RH had been involved with Eve Donovan and someone named Faith Taylor.  So I looked up Melinda Clarke on IMDB and she was who played Faith.  Good memory!

[Petunia13]

Melinda Clarke's father played Mickey Horton and he was on OG on soaps.

Sorry guys I thought I saved that edit fix for my damn autocorrect. 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Petunia13
Typo!

[DisneyBoy]

Quote

Deimos wasn't the problem. The character was interesting enough and the actor strong enough that it had potential. The problem began when they made him obsessed with Nicole. 

Nope - it started with the awful Alzheimer's Cure story they used to introduce him. He showed up as The Man Who Killed Bo Brady. That's a lot to live up to. Plus he was Victor's retconned-into-existence brother? Nope. Nope! This show had overplayed that card by then (Daniel, Paul, Xander, Lani) and has only continued to (Summer, Eli)...the dumb reincarnated Nicole stuff only proved the character wasn't going to be salvageable.

Nice to hear Theo and Chad had scenes. I want more of them, and of Theo and Kate, who have only shared the screen ONCE in the last year, in a throwaway moment at the hospital during the Orpheus storyline...

[JBC344]

5 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Nope - it started with the awful Alzheimer's Cure story they used to introduce him. He showed up as The Man Who Killed Bo Brady. That's a lot to live up to. Plus he was Victor's retconned-into-existence brother? Nope. Nope! This show had overplayed that card by then (Daniel, Paul, Xander, Lani) and has only continued to (Summer, Eli)...the dumb reincarnated Nicole stuff only proved the character wasn't going to be salvageable.

Nice to hear Theo and Chad had scenes. I want more of them, and of Theo and Kate, who have only shared the screen ONCE in the last year, in a throwaway moment at the hospital during the Orpheus storyline...

I do hope we get more Theo and Kate scenes.  I always loved their grandmother/grandson scenes when he was a little boy.

[DisneyBoy]

2 hours ago, JBC344 said:

I do hope we get more Theo and Kate scenes.  I always loved their grandmother/grandson scenes when he was a little boy.

Exactly right.

Have Carrie and Austin vanished into the ether?

[Sidney]

On February 22, 2017 at 2:17 PM, Rowan said:

At least when she woke, Gabi's first coherent thought was of Ari. Chads's coming off badly to me in this whole scenario. I know that might not necessarily be fair, but he just does. I do hope he tells Abigail what happened. I wish I liked Dario or at least the actor, but he does nothing for me. I like the this Abigail and since it looks like they are chem-testing the two, I wish I could care. 

 

All the stories that the Gabi character has been in has never focused on her. It's always the other characters the focus is on. She's never developed a personality. When she's not in scenes, she's forgettable.

I agree about Dario, he's forgettable, too. lol. Just conflict for Chad/Abby.

[FnkyChkn34]

18 hours ago, JBC344 said:

I do hope we get more Theo and Kate scenes.  I always loved their grandmother/grandson scenes when he was a little boy.

Can someone please help me out here?  Kate and Theo aren't related.

[JBC344]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Can someone please help me out here?  Kate and Theo aren't related.

When Kate was married to Stefano, Kate was Theo's step-grandmother.  When Theo was young, he actually had a lot of sweet scenes with Kate.  They really bonded when he was a little boy.  It also came up as a small plot point, when Stefano and Kate broke up, because of Theo's autism he doesn't always connect with others well.  Kate was one of those people he had a bond with as a child.

So far we just had that one scene of Kate in the hospital waiting area after her fender bender and Theo coming over to check on her.  It was a very quick scene but a nice reminder that they were close when he was young.  It would be nice to get more scenes like that, especially since we get a good amount of Chad/Theo scenes and Kate is still incorporated as a Dimera.

[Cupcake04]

Question......why was Chad looking at and fondling the flowers next to his bed? And then he wrapped the purple flower around his finger and the camera closed in on it, and then he hid it in his hand from Abby? I think I missed something ffwding. What was the significance, if any?

btw...they couldn't  come up with a better excuse for Hope not being at funeral than she wasnt feeling well?  Seriously?  They couldve just had her meeting with judge at same time and that wouldve explained it better than not feeling well!  Cmon writers!!!!

[FnkyChkn34]

3 hours ago, JBC344 said:

When Kate was married to Stefano, Kate was Theo's step-grandmother.  When Theo was young, he actually had a lot of sweet scenes with Kate.  They really bonded when he was a little boy.  It also came up as a small plot point, when Stefano and Kate broke up, because of Theo's autism he doesn't always connect with others well.  Kate was one of those people he had a bond with as a child.

So far we just had that one scene of Kate in the hospital waiting area after her fender bender and Theo coming over to check on her.  It was a very quick scene but a nice reminder that they were close when he was young.  It would be nice to get more scenes like that, especially since we get a good amount of Chad/Theo scenes and Kate is still incorporated as a Dimera.

Maybe it's something that's been rewritten or forgotten since he was SORASed.  I guess I never realized that they were ever close.

52 minutes ago, Cupcake04 said:

Question......why was Chad looking at and fondling the flowers next to his bed? And then he wrapped the purple flower around his finger and the camera closed in on it, and then he hid it in his hand from Abby? I think I missed something ffwding. What was the significance, if any?

It was lavender, Gabi's favorite flower.

[QuelleC]

It was disgusting how Abby had to keep a tight grip on Chad's penis before he was even out of the hospital and for the entire episode. Chloe 's back to wearing bratz doll dresses.  It was only worth seeing Val and her son's discussion. I  wonder if new Abby is a result of tptb listening to how much her entitlement burned my brain still but this one she is bland. Even lipstick would help. 

[DisneyBoy]

I definitely think that the producers took note of Kate Mansi's smugness. I won't give them enough credit to assume that they were actually listening to the fans - blasphemy! - as much as perhaps getting sick of Kate on their own. Wasn't she dating a writer on the show at one point? I seem to recall that was part of the rumors surrounding her increased visibility. Plus there were all those hilariously unforgettable interviews she would give to the media where she described Abigail's love for EJ as this rich, complex, beautiful thing. If the producers ever got wind of those - and I can't imagine they didn't - they must have been either laughing their heads off or scratching their heads wondering how on earth such a dingbat had managed to become a major player in their show.

All this to say, I'll take a bland and somewhat tolerable Abigail after the last few years of her being a rancid trollop. Hopefully by the time the new writing regime kicks in, they'll have thought of a good use for her in her new, somewhat more palatable form.

I'm only watching the Eric scenes for the time being but I'm curious: exactly how bad was Gabi's crush on Chad back in the day? It seems to be a sticking point for some of you that he would have even entertained her as a potential girlfriend after her past actions. What were they?

I find it pretty telling that I completely skipped the entire Orwell storyline and it's already over and probably has zero ramifications in the long run. It's like Dena only knows how to write excuses for characters to be locked up or kidnapped or held at gunpoint...not actual stories.

Should I assume we are done with Belle, Shawn, Carrie, Austin and Anna now that February is over?

[Vyk]

3 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I'm only watching the Eric scenes for the time being but I'm curious: exactly how bad was Gabi's crush on Chad back in the day? It seems to be a sticking point for some of you that he would have even entertained her as a potential girlfriend after her past actions. What were they?

Well, it was nothing bad back when Chad and Gabi were played by their respective originators, Casey Deidrick and Gabriela Rodriguez.  Their characters actually dated briefly.  But Chad eventually dumped Gabi to get back with his old girlfriend, Mia (who was played by Taylor Spreitler).  Soon after Gabi was recast with current portrayer Camila Banus, she started dating Will, whom she eventually dumped during his coming out story.

Sometime later, the writers did a hatchet job on her by bringing back her crush on Chad soon after he got with Melanie.  Desperate for his attention, she faked being followed by a stalker and paid a Countess Wilhelmina photographer named Andrew to be that stalker.  Eventually, Andrew grew more and more unhinged and kidnapped Melanie and held her hostage for weeks.  In fact, just shy of a month.  Gabi thought that Melanie had just left town to see Carly in Europe and was pleased that Chad started spending more time with her.  Eventually, though, she found out by accident that Andrew had Melanie and at first demanded he let go, but after Andrew blackmailed her with the knowledge of him being paid by her to stalk her, she relented and let him keep Melanie prisoner.

Eventually, as Andrew started to be found out, this culminated in him moving Melanie to some tunnels beneath Salem, and during this time, flammable, toxic, explosive gases were filling these tunnels at the time.  Chad, Brady, and Gabi pursued Andrew to the tunnels to find Melanie, but while Chad and Brady went on to look for Andrew, they told Gabi to warn someone about the gas.  Instead, Gabi focused on finding Andrew herself, focused more on him keeping the secret of her part in everything.  (Granted, in spite of the brunt she took for that particular action, I doubt that word could've gotten to the rest of Salem in time even if she had listened and gone to warn someone, since the explosion that resulted was only minutes away from happening, anyway.)  Eventually, the tunnels exploded, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives, including Jack and Madison (Brady's fiancée at the time).

Melanie was finally rescued, but she and Andrew were hurt badly and rushed to the hospital.  Melanie recovered, but Andrew died of his injuries, warning Gabi before his death that he would expose her part in what'd happened.  But he died before he could speak, and Gabi thought she was in the clear . . . until she turned and saw that Chad, who'd come to confront Andrew, had heard the whole thing.  He was about to turn Gabi in for everything, but she was able to explain herself well enough that he at least somewhat understood her actions, even if he didn't condone them at all.  He agreed to keep her secret as long as she stayed away from Melanie.  Also, give up her modeling career that she was enjoying at the time.  If she did neither, he'd tell Melanie first, and then the cops.

Over the next few weeks, Chad treated Gabi like absolute shit (not that she didn't deserve it).  He'd threaten and torment her every time they saw each other, with Chad doing so every time she came into contact with Melanie even when Melanie initiated said contact unexpectedly.  Her only real source of comfort came when Nick Fallon was released on prison on parole, and they started getting close.  But during that time, Chad started getting overly protective and even possessive of Melanie, who was jumping at shadows due to her own past history with Nick (a story for another time, though), and started threatening him instead.  (He even took it a step too far and went down to the prison the day he was paroled and threatened Nick's mother, Jessica!)  Eventually, over a misunderstanding, he beat Nick to a near-pulp and tried to hide it from Melanie (who'd actually mended fences with Nick just minutes before the beating), but Gabi, who'd found Nick and stopped Chad from beating him, took Nick to the hospital and went and told Melanie first about the beat-down, and then admitted to everything with Andrew, anyway.  Chad tried to stop her from doing that, but he failed.  Melanie learned everything and threw Gabi out of her life (until she finally forgave her a few years later in either late 2014 or early 2015), and then realized that Chad had known about that and hadn't told her about it, causing her to break up with him and eventually leave Salem to live with Carly in Europe.  That whole story was one of my least favorites since it pretty much did Gabi a huge disservice and essentially threw her under the bus to prop up Melanie, the writers' pet at the time.  Luckily, enough Melanie haters all over the Web remained in Gabi's corner precisely for that reason.

Everything described above was a bone of contention (to say the least!) between Chad and Gabi until Chad was recast as Billy Flynn.  During the convict crisis last fall, they finally talked it all through and put it behind them.

That clear things up, @DisneyBoy?

Edited February 27, 2017 by Vyk

[Silver Raven]

12 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I'm only watching the Eric scenes for the time being but I'm curious: exactly how bad was Gabi's crush on Chad back in the day? It seems to be a sticking point for some of you that he would have even entertained her as a potential girlfriend after her past actions. What were they?

When he was dating Melanie, Gabi decided that she wanted him, so she hired some random guy to pretend to be stalking her.  But the guy developed an attraction for Melanie, and he kidnapped her, then told Gabi about it.  So while the whole town was running around looking for Melanie, Gabi knew she had been kidnapped by this guy, but she didn't tell anybody.  Eventually, the guy took Melanie into the tunnels under the city, and there was an explosion as a result, and the explosion caused the elevator that Jack and Abigail were in to start crashing, and Jack pushed her out of the doors and then crashed and died.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Silver Raven

[Kitty Redstone]

3 hours ago, QuelleC said:

It was disgusting how Abby had to keep a tight grip on Chad's penis before he was even out of the hospital and for the entire episode. Chloe 's back to wearing bratz doll dresses.  It was only worth seeing Val and her son's discussion. I  wonder if new Abby is a result of tptb listening to how much her entitlement burned my brain still but this one she is bland. Even lipstick would help. 

The new Abigail is as plain as white paper and a low-talker to boot.  And yet, she's 1,000 times better than the last one.  But I still don't like the character and wish TPTB would focus on someone else.

[DisneyBoy]

Wow - so Gabi was indirectly responsible for the Daysaster?

After reading all that I like the character less. Everyone on this show has such a complicated history... Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I watched their reconciliation last fall but the dialogue was vague so I still had no clue what happened. Plus the subtext was "Chad is horny and lonely".