Unpopular Opinions

[Jaded]

I don't dislike Eric Martsolf as a person. I say that because I preferred Kyle Lowder as Brady.

[brisbydog]

30 years on and I still don't get the Jarlena thing. I liked her with original Roman and I still think John's true love was Isabella 

[Harmony233]

39 minutes ago, brisbydog said:

30 years on and I still don't get the Jarlena thing. I liked her with original Roman and I still think John's true love was Isabella 

I find them so boring.

[spookyseason]

A friend of mine who was a long-time Days viewer persuaded me to watch the show for the great John/Marlena in the late 90s. I became a casual viewer ever since, but the couple never really impressed me. It wasn't until when I saw both characters outside of Jarlena which made me see them in a different light. Deidre appeared to be a lovely person offscreen but Marlena somehow resembled an ice-cold that de-energized John. Drake, like Vanessa Marcil and Michael Easton, was sex on a stick who could have hot chemistry with an inanimate object. He looked young, sexy, funny and just comfortable around other female co-stars. Deidre was like that with the original Roman too. John and Marlena however struke me more as two companions who stuck together all these years because of familiarity and family moreso than love and passion and similar interests. 

Edited September 3, 2023 by spookyseason
spelling check

[SouthernChick]

My UO is that I don’t understand the animosity between Marlena fans and Isabella fans. Isabella told Marlena to take care of John when she died and Marlena named her daughter after Isabella. They weren’t besties, but they weren’t rivals for John’s affections, for long actually. I’m probably the only person in the world who liked both women. I liked early Kristen too.

[brisbydog]

9 hours ago, SouthernChick said:

My UO is that I don’t understand the animosity between Marlena fans and Isabella fans. Isabella told Marlena to take care of John when she died and Marlena named her daughter after Isabella. They weren’t besties, but they weren’t rivals for John’s affections, for long actually. I’m probably the only person in the world who liked both women. I liked early Kristen too.

Marlena was there for Isabella at her wedding to John and a great support for her during her cancer diagnosis. I don't dislike Marlena just don't like her with John. 

[SouthernChick]

4 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Marlena was there for Isabella at her wedding to John and a great support for her during her cancer diagnosis. I don't dislike Marlena just don't like her with John. 

That makes sense. I am John and Marlena fan, but I also liked John and Isabella and John and Kristen, pre-craziness. 
 

I didn’t like John with Kate, Rebecca, Hope/Gina, Diana, or Ava.

Edited September 3, 2023 by SouthernChick

[CanaryFan98]

On 9/2/2023 at 1:50 PM, DisneyBoy said:

Yeah it did make Shane look inept as hell...

Brady didn't hear Theresa out or forgive her for putting him and Tate first, which was the point of her leaving like that. Then, he blamed her for leaving Chloe behind even though they were both hostages and Theresa was barely able to get Xander to help her outta there - and he loathes her to begin with!

And in top of that, he stayed involved with Eve and fought to have custody of Tate. He allowed these two sisters to go to battle over him, essentially, since both wanted to marry him.

I don't remember all the details of the court case - it's been a while - but he was his usual condemning, venom-spewing self. He inevitably treats all women who get involved with him like garbage. And didn't someone try to plant drugs at JJ's apartment where Theresa was staying just to make her seem unfit or something?

A real man would have said "Okay. I still hate what you did and how it hurt us, but you made a brave sacrifice and suffered for months, and I appreciate that and feel bad for you. It's not cool for me to try and marry your sister and drive a wedge between you two in the process. I can't see the two of you hating each other because of me as being good for Tate...so I'm calling off the engagement and agreeing to splitting custody. We all need time to process and heal. Fair?"

That's where things kinda ended up anyway right? But because this is a soap, everyone had to be terrible first and create drama.

And let's get real, he never loved Eve. 

Eve was the one that planted drugs in JJ's apartment to help Brady's custody case. 

Brady blamed Theresa because she never told them that Chloe was being held hostage he found that out from John/Paul. Theresa only thought of herself as usual.

I think Brady cared for Eve but the only women I believe he was truly taken by are Chloe and Kristen every one else was a placeholder.

Edited September 4, 2023 by CanaryFan98

[DisneyBoy]

8 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Theresa only thought of herself as usual.

Um, so would I if I was a sex slave to a psycho, with a child back home who needed me and only one chance to get the heck out... 

I mean, how dumb was Chloe to not thoroughly look into this great "job" she was hired for? Do your research before you board a plane with total strangers!

8 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Eve was the one that planted drugs in JJ's apartment to help Brady's custody case. 

Ugh. Yikes. So gross. I'd forgotten who did it. Oh Eve. Sad.

8 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

I think Brady cared for Eve but the only women I believe he was truly taken by are Chloe and Kristen every one else was a placeholder.

I missed his first round with Chloe back in the day, so I'd say Kristen and Theresa were his two big loves. He and Theresa were in really good place for a while there.

[CanaryFan98]

5 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Um, so would I if I was a sex slave to a psycho, with a child back home who needed me and only one chance to get the heck out... 

I mean, how dumb was Chloe to not thoroughly look into this great "job" she was hired for? Do your research before you board a plane with total strangers!

Ugh. Yikes. So gross. I'd forgotten who did it. Oh Eve. Sad.

I missed his first round with Chloe back in the day, so I'd say Kristen and Theresa were his two big loves. He and Theresa were in really good place for a while there.

Theresa could have told Brady about Chloe if she really cared but she didn’t want to because Chloe  was his ex wife. 
 

She does this with every person Brady cares about she claims to love him but only on her terms which isn’t love. It’s just a less psychotic version of Kristen. 

[JBC344]

On 9/4/2023 at 11:32 PM, DisneyBoy said:

Um, so would I if I was a sex slave to a psycho, with a child back home who needed me and only one chance to get the heck out... 

I think the poster was referring to when she landed in Salem and kept quiet. In the midst of her being rescued no one blames her for getting her freedom,  but intentionally keeping it a secret that Chloe was there as well is pretty evil. Although Theresa was always a little insecure about Chloe even though Brady and Chloe weren't interested in each other then. 

[DisneyBoy]

Did she really keep it a secret though? I seem to recall Chloe returning on the heels of Theresa practically...

I may be misremembering. 

[SouthernChick]

1 minute ago, DisneyBoy said:

Did she really keep it a secret though? I seem to recall Chloe returning on the heels of Theresa practically...

I may be misremembering. 

Yes she kept its secret. When Chloe finally got released she confronted Theresa over it.

[4evaQuez]

23 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

Did she really keep it a secret though? I seem to recall Chloe returning on the heels of Theresa practically...

I may be misremembering. 

 

21 minutes ago, SouthernChick said:

Yes she kept its secret. When Chloe finally got released she confronted Theresa over it.

Yes to @SouthernChick. It was Lucas who convinced John and Paul to search for Chloe. Theresa didn't care.

[boes]

5 hours ago, 4evaQuez said:

 

Yes to @SouthernChick. It was Lucas who convinced John and Paul to search for Chloe. Theresa didn't care.

After Chloe opened her mouth and started singing for The Noodle, I didn't care, either.

Show asks way tooooooo much of its viewers.

[CanaryFan98]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:36 PM, JBC344 said:

I think the poster was referring to when she landed in Salem and kept quiet. In the midst of her being rescued no one blames her for getting her freedom,  but intentionally keeping it a secret that Chloe was there as well is pretty evil. Although Theresa was always a little insecure about Chloe even though Brady and Chloe weren't interested in each other then. 

Correct

[DisneyBoy]

I don't remember Theresa having any thoughts on Chloe at all during her last stint on the show. I never got the impression she "left" Chloe behind to keep her from stealing away Brady or something. It was more like every woman for herself...and then trying to put her life back together and discovering it wouldn't work.

Look, obviously Theresa's "bad girl" era left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, and I get that, but I always enjoyed JL's energy in the role and appreciated her chemistry with everyone. I *hate* what's happening with her right now.

 

Okay, so my current UO is that...while I do think Tinker is a decent actor and looks good on camera, I still don't completely buy him as Sonny. His delivery and energy never matched early-Freddie's calm, sensitive take on Sonny. Plus I think he's a bit shorter, right? And he definitely looks younger than Freddie...and that makes it also seem like he's younger than Will, changing their dynamics a bit. I don't like Will as the "older" partner there.

Tinker and Chandler never had compelling chemistry either. They're fine and that's about it.

It makes me sad because Wilson were one of the few couples from the last decade to really work, and now they can't use flashbacks now that Freddie is gone...and the replacement just feels like...a replacement.

I know they're not even really on the show anymore and that Freddie is no longer appropriate as Sonny (his last months were really weird and uncomfortable) but it feels like Wilson are gone now and all we have are Chandler's Will....and some guy who isn't offensive but isn't really Sonny either.

...just me?

[boes]

29 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

 

Okay, so my current UO is that...while I do think Tinker is a decent actor and looks good on camera, I still don't completely buy him as Sonny. His delivery and energy never matched early-Freddie's calm, sensitive take on Sonny. Plus I think he's a bit shorter, right? And he definitely looks younger than Freddie...and that makes it also seem like he's younger than Will, changing their dynamics a bit. I don't like Will as the "older" partner there.

Tinker and Chandler never had compelling chemistry either. They're fine and that's about it.

It makes me sad because Wilson were one of the few couples from the last decade to really work, and now they can't use flashbacks now that Freddie is gone...and the replacement just feels like...a replacement.

I know they're not even really on the show anymore and that Freddie is no longer appropriate as Sonny (his last months were really weird and uncomfortable) but it feels like Wilson are gone now and all we have are Chandler's Will....and some guy who isn't offensive but isn't really Sonny either.

...just me?

Not just you.  I think Tinker is fine, would be fine, as a character but he's not Sonny.  I remember what a breath of fresh air Freddie Smith was, IMO, when he first came on Show and how layered and interesting a character I thought he was.  Frankly, at that time, I liked him far more than I did Chandler.  He deteriorated as time went by, maybe because his own life deteriorated, I dont know.  But, by the end of his run I was disenchanted and happy to see him leave.  

Tinker was, IMO, pretty wretched when he was on Y&R so I was very pleasantly surprised by how good he was when he came to DOOL.  I still think he's good but he's not Sonny.  Too loud, too fast on the draw, too rabbity in all ways for that character.

[CanaryFan98]

I liked ZT in Fire Country and don’t hate him as Sonny but he’s not Sonny to me. I also think Freddie had better chemistry with the family than Zach does

[DisneyBoy]

Yes, Freddie and Justin - even when Freddie was weird - had some kind of connection. They complimented each other and felt like family.

[tribeca]

   I seem to remember someone threatening to hurt Tate If Teresa talked about Chloe.  It was still very wrong.   Zander left Chloe there too and Chloe seems fine with that lol.   
my UO 

always like Will more then Sonny.   
 

[tribeca]

I find Wendi and Tripp sweet not boring.  

[CanaryFan98]

3 hours ago, tribeca said:

I find Wendi and Tripp sweet not boring.  

I don’t dislike them like everyone else does either. I have seen worse couples on this show. I do wish they would delve into family drama with them though. Like her family not approving her being tied to a mob family etc. Or Tripp being torn by it etc 

 

I don’t get why this is so hard to write?

[DisneyBoy]

Seriously. Generally-speaking, aren't Asian families particular about who their kids date and marry? Especially in the case of their daughters? Especially when they're from wealthy families?

It's pretty surprising that with Li dead, Wendy's managed to stay in Salem on her own, with no family around, even though her father ran DiMera for years and is loaded.

Edited February 23, 2024 by DisneyBoy

[CanaryFan98]

13 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Seriously. Generally-speaking, aren't Asian families particular about who their kids date and marry? Especially in the case of their daughters? Especially when they're from wealthy families?

It's pretty surprising that with Li dead, Wendy's managed to stay in Salem on her own, with no family around, even though her father ran DiMera for years and is loaded.

As an Asian yes this is true. I wonder if he would approve of Tripp. Sure he’s a doctor but who his family is and him being white would be a concern of his

[ihavenoidea]

Carson Boatman seems like a sweetheart, but Johnny is never going to be much of anything unless they recast. People complained about Tripp but Johnny is just as dull and charisma free, and this show desperately needs a dynamic young guy. 

[brisbydog]

3 hours ago, ihavenoidea said:

Carson Boatman seems like a sweetheart, but Johnny is never going to be much of anything unless they recast. People complained about Tripp but Johnny is just as dull and charisma free, and this show desperately needs a dynamic young guy. 

And when he sings I want to leave the room

[CanaryFan98]

6 hours ago, ihavenoidea said:

Carson Boatman seems like a sweetheart, but Johnny is never going to be much of anything unless they recast. People complained about Tripp but Johnny is just as dull and charisma free, and this show desperately needs a dynamic young guy. 

I prefer Tripp over Johnny tbh and he’s a retcon but I think Lucas is capable of more. I get why Wendy would prefer him over Johnny and not just because he actually wants her over other women(Chanel). Johnny isn’t how I pictured. I expected him to be like Spencer Cassadine on GH instead of whatever he is now. Although like Spencer, Johnny doesn't seem to have much going for him as far as dreams(although he actually wants to be a filmmaker which is more than what they did with Spencer).

Edited September 11, 2024 by CanaryFan98

[methodwriter85]

On 9/11/2024 at 11:14 AM, ihavenoidea said:

Carson Boatman seems like a sweetheart, but Johnny is never going to be much of anything unless they recast. People complained about Tripp but Johnny is just as dull and charisma free, and this show desperately needs a dynamic young guy. 

Supposedly the guy who played Sloane's crazy brother was the runner up for Johnny, and I wish he had gotten the part instead. Honestly, I think he could have done more with the part. 

Agreed though. This show desperately, desperately needs a dynamic young guy, hopefully a bad boy with a secret heart of gold. I thought they were going to do that with Tate Black (as Brady Black started off as an angsty bad boy type) but they went with "child with 2 dysfunctional parents becomes mature and responsible" type instead.

Anyway, I'll say it- I don't mind the Body and Soul stuff. It's fun.

[SouthernChick]

I like the Body and Soul stuff too. And that definitely counts as an unpopular opinion.

[CanaryFan98]

7 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Supposedly the guy who played Sloane's crazy brother was the runner up for Johnny, and I wish he had gotten the part instead. Honestly, I think he could have done more with the part. 

Agreed though. This show desperately, desperately needs a dynamic young guy, hopefully a bad boy with a secret heart of gold. I thought they were going to do that with Tate Black (as Brady Black started off as an angsty bad boy type) but they went with "child with 2 dysfunctional parents becomes mature and responsible" type instead.

Anyway, I'll say it- I don't mind the Body and Soul stuff. It's fun.

Sloane's brother was named Colin and I agree he would've been better with the role. He came across more as a Dimera than CB's version has especially with how creepy he came across to me. Which is what I expect out of a real Dimera.

[DisneyBoy]

21 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

they went with "child with 2 dysfunctional parents becomes mature and responsible" type instead.

I'm glad they did. Rebellious kids are so common in Salem, it's annoying.

[methodwriter85]

15 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Sloane's brother was named Colin and I agree he would've been better with the role. He came across more as a Dimera than CB's version has especially with how creepy he came across to me. Which is what I expect out of a real Dimera.

Speaking of, I do appreciate how Bily Flynn makes Chad a palpable character, but at the same time, you can see that creepy possessive streak. It's definitely there. I really did like his take on Chad after Casey Diedrick's, who kind of just felt like a generic frat boy.

[CanaryFan98]

6 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Speaking of, I do appreciate how Bily Flynn makes Chad a palpable character, but at the same time, you can see that creepy possessive streak. It's definitely there. I really did like his take on Chad after Casey Diedrick's, who kind of just felt like a generic frat boy.

His Chad was definitely capable of being more of a Dimera than Casey's but I did like Casey's Chad also since he did have decent chemistry with EJ, Kristen and Lexie on the show. 

He was also written as someone separate from Abby back then which you aren't getting with BF's version.

[MissPhoenixGirl]

On 9/13/2023 at 12:31 PM, DisneyBoy said:

Look, obviously Theresa's "bad girl" era left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, and I get that, but I always enjoyed JL's energy in the role and appreciated her chemistry with everyone. I *hate* what's happening with her right now.

Except apparently Theresa's so-called "bad girl" era has never really ended and it's still ongoing. And I don't expect it to ever end. In fact, I half-expect her to become this show's version of Holly Sutton from General Hospital in about 20 years or so, if Days is still around by then. She's going to be an old woman with grandkids and still be pathetic and desperate chasing after wealthy single rich men, hoping to get the brass ring. I really don't think the new writers are even capable of salvaging and fixing Theresa because she's too badly damaged from years of bad writing and they probably don't even want to bother with her anyway. 

Edited October 17, 2024 by MissPhoenixGirl

[tribeca]

do not like the pairing of EJ and Belle.  

[Chellfairy]

I used to like EJ and Belle.. way back 1st/2nd time around. Haven’t seen this time around, though

I like Belle and Philip Only JKJ Philip though.

[DisneyBoy]

Once upon a time, 4evaQuez expressed the following interesting opinion, and it seemed best suited for this thread:

 

Quote

I hate Will, so Ben killing him was the best thing Ben did to me.

I still hate the show resurrected Will.

Chandler Massey's Will was written as more of a plot device or a conduit for stories for characters much more interesting than he was. 

While I know everyone liked the coming out story, and I like moments from it, it ultimately became a story about Sami. I think Will had one really great moment with the kiss outside the gay bar(?). It is also what created the Will/Marlena dynamic. Will and Marlena rarely interacted before the coming out story. Will was much closer to Kate. For me, Will quickly went into the background, and I thought his coming out story explored the Sami / Marlena dynamic quite beautifully. While Sami was no longer actively making Marlena's life hell, I thought it showed how tense their relationship still was.

One of my favorite moments in the coming out storyline is when Will is with Marlena for support. Sami calls Will, and Marlena rolls her eyes - in front of Will - that Sami is calling him. Will tells Sami he's with Marlena and Sami is visibly hurt. Marlena says something snarky about Sami when Will ends the call. I thought his coming out did a lot of interesting things for Sami and Marlena. I didn't think Will was particularly interesting outside of his very initial first kiss.

I also understand his coming out came out a sensitive time. That being said, I thought it mostly lacked bite. Compared to Bianca's coming out on All My Children or even Craig's late in life coming out story, I thought everyone was too accepting. While that's great in real life, on a Soap, there needs to be drama. Caroline was completely accepting; Priest Eric Brady was accepting. Even Victor was accepting. The show waffled with Lucas in ways that made no narrative sense. He's against it. Now he's not. Now he is. Now he's not. If there was an actual story attached to that wafffling, it could have been interesting. Instead, it was cheap storytelling.

Sami makes everything about her, but again, for me, the dynamic between Sami and Marlena was much more interesting and nuanced. Will was a conduit for those interactions, but he didn't particularly help move the story along.

Not moving stories along is my main issue with Will. In the paternity of Arianna Grace, Will took a backseat and it became a Nick and Gabi versus Sami story.

In the homophobia against Will, Will took a backseat and it became a Nick versus Sami and EJ story.

The show wanted to remake Sami/John/Marlena/Roman and office desk sex with Will/Sami/EJ/Lucas and couch sex. Will is not Sami, and Sami is not Marlena. It was a cheap and badly written storyline because Will can not carry story. It was another story that ultimately went nowhere and Will took a backseat yet again.

I wasn't a fan of Will/Sonny because Chandler was obviously so uncomfortable in the beginning with love scenes. While that worked at first with Will's coming out, it was excruciating once Will was supposed to be out and in love with Sonny openly. I know people disliked the guy who replaced Chandler, but I thought he at least seemed comfortable with Sonny. While I didn't like the adultery storyline, I did appreciate the show actually writing for Will in a way that gave him agency and not an excuse to give Sami wacky hijinks or an excuse for Hurricane Sami.

While I won't speak on the misogyny, Will was not killed because he was gay. He was killed because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time and realized Ben was the Necktie Killer. Ben also beat Chad's ass twice during that storyline, tied Chad to a bed, and attempted to set him on fire. He also attempted to frame Chad for the murders. Women and a gay man were not Ben's only targets.

I don't think the show did anything interesting with Will as a character, and I find him much more interesting dead than alive.

First up - thank you for sharing your take on this! Your hating Will is one of the most unexpected subjects of conversation to come up here in a long time!

I wasn't aware that Will was mostly closer with Kate prior to the coming out story, so in a way, I guess you could say that arc helped balance things out a bit, if he finally was getting something more significant to do with his mother and other grandma.

Without a doubt, Marlena's last great storyline was Will's coming out. It really brought out the best in her.

I would have to disagree on Will not having any good moments outside of the impulsive first kiss in the Square, though. I distinctly remember Will staring himself down in the mirror and spitting on his own reflection - a really brutal moment that Chandler did well with. And of course all the scenes between him and Marlena where he was struggling to even talk about how he was feeling were really powerful and raw.

I also felt like the timing of the story was clever, because of all the other overlapping stuff that was happening. Sami cheated with EJ, I believe, around the same time, so Will was left in a position of feeling like a lot of the structure around him was falling apart, and that he had to keep more secrets than just his own.

I can't say I loved Sonny popping up as the show's first proudly out gay character only to have him be Will's de facto One True Love at the same time - it was too easy and had some weird implications - but it made sense that meeting someone as comfortable in their skin as Sonny would also throw Will for a loop and further stress him out.

My point is, there were a lot of stressors eating away at Will at the same time, and I think it made for great drama to see him hating himself and in some ways, the world around him, and despairing.

Perhaps the bigger problem with Will is that he didn't grow substantially beyond his relationship with Sonny. They had the typical soap plots thrown at them - a baby, a death, cheating, a resurrection, amnesia, etc - but as a person, Will was...a mediocre writer? We didn't see much of him as a parent (though frankly, we saw much more of him with baby Ari than we have with subsequent parents of infants) and I don't remember him having a really interesting plot further down the line that wasn't directly tied to his sex life (hi Paul!), so maybe what you dislike about him is that he sort of hit a wall as a person after becoming gay?

...but then, don't all the characters on this show hit a wall once they've been paired up with a OTL? Marlena's storylines have largely centered around John, or Stefano trying to kidnap her/brainwash her over and over, with far less of a focus on her as an evolving person. Her career has been used for storyline fodder only when necessary, even though I'm sure the professional life of a therapist could be fascinating material to explore over the decades.

As for Will not moving stories along, we know (I think it's been said outright on these boards in the past) that the producers or headwriters got cold feet about Will being gay and pushed him towards Gabi, so I'm not surprised in that era that Nick and Gabi were more the focus of all that drama than Will, if that was the case (I didn't see all of that plot).

We have to remember, as long overdue as it was to have a gay character, Days was navigating new territory for the first time. There's obviously been some pretty narrow-minded and misogynistic people working on the show over the years, from all the behind-the-scenes drama that's been making headlines lately, so it's pretty remarkable that things were handled as decently as they were...

...until Chandler got himself fired and the show decided to trash Will post-wedding to Sonny. I'd say that was the lowest point for the character, and if that's where viewers first met Will, they probably wouldn't have much fondness for him (nothing against the actor they brought in, though). His murder at the hands of Ben was extremely ugly and seemed to send the message that gay characters were being pushed off the show altogether, which was pretty disappointing after all the praise and awards Days enjoyed for including them.

I agree that the show was transparently echoing the Sami Seeing The Conference Table Sex plot with Will in the same position, and it didn't really work. But I honestly don't know enough about who Will was a young teen to say his reactions went against what had previously been established. And frankly, with all the lame retreads ReRon has forced down our throats in the last few years, that retread of that Sami story looks even better now in hindsight!

I really have to disagree with you when you say that Will was not killed because he was gay. He absolutely was killed because he was gay, and the show's main gay character. Chandler pissing off the producers inadvertently left the door open for them to ruin then write-off the character after he outlived his usefulness and that's basically what they did. Ben may have been wanting to discredit Chad, but he did that by destroying women and a gay man. Chad survived. They did not.

Chad was not treated the same way Will and the ladies were. The Ben storyline was constructed in such a way so as to make Chad the one who would come out on top in spite of all Ben did to discredit him. He was going to win. Ben was going to lose. Chad was the Hero. There was always going to be a Chad/Ben showdown, so saying he got beaten up is besides the point. That was always going to happen. It was always a Ben VS Chad story...but the writers decided to murder a bunch of other characters along the way rather than have Ben go after Chad directly. We therefore have to wonder about their motives for roping in Serena, Paige, Wendy and Will. We know what those motives are.

Sure, the female characters in question weren't that popular and were bound to be written-out somehow, but other lame characters who were straight men were not targeted by Ben. Daniel (who was briefly suspected by us to be the Necktie Killer!) stuck around, as did Rafe, whose lameness is now legendary. They used the excuse of taking Ben down a dark path to destroy a bunch of "weaker/feminine" characters, and Will by extension (not saying he's either of those things, but in the eyes of some, he might have been).

...and really, the destruction of Will began well before that. It's a common approach on soaps to discredit a character and make them hugely unlikable as a way to kill them off and fire the actor without their fans complaining. I still remember how, out of nowhere, the redeemed Carl on Another World started plotting to kill his beloved wife Rachel and seemed to be losing his mind, purely because Charles Keating was one of the higher-paid actors and the producers wanted him off the show. Sure enough, Carl died in a bizarre fashion after weeks of them trying to make viewers hate him. It didn't work. He was brought back for the final episodes of Another World a year later to great fanfare. What they had attempted was so obvious and transparent it damaged the show at a point when it was already on shaky ground with fans and executives. And all to save a few bucks.

Similarly, in the months before he was killed off, Will was acting out of character. He cheated on Sonny while on a business trip for no reason just weeks after getting married to him. The story came out of nowhere and wasn't even developed. Then, he used his interview with Paul as an excuse to bang him and cheat on Sonny again, which was flimsy and gross. All along, he argued with Sonny about forgiveness and moving on when it seemed like he was deliberately sabotaging the marriage. And on top of that, he was publishing family business in his articles for that magazine he was writing for. Who does that? There was just nothing to enjoy about him as a person.

Then he was shoved into the background for weeks, became a friend of Ben's (obviously as a set-up for the eventual murder being tragic - for Ben - because he'd end up having to kill his nice pal Will! Poor Ben!) and then, most telling of all, was mourned for almost exactly one week after his murder, only to be immediately forgotten. Lucas didn't even get a real storyline about it! The show had clearly decided Will was to be forgotten and his death quickly left in the rearview mirror. He wasn't an important character in their eyes anymore. Ron, to his credit, later rectified this when he had Lucas, post-breakup with Adrienne, falling off the wagon and sobbing over his son and hallucinating him. It was more than a year after the fact, but hey, at least Lucas finally had a reasonable response to losing his boy.

With Will gone, the Sonny/Paul love story was back-burner stuff and extremely conservative in its depiction. The show was swinging in the opposite direction from where they had been when Will and Sonny were a steamy couple getting headlines. The vibe was "gays are included, to a point" and that was how it stayed until Will returned and Ron tried to correct course.

But I'd agree the character of Will was never really developed again. His coming back was nice for fans of Wilson (and Pill...is that what they were called?) but we didn't get to see Will adjust to fatherhood beyond hugging Ari once or twice, and we didn't get to see him forge strong relationships with Lucas or Kate or Sami again. Marlena was too busy becoming obsessed with Ben/RSW to reestablish a bond with her beloved grandson. So after a few relationship obstacles in his marriage - and Will having to kiss his murderer's ass! - he was off the show again.

People seem to find Chandler's acting tics annoying. I didn't always love them, but I still feel like Will is a strong character with plenty of potential, stemming from his relationships with his parents, who are fascinating messes, and his relationships with his grandparents, as well as his friends (Chad, Gabi). His career and his role as a gay father have barely been explored. There's just so much left on the table that could be used to tell stories about him, but that's true for most of the characters.

I don't say any of this to convince you enjoy him, LOL. To each his or her own! But I definitely think one of the worst things the show ever did was to kill Will the way they killed him. It was homophobic, it was tacky, it had nothing to do with the story they were telling about two straight guys fighting over a trashy girl (Abigail really is the worst), and it destroyed a lot of the good will the series had built up in the years that preceded it.

Here's a question - did you enjoy Will prior to his coming out story? Did you enjoy how he was written during his teen years? Or have you felt he was always a prop in Sami and Lucas and Marlena and Kate's lives?

[nilyank]

3 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Here's a question - did you enjoy Will prior to his coming out story? Did you enjoy how he was written during his teen years? Or have you felt he was always a prop in Sami and Lucas and Marlena and Kate's lives?

Speaking for myself, Will always sucked. During his childhood, he was a plot point so that Sami, Austin, Carrie and then Lucas could fight about him, but he was never interesting. He was a cute as a baby/toddler but once they started having him speak, I found him so blah.  The young teen version of him grew up into that awkward stage of puberty, the show conveniently shipped him out of townwith Carrie and Austin for a few years until after Sami gave birth to Sydney and he became friends with Mia (Grace's birth mom).

They recasted that Will with CM and then had him arguing with Sami all the time because she was messing things up with Rafe who breaking up with Sami/lying to her about his past. Will floundered around in the teen scene with Mia, Chad and Gabi for under a year or so before they started redux of Marlena, John, Roman and Sami in having him catch Sami and EJ. Which was stupid because he was upset because Sami was married to Rafe and like why did he freaking care. Rafe was his stepfather for a year or a month and they were not so closely bonded that Will saw him as a 2nd dad. Or even a 3rd dad.

Will first real story was his coming out story but I didn't care because while the character had grown up onscreen, he was a dull, annoying kid that never developed any personality.

[CanaryFan98]

Actually Aiden was suspected of being the Necktie Killer at one point. 

 

Another unpopular opinion. I liked Aiden, I also liked him with Hope and he didn't even need to stay with her either. He could've been paired with anyone else on the show because he wasn't related to most of Salem. I also liked Chase before they turned him into a rapist. I thought Aiden/Hope/Chase/Ciara could've had an interesting family dynamic that could've driven a lot of story for years but instead they paired Hope with Rafe and Ciara ended up with a serial killer.

 

This is moot now with a resurrected Bo but Hope really went downhill after that for a while.

Edited 22 hours ago by CanaryFan98