2016 Wrap-Up: Best and Worst DAYS Moments

[DisneyBoy]

Here we are again. It's hard to say whether this year was better than last year. We traded crappy gay love triangles for...new crappy gay love triangles.....we bid farewell to characters we didn't really like and to characters we did...because certain actors became unavailable for filming...and with Dena's comings and goings there's certainly been much to speculate about. That said, even with a month left to go, since I've checked out of Salem as quickly as Theresa, I thought it might be worthwhile to praise the show for the things it did right and put it on the naughty list for the things it got very very wrong.

 

The Good

-Theresa and Victor's semi-reconciliation over the course of the year. It started in January when he saw her legitimately concerned for Brady, and then continued this November when he applauded her efforts to keep his grandson and great-grandson safe. Yeah, in the middle there was a whole lot of hatred going on, but at least we got to see a different color on those two and their complicated relationship...for a time.

-Jennifer and Eric's emotional breakdown kiss. Before they hit the sheets, Jennifer and Eric had a semi-argument when he showed up at her house drunk and suddenly became interesting for the first time in 3 years...so interesting that some of his depth began to rub off on Jennifer, who was going through an addiction off-screen. Strange sparks flew and for a brief glistening moment the Horton Harpy was tolerable.

-Roman's tearful farewell to Eric at the Pub, which reminded us that he could, in fact, act.

-Kate and Chad reuniting to better DiMera Enterprises. Missed those two having scenes together. She didn't even attend his wedding, you'll recall!

-Kate and Marlena discussing her penchant for dating the wrong men.

-John finally meeting his mother and his Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs father. I know a lot of people didn't like this storyline but I kind of did. It at least gave us a definitive answer to questions the show had been letting John ask for far too long. Perhaps the other retconned storylines were done better, but at least this one featured actors who actually looked like they could be his biological parents and a storyline that brought a little bit of excitement to the landscape of the show at a time when it seemed completely devoid of anything resembling tension or exciting revelations.

-Theo. I'd call him the year's best discovery, if I wasn't afraid that the show is probably about to make him unlikeable the way they do with all the new characters.

-The return of Clyde, Xander and Orpheus wasn't exactly brilliantly scripted, but at least it showed an effort to tie up some loose ends as far as Theresa, Kate, Ben, Chad and Abby were concerned. In the grand scheme of things I'm not sure if Orpheus was really necessary considering he had previously been dead. Clyde and Xander could have escaped by themselves and it probably would have been perfectly satisfying...except that Orpheus brought something really chilling and exciting to the show that I already miss. Here's hoping he's not gone for good.

-Hope's final dance with Bo and brief reunion with Zack. I didn't cry, and I never even saw the Zach storyline so I can't claim that it was some long-awaited reunion for me, but it was definitely the most affecting stuff the show gave us this year. They might have botched Bo's departure, but they were wise enough to admit it and try to send him out right.

-I don't think the entire episode devoted to Stefano was nearly as insightful and fun as it could have been, but I really appreciated the effort to acknowledge what Joe brought to the show after they wrote him out as if he was an afterthought in 2015. There definitely weren't enough clips of his many misdeeds and defining moments, but it was still one of the best episodes the show had this year.

-Brady slugging nitwit Philip.

 

The Bad

-Aiden 2.0....or is it 3.0? Look, I love Daniel Cosgrove but this was a big humongous trainwreck. That the show squandered his talents a second time just makes them look utterly incompetent. His final episode was decent but everything else was just painful. Respect your actors, show.

-Chase. 'Nuff said.

-More of Plastic Ben.

-The completely pointless and immediately forgotten virus storyline, which built nicely off of the previous Yo Ling storyline but then never went anywhere.

-The equally pointless Kidnapped Tate storyline that dragged on and on with no payoff (and a blatantly rewritten ending)

-Summer. Ugh.

-Daniel 2.0 aka Deimos. Is there a single storyline he hasn't been wedged into somehow?

-Joey, the murdering moron.

-Rope.

-Ava.

-Blanca.

-The complete deterioration of Kate as a remotely likeable human being. It was one thing when she was playing Anna Wintour over at Basic Black...but then to have her kidnap Tate and frame Deimos' murder on Nicole and perpetually mock her son Lucas and then bemoan her bad taste in men only to hook back up with Eduardo and take in Andre?? It makes my head spin.

-Daniel, the undead sperm donor. He barely had a relationship with Nicole and now she's being saddled with his baby.

-The many faces of manic Philip.

 

So Bad it's Almost Good

- Kate Mansi's egotistical Abigail losing her mind and burning off her face...except she didn't really burn her face off because of course Mansi refused to wear any prosthetic makeup under that mask. It was glorious, it was so awkward and so irritating and basically the perfect send-off while still being utterly horrible.

Edited December 3, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[teacake]

Most of my good/bad is a little more vague, because I haven't enjoyed much at all these past six months.

The good -- Some attempts at grounded drama with core characters, such as Jennifer's downward spiral and first visions of Jack, and parts of Steve and Kayla's conflict during the Ava story.  More romance lately.  The experimentation with the single-focus episode (though it was overused and often ineffective).  Willingness to bring back characters like Orpheus and Valerie from different eras.  Attempts at soapy set-ups like Chad/Ciara, Claire/Theo/Ciara, and Chad/Abby/Gabi, even if they are weak.

The bad -- Isolation and story bubbles, which leads to lack of layers and connections on the show.  Bad acting from every member of the teen set.  Throwing good airtime after bad (such as the intense focus on Hope killing Stefano, Abby endlessly losing her mind, trying to make Deimos happen, the Hernandezes over the summer).  General failure to re-establish characters in story without destroying them (so that the audience feels they can only be "fixed" by taking them out of story), especially Belle/Philip/Shawn.  Wasting new actors with a spark like XD on pointless characters.  The cut scene problem that neutered several storylines.

The ugly -- Dialogue that generally has all the interest of a pile of damp sawdust, and a backward outlook that belongs in the Eisenhower administration.

Edited November 28, 2016 by lska

[DisneyBoy]

Quote

The cut scene problem that neutered several storylines...and a backward outlook that belongs in the Eisenhower administration.

Yes to both of these. Enough damsels in distress trying to redeem their 60-year-old Bad Boy lovers. Enough Rite Of Passage Rape for the younger female characters. And enough cutting of scenes that could make storylines fuller and more rich.

[BuckeyeLou]

I liked Maggie's storyline this past year, when she was paralyzed(and she remembered when she was young & the red shoes, and then Victor brought her red shoes). Suzanne Rogers was so good in her scenes, I felt emotional watching her.  I like that Maggie's character loves Victor, but she knows what's up with him.  That being said, I did Not like the Summer storyline, it re-did Maggie's early storylines, and was not necessary, plus the character was unpleasant & boring to watch. 

[Silver Raven]

Vote for the best Days actress of the year.  Kate Mansi is currently leading.

http://www.celebdirtylaundry.com/2016/days-of-our-lives-spoilers-best-dool-actress-vote-for-your-favorite-female-performer-of-2016/

[DisneyBoy]

Good god.

[QuelleC]

Jen Lilly is second go Jen.