Spoilers And Shockers

[Frozendiva]

Upcoming Soapdirt spoilers. Le sigh.

https://soapdirt.com/days-of-our-lives-2-week-spoilers-stefan-dimera-caught-between-women/

[tribeca]

Whoa 😳 Marlena 

[DaphneCat]

On 12/31/2022 at 7:23 PM, Frozendiva said:

Upcoming Soapdirt spoilers. Le sigh.

These don't even sound vaguely interesting.  Another triangle where we can all guess the resolution, some more "deaths" followed by more lame "heaven" scenes before they're all magically resurrected and yet ANOTHER person brought back from the dead by someone who's been obsessed with them for years. 

Nothing against any of the actors, but dead should mean dead.  It's one thing if someone is missing and presumed dead (but aren't really) but if we've had scenes with dead, EMBALMED bodies (especially bodies that have had their organs donated) these people should be DEAD.  This isn't good soapy writing, it's just increasing stupidity.

[Retired at last]

I still think the heavenly body the three 'dead' women will see will be Susan. But, I totally agree that once dead, always dead. Especially if organs have been donated.

[CanaryFan98]

4 hours ago, Retired at last said:

I still think the heavenly body the three 'dead' women will see will be Susan. But, I totally agree that once dead, always dead. Especially if organs have been donated.

Jack Devereaux says otherwise.

 

I guess a more recent example Stefan Dimera.

[Retired at last]

8 minutes ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Jack Devereaux says otherwise.

That's who I was thinking of.

[FnkyChkn34]

I basically haven't watched since the show moved to Peacock, but I've heard about some of the stories, and I've seen previews.  Sorry if this has been posted, but I tried to scroll through and didn't see anything - when do Bo and Hope come back?  Because that's a trainwreck of a rewrite that I'd like to see.

[DisneyBoy]

I don't think we have exact return dates yet.

[Frozendiva]

9 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I don't think we have exact return dates yet.

I would guess February or May sweeps month, but who knows now that the show is streaming-only.

[Retired at last]

I don't know how soon we will see Hope and Bo together because first we have to have the Hope and Ciara drama based on Hope's new bf being the guy who kidnapped Ciara.

[RunningMarket]

On 1/2/2023 at 11:32 AM, Retired at last said:

I still think the heavenly body the three 'dead' women will see will be Susan. But, I totally agree that once dead, always dead. Especially if organs have been donated.

How am I supposed to write for a guy who has no head?!

 

[FnkyChkn34]

7 hours ago, Retired at last said:

I don't know how soon we will see Hope and Bo together because first we have to have the Hope and Ciara drama based on Hope's new bf being the guy who kidnapped Ciara.

I didn't necessarily mean when the couple would finally get together, I just meant the characters/actors back on the show.  Thanks!

[Frozendiva]

Soapdirt stuff for next week. Maybe Eric is possessed?

https://soapdirt.com/days-of-our-lives-weekly-spoilers-stefan-exposes-dimera-family/

[CanaryFan98]

I suspected he was considering they have him far edgier than he usually is which is rather unfortunate because I think this is an improvement for Eric.

[Retired at last]

3 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

Maybe Eric is possessed?

LOL - OF COURSE he is. We were just saying that he is so much more interesting lately. Now it makes sense. 

[methodwriter85]

5 minutes ago, Retired at last said:

LOL - OF COURSE he is. We were just saying that he is so much more interesting lately. Now it makes sense. 

I mean, the idea of a former priest being possessed by the Devil is kind of delicious, isn't it?

[tribeca]

Doesn’t the devil have something else to do ?

[WendyCR72]

I hate Boring Good Eric, but I DESPISE this Devil bullshit. Ron has beaten it into the ground. There's no pulp left! Just crumbs of fumes.

Just lazy, tired, campy bullshit.

[Frozendiva]

Nothing wrong with boring Eric simply growing a spine and pushing back against the kind, saintly guy.

[DisneyBoy]

This could actually be interesting...but it won't be. Just teases and lame effects and terrible dialogue. I mean...what's the aim here?

And with Nicole leaving the show apparently in a few months, where does that leave them? Is Eric going to get possessed, then become good again and immediately run off with Nicole? Or will Nicole just leave him behind?

...and didn't the Devil want Ciara's stupid baby (sorry baby, you're stupid, it's not your fault, you were just born that way), meaning that Eric having some brat with Jada would be exactly what he'd want?

...or did the devil just want to adopt a baby? Or would he (it?) prefer to take over a body and then produce a child the old fashioned way...?

 

Why am I even bothering to try and figure out the rules governing this idiotic story? They certainly haven't!

 

I do hope that Doug gets to punch the Demon in the balls for screwing with his life so badly last year. Bonus points if the Demon is inside any of the following: Ben/Alex, Leo, Gwen, Kristen....

 

[DanaMB]

4 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

And with Nicole leaving the show apparently in a few months, where does that leave them?

Ari is leaving?

[tribeca]

The devil wanted Ciara and Bens baby because it would have the pure Ciara blood and the tinted Ben blood.   
why would he want Jayda and Eric’s baby ?

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, tribeca said:

Doesn’t the devil have something else to do ?

He simply loves being a messy bitch in Salem.

7 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

And with Nicole leaving the show apparently in a few months ...

Oh, good news for me lol. I'm tired of her right now. I'm sure she'll just come back eventually like everyone else does anyway but I do think she needs a break.

[Frozendiva]

New Soapdirt spoilers. Lucas is back.

https://soapdirt.com/days-of-our-lives-weekly-spoilers-lucas-horton-faces-danger-in-statesville/

[Retired at last]

8 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

And with Nicole leaving the show apparently in a few months ...

Really? If so, YIPPEE! They haven't known what to do with her for years. So, what does that mean for EJ?

[boes]

16 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

And with Nicole leaving the show apparently in a few months, where does that leave them? Is Eric going to get possessed, then become good again and immediately run off with Nicole? Or will Nicole just leave him behind?

DisneyBoy, can I ask where you heard/read this?  I've tried to find info about AZ's departure but come up with nothing current.

[brisbydog]

22 minutes ago, Retired at last said:

Really? If so, YIPPEE! They haven't known what to do with her for years. So, what does that mean for EJ?

God he'd look great with Sloane. But I love Eric for the first time with her. Like ever. 

[brisbydog]

Rachel's pain gives me joy 

[WendyCR72]

Brady, time to teach Rachel the true facts of life: YOU are the ADULT. SHE is a CHILD. And you will NOT live your life dictated by a demon spawn.

And if Rachel resists, ship her to boarding school in Siberia. Or hell. Whichever comes first.

[4evaQuez]

If Brady and Chloe are together again so soon, I imagine this means we're getting a Who's the Daddy storyline with Broe and Stefan. I also imagine Kristen or Gabi or both changing the paternity results.

[Panopticon]

Oh, so Stephanie doesn’t rush to her mother’s death bed? Sorry, Kayla, that’s what you get for raising your daughter to be a cousin-uncle lover. 

I wonder what it is about Stephanie as a character that’s made multiple writers many years apart so fixated on having her couple up with her relatives and so eager to sneer at the idea that adoptive family is real family. 

[CanaryFan98]

15 hours ago, 4evaQuez said:

If Brady and Chloe are together again so soon, I imagine this means we're getting a Who's the Daddy storyline with Broe and Stefan. I also imagine Kristen or Gabi or both changing the paternity results.

Or kidnapping the spawn and pretending its their own like Nicole/Sydney.

[WendyCR72]

Or...

NO SPAWN AT ALL.

No more freaking BABIES!

[Pearson80]

18 hours ago, Panopticon said:

Oh, so Stephanie doesn’t rush to her mother’s death bed? Sorry, Kayla, that’s what you get for raising your daughter to be a cousin-uncle lover. 

I wonder what it is about Stephanie as a character that’s made multiple writers many years apart so fixated on having her couple up with her relatives and so eager to sneer at the idea that adoptive family is real family. 

The sad thing is that Days has always emphasized that Family is not just biological it is about the bond between the two people who don't share DNA but love each other nonetheless.. I find it disrespectful that the show has become close-minded on what constitutes a family..

Edited January 8, 2023 by Pearson80

[DisneyBoy]

Brady hasn't even spoken to Marlena as if she was the woman who raised him in years. This whole orchid storyline is probably the first time he's even been involved with her as a character since 2012 and Kristen's return.

I know they did a storyline way back when with newly adult Brady lashing out at Marlena for some reason, but it strikes me as extremely bizarre he'd have so little interest in her generally, since she literally raised him from...what? Age 4 onwards? If that doesn't qualify her to be his "Mom" I don't know what does...and yet, here we are, with her calling him "Marlena" and acting as if John only married her when he was 14 or something. Weird.

And after so many years of Brady having a lot of scenes with Victor and seeming to be Victor's #1 priority, they've drifted apart of late too, for seemingly no reason.

And then there's the friendships. I was rewatching a clip from the early 90s and Marlena was referring to Maggie as a dear, close personal friend, and I was like....whaaa? They've been BFFs for years? You'd certainly never know now. Although apparently that's more because Deidre and Suzanne have some kind of beef. I'd love to know why that should have any effect on storylines, but I'm naive like that.

On 1/6/2023 at 3:35 PM, boes said:

DisneyBoy, can I ask where you heard/read this?  I've tried to find info about AZ's departure but come up with nothing current.

I wish I could remember. I saw it weeks ago, a post on some message board, stated as fact in a casual fashion, like it was from someone with inside knowledge. I've seen those kinds of things before and usually they end up being true, so I repeated it here. If there's no other reports though, maybe it's incorrect.

I'm never really sure if something not being reported in the soap press means it isn't really happening...or that the "soap press" constitutes so few people that plenty of stuff slips through the cracks if it isn't an announcement hand-delivered to the outlet by a show's publicist.

Half the articles posted here seem to be from that website that just watches weekly trailers and repeats what they contain with theories mixed in.

Seriously, I wonder how many people actually write about soaps for a living...

Personally, I hope Ari stays and they do some long-overdue relationship building between Nicole and Eric, but then, I've been waiting for that for over a decades, and it's three steps forward, nineteen steps back with those two.

Edited January 8, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[WendyCR72]

I know. Marlena has been the primary mother figure to Brady. And he should absolutely worry about her.

But I won't lie: I rather like that Brady DOESN'T forget that Isabella was his mother. I mean, in REAL time, he was a baby when she died. But SORAS makes the waters murky there.

And it isn't like Isabella abandoned her husband and child. She died of cancer. She probably desperately was hoping to raise her baby with her husband, as so many do.

And it's refreshing that Isabella's memory has not been erased in the name of John/Doc's epic wuv. (Bleah.)

Just my take on the whole thing.

[brisbydog]

Monday, January 16, 2023

 

 • Stephanie cries on Chad’s shoulder over Alex.

 

 • Will learns damning information about Leo. 

 

 • Bonnie gives Sarah surprising advice about Xander.

 

 • Gwen visits Xander at the motel and discovers he’s a drunken mess. 

 

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

 

 • A furious Steve corners Kristen, blaming her for what happened to Kayla.

 

 • A furious Stefan confronts Li. 

 

 • Stephanie, Joey, and Tripp share emotional memories of Kayla. 

 

 • Brady is outraged by Gabi’s request. 

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

 

 • Chloe confronts Kristen over her litany of offenses.

 

 • Steve hands over Kristen’s confession to Rafe.

 

 • Brady apologizes to John for mishandling the Kristen situation. 

 

 • Li defends Gabi to Stefan.

 

Thursday, January 19, 2023

 

 • Belle returns home to be by an ailing Marlena’s side.

 

 • Rafe and Jada are on the hunt for a missing Kristen.

 

 • Kristen prepares to flee town with Rachel Black

 

 • Marlena’s condition worsens. 

 

Friday, January 20, 2023

 

 • John denies Marlena’s request but comes up with a compromise. 

 

 • Rachel has a major meltdown when she finds Brady and Chloe together.

 

 • Kristen tries to blackmail EJ to help her out.

 

 • John refuses Marlena’s request and offers a compromise.

 

 • Jada and Rafe bond over their victory. 

[peachmangosteen]

15 minutes ago, brisbydog said:

Gwen visits Xander at the motel and discovers he’s a drunken mess. 

This exact thing already happened. GAH!

[Retired at last]

Please, please, just let Kristen take her brat and leave again. Forever this time. Brady will be fine.

And, yes, Xander will be a mess and Sarah will take him back yet again. Even though nothing has changed (including Xander) and the writers continue to try to make this work. It doesn't and it won't. Unless, they make it like Grease, and Sarah turns bad.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Retired at last

[CanaryFan98]

16 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Or...

NO SPAWN AT ALL.

No more freaking BABIES!

That would be my ideal scenario but Ron loves storylines involving babies, mentally ill women, and sketchy rape scenarios.

8 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I know. Marlena has been the primary mother figure to Brady. And he should absolutely worry about her.

But I won't lie: I rather like that Brady DOESN'T forget that Isabella was his mother. I mean, in REAL time, he was a baby when she died. But SORAS makes the waters murky there.

And it isn't like Isabella abandoned her husband and child. She died of cancer. She probably desperately was hoping to raise her baby with her husband, as so many do.

And it's refreshing that Isabella's memory has not been erased in the name of John/Doc's epic wuv. (Bleah.)

Just my take on the whole thing.

Probably because he spent most of his adult years heavily intertwined with Victor, Isabella's father, and you really can't erase that relationship.

I'm also surprised Isabella hasn't been erased either even though I was sad about her death it was really the best thing to happen to the character I shudder to think how she would be written today tbh.

[Frozendiva]

Comings and goings and some Lucas stuff.

https://soapdirt.com/days-of-our-lives-comings-and-goings-lucas-horton-back-for-short-stint/

[FilmTVGeek80]

On 1/7/2023 at 7:32 AM, Panopticon said:

Oh, so Stephanie doesn’t rush to her mother’s death bed? Sorry, Kayla, that’s what you get for raising your daughter to be a cousin-uncle lover. 

I wonder what it is about Stephanie as a character that’s made multiple writers many years apart so fixated on having her couple up with her relatives and so eager to sneer at the idea that adoptive family is real family. 

She does rush to her side as soon as she finds outs she’s in the hospital. 
 

I’m not a huge fan of the Alex/Stephanie pairing, mostly because Alex sucks, but there being “related” doesn’t bother me. I usually don’t care about that stuff unless they share blood and/or were raised together. Like I got why people were upset by the writers on GH having Maxie having a crush on Lucas (or vice versa) since they were raised as family. I don’t know if Alex and Stephanie were raised together on screen at any point, but the writers now have basically retconned it and have Alex basically referring to Adrienne as his stepmother and Anjelica as his mother.

16 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

 

Brady hasn't even spoken to Marlena as if she was the woman who raised him in years. This whole orchid storyline is probably the first time he's even been involved with her as a character since 2012 and Kristen's return.

I know they did a storyline way back when with newly adult Brady lashing out at Marlena for some reason, but it strikes me as extremely bizarre he'd have so little interest in her generally, since she literally raised him from...what? Age 4 onwards? If that doesn't qualify her to be his "Mom" I don't know what does...and yet, here we are, with her calling him "Marlena" and acting as if John only married her when he was 14 or something. Weird.

And after so many years of Brady having a lot of scenes with Victor and seeming to be Victor's #1 priority, they've drifted apart of late too, for seemingly no reason.

And then there's the friendships. I was rewatching a clip from the early 90s and Marlena was referring to Maggie as a dear, close personal friend, and I was like....whaaa? They've been BFFs for years? You'd certainly never know now. Although apparently that's more because Deidre and Suzanne have some kind of beef. I'd love to know why that should have any effect on storylines, but I'm naive like that.

 

I don’t disagree with your main point about this show being very bad at writing to familial relationships and friendships, but I think Brady and Marlena have been written as pretty much mother and son, at least as long as I’ve been watching regularly again since 2018. He may not call her mom, but he’s treated her like one. In fact, I’ve been watching old Daytime Emmys telecasts recently and Eric Martsolf was nominated in 2019 and the clip used was him apologizing to Marlena for acting like she wasn’t his mother when he was younger. He was considered one of her kids when she was on death’s door after being shot by EJ. It was important to him that Marlena accept Kristen when they were together. Rachel calls her grandma and not step grandma. It’s the reason he and Eric call each other brothers even though they’re not biologically related.

As for him and Victor, it probably was a lot of backstage laziness - and maybe having to do with JA’s decreased presence on the show - but the relationship didn’t drift for no reason. I think the relationship really splintered when Victor let him think his child was dead. While characters on this show forgive each other for all sorts of unforgivable things, I’m kind of glad that unlike Will and Sonny (who inexplicably forgave Victor) Brady did hold on to some anger over that.

[Pearson80]

7 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Probably because he spent most of his adult years heavily intertwined with Victor, Isabella's father, and you really can't erase that relationship.

 

However Victor never raised Isabella so there are some things about Isabella that he never knew. I think Isabella even in death remaining a dominant force in Brady's life had everything to do with John and Marlena and not Victor.. Victor and Isabella were never close.  She only made peace with him because she was dying..

Had Isabella lived she would have had nothing to do with him just like Bo.. Victor was not the salt of the earth he was a terrible human being.. He tried to kill Bo twice over his obsession with Carly.. I remember Victor fixing himself a drink celebrating Bo's death after rigging that elevator to kill him.. He was shocked to learn that Carly got hurt and not Bo his own son who was the intended victim..

Edited January 9, 2023 by Pearson80

[CanaryFan98]

23 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

However Victor never raised Isabella so there are some things about Isabella that he never knew. I think Isabella even in death remaining a dominant force in Brady's life had everything to do with John and Marlena and not Victor.. Victor and Isabella were never close.  She only made peace with him because she was dying..

Had Isabella lived she would have had nothing to do with him just like Bo.. Victor was not the salt of the earth he was a terrible human being.. He tried to kill Bo twice over his obsession with Carly.. I remember Victor fixing himself a drink celebrating Bo's death after rigging that elevator to kill him.. He was shocked to learn that Carly got hurt and not Bo his own son who was the intended victim..

I agree things would be different if Isabella lived maybe Brady wouldn't have had a relationship with Victor. I do think Victor saw Brady as a way of making up for the past with Isabella. What never made sense to me is why he never treated Phillip as the golden child the one he actually raised.

[Pearson80]

2 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

I agree things would be different if Isabella lived maybe Brady wouldn't have had a relationship with Victor. I do think Victor saw Brady as a way of making up for the past with Isabella. What never made sense to me is why he never treated Phillip as the golden child the one he actually raised.

Philip should have been his absolute favorite.. I always felt that Philip was on his way of outdoing Victor and the show should have made him even darker than his dad.  The way he ruthlessly went after Belle and tried to destroy Sean-Douglas was classic Victor...

Philip told his nephew Sean-Douglas that he banged his wife on their marital bed and there was nothing that he could do about it.  That was so damn cold.. Claire should have been Philip's.. What a missed opportunity to have Sean-Douglas be in the same position that his grandfather was with his dad Bo being Victor's. Not to mention Belle being in the same position as her mom when she was conceived. We could have had so much stories...

Edited January 10, 2023 by Pearson80

[WendyCR72]

5 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

Philip should have been his absolute favorite.. I always felt that Philip was on his way of outdoing Victor and the show should have made him even darker than his dad.  The way he ruthlessly went after Belle and tried to destroy Sean-Douglas was classic Victor...

Philip told his nephew Sean-Douglas that he banged his wife on their marital bed and there was nothing that he could do about it.  That was so damn cold.. Claire should have been Philip's.. What a missed opportunity to have Sean-Douglas be in the same position that his grandfather was with his dad Bo being Victor's. Not to mention Belle being in the same position as her mom when she was conceived. We could have had so much stories...

I agree that Phillip should have been Victor's favorite since Phillip was most like Victor and the only child that Victor got to raise from birth.

But the story of Phillip/Belle/Shawn - for ME, to be clear! - while great on paper, lacked something that Shawn/Caroline/Victor did not: At least Caroline seemed sincerely torn between Shawn and Victor and loved both men.

Adult Shawn (Douglas) as written with Adult Belle just seemed like a total cuckold to me. I have never felt any love between adult Shawn/Belle, and they seemed to be shoved together out of expediency, not because they had an epic romance. So Belle being "torn" between Shawn and Phillip is a waste and a joke. I'm not even sure Belle loved Phillip. Lust? Sure.

But Belle seems to thrive on DRAMA for its own sake. Frankly, and it pains me to say this because the actress, Martha Madison, seems great - Belle just seems unlikable overall and if not stringing the guys in her life along, is just bland and blah otherwise.

At least Claire being psycho would make more sense if ol' Phil were her sperm donor. But then, I think the character of Phillip is also problematic at this juncture since it seems like Jay Kenneth Johnson has deteriorated acting wise (maybe it's why he was written out so quickly!).

Not to say Brandon Beemer is Olivier. He isn't. But I think Shawn could be salvageable if someone gave a damn, whether it is Beemer or a recast in the role. But as it stands, none of these three are at all compelling, which sucks, considering their legacy parents/families, etc.

[brisbydog]

[Retired at last]

Xander and Sarah have nothing in common and should not be together. He will NEVER feel good enough for her and will keep screwing things up. Just like Eric and Nicole - they cannot exist in a normal relationship. Too much damage and Sarah knows that she can't trust him or believe a word he says. What kind of a future is that? Unless they agree to just meet for sex.

[brisbydog]

Early Spoiler for Week 23 Jan

Spoilerspoiler

Allie gives Chanel the cold shoulder.

John grapples with his grief.

Johnny apologizes to Tripp.

EJ has a surprise for Li.

John watches helplessly as Sarah tries to revive Marlena.

Marlena finds herself in a heavenly setting – where she encounters a familiar face.

Allie demands Chanel admit the truth about her and Johnny

[Retired at last]

I hope this is the end of the mess that is Chanel and Allie. This story has served its purpose and they clearly have no trust in each other. Plus, they have no chemistry.