2017 Wrap-Up: Best and Worst DAYS Moments

[DisneyBoy]

Here we are. Again. Another year, come and gone. Another wrap-up thread to help us make sense of it all.

I'm going to have trouble with this one because I almost feel like the year only started when Ron showed up, yet I'm still pretty sure some of Ron's writing is going to pop up on the Bad list.

 

The Good

-Even though he was gone for almost a third of the year, it really does feel like John and Marlena are a couple again. I haven't felt that in a long time. I definitely think it's something people enjoy about the show and I'm glad to see it being given some attention.

-John getting called out for being here one day and gone the next. I especially loved that it wasn't just Hattie impersonating Marlena who expressed exasperation with John. Kate noticed it too and because she's just an objective third party, it felt like the show was acknowledging a big flaw in his character. Thank you!

-Eric and Nicole's reunion. I know it was rushed and a little lackluster, but it's crazy to me that the show squandered for so long two actors with such chemistry and two characters with such a long history of being completely obsessed with one another. Seeing them finally in each other's arms again may have been cold comfort after all of the years of Daniel worshipping, but at least they did it and had them acknowledge each other as being the other's one true love. It sounds corny but this is a soap. This is the place to do corny.

-Eric's return. I have to say he's really carried the show for most of this year and I'm glad. Perhaps more than any other character he had an arc of personal growth over the last 12 months that was satisfying to watch. Considering the depressing way he exited the show last year, this was pretty much the best anyone could have hoped for. I still find him to be too much of a goody-goody, but nevertheless he has been a bright spot.

- Bonnie Lockhart. Do I think the storyline went on way too long? Absolutely. But it was worth it to see her add a little bit of campy humor to the canvas. Those outfits! Those double-entendres! Those movie-themed visions of what her life could be like! It was all very much in keeping with what the show used to do back in the 90s. They were all-too-brief reminders of the fun we used to have watching Days. Plus I just think playing Bonnie rejuvenated Judi. She seemed more lively in her scenes as Adrienne after the story wrapped up. Just me?

-Andre sent to the nuthouse and kept in a straight jacket. It might have only lasted a day but it was long overdue and very satisfying.

-Will being alive again and Chandler Massey getting the chance to reprise the role. That was probably the biggest spoiler of the year and the thing that people were the most hyped up for. It's so good to see him back on the show after the way he exited and Will was treated. One of the show's biggest mistakes has been undone and it was definitely a highlight of the year to see that happen.

-The many returns of snarky Xander.

-Eileen Davidson's return!

-The awesome Clyde/Kate showdown. One of the best written moments of the Year by a mile.

- Steve and Kayla's wedding. A very welcome bright spot at the start of the year.

-Joe M's final scenes as Stefano. I don't love the way they wrote everything that surrounded those moments, but it touched me deeply to see the actor rise above his health issues to deliver a final appearance when he could have easily been resting at home. You are a Class Act Joe and you will be deeply missed.

-Weeding out some of the poor actors and less popular characters. Ron cleaned house better than anyone else in the last few years and I have to give him credit for that.

-The double wedding. Well executed.

-Lucas, Kate and the other characters finally being permitted to openly mourn Will.

-The actor who plays Tripp.

 

The Bad

-Dario's "love story" with Abigail. What the hell was that? Why did he suddenly care about her? It came out of nowhere. Lame.

-Abigail and Andre's friendship. I wouldn't have had a problem if the show had figured out a way to build this naturally or a reason for it to even be. Instead it just came off as random. I realize this plotline dates back to last year but I'm including it in the list because they've really been hammering it home. I guess we are supposed to think that Abigail is a great person because she can befriend a serial killer?

-Andre. I don't mind the actor but he's being completely wasted here and adds nothing to the show. I don't know why he has no storyline since he's a character that usually does things for a reason. And the show keeps waffling back and forth on whether he's a schemer or he's being rehabilitated. Who really cares?

-Freddie Smith as Sonny. He wasn't that great last year but this year he hit an all-time low. Zero believability or chemistry or effort. If I had to pick his worst moment, it might have been his attempts to seem like a tough mobster while fighting with Chad a few months ago.

-The Taniel worship. Obviously.

- Nicole the Hopeless Harpy. This would encompass basically the entire storyline from the moment Holly was born up until the time Nicole forgave Eric. In spite of years of buildup she and Brady had no chemistry and he turned her into a weakling. She drugged Chloe and stole Holly out from under her with no real plan as to how to survive. And then there was all the screeching at Eric and Deimos. It was really hard to watch.

-Morgan Fairchild and the bizarre Anjelica storyline. Sure, it got rewritten part way through but on all fronts it was perplexing and bad.

-Hope getting off the hook. She may not have ended up being Stefano's murderer but Lord knows she tried and then had an entire town and several inmates helping her to get away scot-free. Her being named commissioner was just the cherry on the Sunday.

-Susan's scheme to turn Will into EJ. In broad strokes it could have worked, if Will had ended up on her doorstep with amnesia. Maybe then I could buy that she would try to make him over as her late son. But suggesting she successfully caught the eye of Rolfe and then proceeded to be at Ben's apartment just after he had nearly strangled Will to death with a syringe full of death-imitating memory-erasing liquid? Nope, not buying it.

-The Martin House Halo party.

-Who Killed Deimos.

-The Plane crash/island storyline.

-Sami having Will strangled. Biggest WTF of the year, for my money.

-Lani/Sal S. Can we please stop trying to make this happen? It ain't.

-The so-fast-it-makes-Adrienne-look-bad reunion between Adrienne and Justin.

-Claire and Theo's tepid romance.

Edited December 18, 2017 by DisneyBoy

[bannana]

The good to me was Sami's return.

And, yes, I could not even stand Nicole by the time she left.  She was never that rootable a character, but she had some life in her.  This past year she made me want to slit her wrists and mine.

[nilyank]

Best for me was Sami’s return up to but not including the hookup with Rafe. I watched and loved Days when Sami was still a little girl and thought John was her father as he dated Diana and then Isabela. However, when Sami was sorased and sneaked back into Salem now being played by AS, she became my favorite character and no matter what she did even if I hated it, I always loved Sami.

I also thought they should made Sami the one that was sabotaging Dimera in order to screw over Andre and mess with Chad for being stupid enough to marry Abby and having any relationship with Andre.

Good but I won’t ever care: Will back from the dead.  I have always found him to be a passive character that reacted to things that happened to him. He never really did anything unless it was retconned (EJ’s shooting) or yelling at his mother or cheating on Sonny. 

Bad:  Nicole and Daniel stupid baby. She should have never been born and I am one of the few people that thinks that Nicole should never have been given a chance to be a mother. Her behavior in the Holly storyline did her no favors and it made me root for Chloe to steal her child.

 

Really terrible idea that will never make any sense: Abigail and Andre.

Yeah, I am never going to understand the friendship between Abigail and Andre. For Abby, she is part of the Horton family who are deemed a  family of good people (mostly because of Tom and Alice’s legacy) and she is best friends with a serial killer. Jennifer and company should have never worried about Chad when Abby is in a dangerous relationship with a psychopath. There is no amount of therapy that is going to cure that.

As for Andre, I don’t understand how he could be around that simpering, wet blanket without wanting to choke the life out of her.

Edited December 18, 2017 by nilyank

[boes]

The bad is easy for me, all things Daniel.  Even dead he managed to ruin characters and storylines.  Talk about a stink that just won't go away.

Best thing - Daniel is still dead and Kate Mansi is still gone.

[swtrgrl]

Best: The Will/Sami returns.

Worst: Freddie Smith's "acting" and Sonny's turn into wanna be mobster.

[FnkyChkn34]

If I'm honest, the whole show has been pretty bad for me.  The writing change didn't even help much.

Best:  Eric's return?  I guess.  I mean, I like Eric and the actor, so that was fine.  I like that Shawn-D and Belle reconciled, also maybe?  Too bad they had to leave though.  Ben without a shirt on is good viewing...

Worst:  Mostly everything else.  A lot was just "meh."  Sami's return did nothing for me because she proved to be a monster, hiring Ben.  Will's return is yet to be determined.  Susan and Kristen?  Blech, no thanks.  JJ shooting Theo is awful.  Every storyline revolving around Holly was bad.  What else?  Brady has always been dumb, but he hasn't always been malicious, so his "change" was bad too.

Edited December 18, 2017 by FnkyChkn34
spelling matters

[Apprentice79]

I think that Ron is much better than Dena who is a hack. However, his writing leaves a lot to be desired.

The best: The double wedding was really good with Ben revealing that Will was alive.  I loved how the whole cast was there. 

The worst: I am just bored with the show. I think that the show has too many cooks in the kitchen and it is hurting it, in my opinion.  So many scenes were cut during the Will storyline and it has affected it.

Susan keeping Will from his family was bad and out of character. I wished that the show had had Orpheus' children be behind it. It would have hearken back to when Orpheus took Marlena and it could have tied into her missing years and Roman's.. The show has so much history that could create storylines in the present. Yet, they refuse to use it..

[tribeca]

The best anything with Eric. 

The worst John forget he is another son.  Brady has become such a jerk but he is still johns son. 

[tawny411]

The bad:

Every single scene involving Rafe and Hope. The most horrid pairing in Days history. Yes, even worse than Shayla.

The friendship between Abby and Andre. I'm all for soap friendships, even unusual ones. But this is way beyond bizarre and awful.

Joe Mascolo's last ever scenes were wasted in that terrible Shane as Stefano storyline. 

Shane going to extreme lengths to get murderer Hope out of prison, but can't be bothered to protect his own daughter.

The plane crash. Seriously, there were people wearing white who never even got a smudge of dirt on them.

 

The good:

Will is alive

Storylines for JJ and Lucas, both of whom have been wasted too long.

Kassie back as Eve. Honestly I loathe the whole Kiriakis clan, but I'm happy to see Eve again.

Dena Higley was finally fired and hopefully will never be allowed near any soap again.