2018 Wrap-Up: Best and Worst DAYS Moments

[DisneyBoy]

It's that time of year again and Ron, Sheri and the gang gave us plenty to chew on in 2018. So let's do this!

 

BEST

- To my shock, Will and Paul take deux. Great chemistry.

- Hattie Adams tearing up John's annulment paperwork and throwing it in his and Roman's faces. I think this is the most I've liked Deidre in the role, and it's no small part due to the writing of the storyline. Having Hattie redeem herself by stepping into Marlena's place to keep her from being taken off life support was a really clever use of a character that the show hasn't had much intelligent use for. Her inclusion last year was just for kicks. Her inclusion this year made sense and was a total hoot to boot.

- Theresa going head-to-head with Xander and Mateo in Mexico.

- JJ standing up for Theresa. You've come a long way from dealing drugs in the park, young man. Good on ya!

- Everything Vivian, from her cheeky remarks to John regarding his revised heritage ("Chinese! Your treat!"), to her girl talk with Kate and Marlena while entombed. Pretty much the only things I didn't like were her morose, psycho-raping son and her untimely and abrupt end. Thank God she's still alive. Let's hope Louise Sorel comes back for an extended stay later on down the line.

- The break-up of Jeneric. I think it was pretty sensitively handled. I'm glad they didn't try to build the couple up as something bigger than Eric and Nicole, because that just wouldn't have worked. Everybody knew that the sizzle had died in this relationship once Jennifer started bringing him donuts. Having them both acknowledge that it wasn't meant to be after the dust had settled, and being friendly on New Year's was a nice wrap-up.

- Cementing Eric and Nicole as each other's One True Love. I didn't necessarily love the joyless way Nicole was written, but it was nice to see the show finally call them what they were, especially after all those years Dan the Tan Man mucked things up because of his behind the scenes relationship with Nicole. That should never have spilled over into the show the way it did.

-Gabi's Revenge. I didn't love every line reading Camilla gave us, but this is easily her best storyline in a long time. I love the way Julie was folded into it at the end, and the way they had JJ pop in and out to remind Gabi of her humanity was very effective. Abigail, of course, got to walk away smelling like roses, but at least the show finally allowed someone on screen to hate her as passionately as we all have.

- Hope slapping Rafe at their wedding.

- The violent end of the Andre/Abigail relationship. It wasn't a dignified death, but at least we were all finally put out of our misery.

- The conclusion to Anna's dangling grief storyline. This last appearance of hers made some sense out of her previous ones, which were random and weird.

- The conclusion the Sami/Susan feud over EJ. I didn't love the recasting (see below) but was happy to see these two characters get what they desperately wanted - a second chance with the guy they loved and lost.

 

WORST

- RECASTING EILEEN FREAKING DAVIDSON'S KRISTEN DIMERA. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING RON?!

- Breve. Zero chemistry, a new low for Brady, and a truly disappointing turn for Eve, which culminated in her betrayal of yet another family member, her sister Theresa. Why was this coupling necessary? Who was rooting for them?

- Eve. You know what? She deserves to be mentioned on her own, because Kassie brings everything she's got to a thankless part that the showrunners have no idea how to develop in a satisfying way. Everything from her retconned marriage to Deimos to her supposed love for Brady, who nearly assaulted her in her bed earlier in the year, was just bewildering. And now she shows up on New Years as the big bad witch? I just feel badly for Kassie, although I suppose a paycheck is a paycheck.

- Brady. Perhaps more than anyone, he deserves his own category here, for becoming the biggest asshat ever. His mindgames with Eve were pretty nasty, but I think seeing him actually "fall in love" with her was worse. Guy has never gotten over or properly dealt with his alcoholism or his anger issues. He seems to have no relationship with either of his living parents, and he's determined to screw up Eric's life at every turn. His continued passion for Kristen should have made me smile, because I loved them in 2013, but it's just more evidence of how completely f'ed-up this character is. And yet, the show doesn't seem to be willing to take him down that path fully. Now his relationship with Chloe is supposed to be something to root for? I think she should run and run fast. Brady is not a good guy. Not anymore.

- Lani the lame. Just go away already.

- Leo. You ain't hot. You ain't funny. Your plot makes no sense. Go away. Shoo!

- Sonny.

- Kate being powerless against the likes of Stefan and Gabi.

- The DID story of Doom. Marci had no chance of making those three characters interesting enough to justify their constant presence on our screens for months on end. "Gabby with a Y" - why??? I liked seeing Abigail lose it again, but they missed a golden opportunity to tie this breakdown into her past misdeeds and really explore why Abigail has no qualms about messing with people.

- Losing Val.

- Losing SN because he correctly stated in an interview that Steve isn't seen often enough on the show for his storylines to maintain any momentum or traction. And then they go and write him out off screen as not wanting to be with Kayla for petty reasons. What utter bullshit.

- Ben the "sexy bad boy" strangler. As Ciara's new boyfriend. ?!?!

- Paul the pushover. He not only didn't fight for his relationship with Will, he also got pushed out of a window in the middle of someone else's storyline and had to leave town in a wheelchair, a la Theo. I never really cared for this character, but Christopher Sean proved he could do plenty even when given scraps to work with. There could have been so many interesting things happening with Paul once he opted to get serious with amnesiac Will. Instead, he was almost a nonentity the entire time.

- The continual wasting of Claire. I don't think I have any hope left for this character, and it's a shame because making her an aspiring singer slash songwriter was an interesting way to go but they've done nothing with it except have her squabble endlessly with Ciara. Boring.

- Hope and Rafe secretly marrying at the Horton cabin, where Hope and Bo had their last dance together. Sacrilege.

Edited December 31, 2018 by DisneyBoy

[Giuseppe]

22 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

- Leo. You ain't hot. You ain't funny. Your plot makes no sense. Go away. Shoo!

 

This belongs in Unpopular Opinions, but I like Leo. Well, I liked him better during his original run when he was a bit more endearing and sympathetic and showed a hint of remorse. Now he's just a cartoon villain, but I still kind of root for him. I do think the actor is very attractive, so my judgement is probably clouded :)

[tribeca]

10 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

This belongs in Unpopular Opinions, but I like Leo. Well, I liked him better during his original run when he was a bit more endearing and sympathetic and showed a hint of remorse. Now he's just a cartoon villain, but I still kind of root for him. I do think the actor is very attractive, so my judgement is probably clouded :)

I like Leo too find him funny and he kind of does have a boyish charm to him.    He can be annoying but he makes Wilson rootable and I (unpopular I know) think Wilson have zero chemistry.  

[BuckeyeLou]

My Favorites for this year were the Halloween episode, the Gabi revenge story-line, Hattie taking Marlena's place in the hospital & trying to pretend to be Marlena :) Sami's return(she always shakes things up).  Least Favorite: Theresa's return(the actress is so good, but her storylines, not so much), Leo(I find his character annoying), ….

[TeeVee329]

Some fave moments that come to mind are:

- John playing around with the Marlena doll.

- Sami smacking Kristen-as-Susan and sending her fake teeth flying.

- Gabi running through her scheme out loud to herself while sipping a pink cocktail.

- Sonny's crestfallen face listening to Will and Paul's lovey-dovey phone call, made all the better because Ari had painted his face to look like a kitty.

- Victor musing that coming BFTD makes people hanker for country music.

- Claire walloping Ben with a frying pan.

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 11:47 PM, Giuseppe said:

This belongs in Unpopular Opinions, but I like Leo. Well, I liked him better during his original run when he was a bit more endearing and sympathetic and showed a hint of remorse. Now he's just a cartoon villain, but I still kind of root for him. I do think the actor is very attractive, so my judgement is probably clouded :)

I like that we finally have an unapologetic gay schemer on a soap, who doesn't sleep with or marry someone for Pure, Perfect Love, but for that money, honey!  Though it remains silly that GR is supposed to be a contemporary of Will and Sonny's.  Not.

Edited January 3, 2019 by TeeVee329

[tribeca]

Worst/best

Teresa return.  Wow we’re they all nasty to her especially her sister. Teresa and JJ friendship.  Wish it was more. 

Best.  Marlena family saying goodbye.  The part of Marlena is now being played by Hattie Adams. 

Worst

Baby Bonnie.  It was a dumb story then all the characters except Sarah left so what was the point 

anytime Sami Brady comes for a visit is good but I hated the EJ stuff.  I feel bad for her kids.  No wonder Allie is drinking 

Worst by far losing Steve 

Not it sure if I like Sarah or not.  Why is she so over invested with Eric’s business?   And I really side eyed her when she was upset with Rex wanting to be with his daughter.  

Edited January 3, 2019 by tribeca

[DisneyBoy]

3 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

I like that we finally have an unapologetic gay schemer on a soap, who doesn't sleep with or marry someone for Pure, Perfect Love, but for that money, honey!  Though it remains silly that GR is supposed to be a contemporary of Will and Sonny's.  Not.

See that's the thing - I actually like Leo in theory, but they should have cast some young boy toy type so we could believe Sonny would have actually fallen into lust with him and not suspected he could be two-faced. The Leo we got couldn't pull off innocent. I enjoyed watching him screw with these older guys and their family money, but Leo just seems really pathetic, like someone who should be spending his time actually building a life for himself instead of trying to weasel his way into Sonny's existence. I think if they had cast someone younger, prettier and funnier, it wouldn't have been so bad. But then there's the whole whacking his head on the fireplace thing, which was so comical I couldn't believe it, and now he's back and forcing Sonny into marriage even though there's no evidence they tried to kill him? It's stupid. So for me, I don't mark this as a "win" for progress.

[TeeVee329]

I don't think it's a perfect story - for example, I remember thinking in the beginning that I wanted Leo to be more sexy or scheme-y or both - but I do think it's progress, this is classic soap shenanigans playing out with gay characters.

And I personally contrast that with "General Hospital", which thinks it's being progressive, but is actually just using its gay and transgender characters as ornaments, they don't let them have or drive story in any real way.  I mean, Lucas and Brad adopting and the resulting baby swap couldn't be less about them.

But YMMV.

Edited January 3, 2019 by TeeVee329

[Giuseppe]

7 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

 Though it remains silly that GR is supposed to be a contemporary of Will and Sonny's.  Not.

 

Is he SUPPOSED to be a contemporary of Will and Sonny, though? I know they never really mention anyone's ages on soaps, but I never thought he was supposed to be their same age, unless I missed a line or scene somewhere.

And since this is the best and worst of 2018 thread, I'll just go on and say that I do think this is one of my favorite storylines of the year, for many of the reasons TeeVee listed above. I'd love if they could tone down his villain-ry just a tad and have him stick around for a while.

One of the worst of the year would have to be Billie's return and the whole Paul/Will kidnapping thing...wait, was that even 2018? I can't remember, lol.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Giuseppe

[TeeVee329]

7 minutes ago, Giuseppe said:

Is he SUPPOSED to be a contemporary of Will and Sonny, though? I know they never really mention anyone's ages on soaps, but I never thought he was supposed to be their same age, unless I missed a line or scene somewhere.

It was the whole student loan thing when he was first hired by Vivian, that paying them off was his primary motivation, that seemed to be pitching him as late twenties/early thirties like Will and Sonny.

[JBC344]

5 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

It was the whole student loan thing when he was first hired by Vivian, that paying them off was his primary motivation, that seemed to be pitching him as late twenties/early thirties like Will and Sonny.

Lol, which by the way has got to be the lamest motivation for a scheme, "student loans".  Did Days think they were being topical?  I like Leo in theory, and I like that he has actual personality, they just need to give him some "grounding" to keep him from being a caricature.

[peachmangosteen]

I think they might have finally given up on trying to pass Leo off as a young, hot stud, what with Santa Will saying Sonny had a thing for older men. If so, I'm kinda disappointed. Them pretending Leo was young was so funny to me.

[TeeVee329]

9 hours ago, JBC344 said:

Lol, which by the way has got to be the lamest motivation for a scheme, "student loans".  Did Days think they were being topical?

Seriously.  They should have made it gambling debts.  Or maybe he had a business fail, that's something Sonny would have related to. ;)

[DisneyBoy]

On 1/3/2019 at 7:29 PM, Giuseppe said:

One of the worst of the year would have to be Billie's return and the whole Paul/Will kidnapping thing...wait, was that even 2018? I can't remember, lol.

Hoo boy, I totally I forgot about that one! See, I kind-of sort-of appreciate that they at least tried to play out the consequences of Steve lying to protect Joey and having the ISA cover for them, but I actually didn't especially care for that storyline when it played out on screen. And didn't Tripp kill the director with a syringe in the middle of Horton  Square? It felt like a Dena story.....

It would have been nicer if Billie just came back for a visit to see her mother or undead Will or recovering Lucas or something.