Day by Days

Thoughts about this past week's Days of Our Lives

First off, how nice to see Marlena loaded for bear, after so many weeks of basically serving as John's doormat and whipping gal.  Those scenes with Adrienne were excellent!  It's also really nice to see more of Adrienne and Justin this week.  I look forward to more of this as some of these stories unfold.


I do hope that part of the unfolding includes someone, say Maggie, sitting down and giving Adrienne a chill pill by reminding her of her own history.  She hardly comes from a sterling bunch herself, and she definitely didn't marry into one!

I love a good, out of left field twist that starts a story spinning in a different direction, and the reveal that Chad has video of Sami fighting Bernardi certainly fits that bill!  Wow!  When he said a little while ago that he had "vintage psycho Sami" on video, I thought he meant that he had filmed her fight with Kate at the coffee shop right before they found out Will had been shot.  What he's actually got is a whole different kettle of fish.

What I like most about this twist is the layers it adds to the story.  There are others who now know that Sami lied to the police and her lawyer about not knowing the man she shot.  It also puts Will's secret back into play.  Best of all, it expands the reach of this story, since Abigail is now involved.  Well done!

What I really can't wait for is the scene when Adrienne realizes that she has this fight video too.  It's pretty obvious (to me at least) that Sonny did not send her a video of the baby.  He just thinks he did.  The question is how long will it take her to find out?

Brady and Nicole hopping back into bed on the heels of his break-up with Kristen is so totally in character for both of them that I really liked those scenes.  Brady is making what Maggie would call "an impulsive, self-destructive decision, typical of an addict," while it's just plain nice to see Nicole do something besides wring her hands over a priest.  I don't think this will be the resurrection of them as a couple.  There's been way too much water under that bridge!  I like their dynamic and chemistry as friends much more, even if they do boff each other from time to time.

Speaking of Kristen, I like watching her unravel.  She's so much fun when she's psycho.  Eileen Davidson looks like she's having so much fun with the material!  I just don't get what her plan is.  She drugs Eric so she can sleep with him?  Unless she's recording it so she can ruin his standing as a priest, there's no way that's going to have an impact on Marlena.  There's no indication she's doing that, however.

I'm more than a little annoyed with the JJ story at this point.  I think it's a good thing that I can't stand the character, because that means something is working right.  He's a despicable little brat, so he should be disliked.  I have always liked the idea of the bad seed offspring from the upstanding, core family.  It's worked for 20 years with Sami, and she has become a pillar of the show and a core character.  I'm pretty sure that fans really hated her when she first arrived on the scene.

The problem with the JJ story is Jennifer.  I've been cutting her some slack on the way she's dealing with her son, because I can understand why she wants to be sensitive,  The problem is that she's starting to appear both dumb and in denial.  Maybe she'll catch on when he causes her to lose her job.  After all, if Anne had found JJ with the scrip pad instead of Daniel, she would not have stopped until Jennifer had been booted out the door.

All in all, it was a good week.  There were some nice little moments--Daniel and Jennifer checking on Brady--which I always like to see.  The little interaction between Kate and Maggie at the coffee shop was nice too.  I don't always get to see my two favorite characters play together.  The Sami/Eric sccenes were extra sweet.  Plus, Vargas is back!  The only onscreen clunkers for the week were the overly-contrived and purely plot-driven hassles that Nicole had trying to reach Eric with his papers.

I do have a bone to pick about what wasn't shown this week.  Sami is choked into unconsciousness in her cell, and we don't get to see someone finding her there?  Think how much more dramatic it would have been for EJ to discover her like that.  How exactly did Sami make bail anyway?  I'm extremely annoyed that there were no scenes from her arraignment at all.  My only real beef with the current writing team is that they sometimes choose to leave out moments like these, which should be pivotal scenes.  It's a decision I don't understand, since it undercuts the drama.