The Great Escape is on! Thank goodness we are finally at the end of the wretched storyline involving the presumed dead characters. You know...a more conscientious complainer would be irked that we had to endure months and months of boring story while the captives moped around the castle but yet - they escaped the castle in a matter of minutes!! Much of The Great Escape was fairly far-fetched; the fake drama, the laughable writing, the convenient circumstances ...the whole thing pretty much made me laugh. But you know what? I'm okay with it. I'm just so thrilled that this storyline is coming to an end and the captives are free at last! We are finally seeing some movement in this story and I can't wait to see the reactions of the other characters (namely John and Kate) and the impact it will have on each storyline. I think this might be the most I've ever looked forward to watching Days in a very long time. I only hope that Sami will drop the Stan act as soon as Marlena returns home. I like Dan Wells (the actor playing Stan) but I want Sami to get over this little revenge vendetta she's got going on. Besides, are we TRULY expected to believe that Sami wouldn't rush to Marlena's side as soon as she knew that her mother was alive?
Along with The Great Escape, we have "Mission Insanity" as Shawn, Rex, Brady and Lucas have set off to rescue Philip from who-knows-where. I hate to admit it but I am really enjoying seeing these four characters work together, their scenes have been strangely compelling. I found that I actually watched them this week; instead of FF. But don't get me wrong, I still find the story itself to be completely asinine. Why do these guys believe that they have some kind of inborn natural talent for handling weapons and carrying out tactical missions? I've been so surprised that there hasn't been mention of the fact that none of them have any actual training for this kind of rescue attempt. Oh sure, they think they're well prepared because they stole John's plans, but that just proves that not one of them has the first clue about how to carry out this mission. I actually laughed out loud on Tuesday when Rex reassured Lucas that he had done his "research" and felt that they were well prepared. I laughed again on Thursday when the guys told Kate that they were Philip's "only chance." If those four are Philip's only chance - I feel sorry for Philip. I might be a little more interested in the story if I didn't all ready suspect that the guys will succeed in doing the impossible and bring Philip home.
That was SO cheesy when Chelsea's mom said to Billie "promise to take care of my baby." Does this woman even know Billie? Would you ask a complete stranger to take care of your 17-year old? Presumably the Bensons have family that would take Chelsea in. And was it just me, or did the rest of you gag yourself when Billie performed a "miracle" by saving Chelsea's life? I mean, the paramedic worked on Chelsea for all of 10 seconds before he gave up and declared that there was no hope. But Billie refused to give up (she told Chelsea "if you don't give up, I won't either") and continued doing CPR until Chelsea came back from the dead. I couldn't believe what I was watching, it was that bad. Could it be ANY more obvious that Chelsea is Georgia? I was so mad that Billie blamed "the tragedy" (the Benson's death) on Hope. She wasn't the drunk driver that hit the vehicle and caused the accident. And to be fair - Billie was rude to Hope on the phone...anyone would have hung up on her. Billie did not call back and insist on speaking with Bo nor did she come right out and tell Hope that there had been an accident. I was sick to my stomach when Billie told Hope that the Bensons death would be on her head. In fact, Billie's whole rant to Hope made me furious. I have come to the conclusion that I really hate the character of Billie Reed and I hope that she is either killed off or sent back to Europe. She is most definitely not a character that I love to hate - I simply hate her. I think the true culprits of this tragedy (other than the drunk driver of course) would have to be the 911 operators. Why in the world would they send only one ambulance to the scene of a car accident? When a car accident happens in "real life", every emergency service and their brother is sent to the scene. You get the fire department, paramedics (plural), police..etc. It was ridiculous that the injured people had to wait around for two more ambulances to arrive. On top of which, Lexie had to call the commissioner and pull some strings to get those two extra ambulances. How pathetic was that?
I think the Chloe/Brady storyline is getting a touch redundant all ready (shocker!). Could Brady talk about his love for Chloe a bit more? It's sweet, but way overdone - especially since we all know that Chloe is in fact alive. Plus, I think we are all aware that she is the love of his life. And what was the point of having him propose to a pile of ashes? I'm a hopeless romantic but even that was a bit much for me. I still can't understand Chloe's decision not to reveal herself to Brady until her scars are removed. If she really loves Brady as much as she says she does and trusted that he loves her the same way; she wouldn't hesitate to reveal her self or her scars to him. My biggest question would be for Nancy though - why hasn't she told Chloe that if Brady decides to dump her because of the scars; he is not worth having in the long run? Anyway, I wish we could hurry this story along. There's no need to drag it out; there will be plenty of story to tell once Brady knows Chloe is alive. I REALLY hope that Austin's return means that Days will get back on track with the Austin/Nicole pairing. I really enjoyed their budding relationship when it began before Austin Peck left the show.
Speaking of Nicole....I don't know about you guys...but I'm still waiting for her to be caught for her various crimes. Since Reilly has so conveniently brought Colin back from the dead - she doesn't have to worry about that murder charge or being blackmailed by Victor (he was forcing her to stay married to him by holding Colin's murder over her head). But, there are things that she did do that she has to answer for. Namely orchestrating Victor's attempted murder, keeping Shawn's captivity a secret and plotting to keep Brady and Chloe apart. And now it looks like Nicole will go along with Stan's suggestion to botch Chloe's surgery. Something tells me that Nicole will have to watch out for Mama Wesley though. Have I all ready mentioned how much I love Nancy Wesley? Message to TPTB: Bring her back full-time and pit her against Nicole. Maybe some of you don't remember Nancy when she first came on the scene but she was a master schemer/villain herself and she could more than handle Nicole Walker.
Random:
I have a question; It concerns Rex's ability to hack in to John's computer and steal his plans for rescuing Philip. I know a fair bit about computers but not so much about hacking. I figure that one of you out there must have some knowledge, or could ask someone who has knowledge. So... my question is this: Is it true that a hacker can gain access to your computer - while you have PC security services (firewall/anti-virus software) installed - and steal information without your knowing about it?? And what about the firewalls that Rex said he was running in to? He said that he was able to gain entry to John's computer while it was running a virus scan. Is that possible? Why didn't the firewall work? So if anyone out there in cyber-land can answer my question - send me an email. I'm not so much interested in whether the show was accurate (because it never is; so who really cares) but I'm now concerned about my real live computer and its' potential vulnerability.
Reader Feedback: Thanks to everyone who wrote in! I love reading your comments and feedback about the show and this column; so keep them coming!
From Mallory:" I personally cant stand to watch Days anymore. I started watching that show when I was 9 years old, and a show has to be pretty good to keep a 9 year old entertained. I would run home from school just to watch it, and now...when I watch it, it makes me want to rip my eyes out! The storys just dont ever end, and when they do...nobody cares because its been dragged out for so long that it doesnt even make a difference. I am soo sick of seeing the same conversations between the same characters (mimi and rex, hope and bo) I can basically predict what will be said from each character now. I seriously hope that Georgia turns out to be really dead, and then Billie runs off to Paris because she is so devestated, seriously...why is she on the show!? The show didnt start to suck too bad after JER started writting, cause I use to have a few storylines that I would watch and then change the channel...but now...there is not one story on that show that I enjoy watching, sometimes I find myself putting it on mute whenever Sami talks. I just wish they would change the writer, and make Days back into the show that use to make me run home from school so I could watch it. PS - I am looking sooo forward to Austin coming back! I never really liked the character, but as long as he stirs something different up on the show, I welcome him back." I agree with you Mallory. Let's keep our fingers crossed that TPTB will realize the need to shake things up. ~P
From Macarena:" Never mind obtaining weapons -- has Shawn ever held one? Did Bo or Hope take him to the shooting range? I liked Shawn when he was sweet and constantly taking care of JJ, (I think that's what they called the cuter baby switched with Zach). Where IS Zach? Hope shouldn't give Billie the satisfaction of kicking Bo out of their room. Where is Zach? Hope should go back to being a cop; all she's doing is obsessing over stupid Bo and Billie. But I was SO happy she called him on his sexist "protection" of Billie versus independent Philip. John SHOULD dump Kate; it should be unacceptable to him for anyone to strike his child, no matter how old she is. But they have to stay together in order to get engaged. And why is John so eager to help Philip? He feels useless because he couldn't just rush right into the rescue, yet he repeatedly refused to help stepdaughter Sami and is currently behaving as if she doesn't exist!" Always great to hear your feedback Macarena - and I agree with you, John is being totally unfair to Sami (though she does sometimes deserve it, the way she treats him). To your question about Shawn and using a weapon - the same question could apply to any of the guys; except maybe Lucas. We know he used to carry a gun, but I doubt he's ever used one. ~P
From Nikki:"Can someone tell me how Mimi, Shawn, Belle, Rex, and Jan pay for their apts? Do any of them have jobs or are they paying for it with their good looks?" Well, this is Salem of course! The city of free houses, clothes, cars... etc. Why work when you're beautiful? I think the biggest question mark for me is Mimi and Shawn. We know that Belle has wealthy parents, Jan inherited money and Rex supposedly works for the University. But how the heck do Mimi and Shawn support themselves?? ~P
From Ryan:"they could have Jan get caught from all her crimes and have her break away, i think being exposed and embarassed and all that stuff would be a huge punishment for Jan, i dont care for Jan but i really like the actress who plays her, who knows maybe they'll pull a Bonnie thing with her and she'll come back, i would like to see a struggle break out with Mimi and Jan (a real 1) and have Mimi kill Jan in self devense and stuff and see how Mimi deals with that. i just love Mimi and wish they could make her the happy girl she usta b fresh out of High school hahahaha! and Chloe, i want Chloe back full time as well! lol (but not with Brady cuz i dont like Brady, lets put Chloe with Austin!)" Hmmmm, Chloe and Austin? That might be good. I admit that I am a die-hard Chloe/Brady fan, but at this point, I'd welcome anything new. ~P
From Donna Evans:" It is difficult to comment on one particular episode as they nearly all have kept me disgusted for sometime now. I used to consider DAYS as the epitome of soaps. However, it has become a laughing stock as is evident because there are no awards going to any of the actors recently. Mickey and Bonnie are almost idiotic together and the threesome in bed-sickning. Shawn becoming a drinking self absorbed hateful kid is not even believable. The Jack and imposter Jennifer in Jennifer's own home is unbelievable and Bo's duty to Billie over a daughter believed dead (and I am tired of the dead coming back to life-insult to our integrity), makes Tony more dangerous than Stefano ever was but surely the entire town of Salem cannot be controled by one man. So this whole DOOL story has gone from the top to the pits as far as I am concerned and I too use my VCR and watch what ever episode I still consider worthwhile in about ten minutes. I have been a viewer since 1970 and it has never been a t its lowest." I agree with you Donna, it's sad indeed. I read a recent interview with Ken Corday and he was asked about the lack of Emmy noms for Days. Mr. Corday didn't really seem bothered by it; his comment was that he couldn't understand why they were being shut-out in the nominations when they win the Fan Choice award every year. My question is: What fans are picking Days as their favorite show? It can't be the people that are actually watching the show. :) :) ~P
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