Unholy Irony

We are gathered here today to celebrate...

Sami& Gabi at Ari's Christening (Photo: nbc.com) 

a secret coming out,
a near-death experience,
a beatdown, or
a dead man coming back to life.

Days of our Lives really likes to play with time and setting in huge storyline events. If you ask yourself, "What is the worst possible time and place for this to happen?" then DAYS responds with..."St. Luke's Church."

Over the years, it has been a tradition that a big reveal or any key event in a storyline happens when the audience least expects it. Therefore, a lot of things that could go wrong do go wrong in a church. However, it has been so common for the irony of having bad things happen in a sacred place, that now the audience does expect it.

There is no such thing as a wedding uninterrupted or a christening that ends happily. You see the irony: this is supposed to be a merry and holy event, but something sinful and tragic always happens. In Salem, the main church is St. Luke's; This is where all the drama takes place. (Most recently, Arianna Grace's Christening)

Many of the events and secrets involve sins and violations of the Ten Commandments. At Arianna's Christening, we saw Abigail stare at the one about "Adultery." Gabi's conscience was plagued by the one stating, "thou shalt not kill," before her victim walked through the door. Others include "bearing false witness," "stealing," "taking the Lord's name in vain," and "honoring thy father and mother"(paternity reveals- who is thy father?).

So, we know that Ari's baptism involved murder, adultery, and deception (bearing false witness). On the same day(supposedly), a year ago, Nick and Gabi's wedding fell apart when Chad objected and prompted Will to reveal that he was the father of Gabi's baby. Nick was trying to steal Will's baby: that's a sin too.
Read a detailed account in A"Big Reveal" is a Big Deal.

So, there we've got lying, stealing, the honoring-father question, and a disregard for the sanctity of marriage. (that last one's a little weak: this is Salem, and Will for obvious reasons.)

Another Christening that went horribly wrong is the famous Phloe one-night-stand reveal in 2010 that led to one of the many twists for little Parker. Right at the end of his baptism, Caroline and Kayla burst in exclaiming that Daniel was not Parker's father because of Philip and Chloe's indiscretion. This led to two divorces, a paternity swap, and a old lady's stroke. Now, that's a Baptism! Complete with adultery, lying, the honoring-father question, disregard for marriage vows, a medical emergency, and to top it all off, Dan tried to beat Phil with a crucifix. If that's not taking the Lord in vain I don't know what is!

The other church event that seems to warrant drama and upset is a wedding. Almost every church wedding is met with unholy irony. Let's go in chronological order to name a few big ones:

In 1992, Isabella gave birth to Brady Black in the middle of her wedding to John. A happy occasion, but not really a proud moment for the parish.

Before Sami had a wedding of her own, she ruined her sister Carrie's in 1995 when she fainted and announced she was pregnant with the groom, Austin's, child. The sanctity of marriage is clearly present at the time, but this wedding's real sins are revealed at Sami and Austin's wedding two years later. Will's true paternity is revealed as are Sami's lying, stealing, and father switching schemes. Once Lucas holds his son, Carrie and Austin get married, so there was some happiness there.

In 2005, Philip Kiriakis and Belle Black have their wedding at St. Luke's. However, Shawn D, who had been kept away from Salam and still loved Belle, decides to crash the wedding. Literally. He drives his motorcycle through the stain glass windows in the middle of the ceremony, showering the guests in shattered glass. With a white dress stained in blood, sins committed at this tragic union include bride stealing and potential murders.

In keeping with Sami's terrific history with weddings, her wedding to Lucas in 2005 ends in Kate revealing that Sami had been masquerading as "Stan." An interrupted ceremony with a man peeling his face off to demonstrate Sami's lies causes yet another failed wedding for Miss Brady. But that's not the only exciting thing that happens: after Lucas calls off the wedding, Sami's sis and maid of honor, Belle goes into labor and gives birth to Claire right there in St. Luke's.

If that wasn't enough, when Sami reluctantly marries EJ in 2007 the groom gets shot in the back with a bullet from Sami's son, Will. The marriage was brought on by blackmail, so there's lying in addition to the attempted murder. Will definitely wasn't honoring his step-father that day...

Finally, the most recent wedding was probably as sacrilegious as you can get. In November 2013, Brady and Kristen were to be married by Father Eric when mommy Marlena played a scandalous sex tape before the ceremony. The entire congregation watched a steamy visual of Eric, the priest, and Kristen, the bride, going at it.

Eric, Kristen, & Sami watching the sex tape (Photo:tvsourcemagazine.com)

 And then Victor said, "Let's watch it again!" Only Mr. Kiriakis can inject humor into a situation as tense and serious as this!

Brady started beating up his brother in his ceremonial robes. Eric realized that Kristen had drugged and raped him. It was hard to watch as Eric thew those vestments on the ground, shuddered as he knelt against the altar, and yelled at his mother. Because it looks like he broke his vows, Eric has been suspended from the priesthood and his future is still unclear now in February. A public sex tape in a church at a wedding involving the bride and the priest has got to be the most unholy event that has ever taken place inside St. Luke's.

In addition to all of the situational irony, there may also be some verbal irony in the name of the church.  In the Bible, St. Luke went with Paul on many journeys and was loyal throughout Pau's imprisonment. DAYS's culminating storylines could reflect the journeys and a few of the incidents resulted in imprisonment (Shawn D, Lucas) or they should have.

 Luke's Gospel is the only one that shares the stories of the Annunciation to Mother Mary and the Prodigal Son. This could reflect the many mothers who lied about their children's paternity. Also, the son who does wrong could be any of the sons who have sinned in this church, and then got off scott free as the prodigal son got rewarded. Also, Luke's preaches that we should be open to all hope in God's mercy. After all of these tragedies, there seems to be some level of forgiveness...unless it's evading retribution or revenge.

Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. Many of the characters that were involved were doctors. Dr. Tom Horton was the patriarch who started it all; Dr. Daniel's life changed at Parker's baptism; Dr. Marlena delivered Belle's baby and played the sex tape, Dr. Lexie was involved in many of the medical emergencies, and Dr. Cameron let Gabi's secret slip.

The writer's probably did not go that deep, but it's interesting!

One thing the writers did do was arrange for big drama to occur in a supposedly peaceful place. Next time the St. Luke's set is being used, expect there to be some irony in those happy moments.

50 Ways To Say Goodbye

After the fantastic and surprising win for Days of Our Lives at the Daytime Emmy's, fans had little time to revel in the soap's victory. While many of the directors, producers, and cast members celebrated their "Outstanding Daytime Drama Award," Chandler Massey was behind the curtain telling interviewers about his plans to leave the show once his contract expired.

From that point on, the talk was 20% "Yay, Days won!"
And 80% "OMFG, Chandler's leaving! What's gonna happen to WilSon?"

Unfortunately, the Days PR had to deal with one of the most horrific things a soap has to go through: a member of the cast leaving, and taking their character with them.

Guy Wilson & Freddie Smith: new WilSon promotional photo shoot

At first, producer, Ken Corday, said that there wouldn't be a recast. However, clearly, WilSon wouldn't survive if this were true. And Corday could not in good conscience let go of a storyline or a couple that had granted his show so much attention and notoriety.

This, I believe, was a good decision. WilSon wasn't ready to die. And ratings would have gone down so much, it would have significantly hurt the show.


Then, however, the question became: how do we continue without Chandler?

Well, there are several ways to deal with an actor leaving: Recast, Character exit, Cure exit, Character death, Invisible person, and Fading into oblivion.

These are the main strategies soaps use to keep the story going when the show loses an actor.


RECAST
The one most commonly used in the middle of a storyline is the recast. Luckily, for WilSon fans, Guy Wilson is stepping in so that the storyline can continue. I further go into Days recast in Too Faces, One Soul.

Instead of having the character leave with the actor, a recast with another similar-looking actor ensures that no gaps occur.

CHARACTER EXIT
Perhaps the most common strategy is to just have the character leave Salem. When a character decides it is the time to move or relocate to Chicago, London, or elsewhere, usually it is because their actor counterpart is leaving the show.

Carrie and Austin retreat to Switzerland whenever they leave. Billie went to London to work at a Titan branch. Steve/Patch and Kayla went to Africa. Lucas went to work in Japan. Max and Chelsea went to London. Philip went to Chicago. Chloe followed him to Chicago. Melanie went to Europe to see her mom. And most recently, Cameron joined Doctors Without Borders.

CURE EXIT
Often times, a character's storyline begins to culminate when their deadline is approaching. This could result in some kind of injury that demands the character's relocation--and thus an exit from Salem.

John Black left with Marlena for Switzerland to cure his paralysis, when the actors, Drake Hogestyn and Deidre Hall, were too expensive to keep in the cast. Carly Manning, who was suffering from a severe drug addiction, went away on a retreat cruise. And most recently, Chad DiMera left for Boston to have heart surgery and is staying there for unknown and unexplored reasons.

CHARACTER DEATH
The cleanest and yet most tragic way to deal with a character upon an actor's departure is to simply kill them off. On the hit NBC TV show, "F.R.I.E.N.D.S." Joey's character on Days of Our Lives got thrown down an elevator shaft when he badmouthed the writers. Beware the DAYS writers!

Anyway, some notable deaths were Tony DiMera who fell off the pier stairs and got impaled by a sharp pole in 2009. During the DAYSaster (thanks, Gabi) Jack and Madison both lost their lives and their stories took a drastic turn. Sadly, Lexi Carver died of a brain tumor when Renee Jones left.

Of course, the most recent example is our friend Nick Fallon. When Blake Berris left, Gabi decided to finally stand up to him and hit him in the head with a rock. Now his death will serve as a major plot point for these three murderesses. However, Nick Fallon has recently been written back on the show as alive, so the writers are using the tactic of "supposed murder" to generate some drama and then bring the character back to life.

Even if a character is "killed" in a soap, he or she can always come back. During the dry period of 2002-2004, the producers and writers created the Salem Stalker to kill off half the inhabitants of Salem, only to have them come back, alive living on Melaswen (new salem, backwards).

Marlena, Alice, Jack, Roman, and Abe were among these victims. John Black has been killed off a few times and has always come back(with or without his memory). And don't get me started on Stefano DiMera...the phoenix will always rise again.

INVISIBLE PERSON
A less common strategy is to simply have the character's storyline continue but off screen. Like Greek plays, the character stays in the story but he is never shown on screen. The best example of this is what's going on with Bo.

Bo can't die and he can't leave Salem because his character is too important and he is half of Bope. DAYS writers can't destroy the character and they can't break up a supercouple. So, the only solution is to have an invisible person. Hope often mentions Bo, and that he's on some sort of secret mission. Victor and other characters ask about him, but we never get a solid answer. He's still involved in the story because of Hope and Ciara, but he's not there physically because Peter Reckell left the cast.

FADE INTO OBLIVION
Sometimes a character is small enough that the writers don't have to make a big fuss over the end of that character. If a storyline comes to a natural conclusion and there's not a lot of drama surrounding that person, then the writers just have to stop writing for that character and he/she will soon be forgotten.

The best example is Stephanie Johnson. When Nathan left her and her conflict with Melanie ended, Shelly Henning left the cast. But Stephanie didn't have a dramatic exit storyline. She just stopped showing up on screen. No one bothered because nobody's storyline intersected with her. Her character was just able to fade into oblivion.


***
When Chandler Massey announced his departure in early summer, all of these possibilities were floating around. There are so many ways the writer's could handle this. Will could go away with Gabi (when Camilla left). Will could have died, or been sent to prison. Will could have been an invisible person with Sonny as the central story character. OR Will could be recast.

Clearly, DAYS made the right decision. This storyline isn't over yet. Will doesn't have to leave even though Chandler does. WilSon must live on!

Unfortunately, we'll have to say goodbye to Chandler. But Will...we don't wanna say goodbye to him just yet.

*The section of this post that has been updated on 1/27/14 is underlined.

Two Faces, One Soul

"Wilson is the new half on WilSon!" read the Soap Opera Digest headline.

With a heavy heart, the fans bid farewell to Chandler Massey, who brought life to Will Horton for nearly four years and single-handedly transitioned the viewers into DAY's gay storyline.

Many fans are sad to see him go, but still support the show and are excited to see Guy Wilson take on the role. Others are swearing to never watch the show again because apparently "there is no WilSon (and no show) without Chandler."

Um...no!

Yes. He was a big asset. But the show must go on. The storyline must go on. And after all, this isn't the first character to switch actors in the middle of a storyline. And this won't be the last.

Characters like Cameron Davis and Taylor Walker lost their actors without notice and had to be replaced immediately. Characters like Gabi Hernandez and Will Horton were switched to accommodate   a different storyline and to take the character in a new direction.  This is where Chandler Massey got his break.

Some actor switches are the result of a character coming back and the show is unable to get the original actor. Abby Deveraux was on in 2006 and came back as someone else in 2011. Philip Kiriakis left in 2002 and returned as a different face in 2003. (And then the reverse happened in 2006 and 2007). Brady Black was one actor in 2004 and then another in 2008.

To see a chart of these recasts view my Tumblr posts Here

And Here

The famous couple, Shelle, was played by four different combinations of actors. Originally, at Salem High it was Kirsten Storms and Jason Cook. Then, Storms left and Charity Ramher stepped in for two seconds. Then, they cast Martha Madison as Belle alongside Cook. These two were the ones who were involved in the infamous year-long paternity secret regarding their daughter Claire. Jason Cook played the man in love with his best friend's wife and secretly wishing Claire was his. Until..the secret came out. He was!

Unfortunately, that's all Cook got to play. He found out he was the father, had a fight with the step-father, Philip (the replacement, Kyle Brandt), and then was recast!

Brandon Beemer was thrown into the middle of a love triangle and a custody battle. And then started the last version of Shelle, Madison and Beemer.

Interestingly, the custody battle included another recast. When Philip reappeared for the hearing in 2007, Jay Kenneth Johnson, the original Philip, returned to the role.

So, the award for most recasts in a storyline goes to...this one!

If Brandon Beemer can transition into a 7-year supercouple role in the middle of a paternity reveal and still carry the story with the support of the fans... then, I think Guy will be fine.

The key to a recast is keeping the character true. If the new actor doesn't have the same motivation in the scenes, or the same demeanor, or the same chemistry with their scene partners, then the recast fails


The transition must be seamless, so much so that it doesn't seem like a different person.

If the fans don't like it, then it tanks. In the world of soaps, this kind of thing happens all the time, and the fans deal with it. We pretend it has been the same person all along. Like nothing has changed.

Within the two actors, the characters themselves stay the same. Although they may have two different faces, they have one soul.

Shhh...It's a Secret

"I hate secrets." Said Will Horton before he went to testify at his mother's trial. Little did he know that his boyfriend was actually keeping secrets from him at that very moment. More than one, in fact.

Indeed, the award for secret keeping this week goes to Sonny Kiriakis and Chad DiMera. Our friend Sonny is keeping secrets from his beloved partner, both pertaining to the mother of his child. Last year, he discovered that Gabi was responsible for what happened to Melanie and consequently the explosions. He has not, however, told this to Will. And recently, Sonny learned that Gabi was sleeping with Nick. He is also refraining from telling Will this information. Meanwhile, Chad is spinning a secret inside a secret. Chad told Cameron that he had a brain tumor, which he does not. And he has Cameron believing that he is keeping this "secret" from Abigail.

Phew!

Both are participating in the most infamous and yet most popular strategy for soap drama: secret keeping.

In Chad's case, he is manipulating the situation and doing it for his own personal gain. This sounds suspiciously like a DiMera. Oh, wait...

Sonny, on the other hand, is being manipulated by a) Chad so he doesn't go to jail for breach of contract and b) Gabi as she is threatening to leave and take Ari with her. Sonny is clearly also doing it to spare Will's feelings...or so he probably tells himself. It is odd because he says that he hates it, and he knows it's wrong... but he does it anyway.

The worst, the absolute worst thing you can do (on a soap and in life) other than cheat is lie and keep secrets from your partner. When a connection between two people is strong and built on trust, one cannot ever betray that trust, otherwise hellfire will burn the relationship to the ground.

"Will and I do not keep secrets from each other," Sonny said to Gabi.
"Keeping secrets, especially about something this serious is NOT a good way to start a relationship," said Kayla to Chad.
My post on Tumblr inspired this and can be viewed here

Indeed, Kayla was correct. It is never a good idea to keep secrets at any point in a relationship. Yet, so many soap characters do it. And it ALWAYS backfires.

If we look at Chad, he has already lied about falling for Melanie while he was with Abby the first time and that did not end well. Sonny is keeping two secrets currently. However, Will also kept a pretty big one from Sonny--the fact that he was the father of Gabi's baby.

Interestingly, the most popular secrets, and the most dramatic, are paternity secrets. They are very easy to lie about and almost alway cause domestic issues. (which are infinitely fun to watch). When the paternity of a child is called into question it usually will involve a lot of people, thus increasing the number of scenes a show can have. With a bunch of people enveloped in the story, either directly or indirectly, keeping paternity secrets are sure to stir up a lot of drama.

Will has had first hand experience with paternity secrets. His mother instilled in him the art of secret keeping. For even at a young age, Samantha Brady had everyone in Salem either believing her lies or keeping her secrets.

And her secrets continue to this day. To name a few there was: Will's paternity, drugging Austin, all her Carrie-stunts, custody-battle lies, pretending to be Stan, Grace's birth, shooting EJ, sleeping with EJ, and her most recent secrets from her attorney including knowing Bernardi, Will's involvement, Nick's incident, and the video.

Now we know why Will hates secrets.

One of the most well done paternity secrets was the one occurring throughout the year 2010. Chloe Lane slept with two men and had no idea who the father was. We still don't know! (I still believe we don't know the whole story for the explanation was rushed, too easily accepted, and Parker looks like Phil). Read about it in "The Lost Storyline" here

Chloe's paternity secret took the whole year of 2010 and extended into the aftermath in 2011. Her secret kept leaking and springing up more holes. Too many people found out. And that is the reason that it all came crashing down in the most heated baptism ever.

Other secrets, such as the Sydnapping, locking Vivian in a coffin, locking Carly in a coffin, locking Marlena in a basement, and faking a pregnancy because of a miscarriage, are the product of Days drama writing over the years. And this is not even including all of the secrets the DiMera's had.

So, we can safely assume that keeping secrets is the catalyst for dramatic revelations in soap operas. And since our beloved soaps are so thirsty for drama, the characters keep secrets even if they don't want to and know it's wrong. (Or they are a DiMera)

We suspect that Will will soon find out about the Gabi/Nick secret. Chad could possibly get away with his tumor secret for a while longer before Cameron starts digging. Gabi's secret should come out eventually. Although, it possibly already did when Chad found out and gave her grief.

With all of this secret keeping in Salem between Sonny, Chad, Sami, Stefano, Kristen, Marlena, and Nicole, drama is bound to unfold once these secrets are exposed.

Like the law of gravity: what goes up must come down...on a soap opera, a secret must always come out.

Don't Forget

"You wanna forget dad? You wanna replace him with this joke of a relationship? Fine. But just don't ask me to respect it."

JJ Deveraux called out his mother on Days. He admitted that he is infuriated at her being able to jump into a relationship so quickly after the death of her long-time love.

Jack and Jennifer have gone through the soap opera ringer. Although they became a supercouple and shared many romantic and happy moments, it seems as though they could not escape tragedy. A brief look-back at the couple's history reveals more bad times than good (all leading up to Jack's tragic death).

Interestingly, after almost two decades in a tumultuous relationship, filled with love and heart brake, and then more love, Jennifer moved on rather too quickly.

JJ did not JUST criticize his mother; he ALSO criticized Days' storyline.

Many fans were understandingly upset by the demise of an unstable, but beloved character. Everyone expected Jennifer to be in mourning. Therefore, her love-life would be put on hold.

At first it seemed as though Daniel would respect her mourning period. But as we all know,  respecting someone's space makes for boring daytime!

SO, naturally, after the whole fiasco with Nicole, the Dannifer ship set sail once more! Yay!

But, wait...didn't the love of her life just die?
Oh, no. Don't worry. We are using the excuse that, "Jack would want me to be happy."

Days of our Lives, like many soaps faced with the aftermath of having to kill off a major character, try to play the progressive card. We are all about the future. We are moving forward and are not dwelling on the past.

HOWEVER, most of the best soap opera storylines, including Days', are based on dealing with or dwelling on events from the past.

JJ brings storylines about teenage rebellion, drugs, mom-son tension, and children-based relationship problems,  by revisiting the emotions surrounding his father's death.

In fact, many Days' deaths inspire other storylines. They usually involve the fallout or the aftermath in the lives of people who were close to the person who died. Characters' reactions to deaths evolve into stories of their own.

One of the most heart-braking death's on Days was Zack Brady's. As Hope Brady screamed in disbelief and agony, clutching Bo's arm until she wailed at the top of her lungs in the middle of Salem University Hospital after Lexi informed her that her youngest son was brain-dead, those of us watching at home felt our hearts break and reached for tissues.

Zack's demise, however, was the beginning of a storyline that would tear a family apart. Hope would go on to blame Chelsea and blame Bo for her son's death. Chelsea would later gain back Hope's trust when she saved Bo's life by donating part of her pancreas.

Ciara's birth would bring both happiness and bad memories for Bo and Hope. Their relationship would constantly be suffering from the old wounds from Zack's death. Somehow, he always was the source of their marital problems. Even six years afterwards, in a session with Marlena in 2012, Bo and Hope admitted that the "Zack issue" had never been resolved.

In 2010, Hope had even gotten addicted to medication, became a serial killer, nearly had an affair,  got sentenced to prison, and escaped from prison( while uncovering a conspiracy), all originating from issues surrounding Zack's death.

UNLIKE JACK, Zack's death was not forgotten.

Another plot-important death was the supposed murder of Tony DiMera in 2009. Now, Tony has been off and on the show for almost thirty years, ending when he fell off the staircase on the pier and was skewered by a sharp, broken pole after a fight with Philip Kiriakis. Days made sure that Tony would be remembered!

Thus, Stefano started a DiMera-Kiriakis war!

The war between the families officially began when Stefano accused Philip of murdering Tony. Stefano ordered a hit on the young Kiriakis and his shooting stirred up a lot of drama.

The DiMera-Kiriakis feud consisted of turf wars, hit men, business project theft, culminating in a truce in 2011 when Maggie got shot in the crossfire.

Even Will's blackmail is a good example. EJ, Stefano, and Nick have all blackmailed Will about his shooting EJ in 2007. Will's past actually came back to haunt him!

 EJ recovered and now he and Will are on good terms. Seriously, it's old news, six years ago...and yet we are still talking about it!

JJ is determined to ensure that his father's death is not forgotten. Like Zack Brady, Tony DiMera, and many others, his passing should generate stories and not simply be accepted as part of the past.

So, soaps may be pressured to keep things fresh and move on to new storylines. But the most entertaining, are those that are rooted in past events.

Besides, JJ has a point!

"You mourned dad for, what, eight months before you jumped into the sac with this guy?"

Take some time to dwell on your past, Jennifer. It may lead to some great plot twists!

 Because Jack Deveraux refuses to be forgotten.

Thin Line Between Love & Hate

Question: Why do we all like Vargas? He's not a nice guy...he's not a veteran character...he's not related to anyone we love....he's not a positive asset to Salem...WHY then?

Answer: Because he's against Nick. And we like characters who are enemies of characters we hate! Simple as that.

But that seems kind of odd, doesn't it? Do we really hate Nick that much that we'll like anybody who opposes him? ...Yup.

How did we come to dislike Nick so much? When he first was up for parole, many people wanted to give him a second chance. That's one of Days' big themes. SECOND CHANCES. We remembered the Nick Fallon pre-prison.
The sweet guy who Chelsea dumped for Daniel. The guy who was buds with Max. The guy who took in foster children he didn't know and helped support their mom. The genius who created an alternative fuels project. The guy who tugged on all his relative's heartstrings when he took responsibility for his actions and went to prison.

This Nick Fallon is who we felt for when he came back. Unfortunately, we were in for a classic Days twist: turning a good guy into a bad guy...or vice versa.

Even the most conservative, anti-homosexual person would agree that Nick's behavior is unjust, uncalled for, and cruel.  The fact is, our perspective of Nick changed the second he started in on Will.

It's safe to say that WilSon is one of the most popular couples on the show right now. So, any threat to a fan fav, especially a threat based on social bigotry, is a catalyst for character hatred.

The young, skinny, super-genius, underdog is gone. And the writers have re-worked his character so that we all turn against him, and root for his demise.

The same phenomenon happened recently when Salem's opera-singer came back. Chloe Lane is a complex character whose "good guy" and "bad guy" status changes constantly. (Read full bio in "Trip Down Memory LANE")

When Chloe first came to Salem in 1999, she was the unpopular, independent, different, taciturn, shy, and dark new girl. Not fitting in, being bullied, and yet having an amazing talent made "Ghoul Girl" a powerful character that you rooted for and tried to relate to.

However, her following storylines shook up that image. Her seductive, cheating, lying, and sneaky ways soon stole any sympathy we previously had for her. Occasionally we'd switch back over to her side when Kate tried to kill her, or when Vivian was manipulating her, or when she had post-partdom depression.

But upon her return, which was soley for the purpose of destroying Daniel's relationship with Jennifer and getting back with him, she crossed the line to "HATE" again.

This is where I realized the power of this trick--of liking one character JUST because one hates another.
Admittedly, at first, I was not in favor of the Dannifer ship. I was far too devastated over the Jack&Jennifer break up and later widow issue. I LOVED watching Jack&Jennifer scenes. They are adorable and had that quality that always brought them back together, even through years of tumultuous relationship problems.

Therefore, I was absolutely against Daniel nudging himself in and ruining a long-time-running super couple.

However, Days was clever and got me to sing a different tune by using this trick. They brought back Chloe so that I had to chose a side: Dannifer...or Danloe.
By making me hate Chloe, I was forced to root for Dannifer.
My perspectives completely shifted because of this. If I don't want Chloe to be happy, then I want Jennifer to be happy.

Curse you, Days writers for forcing me to change my attitude!

Days has been exploring the different sides of "villains" to make them into people you empathize with. Notable ones include: Anna DiMera, Kate Roberts, Kristen DiMera, Nicole Walker, Mimi Lockhart, and...Sami Brady!

Yes. Samantha Gene Brady. The role won a special fan award for "America's Favorite Villain" at the 2002 Daytime Emmy Awards.

Sami was quite the villainess back on 1995 when she was conspiring against Austin and Carrie, drugging people, lying, scheming, seducing and hiding paternity results. The Carrie-Austin shippers really hated Sami and were relieved when she could no longer hold being a father to Will over Austin.

The continuing plays for Austin, Brandon, and Franco, kept Sami on the "Hate" side of the line. Her constant floating from one guy to the next never guaranteed a solid "Team Sami."

However, somewhere along the line, the way we viewed Sami changed. Maybe it was giving birth to twins, maybe it was being committed to Lucas, maybe it was being manipulated by the DiMera's, maybe it was in Witness Protection.
The fans begun to root for Sami. Her support skyrocketed and everyone started saying, "Go Sami!"

Lumi, EJami, Safe. So many people were pulling for these couples to work out. Now, Sami's many men are an ENDEARING part of her character.

Fan's perspective on characters can change on a dime. One minute you love them and want them to have a second chance. The next, you find yourself rooting for whoever can bring about their downfall!

The fabulous writing on Days is what makes these personalities so complex, that we are constantly deciding whether to LOVE them, or HATE them.

How to Become a Main Character

Toss your tasseled cap in the air, Sonny. You have officially graduated! Now you are a mainstream character.

This week, Sonny has gone beyond the confines of his storyline. Now that he has immersed himself in a storyline that has nothing to do with him, he can officially be called a series regular.

For the most part we have only seen Jackson Kiriakis within the walls of "Common Grounds" which is the name of his coffee shop that everyone has seemed to have forgotten. Sonny's screen-time has been dictated by what is he is doing in the "Will-gay" storyline.

Granted he talks to many character within this storyline (Will, Sami, Lucas, Kate, Gabi, Nick, EJ, Brian, Chad, Justin, Adrianne). But every time we see him, we see that his scenes at their core are dedicated to "Will's storyline."

HOWEVER, on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, Sonny Kiriakis stepped into the RATE storyline.

Rafe and Kate's relationship is a completely separate story. Now that Sonny knows their secret, he shall become the third character associated with the storyline. He is now THAT CHARACTER who finds out the secret, who is debating whether or not to tell, who will be persuaded to keep it quiet, and who will eventually be the one to unveil that secret.

Congratulations!

Because he is now a part of a storyline apart from the one he was originally brought on the show to do, he can now be recognized as part of the main cast. His character is being used for stuff outside his own story. This is a sign of a versatile character; one who will stay on for a while. He's versatile!

Sonny has surpassed other characters who were brought on to play their part in a specific story, but once their story was over, they had no use and their time on Days came to an end...
Some recent examples are: Prison Warden, Dr. Ben Walters, Madison James, Ian McAllister, Taylor Walker, Andrew...

Sonny has proven to be a sustainable character. He has earned his place in Salem. Being a Kiriakis, owning Common Grounds (again, "the coffee shop"), being the first gay character, being Will's boyfriend, and just being awesome!

Props to Freddie Smith! (who turned 25 this month)

Other characters before Sonny have done the same. They have come on the show intended for one specific storyline, but then graduated to others because they were so adaptable.

Probably the biggest success story is Rafe. Raphael Hernandez came on Days as Sami's flirty safe house guard. After the "Sydnapping" storyline ended and Sami returned, he could have disappeared. BUT the writers brought him back, gave him a job at the Salem PD, and put him together in a volatile relationship with Sami.

Rafe has gone beyond his original placement. He has been cloned. He has been with Carrie. He has been on John Black's detective team. He has been wrapped in EJole drama. Rafe was even the cause of three other characters on the show: Ariana, Gabi, and Dario.

Like Sonny, Rafe graduated into the main cast and is now one of the major hunks in Salem.

Another character who stayed on was Melanie Layton. She stayed on so long, her name changed three times!

She was originally brought on to the show as Max's half sister, Melanie Robbins- but her name was found to be Layton. After Max rescued his half-sister from Trent and her questionable lifestyle in Europe, she still had some reforming to do. Her scenes involved Max, Stephanie, Chelsea, Trent, and Maggie. Her story climaxed with Trent's murder and Nick's kidnapping.

After that, Max was to move to London. Melanie could have gone with him, but she stayed for one reason. As Max said, "Can you spell Kiriakis?"

Her following storylines gave her the names "Melanie Kiriakis" and "Melanie Jonas." Just before she left, she could have been "Melanie DiMera."

Smaller characters who did this would be people like Mia. She came to Days to give Nicole a baby, but stayed after that mess was over to move in with Maggie, have a relationship with Will, and to bring in Chad.

Cameron is a very recent one who came for Lexi's death, but stayed for Abigail...and to be a doctor (with a secret, now).

Yes, this seems to be the tradition in Salem. This is the test. The character is either good or bad, adaptable or non adaptable.

Luckily for Sonny, he's the kind of character who can be involved in other people's lives. He's not just the gay character. He's not just Will's devoted boyfriend. Now...he's the guy who knows about RATE.

ConGRADulations Sonny! I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of you.