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.

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.

A Lost Storyline

Ok, Days fans. Erase everything that we have built up for the last three years from your mind. Forget every shred of revealing evidence, and think of a storyline completely differently from the way it actually happened.

Now that you've done that: Big Reveal: Parker is Daniel's.

...What?

Yes, Parker was actually Daniel's all along.

But...everything you said for the past three years led us to the conclusion that-

-No, Parker is Daniel's.

But...

No, Daniel's. We changed it.

This joke of  reveal is very disappointing. The new writers were doing such a great job.

They brought Kristen back, and revisited EVERYBODY's previous inclinations toward the character. Brady, Marlena, John, Hope, Jennifer, all of which coincided with their characters from twenty years ago.(about). The introduction of a homosexual relationship; making it just as volatile and lovable as any other relationship on daytime. Paternity questions with a young pregnancy. Sami caught in the middle of two handsome men.

Classic Days with new and captivating twists and at the same time keeping it real.

But, now? Turning one of the show's most elaborate and dramatic paternity reveals into a joke. Not cool.

Let me explain...Chloe Lane is coming back to Salem. How do the writers explain this? Well, apparently they couldn't come up with anything better than, "Parker's real father is someone in Salem at this time."

What really makes this a terrible storyline is the fact that the writers are asking us to throw out everything we remember from 2010-2011. If they think they can just come in and say, "Oh, no. That was a mistake," they are sadly mistaken.

The old writers worked their butts off to make that a thrilling story for the viewers at the time. And the Chloe/Daniel/Philip question was played out so much, that fans began collecting facts, trying to put the pieces together. Once the reveal happened (that Philip was the father) that fact was solidified and all the loose ends were tied.

The timing was even right. Philip and Chloe got together on April 23, 2010. Chloe was with Daniel just long enough afterwards to make the baby's father questionable. It made so much sense: Dan and Chloe had been trying for a while and nothing happened. Then Philip gives it a try....

What happened to that logic?

During the test results story, the writers made us think that all the characters involved switched the results by having them do something on their computers/mobile devices. (Philip, Melanie, Chloe, Daniel) But, all four situations were explained.

Then, they made Caroline switch it who has a surprising knowledge of technology for an old lady. But what they did was explained: she heard Stephanie talk about it, she had the password 'cause she worked there, and she hated Kiriakis love children. She had the means, motive, and opportunity.

They story the new writers try to pass off---completely illogical. Ian, Stephanie's friend, was a nerd. And now he's gotten in an AA program for substance abuse? He was a shy nerd. Also, he didn't know what the results meant when he retrieved them for Stephanie. She told him that "Neg." meant that Phil was the dad AFTERWORDS. That flashback they showed was completely out of context. Why would he switch it, if he didn't know what it meant?

Also, after Parker was born, there was multiple evidence that they came up with to support the idea that Philip was his father. Whenever Parker was fussy, Philip's touch and voice would calm him down. On multiple occasions.

What happened to that?

Philip had such a connection with Parker that he felt that he was ready to be a father after holding him. (They did the same thing with Mia: she had a stronger connection with Grace than with Sydney cause Grace was her real daughter.)

Where'd that go?

And the kicker: Parker has DIMPLES!  Hello?! Jay Kenneth Johnson(Philip) has the biggest dimples ever! Dan said, "I don't know what side of the family that came from but it sure is cute," as they close up on JKJ's dimples. If you notice, one shot of Parker now, in 2013 showed him smiling with dimples.

How do the writer's explain that? They don't!

Also, Chloe and Daniel are both dark-skinned with dark hair. Yet, Parker is light-skinned with blonde hair. After they had the big dramatic reveal in the church (so awesome), Parker was shown with blonde hair growing in. He looks so much like Philip!

If the writers were going to switch paternity, then why did they cast a light-skinned toddler with blonde hair and dimples? That's very suspicious. He does't look like either of his "parents."

This secret and reveal was so incredibly huge that it took a whole year to do. Most storylines last half a year, if not a few months. The Phloe affair and Parker's paternity dominated the screen-time from 2010-early 2011:
Phloe having sex. Phloe keeping it secret. Nathan finding out about Chloe. Carly finding out about Chloe. Carly telling Chloe she's pregnant. Paternity test. Steph finding out. Steph schemes. Dan suspicious of Phil. Mel finding out about Chloe. The wedding. The birth. Dan finding out about Phil. The "Beatdown at the Baptism." Mel leaving Phil. Dan kicks Chloe out. Chloe suicide. The last name switch.

Such a great story! Seriously...a guy get's his ex-girlfriend and step-mother in-law pregnant! Come on! That's a fantastic storyline! How could you just turn everything that happened that year around? It's like they took an eraser and slid it over April 2010-August 2011.

You can't just erase the hard work of the writers. You can't un-experience that storyline. You can't take back that moment when it all came together and all made sense. You can't forget this.

For Phloe fans everywhere whose hearts were broken, I offer this: the actor playing Parker is light-skinned and dimpled. They could've cast a dark one. Perhaps, they will correct this mistake some day.

For now, we must cringe every time we are reminded of the facts, evidence, emotions, upheavals, reveals, stories... and the days of our lives that year that were lost.