I began watching Days Of Our Lives the last week of September 2009. All because of Crystal Chappell (formerly GL's Olivia) returning as Carly Manning. I really loved her on GL, and I just had to follow her to DAYS. I was entering a brand new world.
I had seen Days Of Our Lives before, over the past ten years. I recall Shawn & Belle during Jason Cook and Kirsten Storms' reign, and I saw some episodes during the serial-killings-turned-stuck-on-an-island storyline. I watched John & Marlena's final week last January. I know some things from DAYS' history but not much. I did not grow up with exposure to DAYS, and I never had any interest in watching it on a daily basis. Yet via the Daytime Confidential podcast I knew pretty much everything that was happening, including the huge baby Sydney story.
I had anticipation for full-time DAYS. It's always exciting to watch and/or get into something new. Carly would be back October 2, so I decided to start watching a week before that in order to know everything leading up to her return, which really had nothing to do with the other stories. After a few short weeks of truly enjoying the show, it lost its "new" appeal. I continued enjoying Carly's story and the Sydney story until she was kidnapped again thanks to EJ. But overall, I was in new territory. I was a stranger for not being raised with this show and for hardly knowing its history. And it has felt that way for the past five months (roughly).
I still don't know a lot of familial and former romantic relations. I don't care about the older veteran characters. For instance, when Mickey died, it didn't hurt me and Maggie's grief had almost no affect on me. The Horton family Christmas didn't warm my heart the way it would if I saw many previous Horton Christmases. Though, I do love the personalized ornaments. I don't see chemistry between two beloved couples: Rafe & Sami and Bo & Hope. Actually, most couples don't have a spark. Thus, obviously, I still have a ton to learn, and it will take time to care about the major families and root for the popular couples.
An added difficulty is getting use to Crystal Chappell in another role completely different from GL's Olivia Spencer. I had to read up on Carly's history, and she is a real rivalry for Hope. Since this is a new role for me, I haven't been impressed. And that must be because of Carly and Olivia's differences. Chappell also has to be portraying Carly differently. Carly has cried multiple times over fear of Vivian and missing her daughter, Melanie. Not once did I feel the urge to cry along with her. This Hope/Bo/Carly triangle has been pretty good, but I don't know which pairing to root for. Thus, it is all a learning process with Carly.
February sweeps and this past Tuesday marked huge turning points for me.
In my opinion, the most boring couple on DAYS is Daniel and Chloe. They are, unfortunately, so horribly boring. It's as simple as that. But it was a little saddening to see him tell Chloe having a baby the regular, natural way is impossible. Then it seemed like their story was dropped for a bit for more prominent storylines - not saddening at all. I can't say I was very happy or thrilled when Chloe had a bunch of positive pregnancy tests and planned for a baby with Daniel. I did feel a little happiness when she was excited about getting a sonogram/ultrasound done. And after these months of watching, hearing that there's no baby was extremely sad. I think I wanted to cry, or I almost did cry. And what a breakthrough that was for me to get emotional over Daniel & Chloe drama. Besides being tear-jerking, it was surprising. How could there be no baby when Chloe tested positive? This was suppose to be a miracle baby, but he/she wasn't meant to be at all.
Something else that affected me was the enormous drama surrounding Melanie and Phillip's wedding. All along Vivian had a plan to hurt Carly by killing her daughter. Except, once she knew the daughter was Melanie, she had already bonded with her. But Vivian would let that stop her. So, with the wedding being on Valentine's, the storyline was leading up to that occasion. And we all knew it would be a huge deal and that Vivian's plan would be put in motion. I've recently realized that, for the first time , I had high expectations for something on this show. I anticipated the wedding as, little by little, we viewers were told what Vivian's plan was. I think I actually wanted Vivian's plan to work to some extent because I did not want Melanie marrying Phillip while she still had feelings for Nathan. Once I saw that a lovely poisoned comb would do the trick, I expected its effects to take place during the wedding. I expected Carly to be there and for Melanie to collapse as she said, "I do" (or something like that). With the slow buildup of that comb, I just did not expect the ceremony to go off without a hitch.
Thus, DAYS disappointed me for the very first time. However, I did enjoy the drama of what happened to Carly as she discovered Melanie was in danger. It was scary good seeing her locked up underground in a basement. But I'm glad she has a tough side. Getting Vivian there with her was something I didn't see coming, and having Hope arrive for the rescue instead of Bo was great. What disappointed me wasn't that Vivian's plan with the comb didn't work but that the comb was switched with another. There was all this buildup, and the combs were simply switched. It just came off as weak to me, and I was confused because Melanie still passed out on the bed. I guess she really was lightheaded. And the ceremony happened like I didn't want. I thought that was it. Now Phillip and Melanie would fly off into the sunset for their honeymoon.
Oh, but NO! Thank heavens... Vivian escaped thanks to her henchman, and Hope and Carly were knocked out. Vivian got back to finish Melanie off, and not-completely-knocked-out-nor-injured Carly had no choice but to leave Hope behind in order to save her daughter. And OF COURSE, she took Hope's gun. She would've been stupid not to. What happened on the Kiriakis mansion roof made up for the comb, and it was monumental. I assume Vivian's Plan B was to give Melanie a blow to the head and then throw her off the roof. Carly had excellent timing to save Melanie, but she shot that gun too damn fast. I know she's a doctor and not a cop, but what was she thinking? Of course, Vivian would use Melanie as a shield!
Carly shooting her own daughter was the turning point. Seeing Carly trying to save her and then being held back by Brady broke my heart. Carly being a complete wreck had me wanting to cry along with her. Step by step through Carly's story finally led me to this moment of feeling for her. Bravo to Chappell for those shocking, heart-tugging scenes. The icing on the cake was Carly blurting out loud that Melanie's her daughter to everyone who showed up after hearing the gunshot. I didn't see the truth coming out like that without Melanie even knowing yet. It didn't seem like everyone heard Carly, but Phillip certainly did. And you gotta love Vivian for re-stating it: "Didn't Carly just say that Melanie is her daughter?" Vivian is entertainment.
And now you should have noticed that I have yet to watch Wednesday through Friday. I wanted to get this entry written before seeing what occurs next in both the Carly/Melanie story and the Daniel/Chloe one. I'm sure there is plenty to look forward to and plenty that happened. This weekend I'll be catching up!
