I apologize in advance. This column might be hard to follow. I'm blindly trying to write through my black mourning veil. I can't seem to remove it because my hands are too tired from pressing tissues to my face to blot my tears. Dr. Dan was a good guy, ya'll. He's about one miracle away from being canonized. Just ask, well, nearly anyone in Salem, it seems.
I'll break this one down quickly. I shared my stance on Dr. Dan the character in my last Two Scoops, Knocking on heaven's door. My stance on the fallout of his death, however, is turning out to be a little complex.
On one hand, it's great to show an actual mourning period for a character. Yet, on the other hand, it kind of feels like a slap in the face to fans who had a few scenes or maybe an episode to mourn other favorites who've gone to the great soap beyond. But before I go on, let's start in a positive place...
Foremost, the performances surrounding Dr. Dan's death and all the connected tragedy have been nothing shy of brilliant. Any kvetching I'm about to do doesn't negate the fact that DAYS stars are shining brightly right now. There's definitely some Emmy-worthy material there. I humbly bow down to all the cast involved for their ongoing Tour de Salem showings.
Another positive is all the drama the accident has caused. The rifts between loved ones, the forgiveness between enemies (albeit temporarily), the torture, grief, and guilt many are facing, and the multitude of characters involved are all brilliant. Overall this is an amazing storyline, it's just the "Dr. Dan being the center of the Salem universe for two weeks and counting" part is beginning to tempt me to rush to town and event plan the hell out of his funeral to get the Dr. Dan show over with. The point is, all this drama will still be around after he's buried, so let's move that part along and focus on the fallout more.
More so, do we really need three weeks of mourning for a character like Dr. Dan while deaths like Will's and Bo's were wrapped up within a few episodes? Color me bitter, but Dr. Dan died two weeks ago. Last week was five days of (near) preparation for his funeral, which at this pace, will be held sometime during May Sweeps. I mean, sure, sure, it's tolerable for throwaway characters like Will and Bo to have funerals that ate up two or three scenes during an episode, so I guess it's only fair that a character like Dr. Dude gets a three-week sendoff, complete with special guests, right? Ugh.
That's not to say I don't love seeing Nadia Bjorlin and Molly Burnett again. I really do. It's absofreakinlutely appropriate that Chloe and Melanie are back in town. Totally! But what about T, Will's best friend, his grandparents, Laura and Bill, Billie, Austin and Carrie (who partially raised him), or with Bo, his own daughter, Chelsea, couldn't have made a cameo, or Kimberly, Frankie, and Max? None of them returned to Will's or Bo's sendoffs. They were barely mentioned. I repeat, "Ugh."
I guess when it boils down to it, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. It's frustrating to see how things are now and to think how they could have been a few months back for, dare I say, more beloved characters. But as the saying goes, you can wish in one hand and doody in the other and see which one fills up first.
NOT
As promised, here's Part 2 of this week's NOT! Like J.J. opening his big mouth about Chad, Vic, exasperatingly so, actually attempted to blame Theresa for Brady (and Dr. Dude) being in the accident. He claimed if Brady hadn't forgotten the gift she gave him he wouldn't have turned around, and wouldn't have been on the road. Right. Thankfully, Jennifer (okay!?) gave Theresa a pep talk, and, more so, Brady called Victor's stance "twisted logic." Amen, Brady. Amen. Sorry, Vic, but that hurt my head so much you owe me a bottle of ibuprofen and a private island.
LINE OF THE WEEK
Brady (to Eric): "Later, brother."
I loved the way that Eric Martsolf made "brother" sound like both a term of affection and a tell-off at the same time.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: DR. DAN'S DEATH EDITION
Parker and Nicole's scenes were amazingly tender and heartbreaking. Ari Zucker's owning Nicole's grief right down to Dr. Dan's jacket. I kind of want to hug Nicole every time I see her.
High five to whoever dug up Father Francis' name! That was such an amazing touch.
I get why Nicole is upset with Eric, obviously, but I would have rather seen Melanie have Nicole's scene with Eric. Mel needs to let it out, too. Conversely, I was kind of glued to Nicole vs. Marlena.
Roman's love for Eric is adorable, as are Marlena's chats with God.
Yeah, Dr. Dan's heart saved Brady, but Fynn's the one who put it in. Give the man some credit.
Oh, dear lord. Dr. Dan practiced suturing on chickens in med school. I'm sure Gonzo's chicken girlfriend, Camilla; the ghost of Frank Perdue; and a bunch of McNuggets will give tearful eulogies at the funeral, too.
Really, Maxine hasn't shown up yet? She's probably too devastated over Dr. Dude's death to move from the "other room," or she's building a shrine. It's probably a safe bet to go with a combo of the two.
In Brady's, um, dream of Nicole, why did it look like she was recording her spots for The Young and the Restless' opening credits circa the late '90s?
Confession. Part of me was a little disappointed that Eric's nightmares/remembrance of the accident didn't include kittens, red and blue spiders, and building implosions. Who wore crazy sequences better? I think I'm going with Chadobot in this round.
Well, Brady got Dr. Dan's heart, and it appears Father Louis got his facial hair.
So, Dr. Dan was an organ donor. It seems like since Brady has his heart, he's starting to dream of Nicole. Does that mean whoever gets his, err, manhood will get a little too excited around ladies in hospital gowns?
Is it inappropriate, given the nature of the storyline, to reveal that I've come up with a new DAYS drinking game? The rules are easy. Do a shot of Limoncello every time someone begins a sentence with, "Daniel would have wanted..." and do two shots every time some begins one with, "Daniel wouldn't have wanted..." Nevermind. We'd be drunk before we saw the hourglass.
PARTING THOUGHTS AND A SPECIAL MESSAGE!
So, friends and fellow DAYS fans, that's all of Two Scoops for the week of January 18. In case some of you missed the announcement in Part 1, here's a little hello from Laurisa:
Happy New Year, Two Scoopers! It's been an especially happy one for me and my family as we welcomed our first daughter earlier this month. She's beautiful, happy and I know who the father is! So, I'll be taking a few weeks off from scooping while I navigate the sleep-deprived world of being a new mom to the tyke that Uncle Tony has nicknamed "Kristen Vivian." It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?In my stead will be some special guest writers who will provide excellent commentary and opinions on the fabulous world of Salem. I'll keep watching DAYS and tweeting...probably in the middle of the night during those vampire hour feedings. So, keep in touch!
As always, thanks for reading!
Tony
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