Bad mothers are a dime a dozen on soap operas, and the result is usually emotionally unstable children who, though horrendous at making life decisions, make wonderfully entertaining characters for viewers to watch. Up until now, Days of our Lives' Paige (True O'Brien) has managed to escape that vicious cycle. Despite having one of the genre's worst mothers, she turned out to be rather well adjusted and quite saccharine. That's all about to change, however, when she finally discovers that her mother, Eve (Kassie DePaiva), has been sleeping with her boyfriend, J.J. (Casey Moss). O'Brien tells Soap Central that when the truth hits her innocent alter ego, all hell's going to break loose -- specifically, hers.
Losing one's virginity is a very emotional moment, but when Paige slept with J.J. for the first time last week, we're pretty sure viewer emotions rivaled that of the young character's. The audience knows the horrifying truth that it wasn't very long ago when J.J. was between the sheets with Eve, but poor Paige has no idea her mom and beau have been hooking up. Or does she?
"Do I have any idea my mom's been sleeping with him? No, not at all," O'Brien says in character of her alter ego's absolute naiveté. "As crazy as my mom is, at this time, in these circumstances, I still believe that everything she does is for my benefit. Well, at least that's what her intention is when she screws up and whatnot. So I don't think that she's actually trying to sabotage people. She's my mother and I do think that she actually does everything that she does because she wants to protect me, and she does love me, even though she doesn't go about it in the right ways."
Those rose-colored glasses will soon be shed, however, and Paige will have to deal with the ugly truth: both her mother and her boyfriend have betrayed her in the worst way possible. And as one can imagine, the brunt of her anger will be directed squarely toward Eve. "I think it would be harder to forgive Eve than to forgive J.J. in a sense, because it is her mother. She gave birth to her. And for that level of betrayal, that goes pretty deep," O'Brien muses. "Someone who's been with you your entire life, who's raised you, who you've been through everything with, someone who you put so much energy into nursing back after devastating life events? Definitely."
And due to Paige's naturally sweet nature, the character will also face the horrifying conundrum of being angry with a person yet loving them all the same. "It's the thing, when you love someone, you want to hate them, but you love them so much, so it keeps driving," she explains. "It's conflicting, because you still love them, you can't help it, but at the same time, you hate them."
But the real question is how will the very sweet and very innocent Paige be affected by the shocking news that the two people she loves most have betrayed her? Will the audience see her transform from a loving, nurturing individual to a hellion who can give Eve a taste of her own medicine? "Everybody has a dark side," O'Brien teases with a mischievous grin. "She's Eve's daughter; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree... And when the innocent fall, it's a whole different story."
How would you like to see Paige deal with Eve and J.J.'s betrayal? Would you enjoy seeing the character turn dark and make the pair pay for their horrifying actions? Or would you rather see Paige take the high road once the news comes out? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
