A Critic’s Review Of Days of our Lives: Let’s Talk Sex Vs Intimacy

 

The author’s opinions are his and his alone. They’re suitably scathing, fairly humorous, and normally bang on target.

By Garren Waldo 11 hours ago

When it comes to Days of our Lives, every fan has their own opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of the Days of our Lives week that was.

Days of our Lives: A Critic’s Week In Review

I know that I’m about to disappoint a great many of you, because I am not going to deride Days of our Lives (too much) for presenting “daytime’s first threesome” — a fact which is very much up for debate.

DAYS has always been, not to put too fine a point on it, the horniest soap opera on air. Susan Seaforth Hayes, Salem’s Julie Williams, even went as far as to describe the characters as they existed in the ’70s, “a bunch of horny devils.” In the ’80s romance, and yes, SEX, were this show’s biggest selling points; they did not skimp on the skin, and they always pushed the envelope. Heck, Kayla Brady Johnson (Mary Beth Evans) once went *ahem* downtown on Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols). Of course, the scene wasn’t gratuitous — NBC is a far cry from Cinemax — but Kayla’s intention was undeniable.

I am also on record as stressing the point that Days of our Lives needs to be written and filmed as a streaming series rather than a network one, and that does mean upping the adult content…to a point. So, from that perspective, I applaud their efforts.

That is not to say that I didn’t find considerable fault with what I saw. The entire build-up of the throupling felt forced; it was more than clear that Allie Horton (Lindsay Arnold) suggested the exercise in the hopes of quelling what she perceived to be Chanel Dupree’s (Raven Bowens) lingering interest in Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman).

And who in the world chose the song that accompanied the scene? “It’s Love”?! It most certainly was not.

Now, what I’d really like to spotlight, is another, nonsexual, but nonetheless intimate moment that truly captured my attention: John Black (Drake Hogestyn) draping his arm around Steve and the two men lowering their guards and laying down their burdens. THAT’S what I want to see more of. How wonderful it was to see these two friends come together and support one another.

I’m all for the inclusion of mature themes and scenes — you’re reading the writings of a major Number 96 fan — but a show cannot sustain on prurience alone. It MUST contain relatable, root-able characters and an engaging and logical — or logical-ish — plot that develops from the characters themselves and their interactions with others.

Further DAYS Musings

* Welcome to the mothership, Victoria Grace! May your stories be as interesting as they were on Beyond Salem 2.

* Whatever is being held over Chanel’s head better measure up to the reactions being had by the young woman and her mother.