I apologize for the tardiness of this column. In real life, due to a combo of the impeachment preemptions and the winter storm that took out my satellite dish, watching DAYS this week was tough. In soap life, I'm thankful for the extra time. Last week was intense! Are you all okay out there? I know I learned some lessons!
Anytime I start to feel like I'm having a bad day, I shall think back to Mother's Day in Salem and immediately feel better about whatever lot I've been dealt. Good gravy, that was a rough one for our beloved DAYS family.
If I'm being totally honest, it wasn't a complete picnic to watch, either. While it's always a thrill to get soap reveals, nearly every scene came with a feeling of impending tragedy. Remember the scene where Marlena got a nice bouquet of flowers from Belle? That was it. That was the only scene that I didn't watch with a feeling of catastrophic doom.
Considering how the week aired, I'm going to do something a little different with this column. Let's focus on each of the mothers, discussing what happened in the past and how it affects them today.
ADRIENNE, MAGGIE, and SARAH
What happened:
Sarah took Maggie out for a nice Mother's Day brunch. They discussed Summer and Sarah's anger at Xander -- both things I'm not a fan of. When they returned home, Sarah went into labor in the parlor. Adrienne heard Sarah's groans and rushed to check on her. As Maggie opened the door to leave, there was Summer -- a.k.a. the nucleus of suck on whom this whole day should forevermore be blamed.
Summer's always been about as fun as a trip to the dentist. She did not disappoint this round, either. She was irritated that Maggie was paying more attention to the daughter in labor -- a move even Jan Brady would give the side-eye. So, Adrienne valiantly offered to take Sarah to the hospital while Maggie dealt with Sulkerella.
Summer announced she was an alcoholic with three to six months to live, and all of this was Maggie's fault. Maggie brought up the idea of a liver transplant, which, given the events that would take place later that day, was a better-than-average chance for Summer! But Summer the Bummer wasn't here for any of that helpful support. She said some truly hateful things to Maggie, took a swig of booze, and left Maggie alone with the rest of the bottle.
I pause here to point out that all of this seemed off for Summer and Maggie. I thought Summer left Salem on good-ish terms with Maggie. They weren't at odds, or at least in any relationship where Summer would completely stop returning Maggie's attempt to contact her. If you ask me, I think the real problem is the cleanse that Summer went on. Girl looked amazing, but you know those things make you cranky.
Anyway, heading to the hospital in Adrienne's car...on Adrienne's tires...were Adrienne and Sarah. They get a flat, something I'd argue might not have happened were there a different driver or different tires. Adrienne changes the tire herself because there was no cell service and because Adrienne is generally badass.
They head out again. Adrienne gets through to Sarah about having Xander be in the delivery room. Sarah calls Xander to tell him to get to the hospital and tells him where they are en route. While they are on the phone, a car swerves into their lane, causing Adrienne to crash into a tree.
Will was driving back to the K-mansion from the paper. He got out his phone to text Sami, took his eyes off the road, and suddenly heard car horns and swerved off the side of the road. When he got out, he saw it was Adrienne and immediately called 9-1-1. Adrienne was happy to see Will. Against his urgings, Adrienne got out of the car to help Sarah. Adrienne collapsed and never regained consciousness again.
Xander rushed to get to the hospital and passed Maggie's car crashed on the side of the road. Assuming she had been driving Sarah, he stopped. He found a barely lucid Maggie, a bottle of booze, and no sign of Sarah. Maggie said Sarah was with Adrienne then passed out. He called Victor, who arranged for Maggie and the car to be taken back to the mansion. Xander went on to find Sarah. When he heard about the accident, he feared Maggie might have caused it.
The ambulance took Adrienne to the hospital. She did not survive. Heartbroken, Will confessed to Sonny, Justin, and J.J. that he must have caused the accident. Xander and Victor overheard this and agreed to let Will go on thinking this to protect Maggie.
Xander delivered Sarah's baby girl on the side of the road. She was alive at birth, but died a few hours later from complications from the accident. Xander and Victor were in the nursery when she died (because, of course, they were) and decided to swap the baby with baby Bristen, again, to protect Maggie and Sarah. It begs the question, do these two men love their women like crazy? Or are these two crazy men who just so happen to also love their women?
What it means today:
Baby Bristen is the one in Boston, fighting cancer -- which I'm sure was not at all caused by whatever fertility treatment Dr. Rolf whipped up to enable Kristen to conceive in the first place. This type of illness seems to be one that would require extensive medical tests and will eventually prove that Eric and Sarah could not be this child's biological parents.
This revelation will be heartbreaking for Sarah. Despite her faults, I feel a lot of sympathy for her. Her bad deeds came from a place of care, not malice. I'm also worried for what this would mean for my beloved Xarah. The dude literally stole a baby for her. But again, the dude literally stole a baby.
Eric will flip another lid over this, which I know we're all thuh-riillled to see. However, he'll be right to do so. He's been through the wringer of emotions here from finding to losing his child all over again. I sincerely hope Nicole will help him through this. She can absolutely relate to losing a child.
Ciara told Will all of this, meaning that he probably, maybe didn't kill Adrienne. But, that's right where this week of reveals ran short. The only witness to the accident was Sarah -- a woman in active labor. She claimed to see a black car and headlights. Maggie's car is black. Will's is dark gray. Rafe tried to investigate the accidents, but he works for the Salem PD, so, you know.
Xander assumed Maggie caused the accident, but he didn't see it, either! The only people I'm calling officially safe are Sarah, Adrienne, and Xander, as their whereabouts were specifically accounted for on-screen during the time of the accident. Technically, Kristen was in labor, connected to fetal monitors, but this is Kristen, and we can't ever count her out.
Everyone else is on the table. If there's one thing Ron's taught us, it's to not accept the first or second twist. There's always more.
Well, that, and beyond any reasonable doubt, Summer is the. worst. Were it not for her, a sober Maggie would have driven Sarah to the hospital in a different car with different tires. Thanks a lot, Summer.
NICOLE:
What happened:
She and Eric had a lovely day with Holly -- complete with burned pancakes, mimosas, and brunch. Then Eric gave Nicole the best present ever -- he took Holly out for a bit, leaving Nicole alone to finish her cocktail and enjoy some quiet time. Eric wins all the partner awards this episode.
What it means today:
After seeing how loving he is with her -- even taking her to see Marlena on Mother's Day -- it makes me all the more furious Eric walked out on Holly with no explanation or conversation (that we saw) when he found out Nicole had lied to him about Mickey. I hate to break it to you, Eric, but this chick has magical powers. There's definitely a curse upon your head now.
KRISTEN:
What happened:
In a display of true silver spoon boneheadedness, Brady surprised everyone and brought Kristen to Marlena's house for Mother's Day. Okay, sure, there's an argument to be made that Brady's family needs to make some sort of peace with the mother of his child. However, the way to handle that was for Brady to discuss it with Marlena and John first, not just show up with Kristen on his arm and force the issue.
I'm completely #TeamEric when it comes to the outrage he displayed. Eric listed enough of Kristen's recent misdeeds and didn't even have to mention that Kristen raped Eric! This whole thing was not a good look for Bristen.
Anyway, Kristen went into labor and apparently a bout of amnesia at the same time because she acted like she'd never heard terms like "effaced" and "dilated" before. Weird. She gave birth to Tate.
They had a slight scare when baby girl DiMera's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. But she was born healthy. They got a few photos with her, and then she headed off to the nursery, where Victor and Xander swapped her with a tragically deceased baby Horton.
When Kristen heard the news, she literally killed the messenger, sending J.J.'s would-have-been fiancée to her death at the bottom of several flights of stairs. I understand how J.J. wouldn't be okay with this being ruled an accident. Kristen went at her with intent to cause harm. However, this wasn't premeditated. Kristen just got the worst news a mother could get. No one would be in their right mind at the time. Stacey Haiduck's performance was incredible. No one does crazy like she does. Still...
What it means today:
You know the Saturday Night Live sketch "Two A-holes"? Brady and Kristen are a Bluetooth earpiece away from being this pair. They were inconsiderate of anyone else's feelings through the whole day. I found it hard to muster up any sympathy for them -- despite the utterly devastating news they received. Also, knowing that this type of behavior is going to be rewarded -- if not outright vindicated -- when they get their baby back, really bums me out.
LOOSE ENDS:
Justin, Sonny, and Will treated Adrienne to a fantastic Mother's Day surprise of pampering. Good job, fellas!
Please, please, please, let there be a future flashback scene where we see Anna and Gabi plan their DiMera takeover. Those two characters together would be a hoot.
This whole week was without the Princess Gina/Stevano and Gabi vs. Lani storylines. I didn't miss either one.
Anna may have gotten Tony ousted from DiMera, but I'll never not love them together. She even packed his suitcase when she stormed out because she knew he'd go with her! Do they need to leave? Can they go on the Doug/Julie plan where they come back from time to time?
I adored the scene between Abigail and Will at the newspaper. It was lighthearted and showed both in a professional setting -- a side we don't get to see often enough.
Justin and Kayla's whirlwind romance seems even stranger after seeing how tragic Adrienne's death really was. He went from crying over Adrienne's body to "I love you" serious with Kayla in three months. Really? I could buy it if they were just casually starting to date at the start of the time jump. But after seeing how Adrienne died, the pacing for that romance feels off.
Before Maggie took a drink, she called Brady and left him a message. What happened to that? Surely, he got it sometime over the last year. That's a huge clue hanging out there!
HOT:
Wally Kurth was the heart and soul of this week. From his excitement about Adrienne's pampering day, to his gutting pain of having to say goodbye to her, Wally owned every moment of screen time. The final touch where he wrapped her ring in his handkerchief, just as he'd offered her his handkerchief upon meeting her for the first time, left me in sobbing tears.
NOT:
I love Chad. Billy Flynn is one of my favorite performers on DAYS. But Chad can have alllll the seats with his comment, "What has she done but run a small cosmetics company and sleep with my brother?"
First, knock it off with the slut shaming. Gabi married Stefan. Chad slept with her, too, if you want to get specific about it. Abigail and Kate both slept with multiple DiMera men, and I wouldn't stand for this comment about either of them. That was some misogynistic Victor talk. I expect better from Chad.
Second, she built that company from scratch after getting out of prison. It was impressive enough for DiMera to acquire it. That's not nothing. I believe Chad ran a website that was hacked for illegal activity before ascending to the DiMera CEO position, and he turned out fine.
Finally, this is the second time someone has taken over DiMera Enterprises without Chad knowing. Stefan did the same thing Anna and Gabi did. I must ask how competent Chad is as a DiMera employee if this can keep happening when he's at or near the top.
LINE OF THE WEEK:
Abigail (quoting Jennifer -- about kids): "One is one. Two is ten."
My testify hand went up in the air when she said this. It is so true! Even if you have a parenting partner, you can't play man-on-man defense. It's more like one kid still needs you both, and the other just constantly dunks on you.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
I don't say this out loud for fear that I will be ousted from decent society, but I'm one of the lucky few that have a fantastic mother-in-law, too.
I once told my dad there should be a kids' day. He informed me that every Saturday was a kids' day, which I now know to be adult-speak for, "Are you kidding me, kid?"
I thought Summer was Chloe when I saw the hairstyle and dress. She's a pain in the rear, but she sure looked great!
Abigail turned down a foot rub. What kind of alien is she?
File this under the same category as women who get their pre-baby bodies back the day after giving birth. Apparently, you can just walk into a restaurant without reservations on Mother's Day and have brunch without any wait.
Adrienne was rushing out of the house to get to the paper. Will agreed to go for her, yet he stopped to go shopping and have an important conversation with Sonny before going in. His sense of time urgency was not the same as Adrienne's.
I'm all in on Wilson having another kid! I wonder if Abigail would be their surrogate. She does kinda owe Sonny for that time she let him sit in jail. Plus, as long as she's carrying baby Wilson, Gabi wouldn't touch a hair on her head.
Wally Kurth survived his mullet and skinny tie phase. We should never underestimate this man. Ever.
Laurisa
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