A Critic’s Review of Days of our Lives: New Face, New Problems Posed

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 week that was.

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

It might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that many of the most popular Salemites are recasts. Of the current crop, there’s Kayla (Mary Beth Evans), Roman (Josh Taylor), Kate (Lauren Koslow), Shawn (Brandon Beemer), Belle (Martha Madison), Jack (Matthew Ashford), Brady (Eric Martsolf), Ben (Robert Scott Wilson), and Chad (Billy Flynn)…just to name a near dozen.

Many seasoned viewers might recall Justin Gaston’s take on Ben Weston, or Catherine Mary Stewart’s one-year stint as Kayla, or the time that Deborah Adair spent embodying the role of Kate.

But most will probably agree that the characters listed above are being played by their definitive actor….which is, in and of itself a miracle. Perfect recasts are a notoriously tricky thing to pull off in the world of daytime.

DAYS has a pretty darn good track record…but it’s being put to the test yet again. Friday’s episode gave us our first glimpse of EJ DiMera 2.0, and fans have been on tenterhooks ever since to see whether or not Daniel Feuerriegel will be able to supplant James Scott.

It’s all going to come down to the chemistry – or lack thereof – between him and Alison Sweeney – she who IS Sami Brady, despite being the sixth actress to play her.

Similarly, Chanel will soon be morphing from Precious Way into Raven Bowens. How will this change impact the character and her storylines? Way has such chemistry opposite her many co-stars – she, Sal Stowers (Lani Price), and Jackée Harry (Paulina) really seems like family, and there is palpable tension between her and Lindsay Arnold (Allie Horton) – and all that could be lost with a new actress being brought in and thrown into the mix.

Here’s hoping that both casting decisions pay dividends, and welcome to Salem Daniel Feuerriegel and Raven Bowens!

Further DAYS Musings

* The devotion that Xander (Paul Telfer) has to Jack is beautiful and enduring…now let’s SEE the two of them taking on the world together. Perhaps Jack could offer his “mate” not only room and board but a job at The Spectator. Since Jennifer (Cady McClain) and Abby (Marci Miller) are on sabbatical, surely there’s at least one open spot.

* Why, oh why were we denied the scenes of Belle (Martha Madison) getting sprung from Statesville? Less discerning viewers might not even know she’s free and clear, seeing as how the info was relayed through a one-way phone conversation staring Marlena (Deidre Hall).

* So, Paulina’s plan is to turn the shops in the town square into one big building…guess that rules out her building fancy condos or townhouses. But what is the end game here?

And speaking of Jackée Harry’s character, those 227 references are flying fast and fierce huh? Yes, we clocked the number on Paulina’s apartment door, and of course, she has a secretary named Mary who’s always getting things wrong.

Wonder if she’s gotta husband named Lester and a daughter named Brenda. Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.