Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For DAYS: Alison Sweeney

DAYS knows what an asset it has in Alison Sweeney, as Sami Brady, hence the revolving door through which she enters and exits of her own accord. Her latest guest stint was a mere blip when compared to previous ones, but it was no less dramatic and it was certainly worthy of Soap Hub’s Performer of the Week honors.

Alison Sweeney– Performer of the Week

Sami wouldn’t be Sami if she let Nicole Walker Hernandez (Arianne Zucker) walk on by without first verbally eviscerating her – so she got right down to it; and Sweeney made a meal out of every hurtful line.

Here is but a taste of the stinging condemnation that Sami leveled: “If anyone’s making a real big mistake in their life, it’s Rafe. Marrying you? When are you going to start slutting around his back like you did with Eric?”

But as adapt as Sweeney is at delivering blistering takedowns, it’s when she gets to sink her teeth into something that requires the plumbing of real emotional depth that she truly shines.

Take for instance her tearful recollection at being held against her will by the man that she’d planned to pledge her troth to. “It was this tiny room, and there was this busted up old cot. There was this one window that I could look through, but it had a bunch of bars in front of it. And then, those guys that he hired were not exactly the warm and fuzzy type, so every time I heard the key in the lock I didn’t know. Am I getting another meal, or is this the day that they’re going to kill me?”

Arguably Sweeney’s best moment came opposite Deidre Hall’s Marlena Evans Black when her alter ego admitted her struggle to reckon with the bombshell delivered on her wedding day – “[Lucas] was my friend…And last night he just – it’s like he blew it all up, right in my face.” – but we’d be remiss to not to mention the glee Sweeney revealed when Sami outed her babysitter’s big secret, namely that she’d bedded EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel), how masterfully she telegraphed Sami’s almost immediate regret at having done so, and the final kiss-off that Sami offered EJ – “This is it. I’ve had it with you. With this place. With all of it!”

Here’s hoping that we haven’t truly seen the last of Alison Sweeney. DAYS is always so much livelier when she’s around.

Honorable Mention: Bryan Dattilo

Sweeney’s longtime screen partner spent the majority of the week a blubbering, floundering mess – but Dattilo also displayed his skill at vacillating between opposing emotions. One minute contrite and the next arrogant. At once dazed and confused and then possessed with steely determination.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.