In a single episode, Jackée Harry took her DAYS’ alter ego from her lowest low to a conditional high and then down to her rock bottom.
Jackée Harry: DAYS Performer of the Week
When Paulina greeted Theo (Cameron Johnson), Harry plastered on a smile, but it was clearly a front. A put on. A mask designed to hide the maelstrom of emotion that lurked beneath.
When she asked if her stepson has come bearing news, she did so with an air of calm and collection, but Harry managed to telegraph the desperation and longing for something, anything worthwhile. Theo did indeed have something to impart: the cops had a probable lead and were on their way to investigate.
For a brief moment, Harry rejoiced. Relief flooded her face. Her tension-filled body relaxed. Hope filled her eyes. But then, a switch was flicked. A scowl formed. Her posture stiffened. She waved her hands about dismissively and dejectedly declared that “No, I’m not going there. Not yet. I’m not getting my hopes up just to have them dashed again. No, I have done that too many times already. I’m not going there.”
Resolve threatened to give way to hysterics, but Harry tempered. Theo bid Paulina sit down and relayed to her a time when he’d been rendered comatose and Abe had remained by his side, never losing hope that he’d awaken. “Maybe I felt that. Maybe that’s why I pulled through, and maybe that’s exactly what Dad needs from us right now…to never lose hope.”
During the convo, Harry slowly but surely steered Paulina through several emotions. There was pessimism, concern, hesitation, and finally, invigoration.
Paulina declared that her eyes had been opened. She’d been thinking only of herself, barely giving a thought to how Abe must be feeling. She’s going to have to keep herself strong until her beloved husband comes home.
Jackée Harry’s finest work came when Paulina opened her door to Rafe (Galen Gering) and Jada (Elia Cantu) and intuited that they’d come to deliver an unwelcome update. She frostily refused them entry and then tried to literally close the door on them.
When Rafe imparted that they’d been unable to find locate Abe but had found remanents and an eyewitness as to what fate befell him, Harry could muster only one word, a word that she repeated over and over again as she tossed aside her purse and slumped dejectedly into a chair and shooed away any offerings of comfort — “NO!”
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