Ayear ago, Days of Our Lives offered up their half-century reboot that turned into a horror movie within a few months.

Recently, Ken Corday promised yet another DAYS reboot for 2016, launching the scripts penned by new co-head writer Ryan Quan paired with recently-returned head writer Dena Higley, who spent several months on medical leave. Well, today began Reboot 2016 and Soap Hub has a preliminary report card.

How Does It Stack Up?
While it’s hard to judge changes with only one new script having aired, Tuesday’s episode does seem to show promise. It’s hard to get too excited considering the 2015 reboot that crashed and burned. Salem lost so many beloved characters, and it seemed we’d see no end to the doom and gloom. This time, we’re being promised more romance and old favorites returning (rather than dying).

Beloved Couples
We got a lot of Marlena (Deidre Hall) front and center (and probably soon-to-be in jeopardy), and even some time with true love John (Drake Hogestyn). We’ve missed Doc and the way she’s able to touch so many lives. So seeing her today visit prisoners (more on that later) and spending time with John was most enjoyable.
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After months of back and forth that went nowhere, it was great to see a little progress for Steve (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla (Mary Beth Evans). After all, what’s Patch without his Sweetness? But this wasn’t a surface conversation – we got talk of therapy, of Steve having an epiphany about his childhood, and finally realizing that his wife is even smarter than he thought. We like this!

Drama, Drama, Drama
We were introduced to the Legion of Doom, complete with really cool old flashbacks. While seeing our favorites once again in jeopardy doesn’t sound on the surface like we’re getting more romance, keep in mind that love-on-the-run swept ratings into the stratosphere back in the heyday of soaps. There’s nothing quite like watching your favorite characters pull together against a common foe to get people watching.

Did you miss the previous episode? Catch up now with this 60 second video recap!

Finally, someone in the Chad (Billy Flynn) and Thomas story made sense! Adrienne (Judi Evans) suggested that she and Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) move into the mansion to help with Thomas. Is that the Hallelujah chorus I hear? Thankfully, the offer was accepted, and we even got a hug between former adversaries Chad and Jennifer (Melissa Reeves).

The show is still far from perfect, but it looked like out with the old, and in with the new, making this the first sign of hope seen in a long time.

DAYS airs weekdays on NBC. Share your thoughts, leave a comment in the section below. Additionally, for more Days of Our Lives’ spoilers updates, recaps, and news, go to Soap Hub’s Facebook fanpage and join the conversation about all your favorite soaps!