Headed to Splitsville: Split Personality Stories Split Audience

You know the drill: Suddenly your favorite soap character is acting a bit off, wearing crazy outfits, and maybe donning a wig. You know what that means… but do you like it?

Few things spice up a story faster or break up a couple more completely (though never for THAT long) than when one of them is revealed to have developed DID — dissociative identity disorder — or multiple personalities.

While Abigail (Marci Miller) is the latest one to go through this on Days of Our Lives (DOOL), she’s hardly the first. She’s not even the first on her own show.

One of the most famous split personality stories has to be Viki’s (Erika Slezak) on One Life to Live. Viki was also known as Niki Smith, Tommy, Jean Randolph, Princess, Tori, and Victor. Viki’s daughter, Jessica (Bree Williamson), developed the disorder as well. General Hospital had Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan).

But do soap fans like these stories? Soap Hub asked that very question, and while over 8,000 cast their vote, the result was kind of split.

Enough Is Enough
The dominant group standing strong at 72% say they’re absolutely tired of these types of storylines. For one thing, it pains you to see your favorite characters struggling in the dark over this condition.

It makes others look stupid for not realizing it and that bothers you too. There’s no way Chad (Billy Flynn) wouldn’t have realized something was very wrong with his wife on DAYS and gotten her help long ago.

Bring It On
Meanwhile, 28% love the drama a story like this can bring. It gives the actor carrying it out plenty of meaty material that come Emmy time can pay off with big dividends. As long as keeps moving and is compelling, you’re all for it!

Jury Is Out
For the 1% who decided to write in their thoughts, they said it depends. Many are loving the current story on DAYS. Someone else noted it’s disrespectful to those who truly do suffer from the condition.