Classic Black; Days of our Lives Two Scoops for October 7, 2024

This is a hard one, DAYS fans. A few days ago, Drake Hogestyn passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. For those of us all too familiar with pancreatic cancer, we know it’s a vicious type of cancer with a lesser chance of being caught early, and thus it develops very quickly. First and foremost, our condolences and love go out to his family, who have been absolutely celebrated by the cast and crew. It’s impossible to find a Drake tribute that didn’t mention his wife, kids, and grandkids. For fans, it’s kind of cool when your soap heroes turn out to be stand-up gentlemen in the real world, too.

My first column as a Two Scoops columnist—allllllllll the way back in 2007—was when John Black “died.” He was hit by a car well before Dr Rolf’s Resort for the Undead, so we had every reason to believe John was actually dead. How in the world was a green columnist supposed to celebrate what John Black meant to DAYS?

And now, as the news has come out that his last episode already aired, I’m faced with the same challenge. Only this time, I have the benefit of a greater understanding of how the show works, a somber respect for the frailty of life, and an appreciation for this DAYS fan's family.

John Black represented strength. He was a man’s man—but in the most compassionate way. Perhaps because he himself was a character with ever-evolving personalities, memories, and origin stories, John Black was able to accept others in a profound way. He celebrated others. We saw that in his love for Marlena. We saw that when he danced at a Pride party with Paul. We saw that when he hugged Tink or Claire Bear. There’s a reason Sami named her child after him.

From all of the tributes, it’s clear that “swing for the fences” was one of his signature phrases. And that’s the essence of John Black’s character—do better, love stronger, aim higher. The guy surpassed a name (or seven). He was a spirit. And now, he always will be.

On-screen, it will obviously be months before we find out what’s going to happen with John. Part of me can see them recasting just to let the character live on. John is a pretty integral thread in Salem. He’s not on the periphery. I suspect that many of the things we saw Eric do this week—confront Xander, visit Brady—were all things that John would have done.

But it’s impossible to replace a legend. And the show has time to figure out what to do. For now, we’ll be thankful for the time we got with Drake and celebrate the work he loved. That’s a fact.

Loose Ends

Slightly controversial take, but I’m glad that Sarah lied. First, it’s about time that Sarah tried a different approach with Xander than scolding and preaching. She saw that he’s struggling. His speech about how he hears her crying when she thinks he’s not there pulled a lot of sympathy for him. Plus, she saved Brady’s life in the move.

Second, this lie might guarantee that we can keep Fiona. Once Sarah eventually does remember it was Fiona behind the wheel, I struggle to see how this second confession will be admissible in court. Thus, Fiona may walk. I mean, she’ll have to deal with Kristen still, but that’s something I’m not opposed to seeing!

Holly and Sophia had another fight, which certainly paints Sophia as a mean girl by way of a Dynasty diva. However, as snakelike as she can be, she’s not wrong here. Holly has a pattern of being absolutely allergic to accountability that makes her hard to defend. Much like her stepaunt Sami, Holly uses a legit life curveball to blame everyone else disproportionately.

Rolf arrives to tell Kristen that he can reverse any damage to the human body. This is a rough storyline to air this week. Though Sarah being able to walk again through Rolf magic and Kristen using it to blackmail Xander all feel very on brand for DAYS.

Mark and “Abigail” met in that place in the park where people with secrets go to talk. It appears that “Abigail” is Mark, Aaron, and Felicity’s sister, though Aaron and Felicity don’t know about her. Oh, and Mama Green—who Aaron and Felicity believe died in a car accident—is really in one of Clyde’s long-term care facilities. “Abigail” apparently did have plastic surgery in her past. For a storyline that started in June, it sure took its sweet time only to rapid-fire a ton of background information about five characters at once!

Finally, we got a classic Rafe and Gabi scene. I’d missed these two! And perhaps that coma did some things to Rafe’s brain, because he spent this conversation sticking up for a DiMera! He’s probably right when it comes to Gabi finding her match in Stefan, but I didn’t expect Rafe to be so evolved to admit that he’d cheated before, too!

Extra Scoops

HOT:

I love that the show kept Jada and Steph as friends! I like how Jada pushed Stephanie ever so lovingly to get the Alex confession out of her. Stephanie needs an outlet, and I’m glad it’s Jada! It almost reminds me of back in her college days when we had the Stephanie, Chelsea, Morgan trinity of buddies. I miss a good group of girlfriends!

NOT:

So, we’re just going to keep assassinating Chanel and Johnny’s characters to make this Alex triangle happen, huh? Chanel saying Johnny didn’t trust her was a pretty big misrepresentation of what happened and kind of made Chanel look petty. Then Johnny has to defend himself from Alex accusing him of being jealous because Alex's hands would be all over Johnny's wife. Ugh. I would like all three of these characters out of this storyline.

LINE OF THE WEEK:

Marlena: “I’m always here for you, as is your father.”

Brady: “I know he is.”

That one hit hard this week.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

It is cool that the pub staff are getting paid as extras.

It cracks me up that Hattie walks through the square with velcro rollers.

Alex doesn’t know what “star-crossed lovers” means. It’s when circumstances mean they can’t be together, but their feelings are true. It’s not people who hate each other at first and then grow to love each other.

I love that Kate can rock a broach.

Kristen saying, “I don’t have the bandwidth for this” cracked me right up.

Abigail Klein is such a good cryer. I love that Abigail’s mascara began to run and Rob thought to wipe it away.

Dream Alex sure got a lot of action last week!

I think it’s endearing that Brady calls Tate “kid.”

Dr Blake Lamoray and Marie Fallon, who plays a nun, were fun Easter eggs.