Thumbs Up!/thumbs Down!
Best Of Show Or Worse For Wear? Digest Decides.
thumbs down!
GENERAL HOSPTIAL Doc Holiday
GH chose an inopportune time to relegate Lucas to the off-camera back burner. For over a year, viewers (who, not for nothing, were already invested in the long-term romance of Brad and Lucas) invested in the bond between Lucas and Wiley as Lucas unwittingly raised Michael’s son as his own, courtesy of Brad’s ill-advised babyswitch collusion. When the truth about Wiley’s identity came out earlier this year, fans naturally assumed that Lucas’s devastation would be a major part of the fallout. But instead of mining the rich emotional possibilities of a story chronicling Lucas’s heartbreak over the losses of his husband (who betrayed him) and son (of whom he instantaneously ceded custody), Lucas disappeared from our screens, save for the day when he snapped at Liz and Felix at the hospital and it was clear that he wasn’t coping well with the sudden implosion of his family. As one of the main individuals affected by Brad’s crime,
Lucas should have been a central player in the next chapter of this storyline. It’s a real shame that how the fan fave is faring has instead become a mystery.
thumbs up! DAYS OF OUR LIVES Second Coming
Brandon Barash’s surprise return to DAYS as Jake, a gruff grease monkey and dead ringer for the late Stefan, has kicked off a new mystery and added bluecollar charm to the soap. The character is totally unique to Salem, a makeno-apologies mechanic who’s more comfortable covered in grime than wearing an Armani suit. He’s bold and brash and tells it like it is, and Barash is clearly relishing the nononsense role, playing the surly car mechanic to the hilt. Of course, Jake’s uncanny resemblance to Stefan stirs up a lot of questions about his provenance. Having Stefan’s fiery widow, Gabi, as the driving force determined to find out the truth, puts actress Camila Banus smack in the middle of Barash’s new storyline. It’s a nobrainer move considering the chemistry between the two actors. DAYS struck gold with Gabi and Stefan’s initial coupling and is obviously hoping to reignite that spark by exploring a Gabi and Jake pairing. Whether Jake is really Stefan, his twin or just a simple doppelgänger, the character is a welcome addition to Salem, and one whose past we’re looking forward to exploring.