Soapy Secrets: DOOL

In case I neglected to mention it, "Days of Our Lives" has gotten a lot better in recent months, despite the baby switch storyline debacle in which EJ made Sami think Sydney was dead. I still think that crossed a line. Aside from that though, DOOL's storylines have been reminding me of the way soaps used to be when all the stories were character-driven. That's not to say that other soaps don't still produce character-driven storylines, in fact I am sure all of them do to a certain degree, but there seems to be much less emphasis on producing those types of storylines these days. Instead, many storylines seem to be created simply for the drama they can provide, so it is refreshing when soaps tell stories in ways that are both entertaining and plausible, at least within the framework of that soap.

I am especially enjoying what is going on with Phillip, Melanie, Nathan, Chloe, and Daniel. I left Stephanie out on purpose because I can never tell when she is being sincere or manipulative and at this point I would prefer she weren't even a factor in this particular storyline. I love that Phillip and Chloe were led to believe that their significant others were cheating on them and that they slept with each other as a result because this is such a classic soap scenario. Moreover it was written in a way that seems authentic, not contrived or forced like some storylines. That's saying a lot because given everything that had to happen in order for Phillip and Chloe to get the wrong idea it could have very easily come across as a poorly executed way of pairing up Nathan and Melanie, and Carly and Daniel. I have to wonder though if Phillip and Chloe's roll in the hay will result in her finally becoming pregnant. That would certainly be the ultimate soap opera twist.