In the past few weeks Days of Our Lives brought back much of their beloved cast to pay tribute to the late Frances Reid and Alice Horton, the character she portrayed for over 40 years. Almost every episode featured clips of the actress as various characters remembered special moments with Alice. Friday's episode was especially touching when everyone gathered for a final goodbye at Alice's funeral. Kristian Alfonso's (Hope) performance literally made me cry. Her grief seemed genuine, which isn't surprising considering that she and Reid shared the screen for many years. That's not to take anything away from Alfonso's abilities as an actress, but she achieved such a high level of sincerity during her performance it would be difficult to describe it as anything other than authentic.
If I have one complaint about the way Days handled the memorialization of Reid and her character it would be the way Mike missed his chance to say goodbye. Obviously this sort of thing happens all the time in real life, but within the frame of the show it felt like this situation cheapened the tribute. It seemed like a way of using Alice's death to create a fleeting moment of drama that wasn't necessary and wouldn't lead anywhere. If they hadn't been memorializing a real woman behind Alice, it would have been different, but since they were it just seemed inappropriate.
If I have one complaint about the way Days handled the memorialization of Reid and her character it would be the way Mike missed his chance to say goodbye. Obviously this sort of thing happens all the time in real life, but within the frame of the show it felt like this situation cheapened the tribute. It seemed like a way of using Alice's death to create a fleeting moment of drama that wasn't necessary and wouldn't lead anywhere. If they hadn't been memorializing a real woman behind Alice, it would have been different, but since they were it just seemed inappropriate.
Apparently, so I read, Roark Chrichlow very badly wanted to join in the tribute, unfortunately with his current shooting schedule, the only time he could, was over a weekend, so his scenes were done separately, just for him to be able to be part of the tribute. In this instance I think the motivation was more personal, with the actors wanting to say goodbye in there own way, which really touched me.... (and even though it didn't bring to the show from a more industry/business/creative perspective, I think it is the thought that counts and that Frances Reid probably appreciates the sentiment wherever she is...)
ReplyDeleteHi LaPrinsipessa!
ReplyDeleteI figured his schedule had something to do with the way his part in the tribute was written and I'm sure that Frances Reid would have been touched by the fact that so many people wanted to pay their respects in any capacity. I just thought they could have went about Mike's part in all of it in a different way. They could have placed him in a scene with Maggie at the house beforehand, then later outside like it was at the funeral. He could have just been talking to one person then or something just to show he was there. He didn't really have to be there when they filmed the whole cast at the funeral. Someone could have said something like "Mike had to leave it was just too much for him." Anyway, just my opinion. I just thought something more low key and subtle like that would have been more appropriate for the tribute.
Paula