Paula's Soapbox

Brenda has been back on General Hospital for a while now and I have yet to say much of her return. This is primarily because I was waiting to see how everything would play out. In addition, a theory has been swirling around in my mind about the people in her life and I thought it necessary to watch a little more of the show to see if this theory would take shape. The first day I saw Murphy's interaction with Brenda I thought "what if this guy isn't the nice guy he appears to be?" "what if he were responsible for the attempts on Brenda's life?" It would certainly add dimension to this character and provide an excuse for Brenda to leave him for good; but as I continued to watch the show I also thought "what if Murphy wasn't acting alone in placing Brenda in danger?" "what if Suzanne were somehow involved?" Both Murphy and Suzanne seem almost obsessive about Brenda's safety to the point of controlling her more than protecting h...

In about a week the 'World' will stop turning over on CBS. Even as I write these words it's difficult to believe that "As the World Turns" will no longer be a part of the daytime line-up, as this was one of many soaps I grew up watching. I must admit, however, that I haven't followed the show all that closely in quite a while. In my opinion the quality of the storylines and overall tone of the show deteriorated to a point where the characters I had grown to love became virtually unrecognizable. Unfortunately this seems to be a growing trend shared by many of today's soaps and I suspect this may at least partially explain the steady decline in ratings. However, I'm not writing this post as an evaluation of ATWT's shortcomings. That would be like kicking an old friend while they were down. And of course any problems the show has had doesn't negate the many years of great storytelling and superior acting that will surely be the hallmark of its leg...

It seems redundant and rather unimaginative that all my blog posts regarding the storylines on Days of Our Lives should be about how enjoyable the show is right now and how much it reminds me of how soaps used to be; but what else can be said about a show that not only continues to surprise me but keeps me entertained in a way that doesn't compromise the integrity of the characters?  The fallout regarding EJ's involvement in Sydney's kidnapping has been especially riveting, which only proves that this fallout should have come much sooner than it has. Of course if yesterday's episode is any indication it might have just been worth the wait. As predicted the show has crafted this storyline in such a way that EJ is almost as much a victim to his actions as anyone else. I tried to resist feeling any sympathy toward him for a long time, but after James Scott's (EJ) emotionally complex scenes the past few days I can't help but be unapologeti...