Taylor Made: DOOL

Like a lot of viewers I looked forward to Natalia Livingston's debut on Days as Nicole's sister, Taylor. I was already a fan, having seen her play both Emily and Rebecca on GH. And she seemed like she would be a good addition to the Days cast.

When her first scenes aired a few weeks ago I initially thought that Taylor would make a good love interest for Brady, until I saw Natalia's scenes with James Scott. Then I became enchanted with the whole idea of an EJ and Taylor pairing. On the surface their meet-cute probably seemed a little cheesy to some, the whole idea of them falling in love at first sight. However, this is something that we haven't seen on soaps in a while. There was something very sweet and sort of old-fashioned about their first meeting, a complete contradiction to EJ at the moment. And I liked the idea of him being paired with someone who brings out his best qualities, as Taylor likely would have. Regardless of how much chemistry he might have with Nicole or Sami, this is something that neither one of them has managed to do successfully.



EJ and Taylor's Meet-Cute[no copyright infringement intended]



I thought, perhaps prematurely, that the stage had been set for EJ to fall in love with someone who would help him become a more compassionate person, until the announcement last Tuesday that Natalia was being replaced by Tamara Braun. According to soapoperadigest.com the show is taking the character in a different direction. That seems apparent given the casting change. I thought Braun was terrific as Carly on GH and as Ava on Days a few years ago, but these characters are incredibly different from the Taylor character viewers have been introduced to. I don't want to typecast Braun because of the roles I have seen her in, but she is a master at bringing the necessary edge to a role, which makes me wonder if she will bring that same edge to the Taylor character. If so this might be a difficult adjustment, particularly since her first air date is not until April. The fact that she was just on Days a few years ago might also present a problem for viewers, especially considering the type of character she played and the fact that she won an Emmy for her performance. These are not exactly hallmarks of a forgettable soap appearance. Unfortunately Days has a history of reusing its actors for completely different roles so it will interesting to see how this latest casting move works out and what effect it will have on the chemistry of the characters.