John Fades to Black

No Week in Review this week, guys, because really nothing significant happened outside of John's death.  Can you believe they actually did it?  I'm oddly impressed, both that they actually killed off a character in a way that makes it next to impossible he can come back, and in that despite how "meh" I've been about John Black for the last decade or so, five episodes focused almost exclusively on him were really good soap.  (The parts that weren't the stupid sorority storyline or Sami crying some more, I mean.)

I love that the headline is about the size that it would have been when JFK was killed.

I thought Drake Hogestyn did a fantastic job in his last week of work on Days.  In the past he was often every soap acting cliché rolled into one (smell-the-fart, "I've got a fishhook in my eyebrow and I'm happy about it," etc.) but this week he was genuinely good.  He was playing unconscious most of the time, sure, but he was good nonetheless.  And Deidre Hall, too, was the best I've seen her in years.  When she's not shooting for "sexy young ingénue" or trying to be funny, she's much better, and she and Hogestyn clearly enjoyed working together.

Sniff.

John and Bo's "brother" goodbye made me tear up a little (despite my oft-discussed internal deadness)

and when he said goodbye to his granddaughter, man, I lost it.  John Black made me cry!  The end is near.

They decided to use the twin who doesn't like people, though, which probably wasn't the best idea.  She was like yeah, uh-huh, the key grip over there has a cookie so I'm outta here, "grandpa."

And then the Belle and Marlena goodbyes?  I am so ashamed at how misty I got.  Like, not as ashamed as I was by my US Weekly subscription back in the day (2006), but ashamed.

Martha Madison was great throughout the week, too.

Non-death related note:  Her hair looks much, much better in a ponytail.  That is not the mark of a good haircut.

Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso were also awesome. 

Seriously, if you had told me two years ago that I would become an enormous Bo and Hope fangirl, I would have thought you were crazier than the idea that Sami marrying EJ is the way to end The Vendetta.

Mary Beth Evans and Stephen Nichols were also fab, but I feel like that goes without saying.

I'm getting misty just looking at that screencap!  My god, what has happened to me?  Make it stop.

I hate to nitpick about the whole "Vivian sent the flowers and photos" thing, because it was a nice nod to history, but what the hell kind of funeral were they planning on having without them?  When Bo and Hope walked into the church and Hope was all "oh my, who sent all this?," I wondered whether they'd otherwise not been able to scrape together the funds to send out the billionaire in style?  So strange.  But I liked the set dressing, especially the headshot they used

which is a nice nod to The Eyebrow.

Okay, I lied, something unrelated to John's death that was significant happened last week, if "significantly hideous" counts.  Newcomer Morgan's ensemble made me do this.

I'm in mourning over the death of a beloved citizen, Morgan.  Please don't pour salt in my wound.

Even if the rest of it had sucked like a Hoover, I would have enjoyed the heck out of last week for the flashbacks alone.  Soap flashbacks are my crack.

I was a bit peeved that there weren't any of Isabella and Brady, but thanks to Hogestyn's long run on the show there were plenty of others.  (Please especially note the hair.  80s hair is the best thing about Days flashbacks.)

I think if we could just harness the soul-lifting power of soap flashbacks, we could eliminate the need for anti-depressants.  Which would in turn prevent future Tom Cruise meltdowns on morning TV.  Let's get to work on this ASAP.

So RIP, John Black and your 17 backstories.  And farewell, Drake Hogestyn.  May you move on to smell the farts in greener pastures.  Um...or something.

Screencaps courtesy of Days of Our Lives 2.

Comments

[KellsBells]

Damn Daytime TV! OLTL made me cry when Asa died and all the good Buchanan Boys came back to town and now Days made me cry over the passing of Roman Brady/John Black/Forrest Alamain/The Pawn. I don't cry. I take massive amounts of Prozac and Zoloft and Xanax so I DON'T cry and Days made me feel again! So not fair...

Did anyone notice Caroline Brady looked older in the 80s than she does today? And her face actually moved back then?

So Morgan and her randomly appearing southern accent really did have on a hideous outfit. I was afraid my eyes were swollen shut from all the crying and that was a bad nightmare.

My fave pic?? The one of the mummy clutching his blanket like Sophia on The Golden Girls.

One other thing! Did they have to go with the nerdy girl is a total hottie cliche?? Why not let her stay a nerd and have Max (total hottie with the new and improved hair)find her hot? Then Max could finally have a real relationship with a chick he isn't related to. I don't care if he is adopted. It's just nasty. It ain't cool on Y&R (with Devon lusting after Lily) and it ain't cool on Days.

[Chad]

I was kind of hoping that they could at least get Louise Sorel to make a cameo (hopefully with Michael Sabatino!), but I wasn't really betting on it since she seems to have retired from acting.

[Stephanie]

I actually don't watch DAYS. Never have. But I still read your reviews because they're witty, wise and all that other good stuff.

I haven't watched Days in YEARS, so I was shocked to read about this. John Black (aka Roman Brady for a while) actually died?! Wow. The only time I actually really liked any s/l with that character was when he was with Isabella. I actually really enjoyed Hogestyn's chemistry with Staci Greason. I'm sad that they didn't have any flashbacks to that time. Her death scene made me cry, I recall. They had a fun and romantic love story for the most part--and they had Brady out of it. By the way--where was Brady?! What happened to that character??!! Did he die or leave town? If he left town, shouldn't he have returned for his father's funeral?

RIP John Black.

[smirks]

John's death touched my black black heart too. I won't tell anyone if you won't tell anyone. Shhhh...

And you're so right about soap flashbacks. ATWT also had a flashback heavy day last week, and I started to remember back when I actually liked soap operas, and why I actually liked soap operas. Very strange. Eighties hair is fab. It's the one great thing that came out of that decade that will entertain for generations to come. U2 wasn't bad either.

[Dallas]

I thought it was hilarious earlier in the week when they had the doctor recite the 5,000 things that were wrong with John Black's insides to assure us "no guys, we're REALLY killing him off" and maybe semi-explain why Dr. Marlena Evans was so adamant about not giving up on him when he was BRAIN DEAD for MONTHS earlier this year but now she's that one all telling everybody it's "time to say goodbye!"

[Mallory]

I can't believe how sad I was by John's death! I always thought he was unintentionally hilarious, but I never fully appreciated him until now.

He'll always have a spot in the 80s Hair Hall of Fame! We can at least take solace in that.

[Tripp]

RIP John...I loved this week and am actually proud of the show for doing the gutsy move of letting a significant character die. (I am rather worried the extreme fans will manage to get him back on the show).

It's hard for me to forgive the show though for getting me to like/appreciate not just Marlena but Belle too. What the hell?

[Nicole]

Maybe I am dead inside, but John's death didn't really do anything for me.

I think Days has pretty much used up all their credibility in death and funeral storylines. Days has done way too many ridiculous He Really Is Dying deaths that become undone it to move me or for me to watch without being skeptical that someone will actually stay dead. Look at Jack's death a few years ago -- he was a fricking organ donor and they still brought him back to life!! Maybe John really is dead, and Andre really is dead, and we'll move on for a change...but I totally don't believe that if, in a few years, Drake decides to come back that they won't find a way for Stefano to have behind John's 10th or so faked death.

Speaking of which, I'm going to be so disappointed if Stefano is behind it--Stefano and EJ taking advantage of a random hit and run is totally devious and a great idea, but Stefano being behind John's death is so tired that I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

However, I did like the flashbacks--though was it just me, or did a lot of them look like "Roman's" return flashbacks?

[Nicole]

Oh! Even with my frustration at Days, I was still mad that NBC in New York cut the entire Friday's episode for the Joe Torre press conference! So maybe it was Friday that would have really convinced and moved me.

[PoisonIvy]

My jaundiced eyes got a little misty...but of course, I don't believe any death on DAYS is permanent (Zach will live, mark my words), so I couldn't do more than mist. The eyebrow has survived all sorts of attacks on his life, heck he survived the Devil himself, and an Impala is what kills him? Yeah, um, okay....

As it is, I was more aggravated than anything at the random blame and hitting on my poor EJ to care about much. Yes, I don't care about much, but I do care about EJ....

[esp13]

It was a very emotional week saying goodbye to John. And, when neither Marlena nor Belle drive me insane, you know that everybody is bringing their A game.

When I was watching the death scene, I was actually doing pretty good until they showed Steve and Kayla and then Bo and Hope with both MBE and KA looking like they were about to completely lose it. That just killed me.

[Grace]

Wow, so does this mean that Marlena's love ISN'T actually a magcal cure-all capbable of fixing mortal wounds? Well, you can just knock me over with a feather.

[Ellie]

I agree, esp13. The most emotional week on Days in a loooong time. In my opinion, Emmy worthy performances from Deidre, Drake and Martha. And that hospital room scene... I couldn't stop crying.

And I think he's not coming back. :(

[Dallas]

Yeah - NBC in New York is getting a little out of control with the "breaking news." The week before the interrupted the middle of the show to tell is it was going to rain later in New Jersey!

[Emily]

You forgot to mention my personal favorite part of the 80s flashbacks (aside from yes, the hair)--the Miami Vice jacket of very, very red that Drake was wearing for Doc's return.

[Arlene]

Yeah, I just don't believe staying dead is a part of any Days script. Love the show, have watched it forever, but in the last 10 or so years, they have really become outrageous with fake deaths. And not having son Brady show up, well, he will in the future and we will probably have to figure out who he is and where he came from. I feel sure we will see John and Andre again (and not in the afterlife!)