It's May-December In the Sense That That's How Long I'll Be Shuddering

In case you haven't been paying attention, viewers (which would be excusable, given Days' pacing of late -- you could take a trip to Antarctica and return to people in Salem having the same conversations), these two are father and daughter:

But these two (remember, Chelsea is Morgan's college classmate, and Daniel easily could have been Paul's!) are a hot romantic couple in the making:

You should not be grossed out by this 21-year-old college student (who was 18 on the show just last year!) and her 40-something doctor getting it on.

No really, apparently this show thinks you shouldn't be. 

I can't believe I'm saying this about the ridiculously hot Shawn Christian kissing a woman, but:  EW!  Make it stop!

What the hell are they doing with this godforsaken pairing?!  I like both of the actors separately (even if I find Christian's character irritating as hell), but they're not convincing me they're hot for each other.  Which is actually good, because even the "dream" kiss was gross since Rachel Melvin could pass for a teenager and Shawn Christian is about 20 years her senior.  The age difference might work with either older actors, or if the woman involved were less ingenue-ish, but these two together make me physically uncomfortable.  And not in the fun way.

And then today, this:

Chelsea:  I am in love with Daniel Jonas.

First of all, only people on 90210 and One Tree Hill (not that I watch One Tree Hill ) refer to their friends by their first and last names.  Second of all, are you EFFING KIDDING ME?!   Does the new writing team not know that 1) Dr. Jonas has been in town for five minutes, and 2) Chelsea has a boyfriend, one that the audience has no reason to hate?  What kind of OTT sappiness, rooted in absolutely zero soapy buildup, is this?  Barf. 

And don't even get me started on all of Chelsea's friends and family cheering her on from the sidelines like there's money at stake, or on the fact that Dr. Jonas would have been the perfect match for Julie Pinson's Bille.  No really, don't get me started.  It's late, and I already had to use extra concealer under my eyes today and I can't afford to run through that Bobbi Brown stuff like it's water doing the same tomorrow.  To sum up:  ::shakes fist at sky in fit of Soap Opera Rage::

So clearly I have no strong feelings about this.  Where are all of you on this pressing social issue?

more at twiigs.com...

Screencaps courtesy of Days of Our Lives 2.

Comments

[Chrissy]

It is incredibly creepy. I was about to throw up when Jonas stopped at the door and then ran back to kiss her. EW!

[Stephanie]

Between them kissing, the Uncle/Niece bumping uglies, and John talking dirty in front of Sami, I can't watch Days lately without dry heaving.

[Kade]

Two words sum up what's wrong with this: Dena Higley. And be forewarned, it will just get worse from now on.

[Nik]

It's not just that it's pretty sketchy, it's that am I supposed to think that Nick deserves this crappy treatment? Even if Chelsea is in love with her 40 year old doctor man, shouldn't she break it off with Nick FIRST before squiking everyone out?

I like Nick, he's a nice guy; smart and loyal and geek!hot. Oh god, they're going to kill him aren't they?

[JP]

Chelsea & Daniel are awesome together. They are the only couple on this show i find myself rooting for, and i dont know why. But bring it on!

[Celine]

The relationship between the good doctor and Chelsey seems like a father/daughter type of thing, and is definitely not romantic in any way. It gives me the creeps. Ick. Ewww.

And as you pointed out, there's no reason to care about the couple, since there was no buildup. It really needs to stop. Now.

[KS]

I read Rachel's blog and she loves kissing Shawn. She seriously raves about him. I think they are cute together. Stax makes me cringe.

[Nolebucgrl]

RM may love kissing SC but this viewer doesn't love watching it at all. They went to a lot of trouble to redeem Chelsea over the past two years (and I mean it, I used to want her to die in a violent car accident with her mother and grandmother in the car with her) and Higley is wiping out any goodwill Nick helped the character win in my eyes. She's not breaking up with Nick why exactly? Because she's not sure if Dr. Statutory is going to share her feelings, so why bother? It's ridiculous and making her look like a real bitch.

Loved the comparison of Morgan/Paul to Chelsea/Dan. Plus, Paul is thousands of times hotter than Daniel is in my eyes. The age difference is just freaky, especially because RM has the ability to look about 15 in many of her scenes. I'm still holding out the hope that somebody is going to bring up the age difference (maybe Morgan will say, he's my dad's age!) but since the UF has been virtually ignored with Stax, I'm not sure why I bother to think this won't be ignored as well.

Nick deserves way better than he's getting here and I can only hope they are going to keep him on canvas and that Chelsea will run back to him when Dr. Statutory breaks her heart, and he quashes her like a bug. RM seems like a sweet girl but her character is back to being hated by me.

[Jenny]

I will boldly ignore the whole icky Chelsea/Daniel and Max/Stephanie vibe and just say that I think Morgan and Philip are making a cute, age-appropriate, non-incestuous couple these days.

[pagraves]

Haaaaate Chelsea and Dan. Like Stephanie and Max (I'm a sucker for their cuteness together). I love the Morgan and Philip vibe and would love to see more.

Did I mention I hate Chelsea and Dan?

And please, Days, don't get rid of Nick. He's cute, he's smart, he's decent...oh, no! Dena Higley is bound to kill him off now, isn't she?

[lascuba]

Aw damn. I've been slowly catching up on about 3 weeks worth of episodes, and THAT'S the shit I have to look forward to? Those screen caps makes me want to just delete all eps. Ugh.

Why does this show suck so much at falling-in-love stories? The age difference wouldn't bother me at all if Chelsea were out of college, or if she were very mature, or if her "love" for Daniel wasn't based on hero-worship. And even if all that wasn't an issue, the fact the twit is already talking "love" is enough to make me hate that pairing forever...it's the main reason I loathe Stax so much.

I don't understand why tptb insist on wasting any new talent that comes their way. JP was amazing, and she played a woman with a long history in Salem and an interesting past, and...I'll just stop there before the SoapRage overwhelms me. TB is fantastic and has made Ava the only person I care about in this god-forsaken Ava/Steve/Kayla/Hope/Bo-locked-up-in-mobsters-house bs, but the constant crazy is wearing really thin. SC is hot and talented, and he's playing a brand new character with only the most tenuous ties to Salem, so we should be seeing all kinds of exciting things for him. But instead, they're wasting him on a sorority girl. I love RM and I still have residual affection for Chelsea, but SC should not be paired with her.

[Tripp]

With Chelsea and Dan, it's not just one problem, it's several:

1. Of course RM looking like she is 15 in scenes with him is the worst. Yes, I know the character is of age, but when I watch a couple kiss on a soap opera, I shouldn't have to mentally remind myself she's legal.
2. Why did they not break up Chick before now? Did the show really think Chelsea breaking Nick's heart (the guy who has stood besides her through everything over and over) in this manner was a good idea?
3. Also, why is no one mentioning Nick? Usually if a person meets their new love interest while still dating their old one, the show uses it as an obstacle but so far everyone is just as indifferent to her dating Nick as Chelsea is.
4. Chelsea's feelings for Daniel are rooted with her hero complex. Even RM said so in an interview (though I don't think she realized how wrong it was) that since Daniel saved Chelsea's life, she wants him around forever. This is actually a flaw in her personality, not a trait to build a relationship on.
5. What does Daniel see in her? We've hardly gotten any kind of interest from him until very recently. The show actually wrote in for him to compliment Chelsea's own grandmother's BODY right in front of her. Is that how courtship is going?
6. It's moving too fast. My problem with Chick was the courtship was too fast but this is actually going twice as fast (which is probably good, maybe we can get it over with faster).
7. And if you say "Forty something old doctor beds patient barely 21" and it adds a whole new level of creepiness.

Everything above leads me to believe that the show doesn't want us to root for them, and yet RM's comments say to the contrary. I realize that the show may think this is going to be a controversial pairing and could "win" viewers over through RM's strong acting (if SC was supposed to be playing attracted to Chelsea up until now he doesn't impress me at all) but when will the show learn that if they have to convince viewers to give a couple a CHANCE, there is something very wrong with the couple. Soaps are in so much trouble now (and Days especially) when creating pairings they need to go for the kind where a majority of the audience will jump on board right from the beginning.

[Jes]

I'm kinda neutral and Dan/Chelsea. She should break up with Nick first, but it's not the first time Chelsea's wandering eye has hurt Nick. I was ok with with the doctor/patient thing until she decided she's in love with him. What the heck? You've known him for about a week.

I still like the idea of him being a player, and going after every woman in town. That would be different, and in character for the man who insists on hitting on every woman he sees, as well as telling other men how hot their wives are.

[Emily]

Did you talk about how the weird scruffiness and orange tan just makes his face look dirty?

Bring back the real goofy-cool doctor, Mike Horton!

[Becky]

I'm bothered by the fact that neither actor has convinced me that there are any feelings at all involved here. But what really bugs the hell out of me is that NO ONE is saying anything to either of them about the HUGE FREAKING AGE DIFFERENCE. Why isn't Kate or Stephanie saying anything to Chelsea along the lines of, "You know he's old enough to be your father. Are you sure you aren't just crushing on the attractive OLDER man, here? I mean I know he's hot, but really? And do you realize that you are still dating Nick?"

This has been BAD storytelling from the beginning. Higley sucks. She ruined OLTL.

[rameau]

I've been lucky enough to fast forward those nauseous scenes between Chelsea and Daniel. Those screen caps were traumatizing enough.

For some reason I can't really stand any of the younger couples. As individual characters they are negligible (Nick and Morgan excluded) but as couples these "youngsters", Stax and Chan, are vomit inducing.

The fact that Paul Hollingsworth (sp?) acts like an adult makes him seem younger than his coeval Daniel Jonas who is running around Salem trying to pass for a overgrown teenager.

[SLynn]

The whole Daniel/Chelsea thing practically screams 'daddy issues'. That Chelsea is just looking for a replacement father and it's beyond icky.

The age difference doesn't bother me so much as the maturity level. And Chelsea just isn't mature enough for this. If she can't be honest with Nick and call it off before she starts up with Daniel, then she's definately not mature enough.

I full expect, in about a month's time, Chelsea to forget all about Daniel and fall in love with the random stranger who stops and helps her change a spare tire. It's ridiculous.

[Mel]

I don't even watch this show and the pictures were enough to convince me to keep it that way. Um...ewwww.

[Nicole]

I was all for the relationship (especially if they actually dealt with it being a may/december thing), but yesterday's kiss totally highlighted their age difference for some reason and creeped me the hell out. Though I'm usually happy for anything that removes incredibly boring Nick from my screen!

[Nicole]

Oh, plus. Wasn't that one of the issues with Jack and Jennifer at first (aside from everything else), he thought he was too old for her, but still had a thing for her. Good drama. But this, Oh I must stay away from Chelsea for some completely untalked about reason is ridiculous.

[Jate]

I love Chelsea and Daniel. With EJami they are the only reason I watch Days lately.

[maxxie]

Ick. Just...ick. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's stomach turned while watching the living room kiss. And I like RM. And I think SC is hot. But put them together and I want to vomit. It's just not right.

[Alice]

Not totally off topic. Didn't that day-old beard, scruffy look go out in the 80s?

[Spike]

I just want a storyline where Paul will have to walk around on-set all day shirtless. Nude would be lovely, but I'm a realist.

Work on it, Higley.

[CCC]

Kinda off topic but still funny/weird..

From soapcentral.com:

"On the As the World Turns set, Pinson will be reunited with two of her former co-stars - Marie Wilson (Meg Snyder; ex-Karen Wexler, Port Charles) and Austin Peck (Brad Snyder; ex-Austin Reed, Days of our Lives). Wilson and Pinson's Port Charles alter egos were colleagues and friends. How their new characters will interact in Oakdale has yet to be determined. However, Pinson and Peck's relationship will be decidedly different this time around. On DAYS, the actors' characters were siblings, but on As The World Turns, their characters are former lovers.

"It's a little incestuous," Pinson joked of her new interaction with Peck in an interview with Soap Opera Digest. "

uhm. anyone else think this is kinda weird? or at least really awkward?

[Dally]

These two are a big wipeout! This pairing just doesn't work for me. Sorry but I find them repulsive. I know she's in lust, but I really don't see why he'd be interested in her. Some age different couples are great, this one looks like a young girl kissing her father (ewwwwwwww)

Please can I have more Nick/Blake, he needs a hot story while Chelsea and Dan are playing doctor.

[Hollyann]

I'm personally rooting for them
Though it could have something to do with the fact that I'm RM's age and wish that I could be the one kissing SC...

[Amanda]

Great post! I am so with you! I am almost ready to puke over this whole Chan pairing!! It is just gross, and totally ridiculous!!! Stop the madness already!! And bring Billie back for him!!

[AS]

I find these two REPULSIVE. If Days wants to lose me as a viewer, keep it up because I am not going to subject myself to this crap. Maybe if Dr. Dan was paired up with a more mature looking/acting 20 year old (ex: Morgan) I would feel differently but asexual Chelsea? She looks and acts twelve. YUCK YUCK YUUUUUUUUUUCK.

[daysfan]

Let me preface this with I am a Chelsea/Nick fan seperatly and together. But I can't watch this Chelsea/Daniel stuff, it makes me sick to my stomach and makes my skin crawl just watching them kiss.

I can't believe that Nick isn't even being mentioned by these idiots, while they are pimping Daniel to Chelsea. Stephanie is not a friend of Nick if she can't defend him to his current girlfriend.

Someone please stop this insanity that is Chelsea/Daniel PLEASE!!!!