This column will be about what I think the writers are doing right and wrong. Feel free to add any of your own ideas.
Here's what the writers have done right:
The writers are using the vets again:
It's been so good seeing the veterans back on the show. Their sporadic appearances were not enough. The episodes have been much better now that Bo/Hope and John/Marlena have more airtime. I don't know what the writers were thinking back burning these two couples when they know that they have strong fan bases. They are the reason why most of us tune in to the show. The ratings reflected that people want to see these couples. When the ratings dropped to under 2.0, it was time to do something about it. The second Bo and Hope were shown again for a few days, the ratings went up. When they disappeared, the ratings dropped. Finally the writers realized their mistake and put the vets back on the air.
Lumi fans got a payoff:
Sami and Lucas finally got married this year. For years, the writers have been teasing Lumi fans by making them get close to marriage only to have them break up. Lucas even managed to marry Carrie and not Sami. Sami married Brandon. Even though both marriages were short-lived, Sami and Lucas were not married. Lumi fans have gone through a lot waiting for them to get married. It looked as if it was never going to happen once Sami kept another secret from Lucas involving EJ. EJ raped Sami in order to help her save Lucas. He also possibly got her pregnant. Once Lucas found out the truth, I thought the wedding would be over. It turned out that Lucas knew part of Sami's secret and was very understanding of it. After everything they have been through, it was nice to see them get married.
The writers rested the younger audience:
In my opinion, anyone younger than Sami and Lucas don't need to be shown that much. They are always given long and tedious stories. Take the Shawn/Belle/Philip story. That started good, but that quickly changed once Shawn and Belle went on the run with Claire. Philip as well as the veterans were taken out of the story and they ended up on the island with Gabby and Duck. It was an isolated story because all of the other major characters were taken out of it. It had the potential of being an umbrella story, but the writers dropped the ball.
The other younger characters were worse. The writers really shoved Abby, Chelsea, and Nick down our throats. They were getting more airtime than the vets. I know Nick and Chelsea have a growing fan base, but I prefer the supercouples to them. As far as Abby goes, I would rather see her parents than see her so much. Luckily she was written off the show for now.
The writers brought Jay Kenneth Johnston back:
I have always liked Jay's Philip better than Kyle's. Jay brought something to the role that Kale never did. Jay's acting was the only thing that made Shawn and Belle's story more bearable. I know he was written up as the bad guy, but he made it easier to root for him over Shawn and Belle.
The return of the DiMeras:
What I like about this story is it involves a lot of the vets. It's an umbrella story. The writers even brought Doug and Julie back for the story. Even more miraculous is the writers involved Grandpa Shawn in the story.
The writers changed Chelsea:
I didn't think I would ever see this happening. She finally gave up her obsession of wanting to see her parents together. She's bonded with Hope. She spends more time with Hope than she does with Billie. This is a leap for her considering what she's done to Hope. She apologized for killing Zack. She confessed to having Nick steal the hairbrush for her, which could keep him from going to prison. She still has a ways to go before she's completely redeemed in my eyes, but she's off to a good start.
Here's what the writers did wrong:
Steve and Kayla got too much airtime:
I want to start this off by saying that I like Steve and Kayla and I'm glad that they are back on the show. However, I thought they were shown too much. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't given a crazy story. Fans of this couple would rather see them together, not deal with him being EJ's pawn. This was another story that became isolated. If the writers wanted to deal with Steve having his mind controlled by EJ, they could have involved Bo/Hope/John/Marlena in this story. Since they are his friends, they would have wanted to help him.
The younger characters were shown too much. See my comments about them above.
Too many new characters:
The writers brought on too many new characters at the expense of the vets. Willow's part got beefed up once Hogan Sheffer took over as head writer. Nick was another new character who was shown too much. He may be a Horton, but he is a Horton who was created. He is only on as a love interest for Chelsea. He barely interacts with the Hortons with the exception of Maggie and he wouldn't do that if he didn't live with her. He should have been written as a new character instead of part of a core family. Duck and Gabby had no ties to anyone on the show. There was no point to them, yet they had a lot of airtime.
The writers are trying to redeem EJ:
He has done a lot of evil things to people in Salem. He shot John. He had John's kidney taken out. He's using mind control over Steve. He made Patrick ruin Bo and Hope's marriage. He raped Sami. These are just some of the things he's done. I don't understand why they are trying to make him look like the good guy. No matter how much he loves Sami, he's still a monster. He should be written the same way Tony and Stefano are. Before Tony and Stefano came back to Salem, he was the resident bad guy. Now we're supposed to forget that because he wants to be Sami's hero. I'm not buying it.
