Post by leafs27 on Feb 11, 2021 20:26:58 GMT
From Soaps.com Exclusive Days of Our Lives February Sweeps Preview
If a beloved character has just risen from the dead and another is on her way back to Salem, it must be February sweeps on Days of Our Lives. Soaps.com sat down with headwriter Ron Carlivati for an exclusive chat about the big drama about to unfold in the little midwestern town. How much dirt did he spill? So much that we’ve actually broken the interview into two parts, the second of which can be found here.
Ben Searches for Ciara
Seeing Ciara back on their screens was like a dream come true for Cin fans. OK, sure, they’d probably just as soon she not be held hostage, far from the loving arms of her husband, but hey… its a start! “It’s not like Ciara is going to be rescued tomorrow,” says the scribe of Ben’s true love. “We’re beginning a journey. It started with Ben finally voicing what he’s been feeling deep down for a while now, that maybe his wife isn’t really dead. From this point forward, we see him taking action to try and figure out where she could be. But the trail is very, very cold at this point.” The real challenge, Carlivati says, is keeping the audience invested along the way. “To that end,” he explains, “we’ve forged sort of a psychic connection between them, similar to something that’s been played in the past with John and Marlena and some of our other supercouples. There will be a fantasy element to it as well. We wanted to give the audience romantic payoffs on the way to the ultimate payoff.”
Here Comes Sami
It’s been somewhat odd to have Sami absent for so much of the story involving daughter Allie, but that’s all about to change in a very big way. “Whenever you have Allison Sweeney returning, you want to make the most of it, no matter how long she’s going to be around,” says Carlivati of Sami’s portrayer. “You want her to come in with a bang, and maybe that’s foreshadowing a little bit.” Obviously, Sami’s return will be tied to Charlie’s story. “The walls are starting to close in on him, and I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have any friends in Salem, with the possible exception of new acquaintance Gwen. But the attack on Allie was outside of the Salem police department’s jurisdiction, and although he kidnapped Ava, she’s not the most credible of witnesses for several reasons, so it’s beginning to look as if Charlie might actually walk away from all of this.” Enter Sami. “She is definitely going to play into this in a big way,” previews the writer. Also playing a huge role in the next phase of this story are John, Marlena, Steve and Kayla. “They were on opposite sides when Tripp stood accused of Allie’s rape, especially John and Steve. But now, moving forward, they are on the same side and working toward a common goal.”
Gwen’s Real Past: Revealed
Jack’s not the only one with questions regarding the veracity of Gwen’s claims. Viewers suspecting there has to be more to the story will soon find out just how right they really are. “I think most of the audience is plugged in and knows that Jennifer’s mother, Laura, is coming for a visit,” sets up Carlivati. “She really holds the key to this whole mystery as to who Gwen is and why her version of what happened in the past is so different from Jack’s version. We will learn that the story Gwen was told — the one that compelled her to do the things she did — is not true. So her resentment toward Jack and toward Abigail is sort of misplaced. What does she do with that now, and how does she atone for her actions?”
A Wedding For Sarah and Xander?
A guy can only take so much, and when Victor opts to stand behind Philip — despite his actions putting both Titan’s future and Brady’s life on the line — Xander throws in the towel. “He’s disillusioned,” sighs Carlivati. “His focus had been on Titan, but now it will shift to Sarah. She’s the person who stood by him through this entire story. She helped him get the goods on Philip, and in the process, the bond between them became stronger than ever. So now, he wants to put a ring on it!” Does this mean Sarah and Xander are heading for not only a wedding but a happily ever after? “They’re definitely heading in that direction,” acknowledges the scribe. “Of course, the question is whether or not they actually reach their destination.”
Gabi Makes a Move
Jake’s made it pretty clear that what he has with Kate isn’t simply some meaningless fling. In fact, he’s fallen pretty hard for the beauty… no matter what Gabi wants to believe! “Gabi was pretty sure that she’d be able to just walk back into Jake’s life,” says Carlivati, “but she found out that wasn’t the case. He didn’t accept her business proposition or her personal one!” Being the woman she is, Gabi isn’t going to simply sit in the corner and pout. “Now that Jake, on behalf of DiMera Enterprises, has turned down her offer, she’s going to walk across the street and knock on Titan’s door,” he continues, adding that it’s not exactly a coincidence that she’s looking to work with Kate’s son, Philip. “This is 100 percent designed to get under both Jake and Kate’s skin.” Will Gabi’s scheme work? “Jake is committed to Kate. But subconsciously, he’s going to continue to feel that pull toward Gabi. He can’t just turn that off.”
Chad and Abigail’s Biggest Challenge Ever
Furious as she is at Chad, Abigail could almost forgive him for sleeping with Gwen, given the nasty nanny’s expert manipulations. “The tricky part for Abigail,” explains Carlivati, “is that he didn’t trust her and that he didn’t believe in her. “There’s something broken beneath the surface here, and that’s going to be difficult to repair,” he continues. “There are issues at play that Chad is going to have to deal with. It’s not going to be as simple as Abigail saying, ‘I forgive you for sleeping with Gwen.'”
The Search for Eli and Lani’s Babies
Slowly but surely, Jules and Carver’s parents are getting closer to the truth. “Dr. Raynor is the only real lead they have at this point,” previews Carlivati, “and she only dealt with Ivan… whose name she doesn’t even know. But if they can get to Ivan, they might be able to follow the trail to their babies.” As most viewers have figured out by now, Ivan was, of course, delivering the newborns to Vivian, who never had a chance to raise her own twins, Jake and Stefan. “But this isn’t quite the straight line it appears to be,” warns the wordsmith. “There’s a little bit of a twist with regards to motives and why those babies wound up with Vivian.”
Despite rumors that Jackée Harry’s soon-to-be-introduced Paulina is connected to the kidnapping of the children, Carlivati says that is not the case. “She’s actually tied to the next arc of Eli and Lani’s story,” he teases, adding that he is “out-of-my-mind thrilled to have her joining the cast.”
Kristen’s Next Scheme
It’s hard not to notice the sparks flying between Chloe and Brady; just ask his jailed girlfriend, Kristen! “Brady’s love life is complicated at the moment,” understates Carlivati. “While he’s very much in love with Kristen, and she has grown as a person over the years, I think most of Salem would say he’s out of his mind to be with her.” With Kristen now more jealous than ever of the fact that Brady and Chloe are reconnecting, trouble is on the horizon. “As she was being taken back to prison, Kristen warned Chloe that this wasn’t over. And if looks could kill, Chloe would have been lying dead on the floor in front of the nurses station. “Now,” he continues, “Kristen is desperately trying to figure out how she can reinsert herself back into that situation despite being trapped behind bars. And if we know one thing about Kristen, it’s that where there’s a will — let alone one as strong as hers — there might be a way. She just has to figure out what it is.”
If a beloved character has just risen from the dead and another is on her way back to Salem, it must be February sweeps on Days of Our Lives. Soaps.com sat down with headwriter Ron Carlivati for an exclusive chat about the big drama about to unfold in the little midwestern town. How much dirt did he spill? So much that we’ve actually broken the interview into two parts, the second of which can be found here.
Ben Searches for Ciara
Seeing Ciara back on their screens was like a dream come true for Cin fans. OK, sure, they’d probably just as soon she not be held hostage, far from the loving arms of her husband, but hey… its a start! “It’s not like Ciara is going to be rescued tomorrow,” says the scribe of Ben’s true love. “We’re beginning a journey. It started with Ben finally voicing what he’s been feeling deep down for a while now, that maybe his wife isn’t really dead. From this point forward, we see him taking action to try and figure out where she could be. But the trail is very, very cold at this point.” The real challenge, Carlivati says, is keeping the audience invested along the way. “To that end,” he explains, “we’ve forged sort of a psychic connection between them, similar to something that’s been played in the past with John and Marlena and some of our other supercouples. There will be a fantasy element to it as well. We wanted to give the audience romantic payoffs on the way to the ultimate payoff.”
Here Comes Sami
It’s been somewhat odd to have Sami absent for so much of the story involving daughter Allie, but that’s all about to change in a very big way. “Whenever you have Allison Sweeney returning, you want to make the most of it, no matter how long she’s going to be around,” says Carlivati of Sami’s portrayer. “You want her to come in with a bang, and maybe that’s foreshadowing a little bit.” Obviously, Sami’s return will be tied to Charlie’s story. “The walls are starting to close in on him, and I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have any friends in Salem, with the possible exception of new acquaintance Gwen. But the attack on Allie was outside of the Salem police department’s jurisdiction, and although he kidnapped Ava, she’s not the most credible of witnesses for several reasons, so it’s beginning to look as if Charlie might actually walk away from all of this.” Enter Sami. “She is definitely going to play into this in a big way,” previews the writer. Also playing a huge role in the next phase of this story are John, Marlena, Steve and Kayla. “They were on opposite sides when Tripp stood accused of Allie’s rape, especially John and Steve. But now, moving forward, they are on the same side and working toward a common goal.”
Gwen’s Real Past: Revealed
Jack’s not the only one with questions regarding the veracity of Gwen’s claims. Viewers suspecting there has to be more to the story will soon find out just how right they really are. “I think most of the audience is plugged in and knows that Jennifer’s mother, Laura, is coming for a visit,” sets up Carlivati. “She really holds the key to this whole mystery as to who Gwen is and why her version of what happened in the past is so different from Jack’s version. We will learn that the story Gwen was told — the one that compelled her to do the things she did — is not true. So her resentment toward Jack and toward Abigail is sort of misplaced. What does she do with that now, and how does she atone for her actions?”
A Wedding For Sarah and Xander?
A guy can only take so much, and when Victor opts to stand behind Philip — despite his actions putting both Titan’s future and Brady’s life on the line — Xander throws in the towel. “He’s disillusioned,” sighs Carlivati. “His focus had been on Titan, but now it will shift to Sarah. She’s the person who stood by him through this entire story. She helped him get the goods on Philip, and in the process, the bond between them became stronger than ever. So now, he wants to put a ring on it!” Does this mean Sarah and Xander are heading for not only a wedding but a happily ever after? “They’re definitely heading in that direction,” acknowledges the scribe. “Of course, the question is whether or not they actually reach their destination.”
Gabi Makes a Move
Jake’s made it pretty clear that what he has with Kate isn’t simply some meaningless fling. In fact, he’s fallen pretty hard for the beauty… no matter what Gabi wants to believe! “Gabi was pretty sure that she’d be able to just walk back into Jake’s life,” says Carlivati, “but she found out that wasn’t the case. He didn’t accept her business proposition or her personal one!” Being the woman she is, Gabi isn’t going to simply sit in the corner and pout. “Now that Jake, on behalf of DiMera Enterprises, has turned down her offer, she’s going to walk across the street and knock on Titan’s door,” he continues, adding that it’s not exactly a coincidence that she’s looking to work with Kate’s son, Philip. “This is 100 percent designed to get under both Jake and Kate’s skin.” Will Gabi’s scheme work? “Jake is committed to Kate. But subconsciously, he’s going to continue to feel that pull toward Gabi. He can’t just turn that off.”
Chad and Abigail’s Biggest Challenge Ever
Furious as she is at Chad, Abigail could almost forgive him for sleeping with Gwen, given the nasty nanny’s expert manipulations. “The tricky part for Abigail,” explains Carlivati, “is that he didn’t trust her and that he didn’t believe in her. “There’s something broken beneath the surface here, and that’s going to be difficult to repair,” he continues. “There are issues at play that Chad is going to have to deal with. It’s not going to be as simple as Abigail saying, ‘I forgive you for sleeping with Gwen.'”
The Search for Eli and Lani’s Babies
Slowly but surely, Jules and Carver’s parents are getting closer to the truth. “Dr. Raynor is the only real lead they have at this point,” previews Carlivati, “and she only dealt with Ivan… whose name she doesn’t even know. But if they can get to Ivan, they might be able to follow the trail to their babies.” As most viewers have figured out by now, Ivan was, of course, delivering the newborns to Vivian, who never had a chance to raise her own twins, Jake and Stefan. “But this isn’t quite the straight line it appears to be,” warns the wordsmith. “There’s a little bit of a twist with regards to motives and why those babies wound up with Vivian.”
Despite rumors that Jackée Harry’s soon-to-be-introduced Paulina is connected to the kidnapping of the children, Carlivati says that is not the case. “She’s actually tied to the next arc of Eli and Lani’s story,” he teases, adding that he is “out-of-my-mind thrilled to have her joining the cast.”
Kristen’s Next Scheme
It’s hard not to notice the sparks flying between Chloe and Brady; just ask his jailed girlfriend, Kristen! “Brady’s love life is complicated at the moment,” understates Carlivati. “While he’s very much in love with Kristen, and she has grown as a person over the years, I think most of Salem would say he’s out of his mind to be with her.” With Kristen now more jealous than ever of the fact that Brady and Chloe are reconnecting, trouble is on the horizon. “As she was being taken back to prison, Kristen warned Chloe that this wasn’t over. And if looks could kill, Chloe would have been lying dead on the floor in front of the nurses station. “Now,” he continues, “Kristen is desperately trying to figure out how she can reinsert herself back into that situation despite being trapped behind bars. And if we know one thing about Kristen, it’s that where there’s a will — let alone one as strong as hers — there might be a way. She just has to figure out what it is.”