Days of Our Lives Begins a New Era: Say Goodbye to ‘Lame, Cliched, Hackneyed’ Writing

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We were told this day was coming for Days of Our Lives and that we’d know it when it happened — and boy did we. The shift in writing was not subtle. After six months of Writers’ Strike material airing as we waited for the show to catch up to real life, we finally, on Friday, witnessed the return of headwriter Ron Carlivati and the regular writing team.

And it wasn’t only unsubtle, but it used someone as catty as Leo to deliver the lines that declared the strike material was over. As he was looking through The Spectator on his laptop, Leo read aloud the headline: “Some Salemites Ready to Go Nuclear On Radioactive Mayor.”

His response? “Lame play on words. Cliched, hackneyed, ugh. No offense, Everett, but the quality of the writing for The Spectator has really gone downhill the past couple months. But that is about to change.” (You can read through the entire recap here.)

And change it did. The action came fast and furious on Friday. Bobby came out to play in a big way when Jada and Stephanie tried confronting Everett and he pushed the calm personality aside, practically foaming at the mouth as he screamed at them. Contrast that fury to the glimpse we got of a cool, collected Melinda, capable of handling anything as she talked her way out of stealing Jude — before Rafe caught her in a lie.

And while we didn’t actually see Jude, he was at the heart of much of the episode. After Sloan had been sent on the run by the temp writers, Carlivati brought her back to have it out with Nicole and try to apologize. It was against common sense when it came to saving her own skin, but made perfect sense when it came to drama! There were explanations, accusations, drudging up Nicole’s hugely problematic history and rehashing trauma. And then there was that slap.

Eric, meanwhile, got his hands on Leo, scaring the writing critic to the point that he called in Rafe for help before scuttling off to tell EJ he finally realized what he was hiding. And just as Sloan was about to flee from a furious Nicole, Eric walked into the DiMera mansion and she froze, trapped between two irate parents.

So for those who may have put Days of Our Lives on pause the last few months or just weren’t feeling the characters or stories, now — episode 200 of the show’s 59th season — is the time to jump back in. Fingers crossed we can keep up the momentum as we barrel forward into the show’s milestone 60th season.