For me that were the best years of DAYS. I fell in love with the show at the time. It was so over the top but it was also very special and just must-see-TV. I didn't like Reilly's second stint on the show that much ... but everything that man did for DAYS was a lot better than the things we see today.

And Deidre Hall as sometime-villain just SCARED the hell out of me. LOL

i wish they would air this episode instead:

I forgot how good ED was as Susan, love her saying mean, mean, mean and the facial expressions

ED is such a superstar. How she can pull off the transformations from one character to the other is amazing. Imagine doing that many times a day, every day. It's no wonder she was burned out after her first DAYS stint.

I remember thinking at the time how stupid the show had gotten. I watch Y and R and could not believe what they had the great ED doing! I was reminded to day of why I stopped watching the show after many years. It was at the time of today's episode.

It was fun, but it also left me with a couple of thoughts

1. The production differences are remarkable, lighting, cast size, sets all seem larger and brighter.

2. The characters totally lack character-driven motivation. Why is John marrying Kristen/Susan in the first place? To get custody? He was one of the richest guys in town, why not sue for custody? It made no sense.

3. This was the denouement of months of boring lead up with people talking to themselves, repeating key plot points, and almost getting caught.

4. Nobody in Reilly stories was smart. On 80's GH you would get a silly story like this one and then another couple would be working to gather clues to solve the mystery. If Susan had a better dentist she would have gotten away with this weird plot forever.

5. The fact that Stefano is EJ's father makes even less sense in retrospect but I don't even remember the other parts of the convoluted history of that time once Rachel the mother was introduced, and then Rolf, and Peter with jungle fever... it went off the rails rather quickly.

6. Which brings to mind Reilly's (and maybe Carlivati's) other writing issue (for me) - both writers have difficulty modulating the tone of their stories. I think it must be difficult to oversee writing for characters on a year-round basis. But, both writers spend a tremendous amount of energy on explosive scenes to end a storyline that is often unearned given the buildup.

Stories in the Reilly and post-Reilly soap era end because it is the sweeps period. However, they often don't set a good pace with the story for the rest of the year. Thus, a plot point occurs (someone is killed, something is stolen, or someone gets pregnant), everyone in town frets about it for weeks, slowing the pace, and then a big ending happens. Henry Slesar (my fav soap writer) made the mystery, the detective work and the trials all interesting because they were done against the backdrop of romance and character development taking advantage of the length of time to tell the story. Think about the classic Luke and Laura stories (not Slesar but more familiar). They went on the run and solved a mystery about a statue but along the way, Laura grew up, they fell in love, Luke became vulnerable, they danced in a department store, they slept in a farmhouse, etc etc.

In Reilly-land everyone just waits for the next catastrophe to them rather than living lives in which remarkable things occur.

That is awesome that they showed this episode today, but I wish I knew about it before. Now it's too late for me

I saw Jamey on twitter tweeting and when I switched over to Days and saw this classic. I was like this is when Days was boss, and Laura Horton wore that nightgown for 3 months in 1997. Would the really slim shady at Days pls stand-up-

@sodsince16: Amen! Brotha? Sistah? Whatever gender you are, well said! You got exactly what puts Reilly as #1 on my worst daytime head writers list!

Let's also add a few more to that list.

1. Reilly was also like Michael Jackson (RIP) who tried to top himself with each album after Thriller came out. What I mean is that he was always trying to find the next Wacky story to outdo the last one. This was evident on Days (both runs) and on Passions.

2. Reilly's used the same template for everyone storyline in his run on both Days and Passions. One over-the-top villain/villainous tries to break up couple A. Thus this bad person does the most extreme and exaggerated thing even for soap standard.

3. Reilly was always bringing on new characters without having flushed out the ones he brought on 6 months ago.

4. Reilly often rehashed plots he had done before. He did the Possession twice and then he brought back the Buried Alive story that he did on Days with Carly and had Sheridan in the same position on Passions.

5. People might not know this or have got it offhand, but many of Reilly's Passions characters were Days rip-off's. Theresa was the lesser version of Sami, Rebecca was the lesser version of Kate, Eve was the lesser version of Marlena, Sheridan was the lesser version of Hope, Luis was the lesser version of Bo, Alistair was the lesser version of Stefano, Julian was the lesser version of Tony and Sam was the lesser version of Roman. And that was just to name a few. So whatever stories he could not do "because Days had a pre-existing audience" he just recreated the same characters on Passions with different names and played them out there.

I saw it and loved it. How nice to see Mickey and Sean too. When Bo was wearing that towel in Hope's dream, I almost lost it.

Thanks David - Bro

Not to over analyze the issue BUT Rielly also introduced the audience to a new response to religion. No longer would we see Agnes Nixon's view of religion as a source of community or Ina's Guiding Light of spirituality. Rielly's universes were filed with much odder religious references. From obvious things like blind priests and possession to the larger themes of saints being constantly punished by sinners - Rielly really seemed to have an issue with the church!

I would propose that this is why he was so plot driven. Reilly saw himself as the origin of these stories and plots were therefore driven by his whim not by characters and their explorations. Men were constantly void of free will because of there obligations (ethan, theresa, and gwen). In Reilly-ville obligations were more important than love, which is why John had to marry Susan.

So, as we exited the 90's soaps could no longer be considered modern if they tackled issues related to either class or religion, which is why now soaps are only about who is marrying whom.

Loved it. JER was a genius! Days today is so dull. I also adored the Salem Stalker storyline.

Not to over analyze the issue BUT Rielly also introduced the audience to a new response to religion. No longer would we see Agnes Nixon's view of religion as a source of community or Ina's Guiding Light of spirituality. Rielly's universes were filed with much odder religious references. From obvious things like blind priests and possession to the larger themes of saints being constantly punished by sinners - Rielly really seemed to have an issue with the church!

I would propose that this is why he was so plot driven. Reilly saw himself as the origin of these stories and plots were therefore driven by his whim not by characters and their explorations. Men were constantly void of free will because of there obligations (ethan, theresa, and gwen). In Reilly-ville obligations were more important than love, which is why John had to marry Susan.

So, as we exited the 90's soaps could no longer be considered modern if they tackled issues related to either class or religion, which is why now soaps are only about who is marrying whom.

You make some good points! Reilly had a lot to say about religion.

Sadly I tuned back in to see the episode again in HD and ridiculous (but fun character archtypes aside) the production values were so much better. I miss the old mansion decor, it was bright and looked like a place wealthy people would live. The current mansion interior decorator should be locked in the secret room. No wonder the Dimera's are unhappy, they're surrounded by colors that evoke unhappy moods: blacks/purples/maroon. The old decor was lush with blues and yellows!

Another thing I did notice was that EVERYONE had too much make-up on. HD really brought that out.

I enjoyed the episode because it was just insane plot point after plot point that made me laugh, I was entertained. (Sadly lacking from today's shows: depressing sets/lighting/stories.) Reilly was good at overall story points. He just didn't give his script writers enough material to flesh out character development. The Dobsons (Santa Barbara) were the best with outlandish plot points (Elena trying to kill all the Capwells) because they backed it up with a lot of character development. It always came from a place of reality and character integrity (even with psychotics like Kirk and Elena). If Days could find someone to write like that it might have a chance. I tune in once a week now to be bored.