Number 6 Blunder in all of soap history is Marlena's Devil Possession?

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Did you love it or hate it? It annoyed me like mad but I couldn't stop watching it and have looked at youtube clips of it all many times since... I'm conflicted!

Source: http://welovesoa.ps/Blund10to6 COUNTDOWN: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History (10-6) 6. Marlena's Devil Possession on DAYS OF OUR LIVES
 
I would definitely agree with Frons and Marlena's possession, Frons/Guza ruined ABC/GH. I preferred Marlena of the 80's, an educated, intelligent DR. who worked for a living as opposed to the Divaish affair having bad mother who doted on that irritating Belle(the first one)
 
Hmmm and #19 of that same count down list still has me scratching my head. Roman, aka John Black, aka Chris Kosichek, aka Alex North, aka ????? So confusing! I wish Josh Taylor was still Chris and Drake H. was still Roman. It would be easier to follow.
 
The Roman Situation

Yes I agree it's maybe the most confusing thing ever and when you really think about it it was never resolved...
 
I agree, Wayne Northrop was the best Roman and had the best storyline with Deidre but the fans accepted Drake as Roman. It should have been left alone then.
 
Actually I enjoyed watching "Saint Marlena" as Susan called her; act up. I've never been a fan of John & Marlena, so I liked it....
So, what "supercouple" do I like? Doug and Julie! They were a supercouple before the word was invented! I also enjoy Bo & Hope.... but got as tired of her disappearances as I did of Stefano kidnapping Marlena!! By the way, where is he? I've missed many shows this summer and have not always been able to use a computer to find out what happened....
 
The Possession actually increased Days' ratings when soap viewers in general were tuning out of their stories to watch the OJ trial. I LOVED the possession---it's what got me hooked on Days and kept me watching steadily through August 2001. I wouldn't be a Days viewer today without that story.
 
ac2000 said:
The Possession actually increased Days' ratings when soap viewers in general were tuning out of their stories to watch the OJ trial. I LOVED the possession---it's what got me hooked on Days and kept me watching steadily through August 2001. I wouldn't be a Days viewer today without that story.
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ME TOO!. I'd attempt to fake sickness and skip school just to watch! lol.
 
Not gonna lie, I did love the possession storyline. I have always been a big fan of the sci-fi and horror genres. Seeing as how I have been watching Days literally since I could remember, seeing the angle (i was about 12 when that storyline aired) play out was right up my alley! I LOVED IT despite the fact many Days fans did not. Also it was the precursor to what Passions eventually became and Passions was one of my guilty pleasures. I don't care what anyone says, at 2pm my TV was tuned into Passions and if I wasn't home I was taping it (along with Days) lol That was my show!
 
I'll proudly admit that I enjoyed it! LOL. I'm not a huge sci-fi/horror junkie, but I do enjoy the genres. What hooked me on the story was a combination of a few things, simultaneously:

It involved Marlena as we had never seen her before. Yes, her actions were far-fetched, but she was possessed for goodness sake, so the sky was the limit there, I guess. It was not just a possession story. I still think it was ultimately a love story between John and Marlena. It also involved a ton of fringe characters ... it wasn't just Marlena and John's story. Just right off the top of my head, Stefano, Caroline, Mike and Kristen were featured pretty heavily, among others. And finally, it was just sooo different.
 
Actually, I loved it. It was so bad it was really good, if that makes any sense. It was sort of funny, too.
 
Hated that story, absolutely H A T E D it. If I had not been doing Early Edition, I would have FF'd thru every single scene. It was a horrible story, and a terrible thing to do to Marlena.
 
Hahaha. Tell us how you really feel, Barb. Don't hold back. :rotfl:

I understand ... I gather from most fans of the show it was a very polarizing story. Either you loved it or you hated it, there is very little gray area it seems.
 
I agree Brady, it seems like this story was very "love it or hate it". Also like you pointed out I enjoyed how it brought so many characters together. It involved pretty much the whole show! I read somewhere that it was only supposed to go on for like 2 months, but because of all the attention it received and how it positively spiked the ratings, Reilly stretched it out to last as long as it did. I remember even the kids at school were talking about this lol This was definitely one of the most controversial stories that was ever on TV, not just daytime.

On a side note, I remember years later when Marlena was thought to be the Salem Stalker and Lexie put her under the Sodium Pentathol (Truth Serum) so Marlena would confess to the police and the families of the victims just how she killed them all. And as she's laying in the hospital bed, describing these incredibly cruel acts with a calm glee as the people of Salem look on horrified, enraged, and distraught, I just kept having a deja vu of Marlena's possession! Remember how she was in the hospital bed with the priest, John, Marlena, Caroline, Kristen and others by her bedside just terrified about what was happening? History really does repeat itself.

How many people can say they were both possessed by the devil AND the victim of brainwashing that lead to the supposed murders of your friends and family?? LOL
 
What I thought was funny during the Salem Stalker/Slasher storyline is that it was obvious the writers were making it up as they went along.

From everything I've read, the plan was to get rid of many of the veterans of the show (thus saving them a ton of money), but when the fan backlash was so vicious, NBC told the writers to FIX IT and get the veterans back, no matter how ridiculous the storyline is to bring them all back and tie it up. Hence, Melaswen, brain washing and Andre.

I remember pictures from Frances Reid's going away party after Marlena killed Alice. The show bought her a very expensive ring in honor of her many years of service.

Matt Ashford went to another soap after Marlena killed Jack. Luckily for Days, his role was over in time for Jack to show up on the island with the others. There was an episode where Celeste was doing a card reading and turning over cards that had each of the dead characters pictures on them. For Jack, the card was blank and it just said "Jack" on it. Since Matt Ashford was on another show, Days couldn't use his picture.
 
I have to say that I was torn about the whole Salem Stalker storyline. I thought it was pretty bad *** how they made Marlena kill some of the characters, like bludgeoning Maggie Horton - a recovered alcoholic - with a whiskey bottle, choking Alice Horton with her world famous donuts, poisoning Caroline Brady's beloved chowder! I thought the way she killed them was very interesting as opposed to just having her shoot everyone.

The part of that whole story that gutted me was that they killed off some of the core characters in one fell swoop and then pinned on one of the show's most beloved characters ever, Marlena! I agree that most of it was made up as they went along, but I still feel we could've got something better out of that storyline than we got.
 
I think the show wanted to also dump Deidre Hall (again, saving lots o' money!), so the plan was to make Marlena go crazy and kill off the beloved members of Salem and then eventually either kill her or ship her off to a psych ward forever.

But you're right, it did start off kind of clever and no one (not even the viewers) suspected Marlena.
 
Totally agree about the "Salem Stalker" story being made up as they went along. The reversal of the story was well-publicized, but I don't ever recall hearing if Marlena was always the intended perp. Anyone have any information on that?The murders were very interesting (as opposed to someone just shooting or stabbing everyone) but the end of the story - Melaswen - was groan-inducing.
 
Yes, Marlena was always the intended killer. I have the old Soap Opera Digest here somewhere with the Deidre Hall interview when Marlena was revealed as the killer.
 
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