Like so many Days of Our Lives fans, I was glued to the TV for John Black’s funeral, Bo and Hope’s reunion and the 40th anniversary celebration of Stephen Nichols’ time on the canvas. I’m left thinking about the show’s history and the flashbacks are an absolute treasure trove.
I grew up watching soap operas in an adjacent way, like so many kids before me, because my mother was watching them and I was present for it. I can vividly remember my mother getting me ready for preschool, fixing my pigtails (with brightly colored bows, of course) while talking on the phone (a landline with a 25-foot cord that could nearly travel through the whole house) with my friends’ mothers. Each day they would discuss the day’s soaps and what was going on.
At that moment in time as a young child, their conversations were going over my head and I had no idea what I was watching but there was a lot of kissing and crying from what I remember. I wish, in retrospect, that I’d been paying closer attention.
I started watching Days a few years ago and relied on anecdotal stories from friends about things that happened decades ago. Yes, I could find clips online and read summaries of characters’ family trees and storylines, but seeing it…well, that’s a whole other story.
The past few weeks have been a treasure trove of Days' history between the celebration of John Black’s (Drake Hogestyn) life, Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope’s (Kristian Alfonso) relationship and Nichols’ time on the show. Seeing how “Patch” ended up with the trademark patch over his eye, and hearing how it was Bo who played a role in the incident that led to the injury, was so valuable.
For those who haven’t been watching for years (or decades), these snippets from the past are so valuable mainly because there really aren’t any ways to revisit them. With only two seasons available to stream, there’s no place for fans to travel back in time in the annals of Days past until there’s another opportunity to share clips in a current episode.
All I know is that I was hooked on those little blasts from the past. From the big hair of the 1980s to white-water rafting adventures to fights on hillsides and thrilling supernatural adventures, Days of years past was a sight to behold and I would love to see more of it, especially because I could go back and figure out what had my mom and her friends talking back in the day.
Days of Our Lives streams weekdays on Peacock.
