Two Actors Out (Kind of)
Neither of these is a huge surprise, and neither is a huge hit to the show, but per usual, I’m irritated with how sloppily they’re being handled…
Jason47 reports that Alma Delfina (Adriana Hernandez) and A Martinez (Eduardo Hernandez) were both removed from the credits yesterday, Tuesday, August 30th. When this happens, it means performers who were on contract are officially no longer under contract with the show; Delfina had a 6-month contract, and Martinez had a 1-year one.
But — but! — Jason adds that Eduardo has simply been moved to recurring status and appears again in September. The line between contract and recurring has gotten blurrier over the years. John Aniston has been recurring as Victor for years, and he appears more than a number of contract players. I’m still not sure what the vision was for Eduardo, since they’ve yet to tell anything resembling a full story with him, but I like Martinez and I like the potential of the character, so I’m glad he’ll be around, especially with Eve returning.
As for Delfina, there’s no indication that she continued filming past this month, so it’s possible that she will pop up again but not confirmed. What aired on Monday could’ve been her final scenes, which… is about as messy and nonsensical as anything we’ve seen on Days over the past year. As her kids piled up in Salem, there was a need for this woman to make at least a cameo starting in 2009, and she never showed up. Then we finally got her, they pulled Eduardo out of other story to reunite them, she nagged Rafe about Hope a lot, and… now we’ll never see her again? She’s exactly the sort of character who should be recurring, available to pop in for major family events but otherwise not needing screentime. Maybe Delfina just didn’t want to do that and they’ll recast as needed, but it’s going to be super-awkward just to get a “Mama went back to West Salem/Mexico” and not see her the next time one of her children or grandchildren’s lives hangs in the balance.
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What Happens in Salem... 
August 31, 2016 at 9:09 am
All these comings and goings…. argh, it’s driving me crazy. Why does it seem like Days is ALWAYS in transition?
I was rooting for Eve/Eduardo last year. I loved their chemistry. We’ll see if anything comes of it. I wasn’t attached to Adriana, though it was kind of fun to have one person who consistently dogged on Hope.
Maybe they’ll just talk about her like she’s always in the other room. Sigh.
August 31, 2016 at 2:28 pm
It’s maddening. The show IS always in flux!
It was nice for them to finally introduce Adriana, with the rest of the family on canvas; I don’t see her as a character who needs story, per se, but her presence adds a dimension to the Hernandez clan. I also wouldn’t hate if they just slapped her and Roman together and let them hang out in the background, but I don’t need her leading story. But her vanishing again is really stupid.
August 31, 2016 at 11:06 am
To make family stories work, you need multiple generations of the family. Cutting these characters is a huge mistake.
Multi-generation family storytelling is the literal foundation of DAYS. See the very first episode!
August 31, 2016 at 2:30 pm
I’m much more interested in the Hernandez family because they finally feel like a family. Like I said, I don’t really see Adriana as a character who needs or should have story, but she should be able to pop up as needed. And I like Eduardo, both with the kids and in his friendships with John and Steve.
August 31, 2016 at 7:51 pm
I agree with you. They even gave Adriana a job at the hospital. What’s the point of that if they’re going to dump her? She can provide consistency there in all the hospital storylines.
Speaking of that…Where is Maxine? It’s absurd that they didn’t include her in the 50th anniversary celebration. I loved that character and actress.
As you pointed out, they need anchor characters like that.
More hospital drama….if they dump Adriana, what about Blanca. She supposedly just got a job at the hospital too, but I don’t think she’s worked there a day yet, unless it happened this week and I haven’t seen it yet.
They tried to play up some mystery phone call with her (at least once in Club TBD) like she had some hidden sinister intentions towards Rafe. I wonder if that will just be dropped.
Right before the Olympic break, I wrote a long post about what great shape the show seemed to be in. Is it already unraveling?
As you said, the show is always in flux. I just want to scream, “Get it together. Pick a (good) direction and move forward!”
September 1, 2016 at 8:19 am
I don’t think we’ve seen Maxine since quite a while before Griffith and Higley took over, so I’m guessing she’s gone for good. Aloma Wright has booked a bunch of primetime work anyway. I miss her around, though I’m sort of glad we didn’t have Maxine chiming in on the “R.I.P. Daniel” chorus, because you know she’d still be going on about him.
It’s ridiculous that they spent screentime installing Adriana and Blanca on the University Hospital staff, only to *never* show them working there. Not once. I think someone from Blanca’s past was (is?) supposed to be after her, so maybe we’ll see that play out before she stops airing (she goes into November, I think).
August 31, 2016 at 8:32 pm
In terms of family structures, its a shame they are eliminating Adriana. The Hernandez clan, like it or not, is the only family that the show has had acting like a clan with a mother, father, and multiple adult children. I think to start playing with that structure without creating other structures is foolish.
The only other unit that has a mother, father, and multiple adult children in Salem is the Black family with Marlena, John, Brady, Paul, and Belle, however they rarely act as a family. Even if they did, the key child (Sami) is missing which makes things faulty. I actually liked it when they played Brady’s Kiriakis lineage more than his Black ties because it kept him out of the mess with John and Marlena and their never ending love story. It’s a shame that the show cannot just let John and Marlena settle naturally into parental roles or at least use Paul to play new sides to the drama. In the last couple years they have had that opportunity twice, when Paul slept with John’s stepgrandson (without really playing the effects of John-Marlena on Roman and his family) and playing Paul up in the search to find John’s father.
But back to the Hernandez family, the only adult child I like is Gabi and that’s probably because of her ties to the Horton clan. I wish Dario was played by someone else, like the other Tony Santos (Stephen Martines), but the show seems very lsot with Dario. I like the potential in the Dario v. Rafe/Eduardo and the Eduardo v. Rafe. I just don’t know where it is all going.
I hope they do delve more into Eduardo’s history with Eve especially if its true that they are going into a J.J. / Gabi / Chad storyline. I would love to see an overly possessive Eve who is trying to control Gabi’s life and badmouthing J.J., with Kate siding with Chad, but naturally suspicious of Gabi because of their history, and then Kate and Eduardo and Eve playing out all of their natural tension. Side bar it with some of the Adrienne / Lucas stuff, with Justin looking to reunite with Adrienne, and maybe even agrees to seduce Lucas to piss off Jennifer. Only for Eve to really get sick (to explain the real life problems of KD) and for Lucas and Eve to marry for real. Then, you unite Jennifer and Kate to save Lucas, which would piss off the occasional pop in Laura Horton. Really, this story just writes itself. I hope they play it properly.
September 1, 2016 at 8:25 am
You make a good point about the family structures. I hadn’t thought of that. The Black clan never really plays like a family even though they have a pretty solid group of characters around (three grown kids and a teen granddaughter). I’ve been enjoying scenes in that Hernandez kitchen even when I find the content stupid — Adriana forcing Rafe and Blanca together — because it all has that feel of a traditional soap family.
I haaaaaated Stephen Martines in both his daytime roles, so I’m fine with Vilasuso, though I feel like they cast him as Dario and then tried to come up with stuff for him to do, rather than determining there was a need for the character. I’m kind of surprised that he’s apparently still around and shooting. I hope it means they’ve come up with some real direction.
I like the complexity of your ideas for that whole Eve-related group. I always liked the idea of putting Lucas with Eve, but the casting makes it feel weird to me (I think it’s the height difference!), but the story potential is there. One thing they’ve done well in the past few months is actually making Jen and Lucas feel like siblings. I’m also really hoping we get some Laura/Nancy interaction this fall. They did a great job with Jen remembering what Nancy had done to Mike years ago, and Laura coming for Nancy would be fun.
September 1, 2016 at 9:27 am
it is amazing how they put all these unqualified folks into jobs they never do that they couldn’t do in the 1st place so i guess it makes sense…..
September 1, 2016 at 12:18 pm
Well, when you only have to show up to work once a week, I guess the barrier to entry is a little easier…
September 3, 2016 at 4:52 am
I’m not all that invested in Adriana, but I agree she is the perfect recurring character, and an anchor for the Hernandez clan. And I loved her ragging on Hope!
The big shame is WASTING a talent like A. Martinez. If they can’t figure out something to do with such a dynamic actor…I’m at a loss for words. Perhaps they will pursue something with Eve. The two had a lot of chemistry I thought.
September 3, 2016 at 8:47 am
I feel like no one really had a thought beyond “let’s get a good actor to play the Hernandez dad.” His intro, with the Paige reveal and his chemistry with Eve, was great. Then they halfheartedly tried him with Kate, dithered around with the Adriana stuff, and just sort of… had him around. It’s a shame.
September 3, 2016 at 10:34 am
I’m not sure if I’m more upset with myself or the show for missing a major storyline point.
I loved the day in the Hernandez kitchen in which Eduardo have JJ a minor grilling about dating Gabi, not hurting her, etc. It was great how that turned into Dario calling Eduardo a hypocrite for the way he hurt Adriana.
BUT…The show could create major stroyline drama with this. They missed the elephant in the room…JJ sleeping with Eve while dating Paige.
– Eduardo should outright forbid Gabi to see JJ after the way JJ hurt Paige by sleeping with Eve. That would lead to…
– Gabi has been the most accepting in the family of Eduardo so that would cause trouble there.
– JJ could accuse Eduardo of trying to make up for the fact that he abandoned Paige, was never there for her, feels guilty, etc.
– Adriana could wonder if Eduardo is also jealous that JJ slept with Eve so are there Iingering feelings for his second wife?
– Rafe has warms up to his father. JJ s now a fellow cop. WHose side will Rafe take? He should also be torn sicnce he’s always so protective of Gabi, yet Paige was his unknown half-sister.
– Different characters take different sides, creating ripple effects.
September 3, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Oh, don’t even get me started on all the wasted potential with JJ/Gabi. Their relationship is being played as such an afterthought. In addition to the Hernandez angles, JJ is also living in the same house as Julie. Wouldn’t she have a thing or 20 to say about him dating the woman who killed Nick?
September 3, 2016 at 3:58 pm
JJ has been totally forgotten, he used to be front and centre in that horrid storyline with Paige and Eve and now he’s never even on, I miss him. I don’t get it, he has a lot of potential and he’s been relegated to boring cop #3 or whatever. What happened to his interest in music? He wasn’t great at it but still it’s been totally forgotten. Nothing about JJ or Gabi, even separately, is being played out at all. Has everyone forgotten that she killed Nick? Why isn’t JJ playing a bigger role in this drama between Jennifer and Chad, or being there for Jennifer during this addiction stuff? The new writers just seemed to dump the character and his history, they don’t seem to care much about Gabi either.
September 3, 2016 at 5:21 pm
It’s weird how minimized he’s become. Part of me thinks that it’s because they suspect Casey Moss won’t renew his contract when it’s up (I think he’d stop airing roughly this coming spring if that’s the case) — but they definitely didn’t back off using Kate Mansi just because she had a contract renewal coming up. I’m really hoping that Higley & Quan bring the balance back to center, because it’s been so skewed lately. Jennifer only recently started getting actual consistent airtime again.
September 6, 2016 at 12:44 am
YES! 😂 This is all good soapy material and the groundwork was already layed. I don’t know why they bring in some characters only to not fully ultilize them while they have them AND waste so much time on drivel like Summer Townsend and endlessly talking about Daniel. You need to write for the show or at least put a bug in the writer’s ears 😀
September 6, 2016 at 7:34 am
It’s like they just cast a ton of roles in the last year and then arbitrarily wrote for a few of them and ignored others. I’ve never seen such aimlessness in the casting; they usually bring people on with laser-sharp intention (even if that intention sucks, like with Serena, Jordan, etc. — it was always clear what their stories were, even if they were terrible).
September 4, 2016 at 7:09 am
Casey started taping in January 2013, so his contract is up in 4 months. I wish they would show more of he and Gabi too. It’s like they brought her back for no reason. I agree they used Kate a lot in the end, her time on the show is kind of the opposite of Casey’s in terms of screen time. He got a lot in his first few years while she was more background in her first few years, then in her last few years she was front and center, while he’s more background in his final contract year.
September 4, 2016 at 9:48 am
It’s really weird how background he’s become. They played him as a lead for 2+ years and then just shuffled him off to a very supporting role.
September 4, 2016 at 10:33 am
If Casey Moss’s contract is up in 4 months that means he will be on-screen for at least another 9-10 months. I’d like to see more of JJ and Gabi.
September 4, 2016 at 11:53 am
They apparently have big(ger) story coming up, but I’ll believe it when I see it.