Days of Our Lives About-Face: The Return That Would Totally Save the Character of [Spoiler]
Robert Scott Wilson could charm the petals off of a flower. But let’s tell it like it is: Warming to his new Days of Our Lives alter ego has been… challenging. Without belaboring the point, Alex is obnoxious. And there is no number of shirtless scenes that is going to make him suddenly seem less obnoxious. They just make him a jerk who’s also an exhibitionist.
But there is hope for the himbo, a valuable legacy character who is, it bears mentioning again, is being played by an actor talented enough to get us past Ben’s stint as the Necktie Killer to ship him and Ciara. In Alex’s case, that hope comes in the form of a woman — and no, it isn’t Stephanie! (He’s tortured her enough, for Pete Jannings’ sake!)
Two Wrongs Make a Right?
The time has come for Days of Our Lives to bring back Claire, who when last in Salem was recovering from her disastrous relationship with psycho Charlie and being drawn to “widower” Ben. Sit her down next to Alex one fateful night at the Brady Pub. Stephanie has just told him for the umpteenth time that he blew his chance with her, and he ain’t getting another one. And if he wants to know why, she adds, it isn’t because of Chad, and it isn’t because he kept her from her mother. “It’s because you’d do it again,” she says. “You saw how much that hurt me, and if you were in the same situation, you’d do it again, because you are and I guess always will be… about you, you, you.”
Licking his wounds, Alex doesn’t hit on the pretty blonde next to him like he normally would. He’s not just replaying Stephanie’s words in his head, he is taking them in. Trying to, anyway. He’s known for some time that his behavior was leading him down a path to nowhere. He’s even said as much. But what has he done about it? Nothing.
“You look like I feel,” Claire says.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” he replies. “At least I deserve to feel like I do.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Claire cracks. “What did you do?”
“How about everything… wrong?”
The Benefit of Being Friends
Over the course of one beer, then another, Alex and Claire discover that they have a few things in common — mainly a history of mistakes that they doubt they could live down if they didn’t croak till they were 103. “It feels hopeless, doesn’t it?” he admits.
“It can,” she says. “But maybe we don’t have to be lost causes. What if we just decide to be different… better — starting now?”
“You think it’s that easy?”
“I don’t think we’ll know unless we try,” she says. “What do you say? You got a better idea?”
“Yeah, I… uh… I don’t have any ideas, so yeah,” Alex agrees, “let’s give yours a go.”
From there, the new acquaintances begin to act as one another’s sounding board. They even start a calendar on which they count the number of days since they last did something counterproductive or self-destructive. As days turn into weeks and then months, Alex and Claire’s friendship intensifies. “You’re really good for me,” he tells her.
“You’re good for me, too,” she assures him.
“Huh. I’ve never been good for anybody before,” he realizes. “Even myself. Usually, I’d have screwed up something like what we’ve got by trying to get you to have sex with me.”
“Ha,” Claire replies. “Usually, I would’ve already sabotaged our relationship, then started coming up with stupid schemes to win you back. This may actually be the healthiest relationship I’ve ever had.”
Even as Alex and Claire are having this conversation, they are wondering whether the reason that they work is because they have remained steadfastly friends, nothing more. Or have they broken their old patterns thoroughly enough that they could… kiss? Test the waters? Tempt fate?
As they both try to resist the urge to leave the friend zone, Days of Our Lives would not only have on its hands an Alex 2.0 that viewers could really get behind but a new supercouple that we could ship. She could seek Marlena’s counsel; he, dad Justin’s.
