According to the numbers, viewers -- livid or otherwise -- are doing just that: Last January, during the week that the killer was revealed to be Dr. Marlena Evans Craig Brady Black (played since 1976 by one of soaps' most recognizable actresses, Deidre Hall), ''Days'' earned some of its highest ratings in years, attracting 5.8 million viewers. (In fact, ''Days'' and ''Passions,'' along with CBS' ''Guiding Light,'' are the only soaps this season to post year-to-year gains among women 18-49, no small feat in a genre that's been losing viewers for almost 20 years.)
But Nielsen's good news didn't exactly appease an emotionally whipped, deeply saddened cast that has had to say goodbye -- 10 times -- to its closest friends. ''It was a tremendous grieving period,'' says Kristian Alfonso, who has played feisty heroine Hope Brady since 1983. ''Every conversation started with the same question: 'Have you heard anything?''' Hall carried the double burden of knowing that the deaths -- and her coworkers' apparent unemployment -- came via her alter ego's hands. ''Survivor's guilt?'' she asks. ''Wow. I knew those people well. That's where the sadness was. I hated it.'' Adds Drake Hogestyn, who plays Marlena's valiant husband, John: ''It became like ''Survivor'' around here.''
In more ways than one. On May 24, Reilly will reveal his latest insane twist: ''None of them are dead!'' That's right, all 10 of the victims are alive and kickin' it in their new home -- a copycat version of Salem that's been reconstructed on a remote Caribbean island. Reilly promises that by summer's end, befuddled viewers will learn how Marlena's murder victims survived their on-screen demises, along with the reason for her slashing spree. (All 10 actors who previously thought they had been dumped by the show have agreed to return.)
The question is, will Reilly's latest bamboozle soothe widespread disappointment among fans? Or is this just a hasty remedy that ultimately devalues soaps? ''Jim's stories fly right in the face of this form,'' says Jack Smith, an exec producer and head writer at CBS' long-running ''Restless.'' But, he argues, ''financial pressures and dwindling numbers force writers to tell atypical stories that are not consistent with the genre.'' ABC Daytime president Brian Frons worries that Reilly's risky story could end up hurting ''Days''' longevity rather than cementing it: ''They've gotten the hype, but were they right? The danger with this type of storytelling is that you come for the girl in the pinata, and then you turn away and say, 'Call me for the next installment of 'CSI.'''' Counters Reilly: ''Remember, every fairy tale ends with the phrase 'And they lived happily ever after....' But in order for that to have an impact, it meant that they had a horrible, god-awful time before they got there.''
Hall likes to knit during her downtime on the ''Days'' set -- even when she's about to be buried alive. While waiting to shoot Marlena's ''funeral'' (Dr. Evans is actually bound for what the show calls New Salem), the actress climbs into a coffin clutching the bright red beginnings of a blanket. As Kirsten Storms and Alison Sweeney (who play her daughters, Belle and Sami) kneel over her in faux mourning, Hall's hand pops up, offering a homemade treat: popcorn drizzled with chocolate syrup. Her good humor seems to stem from her confidence that ''Days'' will ultimately thrive, even if it doesn't look quite like the show fans have loved for nearly four decades. ''I have to trust that Jim's smarter than the rest of us,'' she reasons.
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