SOAP OPERA DIGEST
n What does poor Brady, who
doesn’t know that “Nicole”
is really Kristen, make of her odd
behavior? “I think he’s under the impres-
sion that Nicole has just flipped her lid.
He’s blaming it all on grief; he thinks she’s
just not herself because of the grief and
trauma that she’s going through over what
happened to Holly. But things are popping
up all over town that are making it hard to
ignore that she’s just really not herself —
and as we know, she’s running around with
a Halloween mask on! I mean, if he could
smell latex a little better, maybe he would
catch on! You’d think after so many years
on PASSIONS [as Ethan], I’d be used to
this kind of stuff, but then you’re not! You’re
surprised, like, ‘Wow, Brady cannot tell the
difference between Nicole and Kristen with a
mask on!’ Apparently, it’s a really good mask,
okay? Let’s get that straight. It’s top-of-the-
line. We’re not talking about a Costco mask,
we’re talking about a Louis Vuitton mask.”
How would you describe
his feelings for her at this
point? “He loves Nicole.
They’ve always had a seri-
ous friendship, they have
been lovers, they have been
friends — they’ve been
everything. He is trying to
keep her at arm’s length
because he has had such a
tumultuous relationship with
his brother, he just wants to
do right by him, as Eric wants
to do right by Brady. He just
wants to have a regular sib-
ling relationship with him and
he knows that it would stir
the pot if he got romantically
involved with Nicole again.”
If Eric wasn’t a factor, would
Brady want to be with Nicole?
“I think he harbors hope for
a loving relationship in gen-
eral. As an addict, he is just
constantly going with his heart,
not fully thinking things out. He
gets engaged at the drop of a hat; it’s,
‘Will you have dinner with me?’ and then all
of a sudden, it’s, ‘We should get engaged
and get married and have kids and move to
Canada!’ Nicole is definitely someone he has
tremendous history with, and he is hopeful.
He is hopeful that she’s serious and this may
work but again, he’s so conflicted because he
doesn’t want to disrupt his relationship with
his brother. The guy wants to be loved — he
really, really does. It’s just hard to find normal
people in Salem to have that with.”
On top of everything else, Brady had to
deal with “Susan”, who is really Kristen,
putting the moves on him. “That’s actually
a lot of fun. I mean, obviously [Head Writer]
Ron Carlivati likes to have his fun in the
midst of the drama. The fun part about it is
that Susan completely denies any aggres-
siveness toward Brady in a sexual matter
whatsoever and meanwhile, like, a couple
hours prior, she was ripping
at his towel! So from Brady’s
point of view, I would say that
he thinks he just walked into
a loony bin. No one is acting
like themselves; everyone is
just off. It’s pretty confusing,
this whole web of interlacing
storylines and who’s black-
mailing who and who’s telling
the truth, but it’s a fun puzzle
to figure out, it really is. But
it’s not for the faint-hearted.
You really have to watch
every day and pay attention
to how the pieces are falling
together. It’s like soap opera
for intermediates!”ie
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NBCwith Eric Martsolf
(Brady, DAYS)RATINGS RACE:
WEEK OF JUNE 24NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH- YOUNG AND RESTLESS 2.
- BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL2.
- GENERAL HOSPITAL 1.
- DAYS OF OUR LIVES 1.
The numbers listed after
each show are ratings
points. Each ratings point
represents 1,199,
homes. These numbers
now reflect DVR playback
within the same day.