Days of Our Lives Writer Reveals the Real Reason Behind That Heaven Plot Line
If you thought that heaven plotline in Days of Our Lives was done with – so did the show's writers.
When Marlena, Kate and Kayla journeyed through heaven, purgatory and hell, it's fair to say viewers were a little confused as to where this storyline was going. Even more so when they all returned to their earthly bodies with no knowledge of everything they had been through.
According to lead writer Ron Carlivati in an interview with Soap Opera Digest the 'deaths' of the three ladies and the return of Bo and Marlena surrounded by an ethereal glow were destined to be part of Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.
"We kicked around ideas and I started to think about how we could tie what was happening with these women into Bo and Hope's story" Carlivati said. The original idea was that they would die on Days of Our Lives and then simply appear on Beyond Salem.
But at the time, discussions with Peacock about where the show would end up were still ongoing. When it was eventually decided that it was indeed moving to Peacock, the showrunners decided the easiest thing was to lift the story they had planned for Beyond Salem and simply put it in Days of Our Lives rather than the spin-off.
Essentially, as Carlivati put it, the storyline was simply down to the production team "stalling" for time as they didn't yet know whether they were going to do Beyond Salem. Well, if nothing else, it's nice that he's honest. Although, to be fair, that storyline was going to need one hell of an explanation if fans were to believe anything else.
And while the whole thing was a tad confusing for fans, Carlivati described it as "super-fun".
But it's not the first time Days of Our Lives has taken a strange detour from its usual fayre. In a storyline spanning 1994/95, Marlena became possessed. And a year earlier, the show sparked controversy with a storyline that saw Dr Carly Manning buried alive by Vivian Alamain who had already tried to frame her for murder.
It's still considered one of the most shocking storylines to feature on daytime TV; possibly in the same way that the heaven plot line will be viewed in 30 years time as one of the most confusing.