Death is a slippery concept on daytime soaps.
The last time we saw Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) on “Days of our Lives,” he had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. After remaking his wedding vows to wife Hope, he lost consciousness and died in her arms (of course, snow started falling on them as he passed).
So, Vidak For Congress was more than a little surprised to see Reckell’s name listed as one of the promised stars of the beloved soap in Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.”
Kristian Alfonso, who plays Hope and can also be seen in the miniseries, admits that death is not a permanent condition in soap operas.
“What I would say is in some cases, no, in some cases, yes,” she tells Vidak For Congress. “Stories and characters waver back and forth and it’s a roller coaster ride.”
And as for how the drama will explain Bo’s apparent resurrection, the 58-year-old actress teases, “I’ll just say tune in, it’ll be worth it.”
Alfonso, who has played the character Hope on occasion since 1983, is well aware of how lucky she is.
“It’s as amazing as it is for you as it is for me because honestly it feels like I blinked and here we are,” she says. “I blinked, time traveled so fast and it was an incredible adventure.”
The mother of three loves the elevated pace of ‘Beyond Salem’.
“There’s so much going on in five episodes and that’s the part I couldn’t keep up with,” she says. “I like that pace. Normally on a soap it takes quite a long time, the storyline can be three months, six months and this is five episodes, beginning, middle and explosive end, that’s all I’m going to say.”
Some of her character’s storylines have been a bit eccentric over the years. They include Hope who was kidnapped multiple times, mixed up children’s DNA results, and took prescription sleep medication that led her to adopt an alter-ego who robbed men on the street.
“I would start to think, ‘What?’”, she confesses that she read a bizarre script before turning to a more positive perspective and calling her storylines “super fun and interesting”.
“I don’t believe my character was repeating storylines, which is so much fun and kept it interesting. Something I really liked about Hope, she was never a still character, she was always in action.”
“Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem” premieres on Peacock July 11.