Soap opera storylines are weaved tightly within the history of their respective daytime dramas. Characters return, romances are re-ignited, and rivals are often sparked due to events and occurrences from the past. However, there are instances where soap operas have slipped a notch or two in order to push a new or existing storyline forward. Below are 15 truly disappointing soap opera storylines:
15. DOOL’s Salem Stalker
The Days of Our Lives (DOOL) Salem Stalker/Melaswen Island storyline of the early 2000s is infamous in soap opera history. The plot saw heroine Marlena Evans turn into a serial killer and essentially axed some longtime and much-loved Days characters. It has been reported in the past that fans were outraged when the show’s producers got rid of so many staple characters that writer James Reilly was asked to fix the situation and the Stalker storyline was transformed into Melaswen Island. It ended up that Evans did not kill her fellow Salemites, rather the evil Stefano DiMera was behind it all and all those who died where alive on an island.