♥ DAYS: Passions Ignite As
John Battles The Devil...
John Battles The Devil And Doubts About His Past:
DAYS' John never expected his adventures would bring him face-to-face with the devil. But that's exactly where he's headed. By week's end, Kristen also faces danger from the devil - and John may not be able to help her!
Earlier, the devil in Marlena takes Kristen's form and tries to seduce John. Even though he's totally confused by Kristen's behavior, he's seduced by the passion. Then, just as they are about to make love, Tony (tipped off by an anonymous phone call by Marlena) finds them in each other's arms at the loft. Enraged, he goes after John but backs off at the last minute, vowing to destroy John's reputation as a man and as a priest.
The plot thickens when Tony gets home and finds Kristen there. Both are totally confused. The real Kristen had been stranded on a road with car trouble at the time of John's seduction. Yet, when John arrives, he too backs Tony's version of what happened that afternoon. Kristen's legitimately dumbstruck.
Looking for logical explanations, John convinces Tony that Kristen is still suffering from the attack of the week earlier and the residual chloroform in her system. Tony softens, but still thinks he's being duped.
Marlena, meanwhile, is causing more havoc as the devil in her almost succeeds in strangling Stefano to death. Celeste comes to his rescue, crying out for God's help. The two disappear unnoticed by John and Kristen who have come to see Marlena.
After the attack, Marlena is stricken so ill that John and Kristen take her, unconscious, to the hospital. Marlena's health is rapidly on the decline.
And when Kristen goes to visit Father Francis down the hall, he awakes from his coma. At the same moment, the room is filled with an eerie cold, and a dark, cloaked figure with evil, red-glowing eyes stands behind Kristen in his room.
While Marlena is the one possessed, the storyline has left some cast members and viewers with their heads spinning. "It's shock theatre," says Drake. "My mail is split as far as my specific character goes. About half those who write to me are not happy with anything John is doing. The other half is happy with anything John wants to do."
As for himself, Drake admits: "I could never have imagined being involved in such a storyline. It certainly is a challenge."
Perhaps the most shocking scene so far came almost two weeks ago, appropriately enough, on Friday the 13th. Kristen is found naked, and painted with demonic symbols, in the church. "When I read the words on the page, the scenes just jumped out," says Drake. "In doing them, there was a whole other feeling than we normally experience on the set. It was very eerie."
In fact, the producers called for a "closed set" during that day's shooting. Only necessary cast and crew were present on the stage. In-house monitors too were blacked out to afford Eileen Davidson, as Kristen, some greater privacy and sense of protection and focus.
On a personal level, Drake admits that dealing with a spiritual and supernatural storyline makes him think about issues not usually foremost in his mind. When doing these scenes about God, guardian angels and the devil, "you can't help but think about near-death or near-tragic experiences," Drake admits.
No stranger to injuries during his professional baseball career, Drake readily points out several other episodes that could have been absolutely tragic. "I was hit by a police car that was speeding in answer to a call when I was a sophomore in high school," Drake reveals. "I was on my bike coming home from football practice. My leg was nearly cut in two at the knee, but amazed bystanders say I literally flew up and over the car. It's amazing that I wasn't totally pinned to the front of that patrol car and sustained even worse injuries than a concussion, cut leg, and bashed shoulder."
There's another episode Drake recalls that could be even more mystical in interpretation. At about age twelve, Drake and his brother were helping their dad build a house in another town. Drake retells the near tragedy: "We were up in the third tier of the house, at the attic line. Dad asked me to walk across the rafters to pick up a sawhorse and walk back again. In doing so, I walked over the chimney area, which goes a full four floors down to the basement. On my way back, I stepped on a board over the chimney chute and it just bent way forward. I was suddenly looking straight down to the basement and all the retaining rods sticking up. I was slipping forward, already thinking there was nothing to grab, no walls, and I'd land smack on those rods."
Shaking his head somberly at the memory, Drake continues, "Dad and Jack saw me on the board as it angled almost past the forty-five-degree mark. Then it slowly, inexplicably, came back up as I stood precariously, holding my breath. Then I gingerly backed up. You never know. Was a guardian angel there to lift that board back up?"
As John discovers more about his past as a priest, he is faced with changes that Drake feels as well. "There are little, subtle changes," says the actor, adding, "The other day I heard myself say something 'shocked the heck out of me' rather than 'shocked the hell out of me' as I normally would have said."
On the show since 1986, Drake still finds his role on DAYS to be a challenge. "It's been very diverse. I'm very lucky. I don't know of any other character on soap opera who has had this incredible opportunity to play so many diverse characters within a single run. Maybe that's one reason I can't understand how people say they're bored with their character and want to move on."
Luckily for viewers, Drake is not planning on moving on!
Lorraine Zenka, SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE, 1/31/95
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