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 recreating his wedding vows with wife, Hope, he lost consciousness and died in her arms (naturally, snow started to fall on them as he passed).
So, Page Six was more than a little surprised to see Reckell’s name listed as one of the beloved soap’s promised stars in Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.”
Kristian Alfonso, who plays Hope and is also appearing in the miniseries, concedes that death is not a permanent state in soaps.
“What I would say is in some cases, no, in some cases, yes,” she tells Page Six. “Stories and characters vacillate back and forth and it’s a roller coaster.”
And as for how the drama will explain Bo’s seeming resurrection, the 58-year-old actress teases, “I will just say that you have to tune in, it’ll be worth it.”
Alfonso, who has played the character of Hope on and off since 1983, is keenly aware of how lucky she is.
“It’s as astounding as it is to you as it is to me because in all honestly, it feels like I blinked and here we are,” she says. “I blinked, time traveled so quickly and it’s been an incredible adventure.”
The mother of three loves the heightened pace of “Beyond Salem.”
“There is such a tremendous amount that happens within five episodes and that’s the part I could not get my head around,” she says. “I love that pace. Normally on a soap it takes quite a lot of time, storyline can span 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 plot lines have been a bit eccentric over the years. They include Hope being kidnapped multiple times, switching the DNA results of children and taking prescription sleep medication that caused her to assume an alter-ego who mugged men on the street.
“I would start to think, ‘What?'” she confesses of reading an outlandish script before pivoting to a more positive perspective, calling her plot lines, “super fun and interesting.”
“I don’t believe my character repeated storylines which is so fun and kept it interesting. Something I really loved about Hope, she was never a stationary character, she was always in action.”
“Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem” premieres on Peacock July 11.
