Aiden Jennings - Bo's "Fall Guy"

Daniel Cosgrove (played Aiden Jennings)

 I am convinced that the writers at Days of Our Lives originally planned for the character, Aiden Jennings, to be a "fall guy" for the return of the character, Bo Brady.  

In an interview on the November 8-13, 2015 episode of the Afterbuzz TV Days of Our Lives Review show, Dishing Days, actor Daniel Cosgrove (who played Aiden Jennings on Days) stated that originally, it was not clear whether the character of Aiden would be written as good or bad.  

I believe this was due to efforts on the part of the show to get Peter Reckell to return as the character Bo Brady.  At first there was a question as to whether or not the character Aiden had murdered his first wife.  Unfortunately, negotiations between Peter and the show fell through.  Hence, I believe the character was then written to be a good guy.

Peter Reckell (played Bo Brady)

I also believe that later on, after a deal was reached to bring Peter Reckell back to Days as Bo, the Aiden story  was written to have Aiden attempt to murder Hope.  Bo would then step in just in time to rescue Hope, ultimately killing the murderous villain Aiden.  This may not be what actually happened regarding the writing of the story of Bo's return, but looking at the story as well as what has been made known about the show through published articles in soap opera magazines and websites, it is the only thing that makes sense.

What was not foreseen was that many fans had fallen in love with the character, Aiden as the new love in Hope's life and also fallen in love with Hope and Aiden as a couple nicknamed, "Haiden".  As the story progressed and the plot to kill Hope at the hands of Aiden became known, "Haiden" fans became appalled and outraged.  They did not want to see Aiden attempt to destroy the women he loved and the couple the fans had come to love.  The fans' devotion to "Haiden" became a monkey wrench in what I am sure was a story planned and written to satisfy long time fans of the super couple Bo and Hope (affectionately called "Bope").

If Aiden did not try to kill Hope, there would be no rescue for Bo to do.   That was supposed to be the "one more rescue for old time's sake".  It was supposed to thrill Bope fans everywhere regarding the reunion of the super couple, Bo and Hope.  Although Days executed the "Bo rescues Hope" reunion story, it sort of blew up in their faces due to many fans' attachment to "Haiden" and Aiden.  What I learned from this is that you cannot always go home again in the manner in which you expected to!

What If...?

What if Aiden had found a way to out whit the DiMeras (who blackmailed him into to trying to kill Hope) and had married Hope with a clear conscience? Bo could have then arrived at the "Haiden" wedding too late to object and found his Fancy Face (Hope) is married to another man and starting a new life with a blended family. 

Bo and Hope could have said their good-byes to each other and after a brief respite in Salem with family and friends, Bo could have resumed his job with the ISA, been assigned to run their office in Europe and called Carly Manning (an old flame) who is now living in Europe. Now that would have been a good ending that would have kept fans speculating about "Bope" "Haiden" and "Barly" (Bo and Carly) for another fifty years! Wow! Now that's an ending!