Days of our Lives fans were shocked when the powers that be decided to kill off legacy character Abigail Deveraux, bringing Marci Miller's run as Jack and Jennifer's daughter to a close. Many viewers responded unfavorably to the writing decision, despite the fact that it has kicked off a summer murder mystery that could be quite entertaining.
As for Miller, she reveals that she had mixed emotions about telling Abby's final chapter, especially because she was willing to continue to appear on the NBC soap in a recurring capacity.
"I was down to stick around part time; we just couldn't find a way where schedules were actually going to work and everything," she said in a recent episode of Dishing with Digest. "I was interested in maybe recurring until we started having that dialogue, that an actual departure became a potential reality."
She continues, "It was a hard one, you know? It's like, on one hand, you're honored to lay the character to rest, to be the one who gets to do that for a character who's been there forever. On the other hand, I just, yeah, sort of wish they would've recast her, let her keep kicking."
Miller's longtime on-screen romantic partner, Billy Flynn (Chad DiMera), admits that he was also torn about DAYS' decision to kill off Abigail because he loves sharing the screen with the actress. But he says axing the character made sense, logistically.
"If Abigail's around, it's going to be tough for the audience to want him to move on. And you can't really tell story for Chad if Abigail's in limbo all the time," he tells Soap Opera Digest. "So, selfishly, I haven't gotten a whole lot of story over the last few years because it's tough to know what to do with Chad when Abigail is coming and going."
He adds, "You can't just keep writing her off. I would rather have them do this than continue to make her go crazy and torture her in all these crazy ways."
Though DAYS' head writer Ron Carlivati says that the show is treating Abigail's death as a permanent one, it is a soap opera, and she could come back from the grave at any time. If that were to happen, then it sounds like Miller would be game to reprise the role.
"It's soaps, so who knows what can and might be someday?" she muses. "I'm not trying to come back anytime soon right now, but I never close the door, like, forever, I suppose."
What are your thoughts on DAYS' decision to kill Abigail? Would you have liked to see the soap handle Miller's unavailability in a different way? Who do you think murdered Abby? What would you like to see for Chad when he's done mourning his deceased wife? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
