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As the dire situation with Tate goes from bad to worse, Brady has significant interactions with two of his exes, Kristen and Theresa.
Dejected over the situation with his son, Brady laments to Marlena that he’s a terrible father. “We’re talking about Brady Black, who’s not only an addict, but has gone through the ringer,” explains Eric Martsolf (Brady). “He’s always questioned himself as to whether he can be a suitable father given his history. So I don’t think that’s a stretch, that he believes himself to be a failure in that department at this juncture.”
Kristen arrives and lambastes Brady for forgetting to meet with her and Rachel. He apologizes, explaining what’s happened to Tate. Kristen softens and allows him another chance with their daughter. It leads to the pair sharing a nice moment and Brady breaking down in Kristen’s arms. “That’s an interesting little twist,” offers Martsolf. “It’s an interesting moment, because you have the woman that actually took custody of your daughter from you, and she’s saying, ‘You know what, Brady? You’re not a bad man.’ To have the woman that has thrown arrows and grenades at you actually say that to you is moving. It’s very interesting that that would be a connection that was made through all of this. Sometimes it takes tragic events to bring about some good things.”
Later, Brady and Theresa visit Tate in prison and are horrified to see that their son has a black eye. “They’re witnessing the beating of their kid in this facility, and yet there’s literally nothing they can do about it. Their hands are tied,” contends Martsolf. “What can they do? With EJ as the district attorney, they’re stuck. All they have is each other to lean on. All of a sudden, because of these tragic events with their son, they’re becoming closer. They’re needing to be a team.”
Theresa begs Brady to talk to Nicole about interceding with EJ to get ensure that Tate is treated more fairly. “Brady goes to Nicole because he’s always felt comfortable with her,” says Martsolf. “They’ve gone through life together, but they just find themselves at this impasse. Nicole believes her daughter, and Brady believes his son. They both want to believe their kid is telling the truth. Brady pleads to her, ‘This is my kid’s life. He’s in prison. He’s getting beaten up. He could be killed in there.’ But it comes across as insensitivity on Brady’s part by even suggesting that he’s concerned about anything other than Holly’s health, and rightly so.”
Nicole asks Brady to leave, and he obliges. Meanwhile, Rafe takes the blame for Tate’s assault and goes to make sure the teen is safe — and Alex takes matters into his own hands, firing Justin as Tate’s lawyer after learning the appeal to get Tate tried in juvenile court was denied.
“That just stokes Brady’s fire even more,” asserts Martsolf. “Alex’s intentions are actually good, but whether it’s his place to step in and handle it the way he did is very questionable. So that creates even more stress for those two.”
Brady and Theresa ask Alex for a moment alone and the tension between them boils over. Recounts Martsolf, “They start lashing out at each other. ‘This is your fault.’ ‘No, this is your fault.’ Then that frustration just kind of takes over and creates a tidal wave, which doesn’t help anything or anyone.”
But after they lash out, Brady and Theresa regain their composure and vow to work together to help Tate. “When push comes to shove, you have to put your kids first, and they both recognize this,” notes Martsolf. “Regardless of the turmoil in their personal relationship, Theresa and Brady decide to put Tate’s needs first and to [try to] make his prison sentence as short as it can be and to get their son, who they both love, out of that hellhole.”
