Did Days of Our Lives Just Reveal Ciara’s Exit Plan, Ben’s Future and Hope’s Next Move, All in One Fell Swoop?
Brace yourself, Cin fans… you’re in for a bumpy ride!
After so much tragedy, it seemed as if Days of Our Lives’ Ben and Ciara were finally poised to get their happy ending. The handsome prince had rescued the badass damsel from her glass cage, at last clearing the way for them to revel in bliss like the newlyweds they are.
Instead, the dream turned into a nightmare when upon awakening, Ciara saw in Ben not the man she loved with all her heart but one whom she feared intended to make her his next victim. Yet again, the fates — also known as headwriter Ron Carlivati and his team — had put a stumbling block in the couple’s path.
Ben reacted for all of us when Ciara pushed him away.
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But in doing so, they may also have provided answers to several burning questions, including how Ciara will exit this time, what’s next for Ben and even perhaps how they’ll address the Hope-shaped hole in the canvas.
While fans no doubt hoped that Victoria Konefal might be sticking around for a while, it was clear from the start that Ciara’s latest visit would be just that — a visit. “I’m not necessarily considered recurring,” the actress told Soaps.com last fall, “but my filming schedule is open to coming back every now and again.”
In this case, the show seems to be brilliantly using Konefal’s latest return as an opportunity to at least temporarily wrap up Ciara’s storyline. Unless we miss our mark, poor, amnesia-stricken Ciara will soon be headed to a facility which deals specifically with her type of case.
Need we mention that said facility will be located off screen?
Cin fans didn’t even like seeing Claire sit on Ben’s bed. Were she to wind up sharing it with the hunk, things might get real ugly!
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
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This could also be a way of moving Ben forward… eventually. After all, how long can even the most lovestruck of soap heroes be kept in romantic limbo in a genre which thrives on relationship angst? As nice a job as Robert Scott Wilson has done of playing Ben’s pain since first those erroneous reports of Ciara’s death began circulating, the character can’t forever be tied to someone whose various traumas keep her perpetually off screen.
Given how much time Claire and Ben have spent together in recent months, their pairing seems a safe bet. (And yes, we know that it’s far too early to think about Ben moving on, but we’re long-term thinkers.) That became all the clearer last week when Ciara lashed out at Claire, accusing her of always going after her cast-aside men. It was easy to imagine those scenes being used in flashbacks, months down the line, to underscore Claire’s own insecurities regarding a potential romance with Ben.
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“Was Ciara right?” Claire might wonder, creating her own mental roadblock to any possibility of taking things with Ben out of the notorious friend zone.
Finally, should Ciara be shipped off to a treatment facility, viewers could be informed that Hope was relocating there to be with her daughter. Otherwise, the continued absence of a mother who supposedly left town to find her missing child makes no sense.
Watch: Six Questions with Victoria Konefal
What do you think, Days fans… are we right in thinking Ciara’s about to make another exit and how it might impact Ben? Or, as many have expressed before, does Claire need to find herself a new guy, leaving Ben to wait for Ciara to return (whether with Konefal’s beautiful face or that of a recast). Hit the comments with your thoughts, then join us in peeking into Konefal’s backstage diary, in which she shares her thoughts on everything from Ciara’s life before Ben to the couple’s unforgettable wedding.
