Days of Our Lives Has One Way to Redeem a Beloved Legacy Character Gone Wrong — and This Is It
An overused soap opera trope might just be the answer for Philip Kiriakis.
When Philip returned to Days of Our Lives in 2019 many fans were thrilled. With Jay Kenneth Johnson back in the role, they got Last Blast Crew Philip back. The one who originally fell in love with Chloe. It had been about eight years since the actor was last in Salem, so hopes were high. Now, almost three years later, Philip has gone off the rails — and something needs to be done about it.
Before Philip came to Salem, he was first spotted as his old charming self in New York, for the Last Blast Reunion digital series. When he did make his way back to Salem, it was revealed Philip was using Titan to launder money to make good on his gambling debt with the Vitali crime family.
Considering his spotty history, that was plausible, and even entertaining, as he plotted with Ava and battled Xander for the CEO spot. He then went on to share a promising, but brief, flirtation with Gabi, and shined in scenes bonding with his brother Lucas. If they wanted to keep Philip as a shady, or even bumbling, schemer that would have been fine, even welcomed, but he was paired back up with Chloe and everything went downhill.
Instead of showing the romance and connection Philip and Chloe once shared, viewers have been treated to Philip’s paranoia, jealousy and blind rage toward Brady, who he feels is trying to steal his woman. Brady doesn’t look great in this storyline either, but Philip is downright irrational. And there’s nothing to suggest Chloe should even want to be with him.
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There could have been a quality love triangle where Chloe was swept off her feet by two fabulously wealthy and attractive suitors, with whom she had deep history. Instead, we got two man-children fighting over her, and Philip literally huffing and puffing as he pulled out his and Chloe’s special tree because he overheard a conversation about conference table sex.
He’s not even a fun villain to watch. The beloved legacy character has been reduced to a cartoon mustache twirler, with zero charm, who clobbered Brady over the head with a crowbar. Add in dialogue too campy even for a soap opera and well, fans are just left shaking their heads.
Philip to an unconscious Brady: “If I can’t have Chloe, you can’t either! You son of a bitch!”
First of all, that bitch is his dead sister. Secondly, how do they salvage the character of Philip at this point? This is really, really bad. I’m very concerned. #Days
— Mariah Christmas (@noelleharmony) December 3, 2021
I wish there was more buildup to Phillip. When Victor snapped when Tony snapped the motivations made complete sense. We havent gotten that for Phillip at all. Hes been massively overreacting and conclusion jumping but its still a big leap from whats aired to faked death #Days
— Olivia Price Stan Account (@xotonironixo) December 3, 2021
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Now, he’ll presumably set Brady up for his “death” as seen in the winter promo, and it’s just all too much. Which is why a classic plot device, like Philip having a brain tumor, would go a long way in helping to explain his recent behavior and actions. If not a tumor, then some other illness that is driving him to act like a maniac with no rooting value.
A brain tumor causing a character to do evil deeds is a well-worn trope, but at this point, we’d welcome the quick fix of an operation making Philip a character we can root for again — whether as a hero or just a scheming Kiriakis.
What do you think? Should Philip’s actions be explained by an illness? Or should he go full villain? Tell us what you’d like to see below after looking through our photo gallery of Philip’s many other questionable actions.
