What Is Days of Our Lives Thinking? Plus, the Casting Question That Could Shake It All Up
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (4)
Days of Our Lives is settling back into Salem with some perfectly serviceable stories (and one loathsome new villain), but that doesn’t mean we’re excited about all that much. And that might be a problem as we head into May sweeps. So where have things gone wrong? Let’s discuss…
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Beyond Done
So… Bo and Hope aren’t even getting a real end? They’re just kind of… gone? The closest thing we got to one and to Bo interacting with Salem was Maggie telling Alex that Victor was flying to Greece to get him treatment. Lovely, but par for the course.
“Tell me how I can end this story now, or I cut a finger off!”
Credit: Peacock screenshot
Also, I don’t care that Harris kept Bo a secret for 2.5 seconds. Get over it, Johnson family. But it’s not for the same reason Chad doesn’t care because he wants help finding Kate. I just don’t care about Harris. What’s his point?
And Kate being stuck on a fishing boat is a fun call-back to Lauren Koslow first taking over the role, but that’s about all so far. I’m done with this Beyond Salem stuff. Let’s get back to Salem already.
Papering Over Missed Opportunities
Yes, I said last week that I love Chloe and Xander, but moving in together is still absurd. It felt like they were letting something fun grow naturally, then all of a sudden decided to ram them together by becoming roommates. On the other hand, Gwen and Brady kvetching to each other was an interesting tease, but I’m not even going to bother speculating on them because no one on this show lasts and pairings aren’t being utilized like they could be.
“Were you expecting more from this fling or was it just me?”
Credit: Peacock screenshot
Take Alex and Gwen. Them opening up about their feelings, loss and heartbreak isn’t where I saw this ending. I’m not hating the surprise emotional honesty, it’s just… unremarkable. I know this is part of Alex’s redemption and growth, but there was so much potential for them to cause trouble with Maggie, Xander and Titan before splitting up.
Speaking of Xander – what happened with Maggie’s proposal to join her? It’s not like he’s doing anything at the newspaper. That whole storyline has been pointless other than to give Leo a column. And does Lady Whistleblower write about anyone outside of Leo’s social circle? He’s worse than the gossip hounds in my kickball league acting like one little bubble is the center of the world.
A Botched Feud
Moving from the Kiriakis family to the DiMeras: This consultant stuff with Gabi makes no sense. She’s going to make a report to the board about why EJ shouldn’t be co-CEO and they’re supposed to take her seriously, knowing her history, knowing EJ and Stefan are fighting, knowing there are ulterior motives? Really? And let’s talk about everyone’s DiMera performance. How come they’re never at work?
“Oh, Nicole and EJ, you’re so silly worrying about if any of this makes sense!”
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
It sounded like the Salem hospital intrigue and backroom dealing to get Kayla back at work was more exciting than the DiMera stuff. But yay, Kayla’s back to be the catch-all doctor just in time to discover Nicole’s miracle pregnancy. Slap a chip in Nicole’s brain and spike her drink with a mystery poison and Kayla can bring all her medical expertise together at once!
I am curious about how the show’s going to deal with Camila Banus’ departure. “Stabi” has been such a driving force for months and almost all of Li’s presence is hinged on Gabi. Losing the character could throw everything out of whack. But that might not be bad. Stefan’s been trapped in Gabi’s orbit and this would give him a whole new storyline track — maybe even make this EJ/Stefan feud worthwhile!
Or they could recast her. It’s almost unthinkable to imagine her played by anyone else, but Banus wasn’t the first Gabi and the show pulled it off with Abigail.
A Waste of Family
Let’s talk about Colin and his TR vibes. He’s not violent and physically abusive like Paulina’s tormentor, but Colin is emotionally and mentally manipulative and abusive, from his “once we finish this, I can finally be happy and move on” manipulation, to flattering, cajoling and pushing Talia into seducing someone she doesn’t want. Oh, and him saying he’s not pimping her out because “this won’t be real” is, in fact, the definition of pimping someone out. Otherwise, it’s playing matchmaker.
Pretty sure this is the moment they both realized how terrible this plan is.
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
But then, we aren’t supposed to like him (at least, I hope not), and that’s a problem. He’s coming across so horribly, there are only two places for him to go: Jail or the ground. Days of Our Lives missed about the only chance to bring someone to town to ground Sloan and boost her staying power.
On the bright side, Sloan was the perfect person to tell EJ about the biscuit sex because of course she didn’t think twice about mentioning it. It was awkward but not a huge deal for her. If Jessica Serfaty had played that a bit differently, it would have come off like Sloan intentionally threw Nicole under the bus. Instead, she seemed genuinely upset that she screwed up. Cheers to character depth.
Stray Thoughts…
• Rafe should have removed Jada from the case the second Talia became suspect. Demanding explanations just gave Talia the chance to shore up her ridiculous excuses.
“I don’t know what they taught you in medical school, but in detective school I learned that you’re supposed to freak out at the suspects and give them the chance to fix their alibis.”
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
• How stupid is Colin to text Talia while she’s with Chanel to ask her how the seduction’s going?
• If ever there was a time to run with being on Peacock, I would have loved for Nicole to have had a harsher, more expletive-filled reaction to Gabi being so nasty while she was doubled over in pain.
• The adorable way Chad said “Bye” to the kids on the phone made me think that might have been Billy Flynn channeling his own fatherhood.
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