Days of Our Lives Review: The Past Catches Up
Jack Ori
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On this week's Days of Our Lives, Chad and Abigail managed to tie the knot despite some missteps, while Maggie came face-to-face with the daughter she'd given up for adoption years ago and Eduardo faced the consequences of having abandoned his family for all those years.
Chad and Abigail's wedding was one many fans looked forward to. It might have been small, but it was emotional. Best of all Ben didn't manage to ruin it, at least not fully.
If Ben had to return, this subtly creepy storyline is far more powerful than round 2 of Ben's obsession with Abigail. So far, Abby's the only one who's seen him and at least one instance was clearly a dream.
Abigail's shredded nightgown could be proof that Ben has been around or something else could have happened to it.
Ben gaslighting Abby without actually being in town would be a neat twist. Sooner or later, though, he has to show up so that nobody believes Abby after all the times she's freaked out over nothing.
Back to the wedding. JJ spoke for the entire audience when he said that it was awfully small and he wished more people had been there. Maggie skipping it because of Victor's illness was a weak excuse, especially since she wasted time with Summer that she could have been spending celebrating her grand-niece's wedding.
Under better circumstances, your father would be here to walk you down the aisle. But since he isn't... I'm honored you asked me, but I think his namesake should be the one to give you away.
Doug
Doug stepping aside so JJ could walk his sister down the aisle was one of the most touching moments. For some reason, JJ is treated as an afterthought 90% of the time. It was especially noticeable when the only person who seemed concerned that he was missing Abigail's wedding was Gabi!
So Doug passing the torch to JJ was doubly touching, and the Jack mention was an added bonus.
Too bad JJ didn't have a chance to change out of his uniform first. That's going to look weird when Abby gets the photos back.
Also, it would have been a nice touch for him to play his guitar. Why his passion for music has disappeared is beyond me, and every time I see Claire sing I'm distracted by thoughts of how nice it would be for her and her cousin JJ to do some duets together.
Anyway, Abby and Chad's vows were heartfelt and sincere and Julie's reading from Jack's book was a real tearjerker.
Jennifer seemed to be completely herself throughout the wedding. Eric's accusations were no doubt meant to make the audience think that she is in denial about her pain pill use, but it didn't appear that way.
Since Jennifer seemed totally sober and Eric was sneaking drinks, it just looked like he was trying to get the focus off himself by making it look like she's the one with the problem.
Is there some reason Jennifer's mother can't travel? It seems odd that not only did Laura miss the wedding, but she also missed seeing Jen in the hospital after her accident.
You'd think that her daughter's near death in the same accident that killed the man Jennifer had once planned to marry would have made her want to come in person!
You brought that boy into your home and... at least Ciara has you to lean on.
Kayla
Ciara is still falling apart after the rape and Hope is too. However, it's weird that no one is shocked that Chase suddenly became a rapist.
This Jennings bashing has to go. Everyone was so happy for Hope and Aiden before the strangling, then everyone assumed Aiden was just a bad guy and now Chase is getting the same treatment.
I was glad that at least the kids' friend Henry asked where Chase was. This assumption that he was just a bad kid who pulled the wool over everyone's eyes and Hope just took him in to be nice is ridiculous.
Hope is also once again not being a very responsible parent. Not only did Rafe have to tell her that taking off on a dangerous mission the day after learning her daughter was raped isn't the best idea, but she allowed Ciara to have a basically unchaperoned party when she knows she's in serious trouble.
Hope may think that backing off is the best idea, but when Ciara started carrying on that she was just nervous about the party and didn't want anyone worrying, Hope could have been firmer.
She knows Ciara has been experimenting with alcohol since the rape and no matter how Ciara felt about being "watched," this was the time to insist on an adult presence at the party.
Ciara was all over the place during the party. Naturally Jade -- who is the new version of JJ's friend Bev from his teen years -- brought alcohol, and it was only a matter of time before Ciara opened it. Where was the bartender that Belle insisted had to be there to watch the kids?
Ciara's kiss with Theo came out of nowhere and seemed more like she was acting out because she'd been raped than anything else. It's nice that Theo called Hope, but I'm not a fan of him being her perfect protector.
I'd rather see a relationship develop between two imperfect people that we can root for. The writing is very heavyhanded with its insinuations that Chase was the devil incarnate and Theo is a perfect angel.
Kayla, you are my sister and I love you, but I love my nephew too and I WILL talk to him. Now right now it's just a small chat, nephew to uncle, but if you don't walk away I'm going to have to be make this official.
Roman
After freaking out all week over Steve's potential fate, Joey decided to come clean to Roman. It's good that this annoying coverup isn't being dragged out for months. Roman's strength in telling Kayla to butt out was some of his strongest communication in months.
I instantly respected him more and wished Daniel had been that strong when Jen didn't want him to be a surrogate father to JJ.
Anyway, this secret was bound to come out soon since half of Salem already knows. Joey told Kayla and Jade, Steve already knows and Roman probably had his suspicions. Now Hope and Roman both know for sure.
It's better this way than JJ overhearing one of the thousand conversations people have in the park and debating whether or not to arrest his cousin.
The juxtaposition of scenes between Hope/Kayla and Roman/Joey was especially effective. Roman tends to look the other way when it's family, but how many coverups can he get involved in at once before he ends up losing his badge? What'll happen now is anyone's guess.
What I did today can never make up for what I did before, for abandoning my family. But Gabi, there were circumstances beyond my control. I was so messed up and so lost. I was completely lost for so long, and I owe you whatever I can do to try to make up for it. I missed you guys. I missed being with my family. I wanted you back even though I know I don't deserve you.
Eduardo
The story of Eduardo and John having been orphans turned into trained assassins has always been ridiculous, but Eduardo's guilt this week was fantastic. His character is really growing on me. Too bad Eve is no longer around to have a reaction of her own.
Gabi and Eduardo's scenes were especially moving. Gabi has completely accepted Eduardo as her father and her comments that she can't judge after the things she's done were right on target. I wondered if Eduardo knew his daughter had done time for murder.
That's good to hear. Nice he didn't croak before I got to say hi after all these years.
Dario
Dario's anger towards his father was also well done. Dario is a much more interesting character when not caught up in Summer's stupid storyline. Maybe his complicated relationship with Eduardo will help give us some insight into why he is often involved in petty mischief and eventually he'll turn himself around.
Unfortunately, Summer appears to be here to stay. There's still a chance the DNA results are phony, since Maggie didn't look at them, but her emotional reaction and the photo album she was looking at suggest otherwise.
It's too much to hope that Summer will actually go back to LA and off our screens. Maggie will probably show up at the last minute and beg her not to leave Salem.
Not only is Summer an uninteresting character, but her storyline is way too full of plot holes, even for a soap with a rich tradition of changing history to suit the current storyline.
Long time viewers know that Maggie was a virgin before she married Mickey and that Mickey was sterile. Even if this was not the case, it makes little sense that Maggie never talked about the baby she gave up for adoption, especially not when she had so much trouble having children.
It also makes no sense that Daniel never mentioned Summer, not even to Nicole. That's incredibly out of character.
Instead of killing Daniel off so we could have his uninteresting sibling show up while Brady suddenly acts like Daniel, it would have been better to leave him in the show. If Shawn Christian didn't want to renew his contract, the actor who plays Fynn could have been used as a recast instead of as a separate character.
This storyline is aggravating and just makes me miss Daniel.
In addition, it really would have been okay for Brady to not answer his door while in the middle of proposing marriage to Theresa. The eventual proposal was sweet and romantic, though it wasn't that long ago that Brady wanted nothing to do with Theresa, so he seems to be moving rather fast as usual.
Some other things that are too aggravating to really devote time to are Deimos' plans for Maggie and this whole Philip/Belle/Shawn thing. Deimos is about the 1500th person to come up with the idea of drugging someone in the last few years, so something a little more original would be nice.
Also, while it was great to see Rory again, I think the writers could have found a better use for him.
Rory is a slacker and a pothead who a year ago was warning JJ to stay away from Kyle, who was the only one who was selling hard stuff. It doesn't make sense that he is now selling black market drugs to Deimos.
This may be set up for a conflict where JJ has to arrest his former best friend, but right now it just seemed like a gratuitous use of a B character where any random guy would have done.
Philip and Shawn have been competing over Belle for about 20 years so it's not really interesting this time around. The only part of this story I liked was Claire trying to be more mature and accept that her parents are no longer together.
Shawn and Lani have no chemistry, mostly because the writers haven't bothered to give Lani a personality, and Philip and Belle have tried to be together too many times already.
Finally, there was a lot of nonsense this week surrounding John's father, who now calls himself Yo Ling. Yo Ling's dialogue seemed lifted from news stories about terrorism in the Middle East, and it's unbelievable that he has advanced Topits like Caroline had yet has no symptoms of dementia. Or are his rants supposed to be Topits induced?
Paul does not need to be brainwashed by Yo Ling and is not going to go along with him willingly just because he's half Asian. It would have been much better to develop his storyline with Henry.
Does anyone like Yo Ling? How did Chad and Abby's wedding match your expectations? What else did you love or hate about this week's Days of Our Lives?
Weigh in below. and don't forget to check back on Sunday for the Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion!
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
