Days of Our Lives Review: More Adventures in Hypocrisy
Jack Ori
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I used to love Hope.
She was strong, tough, and fair, but you knew she had a heart even though she didn't often show it.
But ever since she got together with Rafe, her character has gone further and further downhill, and her behavior on Days of Our Lives during the week of 10-9-17 didn't do her any favors.
Hope had previously suspended JJ for pointing his gun in Ben's direction while Ben was handcuffed, then ignored Rafe's more egregious display of violence towards a prisoner. She followed that up by interrogating Ben herself.
Then she told Lani that she could not reinstate JJ after what he'd done, two minutes before doing it anyway.
I wish I could treat you like any other cop. But I can't. Since we are family, if anything, I have to be harder on you.
Hope
I don't know which is worse: Hope's glaring hypocrisy or the fact that JJ was cheated out of a story -- again.
The hypocrisy is nothing new. It's a bad habit that Hope and Rafe have. There seems to be an unwritten rule that Hernandezes can do no wrong and that anything goes as long as it's Hope or Rafe doing it.
So Hope can empty her gun into an old man in a wheelchair and Rafe can cover it up and viewers are supposed to root for that.
But when JJ admits over and over that he lost his temper and shouldn't have tried to scare Ben into a confession by pointing his gun at him without even coming close to firing it, that's an offense worthy of the highest level of discipline.
And then, Hope claims she's harder on JJ than on cops she's not related to because she doesn't want to show favoritism.
Stop quoting Blue Bloods' Frank Reagan without understanding the meaning of the words you're repeating, Hope, and start disciplining your boyfriend when he gets out of line if you're so concerned about demonstrating that the police department is no longer corrupt.
Getting suspended would not have been a bad thing for JJ's character, if it led to a story of some sort. But it was clear this isn't a storyline; it's just a vehicle to get JJ out of the way when he's not needed in the police station.
After his suspension, JJ disappeared until just before Hope was ready to reinstate him. He then visited his sister and gave his little nephew a toy train that Grandpa Bill had given him before dropping by the police station and getting a stern warning that he would be terminated if he ever made another serious mistake.
In between, Lani convinced Hope that JJ shouldn't be held responsible for his actions because Ben said horrible things, undoing all the effort JJ keeps putting into actually taking responsibility.
None of that is a story. It didn't involve JJ doing anything, in particular, to get his job back or having mixed feelings about his behavior or thinking about what to do if his suspension became permanent.
The suspension was a mere plot point, and when the writers didn't need it anymore, someone fixed things for JJ and he had no reaction one way or the other to that, either.
There is so much that could be done with JJ! Days of Our Lives constantly misuses him, and it's a real waste of talent. His small family scene with Abby was one of the sweetest scenes of the week -- imagine if he were used more regularly.
Meanwhile, Brady got more and more violent and crazy after Nicole slept with Eric.
The only saving grace in this mess of a storyline is that Nicole didn't get stuck at the farmhouse because of the storm. I guess there was enough contrived nonsense without that.
Instead, Nicole went to the farmhouse to convince Eric to return to civilization, only to suddenly decide she was in love with him and start making out with him. She followed this up by calling Brady and making up a story about her brother Brandon needing her.
Meanwhile, Brady shot a ton of looks at his true love -- a bottle of brandy that was on the bar -- but kept getting interrupted so he couldn't consummate the relationship.
Victor tried to convince him that Nicole was a harlot that was cheating on him, but Brady insisted he was wrong, not because he trusted Nicole, but because he trusted his own ability to run Eric out of town.
Brady seems to have forgotten how guilty he felt about doing that or even that Eric is his brother at all. All he cares about is that he lost the battle to possess Nicole.
John: Let me guess. You talked to Victor and he told you to manipulate the situation to get what you want.
Brady: I love her, Dad. I love the family we have together. I don't want to lose that.
John: You have to talk to her, son! You have to tell her what you did. You have to save your family before it's too late.
One of the people who interfered with Brady's love affair with the brandy bottle was John, who tried to talk some sense into his son. Sadly, Brady is not very capable of listening to good advice.
Instead, he not only got in Nicole's face over and over and verbally abused her the way all men in Salem think is their right, but blackmailed her to try to force her to break up with Eric.
Apparently, months ago when Nicole told Brady she killed Deimos, he decided to record the exchange on his phone in case he ever needed to blackmail Nicole out of choosing another man over him. Now he's threatening to turn that recording into the police if Nicole doesn't break up with Eric before leaving town.
This is stupid on so many levels that there's not room to list them all.
If he made good on this threat, the police might wonder why Brady sat on this evidence for so long and what his motive for revealing it now is.
There's no proof that the video wasn't doctored to get revenge and all of Salem will soon know that Nicole dumped Brady for Eric.
There's also the issue of Nicole having been drugged against her will at the time of the murder, which negates any murder charges sticking at all.
Basically, this threat is even less valid than when Brady's ex, Theresa, tried to blackmail JJ into getting her drugs if he didn't want her to give the judge presiding over his sentencing hearing a video of them smoking weed together.
Plus, if Nicole left town and then she and Eric eloped and did not return to Salem for a while, how would Brady even know that she didn't follow directions?
If written correctly, Nicole would laugh in Brady's face and privately thank God she dodged that bullet. Holly doesn't need to be raised in such an abusive environment.
Instead, Nicole will probably obey Brady's commands to the letter. God forbid she leave town without everyone thinking she was the most horrible person that ever lived.
Bonnie: Victor! Imagine running into you here.
Victor: Imagine.
Bonnie: Beautiful day.
Victor: Not anymore.
Brady wasn't the only one with blackmail on his mind, as Bonnie came up with an absolutely ridiculous plan. She overheard Victor talking to Xander about his failed attempt to kill Deimos and told Victor that she'd bring that to the cops if he didn't divorce Maggie and marry her.
Is this supposed to be comic relief? No one blackmails Victor Kiriakis and lives to tell the tale.
I really hope that Victor realizes that "Adrienne" isn't who she says she is. If he doesn't, he needs a medical evaluation because his cognitive abilities are in steep decline.
Kate: You tried to kill me, you put a bullet in Abe, you tried to kidnap Thomas.
Clyde: You mean Colin. How is that little boy?
Kate: I'm not here to update you on your victims.
Kate visited Clyde in an effort to find out what he knew about Will possibly being alive. Clyde was overly confident and annoyingly charming despite being one of the most evil characters Salem has ever seen.
I didn't realize how much I'd missed him until he and Kate faced off. Salem needs a villain and Andre appears to have retired from that post, so it would be great to bring Clyde back full-time.
Anyway, Clyde and Kate traded insults and then Kate was able to appeal to Clyde's one spark of humanity to get the truth out of him. She talked to him about how they had both broken their children and he admitted that he wished he hadn't physically abused Ben when he was a child.
These scenes were powerful and emotional and for a minute, I almost forgot how evil Clyde is. Whether he really has remorse over his treatment of Ben is anyone's guess, but Kate managed to get through to him.
She returned with the news that Dr. Rolf, Stefano's former witch doctor, had claimed to revive Will.
I loved the way John just nodded silently upon hearing this news. It made total sense to him, as it should. As over the top as this is, Rolf has been involved in resurrecting many other Salemites -- including John himself!
Before the visit, Kate also had one of the most powerful scenes of the week with Lucas. She found him drunk and ranting to a version of Will only he could see.
Lucas crawled into her lap and cried, and I about lost it myself. Talk about emotional!
I wasn't happy with Paul's idea to exhume Will's grave despite Lucas' refusal to give permission to do so.
That was disrespectful, especially considering the gross way Will died and was quickly replaced by Paul. I was never so happy to see Sami as I was when she put a stop to John and Paul doing that.
Julie: Chloe, I thought that you understood when we pooled our money to win the auction, I thought you understood that I was planning on naming the place after my husband's nightclub.
Chloe: No, you never made that clear.
Julie: Well, maybe you weren't listening.
Chloe: Well, maybe you thought you could just walk all over me.
Julie: Maybe you don't know who you're talking to.
Finally, there was some silly, lighthearted conflict between Julie and Chloe over the name of the club. I wonder what other issues these two will butt heads over.
I also wonder what happened to Parker. Chloe seems to have forgotten she has a child at all, which isn't exactly a good look for her.
What did you think of Days of Our Lives during the week of 10-09-17? Are you tired of the Brady/Nicole/Eric drama yet? Has Brady gone too far in his quiet craziness? Are you as excited to see Sami return as I am?
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.
