Days of Our Lives Review: Ben Rescues Ciara Again
Jack Ori
at
.
Ben rescued Ciara after Jordan set the cabin ablaze.
Just as they kissed and made up, Hope showed up and demanded at gunpoint that Ben get away from her daughter.
This dramatic rescue might have been part of Days of Our Lives during the week of 2-11-19, but it seemed like a rerun.
Ben and Ciara first met when she wiped out on her bike, and he tended to her broken leg in the cabin, only for Hope to arrest him when the cabin caught on fire, and he attempted to rescue Ciara.
That kicked off this whole annoying story in which Hope tried over and over to find a reason to lock Ben up, regardless of whether or not what she was doing was legal or even moral.
So I guess in a way it was fitting that it ended the same way it began. But it also felt unoriginal.
DAYS often reuses plots, and after 54 years there's bound to be some that are similar, but was it really necessary to repeat the same story with the same characters?
Hope: I'm sorry, Ben. I am so sorry I didn't believe you.
Ben: Don't worry about it. If I were you, I don't think I would have believed me either.
Let's hope this time Hope's apology sticks, and we don't go for Round 3 any time soon!
Of course, Hope wasn't the only one to blame this time. After all, without Jordan running all over town kidnapping people and trying to frame Ben for it, there would have been nothing to investigate.
But still, her single-minded focus on Ben didn't help. She discounted evidence that didn't fit her belief that he hurt Ciara even though her theory made less and less sense over time.
It made no sense whatsoever to think that Ben kidnapped Ciara, then, instead of staying with her, wandered all over town begging everyone to tell him they'd seen her and left countless messages saying he was worried about her.
Hope is just helping Trask win the election by being incompetent and biased!
Also, since Jordan decided to use the cabin because Ben had held Chad and Abby prisoner there and Hope had searched it a billion times in search of proof that Ben set the fire last time around, why did nobody think to look there until Chad and Ben teamed up?
The rescue was underwhelming because it was all resolved so quickly.
Ben stole Eli's gun and forced Hope out of the station at gunpoint so that he could tell her his suspicions about Jordan, ran away, ran into Chad, and got to the cabin. The end.
Don't get me wrong -- I'm glad to see an end to this awful story -- but did anyone else feel like it was rushed?
Crishell Hartley put everything she had into turning Jordan into a villain, but it was still an abrupt 180 that didn't make much sense.
Jordan was always strong and stable, and several characters even pointed that out. She mentioned casually to Rex that she had been in a car accident -- was that supposed to be the reason she suddenly went to the dark side?
If so, it would have been much better if there was some foreshadowing. Ben's been in Salem for months now and never mentioned his sister being in a car accident, nor did Rafe know anything about it.
That made it seem like the writers turned Jordan into a kidnapper merely for shock value and then added a half-assed explanation for her bizarre behavior after the fact.
Kate: I just want to ask you one more thing. How did you find me?
Rafe: Luck. When Gabi told me you were drunk and Jordan was helping you, something didn't add up. So I rushed over and I found you.
Kate: Well, I'm glad you did. Thank you.
Rafe: No problem. I gotta say, the world would be a lot less interesting without you in it.
The best part of this story is that it may be the catalyst for Hope and Rafe, finally, to call it quits!
While Hope was busy getting held hostage and then chasing after Ciara, Rafe was rescuing Kate after Jordan drugged her and then sitting vigil by her bedside.
Rafe seemed much more at ease with Kate than he ever has with Hope, and his concern for her was far more genuine.
Kate is one of my least favorite characters, and I'm not much of a Kate/Rafe shipper (I prefer her with Roman), but anything that gets him out of Hope's orbit has my vote!
My biggest objection is Hope/Ted.
First of all, Hope has become an unlikeable shadow of her former self ever since she became obsessed with separating Ciara and Ben, so I don't want to see her with anybody right now.
Besides that, I find it hard to believe that Hope rejected Aiden, who was a mostly-good lawyer until he got mixed up with Andre, because of a lie that meant nothing, yet is willing to give sleazy Ted the time of day!
It is just more hypocrisy from Hope and doesn't do her character any favors. It would have been far better to bring Aiden back and let her fall for him again over his help with Ciara. If Daniel Cosgrove wasn't available, a recast Aiden would have been fine.
Related: 17 Best Soap Opera Recasts
Hope/Ted makes zero sense. My prediction is that Hope and Rafe will have another fight over Ted being anywhere near Hope. If by some miracle we avoid that, I'm sure Hope will be jealous that Rafe took care of Kate instead of helping her confront Ben.
Rafe will possibly also save the day now that Jordan knocked Ben out, and it's anyone's guess how Hope will respond to THAT since Rafe and Jordan used to date when she was in her right mind.
Speaking of which, can the hospital please invest in the bare minimum security?
People who just escaped a kidnapper who is still on the loose should get police guards on their doors. And hospital staff should be required to wear ID badges so that random troublemakers can't sneak in wearing scrubs and try to kill patients.
Of course, former FBI agent Eli was unable to prevent Ben from hitting him over the head and stealing his gun, and Rafe (who is also former FBI) couldn't stop Sami from knocking him out either. So maybe I'm expecting too much!
\
Elsewhere in Salem, John quickly bought Diana's story that Leo was his son.
This is too easy. A story where John asks, Diana tells him the truth, and he adjusts to the reality that his son is messing with his grandson's life is far too uncomplicated for Salem!
I suspect Diana is lying in order to put a wedge between John and Marlena. She seemed to be interviewing John to find out what tidbits she could use to convince him Leo was his. She even tried to take his hand afterward.
How much more transparent can she be?
Either way, I was annoyed that John didn't tell Marlena right away.
Valentine's Day or no Valentine's Day, this was a major secret -- and the longer John procrastinates about telling Marlena, the more likely it is she's going to find out some other way and be upset about it.
I bet Diana is banking on John keeping her secret so she can engineer Marlena discovering it.
John keeping his own counsel on this one put a damper on their Valentine's Day romance. What might have been a sweet scene became yet another instance of someone holding a secret that's going to blow up in his face and make the relationship implode, at least temporarily.
Many fans have castigated JJ for not telling Haley that he shared her secret with Jack, but at least JJ has made an effort!
Twice he got as far as saying he had something to tell her before getting interrupted.
Haley's sudden discovery that she had to go to work THAT INSTANT so that JJ couldn't confess to her was ridiculous.
Related: 7 Ways Days of Our Lives Could (And Should!) Be Using JJ Deveraux
I'm often guilty of losing track of time, but I at least have an alarm set for when I'm supposed to leave for work. Haley just happened to look at her phone and realize she was going to be late.
How contrived was that?
JJ's said twice now he had something important to tell her -- isn't she the least bit curious what it is? And hasn't she noticed he tries to bring it up every time she says she's so glad she can trust him not to tell anybody her secret?
If she's paranoid about her secret getting out, she should be hyper-aware of things like that, not oblivious.
Eve's insistence that Jack needs to expose Haley for JJ's good made me sick, too.
She is the same woman that used JJ's mental illness against him to break up him and her daughter. While Jack doesn't know about Paige, he DOES know that Eve slept with JJ and that Eve tried to do the same thing to him!
Either Jack needs to get a clue, or Paige's ghost needs to make an appearance to talk some sense into her mother. This nonsense about Eve suddenly being interested in JJ's well-being is too much to take.
Chad and Abby reconciling was unsurprising, but satisfying.
Chad's been saying from the beginning that he separated Abby from her baby when he sent her to Bayview and was going to make up for it by bringing Charlotte safely home. So the couple reuniting was an obvious next step.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see them recommit to being a team. It was especially satisfying that the problems between them had taken more than two seconds to resolve. It has been going on for a while, and Abby has slowly let go of her anger towards Chad.
That stands in marked contrast to a lot of what's going on on DAYS right now. The writers often seem to be in a mad rush when it comes to couples. Viewers might have shorter attention spans than they did 54 years ago, but we are willing to wait when it comes to romance.
The angsty build-up is what makes the eventual reunion so sweet, and when the writers rush, they cheat us out of that!
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the sooner this Eric/Sarah/Rex triangle ends, the better!
I can't take another minute of oblivious Rex asking Eric to do favors for him like set the table for his date with Sarah.
There's no reason for any of that, plus Rex treating Eric like a servant is getting old fast.
And why would Rex tell Sarah to have dinner with Eric instead of supporting him at the hospital while he waits for news about his mother? Granted, Kate would probably not want Sarah there, but still, that makes no sense!
It's almost as if Rex was setting Sarah and Eric up when he's been asking Eric to do the same for him for weeks.
Brady and Chloe clashed about whether or not Chloe should move in with Stefan for protection.
I don't need my glasses to see where this is going. It couldn't be any more obvious that Chloe is going to fall for Stefan just as Brady acknowledges his feelings for her to himself.
But in any case, Brady came across as overbearing and annoying.
Even though I don't like Stefan and I don't believe for a second that Maggie wouldn't try to convince Victor to let the mother of her grandson stay there to protect both her and the kids, I was Team Chloe on this one.
Brady's insistence on protecting Chloe when she didn't want it wasn't much different than Victor refusing to let Chloe stay there to "protect" Brady from her.
Finally, are they trying to redeem Gabi or what?
She managed to do two good deeds this week. She saved Kate's life by telling Rafe what she saw, and she interfered with Leo's latest plan to rape Sonny.
I was irritated that Sonny felt he had no choice. He should have called Leo's bluff and let the cards fall where they may. Hope has already shown herself to be a biased commissioner who likely will fail to arrest Will and Sonny for their part in Leo's accident just because they're family and she dislikes Leo!
And I don't know WHAT Gabi thinks she's doing to distract Leo, but his imitation of Nick and the Valentine's heart pillow can go.
What did you think, DAYS Fanatics? Was this a satisfying Valentine's Day? Are you glad that Ciara is finally out of that cabin? And did you buy Jordan as a villain?
Weigh in below, and don't forget to check back on Sunday for our 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.
