Days of Our Lives Round Table: Should Haley Be Deported?

Diana and Victor made a deal, Will assaulted Leo in the town square, and Haley faced deportation this week in Salem.

Our TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Silvanaoir and UhSir from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Marlena defending Will, John taking Leo’s side, if Eric should tell Sarah how he feels, Abe and Sheila’s growing friendship and more!

Is Marlena blind to Will’s faults or was John wrong to defend Leo?

Silvananoir: I'm on both sides here. On one hand, I get John. Leo is (at least John believes) his son. John is protective of his family and history has shown that John will take his kids' side over Marlena's family.

I'm also on team Marlena, Will is her grandchild, recently back from the dead (which makes her even more protective of him) and in front of her is a creep trying to take him away. I lean more towards Marlena, but I understand why John stepped in.

Jack: Marlena is blind to Will's faults. It's disturbing to me that a therapist would condone violence -- would she have encouraged a patient who is out on bail to go around assaulting his assailant?

If nothing else, Marlena should be concerned that Will is jeopardizing his freedom with his immature behavior.

UhSir: Yes she is and no he isn't. I like how they worked this out before she left to go see Victor.

Christine: Marlena frequently makes excuses for Will’s bad behavior. He assaulted a man in public! That’s already wrong but he’s also out on bail, so it could land him back behind bars.

And John’s not wrong. Sonny and Will wrapped Leo’s body in a rug and tried to dispose of him when they should have called 911. I’m not condoning Leo’s behavior but Will and Sonny are no saints in this scenario either.

Should John tell Leo that he is (or could be, pending a DNA test) his biological father?

Silvananoir: I don't know why John is just taking Diana's word for it. Maybe he feels bad for how their relationship ended.

But yes, in fact, he should've told Marlena from the beginning. There was no reason to keep it from her. The sooner he just speaks the truth the better it will be. Until he does, Diana will always have the power.

Jack: He should get the DNA test first. What good will it do anyone for him to tell Leo this and then find out later Diana made the whole thing up?

But he SHOULD tell Marlena and stop listening to Diana, who is very clearly trying to cause trouble between John and Marlena regardless of what the truth is.

UhSir: No. Hopefully, Marlena will keep her cool and convince him to do a DNA test first.

Christine: John needs a DNA test asap and either needs to come clean with Leo about that or sneak into Leo’s room at the Kiriakis mansion and steal his toothbrush. But if it’s true, Leo has the right to know the truth and John should tell him.

Does Haley deserve to be deported?

Silvananoir: No. She pays taxes, she has full-time employment, really she applies for DACA. However, the law is against her. She doesn't have the protection that DACA would have given her.

I don't know why she or Melinda hadn't taken care of this. Hayley was a child, there were things they could have done.

I sympathize as a child of immigrants but I understand why others wouldn't. Hayley had options that for some reason she didn't take. She certainly had better opportunities to fix her status than other immigrants who didn't have her support system.

Jack: No, but it might save viewers' sanity if she was. All that yelling and saying stupid things to and about JJ instead of doing anything to actually protect her ability to stay in the US isn't doing her any favors.

UhSir: The more I see Haley, the more I like her. I don't know enough about Haley yet to be upset if she is deported. Right now I'd just be disappointed at the loss of some really good story possibilities, but I'm used to that.

After this week, I strongly suspect that Melinda is actually Haley's mother and Haley doesn't know it. If that proves to be true, then Haley certainly does not deserve to be deported.

Christine: I’m with UhSir on this one. I think Melinda is Haley’s mother and that’s why she never helped Haley go through the process of legal immigration. If they did, the truth would surely come out.

But no, I don’t think Haley deserves to be deported. Imagine getting sent back to a country where you know no one and don’t speak the language. It’s terrifying. There should be a sane way for her to remain here and be a contributing member of society.

Should Eric tell Sarah how he feels about her?

Silvananoir: Eric shouldn't be jumping into anything. Right now, Sarah is in a relationship and hasn't given him signals that she wants out. And Rex is his brother.

It would be different if Rex and Sarah weren't attempting to reconcile. But they are, Eric should back off here.

Jack: I really have no opinion on this. I'm not invested in this Rex/Sarah/Eric drama in the slightest. Everyone is so oblivious and ridiculous, and I'm tired of this middle-school behavior among three people in their 30s! I guess he should tell her so we can get on with it, but meh.

UhSir: No. Eric needs to be single for a while. He just lost the supposed "love of his life." Eric was actually much more interesting as a priest and then working at the center.

I'm not saying he isn't romantic, he is. But it's just not possible to feel invested in a new romance when it happens so quickly. Eric keeps bouncing from one woman to another and back again. It's become unbelievable and tiresome to watch.

Christine: Eric is attracted to his brother’s girlfriend. That’s not some great love he’s hiding. I couldn’t believe that Marlena encouraged him to tell Sarah how he feels and damage his relationship with his brother over a crush.

Plus, Eric is still mourning Nicole. His feelings for Sarah are more of a distraction/band-aid for his grief. Acting on them will do far more harm than good.

Abe and Sheila. Would you like to see them as a possible romantic pairing, good friends, just work acquaintances, or end their relationship entirely?

Silvananoir: I like their buddy relationship. I don't want anything else from them. I like that Abe has a good friend in Sheila but that's all.

Jack: Work acquaintances. The idea of romance between them is totally ridiculous. Wasn't Sheila in competition with Abe's daughter for Valerie's son just a few months ago? I'm glad to see Abe smile and to get rid of his judgmental attitude towards Sheila but it doesn't need to go further than that.

UhSir: I love Abe and I love Sheila. I love her being his assistant. I don't see any romance. I just don't see that chemistry with them. The vibes I get are them being siblings, little sister keeps pestering big brother. I want to see that but please don't ruin these scenes or this relationship with another forced romance.

I actually don't want to see Sheila in a romantic relationship, yet. I would love to see her with a string of hunky, oddball guys. That will allow us to get to know her better, as well as add some much needed light entertainment to the show.

And if the show wants a love interest for Abe then please just bring back Valerie (Vanessa A. Williams). James and Vanessa have WONDERFUL chemistry.

They don't even have to speak, just them in the same scene oozes "we're a couple" feelings, something the show is nearly completely lacking right now or shooting down because of the constant need for triangles.

I'm so disappointed that Valerie is not in Salem but at least the phone calls with Abe are keeping me hopeful she will return soon.

Christine: These two have a great oddball friendship forming, and I’m enjoying it, but it shouldn’t go past that. I’d hate to see them force a romance out of this.

What, if anything, disappointed you the most this week in Salem?

Silvananoir: The Claire story. I hate this. I hate this more than I can express. I'm down for Claire the schemer and if the show wanted to make Belle's daughter the new Sami, then I'd be here for it. But this, setting fire to the cabin with her Ciara in it? That I hate.

Jack: I'm again irritated with the writers' tendency towards random character changes to suit the plot. Claire setting the fire makes no sense whatsoever and it really feels like she was chosen randomly or maybe for shock value. She went there to save Ciara...and randomly decided to kill her. What?

This nonsense has the added bonus of being yet another story that depicts mental illness as something that causes people to randomly kill or try to kill others. Stop it already!

Similarly, what is going on with Jack? He stands up to Eve and says all the right things...then does what she suggests anyway. This makes no sense and I'm getting whiplash from Jack's constant back-and-forth.

And Haley and Melinda can go have their immigration drama in some other town any day now. Haley insisting that JJ was using her for sex to anyone that will listen is so stupid.

She refuses to do anything at all to help herself and would prefer to make the guy who has saved her life over and over the villain than admit her heartless sister was heartless or that her own life is worth something. JJ deserves better.

Finally, John's lived in Salem for over 30 years and doesn't know that secrets come out? Stop listening to Diana and stop giving her heads-ups about your plans! He should have told Marlena the truth without getting any input from Diana. Then none of this Victor interference would have happened.

UhSir: Victor agreeing to help Diana. Great, now Maggie will find out after the fact and then threaten to, or actually, leave him. Again. -rollseyes- Wait, are Maggie and Victor even still married?

Christine: Yeah, the Claire twist is the most disappointing. She’s a schemer, not a killer! She and Ciara have always had a sibling-like rivalry but this makes no sense.

If Claire had somehow accidentally set the cabin on fire and tried to hide it, I’d buy that, but intentionally setting the fire to kill Ciara, that’s absurd.

Also, Marlena being told about the abuse Leo suffered as a child and not only does she show no empathy or understanding but she calls him names! It makes it difficult to believe she’s a psychiatrist.

What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline this week on Days of Our Lives?

Silvananoir: I hate myself for this, I'm loving Stefan and Chloe. I wanted them together since their first scene before Nadia's second maternity leave. But that DID story really hurt Stefan in my eyes. While I love their chemistry and how their being written. I can't forget what he did.

It's the same issue I had with EJami (I will never deny their chemistry was special) but what EJ did ruined it for me. I will enjoy Stefan and Chloe, but a part of me will think that it's a bit spoiled.

Jack: I liked JJ and Jennifer telling Jack off after Jack betrayed JJ, and also enjoyed Jennifer coming over to give JJ some support the next day. JJ also cracked me up with his snide comments about Melinda during the debate. I especially liked his comment that Melinda smiling AT ALL would be an improvement.

UhSir: Quote: Victor to Leo: Just what do you think you're entitled to, you little buzzard.

Scenes: Three favorites that, for me, are the stuff Soaps are supposed to be made of. 1) JJ and Jack in the park after Jack revealed about Haley. 2) Haley and Melinda after the reveal. 3) Ciara and Ben on Friday.

Christine: I enjoyed Justin calling out Sonny and Will for being so unbelievably stupid.

And, oddly enough, I kind of liked Victor dropping the bombshell on Marlena that Leo is John's son, or at least it has me very curious to see where things go from here because, in a strange way, I'm rooting for Leo.