Days of Our Lives Review: Salem in Chaos

Talk about chaos!

Jack winning the mayoral election on Days of Our Lives during the week of 5-13-19 will definitely up the craziness factor in Salem, especially since his son decided to go on the run to protect Haley from being deported!

And then there was that whole bizarre twist ending in which Xander announced that his partner was... Nicole. The good people of Salem are scratching their heads and wondering what the heck is going on, and viewers are right there with them.

Something smells fishy about the mayoral election results.

Abe chalked his loss up to Jack's election day stunt and Haley assumed the vote was a referendum on her continued presence in Salem.

But Abe was ahead in the polls for most of the day, and when it comes to Eve anything is possible. So did she somehow manipulate the election results to make sure her man won?

After all, Jack told Eve that if he won it was because she made him mayor. That didn't seem like an innocent figure of speech. It seemed like the kind of gigantic sign that something is not right about this election that the DAYS writers tend to love.

Plus Eve's little mini-me Claire rigged the Bella contest votes, so why wouldn't Eve rig this much more important election to get her way?

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but my prediction is that six months down the line, some sort of subterfuge will come out and Abe will end up back in the Mayor's office.

By then, Jack might have his memory back -- maybe he'll investigate his former partner and discover he didn't win fairly!

JJ knocking an ICE agent over, grabbing Haley's hand, and running away was an impulsive, not-well-thought-out plan.

In reality, this would have ended badly, and not just because his and Haley's first stop was at the other side of the Square.

Assaulting a federal official is a serious crime! JJ would be looking at a ton of jail time and, ironically, losing his own right to vote since in most states felons don't have that right.

And the pursuit wouldn't consist of just the knocked-over agent on foot. There would probably be helicopters involved in this manhunt and a lot of cops with weapons drawn.

Story-wise, JJ and Haley going on the run might be interesting, but I would prefer to see JJ investigating how his father actually managed to pull off a victory. JJ has inherited Jack's investigative skills, so using them to facilitate his father's comedown would be a delicious helping of karma!

Instead, we're probably going to get a story about JJ and Haley having their first sexual experience soon after going on the run, developing a strong bond, and then ultimately getting caught without either have them having to go to jail for more than a day.

JJ: We're quite a pair. My dad can't remember me...
Haley: ...and my mom wants to forget me.

Permalink: ...and my mom wants to forget me.

Melinda's revelation that she is Haley's mother, not her sister, was not much of a surprise for viewers. Many guessed it from the moment they were established to be "sisters".

The backstory is confusing as hell, though, and it's likely that the writers made this up as they went along.

Originally, Haley lived in China with her parents and sister and then Melinda came to America. Haley then was shipped to America after her mother became terminally ill and became Melinda's problem.

But this new reveal involves Melinda's mother claiming to be pregnant to stop her daughter from bringing shame to the family, adopting baby Haley, and immediately sending Melinda to America so no one would find out the truth.

When DAYS changes backstory midstream like this, it confuses and annoys viewers and interferes with the suspension of disbelief. I realize the writers are under heavy time pressure because of the ridiculous production pace, but I wish they'd at least think out a story before they commit to it!

It's strange, too, that JJ didn't think at all of the pain Lani caused him by making him think Eli's baby was his when he heard Melinda's story. It's great that he's empathetic -- Haley probably doesn't need his anger towards Melinda for lying to her -- but it doesn't make sense that he wouldn't go there.

As for Melinda, the less said about her plan to assassinate Jack and Eve, the better.

This was completely out of character in addition to being yet another act of senseless violence. The whole time Melinda and Jennifer were talking, I kept thinking about how hard Melinda tried to get Sami sent to jail forever for shooting Joe Bernardi -- and Sami had a lot better excuse!

In addition, DAYS keeps sending the uber harmful message that when women get upset, they lose their minds and become violent. Gabi, Claire, Jordan... and now Melinda.

Mentally ill people are not, for the most part, violent, and DAYS needs to stop selling mental illness as an excuse for this type of behavior. It also needs to stop suggesting that women are prone to these sorts of things.

And since we're living in an age where every other day there is a shooting in a school or a place of worship, DAYS also needs to stop suggesting that shooting people is the answer to all of life's problems.

Of course, Melinda didn't go as far as shooting anyone. Jennifer managed to talk her out of it. But still.

Also, since when are Melinda and Jennifer friends?

Melinda was not around when JJ was a rebellious teenager who constantly broke the law, but I imagine she was not happy that he was never punished for his various crimes and misdeeds. And her only interactions with Jennifer on-screen involved sparring about the mayoral race.

So Jennifer comforting Melinda seemed random, to say the least.

Nicole: You've finally made yourself useful.
Xander: Champagne. Are you celebrating getting divorced from me?
Nicole: I am celebrating, actually. My plan went off without a hitch.
Xander: OUR plan, you mean. Let's face it, you couldn't have done it without me. Partner.

Permalink: OUR plan, you mean. Let's face it, you couldn't have done it without me. Partner.

The other big story besides the mayoral race was this whole Nicole mess.

Nicole's decision to blame Eric for the "loss" of Holly and gravitate towards Brady seemed so out of character that some viewers wondered if she was Kristen in disguise.

But while her behavior was over-the-top, it made sense -- IF it wasn't just Holly that she was upset about.

So much of Nicole's anger and Eric's guilt sounded like a rerun of their conversations after Eric killed Daniel in a drunk driving accident.

She told Sarah that she now had lost both Daniel and Holly, too.

So maybe Nicole's anger is really about Daniel, especially since her final scene with Xander suggested that she knows Holly isn't dead.

I don't understand what's going on here, at all. What is Nicole and Xander's plan, and why is Nicole working with him?

And if Nicole knows Holly is alive, why was she sobbing over her daughter's death while alone in her hotel room?

Is this another case of the writers making it up as they go along? I hope we get an explanation that makes some sort of sense for all of this!

I hate fake death stories, especially when they involve a child. It's incredibly cruel to make family members think their loved one is dead.

Maybe Nicole wanted revenge against Eric and/or Chloe for some reason yet to be revealed, but this wasn't the way to get it, especially since Maggie is heartbroken too and struggling not to turn to alcohol over it!

Plus, is it too much to ask for ONE story for Eric that doesn't involve him fighting with Brady over a woman? These constant triangles involving Eric and Brady need to go.

Another thing that needs to go: Hope's inability to see through Ted Laurent.

It doesn't matter if she stays with Rafe or not. They're an awful excuse for a couple that does nothing but fight and belittle each other.

Hope: You took off your ring.
Rafe: Do you want to talk?
Hope [crying]: That says it all.

Permalink: That says it all.

But Hope is supposed to be an intelligent, street-smart veteran cop. How she can fail to see through Ted's manipulations is beyond me,

She seemed to come to her senses in her office after she got the signed divorce papers. She told Ted she knew he wasn't sorry that her relationship with Rafe imploded and she did NOT want to talk about it with him or go to dinner with him.

But then she did exactly that anyway.

I can only conclude from all this nonsense that Hope knows exactly what Ted is up to -- and she likes it.

She was playing games with the divorce papers, demanding a divorce and then being shocked and hurt that Rafe gave her one.

That's not cute or endearing. It's obnoxious.

Lani had no right to make any decisions about Ben's visiting baby David whatsoever.

Just when she was starting to be somewhat likable, she told yet another lie, and a stupid one.

Predictably, Ben and Ciara caught her in that lie five seconds after she told it. But even if they hadn't, telling Ciara that the baby had a fever so Ben couldn't come talk to Rafe merely postponed the inevitable for a few days.

And did Lani think Ciara might not mention this conversation to Rafe the next time she sees him?

In the past year, Lani has:

Lied to JJ about her baby's parentage to hold onto him.
Pushed Eli away because she insisted their only connection was their stillborn baby
Become attached to someone else's baby and told yet another lie to control who gets to see said baby.

Someone needs to alert Marlena about all this.

Lani is willing to blow up her relationship with Eli if it means taking care of baby David, and now she's lying to people to get around the fact that she's not David's mother and can't make decisions on his behalf.

The Will brain tumor story continues to be unrealistic, but since his tumor is now suspected to be caused by the memory-restoring drug he took a year ago, I guess I can't complain.

Now that Xander is back in town and has the diary with Rolf's formula, it's only a matter of time before someone goes on an adventure in search of it. Could that someone be Will and Sonny?