Nicole and Eric are done, Ben kidnapped Ciara from her wedding, Sami’s infidelity has EJ on the rampage, and Eli still strutted around the loft in his towel.

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Stephanie from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate the Ericole breakup, Ciara’s future, EJ’s next move, and the future of super couples in Salem.

Nicole and Eric are done, and Eric has gone back to Africa. Are you cheering or heartbroken?

Stephanie: I’m disappointed more than anything else. Even though the scenes where Nicole and Eric privately talked about Nicole’s infidelity and Eric's neglect of their marriage were well acted, I felt like both of them gave up too easily in the end.

Nicole basically told Eric to leave her because he was too good for her, and he pretty much just complied without even suggesting that they work out their problems and try to strengthen their marriage.

Last year, I was happy to see the two of them finally get married. But it seemed pointless to have them marry at all when the writers knew that Greg Vaughan was leaving the show and were forced to break up the marriage because of it.

Jack: I'm surprisingly sad, considering I never liked Eric and Nicole as a couple. Eric was actually likable for the first time in forever when he admitted he wasn't a saint and had been running away from his marriage to Nicole.

I almost wished Greg Vaughan was staying so that he and Nicole could try to work through this somehow.

Yet at the same time, I'm glad to be rid of all of Salem's insistence that Nicole is evil and Eric is wonderful (not that people won't be saying it anyway) and for Nicole to be out of limbo, though I'd prefer not to see a return of Evil Nicole just because Eric is gone.

Christine: Ugh. Long ago, I rooted for Eric and Nicole, but their relationship has been a disappointment for years.

I hate that Eric, a man with a hair-trigger temper who frequently lashes out with his fists, is looked upon as a saint and that Nicole should be lucky to have him.

I really did appreciate their break-up scenes, as they were well-acted, and I was relieved to hear Eric admit he ran out on his marriage and that Nicole called him out on it.

In Nicole's defense, how do you tell your husband you need him home and not feel like a terrible person when he’s always going on about how little the people he’s helping have and how much they need him?

Overall, I’m just happy that Nicole can move on with her life. She needs to be doing something more interesting than pining over Eric and taking care of off-screen kids.

Which would you prefer? Ciara getting her memories back or having her just leave Salem again?

Stephanie: I’m actually hoping that Ciara doesn’t get her memories back. If she does, we will once again be treated to her and Ben doing nothing but hanging all over each other and laying around in bed together.

Ciara is pretty insufferable as she is right now, but at least a future with Theo will be healthier than one with Ben. I would be satisfied if Theo married her and then took her back to South Africa, where we don’t have to see or hear from her.

Jack: Ciara is SO obnoxious that I'd be happy never to see her on my screen again. I don't care at this point if she gets her memories back or not. Just go be a brat off-screen.

Christine: Obnoxious is the right word to describe Ciara. Everything is always about her, and if you don’t agree with her point of view, she shrieks or maybe slaps you.

What hurts is that I want to like Ciara. Bo and Hope were one of my favorite super couples and she’s their daughter, but I can’t stand her. I don’t care who she marries. I don’t care what she remembers, I just want her gone as soon as possible.

Paulina now says that Horton Square is safe, and she won’t be building Price Town in its place. Are you relieved? Do you think there’s more to this story, or did this storyline conclude too quickly?

Stephanie: I’m glad Paulina seems to have come to her senses and realized that the money she would make from Price Town is not worth more than the relationships she had with Abe and her family.

I just hope that Lani isn’t correct about her playing everyone. It does seem that she backed down too easily, though, so I can see why Lani would be suspicious that she still isn’t telling the truth about her plans.

Jack: I figured that SOMETHING would have to happen to stop Horton Town Square from being demolished. No way was Paulina getting away with that! I think the story has morphed into Paulina thinking this makes up for what she did and Lani not buying it while Abe totally does.

I expect the Paulina issue will drive a wedge between Lani and Abe in the coming months, especially after reading some news about another member of the Price family coming to town soon.

Christine: Paulina was insistent that she couldn’t pull the plug on the project, and now, suddenly she’s done just that. It doesn’t make sense and I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop on this storyline.

Now that EJ knows Sami cheated on him, what do you think he’ll do next?

Stephanie: I think that EJ will most likely blame Lucas for Sami cheating and find someway to get revenge on him.

Jack: That EJ/Sami cliffhanger was creepy! I'm not sure if EJ is going to mess with Sami's mind and make her think he doesn't know for a while longer or if he's going to get violent with her.

Either way, I think he's going to be seeking revenge just like Sami did when EJ slept with Abby. Speaking of which, if and when Abby ever returns, I'm sure EJ will be using her to further his revenge plot and mess with Chad at the same time.

Christine: EJ is furious, and with reason. I have no doubt he’s going to try to get revenge on Lucas and make Sami miserable in the process.

Eventually, I hope he remembers how he cheated on Sami with Abigail, as well as the hell he put her through during the years he was missing and recovering.

Sami cheated on him but it wasn’t because she stopped loving EJ; it was because she hurt and thought he didn’t want her anymore.

Are there any current Salem couples with the same appeal as the super couples from the 1980s and early 1990s? (Bo and Hope, John and Marlena, Steve and Kayla, Jack and Jennifer, etc.)

Stephanie: The only couple who has recently had this same kind of appeal for me is Sarah and Xander. Unlike most recent couples, their relationship was built and developed over time instead of rushed into.

They have also had entertaining storylines and scenes like working together to find out who Philip was laundering money for and proposing to each other at the same time.

Hopefully, Sarah will be found, and they will get back together at some point because they were a bright spot on the show.

Jack: Do Doug and Julie count? ;) None of the younger couples have that kind of appeal. They're just all thrown together randomly because the writers thought it was a good idea and then they rush to the bedroom, only to be torn apart two days later.

There's also not enough opposition from friends and relatives (except for Ben/Ciara, which took things to such extremes that it was boring and ridiculous.)

Will and Sonny could have had that appeal and did until the writers decided the only type of story they could think of for them was some guy getting in between them while they were separated for whatever reason and then said guy turning out to be evil! No wonder they were shipped off-screen.

Tripp and Allie COULD become a super couple, though I'm torn because I also like Chanel/Allie.

Christine: I agree that Xander and Sarah had the closest thing to super couple potential I’ve seen in a long time. They were the most fun couple Salem has seen in years, so I hope Sarah returns. And Tripp and Allie have potential if written well. 

The writers seem to have forgotten how to write the slow build of a relationship so that we care when they finally get together, and then want to keep them together. Couples used to go on adventures and solve mysteries together. I miss those Days.

What disappointed you the most this week in Salem?

Stephanie: I was most disappointed in Ben going through with his plan to kidnap Ciara and drag her off to the cabin in the hopes that she will finally remember their relationship. I guess that maybe it is supposed to be romantic that he is not giving up, but to me, it is just coming off as creepy, stalkerish, and desperate.

I wish he and everyone else would just let Ciara move forward with her life. Maybe then she would stop shrieking and acting like a total witch.

I was also disappointed that Eli was yet again wandering around in a towel when Chanel was staying with him and Lani. Why does this man never learn that if he does that, something is likely to happen that will cause Chanel to walk in right as the towel falls off for some reason?

At least Chanel seems to have learned that Eli is likely to be in a towel at some point in the morning and is now wearing a sleep mask in order to keep herself from seeing something that she shouldn't.

Jack: I know this is because of issues with Greg Vaughan's schedule, but I was actually disappointed that Eric was only in town to break up with Nicole (even though he's not my favorite). I wanted him to go lay into Sami before he left. I didn't like that she gets away with all of this!

Also, we only had two storylines leading up to the pre-Olympic cliffhangers, and I hate that one of them had to be Ben/Ciara/Theo. Ciara is SO obnoxious that nobody should want her, and this whole Ben kidnapping Ciara setup is too similar to Bo/Hope except that Ben and Ciara have none of the appeal that Bo and Hope did.

Also, when Theo said he was only marrying Ciara so that Ciara wouldn't be upset, THAT was the time for Abe to speak up and tell Theo something to the effect that he knows that Theo isn't always aware of social rules. 

Abe wants him to be aware that there is NO obligation to marry someone just because she wants to marry you. That was the wrong time for Abe to decide he was keeping his mouth shut!

Christine: That Claire didn’t haul off and punch Ciara after Ciara slapped her in the face. It would have served Ciara right to walk down the aisle with a black eye or broken nose. Ciara has been horrible to everyone who cares about her.

Also, Ben kidnapping Ciara to stop her wedding to Theo, and that they kept comparing it to Bo kidnapping Hope. The latter doesn’t even come close to the former.

And who knew Eli was such an exhibitionist? Refusing to put on a robe or even a pair of boxers when he knows Chanel is sleeping on their sofa is just rude.

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

Stephanie: I liked Philip giving Nicole Kristen's letter so that she could use it to pay Sami back for breaking up her marriage. Nicole was the perfect person to drop that bomb on EJ, and I could tell that she enjoyed doing it. I also liked that Philip decided to hand over the letter for no reason other than that he wants to help his brother find happiness.

We don't see him and Lucas do things for each other very often, so it was nice to see him wanting to help Lucas get the girl he loves.

Jack: Nicole had some GREAT lines throughout the breakup scenes and her scenes with EJ too! I loved how she hammered home constantly the fact that Sami is the world's biggest hypocrite.

And her description of Eric as a balloon that was drifting further and further away from her was one of the most emotional lines of the week.

I also enjoyed Lucas' interactions with Philip! I'd love some more brother time for these two and hope this wasn't just a plot device to further the Sami/Lucas reveal.

Christine: Philip and Lucas’ scenes were some of my favorites. I’m tired of Philip pining over Chloe or fighting over Titan. It’s great to see him trying to help his brother and I hope we see more of these two moving forward.

Your turn, TV Fanatics...

Tell us who you think has SUPER COUPLE. potential! Hit that big, blue, SHOW COMMENTS button down below to share your thoughts on the happenings in Salem. Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review!

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.