Finally, some indication that the Devil is the fallen angel of the Bible and not just a random troublemaker!

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 11-29-21, MarDevil's crazy plan was partially foiled by an angel in disguise, kicking this story into higher gear.

But has the Devil also gotten ahold of Philip? What was up with that over-the-top violent plan to get rid of Brady?

It's one thing to be jealous, but Philip's decision to frame Brady for his own misdeeds went way too far.

Granted, this cycle of Philip being jealous, then discovering he was mistaken had to move forward somehow. So SOMETHING had to happen to shake things up.

But did it have to be Philip suddenly deciding that Chloe was lying to him and that he was going to make her pay?

Philip became totally unhinged, resembling the serial killer version of Ben more than anyone else, and resorted to an unnecessarily violent plan. The whole thing was senseless and seemed designed to manipulate viewers into rooting for Chloe to be with Brady instead.

A lot of this didn't make much sense.

It's understandable why Philip would conclude that Brady and Chloe had sex from what he overheard weeks ago. But that could have been quickly cleared up by talking to Chloe.

Instead, he ripped their tree out of the ground in a stunningly accurate imitation of the Incredible Hulk, then spent the next few weeks trying to prove Chloe was cheating on him and twisting every word she said into proof.

By the time Philip decided to attack Brady, he wasn't living anywhere close to reality. Somehow, Chloe being concerned that Philip didn't tell her he'd been fired and offering to buy him dinner became proof in his mind that she didn't care about him and was leaving to have sex with Brady.

What?

Next, Philip sneaked downstairs and eavesdropped on Maggie and Victor, but it wasn't like he left right after hearing Maggie say that Brady wanted Chloe for himself.

He stood there and listened as Maggie explained that Brady realized that Chloe was with Philip and was moping over it, yet still concluded that Brady was working to steal Chloe away.

All of Chloe's heartfelt messages became proof in Philip's mind that she was cheating on him and cared nothing for him. This felt more like a stereotypical psychotic break than anything else. Of course, with the Devil in Salem, Philip may have been possessed too.

The shameful thing about this, besides how out of character and ridiculous it is for Philip to behave this way, is that once again, Days of Our Lives had a better story right under their nose and ignored it.

If someone else had hit Brady and Chloe blamed Philip while Brady milked his injuries for all they were worth, it might have been a fascinating twist in this stupid triangle.

It could have been a mob hit on Philip gone wrong, someone hired by Kate in a misguided effort to show she supported Philip, or even the Devil in disguise again.

But instead, we got a replay of Kristen going to extremes to stop Brady from being with Chloe; only Philip took over Kristen's role.

It's disappointing, manufactured drama that accomplishes nothing but pissing off Phloe shippers, many of whom would have preferred Philip stay off-canvas to this kind of character-assassinating resolution to the Phloe/Broe triangle.

Meanwhile, the Devil possession story took a couple of supernatural turns after exposing MarDevil's secret.

It would have been too easy for Julie and Shawn to somehow stop MarDevil from leaving until Eric or Father Louis got there to exorcise the evil demon. So naturally, MarDevil ran away and asked Ben and Ciara to hide her. That was when things got strange.

I get that Ben has been both seriously abused and abused others and that Marlena was his live preserver when he first got out of jail, and no one would give him a chance. But does that mean that logic flies entirely out the window, and he HAS to accept whatever she says as (if you'll forgive the pun) gospel?

First of all, no competent therapist would run to A PATIENT for help if they had some situation in their own life that required someone to help them.

But then again, Marlena and Ben have had this unhealthy relationship from the beginning that crosses all sorts of ethical boundaries. The writers have NEVER taken mental health treatment seriously and have made Marlena Ben's best friend rather than his therapist.

Even so, though, it was clear that Marlena wasn't acting at all like herself, and Ben was swallowing every lie she told and accepting every justification for those lies.

He never stopped to think about Marlena's behavior over the past year and how it's only been in the past month or two that she's acted like she doesn't want to be around John.

Nor has he picked up on any of her suddenly strange mannerisms or her colder manner, or even that she's overly involved in his plans to start a family with Ciara.

Ciara seems to be more aware of how weird this all is, but Ben keeps overruling her. I wonder what'll happen when the truth comes out, and Ben realizes that MarDevil was playing him all along.

That may happen sooner rather than later, too, now that Archangel Gabriel has caught up with MarDevil.

MarDevil: You are not supposed to interfere in human affairs. All you can do is watch.
Gabriel: I came to tell you you are being watched. I know you want Ben and Ciara's baby and I know why. God is not going to let you have that baby.
MarDevil: Ha. In case you haven't noticed, I've grown in power. The world is in chaos. Disease. War. Brother against brother.
Gabriel: What you don't realize is that good people like Ben and Ciara are the light and the hope. You never take into account the power of faith and love. That is why God will always win in the end.

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Gabriel was instrumental in helping John defeat the Devil the first time around and will undoubtedly help protect Ben and Ciara and their unborn child now. Plus, MarDevil seems scared of him despite her insistence that all the chaos in the world proves how strong she is.

Gabriel pushed this story into a proper Devil story about the battle between the fallen angel and God, rather than the Devil just being yet another doppelganger who happened to have supernatural origins.

With Christmas fast approaching, the climax of this story shouldn't be too far behind. After the evil demon is again banished, hopefully, we'll get some intense drama out of Marlena trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Elsewhere, both Gwen and Ava gave into Kristen's blackmail for no reason whatsoever, but it probably is all set up for Xander to find out that Sarah never dumped him.

Cowardly Gwen again allowed herself to be blackmailed rather than risk someone abandoning her, but what was Ava's excuse? Ava is a former mob boss who should easily handle the likes of someone like Kristen, especially since Kristen was under arrest and had comparatively little power.

Ava not only had the upper hand here but could have easily blown up Kristen's plan. All she had to do was tell Rafe that Kristen was trying to manipulate her into helping her escape.

That would have proven to Rafe that Ava has changed, blown up Kristen's plan, and made whatever Kristen thought she would tell him about Ava's previous help irrelevant.

But instead, Ava gave in without a second thought, all in service of another stupid Kristen escape plot.

Yay for the novelty of using members of the Backstreet Boys as easily manipulated prison guards, but this was ridiculous. Ava should never have been so easily cowed.

The best part of these Kristen scenes was Kristen's visit with Lani. Lani brings out a softer side of Kristen. Kristen becomes a decent human being when she's comforting her, and the two have such electric chemistry that every time they're together, I wish the writers would allow them to admit their feelings for each other.

Plus, Abe's reaction to Lani leaving her rock-solid relationship with Eli for Kristen Dimera would be fun!

Speaking of which, Abe's scenes with Lani were one of the highlights of the week of 11-29-21.

After some reassurance from Eli, Abe told Lani that he still considers her his daughter even if they aren't blood-related. That's exactly how I expected him to react, but I was glad to hear it!

His reaction to Paulina was all sorts of confusing, though.

Paulina forced the conversation, following Abe into a waiting room and not accepting the idea that he didn't want to talk to her. That in itself was a good reason to be angry with her.

Paulina: You here to see John Black?
Abe: Yes. So if you'll excuse me -
Paulina: I just came from there.
Abe: You? What do you have to do with John Black?
Paulina: I told him how I tangled with the Devil and lived to tell the tale.
Abe: What?
Paulina: I can't believe the Mayor of Salem hasn't heard. Marlena's possessed by the Devil. That's why she broke us up.
Abe: All lies come from the Devil, and the first lie started with you.

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But the rest of it... wasn't.

Abe blames Paulina for the lies that Olivia and Tamara engineered rather than her inability to stand up to Olivia. That's unfair, and his anger seems misplaced, considering that he and Lani plan to continue their father/daughter relationship.

This lie changed nothing, so what's with the anger? It was especially senseless for Abe to claim that Paulina's decision not to reverse a lie told 30+ years ago so that she wouldn't hurt Abe and Lani was "more appalling" than her attempt to secretly demolish Horton Town Square!

And if this lie was so terrible, how come he had no problem whatsoever with Lani pretending JJ was her first baby's father? How is that different?

Thank goodness he finally softened and admitted he still loves Paulina despite his inability to trust her right now. That's the real issue, and the rest of this was nonsense designed to cover that truth.

I liked that Abe has mixed feelings, too, because most of the time on Days of Our Lives, people go from being so in love that they want to get married to pure hatred of the person who allegedly betrayed them.

Finally, Sami's failed escape turned into Lucas staging a rescue mission.

I'm glad there's finally movement on this story. Everyone who cares about Sami should have realized MONTHS ago that something was wrong. As Nicole pointed out to EJ, it's not like Sami to turn tail and leave town instead of fighting for the relationship she wants.

Lucas' response to Sami's frantic phone call made me laugh, though. He sounded like he was picking up a child from a sleepover gone wrong!

I wish Sami would realize that Lucas is always the one who is there for her and always willing to risk everything for her, but when she gets back to town, she's probably going to fight to win EJ back from Nicole. Ugh.

Nicole and EJ don't belong together either. They're using each other to get over the people they think they can't have. But that's beside the point. Sami and EJ are mismatched, and Lucas has proven that he's the man for Sami in ten thousand ways.

So let's get on with it already!

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. What did you think of the Devil's latest antics, the bizarre twist in the Philip/Chloe/Brady triangle, or anything else that happened on Days of Our Lives during the week of 11-29-21? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know.

Hungry for more Days of Our Lives chat? Be sure to check out the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion on Sunday.

Days of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes or watch on Peacock TV on weeknights after 8 PM EST/5 PM PST.

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.