Chloe doesn't know a lost cause when she sees one.

Her father insists that con artist Leo is a heroic figure whom he admires for being openly gay despite being abused. He thinks Leo is Sonny and Will's victim instead of the other way around. And if all else fails, he falls back on saying that Leo has changed since he did those things.

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 3-07-22, Chloe's efforts to open Craig's eyes blew up in her face, pushing Leo and Craig closer together. But instead of realizing that she can't make her father see the light, she's doubling down on her efforts to break him and Leo up.

Trying to talk someone out of a relationship rarely works. If anything, it strengthens their resolve to stay with this person forever.

Plus, Leo is a master manipulator. He knows that Craig is new to the gay life and can easily get his way by suggesting that Craig is afraid to be out. He also has the Eddie Haskell routine down pat.

When he's with Craig, he acts like getting along with Craig's family is his top priority and reserves his nasty comments for when he's alone with Chloe or Brady.

And Craig, for his part, is like an overgrown teenager. He's suppressed his sexual orientation for so long that he's giddy with excitement over being out; in many ways, Leo is like the first love Craig might have had if he'd been able to date another boy when he was fourteen.

So Craig approaches this relationship with blinders firmly on, convinced that Leo is the love of his life and that no one else understands how strong their bond is.

All of which is a recipe for disaster. If Chloe pushes too hard, she's just going to lose her father -- especially if Leo manipulates him into cutting her off because of her "bad attitude."

Chloe should know better than this. All she got out of her first attempt was Leo calling her Ghoul Girl and then rushing home to have sex with Craig.

At this point, she needs to practice tough love. Craig wants to be with Leo, so Chloe should back off and let him do what he wants. If she's right and Leo screws him over, she can be there to pick up the pieces, but she cannot stop it from happening in the first place.

I don't know what Sonny's idea is, but whatever it is, Chloe should decline to be part of it. She won't, of course, but that's what would make sense.

Her original plan wasn't great, to begin with. Craig doesn't know Sonny and Will, so why should he listen to them?

Craig: Did you know that Leo's father physically and emotionally abused him because he hated that he was gay? And you know how Leo reacted? By embracing who he was. I wish I had the strength to do that, to be who I was no matter what anyone thought of me. I'm not naive or stupid. I love Leo and there is nothing you can say to change that. Now get out.
Sonny: I want to say one more thing first. I'm not warning you about Leo because I think you're naive. I'm warning you about Leo because I wish to hell someone had warned me before I got involved with him.

• Permalink: I want to say one more thing first. I'm not warning you about Leo because I think you're...

It would have been an interesting twist if Craig had thought that Will was making up stories to get revenge for how Craig treated Mike Horton years ago. Will is a Horton, after all, and Craig deeply regrets the dirty tricks he played on Mike to get the Chief of Staff position for himself way back when.

Too bad the writers didn't go there.

Instead, these two virtual strangers insisted that Craig let them come in and tell him how horrible his boyfriend is. They wouldn't take No for an answer and kept banging on his door till he relented.

What could have gone wrong with this plan?

Craig's reaction to their story about wrapping Leo's "body" up in a rug and disposing of it was funny, though. Did Will and Sonny think that story would bolster their argument against Leo?

A far better plan would have been for Will and Sonny to introduce themselves as a gay couple that Chloe thought could support Craig through the coming-out process and not mention Leo at all, then see how Leo reacts when caught off guard by Craig's new friendship with them.

I guess that would have made too much sense, though, and wouldn't have caused Craig to reject everyone's opinion.

I liked Craig's defense of Leo even though I think it's all BS, and Leo will eventually break Craig's heart.

He was right: it was presumptuous for ANYONE, especially two strangers, to think they could dictate his love life. It came off as condescending and insulting as if they think he's too stupid to make his own decisions.

Craig is into Leo for the right reasons. Maybe Leo will surprise us and redeem himself throughout this story, but I have my doubts.

I'm glad Will and Sonny mentioned dropping Ari off at her mother's rather than having her be mysteriously absent or suddenly in boarding school.

But I'm hard-pressed to understand how Gabi had the time to take care of Ari while plotting her next move with Johnny and being unaware that the Devil is controlling everything.

This silly story seemed like it was almost over, and then the Devil wiped Jake's memory and put an ashen 666 on the back of Belle's coat to trick Susan.

Ugh. First of all, Belle needs to dump that coat. It got her blamed for Charlie's murder, and now the Devil used it to frame her for being possessed.

Ben and Ciara should never have relied on goofy Susan to help them suss out whether Johnny could be the Devil's latest victim, either. Marlena or Julie would have been better choices since they've both gone toe-to-toe with the Devil and lived to tell the tale.

Marlena would do anything to protect her precious grandson from a similar fate to her own, too, so she would have been the best person to involve in this. But no, instead, we got silly Susan getting hoodwinked by Satan and nobody else believing the evidence that's right in front of their eyes.

Let's hope that when the truth DOES come out, Marlena doesn't allow the Devil back into her soul to get it out of Johnny's. This nonsense has gone on for more than half a year, and it's time to end it permanently.

The story of Marlena losing credibility with her patients because of the Devil's behavior is an interesting one. However, I'd like more of it on-screen rather than simply being mentioned in her conversation with Will.

If Days of Our Lives were to pursue this story, it might make the Devil nonsense worth it.

Anyway, everyone should realize that Johnny isn't himself after the way he's handled the Chanel/Allie situation.

As Allie's twin brother, Johnny's probably kept many of her secrets over the years and vice versa. Too bad Allie doesn't have anything to retaliate against him with right now.

As for her, she should have known better than to cry on Chanel's shoulder about her breakup with Tripp. That could only go one place, which was to another bout of grief sex.

Thank goodness Nicole walked in before that could happen. Still, Allie's behavior was somewhere between reckless and stupid, and the more she engages in it, the harder it is to believe her claims that Tripp is her one true love and Chanel is a mistake.

Too bad Craig doesn't work at the hospital. It would be interesting for Tripp to turn to him for advice after discovering that Craig was in a nearly parallel situation.

Anyway, Allie had other people she could confide in. She could have spoken to Ciara herself instead of letting Ciara find out about the situation from Tripp or put in a long-distance call to her other BFF, Claire.

Or she could have again talked to Marlena about her behavior. And now that Will's back in town, he'd be the perfect person for her to talk to about the confusing mess she's made -- after all, he went through the whole coming out process himself.

Finally, it would have been interesting for Allie to find Nancy in tears and learn why. It might give her pause about her own situation.

Any of those would have been better than confiding in the person she can't seem to stop sharing kisses with. Also, could both Allie and Chanel stop being so irresponsible with their bakery?

The girls both take way too many days off, refusing to come in whenever something bad happens.

What happened to the version of Chanel who was a determined businesswoman making her lifelong dream of opening a bakery come true despite her mother's opposition?

Speaking of Paulina, I'm glad Eli talked some sense into her.

Eli: Hold up. What were you doing in TR's room on Valentine's Day?
Paulina: I had to tell him that I didn't want his flowers.
Eli: Or you could have just thrown them in the trash.
Paulina: But then he'd think I liked them.
Eli: I don't like the idea of you being alone in his room with the guy who used to beat you.

• Permalink: I don't like the idea of you being alone in his room with the guy who used to beat you.

I had the same reaction: why didn't she throw the flowers in the trash? I didn't buy Paulina's claim that she had to make sure TR knew she was rejecting his gift, either.

I had a feeling she was getting ready to forgive him, and her nonsensical claim that others forgave her for the Price Town fiasco, so she should give TR a second chance proved it.

She seems to have forgotten the part where everyone said she needed to prove she had changed and was wary of her for a while. Lani wouldn't even speak to her at first! So why should she forgive TR for a much greater sin, no questions asked?

Eli is on the case now, so let's hope he gets to the bottom of what TR is up to.

Finally, there was some more nonsense on the Sarah/Renee front. I get that the writers wanted to pay tribute to the character, especially after the death of the actress who played her, but this story is ridiculous.

If Sarah thinks she's Renee, she SHOULD think it's 1983 and wonder both about how much everyone has aged and about smartphones.

She wasn't at all confused that Xander had photos of himself and Sarah on his phone despite thinking that he's Alex Marshall, who neither looked like him nor had a Scottish accent.

Not to mention that reading a diary can't implant memories that weren't mentioned in the journal, and "Renee" didn't think Kayla was talking about Alex Marshall when she told "Renee" about Xander before.

Trying to make any sense out of this story gives me a headache. The sooner it's over, the better.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought of the latest Salem goings-on! And don't forget to check back on Sunday for the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.

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.