Days of Our Lives Review: Everyone Has Secrets

Stefan told Chad that there were lots of people with secrets that they didn't want to come out, while Lani sweated bullets when hers almost did.

Days of Our Lives focused on secrets and lies during the week of 3-12-18, but at least they sneaked in some family time too.

As much as I hate this Lani baby story, I'm loving seeing Lani squirm!

I never used to be a Gabi fan, but I applauded at the way Gabi turned the tables when Lani called her in for more questioning about the incriminating evidence she'd been caught with.

Lani and DA Trask were trying to do an illegal end-run around Gabi's rights by getting her to confide in her "friend" who was also the arresting officer in her case. Not only did Gabi not fall for it, but she had some questions of her own and Lani ended up on the hot seat.

We are not friends. I don't ever want to hear your voice or see your face again.
Gabi

Permalink: We are not friends. I don't ever want to hear your voice or see your face again.

Gabi said exactly what I've been feeling about this awful character for months! And then she went on to interrogate Lani about who the father of her baby actually was.

Lani told lie after lie with a straight face and I was disappointed that she eventually got Gabi to agree not to tell JJ that Lani had cheated on him.

But then Gabi made up for it by telling her that she was only keeping quiet for JJ's sake, not for Lani's, and that if she thought he needed to know she was going to change her mind about keeping quiet.

Lani's day went from bad to worse after she ran into Valerie in the Pub!

Valerie had been doing her best to convince JJ not to rush into marriage. I really wish she had told him the truth about the baby's paternity.

On paper, maybe that doesn't sound as exciting as JJ finding out some other way, but it would have been such soapy drama for Lani to walk in just as JJ learned that he was not the father of the baby.

I loved the way Valerie made Lani squirm, though. Valerie told JJ and Lani about her guilt over lying about who Eli's father was and her realization that his real father would have loved to have been part of his life. It was obvious she was talking about Lani's behavior and Lani was getting more and more uncomfortable.

I don't understand how Abe and JJ, both former cops with sharp investigative instincts, weren't the slightest bit suspicious about all this!

Abe and JJ leaving to help themselves to coffee and tea instead of flagging down a waiter was silly, but it gave Lani the opportunity to whine to Valerie that it was so important that JJ not know the truth.

This was another point where it would have been great for JJ to come back and overhear.

It just solidified how selfish and evil Lani is, though. The show can try to spin her as a flawed heroine who thinks she's protecting her boyfriend all it wants, but it's obvious she's just holding on to a man she does not love at all costs.

Stefan: Word of warning, brother. You keep trying to pin Andre's murder on me, you're gonna regret it.
Chad: Ooh, I'm terrified.
Stefan: There's a lot of family living in this house, and there are a lot of secrets people don't want to come out.

Permalink: There's a lot of family living in this house, and there are a lot of secrets people don't...

I had to laugh at Lani's attempt to interrogate Stefan about why he had Andre's phone in his desk. She was determined to poke holes in his story and all I could think was that a liar knows a liar.

It is really hard to buy Lani as a dedicated police detective who wants to use bad guys' lies against them considering what she is doing. She is so unaware of her hypocrisy here that I have to wonder if Abby is the only one with DID.

Meanwhile, the Abigail DID story continued to be all sorts of weird.

Stefan admitted to Vivian that he was in love with "Gabby", and ignored Vivian's complaint that no such person exists and that anyway, the woman was violent when crossed.

He found Gabby's wig and dress and when "Dr. Laura" stole Kayla's glasses and then ran away from a medical appointment he demanded she let him talk to Gabby.

After arguing about whether Stefan was good for Gabby, the pair headed upstairs and Gabby came out. She wanted to run away so she could be free to live as herself.

Stefan convinced her to pretend to be Abigail and she took off her wig and did just that, returning to Kayla's office and having tests done.

Unfortunately for her, her nosey mother was in Kayla's office. Jennifer had already read Abby's file to find out why she was there and when Gabigail was out of the room told Kayla she wouldn't mind her going through her purse to get her insurance card and found Kayla's glasses.

I can't take this story seriously at all. It's just too ridiculous.

It doesn't resemble actual Dissociative Identity Disorder in the slightest and the entire story makes zero sense.

Marci Miller is doing great work as Abigail and her alters, but this storyline is a waste of a good actress. And this whole business of Stefan being in love with "Gabby" is absolutely crazy and should not be the focal point.

Plus Kayla needs to stop leaving patient files where other people can read them and Jennifer needs to respect her daughter's privacy.

I'm enjoying seeing Eve be the strong one for once. She called off her wedding to duplicitous Brady and wants to focus on her business rather than on any man.

I wish it would stay that way. DAYS seems allergic to having strong women who have ambitions besides being with some man or another, and Eve's refusal to give in to Brady was a refreshing change.

However, I enjoyed Eve's scenes with Eric, so if she has to go back to needing a man I hope she has her eye on Jennifer's!

I've always shipped them and I could see the chemistry. Plus, if Eve were to develop feelings for Eric it would cause issues with both Jen and Brady so there'd be plenty of drama.

Ch-ch-changes: How to Handle Evolving Casts Without Killing the Show

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The Eve/Brady mess seems like a parallel story to the Rafe/Hope mess, though, and I'd rather not have two stories about liars trying to get their alleged love interest to give them another chance at the same time.

When Brady said that he would be honest from now on, it made me wonder why none of these guys has figured out yet that they broke their own hearts by not being honest in the first place!

In addition, Brady is yet another man who is so determined to get the woman he just screwed over to give him another chance that he's becoming a stalker.

There has to be some other sort of drama characters can get into besides following an ex-lover all over the place begging for another chance. It makes them look pathetic and obnoxious when they do that, and it does not make me root for the couple to get back together in the slightest!

I'm liking Eve these days, but I couldn't help thinking that this was karma.

When she told Brady that if he loved her he wouldn't have lied to her, I couldn't stop thinking about how Paige said the same thing to her years ago! I wish her daughter was still alive to throw that back in her face and wrestle with the question of whether to support her mother or rub it in.

Now that would be drama worth watching!

The best scenes of the week were easily all the Steve and Kayla stuff!

After all these years, this couple still has the chemistry, love, and emotional support that made them a supercouple in the first place.

I had hoped that we'd have a story about Steve dealing with an age-related illness when the poisoning nonsense started, and now that that part of the story is over we seem to be getting that.

Steve and Kayla took a break from dealing with his illness to have lunch with Justin and Adrienne. These scenes, where both couples reminisced about the past and their long friendship and did their best to keep moving forward despite Steve's vision issues in the present, are one of the reasons I watch this soap.

Violence, lies, and heartbreak are part of soap operas, but when they're the only part the show gets depressing and hard to watch.

The family relationships make it all worthwhile, and these scenes delivered that.

Adrienne encouraging Steve to lean on her and Kayla asking Justin for a favor were nice bookends to the scene too.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that Kayla only mentioned Joey, not Stephanie. Their daughter should definitely be part of this storyline!

Tripp: You know, I enjoyed taking those photos of you. I thought we were connecting.
Ciara: We were.
Tripp: I kept your secret for Rafe, but you couldn't trust me enough to tell me you were entering the contest?

Permalink: I kept your secret for Rafe, but you couldn't trust me enough to tell me you were entering...

Tripp and Ciara look like they might be headed towards genuine romance.

I hope so. DAYS is lacking in the romance department lately, these two have chemistry, and as a side note, having Steve and Bo's kids hook up would be a great nod to history.

I liked the way Tripp called Ciara on her manipulative nonsense, and I think that he may be good for her in that way. Plus, maybe a romance would give Ciara something to do besides snipe at Claire.

What did you think of Days of Our Lives during the week of 3-12-18?

Are you enjoying Tripp and Ciara's romance?

Have you had enough of liars keeping their secrets til they get to the altar?

Does this DID storyline make any sense to anyone?

Weigh in below, and don't forget to check back on Sunday for the Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.