Days of Our Lives Review: Who's More Wrong?

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It's really a shame that Days of Our Lives so grossly mishandled Abigail's Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Marci Miller has been killing it as Abigail and her alters in this silly, unrealistic story. Abigail's confusion and guilt once she learned what she had done could have been powerful had it been written properly.

Even this lackluster version has had a few emotional moments, mostly when Abigail surfaced and had no idea where she was or what she'd been doing. But the unrealistic way DID is being portrayed is ruining what could potentially have been a compelling story.

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 5-14-18, the DID storyline hit another new low, as a magically cured Abigail suddenly began remembering what she did when her alters were in control and Chad and Gabi both blamed her for Stefan's raping her.

Brother vs Brother - Days of Our Lives

I'm not sure which is the bigger problem with this story: the sudden emphasis on Abigail "cheating" or the ridiculous and inaccurate way her recovery is being handled.

DID is not a well-understood phenomenon, and there's already enough people who think it isn't real and that people who have it are blaming their imaginary friends for bad behavior so that they don't have to take responsibility for it.

So portraying Abigail as becoming integrated in 30 seconds and suddenly able to remember what she did when her alters were in control is irresponsible, to say the least. 

It's not medically accurate and it lends credence to the idea that this disorder isn't real.

Everyone doesn't have to be on board with it, of course -- that would make for boring drama. And it makes sense that Gabi would question it.

After all, she's in a prison infirmary after almost dying, and all that happened as a result of one of Abigail's alters framing her for a murder she didn't commit.

She has a right to her anger and her doubt, but Abigail should have been genuinely shocked, remorseful, and unable to recall a single incident that Gabi was referring to.

That would not only have been more in line with how DID works, but also made for better drama.


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Instead, Gabi came off as petty and jealous, especially when she accused Abigail of deliberately cheating on her husband with Stefan.

I've been liking Gabi better lately, but it seemed like the selfish and annoying Gabi that berated JJ endlessly after Lani raped him was back.

That was offensive then and this isn't any better. 

And it didn't help that Chad agreed with Gabi that Abigail sleeping with Stefan was going to be hard for him to get past.

Stefan: I'd tell you my side of the story, but I doubt you want to hear it.
Abigail: That's where you're wrong. Everybody keeps trying to keep this from me because they think I can't handle it. But I'm tired of running from the truth. So let's have it. Tell me what happened between us, and I want to know everything.

Chad has been saying since it happened that Stefan raped Abigail. He was arrested for beating Stefan up over it and nearly killed him during a second altercation because of it.

So what is he doing saying that he can't get past Abigail cheating on him?

I was afraid that this was the beginning of DAYS glossing over Abigail's rape and refusing to keep calling it what it is until I saw Abigail stand up to Stefan and tell him in no uncertain terms that he raped her.

Thank God for that, but Chad's comments were confusing as well as victim-blaming.

My first thought was that this was a set-up for a third round of Chad and Gabi hooking up, and I don't want to see that.

It's bad enough that Gabi used JJ's rape as an excuse to steal Chad from Abby last time they got together without her using Abby's rape the same way.

And when Chad left to go check on Abby, Gabi seemed jealous! It was almost as if she was hoping he would dump Abby for her because of what Abby's alters had done.

Please, soap gods, let's not do this again. Enough is enough.

And if Gabi is going to go back to being holier-than-thou, can someone please point out to her that she should be grateful that both JJ and Abby want to be her friend when she's indirectly responsible for Jack's death?

Theresa Comes Home - Days of Our Lives

Meanwhile, Theresa came home after a particularly uncomfortable chapter in her re-entrance story.

Xander randomly showed up to sell diamonds to Mateo and ended up giving them to him at a discount in exchange for him selling Theresa to him.

If DAYS was going to do a human trafficking story, they should have made some effort to show how horrific a practice it is.

Theresa didn't seem to think it was a big deal that two mobsters were fighting over who got to own her, and she even told Victor she was grateful to Xander for purchasing her from Mateo.

She's referenced several times that she's shared a bed with Mateo and that he forced her to come live with him, but it doesn't seem to occur to anyone that this is actually rape, and instead it's being treated as a heroic sacrifice on her part.

Xander's inclusion in this storyline really made no sense, either. He popped up out of nowhere and just happened to be a business partner of Mateo's. 

There was no foreshadowing of this whatsoever, making it seem even more like the writers have been making this story up as they go along.

It would have been far more logical for Victor to have manipulated Xander into bringing Theresa home so that he could interfere with Brady and Eve's wedding plans while making it look like it was all Xander's doing so Maggie wouldn't get upset with him.

An Interrupted Proposal - Days of Our Lives

Victor didn't seem to care that Xander nearly got Theresa killed by telling Mateo on her, but that's typical Victor. He now sees what's in it for him and is rolling with it.

It'll be interesting to see how this backfires on him. Maggie knows he was holding something back about Theresa and is likely to assume he engineered her return, causing trouble between the two of them. And Xander is a loose cannon and always has been.

Victor could get burned badly as a result of this whole scheme, and he knows it. That's probably why he said to himself that this could be a disaster.


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I'm not sure how I feel about Brady and Eve. Back in 2015 when they first met, I thought they had a ton of chemistry and that a triangle between Theresa, Brady, and Eve might be fun.

But now, Eve and Brady's relationship seems rushed and there are too many things that don't add up for it to be enjoyable.

This whole Eve marrying Deimos off-screen storyline never really fit her. It felt like it was meant for Nicole and given to her instead when Arianne Zucker left the show.

Then Eve and Brady got involved in a lot of immature nonsense when they were roped into the awful Bella magazine contest storyline. Eve suddenly switched loyalties, working against her protege Claire because Brady backed her.

After the contest debacle was over, Eve insisted that Brady helped rig the competition until Claire straightened her out, then within a few minutes decided he was the love of her life.

Ever since, they've shared scenes that have romantic overtones, but it's hard to invest in the romance when it feels like they were just thrown back together in order to give Theresa a storyline.

The most enjoyable part of this was, surprisingly, Eve and JJ's conversation.

I dreaded this when I read the spoilers about it. Their contrived affair was one of the grossest stories in recent years and I had no desire to revisit it.

Instead, Eve treated JJ like the son-in-law she should have treated him like in the first place. I don't know when these two became friends, but it was much more pleasant to watch.

I guess they decided off-screen that Paige would have wanted them to get along and dropped the animosity towards each other. I would have loved to have seen that happen on-screen, but I can't complain since I did like the scene.

Related: Seven Ways Days of Our Lives Could (And Should) Be Using JJ Deveraux

I also liked that JJ was back in investigative mode. He picked up on the fact that something was not right with Theresa's departure and couldn't help bringing it up to Eve to try to get at the truth.

This is JJ's original personality, and we don't see it nearly often enough. I would love to see it lead to a real storyline for him instead of the nonsense he's always given.

Steve Has To Retire - Days of Our Lives

The best story of the week of 5-14-18 was, as usual, Steve and Kayla.

Kayla: You and John have built this company from nothing. You can't just give it up.
Steve: Baby, listen to me. I can't survey a suspect. I can't see the smallest clue. I can't do the job anymore. I hoped this day would never come,but now that it has, can you please understand why I have to do this?

Steve's decision to retire from Black Patch because of his disability was realistic and emotional. One of the best parts of this story is the way that Steve has tried his best to come to terms with his blindness, and this was no exception.

I loved how Kayla tried to talk him out of retiring and his calm acceptance of the situation. I also liked seeing him spend time with Roman, another underused vet who has been mysteriously absent for weeks.

I almost wish there wasn't this magical cure for Steve's blindness. Steve and Kayla dealing with it is a powerful story, and not every illness has to be cured.

Besides, I'm not sure why he can't have a cornea transplant instead of turning to biorobotics. And I don't understand why the ISA is involved in medical research.

Regardless, Dimera Enterprises buying the biorobotics company will give Kayla something concrete to do to help her husband, and I'm looking forward to that.

I just wish these two were front-burner instead of appearing only once in a blue moon. This is a far better story and romance than anything else on screen and it's rarely featured.

Tossing the Annulment Papers - Days of Our Lives

Instead, DAYS continually promotes Rafe and Hope as the romance of the century even though they're an incredibly mismatched pair that the majority of viewers hate.

Rafe belittled Hope yet again not that long ago, yet the second he decided to sign the annulment papers she inexplicably decided that there was a chance they could get back together someday and threw the papers in the trash.

Maybe if this was a couple I cared about, I would find this back and forth romantic, but I somehow doubt it. It just makes Hope look wishy-washy and weak, and suggests her well-reasoned refusal to give Rafe another chance was nothing but game playing.

Plus, she said that marrying Rafe was the best day of her life as if her relationship with Bo didn't span decades and wasn't one of DAYS'  all-time most popular pairings.

I was never a huge Bo and Hope fan, but that seems like a slap in the face to those who are and an outright denial of history. And when the writers have to twist everything all out of shape to put a couple together, that's a strong sign that they don't belong together.

There were some nice romantic scenes with John and Marlena while this was going on, but I found them hard to get into.

This is the fifth time they're getting married, and the constant damsel in distress and white knight routine has cheapened this couple and made me lose interest in them.

I did like the references to Tom and Alice, although it was odd coming from two people who were not at all related to them.

Was there a storyline you loved or hated on Days of Our Lives during the week of 5-14-18? If there was, I want to hear from you!

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

Review

Editor Rating: 3.8 / 5.0
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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.

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