Ciara waffled between fearing Ben and trusting him, Chad considered going to the dark side, and Lani found out she lost her baby on this week’s Days of Our Lives.

TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Sportsgirl from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Ari’s reaction to Gabi, Chad’s choices, Abe bailing on Lani, and Theresa suing for custody this week in Salem.

Do you think that Chad is headed to the dark side, or does he have his own plans where Kate is concerned?

Sportsgirl: I do believe Chad will present a tougher side, but I just can't believe he will ever include the tactics used by Stefano. I am pretty sure Chad still wants Thomas to inherit a legal company in DiMera, so selling his soul to the devil just wouldn't make sense.

Jack: I really hope he has a plan to take down Kate, but it seems he's been having an attitude that he should be more like Stefano lately and Kate played on that. Ugh.

Christine: I know how much he wants to get his revenge against his brother, but I hope that what Kate did to Sonny has Chad thinking about turning against her. I’m guessing he’s going to play both sides of this for a while, but anything is possible.

After Ari’s tirade, should Gabi have left, or gone back and told her the truth about where she’s been?

Sportsgirl: Gabi was still showing signs of her abuse. I am not sure Ari would totally understand why Gabi was in prison, but maybe it could have told in a way that a young child would understand.

Maybe something where she had to go to jail because people lied about her and she had to prove that they lied. It would also teach Ari to never lie because you can really hurt someone.

Jack: I think Gabi needs to be the adult and get some perspective. Young children sometimes say awful things, even to their parents, that they don't really mean, and she should realize that Ari's anger right now doesn't mean she's never going to have a relationship with her daughter ever again.

If Gabi needed to get out of the house to cool down before trying to approach Ari again, fine, but she should definitely keep trying.

Christine: They need to explain the truth of what happened in an age-appropriate way. Right now, Ari just thinks her mommy was away on business for weeks and that she didn’t care enough to come home. It’s left Ari feeling abandoned and angry.

Gabi may need time to collect herself, but I hope she comes back and tells Ari the truth about why she was gone so long.

Should Abe have told Lani about losing the baby rather than making her wait to hear it from Eli?

Sportsgirl: In a way, yes. First I was surprised they hadn't discussed this ahead of time and had it planned out. Abe & Eli together would have been a better idea. First Abe tells her the news, then Eli enters the room to share in the grief.

Jack: I think that Abe made things worse by the way he handled it. It seemed like he was just dodging the subject. At the very least, he should have said that he had news about the baby but that the doctor may want to talk to her about it.

Also, the idea that Lani is too fragile to hear her baby died is ridiculous. It would be cruel to let her think the child is alive for longer than necessary.

Christine: I thought Abe was a coward and that making Lani wonder and wait to hear about the death of her child was cruel. She needed to hear the words and if Abe couldn’t do that he should have let someone else sit by her side until she woke up. 

Is Teresa right to be suing for full custody of Tate? Do you think there's any way she'll win? 

Sportsgirl: Theresa is completely wrong to sue for full custody of Tate. This is not thinking of Tate, this is only thinking of herself. I realize she is only doing this to force Brady in a corner to take her back and leave Eve, but all this will do is hurt herself and Tate. This is not the warm fuzzy Theresa that she had become.

Showing she is a warm loving Mom, having Brady remember how she used to be, is a much better idea. A court of law is going to see two lousy parents for sure. Maybe they will give custody to Maggie?

Jack: I'm so disappointed in this. Theresa left to protect Brady and Tate and now she's using Tate as a way to manipulate Brady into breaking up with Eve.

If this were a real-life situation, there's no way she would win, but this is Salem where the laws are what the writers want them to be at the moment and judges and lawyers are all stupid and incompetent so...

Christine: I hate this selfish version of Theresa. Instead of spending time bonding with her son, she’s using him to try to either win Brady back or punish him.

Neither one of them is a great parent. Brady’s an addict who frequently pawns his kid off on other people, and Theresa’s been MIA for a year and a half. I can’t believe a judge will look kindly on either of them.

Is Eve selling Basic Black to Stefan a good deal?

Sportsgirl: Selling Basic Black to Stefan is a bad idea. Stefan is not to be trusted. Look what Vivian, Andre and himself did to Gabi Chic. Once they got the company they fired Gabi. He could do the same to them.

Jack: No, no, a thousand times no. This is trouble waiting to happen. He already double-crossed Eve once and that should tell her to get as far away as she can from him.

Christine: Stefan practically has a giant neon sign over his head that’s blinking “Don’t Trust Me, Ever!” But Brady and Eve are both clueless enough to do it.

What, if anything, disappointed you this week in Salem?

Sportsgirl: Days made me feel like they may be heading to a JJ and Lani reconciliation. I really hope this isn't true. In my opinion, they never had chemistry together. Lani felt more like his sister than a lover. I was really hoping for a JJ and Gabi reconciliation. Those two definitely had the IT factor.

Jack: This whole awful Ciara/Ben storyline. It's totally unrealistic and makes no sense. Ciara thinks Ben may be planning to kill her but wants to stay isolated with him. What? Also, it seems to be a vehicle to get Hope and Rafe back together more than anything else.

And JJ needs to stay far away from Lani, dead baby or no dead baby, instead of acting like he's five seconds from admitting she's the love of his life (newsflash: she's not!).

Also, Theresa's selfishness, using her child to get revenge on Brady or get him to take her back, whichever it is, just makes her look terrible.

Finally, Kayla keeping secrets from Steve is not the story I wanted to see. I was enjoying her and Steve dealing with his blindness TOGETHER. Stop ruining the best couple in Salem!

Oh and Chad, go back to being the Dimera who's the exception to the rule, please. It looks like we're setting up for Chad and Gabi to be the new evil couple and I don't like that. 

Christine: Everything Stefan! The guy is repulsive. He’s even managing to ruin Steve and Kayla. Can’t he be the victim in the next murder whodunit? Now that would make me happy. Secondly, who is dressing Kate these days? Her outfits and hairstyles make it very difficult to concentrate on her scenes.

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

Sportsgirl: This was a tough week for a favorite as most scenes were pretty sad, including making Kayla help Stefan, UGH, but for some unknown reason as to why I am enjoying the relationship building between Ciara & Ben. I like the friendship, hoping it doesn't become a romance, but I do believe it will lead to Ciara being able to deal with the rape and the issues that go with it.

The bonus, having Robert Scott Wilson's acting chops involved. This actor rocks his scenes and you really cannot tell if he still is really psycho or if he really has changed. He is so enjoyable to watch.

Jack: I enjoyed Theresa supporting JJ. This is the Theresa I want to see! And even though I still despise Lani, the baby death scenes were very well done.

Christine: Theresa and JJ’s friendship has become a highlight of the show. I like the way they can be honest with one another with no hint of romance. I hope it stays that way.

Want to chat more about the happenings in Salem? Check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review here at TV Fanatic.

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