Days of Our Lives Round Table: Marlena's Last Goodbyes

Belle had the hospital take Marlena off life support while John and the family scrambled to stop her, and Lucas tried to figure out if baby BonBon could actually be his child this week in Salem.

TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando were joined by Mikey from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate if Belle did the right thing, did Hope set up Ben, and if Lucas is really the daddy on Days of Our Lives.

Did Belle do the right thing by submitting Marlena’s advanced directive to the hospital? Should she have done anything differently?

Mikey: She absolutely did the right thing. That document represents Marlena’s wishes. If Belle loves her mother, she should see those wishes honored, however painful it might be. On top of that, she has a professional obligation to see those wishes through.

That said, she definitely didn’t need to act like there was some rush to get the document to Kayla and the hospital board right that second.

Another few hours or a day wouldn’t make much of a difference, especially since it’s so soon after the shooting and Marlena’s septic shock; she could’ve broken the news to the family in a much more sensitive way.

I thought Martha Madison did a good job portraying how agonizing this was for Belle, but the writing made her seem a little one-track-minded.

Jack: I wish that Kayla had made her wait. I feel like the one problem with this story is that being on a ventilator for one day while on antibiotics that may cure the infection does not constitute "being kept alive by artificial means when there is no hope".

I think Kayla should have explained that to Belle and this storyline should have gone on for longer. But I do think Belle was right that if she's the health care proxy, it was her responsibility to give this legally binding document over to Kayla.

Christine: Submitting the document to the hospital was the right thing to do, but Belle could have handled it more sensitively.

There was no reason to be in such a rush. She could have given her family time to talk to the doctors and find out exactly what her prognosis was.

This is why it's important to talk to your loved once when you write up this type of document. Did Marlena really want no life sustaining measures taken even when there was a reasonable possibility she could recover? I doubt it.

Do you believe Hope found the evidence against Ben or did she manufacture it herself?

Mikey: I think they want us to believe that Hope might’ve manufactured it, which makes me think she didn’t. I’d put nothing past her at this point, though. Corruption and fraud are standard operating procedure for the Salem PD!

Jack: I am 100% sure Hope manufactured it herself. I wanted to shake Ben for saying he didn't need a lawyer because he's innocent. He knows he's dealing with a possibly corrupt cop who may have planted evidence! If there's any time he needs a lawyer to protect his rights, it's now.

Christine: It could go either way. There's nothing I put past Hope these days and that's really sad. I'm hoping that Rafe might confront her and she'll get so angry she'll leave him, but I doubt I'll get that lucky.

Are baby BonBon’s parents really Lucas and Bonnie? If not, to whom do you think she belongs?

Mikey: No way. I like that this is giving Lucas some screentime and an interesting dilemma, but Bonnie is totally pulling a con on him. I do suspect that this baby could be related to Bonnie… but not her own child.

I’m also a little unclear on how this gives her a bargaining chip — Lucas and Adrienne have no power to get her cleared of the original murder charge she was doing time for (or breaking out of jail!).

Couldn’t Lucas just get a paternity test and then take the kid himself while she goes back to Statesville? But at least the scenes are entertaining.

Jack: I don't know and don't care who she belongs to, but she definitely is not Lucas' child. The current writing regime seems to love stories involving lies about who a baby's father is, so why would this be anything other than another paternity lie?

Christine: Oh, I hope not! My guess is that the baby is actually Mimi's, making it Bonnie's grandchild, which makes it even more despicable that she'd use her like this.

And if Lucas is the father he should just allow Bonnie to be sent back to prison and raise his daughter himself. Little "BonBon" would be better off.

Did Eric settle for a relationship with Jennifer after Nicole left him?

Mikey: “Settled” feels like too harsh a term. I don’t think he and Jennifer have the same passion that he had/has with Nicole or that she shared with Jack, but I don’t think either of them is pretending that’s the case, either.

I’d say both of them are accepting a more comfortable sort of love with this relationship, but sometimes that’s what you need after you’ve been burned by a grand passion.

I do think that he proposed awfully quickly, like he was eager to fast-track things.

Jack: I don't believe he did, but then again I think Eric and Nicole's "love story" ended 20 years ago and this supposed love they had for the last few years was nothing more than a yearning for the past so...

Christine: Eric and Jennifer are good friends who care a great deal about one another and that could be the foundation for a solid, long term relationship, but they do lack passion which he and Nicole had in spades.

Eric never got any closure when he lost Nicole. He didn't choose to walk away, the decision was made for him. If Nicole comes back, I'd bet it will cause serious problems for Jennifer and Eric.

Who had the best goodbye moment with Marlena?

Mikey: I’m torn, but I’m going to go with Sami. The history between Alison Sweeney and Deidre Hall was palpable there, and the callback of Sami singing to Marlena — the same song that Marlena sang to her when she was awaiting execution in 1999 — was such an inspired touch.

Close second goes to Brady, because they finally addressed in dialogue something that’s felt off for years: that Brady really did view Marlena as a mother in his youth. The dialogue there was excellent.

Really, though, everyone was great. Such terrific scenes.

Jack: They were all beautiful but I loved Sami's. I hope her realization that she's been resisting being like Marlena all her life leads to some character development for her regardless of if Marlena recovers.

Christine: Sami's final moments with her mom were definitely the best. I also enjoyed Brady admitting that having his own child has given him a different perspective on how he treated Marlena growing up.

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

Mikey: Can I just say Hope in general? She was so busy having attitude toward Sami and barking at Rafe and gloating to Ben that she couldn’t even show concern or grief for her longtime friend, Marlena, or for John.

Hope has become so brittle and unlikable. I was actually rooting for Rafe to dump her earlier in the week because of how petty she was being!

Jack: Hope disgusts me, and she used to me one of my favorites! Corrupt cops are not heroes and she is so cold and mean, not like the Hope of years gone by at ALL.

Also, Lucas sleeping with Bonnie is yet another story of someone unable to consent being painted as consensual sex. This is Lani and JJ all over again, and makes it so we now have two rape baby storylines not treated as rape on canvas at the exact same time.

Plus, it is medically impossible for a person who is blacked out drunk to remember what happened while he was in that state later, just like it is medically impossible for a person who has DID to remember later what her alternate personality did while the alter was in control.

This medical inaccuracy keeps being used to turn victims into villains. Enough already!

Christine: Hope has become such a horrible disappointment. I couldn't believe she was still throwing barbs at Sami even as they were discussing Marlena possibly dying!

Hope had been my favorite character since I was a teenager but now she has no soul. I almost wish they'd write her off just to put me out of my misery.

What's your favorite character or storyline in Salem right now?

Mikey: The Marlena storyline, without a doubt. It’s so compelling, and it’s the kind of drama that lives in the writing and the acting, without the need for production bells and whistles.

I don’t even notice the budget when a story like this is playing out, because it’s all about emotion and relationships. As viewers, I feel like we’ve been starved for this sort of thing for a long while!

Jack: My favorite character is and will always be JJ, who still is not featured enough and should not be a background character.

I'm shocked though that my favorite story right now is John dealing with Marlena's life threatening injury, since I've never been a big fan of this couple. But I love the realistic, emotional storylines and DAYS doesn't have enough of them.

Christine: Everything about Marlena's storyline but especially the use of history.

From Sami singing that song, to Brady remembering how poorly he'd treated his step-mother, to John recalling Marlena falling from a building ledge as she tried to save someone from committing suicide, as a viewer who watched it all, I loved how they wove those memories into this story.

Need to chat more about the happenings in Salem? Then check out Jack Ori's weekly Days of Our Lives review right here at TV Fanatic.