Days of Our Lives: Could An Eve/Eric Ship Still Sail?
Jack Ori
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One of the best things about Nicole's return is that she got Eric out of this Rex/Sarah mess, at least temporarily.
Eric and Nicole have had a long history and consider each other their true loves, while there is no chemistry at all between Eric and Sarah and she seemed to be randomly thrown at him for the sake of a story.
Back in April, Eric had a random path-crossing with Eve that just exuded chemistry. It was clear the writers weren't going to go there, especially now that Nicole is back. But even so, did Days of Our Lives miss its last opportunity to let the Eve/Eric ship sail?
Ericole fans, hold your tomatoes! I know Eric and Nicole are end game and that's fine. If they can be a couple and raise Holly once she's found, I'd be behind that.
But in the meantime, Eve would provide better angst for this couple on the rocks than Sarah and her whiny obsession with Eric!
Plus it would give viewers a chance at a real triangle, one where both ships could have passionate fans, instead of a lopsided one where it's obvious who we're supposed to root for.
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Eve and Eric have always had sizzling hot chemistry, which can't be said for many of the women Eric has been paired with other than Nicole and can't be said about Eric and Sarah.
DAYS' pattern recently has been to push Eric towards some woman that gives off friendship vibes, more or less as a placeholder when Nicole isn't in Salem. It's beyond me why anyone thinks this is a good idea. Viewers know not to invest in these stories because sooner or later Nicole will return and Eric will drop his woman of the moment.
It's predictable and boring -- and an Eric/Eve matchup while Nicole is angry at Eric could change all that.
For the first time in forever, there would be two women vying for Eric's interest that keep viewers' eyes glued to the screen, and that's not all.
Eve and Nicole are similar in some ways. They're both people whose pain leads them to hurt others, yet aren't terrible people, just very damaged ones. Eric was attracted to Nicole and saw her goodness despite the things she did, so it makes sense he'd react similarly to Eve.
And Eve is desperately in need of someone to have faith in her better nature, too. Right now she's being written as a pure villain and acting in ways that don't make sense given her history.
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For example, Eve is so hellbent on revenge that she's ruining Haley's life to score political points. But Eve's problems stem from having been a foster child who got bounced from home to home, so her sympathies should lie with poor, orphaned Haley.
If Eric were to forge a relationship with her, he could help guide her back towards sanity. And imagine the drama if Eve changed because of his faith in her and love for her true self, yet he then reconciled with Nicole!
THAT would be a storyline that would keep both Ericole and Eric/Eve fans talking!
It would add to the drama if Eve and Nicole were friends, which they should be.
Last time Nicole and Eve interacted, they were enemies, but it makes more sense for them to be friends. They both had horrendous childhoods, were both forced into sex work, and both do the wrong things for the right reasons.
And with Holly being "dead", Nicole and Eve now have the heartbreaking loss of their only child in common.
Currently, DAYS has Sarah and Nicole cast in the role of friends who don't know they're rivals, and undoubtedly Sarah will try to reason with Nicole about Eric not being to blame for the Holly fiasco while secretly pining for him.
But this would be much, much stronger if Eve tried to intervene on Eric's behalf and warn Nicole that she's going to lose Eric if she doesn't get her head together -- then take him for herself.
An Eve/Eric pairing would also cause SO much drama. So much.
Brady has been pining for Chloe ever since Eve broke up with him, but does anyone doubt he still loves Eve? And he still has this nonsensical belief that his exes belong to him and that Eric goes around stealing them.
There's no way he'd accept an Eric/Eve pairing, and Marlena definitely wouldn't.
Eve is a former patient, so Marlena knows all about her bad side but is constrained from sharing any of that with Eric, and that would add layers to the drama.
Eric is also Jen's ex who dumped her for Nicole, so Eve would feel she was getting revenge on Brady and Jennifer at the same time if she hooked up with Eric -- a double win for her!
And that would put a stop to her brainwashing of Jack, too, which was never in character.
Days of Our Lives tapes six to seven months ahead, so if the writers haven't decided to go in this direction already, they probably won't But still, it's fun to think about.
What do you think, fellow DAYS fanatics? Would you be down for an Eve/Eric/Nicole triangle?
Hit the comments with your thoughts!
Want more DAYS discussion? Check out our Days of Our Lives reviews and Days of Our Lives Round Table discussions.
Days of Our Lives continues to air weekday afternoons on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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.
