Days of Our Lives Review: Another Day, Another Kidnapping

Jennifer was kidnapped by a jilted date.

This is the second time Jennifer dumped someone she barely knew to reconcile with an ex, only to get violently attacked by her former date.

Back in 2014, Liam held Jennifer and Nicole hostage at the Horton Cabin after she broke things off to reconcile with Daniel. And on Days of Our Lives during the week of 9-16-19, another broken-hearted doctor held her hostage to stop her from reconciling with Jack.

It's annoying when Days of Our Lives repeats the same stories over and over, especially when they don't change many of the details.

Liam was the hospital pharmaceutical rep, who went nuts when Jennifer dumped him for Daniel. Henry Shah is a doctor who went nuts because Jennifer dumped him for Jack.

In both cases, the character was exceedingly minor and mainly interacted with Jennifer before suddenly snapping and stalking her.

Liam was a true stalker, even breaking into her house to steal a nightgown, while Henry is just a random dude. But still.

It's distracting to think about how Jennifer's been through this before, especially because JJ was involved in both storylines yet didn't as much as comment that Henry was just like Liam.

To be clear, this story isn't all bad. It's just semi-redundant.

I enjoyed Jennifer getting one hand free all on her own and doing her best to get herself out of trouble.

This is a refreshing change from the usual damsel-in-distress story, where the woman is helpless to do anything at all except pray her man comes to save her.

It fits Jennifer's character better, too. She became a fan favorite because she was smart and spunky and I'm glad she hasn't lost that spark all these years later!

And we had some relevant flashbacks from years ago, too. The Jack/Jennifer flashbacks not only helped build Jennifer's determination to get herself back to safety but also helped newer viewers understand what made this couple so special in the first place.

More of this, please! If Days of Our Lives is going to use flashbacks at all, it needs to use clips from the far distant past that enhance current story.

Most of the time we instead get flashbacks of something that happened less than 24 hours ago--sometimes even from earlier in the same episode--which does nothing but waste time.

Also, this story gave Jack and JJ the opportunity to team up!

JJ went from wanting nothing to do with Jack no matter what to being his right-hand man without explanation. That's a shame, because Casey Moss would rock JJ's emotional transformation if the writers had given him a story instead of having JJ do a random 180.

However, the week of 9-16-19 gave JJ a ton more screen time than he's got in a long time, and that's always a good thing.

Plus, this particular storyline seemed more like what JJ was cheated out of when his father "died". Had there been no supposedly dead Jack and no rift because of Jack's amnesia, JJ would have had lots of adventures like this with his father by now.

Jack: What the hell did you do to Jennifer?
Rolf: I didn't hurt her! Why would I? I wouldn't bite the hand that feeds me.
JJ: Especially with your appetite.

Permalink: Especially with your appetite.

JJ is equal parts passion and sarcasm, and both got to shine in his scenes with Jack -- and with Rolf.

Hopefully Rolf will have a greater purpose than comic relief.

His argument with Kayla seemed pointless since she ranted about not wanting to help him...and then did.

But in any case, JJ's irritation with Rolf is fun. He is quick-witted and his delivery is always perfectly timed.

Kayla was the one to tell JJ about Henry's instability, and that was as it should be.

Kayla has always been a supportive figure to JJ, and these two don't share nearly enough scenes together.

The newly-created flashback of Henry losing his temper when Kayla wouldn't kick Rolf out of the lab for him was well done.

However, Henry's behavior should have set off several red flags for Kayla. She had to call security to escort him off the hospital premises -- did it not occur to her that he might go after Jennifer?

Of course, Kayla has had a lot on her mind with Kate and Julie both being in critical condition.

She definitely should have noticed that Kate's breathing tube had been compromised after Vivian tried to crush it. (And there should have been a guard on Kate's door, too, but hospital security in Salem is sub-par at best.)

Nevertheless, the hospital drama over both Kate and Julie's conditions has been poignant.

Julie's impatience with being in the hospital and her sense that she was attending her own funeral were as realistic as they were heartbreaking. The only part of that story I could have done without was Gabi deciding to attack Julie again.

Julie and Gabi rile each other up too much, and since Julie's heart is in bad condition, she doesn't need to get agitated to the point that she's yelling about finding Nick in the afterlife to haunt Gabi.

But Julie's scenes with Doug, where he tried his best to put aside his pain to encourage her, more than made up for that nonsense.

Lucas' scenes at Kate's bedside were among the best of the week of 9-16-19, and not just because Lucas is a sorely missed character!

Lucas is the only of Kate's kids to have come back to Salem for her health crisis thus far, and it seems he may need to make some difficult decisions.

With Kayla saying that it's up to him whether or not to keep Kate on life support, we may be in for another story like when Marlena's living will stipulated that she not be kept on such machines.

Hopefully, this time Days of Our Lives does it right instead of descending into campy silliness involving doppelgangers!

Ideally, all of Kate's children would come to Salem before Lucas made any such decision. The half-sibling dynamics could add a ton of soapy drama to this already sad situation.

Philip, for example, might wonder why Lucas gets to make this decision instead of him, while Rex would likely be distracted by the fact that his ex-wife is one of the doctors on Kate's case.

Besides, it's not realistic that the rest of Kate's children would stay away while Kate may be dying.

Kate's family wanting answers about who shot her is realistic, but Days of Our Lives will have to be careful not to focus too much attention on that. The drama of Kate's condition shouldn't take a back seat while everyone tries to prove Vivian was the one who hurt her, and this could easily descend into that.

Stefan seems to have reached the end of his rope with Vivian, though. Even though he was ready to shoot Kate himself, he now wants to get revenge on her only in the business world.

His moral outrage is misplaced, considering that Gabi talked him out of killing Kate himself and he had less of a problem with covering for Vivian before he learned she dressed up as a doctor to try to finish the deed.

Stefan: Let's hope that Kate doesn't wake up from her coma.
Vivian: What if she does?
Stefan: We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Vivian: My life is on the brink and that's your answer? You're from the generation that doesn't ever take initiative. We have to take care of our little problem.

Permalink: My life is on the brink and that's your answer? You're from the generation that doesn't ever...

It was only a matter of time before someone overheard him and Vivian arguing about this. Half of Salem is related to Kate and suspicious of Vivian, and the cops only believe her alibi because it hasn't been proven false yet.

Props for discussing it at home instead of in the park, though. At least they had some sense.

Will eavesdropped anyway, and the question is how much he overheard -- and what he's going to do with this information.

Meanwhile, Kristen grated on my last nerve with her insistence that Brady loves her and just needs to be pushed to be with her.

Everyone who called her selfish was right. Kristen is incapable of thinking from any perspective other than how everything and anything benefits her.

She helped get Tony out of jail to convince Brady she's now a good person, then after that ploy failed went to the Kiriakis mansion and start plotting to steal Sarah's unborn baby.

First of all, Kristen tried this nonsense already with Theresa.

She managed to get baby Tate implanted in her own uterus and took care of him for a short time until Theresa and Brady found out about it. Apparently her fall out the window during the battle to get the baby back didn't make an impression on her.

The scheme made Brady hate her even more, and it was too over-the-top for many viewers' liking. So can we not do it again, please?

Kristen thinks this time she'll get away with it because Sarah is planning on terminating her pregnancy anyway. But what if Sarah changes her mind, as have most of the other women in Salem who have dealt with unplanned pregnancies?

And even if she doesn't, doesn't Kristen think Brady will ask for a paternity test? Of course, Kristen could imitate half of Salem and have the test results changed, but still. There are a lot of problems with this ridiculous plan that she isn't seeing.

As for Sarah, this dilemma is not compelling.

She has the right to terminate her pregnancy regardless of what Eric thinks, but her reasons for not telling him are nonsensical.

She doesn't want to interfere with his happiness with Nicole, but having a child together and being a couple are two separate things.

Nicole was a part-time stepmother to Parker when she was with Daniel, who shared custody of Parker with Chloe. So surely she and Eric could be part-time parents to Sarah's baby while Sarah raised the child the rest of the time.

In any case, the best thing that could come out of this storyline would be if Xander stepped up and pretended to be the baby's father so that he could keep Eric at bay and get close to Sarah.

THAT would be worth watching! Too bad Days of Our Lives went in this silly baby switcheroo direction instead.

Brady realizes that his attraction to Kristen is an addiction, but the rule of three says that next time he sees her he's going to give in, since he resisted her twice already.

He was joking when he said that he wished there was a Kristen Anonymous group to go to. But he COULD go to a 12-step group for sex addicts or relationship addicts. Or he could go to AA just to get the fellowship and the program talk in him that he needs to defeat Kristen.

In any case, he needs to develop the ability to walk away. No matter how much Kristen insists she wants his attention, he doesn't need to stand there helpless until Abe shows up.

Just as he can't take that first sip of alcohol, he can't exchange that first word with Kristen or he's going to get himself into trouble.

Brady's scenes with John and Abe were all sorts of awesome, though. It's good to see Brady FINALLY developing some self-awareness rather than just jumping into bed with Kristen. And the genuine relationships with these soap vets are well worth watching.

Abe needs a real story, though. He was wandering around town giving everyone advice, and while his advice was good it seemed like his character could be used better.

I liked his advice to Eve, though, not that she's likely to listen.

Eve and Kristen seem to have become the same person, both delusional with rage and loneliness.

Eve should have known better than to ask Abe to be her new partner in crime! Abe being Abe, he wasted his breath on trying to get Eve to turn in a new direction... or will his words impact her later?

Eve: Come on Abe. Together we could rule this town.
Abe: I don't want to rule anything. I want to serve.
Eve: And nobody does it better than you.
Abe: Really? Then why did you fight so hard for Jack to replace me as mayor?
Eve: That was one of the biggest mistakes of my life and I regret it.
Abe: I don't think so. I think you knew exactly what you were doing. You wanted fame, money, power. All the things that are the opposite of why you should get into politics.

Permalink: I don't think so. I think you knew exactly what you were doing. You wanted fame, money,...

Eve was upset that Jack thought she kidnapped Jennifer. But while that's not Eve's MO, her hatred for Jennifer knows no bounds. She should be asking herself why people think she's guilty of terrible, violent crimes, but she won't.

Jordan came back to Salem and reclaimed baby David just in time to break Ben's heart.

It makes no sense that a judge would issue an order that Jordan be released to Rafe's custody so she doesn't harm herself AND that she get legal custody of an infant!

In addition, Jordan is demanding everyone believe she's changed and forgive her for attempting to murder Ciara... at the same time as she insists that Ben has not changed and should not be forgiven for similar crimes.

Ugh. Ben is constantly dealing with someone who thinks anything goes in the name of protecting Ciara from him. Enough already.

And for the love of all that is holy, please don't let Rafe and Hope get back together. It looked like it was going that way, and after two or three torturous attempts at a relationship for these two, it's time for the writers to move on.