Days of Our Lives Round Table: Should Lani Leave Salem?

Is invoking Kristen’s wrath a smart plan? Should Lani tell the truth or just leave Salem? And what’s been the most disappointing storyline since the time jump?

Our TV Fanatics, Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by LumiForeverAndAlways from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Brady and Nicole’s plan, Gina trying to kill Marlena, Ben and Ciara going on the run and Sarah and Eric’s absence from Salem in this week’s round table.

Rate Brady and Nicole’s plan to lie to Kristen about their relationship from 1 (it’s a smart plan) to 10 (I can’t believe they are this dumb!)

LumiForeverAndAlways: To be honest I don't think it’s going to pay off in the long term so I have to give them a 10.

Jack: If 10 means this is dumb, then I rate it at 10,000. Seriously, how many times have we been down this path before?

Falling in love with your fake girlfriend is a Days tradition going all the way back to Doug trying to seduce Julie on Susan Martin's orders, but in this case, it's ridiculous.

Nicole did that with Xander once and got herself in huge trouble and Brady tried it with Eve and fell hard for her. So these two should know better.

Plus, since when is pushing Kristen's buttons a good idea? Seems we're in backward land here, with Lani giving in to Gabi when there's no reason to and Nicole instigating trouble with Kristen when the best thing to do is let Kristen think she's won.

Christine: A 10. What is the purpose of trying to investigate a woman who is already unstable? Both Nicole and Brady know that this is asking for disaster.

They both know that telling Kristen that Brady is involved with someone else won’t make her back off in the slightest, it will just make her more determined which makes this a ridiculously stupid plan.

At this point, what should Lani do? Leave Salem, continue to vandalize Gabi Chic, out Gabi and hope someone believes her and that Gabi doesn’t kill Julie? Something else?

LumiForeverAndAlways: To be honest, no offense to Sal Towers, but I'm not a big fan of Lani and I think that she should leave Salem but I also think that she needs to realize that things happen for a reasons e.g. her and Eli's breakup.

Jack: Lani should have done something about this a long time ago. Her father is the mayor and thinks she can do no wrong, so he would have believed her way back when and would definitely believe her now and sic the cops on Gabi.

I don't understand why when Lani was a cop and Gabi threatened her, why she didn't just arrest her and confiscate her phone.

At this point, I just want this story over with, and if it ends with Lani and JJ back together I'm going to be very upset. He deserves better and the last thing he needs right now is to be in the middle of this mess.

Christine: Lani should have handled Gabi when she was a cop. Like Jack said above, she could have had Gabi’s phone confiscated and her arrested. If she had told Eli or Rafe or Hope, they could have helped.

I’m so tired of this story that I’d rather just see Lani leave Salem than have to endure any more of it.

Will Gina really try to kill Marlena even though Stevano is obsessed with her? Do you care if Marlena dies?

LumiForeverAndAlways: Anything is deemed possible when it comes to Gina. As for do I care if Marlena dies. of course, I do. She is a legacy character and I can’t imagine Salem without her these days.

Jack: If she tries, that will be the end of her and Stevano's alliance, so maybe that would be a good thing.

Quite frankly, there's been more than enough death and destruction for no reason on Days over the last few years and we don't need to add Marlena to the body count.

Besides, she'll turn out to be alive eventually if she dies so let's not even go there.

Christine: It would be stupid of her to try, but that doesn’t mean she won’t do it.

I have to admit that I’ve found Marlena more annoying lately so I wouldn’t mind her leaving the show for a while but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should kill her off. Besides, Marlena never really seems to "die" anyway.

But I will admit that my irritation with Marlena, a character I used to love, has me wondering what kind of a couple John and the real Hope might make.

Should Ben go on the run with Clyde? Should Ciara go with him?

LumiForeverAndAlways: I don't think going on the run with Clyde is a good idea. Who knows what crazy things he would drag Ben into and running means you will never be able to have the same identity again.

As for if he was to go on the run, I am unsure about whether Ciara should go with him or not. I mean they deserve happiness but I don't know how Ciara would go without seeing her family ever again (Shawn, Claire, Belle, and Hope) or her friends ever again.

Jack: If they go on the run off-screen, sure. I've had enough of Ciara's single-minded obsession with Ben's plight and Ben telling her that it's too dangerous for her to be involved. I don't want another six months of that.

What I'd rather see is Justin call a press conference and make a statement about how much he believes in Ben's innocence and how the death penalty can't be reversed if new evidence comes to light later. But that's probably too deep for Days right now.

Christine: Going on the run with Clyde should be a absolute last resort but maybe Ben feels he’s to that point now that he’s lost his last appeal.

What I can’t imagine is Ciara going with him. She’s such a spoiled, rich girl that I can’t see her doing well being on the run with little money and having to move around all the time.

Ciara is too used to having Grandpa Victor’s trust fund money to fall back on.

Sarah, Eric, and baby Mickey have been out of Salem for a few weeks now. Do you miss them? Are you looking forward to their return?

LumiForeverAndAlways: To be honest, I don't miss Sarah but I do miss Eric and as for am I looking forward to their return I am looking forward to it because Eric will be able to see straight through Brady and Nicole's plan.

Jack: I used to like Eric, but he's become so judgmental and obnoxious that the break from him was nice. Plus, I don't want to see any more of him berating Nicole or fighting with Brady about her.

The only good thing about any of this is that if Sarah comes back to Salem she can share scenes with Xander. I've missed his softer side since she left. He's gone back to being mostly a villain and I prefer a more balanced Xander.

Christine: I miss Sarah because of her interactions with Xander as I think they have the makings of a really great super-couple.

As for Eric, as Jack says above, he’s so obnoxious and judgmental, not to mention grumpy and mean that he can stay gone for good as far as I’m concerned.

What has been the most disappointing storyline since the time jump?

LumiForeverAndAlways: The most disappointing storyline since the time jump for me has to be the fact that Will is in prison and now and he and Sonny are getting a divorce.

Jack: I hate what they did to JJ. First of all, the first time he got off “drugs" he was only smoking weed, and his decision not to do that anymore was...

1) supported by findings in the medical community that a certain number of young adults just grow out of marijuana use and stop using it even if they were abusing it before and...

2) fear after Theresa OD'd. That history has been totally rewritten -- probably because sticking to it would mean admitting Paige was important to him and that conflicts with this BS about Haley being the love of his life.

JJ never grieved after Paige died. But he lost it when Haley died? Please. He never lashed out at Abby when her boyfriend killed Paige, but he was ready to murder Kristen for accidentally killing Haley? That doesn't make any sense.

He swore off drugs for over 4 years but lost it when Haley died? Nope, never would happen.

Once again JJ's character has been sacrificed for the sake of a plot that makes zero sense -- and on top of that, opiates do NOT turn people into murderers, his detox in the hospital involved no doctors, and now he's just fine and all he needs is a pep talk from Maggie before he's onto the next storyline.

Christine: That Chad and Abby were brought back to be boring background characters in another pointless Dimera storyline.

All they do is argue with Gabi and obsess about taking over Dimera Enterprises. Jack has his memory back but Abby hasn’t had any real conversations with her father which has been really disappointing.

What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline this week in Salem?

LumiForeverAndAlways: My favorite scene was the scene between Will and Kate when she visited him.

My favorite quote came from this scene and that was when Will said "Do me a favor and talk to me before you poison them because that never works out for you". In this, he was referring to Kate poising Chloe and Sami.

Jack: I loved Jack's confrontation with "Steve." This was some of Matthew Ashford's best work, and that's saying a lot because Ashford always brings his A game.

Also, Will telling Kate to call him before she poisons Evan was hilarious.

Christine: I loved Xander and Maggie being there for one another. These two are such a great pairing that I could watch them interact in every episode.

Also, Jack confronting “Steve” was also a highlight. I agree that Mathew Ashford was spot on during these scenes with just the right amount of anger and incredulity.