Rolf tried to impregnate Kayla with Stefano's clone, Kate rescued baby Henry, and Salem prepared for Ciara's memorial service with Hope gone and Ben plotting revenge.

Our TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Kathy and Silvananoir from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate Rolf's plan, the Jennifer recast, Kate shooting Clyde, Abigail's new best friend, and more!

Rolf wants to clone a whole new Stefano. React!

Kathy: Terrible idea. Let Stefano rest in uneasy peace.

Jack: Ugh. I don't enjoy these silly supernatural stories. I agree with Kayla that Rolf needs to move on from his obsession with Stefano, and anyway, this plan is doomed to failure.

Even if Rolf succeeds in getting someone to carry a Stefano clone embryo, that's no guarantee the child will grow up to share anything with Stefano but his DNA.

The only saving grace in this story was Kayla's reaction after she was rescued. So often, people take being kidnapped and tortured as a matter of course on Days of Our Lives. It was refreshing for Kayla to react to what Rolf did to her and connect it to her feelings when she was raped 30+ years ago!

Mary Beth Evans hit these scenes out of the park, and it was SO good to see DAYS take rape seriously for once.

Silvananoir: I guess it was supposed to be a fun Halloween story. I didn't hate it, Rolf is a mad scientist, and I did laugh a bit. It was an okay story.

Christine: Let Stefano go already! He was great in his day, but it is beyond time to move on. And threatening to implant Kayla with his embryo was not entertaining.

Stefano Dimera and the iconic actor who played him are gone and it's time that Days finally accepted it. 

Were you surprised that Kate shot Clyde? Was Abe right when he threatened to have her arrested?

Kathy: Nothing Kate does surprises me. I think Abe would be right to want a full investigation. Kate is his employee, so all the circumstances should be known to the public.

Jack: I wasn't surprised. Kate is Kate, and she is always doing things like this. I have mixed feelings about Abe threatening to have her arrested.

On the one hand, she has a good argument for self-defense. God knows what Clyde would have done if Kate had run with the baby without neutralizing him first. On the other, she shot him impulsively, and there is so much gun violence in Salem as it is.

If DAYS would do a realistic story about how sometimes female victims are punished for it legally when they fight back against their abusers, I'd be more interested in Kate being arrested. But that would be too socially aware for the current writing team, sadly.

Points for Abe going back to his original character as Salem's moral compass, though I do think it was mostly an empty threat to get her to stop standing there tormenting Clyde and go bring Allie the baby.

Silvananoir: No. That woman has had it up to here with him. She was not in the mood for any more nonsense. Clyde got what he deserved.

But Abe was right, Kate has a track record, and people will always believe the worst of her. He's not going to do anything, but you have to remind Kate that there are consequences for her actions.

Christine: I was surprised it took Kate so long to shoot him. He kidnapped her great-grandson, and we know how protective Kate is of her family. Clyde is lucky he's still breathing.

As for Abe, yes, under normal circumstances, the police should have been called to investigate the shooting. Heck, if I were Kate, I wouldn't have taken the gun off of Clyde until they showed up. But after Abe turned a blind eye to Lani breaking the law, it did annoy me that he seemed to be chastising Kate for protecting that baby.

Are you looking forward to Salem coming together for Ciara's memorial service or dreading it?

Kathy: I am dreading the memorial service. We don't know if Ciara is really dead. The only saving grace is giving Doug and Julie some peace.

Jack: Both. I hate these uber-sad stories, especially when I still have my doubts about the person being dead. It's just a lot of wasted energy to grieve along with Salem for someone who turns out to be alive.

But I would prefer Salem coming together in mourning to more campy supernatural nonsense and unnecessary violence, so there's that.

And so far, Julie has been a stand-out performer in these scenes. I can never get enough Julie, so I'm enjoying that.

Silvananoir: I feel empty. I'm sure the actors will do well, and they'll carry the material. But Hope isn't going to be there. How are you holding a memorial without the mother! I just don't care about this memorial. It's a solid fast forward for me.

Christine: No, I'm not looking forward to it. As others have said, I don't believe Ciara is really dead, and her own mother won't be at the service.

As much as I can appreciate that the writers want to play this storyline out and get every ounce of emotion out of it, it's just not resonating with me.

Since Missy Reeves chose not to return to the show once it began filming again, Cady McClain has taken over the role of Jennifer. What do you think of this recast so far?

Kathy: I am sure Cady will be fine once she gets in the swing of things. No one is 100% on their first day on a new job. If it is a choice of having the character of Jennifer on-screen or waiting to see if Missy returns, I am on the side of a recast.

Jack: It's hard for me to form an opinion yet. She's so new that I'm still hearing in my head how Missy Reeves would have said the lines.

So far, though, Cady McClain is doing well with the role. She's believable as Jennifer. I just wish she looked more the part. Cady's not blue-eyed and blonde-haired, and that's distracting.

Silvananoir: I like Cady, I've always liked her. I'm more than willing to give her a chance. I'm not really feeling it yet, but I'm hoping with a little time, she'll slide into the role and connect with the family. She's so great, and I want it to work out while Melissa is gone.

Christine: Recasts are always tricky, especially when someone else has been in the role for decades, but I love Cady McClain, and if they had to have someone else in the part, I'm happy it's her.

That said, it's going to take a little time before I start to feel as though she's Jennifer, but that's to be expected. 

Abigail called Gwen, a woman she barely knows, her best friend. Are real friendships too rare in Salem, or is this limited to Abigail?

Kathy: Female friendships seem to be rare in Salem. We rarely see Maggie and Julie, or Marlena and Kate interact much as friends. I don't think Abigal has much energy to put into a friendship. There aren't many women in her age group in Salem.

Jack: Abigail is always shown as naive, and as a general rule, anyone who wants to cause her harm is suddenly her best friend. I find that aggravating. It's also not believable that Abby is a top-notch investigative reporter when she has zero instincts for when she's being lied to and never has had any. (

Remember when Liam sneaked into Jennifer's room to steal her nightgown and JJ picked up right away that something was off, but Abby insisted it was all innocent?)

Silvananoir: Abigail has no friends. She had Gabi, but that crashed and burned. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I mean, look at the female friendships, Gabi had Wilson, Nicole and Eve have Chloe, Hope/Jen/Kayla were friends, Ciara and Claire reunited, even freakin' Kristen has Lani.

How is a good girl heroine like Abby is supposed to not have one female friend? I want to shake her and remind Abigail that 'You don't know her! It's kind of sad.

Christine: I remember way back when Teresa and Abigail started edging towards friendship and thinking that could be fun, but it never panned out. Then Abigail and Gabi imploded. Abigail has no friends and the fact that she's latched onto Gwen, or let Gwen latch onto her, is really very sad.

Salem has some solid friendships, but the show needs to show them more often; it would make Salem feel more relatable. 

What annoyed you the most this week on Days of Our Lives?

Kathy: Pretty much everything annoyed me this week. I was especially annoyed by Ben's continued vendetta against Vincent and Rolf trying to use Kayla as an incubator.

Jack: All. The. Violence. We had three kidnappings, four people with guns, one shooting victim, one cop attacked at his workplace, and one defensive hit over the head in the course of a week.

The Ben vs. Vincent stuff was entirely unnecessary, and quite frankly, we didn't need a prison break story that was mostly a rerun of the last time Orpheus and Clyde tried this. It wasn't that long ago that Clyde had baby Mickey/Rachel kidnapped either. Also, this Gwen as a bad girl story can end at any time.

And everyone needs to stop making excuses for Kristen. She's going to jail because she stabbed a man. Period. It's not because Eli betrayed Lani or because no one cares about baby Rachel losing her mother. No stabbing, no possible jail sentence. Kristen herself seems to understand this, but no one else does, and it's annoying.

Silvananoir: I didn't enjoy the Halloween special. I really wanted to. I tried to, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Christine: Why is it that Brady and Lani are so willing to blame everyone else for Kristen's behavior. Yes, I feel horrible for Rachel, and I even have sympathy for Kristen as she appears to be getting her life in order, but she still stabbed an old man as he sat in a chair, and she should have to answer for that.

Or that Ben is going to kill Vincent who killed Ciara because Ben killed Wendy. Ugh.

And I wish characters would stop running around telling others that Allie was raped without her consent to do so.

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

Kathy: It was great to see Julie and Doug. I also enjoyed Kate's talk with Allie.

Jack: As I said above, Kayla's reaction after Steve rescued her was the best scene of the week.

I also liked Julie's conversation with Claire before the memorial, especially this Days of Our Lives quote...

Claire: The tables aren't even set, the buffet isn't out... Damn it! I forgot to call the florist and tell them to make sure to put daisies on the altar.
Julie: At a time like this, nobody cares. People just want to be together. They won't even taste the food and they won't notice the color of the napkins.
Claire: I care! Ciara doesn't deserve some sort of -
Julie: My granddaughter does not deserve to be dead, either!

• Permalink: My granddaughter does not deserve to be dead, either!

Julie did a great job of balancing her own grief with Claire's need for reassurance.

Silvananoir: Honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of this week on the show. But I did enjoy Claire and Julie at the end of the week. Both of them did really well. They need to work together more often.

Christine: I actually enjoyed Kate shooting Clyde. He abducted Henry, stupidly handed the child over to Kate, and then thought he could bully her into giving the baby back. Does he not know Kate at all? 

Kate has tried to kill people whom she simply thought were bad for those she loved! You don't kidnap Kate Roberts great-grandson and think she's not going to fight back.

Want to chat more about the happenings in Salem? Then 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.