Days of Our Lives Review: Life-Changing Lies

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Really, Days of Our Lives?

Sadly, it was almost a given that Lumi (Lucas/Sami) weren't end game, but did the writers need to throw that in our faces?

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 4-19-21, the series ruined Lucas' character by having him agree to seduce Chloe so that Sami can stay with EJ... and told a super hurtful lie in the process.

Lucas Tells a Whopper/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Lucas was initially opposed to playing with Chloe's feelings this way, so why didn't he stick to his guns?

Yes, he'll do anything for Sami, but one of the best things about Lumi is that Lucas and Sami aren't afraid to call each other on their BS.

This whole hare-brained scheme Sami has to use Lucas to keep Chloe away from Brady is one of those times that he absolutely should have stood up to her.

If anything, Lucas should have told Chloe the truth instead of pretending to be into her. It might have been fun for Chloe and Lucas to team up to get Kristen off Sami's back.

Brady Admits To Loving Chloe/Tall - Days of Our Lives

And as a bonus, Sami might have been jealous as hell if Lucas and Chloe were the ones working together! Maybe it would even get her to wake up and give up this EJ nonsense.

Instead, Lucas not only gave in and reversed his stance on not playing with Chloe's heartstrings, but told her the worst possible lie.

Chloe: I don't know, Lucas. I haven't seen you in forever and then all of a sudden you show back up and want to jump back into a relationship with me.
Lucas: You're right. I do have an ulterior motive. I'm dying.

Chloe is not only a caring person but has been through leukemia treatment as a teenager. So she's not going to just accept the idea that Lucas is dying of an inoperable brain tumor.

Sami Warns Lucas/Tall - Days of Our Lives

She's going to put her all into looking for alternative treatments, calling specialists, and helping Lucas go to doctor's appointments, while crying over how cruel life has been to a man she once loved.

What a terrible thing to do to someone!

Brain tumors are not a joking matter, and this is not the first time that Days of Our Lives has used a fake one as part of a love triangle.

Abigail broke up with Chad the first time after he pretended for months to have a brain tumor so that she would choose him over Cameron, and Chloe is about to be similarly crushed.

Chloe Wants to Try Again/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Whoever thought this story is good entertainment... you were wrong.

This makes a mockery of a serious disease, ruins Lucas' character, and sets Chloe up for a ton of heartache down the line.

Plus, it was unnecessary. Sami convinced Brady not to work with Chloe anymore. Problem solved, no fake brain tumors required.

Of course, Brady is probably going to change his mind again, but the problem COULD have been solved that way, and if Brady and Chloe team up to try to get experimental treatments for Lucas, this lie will bring these two closer together instead of breaking them apart.

Speaking of Brady and Sami's conversation, why is Brady so gullible sometimes and so on-the-ball others?

He saw through Sami's act in two seconds, demanding that she tell him the truth about why she was pushing him to stay committed to Kristen.

Yet, even though he brought up Kristen disguising herself as Susan in the past, it never occurred to him that that was happening now.

And that is the real problem with this whole mess. It's yet another story that requires characters to be stupid, gullible, and oblivious to work.

Gabi is Upset/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Kate was equally stupid, even though she was smart enough to see through Kristen's manipulations and is the first one to notice "Susan" was using a different voice.

She should have known not to turn her back on Kristen. In fact, she should have pretended to keep Kristen's secret, then turned her in as soon as she got away from her.

But instead, Kate made the same fatal error as Sarah did.

Kate is going to that private island, all right... but more than likely as Kristen's prisoner, and not with Jake.

And to add insult to injury, Jake likely isn't going to realize his girlfriend's body is behind the couch while confronting "Susan" and will believe it wholeheartedly when Kristen disguises herself as Kate.

Because we all know that's what's coming after the same thing played out with Sarah only a month ago!

Seriously, is all of Salem going to end up knocked out and on a secluded island before Kristen is caught and sent back to jail?

Also, too many people are blackmailing each other over other people's relationships during this mess.

Vivian wants Kristen to break up Jake and Kate or she'll expose her, while Kristen will expose Sami and Lucas' one-night stand to EJ if Sami doesn't break up Brady and Chloe.

All we need now is for Sami to happen upon some other couple to blackmail into doing Kristen's bidding for her!

And Kate was right, too, that Vivian won't know the difference if Kristen only pretends to break up Jake and Kate, since Vivian is in jail.

Jake and Kate trying to pull the wool over a jailed Vivian's eyes would be far more entertaining than Kristen donning yet another disguise.

Ciara's Shocking Plan/Tall - Days of Our Lives

As far as many fans are concerned, the biggest disappointment of the week was Ciara's decision to leave town with Theo.

Some fans are so passionate about Cin (Ciara/Ben) that they've cast Theo as the villain of this story in their own minds, but the writing suggests otherwise.

Whatever sparks Ben and Ciara once had are being destroyed by this storyline. Ben is turning more and more abusive and controlling, and his behavior isn't okay just because Ciara has forgotten their relationship.

You can't leave town! You belong to me!

Ben

Ben is treating Ciara like his personal property, as well as attempting to inject her with drugs she doesn't want to take while she's asleep.

About That Kiss... / Tall - Days of Our Lives

Regardless of whether Ciara wants to be with Theo, wants to be by herself, or anything else, that's not okay.

And it reinforces her belief that he is dangerous... because right now he is disrespecting her desires, violating her boundaries, and trying to force her to be with him whether she wants to or not.

Theo, for his part, has told Ciara on several occasions that she is married to Ben and the two of them have agreed to take things slowly, leave Salem as friends, and see where it leads.

Ben is clearly the villain here, and yet Days of Our Lives intends for Ben/Ciara to be endgame. Ugh.

Similarly, this Abigail/Gwen storyline has got to go. The sooner the better.

Yes, Abigail has reasons to hate Gwen. No, she has no reason to trust her.

HOWEVER...

That does not mean that Abigail has the right to demand Gwen have an abortion.

Abigail's Latest Emotional Breakdown/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Days of Our Lives is trying to play both sides here. Characters keep saying, "Your body, your choice" while subtly implying the opposite.

It's all a farce anyway because Days of Our Lives rarely has any kind of abortion storyline. At the most, a character will go to the abortion clinic and then run away at the last minute.

And does Abigail remember when she thought Charlotte was Stefan's baby, yet chose to carry to term? At the very least, insisting that Gwen make the opposite choice is hypocritical.

Gwen Makes a Decision/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Also, there are other reasons Gwen may choose not to have an abortion besides wanting to flaunt her pregnancy in Abigail's face.

For example, some people oppose abortion on religious or other moral grounds (which is fine as long as they don't force that choice on the rest of us.).

Gwen may have decided that the best thing to do is give the baby up for adoption. Despite Sami's insistence that that was terrible when Allie considered it, sometimes that's the best decision.

And of course, there's what Gwen said: she wants to give the baby the love she herself didn't experience growing up.

Is that the best decision? Maybe not, especially since Gwen thinks it would be best for Chad to stay out of the baby's life, which would just repeat that negative history.

But in any case, that's her choice to make, not Abigail's business, and not even about Abigail.

Abigail is becoming like Gabi at her worst: self-centered to the extreme, ranting to anyone who will listen about how she's someone else's victim, and consumed with revenge.

It wasn't attractive on Gabi and it's not any more attractive on Abigail. She needs to cut it out, sooner rather than later.

Paulina Turns to Lani/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Speaking of self-centered people, I loved Paulina getting one over on Xander and Chanel!

Xander isn't nearly as clever as he claims to be, at least not judging from the way he handled Paulina. He wasn't even trying to negotiate properly, instead sounding like an auctioneer but going down in price every second instead of up.

Xander: You made a mistake on this check.
Paulina: I doubt it. I don't make mistakes.
Xander: You're missing a zero. We agreed to 1 million dollars!
Paulina: I didn't agree to that. $100,000 is my price.

And when Paulina wrote out that check, I knew it wasn't going to be for the million dollars Xander had demanded.

A Major Miscalculation/Tall - Days of Our Lives

I had hoped she would write the check out for just $1. The look on Xander's face would have been priceless then, no pun intended.

But $100,000 works too, especially since Chanel was stupid enough to open her big mouth and admit they were supposed to be splitting the money they got out of her mother.

Don't kid a kidder, Chanel. Paulina has clearly been around the block more than once and knows how to deal with scam artists... including her own daughter.

Finally, Rafe made an arrest in Charlie's murder... but it's the wrong person, and it's totally ridiculous.

Charlie's Murderer is Revealed/Tall - Days of Our Lives

I can't imagine Blue Bloods' Erin Reagan or Law & Order: SVU's Sonny Carisi pressing forward with a case that has as little evidence against the defendant as Rafe has against Belle.

The sole piece of evidence is that a button matching the one missing from her coat was found at the scene. Her fingerprints are not on the gun, there is no evidence she shot it, and she in fact was the attorney of record for one of four other suspects who visited the apartment that night.

In anyplace but Salem, this case would be laughed out of court.

I'll give Days of Our Lives credit for one thing, though: for once I didn't guess the real murderer.

Tripp's Touching Surprise/Tall - Days of Our Lives

Character wise, it makes sense that Jan would kill Charlie, since Claire is her only friend (sort of), she was a rape survivor too, and she'd love to frame Belle for her latest misdeed.

But Jan faking still being in a coma, sneaking out of the hospital without anyone knowing, and sneaking back in again, all without her doctors knowing about her increased brain activity, is far-fetched even for Days of Our Lives!

I can't wait for the fantastical explanation for this one. It had better be good.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics! Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought about Days of Our Lives during the week of 4-19-21.

Eager for more Days of Our Lives chat? Check back on Sunday for our latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.

Days of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.

Review

Editor Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
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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.

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