Sami can add yet another failed wedding to her list.

This Lucas-kidnapping-Sami plot was out-of-character nonsense that destroyed one of daytime's best couples, but the aftermath was compelling.

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 7-11-22, Sami swore revenge... but she handled her heartbreak perfectly for the most part.

As is Salem tradition, Chad crashed Sami and Lucas' wedding to accuse Lucas of murdering Abigail to ensure no one learned that he kidnapped Sami.

This is the second time Chad has crashed a wedding, though he wasn't acting out of anything noble this time. He was angry and had convinced himself that Lucas was the killer without much proof.

Once the secret was out, the wedding devolved into chaos, and there was no other way it could have ended than how it did

The whole mess was made more painful by the truth of Sami and Lucas' vows moments before. Lucas and Sami have been star-crossed soulmates for decades, and this was supposed to be their happily ever after.

Their vows were perfect. Sami talked about all the times that Lucas had had her back and how he was the only one who knew how to deal with her at her worst, and Lucas vowed to be the better man she deserved.

These two came so close to their happy ending, only for it to be ruined by a ludicrous story and an out-of-control Chad.

Chad has no objective evidence that Lucas killed Abigail; all he has is a bunch of suppositions.

It's similar to how Tripp decided that Kayla had killed his mother (who has since been resurrected) and started hatching a plan to take her down, only to discover later that he was wrong.

Chad ruined Lucas and Sami's wedding, turned everyone's life upside down, and attacked Lucas in the police station. How will he react if it turns out, as it probably will, that Lucas didn't kill Abigail?

His grief and anger are understandable, but he can't keep going around violently attacking people because he thinks they killed his wife.

He told Rafe he didn't care if Rafe locked him up for how he was handling things, and if he doesn't get it back under control, one of these days, that's exactly what will happen.

Meanwhile, all of Salem is vilifying Lucas.

To be clear, what Lucas did was wrong, even if it's not unforgivable nor nearly as bad as any of the things EJ has done to Sami over the years.

However, it doesn't make him a sociopath.

What Lucas should have done was kidnapped Sami to be with him, as Bo did with Hope and Jack did with Jennifer back in the day. It doesn't make sense that he would imprison her for months on end to get her away from EJ.

However, his motivation wasn't to stop her from being with "true love" EJ. His behavior, though over the top and ultimately hurtful, was motivated by his awareness that EJ was abusing Sami.

Victor once had Brady kidnapped and put in rehab against his will, and it seemed like that's what Lucas thought he was doing by getting Sami away from EJ. His plan was not well thought out and was influenced by the Devil, which is part of the problem here.

That said, the way all of Salem now wants to turn against him and Kate is ridiculous.

Roman has known Lucas for over 30 years and has treated him like family despite Lucas and Sami not being married for most of their tenure in Salem. But when Roman talked to Kate, he made it sound like Lucas was some random guy that Sami had dated whom he knew nothing of.

It was irresponsible, to say the least, for Roman to use words like "sociopath" to describe Lucas' treatment of Sami. That's a word with a specific meaning that doesn't fit the situation.

Lucas struggled with immense guilt over hurting Sami, which proves he's not a sociopath. Roman is justified in being angry at what Lucas did, but writing him off altogether is over-the-top.

It's also more than a little hypocritical. Does anyone doubt for a second that Roman would try to protect Sami if the roles were reversed and she had kidnapped Lucas?

In addition, Roman's lost a lot of his moral high ground because he continually encourages Eric to ignore the fact that Nicole is married and pursue her anyway!

One of the most annoying things about Days of Our Lives recently is the way characters tend to pile on when the writers want two characters to be together.

It seemed inappropriate for Marlena to stop Eric when he was already late to officiate Sami and Lucas' wedding to ask him about his feelings for Nicole. This was hardly the time or place for that conversation!

The writers want Eric and Nicole together. We get it. Stop hitting us over the head with the idea that Eric still has feelings for Nicole!

Roman's insistence on it is especially ridiculous because he was cheated on.

Granted, Marlena thought John WAS Roman for a while, but the fact remains that Roman was heartbroken to find out his wife had slept with another man while they were married. So why on Earth is he telling Eric -- who is an ex-priest on top of it -- to pursue a woman who is married to someone else?

Roman and Kate have always been one of my favorite couples, but Roman needs to get off his hypocritical high horse, so it's probably for the best that they ended too.

Kate's confession was heartbreaking, and her remorse was genuine. This is unusual for Kate, who is often unflappable even when caught doing horrendous things like helping Sami and Gabi throw Nick into the river.

Her feelings for Roman ran deeper than any of her other relationships, judging from how she responded to his rejection. That final scene of her shuffling up the stairs to collect her things was choreographed perfectly; her pain radiated with every step. Kudos to Lauren Koslow for this performance!

As for Roman, it's great that he doesn't want EJ to hurt Kate, but letting EJ in on the truth doesn't help that situation.

To EJ's ears, Roman's appeal to leave Kate alone sounded like the opposite: a coded message to go ahead and get revenge on her.

Kate: What are you going to do to me?
EJ: I might seem like I have the decorum of a reserved Brit, but right now my Italian side is seething. However, Father always said revenge is a dish best served cold. So I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait until I am rational and ruthless enough to deal with you.

• Permalink: I might seem like I have the decorum of a reserved Brit, but right now my Italian side is...

Kate is lucky that EJ decided that revenge is a dish best served cold. It gives her time to plan her defense.

As for Sami, she dealt with her heartbreak in a relatively mature fashion.

She was soft-spoken and calm as she confronted Lucas about what he'd done to her, saving her pain and rage for when she was alone in the bridal suite. The following day she had a fairly honest conversation with Marlena about how she felt.

Marlena: Oh. You're up.
Sami: I'm up and I'm dressed and I got coffee and now I'm reading the news.
Marlena: 12 hours ago, your world was turned upside down and now you're acting ike nothing ever happened.
Sami: You don't have time to give me a therapy session, Mom.
Marlena: 'Kidnapper Groom Arrested for Murder'. I see you're reading The Intruder.
Sami: What else am I supposed to do when the alternative was lie in bed all day crying my eyes out?
Marlena: One thing I know about you is that when you get hurt, you put the walls up very high.
Sami: I can't start crying. If I do, I feel like I'll never stop.

• Permalink: I can't start crying. If I do, I feel like I'll never stop.

In the past, Sami would have lashed out far more at Marlena too, and her idea of revenge would have been far more outrageous.

This time around, she told Shawn that Belle had slept with EJ and then headed to the mansion, where I was sure she was going to pretend to seduce EJ only to pull the rug out from under him at the last possible second.

That's what the old Sami, who had EJ arrested at one of their weddings to get revenge on him for sleeping with Abigail, would have done. But instead, Sami made a far better decision: she informed EJ that she was done with him and Lucas and left town.

Instead of Hurricane Sami, we got High Winds Sami, and I'm okay with that.

As a Lumi fan, it breaks my heart that she's done with both of these men, but that can always change in the future when Lucas has got his head on right and Sami is ready to forgive him.

I have spent so many years bouncing back and forth between you and Lucas. I have a long list of all the ways you've broken my heart. I'm done with all of it, with all of you. Good luck with Belle or with whoever comes after her. I hope you make each other miserable.

Sami

• Permalink: I have spent so many years bouncing back and forth between you and Lucas. I have a long list...

But Sami has always been the type who can't be without a man and jumps from Lucas to EJ to Rafe and back again in the blink of an eye. So for her to finally decide to BE ON HER OWN is massive character growth.

Sami has come in and out of Salem many times over the years, and most of her exits are silly. But this one made total sense.

Sami offered EJ the best revenge: her living her best life without him. That's much more satisfying than the latest crazy plot to ruin EJ's life.

She wasn't totally wrong when she confronted Belle, either. Belle was right that Sami came over to tell Shawn to make trouble for Belle; however, Sami was right to point out that if Shawn is going through hell, Belle sleeping with EJ doesn't help.

EJ revealed himself to be nothing more than the boorish cad Belle initially thought he was in how he handled this situation. While Belle was clear-eyed about being a rebound, it was classless for him to proposition Sami minutes after sleeping with Belle.

He treated the sisters like they were interchangeable, and both had enough self-respect to walk away.

I only wish that Belle had told him the whole truth. She wasn't leaving because she felt guilty about hurting Sami. She was leaving because she overheard him asking Sami to try again.

Of EJ's recent pairings, Belle has been the most tolerable. She seemed to bring out a softer side in him that neither Nicole nor Sami could ever inspire.

But this was never going to work long-term, not while Belle was still married to Shawn and EJ was half in love with Sami, and Belle was right to end it.

That said, Belle's behavior with Shawn still leaves much to be desired.

Belle blamed Shawn for her choice to sleep with EJ, which was ridiculous. Yes, they were having marital problems, but that didn't mean she was forced to jump into someone else's bed.

Belle: We had problems before EJ. We were headed in this direction anyway.
Shawn: I've been right here. You were the one who headed right for EJ's bed.

• Permalink: I've been right here. You were the one who headed right for EJ's bed.

And Shawn was right, too: Jan tricked HIM into bed and showed up pregnant with HIS baby after having sex with him under false pretenses, yet Belle is acting like she's the victim here. 

She can't even see that the baby is innocent and didn't ask to be born into this messy situation; she's acting like Shawn is a bad guy for wanting to raise the child he believes to be his.

While it's understandable that she is uncomfortable helping to raise the baby at this point, she can't possibly be so unempathetic as not to understand why Shawn wants to raise his son. She came off as selfish and uncaring, which was not a good look for her.

Kayla should have told Belle that story about how she felt when she learned that Steve and Ava's son was alive instead of telling Shawn. Belle was the one who needed it.

It was nice for Steve and Kayla to spend time with Shawn. These family scenes used to be the backbone of Days of Our Lives, and we need more of them.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts about the latest Days of Our Lives developments!

Don't forget to check back on Sunday for our latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion. And if you'd like some extra insight into EJ Dimera, check out our recent interview with Dan Feuerriegel.

Days Of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes or watch online on Peacock TV on weeknights after 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST.

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.