Soap characters can be fickle, but Sarah Horton takes it to extremes.

She hated Xander so much that she didn't want him to know he was baby Victoria's father. Then she forgave him when she learned Susan was alive. But that only lasted five minutes because she learned he had filed a custody suit.

Sarah's ever-changing mood toward Xander on Days of Our Lives during the week of 10-16-23 gave me whiplash, but could this be part of a story about post-partum depression?

Days of Our Lives doesn't have a great track record with mental health storylines. So even if Sarah's moods did have to do with post-partum issues, we can't expect a realistic story out of this.

We've already got Sloan suggesting that post-partum hormones could trigger a relapse of Sarah's drug-induced delusion that she is Renee Dumond, and that's probably the only mention we'll get of that issue. Ugh.

It's a shame. Linsey Godfrey would rock a meaty storyline about Sarah having a realistic, treatable mental health condition, just as she would have done Emmy-winning work if Sarah had become an alcoholic like her mother.

Instead, she's always given these silly stories where Sarah's emotions turn on a dime for no apparent reason. This latest Sarah/Xander angst doesn't make Sarah sympathetic or relatable; she may not literally think she's five years old anymore, but she certainly acted like one when she found out about that custody suit.

Sarah's anger is misplaced and ridiculous. Until two seconds before she found out about the suit, Sarah had made it clear that she was staying with Rex and that they intended to block Xander from access to his newborn daughter. Was Xander supposed to accept that without a fight?

If Sarah thought that's what he would do, she has no idea who he is.

Xander's reactions are also misplaced. He should have filed for joint custody rather than full, and he shouldn't have agreed to Sloan's plan to claim Sarah is too mentally unstable to care for a baby just because Justin yelled at him about kidnapping Bonnie.

Both characters need to learn impulse control now that they have a child. Victoria may be an adorable lump that does nothing worse but interfere with their sleep right now, but as she gets older, she will push their buttons, and they can't afford to respond so dramatically.

Sarah and Xander's animosity toward each other is perilously close to a breakup for the sake of drama. The longer it goes on, the more I wish that Chloe hadn't left town and Xander found a way to co-parent with Sarah without having much to do with her.

Unfortunately, this isn't the only -- or even the most -- annoying story Days of Our Lives is telling.

Two others are vying for that dubious honor. Dimitri and Leo's nonsense ate up too much screen time, while Clyde's coercion of Ava is not believable when Ava is a former mob boss. But even worse than either of those: Gabi's insufferable attitude.

Gabi works better as a villain than as a good girl. Her dark side fits her personality well, and bad girl Gabi always causes a ton of trouble for her cop brother. Plus, Gabi's history suggests she might be the kind of person who does terrible things to ease her pain.

She was abused so severely by Nick that the only way she saw to rid herself of him was to kill him, and that could mess anyone up.

But that doesn't mean that the version of Gabi we're getting on-screen, who only cares about taking over Dimera Enterprises to the point that she would do ANYTHING for those stock shares, is at all entertaining.

EJ's disgust at learning that Gabi forced a dying Dimitri's hand in exchange for calling 911 was well-earned. (And didn't Deimos do the same thing to Victor once, earning him the wrath and scorn of the Kiriakis family?)

Once Gabi found out that EJ knew she had those shares, her choices were limited -- but her new plans were just as awful. She wanted to kidnap Rachel, get Vivian to kill Kristen, or offer Brady fake evidence that Kristen is abusing Rachel so that he can win back custody.

Fortunately, Stefan vetoed the first two, but he and Gabi are trying to figure out the third's details. We know Camila Banus is leaving Days of Our Lives soon, and that day can't come fast enough now!

It would be poetic justice for Kristen to lose Rachel, though. She shrugged her shoulders at not knowing where her child was when Rachel was supposed to be doing homework, and that's the least bad example of her parenting skills.

She's also pulled a gun on Dimitri while Rachel was somewhere in the house -- the very thing that lost Brady custody -- and by all accounts spoils the kid, taking her on an expensive shopping spree on a school night and buying her every new toy as soon as she wants it.

Brady should have appealed that custody decision a long time ago! But since Belle is also exiting stage left soon, how will he pull it off?

Brady's story with Tate is far more interesting than any of the nonsense surrounding Kristen, though I'm confused as to why everyone keeps saying Tate is a mini-Theresa.

Have we all forgotten teenage Brady's return from boarding school? He had just as bad an attitude toward Marlena as Rachel did toward Chloe, and he's never outgrown his obsession with beautiful women -- which Tate inherited from him.

Brady's a lot harder on Tate than he ever was on Rachel, even though Rachel deserved it more. Tate should face consequences for the damage he did to the school, but Brady's acting like it's much worse than it was.

Conversely, Rachel gets away with so much bad behavior that I didn't mind Holly laying into her, even if it was for a silly reason.

Holly's shampoo problem came out of nowhere and seemed to be a plot point for the sake of Holly trying to manipulate Kristen into helping her get Johnny's attention.

As if a 16-year-old could get one over on Kristen Dimera!

Holly's behavior is obnoxious most of the time. Supposedly, she's a mini-Nicole, but she seems to be a giant version of Rachel. No wonder they don't get along!

And while unrequited love is a classic soap trope, Holly must get over Johnny. He's an adult, and she's a kid, and there is no way in hell she will force him away from Chanel and toward her.

Holly'll have to learn that lesson the hard way since she won't listen to anyone. Can it please happen sooner rather than later?

Elsewhere, Talia became the latest person to leave Days of Our Lives abruptly.

There may have been a mass exodus in response to the controversy surrounding former producer Albert Alaar. Many of these exits seem abrupt, often happening mid-story.

Rex simply dropping his claim to Sarah and the baby and leaving for Chicago didn't make sense, nor did Talia deciding to return to California.

Talia had just gotten her job at the hospital after impulsively leaving New York, which led to her getting in trouble; Stanford contacts or not, jumping from one position to another all the time doesn't look good and makes it less likely she'll be hired anywhere.

Besides, isn't she still on probation in Salem?

Of course, this is the same city where Rafe and Jada stood around complaining about lax security while Dimitri escaped, and a nurse gave Nicole a new copy of the DNA test results -- and almost gave one to Eric because he was standing next to her!

Dimitri's escape defied credibility.

Rafe and Jada came to take him to jail, only to realize they needed Kayla's signature.

They left again, giving Leo plenty of time to help Dimitri get out of handcuffs -- a plan that worked partly because there was no guard stationed outside the door even though Dimitri was in police custody while a patient at the hospital.

This is the kind of nonsense that only happens in Salem. Why did Rafe and Jada pace the halls, decrying the lack of security instead of guarding Dimitri's door?

And Leo promised some Lucy and Ethel antics, but his behavior was not funny. As a lifelong I Love Lucy fan, I felt cheated!

It randomly turned out to be Abby's birthday so that Chand could shut Stephanie out while he went to Abby's grave. But was that setup for a murder mystery?

So far, Lucas, EJ, Chad, and Ava all intensely desire to end Clyde's life. Of course, other than Lucas, all these people appear indestructible. They've all come back from the dead at least once, and EJ failed to kill Clyde once before.

Still, if Clyde dies, this story might be worth it. Otherwise, it's a waste of screen time.

There is no reason that former mob boss Ava Vitali should crumble under the threat of something happening to her son. If she's giving into Clyde's threats, it better be because she has some master plan!

We got an Abe Carver sighting this week! It's a miracle, but I wish more of Abe and Paulina's story were on-screen.

Abe has amnesia, not viewers. We remember that he exists, that Paulina is now mayor because of his memory condition, and that he and Paulina are trying to rebuild their relationship when he has no idea who she is.

That's a meaty story, but we're only getting bits and pieces of it. For the most part, Abe and Paulina's dates are off-screen,

Abe: Would you like to go to dinner with me at the Bistro?
Paulina: Isn't it a little early?
Abe: It is, but I read about an early bird special.
Paulina: Early bird specials? Aren't those for old married couples?
Abe: Well, we are married.
Paulina: But we're not old.

• Permalink: But we're not old.

James Reynolds and Jackee Harry are some of daytime's best actors. They'd knock this story out of the park, so why do their only contributions involve talking to others about how challenging the situation is?

I liked John supporting Abe. We don't have enough friendship moments on Days of Our Lives anymore. Still, this story would be far stronger if Abe actively participated in it!

Elsewhere, Nicole got a copy of the real test results after spending half an hour telling Eric that he could use a surrogate to have his own baby. Coincidence? I think not.

This story is hopefully nearing its end, though I still wish that Nicole and Eric would become co-parents rather than getting back together.

The biggest twist of all was the Friday cliffhanger. Konstatin's appearance at Theresa's door will have viewers scratching their heads all weekend.

Some viewers have long speculated that Theresa forged the letter stating Alex was Victor's son, but she wouldn't need Konstatin's help to do that.

It's more likely that he's after Maggie's half of the Kiriakis estate. But what's in it for Theresa if she helps him with that?

Maggie's scenes with Konstatin have been fun, and I'd have loved for her to find a third romantic partner in Victor's childhood friend.

I'm disappointed that they're going in the direction of Konstatin being a schemer instead.

What about you, Days of Our Lives fanatics? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us what you think of this week's stories!

Check out the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion, updated every Sunday for even more Days of Our Lives chat.

Days of Our Lives streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes drop on weekday mornings at 6/5c.

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.