Allie finally allowed Marlena to hypnotize her, Rafe and Nicole got closer, Abby was pushed to forgive Chad, and to no one’s shock, Ciara turned up alive but held captive outside of Salem.
Our TV Fanatics Jack and Christine are joined by Kayla from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate how many people owe Tripp an apology, whether they want Ciara back in Salem, if Nicole belongs with Eric or Rafe, and much more…
Allie remembered Charlie raped her and apologized to Tripp. Who else is at the top of your “Apologize to Tripp” list, and why?
Kayla: Let me say, I am very happy about this. Next to apologize to Tripp, It should be Kayla, for sure, and then Lucas. (However, I did love that Lucas was trying to be there for his daughter).
Jack: Lucas and Roman. Lucas attacked Tripp with a pair of scissors, and Roman told him to get out of town and did the Salem equivalent of cursing him out just because he put up a missing persons’ flyer after Charlie kidnapped Ava.
Nicole also owes Tripp an apology, but Roman is the one that stuck in my head because it was so out of character and obnoxious.
Christine: I’m eager to see the discussion between Tripp and Kayla because I think that’s the person who hurt Tripp the most.
But Lucas and Roman were both horrible. I understood their anger given what they thought they knew, but the constant threats of violence towards Tripp were still wrong. They definitely owe Tripp apologies as well.
Ciara is alive! Rate your excitement from 1 (Can she go back to being dead?) to 10 (I’m thrilled she’s back!)
Kayla: To be honest, I have mixed feelings. I am happy for Ben, but I am so sick of this storyline that I just want it to be over.
Jack: Meh. I’m not a fan of Ben and Ciara and their co-dependent relationship (Ben can’t decide what shirt to wear without Ciara’s input? Really?)
I’m giving it a 2 only because at least we get rid of the constant grief over someone who is still alive now that she’s been proven to be.
Christine: If Ciara had the possibility of a story that didn’t involve her over-the-top love for Ben, then I might be more excited.
But seriously, she’s been back all of a minute, and they’re already doing a Romeo and Juliet theme? Oye.
Brady got shot! Who’s fault was it? Brady’s, Philip’s, Chloe’s, the Vitali mob, someone else’s?
Kayla: I feel like it was both Phillip’s and Vitali mob because if Phillip wasn’t involved with them, none of this would off happened.
One good thing to come out of all of this is new Broe content.
Jack: I feel like being snarky and saying the writers, who thought this unoriginal story was a good idea.
But okay. Obviously, the Vitali mob goon pulled the trigger on Angelo’s order, so they’re literally responsible, and the goon was so stupid he didn’t even look to see who he was shooting at.
Philip is the most to blame since he refused on multiple occasions to go to either Victor or the cops and put an end to this.
Christine: Philip and the Vitali mob. The mob actually pulled the trigger, but Philip got himself and then Chloe and Brady into this mess.
I hate what a mess this story has made of Philip. He used to be a flawed but likable character. Now he’s just whiny and irresponsible. It’s not a good look.
Anna pushed Abigail to forgive Chad and get back together. Should Abby do just that?
Kayla: Look, I get that Chad supposedly slept with Gwen, but for all they could of known, she could have drugged him.
I think Anna’s right that Abby should forgive Chad. After all, they have gone through, I wouldn’t want to throw that all away and especially since Chad went out of his way to find out the truth about Gwen.
Jack: No, no, no. I love Anna, and I loved her giving Abigail advice, but she’s wrong. As Abigail has said several times, it isn’t the sex. It’s that Chad has zero faith in her or their relationship, and she didn’t even mention the horrible things he said about her faking her mental illness to get out of trouble.
If this couple were to go to a marriage counselor and do the hard work of rebuilding what has been broken, then maybe. But as it is, Abby should move on.
Christine: No! Chad chose to believe that his wife faked her mental illness to have an affair with his brother, all on Gwen’s say so. That’s a severe breach of trust.
Do I think their marriage is over? It doesn’t have to be, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.
These two love one another, and they have two kids, so they should work on their problems. I wish the show would have them working with a marriage counselor because that could be both dramatic and realistic, but I doubt we’ll get that, which is a shame.
Do you want to see Rafe and Nicole as a couple, or will Nicole’s heart always belong to Eric?
Kayla: Two letters can answer this N-O, which means no. I think Nicole’s heart will always belong to Eric.
Jack: I have shipped Rafe and Nicole since Rafe pretended to be the father of one of Nicole’s babies that didn’t make it. I am beyond excited that the writers are FINALLY going there after all these years!
I just hope that Eric doesn’t turn back up just as Rafe and Nicole get serious.
I have not bought this Eric being the love of Nicole’s life nonsense since he berated her over the shreds half a decade ago, and I don’t want to see Rafe get his heart broken again.
(Let’s also hope that a recast Hope doesn’t turn up to interfere with this pairing.)
Christine: Eric is a tedious bore, and he’s always judging Nicole for her bad decisions, even though he has a horrible temper that no one ever judges him for.
I like Nicole and Rafe. They have a solid friendship and could make a really fun couple, but I’m too afraid of Eric strolling back into Salem to get my hopes up.
What do you find most frustrating about the show right now?
Kayla: I have a few things Ciara’s storyline, Kristen, Gwen, The Twin Kidnapping, Vitali Mob, Charlie, and Phillip.
Jack: I’m beyond frustrated with the awful way Allie’s rape is being treated. It’s wonderful that Lindsey Arnold (Allie) offered support to real-life survivors after the flashbacks.
Still, real-life survivors have gotten virtually no support from watching this, as it is focused on poor Tripp being falsely accused and Allie and her trauma are an afterthought.
The writers also keep skipping realistic, compelling stories that are right in front of their faces to have constant kidnappings and other unnecessary, unoriginal stories.
We could have had a story about new parents Eli and Lani not knowing how to deal with their own parents imposing their opinions on them as they begin to raise their children, but instead, we got yet another story about babies being stolen from the hospital.
We could have had Brady trying to help Philip understand he is a gambling addict, but instead, we had Brady getting shot yet again.
We could have had Charlie and Claire be two damaged people who were starting over together instead of Charlie turning out to be yet another nice guy turned evil.
And Gwen swearing revenge because of something JJ did to her at boarding school that he doesn’t even remember would have been far more compelling than this stupid revenge because she thinks Jack didn’t want her as a daughter.
Christine: I find the pacing of the twins’ kidnapping frustrating because we get maybe one day a week on that story, with minimal movement.
That Gabi has come back to town with the sole purpose of trying to win back Jake at the detriment of her relationship with Kate is very frustrating.
And I wish they’d stop Philip from whining that it’s all Xander’s fault. Philip is a military veteran who lost his leg!
Why not give him issues with that, or explore his gambling problems but, as someone who has generally enjoyed this character, making him out to be the entitled family loser is frustrating to watch.
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives?
Kayla: My favorite scene, for sure, was when Allie finally remembered what happened to her that night, as it was the first time we got to see the story in another light.
Jack: I loved, loved, loved Rafe and Nicole getting together! Nicole was so much more relaxed around Rafe than she ever was around Eric, and it was fun.
I also liked Marlena and Allie’s session. That was the one day that Allie’s rape was taken seriously, and it was well done.
Christine: That Allie finally was allowed to remember what happened to her. Those scenes were a long time coming—too long—but at least they were well done.
And as much as I don’t condone violence, seeing Abigail punch Gwen was highly satisfying!
Now it’s your turn, TV Fanatics. What did our round table team get right…or wrong! Hit that big, blue, SHOW COMMENTS button down below and let us know. Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.