Eli forgave Lani, Ciara found baby David’s dad while Ben faced death, and everyone worried that Maggie couldn’t handle the truth on Days of Our Lives.
Our TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Fluffysmom from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate how fast Eli went back to Lani, if Maggie needs protecting and which important scenes shouldn’t have been cut.
After much prodding from Julie and Valerie, Eli forgave Lani and the two reunited and jumped back into bed. Was this the perfect concussion to their story or did this reconciliation happen too fast
Jack: It all should have required more than a quick apology and some pushing from well-intentioned but wrongheaded relatives to resolve.
Eli doesn’t need to do an Eric and berate Lani publicly for months, but he doesn’t need to jump into bed with her two days after saying he needs time to get over everything, either.
Fluffysmom: I think their reconciliation happened way too quickly. I didn’t like Valerie and Julie pushing Eli to rush into a reunion with Lani. He could have used more than a day or two to process everything that happened.
Christine: Eli was about to marry Gabi. No matter what she did, he was in love with her and now he’s hopping back into bed with Lani and declaring his love for her after a year’s worth of lies and secrets.
I’m not saying they can’t get back together but there should have been some work involved. This was so fast it was silly and belittled their love story.
Was Ciara right to tell Ben she may have found Jordan’s real killer or was this giving him false hope considering his execution is only hours away?
Jack: I think it was okay to do that. If Ben is going to die, it’s better he die knowing that his name will be cleared post-death and that the truth will come out, and for him to have hope rather than sitting around waiting to die.
Fluffysmom: I’m torn. I understand her wanting Ben to have hope during his final hours. On the other hand, how awful would it be to realize that the truth about Jordan’s killer may come out hours after your execution.
Christine: Once Ciara had the name of David’s birth father and new that his DNA was at the scene, I think it was okay to tell Ben, even if there may not be enough time to save him.
At least it gave Ben some answers and he knows that Ciara will clear his name even if it might be too late to save him.
There were some big revelations this week but the show skipped or edited out some important scenes, including Sonny telling Justin that Maggie killed Adrienne and Sarah learning that her mother was turning herself over to the police. Which scene did you miss the most?
Jack: Both of those scenes would have been great to see, but I’m especially interested in how Justin would have handled the revelation. His interaction with Maggie wasn’t his honest reaction because he was trying to get rid of her before Stevano showed up.
Fluffysmom: Both of these scenes needed to happen onscreen. Justin lost the love of his life and deserved to find out the truth onscreen.
Sarah needs her mom right now during the nightmare that’s happening with Mickey’s illness. I hope we end up seeing these scenes as a flashback.
Christine: Let’s not forget Abe trying to convince the DA to let Gabi go free. I hate when they skip over important, emotional scenes like these because those are the scenes that make viewers invest in these characters.
As to which one I wanted to see most, I’d say Sonny telling Justin that Maggie caused the accident that killed Adrienne. That had to be a lot for him to process and viewers should have seen his level of shock and disbelief.
Victor doesn’t think that Maggie is strong enough to handle the truth that not only did her drunk driving kill Adrienne, but her own grandchild. Do you think he’s right about that?
Jack: He’s wrong. Maggie is upset and feels she deserves to be in jail, but she’s handling the news responsibly.
Usually, when people protect loved ones from truths, it’s the protectors who can’t handle the situation, not the people they are protecting, and this is a case in point.
Fluffysmom: I agree with Victor. Maggie barely seems able to deal with the realization that she killed Adrienne. How will she ever forgive herself for killing her own granddaughter? I don’t know how she will ever be able to live with that truth.
Christine: I think he has a point. If she ever finds out that she was responsible for killing her own grandchild, I don’t know how she’ll come back from that. Given her history of illness, that level of emotional and mental devastation could do her in.
On a scale of 1 (dumb as a box of rocks) to 10 (pure genius), rate Rafe not having done a proper background check on “Evan” before allowing him to move into his home and take care of David?
Jack: How about -100? You’re telling me a former FBI agent didn’t run a background check on the person he hired to live with and take care of his baby? Rafe deserves to lose his bid for adoption based on that alone.
And I’m tired of the writers putting nonsense like that into the stories and thinking viewers won’t notice or won’t question it.
Fluffysmom: Rafe is a complete moron for not conducting a thorough background check before he hired Evan and allowed him to move in. I think a 1 may be too high of a score for Rafe.
He’s been an FBI agent and police commissioner. There’s no excuse for his incompetence in putting David at risk.
Christine: It’s so stupid it’s not even on the chart. He’s a former FBI agent and current police detective. He knows the type of evil that is out in the world.
That Rafe would allow a total stranger into his home and let him care for a child without doing a background check is absurd.
If you could rewrite one current character on Days right now, who would it be?
Jack: Just one? The top of my list is restoring Steve and Hope to their proper personalities. I’d also rewrite Lani to be stronger — no more victim mentality.
And I’d also restore Abe to being the highly moral cop and father he has been all these years and have him hold Lani accountable for her actions and stand up to Gabi’s nonsense instead of making decisions that are the opposite of his character.
Fluffysmom: I’d like to forget this Stevano nonsense ever happened and have Steve be himself again.
Christine: Ciara! She’s Hope and Bo’s daughter and I want to like her but she’s selfish, has no goals of her own and is obsessed with her boyfriend.
Ciara is the child of legacy characters and should be the show’s future, instead she’s shallow, myopic and completely disappointing.
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives?
Jack: I was surprised by how emotional Ben and Clyde’s scenes were! I generally have little use for these two, especially Clyde, but his attempt to make amends before Ben’s death was one of the most emotional scenes of the week.
I also loved Sonny’s reaction to learning Maggie was the one who killed Adrienne, especially when he pointed out that after Daniel was killed in a drunk driving accident, she was the last person who should ever get behind the wheel drunk.
Fluffysmom: I liked Xander finally admitting to Maggie that she caused the accident. It was hard to watch her hear the truth. Xander didn’t want to hurt her but he couldn’t lie to her when she was asking point-blank if she caused the accident.
Christine: I enjoyed how Justin stood up to Stevano and even tried to reach the real Steve, even though doing so would probably mean the end for him and Kayla. His only concern was Kayla’s safety and Steve’s well-being, not his own needs. I like that version of Justin.
Also, oddly enough, I liked how Gabi unapologetically gamed the system to her advantage. Everyone was shocked but Gabi has been screwed over multiple times and I can’t blame her for playing her one card to avoid losing her daughter and spending ten years in prison.
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Want to chat more about selfishness winning out in Salem? 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.