Hope went back to the Salem PD and flirted with Rafe, Allie left a note and her baby behind, Eve planned Ciara’s murder, while Gabi tried to turn Jake into Stefan 2.0.
Our TV Fanatics, Jack Ori and Christine Orlando, are joined by DoolFan4Life from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate if Rafe and Hope should get back together, Allie leaving her baby to Nicole, if Eve is being written out of character who is the most interesting character in Salem, and more.
Hope agreed to go back to the Salem PD, and sparks flew between her and Rafe. Are you happy about either of those things?
DoolFan4Life: I don’t mind Hope going back to the SPD because once upon a time when she was properly being written, she was a good cop with good instincts, until Rafe came along and Ron decided to trash her character.
As for sparks flying, definitely not, as those sparks are non-existent no matter how much the writers shove it in our faces, Hope is much more likable when she’s out of Rafe’s orbit and not being Gina, of course.
I wish we didn’t have to revisit the Rope pairing again because I tend to lose my dinner after watching them.
Jack: Ugh. I would be okay with Hope being a cop again if she was actually going to do her job. The idea that Eli can handle all police matters by himself while Lani is on maternity leave is completely ridiculous.
But Hope’s “first day” back so far has consisted of an endless conversation with Rafe about their relationship status while Eve roams Salem and is a danger to herself and others. That’s not good police work, no matter what Hope said about just being good cops.
If I was a fan of this couple, maybe I would feel differently, but I hated this couple every time they tried them before, and I don’t want to see them go down this road yet again.
Christine: Ugh, no. Please no. I’ve been a fan of Hope’s for decades, but I despise her with Rafe. They have no chemistry and were boring beyond belief.
I’m okay with Hope being a cop again, but what bugs me is that she’s playing second fiddle to Rafe. When Hope was named Commissioner, Rafe’s ego couldn’t handle it, but he’s fine as long as she’s not his superior. It’s just another reason why I hate this couple.
I’d much rather see Hope pair up with John and Steve at Black Patch. Watching three old friends work together would be far more entertaining.
Your turn TV Fanatics. Do you want Rafe and Hope to be couple once again?
Allie ran off, leaving a note saying she wanted Nicole and Eric to raise her son. What are your thoughts?
DoolFan4Life: My thoughts are, why does everyone insist that this child is an adult when nothing she’s done has convinced me of this so-called fact? She’s an immature, spoiled brat out to hurt her mom in every way.
Allie hates Sami and says she’s a terrible mom, yet she uses her own child as a bargaining chip and abandons him without a trace. What mature adult thinks this is okay?
And picking Nicole of all people was wrong on so many levels, but I’m hopeful Justin will represent her and Eric so they won’t raise the child. A former baby snatcher and an ex-alcoholic, who still has a violent temper when he doesn’t get his way, are horrible choices for parents.
Jack: First of all, I’ve been enjoying Allie’s time in Salem, and I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of her. It’s also disappointing. Allie ran away to Salem to escape Sami and Lucas and left for the same reason.
I’m all for a Sami vs. Allie story, but I wanted to see some character growth. When Allie finally told Sami she was pregnant and didn’t want her involved, I thought we were getting there, but then she backtracked.
Same goes for Sami. She alienated Allie so much that Allie kicked her out of the delivery room and ran away. Instead of learning ANYTHING, Sami doubled down on trying to undermine Allie’s decisions by asking Belle to help her sue Nicole. Ugh.
Also, it’s going to be hard to prove this is really Allie’s desire when she didn’t as much as get a witness to her signing the note, and this is the third set of parents she has chosen for this baby. So there’s that.
Finally, even though this story is good, it would have made more sense if Sydney was the accidentally-pregnant kid. Yes, she isn’t Lucas’, but Sydney was always close with Nicole, and the fight over her is the reason Nicole and Sami hate each other.
Christine: I’ve generally liked Allie, but she couldn’t have made a more immature, short-sighted decision than to run off and leave her baby with a note!
The fact that she never even talked to Nicole or Eric about adopting her child is appalling. How does she know they even want another child, never mind adopt hers?
It’s similar to how she acted with Rafe. It was easy to blame Sami, but Allie refused to acknowledge that Rafe didn’t truly want to adopt her child. It’s all about what Allie wants.
And if she didn’t want Sami involved, she should have stuck around and made sure her baby went to the parents she chose, not run off like a scared child. Sami is plenty pushy and annoying, but she’s not evil.
Leaving that baby with nothing more than a note is just handing Sami the means to become his legal guardian as his maternal grandmother. I kept waiting for Claire to point that out to Allie, but obviously neither one of them was the holder of the Salem brain this week.
Eve is planning Ciara’s murder in her revenge against Ben. Do you find this in character for Eve?
DoolFan4Life: Honestly, yes, I do. Eve once hired someone who drugged JJ just to keep him from dating her daughter, so going this extreme for the guy who killed her sounds about right.
Eve has always been too self-absorbed in her own stuff to miss the hypocrisy in it all. She lost her child and knows how it feels, but she’s willing to put Hope through the same pain knowing Hope has been there already before.
Eve was never a good person, so I honestly don’t know why many fans are surprised about this. Having said this, I still found the story graphic and disgusting and refused to actually watch a lot of the scenes as I don’t find it entertaining.
Jack: No, not at all. Eve was always more of a Sami or a Nicole, doing the wrong thing for solid reasons and accidentally hurting the people she was trying to protect.
Even when she slept with JJ, it was more or less an attempt to keep him away from Paige, and her attempt to cover that up was because she knew it would break Paige’s heart.
Dumb plans like hiring a prostitute who took it upon herself to drug an unwilling JJ are more her style. She’s not a cold, calculating murderess, and this plan seems like it was tailor-made for Vivian or Kate, not her.
Plus, why on Earth would Eve want Hope to go through the same pain she has gone through since Paige’s death?
Christine: No. Eve has always been a wounded soul who makes terrible decisions, but to actually murder a young woman is over the line.
The only way I can reconcile it is that she’s had some sort of serious mental/emotional breakdown that has pushed her over the edge, in which case, she needs the same kind of help that Ben and Claire have gotten.
Gabi keeps calling Gwen a tramp and a bimbo. Is that just soapy trash talk, or do you find it offensive?
DoolFan4Life: It is soapy trash talk, but it is very dated and offensive how the women on this show speak to one another. This really needs to change.
I feel like this show lacks strong female friendships, and I also think someone who is apparently qualified to be CEO can come up with better insults than this.
Jack: It’s offensive. Gabi seems to relish in being offensive to everyone. Jake isn’t good enough because he’s a blue-collar worker, she trash talks other women, she takes pleasure in the idea of Julie dying of a heart attack, etc.
But that doesn’t excuse her behavior, and I’m quite frankly tired of misogyny being accepted because “it’s a soap.” Victor does it too, and I don’t like it, even though I generally enjoy his character.
Christine: Days has characters call female characters tramp, slut, and bimbo frequently, and it needs to stop. The men have just as much indiscriminate sex as the women, yet they aren’t subjected to such insults.
It’s nothing more than dated, lazy writing, and they can do better.
Your turn TV Fanatics. Did you think Gabi calling Gwen a tramp was just soapy trash talk or do you find it offensive?
Jake wants to learn about running Dimera Enterprises. Do you want to see him team up with Gabi to take the company away from Chad?
DoolFan4Life: No, I think I’d personally like a break from Gabi. All she does is whine about Stefan, and it makes me sick, I prefer Jake as Jake, and she’s trying to turn him into Stefan. Stefan was a disgusting rapist and horrible character.
I would rather see two brothers bond, not rival, and I also prefer Jake the mechanic as opposed to Jake, the CEO. What’s wrong with him being a mechanic?
Gabi is always talking down to him because of it, and I find that a little annoying. CEO stories are repeated over and over, and it’s boring now. I wish Gabi would leave and just give it a rest.
Jack: God, no! I want him to reject the idea that being a mechanic is inferior to being a CEO and go back to what he really wanted to do and be.
I don’t like how they are gradually turning him into Stefan 2.0, either. That wasn’t his character, and I don’t want it to become who he is.
Besides, I’m beyond bored with the constant fight over who will be CEO of Dimera. Pick someone, and let’s get onto something more interesting.
Christine: I can remember back to the Days when many scenes revolved around the Brady Fish Market. Not everything needs to pretend to be corporate high drama.
Everything having to do with Dimera Enterprises is boring. Jake and Gabi have nice chemistry, and it would be far more interesting to see her fall for the mechanic than turn Jake into Stefan 2.0.
Currently, who do you find to be the most interesting character in Salem?
DoolFan4Life: I have personally found Jack to be very interesting lately. I love the bromance between him and Xander, but he also had great interactions with Gwen and others.
He’s always been a fan favorite for me, but I’m enjoying his involvement with others lately.
Jack: Almost all my favorites are gone now that Allie ran away. I found her to be a compelling character that, in some ways, reminded me of JJ because they both shared a history of making stupid decisions to rebel against their parents.
Claire is mildly interesting now, I guess, and I have come to like Kate, who I never used to like at all. And I’m always thrilled to see Sami and Lucas have screen time together. Can we forget EJ and let them reconcile romantically? Please?
Christine: Xander. I love how he’s trying to redeem himself, but we still see his vulnerability and bad-boy streak. His friendship with Jack has been a real highlight.
Which leads me to my other most interesting character, Jack. I used to love Jack and Jennifer, but now I realize I really love Jack. Where Jennifer can be a self-righteous bore on her own, Jack is entertaining no matter who else he’s interacting with, and I just want to see more.
What were your favorite or least favorite moments of the week?
DoolFan4Life: Least favorite moments are a tie between Gabi/Gwen/Chad/Jake drama and the Ben and Ciara drama. I also didn’t care for Sonny’s tantrum either, Will didn’t deserve that.
Favorite would be all things Jack, I felt he was so well used throughout, and his scenes were humorous as well.
I also liked the romance between Steve and Kayla as it was a nice break from all the doom and gloom of the show, and I’ll take a good Stayla scene because I love this super couple.
Jack: I loved Claire’s confrontation with Eve, especially when Claire told her that Eve had enabled her when she was setting fires and that Paige would not want Eve to be doing what she was doing.
Least favorite: Now that we’re past Eve torturing Ben, we do not need daily flashbacks. Also, I hated this whole Vincent thing. Oh, and Sonny and Will are being awful parents and spoiling Ari with this whole “let’s get a puppy cause she wants one” story.
Christine: I loved Gwen’s interaction with Jack and Jennifer. I’m not Gwen’s biggest fan, but that was really funny.
And I actually appreciated that Will and Sonny were looking at animal rescue sites to find their family a puppy.
Least favorites were all of the flashbacks to Ben being tortured. It was bad enough the first time around.
And we didn’t see Sarah and Xander all week! That’s just wrong.
It’s your turn, TV Fanatics! Hit that Big, Blue, SHOW COMMENTS button down below to chime in with our round table. Want to chat more about the happenings 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.