It was a busy week in Salem with lots of movement on major stories.
The truth came out about Chad and Gwen’s night in the Salem Inn, Claire questioned her own judgment, and we learned who kidnapped Lani and Eli’s babies.
Our TV Fanatic Jack Ori is joined by Sportsgirl and Trey from My Hourglass: A Days of Our Lives Fan Forum to discuss whether Chad and Abigail have a future, Claire’s feelings about Charlie, and more on our Days of Our Lives Round Table for the week of 1-11-21.
Is Claire right that she missed the signs with Charlie because she was desperate for a boyfriend or is she being too hard on herself?
Sportsgirl: She was being too hard on herself.
Charlie is a con-man desperate to make Claire like him, so he did all he could to look like a good & sweet guy. But that whole “I am sick and can’t see you” thing should have given her a red flag, especially when she saw him and he wasn’t sick.
Trey: I think it’s natural that Claire is having some denial issues with Charlie’s crimes.
He misled her and she fell for him hard. I think a lot of women who find out that their boyfriend isn’t what they seem go through the same range of emotions.
Jack: Claire was definitely being too hard on herself.
Yes, she should have been more suspicious about Charlie’s sudden disappearance after he met Allie, especially when his explanations didn’t make sense.
But this time, she wasn’t acting desperate or clingy. In fact, she would have left Charlie alone if Allie hadn’t pushed her to keep trying to see him.
So this isn’t anything like the unhealthy things she did before she went to Bayview.
Ivan and (presumably) Vivian are behind the babies being kidnapped. React!
Sportsgirl: Not too surprising about Vivian and Ivan. I knew she only pretended to be dead, and she had a reason to get even with Lani.
Trey: I was wondering when Vivian was going to show up again after she faked her own death. I wonder what she has planned for the babies!
Jack: I’m not surprised either.
I love Vivian and Ivan; they’re some of my favorite villains.
Yet I can’t help wishing DAYS had gone a less predictable route. Julie’s guess that Gabi was behind it matched mine.
I’d have loved it if Gabi somehow had managed to get Will and Sonny to adopt the babies. That would have been fantastic drama, though that would have required them being on-screen, so I guess it wouldn’t work right now.
Is there anything Chad can do to make amends for allowing Gwen to manipulate him and distrusting Abigail or do you think that his relationship with Abigail should end permanently?
Sportsgirl: Well, to be honest, they probably should do some marriage counseling, But if it was me, I would dump his butt.
I would believe he will never fully trust me and what kind of marriage is that?
Trey: Chad has major jealousy issues.
He confessed his distrust for Abigail when he was drinking with Gwen.
I don’t know how their relationship can recover from this. They need a lot of family therapy and a lot of time to recover from his infidelity and his distrust.
Jack: Sad to say, I think it needs to be over for these two.
I was a big Chad and Abby fan back in the day, but now Chad is so demeaning and disrespectful of Abigail.
The things he said about her using mental illness as an excuse and his inability to understand she was raped were disgusting, drunk or not.
As Abigail said, it wasn’t about the sex. It was about the distrust. And that’s not something that can be fixed with an apology.
Chloe asked Brady if he could really tolerate another four and a half years of Kristen being in jail. Would you like to see Brady stay loyal to Kristen or give a relationship with Chloe another try?
Sportsgirl: Anyone that knows me knows I would love for Brady and Chloe to get together!
I hate him with Kristen. She hasn’t changed like he thinks she has.
On Friday’s show, I wanted them to kiss so much.
Trey: I don’t want to see a Brady and Chloe reboot. I’m enjoying her pairing with Philip.
Jack: I’d prefer Brady and Chloe to remain friends for the simple reason that I’m tired of these recycled relationships, especially where Chloe is concerned.
She already had a second shot with Lucas, and now she could choose either Brady or Philip, both of whom she already dated in the past.
I’m a Philip/Chloe fan from way back and I think Brady/Chloe also have potential, yet I’d rather Chloe meet someone new instead of going from one past ex to another.
Was Steve right to tell Tripp to let the cops handle Charlie or was Tripp right that he needed to prove Charlie’s guilt himself?
Sportsgirl: In the real world he would be right to let the cops handle this, but this is Salem.
I agree Tripp needed to do this.
Rafe has no idea yet how to prove Charlie’s guilt. The DNA test should have already been done.
Trey: Steve was absolutely right! Any evidence that Tripp finds can be argued as planted evidence. Tripp is not thinking clearly.
Jack: I agreed with Steve too.
The police force in Salem is mostly useless. It seems every other day, someone is taking matters into their own hands.
The same feelings of urgency to get this resolved drove Lucas and Allie to attack Tripp, and anything Tripp got wouldn’t be admissible in court. So what good is it?
What was the most annoying storyline or plot point this week?
Sportsgirl: I hate this baby kidnapping. Besides being an overused plot, it is just a horrible thing to do to Lani especially after losing her other baby.
Trey: I thought this week was really good.
The only thing I could think of was Bonnie and Justin. I don’t like Bonnie but was glad she led the police to Dr. Raynor.
Jack: I hate the baby kidnapping story too.
The writers had an opportunity for a more relatable and realistic story with Lani and Eli being new parents and Abe, Valerie, and Julie all being prone to giving unsolicited advice.
Plenty of drama could have sprung from Lani and Eli not seeing eye to eye on how to deal with their families’ attempts to take over or feeling insecure about their own parenting abilities.
But instead, we got this overused kidnapped baby trope.
And as Sportsgirl said, this was just an awful thing to do to Lani after suffering a miscarriage and being terrified of something going wrong with this pregnancy.
What was your favorite scene, storyline, or quote on this week’s Days of Our Lives?
Sportsgirl: I was so happy everyone found out that Charlie is Ava’s son.
Finally, I won’t have to deal with all the Tripp bashing!
I am waiting for the Tripp apology tour, especially with Lucas and Allie as they almost maimed him for life.
Trey: My favorite scene was the Gwen and Abigail showdown. It was satisfying to watch Abigail slug Gwen.
Jack: I loved the way Rafe tricked Charlie into admitting that Ava is his mother.
Rafe: I’m waiting and waiting, and I’m tired of your bull. So let’s hear it [your explanation].
Charlie: Okay, fine. Ava came to my place. She was talking about knives and hurting herself and I didn’t know what to do so I guess I just panicked and I tied her up.
Rafe: You tied her up to protect her from herself?
Charlie: Yes.
Rafe: Why didn’t you call the police?
Charlie: It never occurred to me.
Rafe: So a woman comes to your door talking about knives and self-harm and instead of calling the police you tied her up. Maybe you didn’t call the police because you didn’t want anyone to know she was at your apartment. So okay, why didn’t you at least call a doctor?
Charlie: I… I thought…
Rafe: You thought what?
Charlie: She hates doctors! She’s terrified of them.
Rafe: Your mother is terrified of doctors? Why?
Charlie: I don’t know.
Rafe: There it is. Ava’s your mother.
For once we saw a cop doing his job instead of missing obvious clues or spending his workday on personal issues!
Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your answers to these questions.
And while you’re here, make sure you check out our Days of Our Lives review for the week of 1-11-21!
Days of Our Lives continues to air on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.