Sarah scoffed at Xander’s jealous side, Chad proclaimed himself Stefano’s favorite son, Kayla tested Tripp’s DNA, while Orpheus, once again, kidnapped Marlena.
Our TV Fanatics, Jack Ori and Christine Orlando, are joined by Odmac and Soaps4Ever from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Sarah’s behavior, who was really Stefano’s favorite, what those DNA results will show, Jan’s theory, and which was the most annoying story this week in Salem.
Do you think Sarah is overreacting to Xander being jealous of Philip? Will Sarah and Xander’s relationship last?
Odmac: Sarah is overreacting to Xander being jealous of Philip. She should be solely on his side in feeling annoyed he didn’t get the full CEO position.
Xander has done everything Victor asked of him even when he’s been mistreated at times and still remains respectful. Yes, I believe Sarah and Xander will stay together.
Jack: There are no words for how much Sarah was driving me nuts. Okay, so Xander needs to learn to ignore Philip’s taunts, but Sarah was acting like a 15-year-old, as usual.
Xander never told her she can’t be friends with Philip, he’s not required to tell her every aspect of his past, and this whole thing would blow over if Sarah would stop throwing tantrums about it.
I agreed with Xander when he pointed out that getting jealous was the least of all the things he’s ever done. Sarah is making a mountain out of a molehill while being totally oblivious to Philip’s extremely obvious efforts to push Xander’s buttons.
At this point, I’m rooting for Xander to decide he can do better than Sarah and walk away, and that’s sad because I used to find Sarah tolerable when she was with Xander.
Soaps4Ever: I think Sarah is overreacting because she’s smart enough to know Philip could be capable of try to drive a wedge between her and Xander. And she is going out of her way to push the issue, knowing that Xander is jealous when she and Philip spend time together.
Sarah looks at it like Xander is trying to be possessive, but it’s just a matter of him not trusting Philip. I think their relationship will suffer, but they will eventually find a way back.
Christine: I’m really hoping that Sarah is playing Philip and that her behavior is part of either her plan or one she and Xander cooked up together. If so, then Sarah can gain Philip’s trust and perhaps manipulate him.
But if I’m wrong about that, then Sarah is acting like an immature brat who is cozying up to Philip to make Xander jealous and then criticizing him for that same reaction. Please let Sarah be smarter than that because if she’s not, Xander can do better.
Orpheus kidnapped Marlena once again. Is this entertaining or ridiculous? Was there anything Marlena could have done to avoid this?
Odmac: Marlena, being kidnapped by Orpheus once again was entertaining because it wasn’t really a direct revenge against Jarlena but about doing something for his son, despite it being twisted.
Jack: Ugh. How many times do we have to go through this? It seems like Orpheus kidnaps Marlena twice a year at this point. There was SO much Marlena could have done to prevent this.
First of all, why hasn’t John used his ISA connections to get Marlena a top-notch bodyguard yet? Failing that, Marlena could hire ex-security officer Ben as a bodyguard, which would allow her to keep an eye on his mental state while he protects her.
That penthouse should also have an alarm system and security cameras. Once Orpheus was in the house, Marlena could have ignored his threats to hurt John.
Not only is ignoring such threats Self Defense 101, but John has poor impulse control since the aneurysm and was more likely to tear Orpheus’ face-off than not. And those painkillers clearly didn’t knock him out since Belle ringing the doorbell got him to a fully awake state in seconds!
Finally, when Lani came to the door, Marlena could have tipped her off without tipping off Orpheus. Something like, “I’m not surprised you thought he came here.
After all, he’d want to force me to get his son out of Bayview. You might want to put an officer outside for a while,” to make it clear what Orpheus was doing without making it sound like she was betraying him.
Soaps4Ever: I think Orpheus is entertaining, but his continually kidnapping Marlena is getting repetitive. I would welcome some fresh storyline ideas for him.
Still, he is one of my favorite characters on the show, so I’m glad when he is on even when I’m feeling lukewarm about the plot. I’m sure Marlena could have found a way to outsmart him, but I guess the writers don’t want that. It would be a nice change, though!
Christine: Not again! This has gotten ridiculous. Do John and Marlena not lock their doors? You’d think with all they’ve been through and John being an ex-ISA agent that they’d have a top-notch security system on that penthouse.
Or that Marlena could carry a rape alarm around with her with one of those ear-pulsing alarms that go off when you press it. Or she just could have quietly mouthed the words, “He’s here,” to Lani to give her a heads up.
Chad called himself Stefano’s favorite son. Do you think that’s true, and if not Chad, then who was Stefano’s favorite?(Stefano’s sons: Tony, EJ, Andre, Benjy, Peter (adopted), Chad, Stefan, Jake.)
Odmac: In my opinion, Tony is Stefano’s son because he was really devastated when Tony died in 2009 and tried to avenge his death by murdering Philip; a whole storyline was developed because of this.
Jack: I think Stefano had this gift of making all his sons feel like the favorite when they pleased him and like the black sheep when they weren’t. I don’t think he really had a favorite, but the ones he got along with least well were Tony and EJ, so they couldn’t really lay claim to the title with a straight face.
Soaps4Ever: I’m not sure which of Stefano’s sons was his favorite, but Andre seems like the most interesting choice. Chad doesn’t have enough of a dark side (yet.) And when they tried to make him more evil, it didn’t seem to work that well, although I do like Chad. I just don’t see him being Stefano’s favorite, though.
Christine: I’d say Stefano’s favorites were Tony and EJ, even though both gave Stefano a hard time; they each had a particular bond with their father. But as Jack says above, Stefano had a knack for making each of his kids feel special when he wanted to and like a disappointment when they displeased him.
You tell us TV Fanatics, who was Stefano’s favorite son?
Kayla and Steve took Tripp’s toothbrush to see if his DNA matches baby Henry’s. What do you think the results will show?
Odmac: It might be a false alarm with the DNA test showing Tripp to be the dad because someone could tamper with the results.
Jack: This being Days of Our Lives, I have no doubt the results will show a 100% match, either because someone switched DNA test results or because Tripp has a brother out there somewhere he doesn’t know about who just happened to be the real rapist.
Soaps4Ever: I have a feeling it will show his DNA, but I don’t think Tripp is guilty. I think there is more to the rape story than Allie can remember. I have a couple of theories about how his DNA could match even though he is innocent. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Christine: I’m not looking forward to this story because I’m reasonably sure it’s going to say Tripp is the father of this child, even though he probably isn’t, and this whole plot point will end up making a mockery out of sexual assault.
Despite Jan’s craziness, does she have a point about Belle possibly having feelings for Philip?
Odmac: No, this time around, I see no lingering looks or feelings between Phelle with the way they interact with each other; they seem to just be platonic.
Jack: I doubt it. I think this overplayed triangle needs to go, and Jan is beating a dead horse. Even if Belle did have lingering feelings for Philip, which I don’t think she does, I think he’s going to fall for Sarah while trying to break her and Xander up, so it won’t matter.
Soaps4Ever: I think Belle does have some feelings still for Philip, and that is why she reacts the way she does when Jan brings him up. And of course, Jan knows this and likes to rile her up with it.
Christine: Honestly, since they’ve all returned, I don’t feel any chemistry between Belle and Philip or Belle and Shawn. I’m currently finding Jan more interesting than all of them.
Which storyline annoyed you the most this week in Salem?
Odmac: My worst scene this week was Xarah and Philip because scenes with this group are always unpleasant, tense, and strained. Philip has a lot of connections in town, show him with other people.
Jack: Sadly, this was a rough week for me. A lot of what happened annoyed me, but I think my least favorite is this redundant Orpheus story. How many times is Orpheus going to mess with the power grid, break out of prison, and kidnap Marlena? Orpheus used to be one of my favorite villains, but this overplayed trope is making me lose interest fast!
Besides that, I can’t stand that Abby is supposed to be an investigative reporter, yet can’t see through Gwen’s obvious lies and manipulations.
The whole Rolf story was pointless (except for the Tony flashbacks), and nobody realizing that Gwen had a hand in Rolf’s escape was stupid.
Equally pointless was the Charlie/Claire scene. So he needs her to run over to Titan in the middle of the night to unlock the door for him… so that he can tell her he’s staying at the office and will have to have a date with her some other time.
What was the point of that? Charlie could have just asked her out over the phone, and we would have had the same story movement without all those wasted scenes.
Plus, there were so many logical problems with that set-up. Why is Charlie working while the rest of Titan is at home? How is he going to work without an Internet connection?
Why would Belle let Claire go out in the middle of the night for flashlight batteries when she knows the dangerous criminal who kidnapped her once before is on the loose, and she could just as easily ask Shawn to bring home an extra flashlight from the police station? Why was Horton Town Square even open at that hour for Claire to get batteries?
And worst of all, why were Belle and Shawn not worried about Claire taking forever to get home with the batteries after being shaken up both by Jan’s impromptu visit and Orpheus being on the run?
Soaps4Ever: The Xander/Sarah/Philip triangle is a little annoying.
Also, I don’t like how Claire is falling for Charlie, and I don’t think he is a good guy. I suspect he has some dark secrets.
And the scene where Jan had the big crystal rock and Belle kept egging her on was just plain ridiculous. Why would Belle want to antagonize Jan, knowing she can be dangerous?
Christine: The constant bickering and baiting between Xander and Philip has gotten annoying. I used to like both characters but adding Sarah playing on Xander’s jealousy to the mix, and I’m tempted to change the channel.
Also, Chad and Abigail allowing a virtual stranger once hunted by the mob to care for their children and become a part of their home, is maddening.
Oh, and I keep wondering how Ben is still paying the bill for his room at the Salem Inn?
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives and why?
Odmac: Favorite scene was Jan and Belle. The actress who plays Jan is so good and natural that when she first arrived, I really did believe she was concerned about Claire’s healing by giving her that crystal rock.
Jack: To my surprise, I loved Clyde and Ben’s scenes. Clyde is as skeevy as they come, and his character was ruined for me when we learned he raped his stepdaughter.
But Clyde was the voice of reason, acknowledged he’d been a crappy father, and was genuinely invested in Ben’s well-being, even if it’s only because he doesn’t want to lose the only family he has left.
Soaps4Ever: Maybe not the best storyline, but I think the Gwen situation is the most interesting right now. There must be a good reason why she wants to sabotage Abigail. Makes you wonder who she really is.
Christine: I didn’t have a lot of favorites this week. I do agree that Jan is interesting. She’s always just on the edge of making you believe her before she slips back into wanting someone dead. I’m wondering if that giant piece of rose quartz will come back into play somehow and have nothing to do with healing.
Okay, Days fans, let us know what you thought of our answers and how you saw things this week in Salem by hitting that Big, Blue, SHOW COMMENTS button down below!
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.