Paulina’s Secret Blew Up In the Best Possible Way on Days of Our Lives, but That *Other* Bombshell Left Us Hanging — Plus, Did Sami Call the Absolute Wrong Person?
November 15 - 19
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI; NBC
Last week’s Days of Our Lives was bonkers. This week continued a little of that, and was mostly non-stop action. I was entertained by just about everything that went down in Salem this week, and it’s partly because of the stories that were left out. But, also, the stories that were told this week, kept me riveted with their humor and juicy reveals. So, let’s get to it…
Left Hanging
The slowest part of the week was Monday when Nicole worried about coming off as Days‘ favorite word for women a slut when EJ tried to convince her to have sex with him. And then Rafe and Ava decided to move forward with their relationship. And that’s all I have to say about those stories.
Luckily, Monday wasn’t a total wash, because Kristen actually revealed to Gwen that she stranded Sarah on a deserted island. Meanwhile, Xander foreshadowed Gwen breaking his newly mended heart by assuring Maggie she was worth her trust and wouldn’t hurt her family ever again. Oops! The only bad part of that story was that they never went back to it. I mean, after months and months, they drop that juicy goodness, and then nothing the rest of the week?! There was a lot of other stuff happening in Salem, so it’s kind of understandable, but hopefully, they’ll dive headfirst into it next week.
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Seeing Double
I honestly don’t know what to make of the devil morphing into Eileen Davidson’s Kristen. It’s hard to believe she could successfully tempt John, considering Kristen’s been around him for years and he hasn’t expressed lingering interest in her. Not to mention the fact that he is completely devoted to Doc. I get that it’s just for story purposes and bringing Eileen Davidson back is a fun gimmick for sweeps, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to drag it out.
It’s also interesting that Davidson is seemingly returning for another Peacock spinoff. But instead of a limited series this time, Days is dropping their first-ever Christmas movie, which will center on Will’s latest story.
I love that they are investing in Days and utilizing the Peacock streaming channel for more soap exposure and viewing, but what will Davidson’s role be? Hopefully, Stacy Haiduk will also be involved whatever it is, because she is Kristen and Susan right now. She should be included in any spinoffs. But also, why is Will writing about Kristen? And will Johnny want to make a movie of that too?
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Great Payoff
Paulina and Abe’s wedding took center stage this week, as it should have. And the scenes of her secret getting exposed were well worth the months of buildup. Of course, MarDevil was there too, but that only added to, or should I say, instigated the drama. But even though the MarDevil story bled into the wedding, it was still about Paulina’s secret and the betrayal and devastation it caused Abe and Lani. MarDevil (and Deidre Hall) taking great delight in the chaos that ensued was just the cherry on top of the classic soap reveal.
Misdirected Anger?
Theo exploding at Chanel seemed super harsh and out of line though. Could Chanel have chosen a better time to reveal Lani isn’t Abe’s daughter? Sure, but Roman, Kate and “Marlena” were the only non-family members she did it in front of. It’s not like the whole town witnessed the wedding debacle. Wouldn’t it have been worse to let Abe marry her mother knowing she’s been lying to him all this time? Chanel also had devil eyes flashing at her, so… she didn’t have a whole lot of choice.
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What’s Next?
Lani about broke my heart when she said she had no one now that Abe and Theo aren’t her biological family. Of course, Eli, the perfect husband that he is, reminded her she has him, Jules and Carver. Not to mention, she’ll always have Abe and Theo — blood relation or not. The fallout to the reveal was great across the board, but it also drove home how wasted Lamon Archey’s Eli is. He’s super attractive; good at romance, comedy and drama; and his character is a Horton. It’s all cued up.
Lani’s reaction to her new reality is the perfect opportunity to propel both of them into a juicy new storyline. The obvious play is for Lani to seek out her biological father. We have to meet this evil man Paulina has been protecting her daughter from, right? That slap Lani gave Paulina should go down in the soap opera hall of fame, but should she maybe understand where Paulina was coming from and that she was just too deep into the lie she couldn’t get out? Perhaps meeting the bad, bad bio dad will help her see that.
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Odds and Ends
• Olivia side-eyeing MarDevil was a great touch, but if everyone’s going to blame Paulina, shouldn’t they blame her too?
• Abe telling Roman all he needed was a friend when he came into the pub after his life blew apart was a perfect, quiet moment.
• As great as Deidre Hall has been playing MarDevil, shout-outs also need to go to Drake Hogestyn and Stacy Haiduk for their comedy routine of John and Susan getting stuck in the crypt.
• Sami’s finally back! But who has her? More importantly, she’s not getting out any time soon, is she? Especially since she called her mother who you know will be possessed again momentarily. Will MarDevil become her next captor? Or could the devil already be who has her?
That’s all I got this time around. As always, these are just my opinions. What are yours? Sound off on the week in Salem below, after getting relationship advice from some of your favorite soap stars in the photo gallery below.
