Sarah planned to divorce Xander, Stefan chose Chloe over Gabi, Will left Sonny over Leo, and Kate died!
Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Phloeforever from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate who in the orchid story will live or die, if Alex has reason to be jealous, whether Kristen will seek revenge, and more!
It appears that Kate has died. Do you think any of the three women will really die when this orchid drama is finally over?
Phloeforever: No. I don’t think any of the women will die. Maybe the orchid will be found in time, or Rex will be the hero doctor coming up with a new treatment to save them.
John and Marlena are needed to be the positive core and strength for the Black family, with Eric seeming to have a complete personality change.
They’ll use Kayla in the hospital to move the Stephanie/Chad/Alex triangle, where Alex’s actions on Friday’s episode could cause problems for his and Stephanie’s relationship, and with Kate, we get an appearance from Lucas reacting to his mom.
Jack: I seriously doubt it. If anything, it’ll be like the Melaswen story (ironically, that ended Kate and Roman the first time around; she thought he was dead.)
I know Ron Carlivati has been cagey about this, but I find it hard to believe that DAYS would kill these three women. If nothing else, Rolf and his magic formula may come to the rescue.
Christine: I hope not! This being Salem, even dying isn’t forever. And as much as none of the three is a particular favorite of mine, I can’t imagine Salem without them.
Perhaps Dr. Rolf will swoop in and save the day under duress, I’m sure.
Now that the truth is out, will Stefan continue his relationship with Chloe or try to reverse the brainwashing and allow his feelings for Gabi to return?
Phloeforever: When Stefan and Chloe were celebrating New Year in bed together at some Miami hotel, and Gabi confronted them, I noticed that Stefan didn’t automatically discount his relationship with Chloe, who he seems to be developing feelings for after having been brainwashed for so long.
Stefan seemed uninterested in Gabi’s revelation that Li and Rolf were involved in him being this way, which makes me think that Stefan and Chloe will continue for some time before he naturally starts to have memories of him and Gabi once more.
There’s also the issue of Li still wanting to be with Gabi.
Jack: He only knows what he knows right now and wants to be with Chloe. But Chloe is hesitant to be with a man whose feelings for her are manufactured in a lab.
Also, Brady is about to be free of Kristen. So if Brady and Chloe reconcile, Stefan may look into what Rolf did to him.
Christine: I think Stefan wants to hold onto something that feels real, and right now, his feelings for Chloe are real to him.
But I doubt Chloe will want to be the manufactured second best to Gabi. And eventually, Stefan will want to know if he’s been manipulated, so he’ll look for the truth. It’s just a matter of who he trusts to help him do that.
Does Stephanie really want Chad or Alex? Does Alex have reason to be jealous?
Phloeforever: I think Stephanie wants Chad, even though she keeps insisting to Alex that she and Chad are just friends and he has no reason to be jealous.
Stephanie and Chad spend way too much time together, just being friends. This seems like a natural budding relationship where they genuinely enjoy each other’s company.
Stephanie doesn’t even seem to think about Alex when she’s with Chad, and most of the time, all Alex does is apologize for his jealousy. But he has a right to feel jealous.
For instance, when Chad was massaging Stephanie’s ankle, and she couldn’t help smiling, that wasn’t necessary as she could have massaged it herself. She was insensitive in telling Alex about it and not expecting him to feel jealous.
Jack: I had always thought that Stephanie settled for Alex when Chad decided he wasn’t ready for a new relationship.
As for Alex, on the face of it, he doesn’t have reason to be jealous, but this is Salem. Any time a character declares that they have no interest in someone’s rival, sooner or later, they change their mind.
Christine: It seems like Stephanie is enjoying both men’s attention. She keeps skirting the line of intimacy with Chad and then yelling at Alex for being jealous.
But I think if she believed Chad was available, she’d drop Alex, which makes me sad because Alex really likes Stephanie.
Should Sarah divorce Xander? Who makes the better couple: Xander and Sarah or Xander and Gwen?
Phloeforever: Ever since Sarah and Xander got together, Sarah has been trying to get Xander to become a better person.
Recently when he was working for Ava, he didn’t seem to take Sarah’s concerns to heart, knowing she wouldn’t like his actions in any way if the truth were to come out.
Since he kidnapped two women and indirectly caused the death of one of them, then lied to her about it, that would take some time to just fluff off and move on.
Xander is also protecting Gwen, even though she willingly got involved, which won’t help things with Sarah. So while it’s understandable that Sarah wants a divorce, I think she should give him another chance.
Threatening him with divorce papers if he doesn’t try to become a better person.
Sarah and Xander make the better couple because Sarah wants Xander to be a better person and avoid going to prison because of his unlawful actions.
Jack: She absolutely should. What Xander did is unacceptable, and I can’t believe Maggie wants to give him a pass.
Beyond that, Sarah hit the nail on the head when she said that Xander will never change. Since she can’t seem to accept his dark side, it’s best she move on.
Christine: Ugh. I love Sarah and Xander together. They can be such a fun couple, but Xander isn’t the brightest, and he easily falls back into old habits.
I don’t know that Sarah and Xander will ever be happy together because she’ll never trust him and always want him to change.
For that reason, Xander and Gwen may make a better long-term couple. They are friends who know and accept each other in a way Sarah will never accept Xander.
When Sonny refuses to kick Leo out of the mansion, Will spends the night at Allie’s and then shuts to door in Sonny’s face. Was his reaction fair?
Phloeforever: I get that Will doesn’t like Leo because of how smarmy he was in the past, and he still is. But slamming the door in Sonny’s face because he allowed him to spend the night wasn’t fair.
It’s not like he found out they slept together. Sonny felt bad for Leo because he saw how his breakup with Craig affected him. Sonny is a non-judgemental person who tries to be empathetic.
Also, it’s unfair that Will can make friends in LA, and Sonny doesn’t know anything about them, but he is supposed to have friends that Will approves of. It seems Will was jealous of Leo and Sonny.
Jack: It is, except for one thing: Will is best friends with Ben, the man who once tried to murder him.
Ben arguably caused as much damage to people Will loves as Leo did to Sonny’s family, and it is beyond me why Sonny hasn’t brought this up. Not to mention that Sonny is following in his father’s footsteps — isn’t Justin married to Maggie’s worst enemy, who also ruined Adrienne’s life?
That said, I’m 99% Team Will on this, and I feel like Sonny has lost his mind when it comes to Leo.
Christine: I’m Team Sonny. Will takes off for California, claims he won’t come home for the holidays, then pops back in and starts making demands.
Yes, Will has reason for concern, but Sonny deserves to be heard, and Will didn’t want to hear what Sonny had to say.
When Will didn’t get his way, he left their home for the night and even slammed the door in Sonny’s face when he tracked Will down and tried to talk things out. That’s not the way adults in a long-term relationship should act. That’s the reaction of an immature teenager.
Will Kristen seek revenge against Eric and/or Brady for pretending to kidnap Rachel?
Phloeforever: Yes, I think Kristen will seek revenge against Eric and Brady after this is all over.
Kristen’s plan didn’t work, as Brady still resents her. He was willing to team up with Eric by kidnapping Rachel to get some leverage over her.
I genuinely believe she does love Rachel. Even though Kristen is a horrible person, she was in such pain over the thought of Rachel being kidnapped. All of this should contribute to her revenge.
Jack: Probably, though she has bigger problems. She’s already under investigation for the brainwashing thing. Now she can be charged with serious crimes for the games she played with the orchid.
Could she go away for murder or manslaughter if the women die due to her having not turned the orchid over right away and having lost it before it could be used to cure the poisoning victims?
Christine: Oh yes. Kristen will get her revenge, especially against Eric. At least some part of her loves Brady. If she didn’t, she probably would have had the Dimera goons dispose of him and then raise her daughter on her own.
But there’s no real proof that Kristen had the orchid, gave the women the first antidote, or withheld the second, so I don’t see what charges could be filed against her.
And Eric really didn’t kidnap Rachel since Brady gave his permission, and he has full custody. So, if Eric isn’t going to jail, I think Kristen will find a way to make him pay.
What surprised or disappointed you the most this week in Salem?
Phloeforever: I was disappointed, being more of a Stefan and Gabi fan since the actors have such strong chemistry.
Stefan didn’t seem interested in trying to give their romance a shot, despite Gabi’s pleas that it was Li and Rolf whose actions contributed to him being brainwashed. He was genuinely starting to develop feelings for Chloe.
I felt bad for Gabi as I watched her desperation.
Jack: The whole “kidnapping” was pointless and stupid. And why did the guys bring Rachel home so quickly? Now they have no leverage whatsoever. Kristen thinks she’s won, and the orchid is still missing (unless Rachel has it somehow.)
This whole missing orchid story is ridiculous, and there is no reason the women should go from fine to at death’s door in the space of an hour. If anything, the antibodies in their system should slow the virus’ progress, not accelerate it.
Finally, Gabi, what did you expect? She acted like it was a shock that Stefan and Chloe would go to bed together while on a romantic getaway and didn’t understand why Stefan wouldn’t drop everything to get un-brainwashed.
Christine: I hated that Will slammed the door in Sonny’s face. That was so wrong. Sonny deserved better.
And Kate went from feeling fine to dying in record time! As much as I’m not a huge fan of this storyline, that seemed way too quick to be satisfying.
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline on this week’s Days of Our Lives?
Phloeforever: My favorite scene was EJ and Nicole, where Nicole could have almost given in to her desire with EJ but restrained herself because she knew it would be a rebound situation as she still had feelings for Eric.
I was pleasantly surprised and thought that showed some growth for the character.
Jack: I loved, loved, loved Brady confronting Kristen. It almost made this story worth it. He was right. She had some nerve asking how he could do this to her after the games she’s played with that orchid — and that’s only what she’s done to his family recently!
Christine: I loved how Nicole decided to put on the brakes with EJ. She’s finally making smart choices, and despite how much EJ wants her, he understands her decision.
And that Johnny and Wendy have decided to become a real couple instead of a pretend one. These two are adorable, and I look forward to seeing this relationship grow.
Now it’s your turn, Days fans. Hit that SHOW COMMENTS button to share your answers to our round table questions. And 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.