Jan secretly awoke from her coma to kill Charlie Dale, Ciara planned to leave the country with Theo, Gwen confirmed her pregnancy with Kayla, and Xander and Chanel tried to blackmail Paulina this week in Salem.
Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Phloeforever from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Jan being the killer, Ciara and Theo’s plan, Lucas lying to Chloe, Chad’s reaction to the baby news, and more!
Jan killed Charlie Dale while she was supposedly still in a coma. React!
Phloeforever: Jan killing Charlie while in a coma was kind of out of the box thinking. She managed to slip by undetected while everyone thought she was in a coma.
Jan knew no one would care to check on her as she likely got revenge on the Black family. I also liked how this was emotionally linked to her being raped years ago.
Jack: I was surprised, so I will give the writers credit for that. Usually, these mysteries are utterly predictable. However, I find it a bit hard to believe, even for DAYS, that Jan woke up, snuck out of the hospital, killed someone, and snuck back in.
Then she pretended to be unconscious for another few weeks WHILE HER BRAIN ACTIVITY WAS BEING MONITORED and nobody knew.
Also, what was her motive? Please tell me that after all the horrible things Charlie did, he didn’t meet his demise only because Jan wanted to frame Belle to get her out of her way.
Christine: Well, I can honestly say I didn’t see that coming, so bonus points for that.
Is Jan paying someone off at the hospital? How else do you explain Belle and Shawn getting the heads up that Jan was coming out of her coma weeks later, but not when she actually came out of her coma to run off and kill Charlie?
I’m hoping Jan did it to avenge Claire because she considers her a friend, and setting up Belle was just an added bonus.I know how warped that sounds because Belle is Claire’s mother, but this is Jan Spears we’re talking about, so twisted thinking is pretty standard for her.
At the very least, I’m curious to see how this all plays out.
Ciara has been back for weeks, but no one can find Hope. Do you find this strange?
Phloeforever: Yes, I find it strange because this doesn’t sound like Hope. Hope is responsible and would keep in touch with her family, especially in these modern times where communication is easy.
Jack: Extremely. It reminds me of when Bo was MIA and was supposedly “looking for Stefano in Europe” while Stefano was having coffee at the Brady Pub.
I really think that DAYS should recast Hope if Kristian Alfonso doesn’t want to return.
Yes, she made the role hers for 37 years, but Eileen Davidson WAS Kristen until Stacey Haiduk was, and Jennifer was recast after Melissa Reeves played her for most of her career, so why not recast Hope if she is needed for this story?
Christine: I never thought I’d want to see Hope recast, but having the character disappear and no one notice is ridiculous.The whole reason Hope left town was to search for Ciara, so what sense does it make that Ciara is back, but Hope isn’t.
And why isn’t Shawn freaking out over not being able to contact his mother? It’s been weeks with no contact! Is she in a hospital somewhere with amnesia too?
Unless the writers can come up with a plausible reason why Hope wouldn’t rush back to see her daughter, they need to recast her asap.
Sami convinced Lucas to seduce Chloe. What do you think of the way he’s chosen to do that?
Phloeforever: Those scenes where Sami convinced Lucas to seduce Chloe made him seem like her lapdog. He still cares for Sami, deep down, and wants to see her happy, even though it’s with EJ, who he despises.
Lucas mainly went along with it because they are dealing with the threats of a vicious Dimera.
Jack: Ugh. I have no words for how much I hate this. I want Sami and Lucas together, and I also do NOT want Lucas toying with Chloe’s feelings like this!
Christine: I’m torn. I love seeing Lucas and Sami scheme together. Whether as friends or lovers, these two are a lot of fun.
But I hate that Lucas told Chloe he’s dying. That’s just heartless, and Lucas isn’t cruel. This part of the story feels all wrong.
What I don’t understand is why Lucas and Sami don’t figure out a way to out Kristen without it being traced back to them. Sami is a world-class schemer. Surely, she can figure this out.
Gwen is (supposedly) having Chad’s baby. What did you think of Chad’s reaction? Do you hope that Gwen has this baby?
Phloeforever: Chad’s reaction to Gwen having his baby was responsible. He didn’t want to ignore his duties as a dad to the baby, given what happened to him, but I didn’t like how he seemed to disregard Abigail’s feelings concerning Gwen.
Abigail has every reason to dislike Gwen, given what happened to her in the past. And, no, I don’t want her to have this baby.
Jack: I’m irritated with this story, especially with the implication that Gwen’s decision whether or not to keep the baby has ANYTHING to do with Abigail or Chad.
I don’t care if she has it or not. Preferably if she does, she does it off-screen, so Abigail can stop acting like Gabi 2.0.
Christine: I think Chad’s reaction was realistic. No one forced him to sleep with Gwen, so he made this baby along with her. He should be there for this child as much as he is for the other two, and I respect that he didn’t take the easy out Gwen was offering him.
I could understand Gwen’s reasoning for wanting to have this baby. She had no father and a mother who lied to her for years before getting dumped into the system. Gwen wants to do better for her own child.
It would make sense for her to leave Salem to do it, but that probably won’t happen. And Abigail is going to need some serious therapy to deal with all of this.
But I expect that they’ll have Gwen miscarry before it comes, with Abigail as the cause of it just to ramp up the drama.
Ciara wants to run off to South Africa with Theo. Do you want to see her go?
Phloeforever: I like that Theo stood up for Ciara by protecting her rights against Ben, who went against it, by trying to inject her with a serum. Ciara has a right to feel betrayed and want to go with Theo for now.
Jack: If it puts an end to Ben acting abusively toward her while she screams that he’s evil, yes, please go. I can’t stand all the screaming and shrieking, and Ben’s behavior has been beyond the pale lately, too. I prefer Ben/Claire as a couple, so I’m happy for Ciara to go.
Christine: Ciara can go to South Africa with or without Theo as far as I’m concerned. I’m so tired of listening to her that I just want her out of Salem!
Realistically, she should be in therapy to deal with all of the conflicting emotions she likely has from not remembering the last few years of her life, but since that’s not happening, she might as well leave.
The downside is that Theo will get his heartbroken when she finally remembers everything and inevitably goes running back to Ben.
Should Xander and Chanel stay married for comedic value, if nothing else?
Phloeforever: Xander and Chanel should not stay married because of the huge age difference. I would like to see Chanel mix it up more, with people her own age like Tripp and Claire. Xander is more interesting when he’s in a story, with people like Nicole and Kristen.
Jack: They do seem to be each other’s dream scheme partner, don’t they? I think they may be evil soulmates! LOL. I did enjoy Paulina getting one over on them, and I guess I’d enjoy more of the scheming and failing.
Christine: I don’t want to see them married for long, but their inept scheming is kind of fun. I didn’t like Paulina or Chanel when they first arrived, but I’ve enjoyed them both a lot more in this storyline, so I’m okay with it continuing for a little while.
Who do you think will finally out Kristen?
Phloeforever: I think Kristen will eventually out herself because her own personality is reckless, and she operates on a whim.
Jack: I think this will only end when Brady finds out the truth. So it will be whoever just goes and tells him, instead of telling Kristen they will tell him since he seems incapable of figuring it out for himself.
Though if he did, I don’t think Kristen would knock him out and put him on an island like she seems to be doing with the rest of Salem!
Christine: This is becoming another plot where half of Salem ends up on an island waiting to be rescued.
I was hoping Sami or Kate would out Kristen, and I’m so disappointed that didn’t happen.
Maybe it will eventually be Susan who finally gets ticked off because she realizes there’s never going to be a sundae bar in prison.
What were your favorite and least favorite storylines from this week in Salem?
Phloeforever: My favorite was Jan’s storyline because she came out of her coma, and no one knew. I like the idea that one of the reasons she killed Charlie was because she was emotionally connected to being a rape victim years ago, which carried over to killing Charlie.
I liked how Jarlena and Shawn are all connected to help figure out what happened with Belle.
My least favorite story was Lucas lying to Chloe about having a brain tumor and being on the brink of death but insisting she keeps it secret. That went too far, and the way she just bought that was gullible and stupid.
It’s hard to fake love for someone you have no romantic interest in, but I guess problems with always having to keep up with this lie will be shown soon, Chloe inevitably makes a slip of the tongue about this to a family member who knows nothing about it.
Jack: I liked the family scene with Tripp, Steve, and Kayla. I knew he was changing his name (thanks spoilers!), but it was a touching scene anyway.
Least favorite: Three-way tie between the Gwen nonsense, the fact that Kristen is STILL roaming around knocking people out and taking over their lives, and Lucas telling Chloe this horrible lie.
Christine: Everything Steve. Scenes between Steve and Tripp and Steve and Jack were my favorites. They were heartfelt, entertaining, and used character history.
And extra credit for Kayla actually respecting her professional ethics and not blabbing Gwen’s test results to Abigail.
And I actually enjoyed Lani and Paulina’s conversation about Chanel.
Least favorite stories are the Ben/Ciara/Theo triangle. I hate this storyline, and Ciara’s crying, whining, and screeching make it even worse.
And Kristen and her dumb masks. Has Dr. Rolf made one for everyone in Salem? Can we move on from this idiotic plot device and find something more entertaining and maybe a touch more realistic.
Also, why do otherwise smart people keep turning their backs on Kristen after telling her they’re going to out her? If anyone should know better, it’s Kate!
Now it’s your turn, Days of Our Lives fans…
Hit that big, blue, SHOW COMMENTS button down below to tell us what you think of this week’s 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.