Ciara and Ben considered making a baby, Allie was confused by her feelings concerning Johnny and Chanel, Gwen came clean with Jack, and Ava gave Rafe another chance this week in Salem.
Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by DoolFan4Life from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Ben and Ciara starting a family, Allie’s real feelings for Tripp and Chanel, who Jack will forgive, and Bonnie’s future in Salem
Is this the time right for Ben and Ciara to start a family?
DoolFan4Life: No, she literally just got her memory back like five seconds ago, and they really shouldn’t rush. Ben still needs meds not to strangle people.
Conceiving a child is just them having more sex, which is the base of their story as is. They really need to just not…
Jack: It’s sad that I care so little about this couple that I really don’t have a strong opinion either way.
I think the way Ciara has handled it so far shows they are probably not ready to be parents. Mature people have an honest conversation about their desire to have kids and when they think it is an appropriate time.
Instead, Ciara forgot (maybe on purpose?) that she needs to get her birth control prescription refilled and suggested she just not do it so she can get pregnant. This is not a good sign.
Beyond that, unless Victoria Konefal’s status has changed, she is still only with DAYS part-time and wants to pursue other opportunities. So how on Earth will there be any type of worthwhile baby story when Ciara is off-screen for long periods of time?
Christine: I was thrilled that they talked about birth control and making a decision about having a child. Too often, soaps show couples having sex who ever talk about protection or birth control, and then there’s the inevitable surprise pregnancy.
I’m not going to assume Ciara set this up. People get busy and forget to refill their prescriptions, and are left scrambling. It happens. And sometimes, this can be a nerve-wracking conversation to start, even for couples in a committed relationship.
Is the time right? The timing is never perfect, but even if Ben and Ciara both want to start a family, figuring out their living situation and future income would be a good idea before they start trying.
Will Gwen tell Jack the whole truth? And if she does, will Jack forgive her and Xander?
DoolFan4Life: I hope Jack forgives Xander as I miss their bromance They have such a great dynamic between them.
As for Gwen telling him the full truth, is it bad that I don’t care either way? I just don’t find anything about her compelling enough to watch.
Jack: I doubt Gwen will tell the whole truth. Does anyone in Salem until after it’s too late? Most likely, Julie will interrupt with some important thing she needs Jack’s help with, and by the time he’s ready to have the rest of this conversation, Gwen will have changed her mind.
Jack seems to be of the opinion that since Gwen is his daughter, everything is forgivable, but not so much with Xander. It’s a pity because Jack’s friendship with Xander was unusual and refreshing, but I think that’s gone forever. (And Xander is more interesting than Gwen, anyway.)
Christine: I hope Gwen tells him. There isn’t much point in lying any longer, but this is a soap, so lying is always the default.
Hopefully, Jack forgives them both. Gwen is his daughter and they’ve formed a bond in a short period of time. Jack was never a perfect person; he’s screwed up plenty in his life, so I think he’ll forgive Gwen if at all possible.
And I think Jack will forgive Xander. Now that he knows Xander was trying to protect Gwen and went so far as to risk prison time for Jack’s daughter, I dare say it will make their friendship even stronger.
Do you think Bonnie will steal Xander/EJ’s money, or will she get caught?
DoolFan4Life: If it means Bonnie getting carted off to Statesville off-screen, then I hope so. I’m a little tired of Xander getting all the crap, though, especially because of the likes of Bonnie Lockhart. She really just needs to go!
Jack: Well, she’s already stolen it. The question is whether she will get caught before she leaves the room with it.
I hope she gets caught. Bonnie getting arrested for grand larceny on her wedding day would certainly derail her unnecessary reunion with Justin.
Either way, I want this ridiculous story to end. It’s a waste of screen time and takes up way too much of it.
Christine: I don’t care anything about Bonnie; I just hope she doesn’t screw things up for Xander. So yes, I hope she gets caught. After that, she can get arrested, leave town, or go and marry Justin. I’m so over it that it no longer matters to me.
Are you happy that Ava gave Rafe another chance? Do you think their relationship will last?
DoolFan4Life: If I believed it would last, I’d be happy, but I think this is just a plot to draw him and Nicole closer. Ava is an awful person, mob princess, rapist, etc., etc… She’s too good for Rafe.
Jack: I was pleasantly surprised that Ava and Rafe talked it out! I HATE the trope of people breaking up over a stupid misunderstanding that could be easily resolved if the characters involved would just open their mouths.
So I was thrilled that didn’t happen this time and that Rafe and Ava were able to have an honest conversation. That was refreshing! I’m doubly happy because Ava has a track record of doing crazy and violent things when she feels threatened, and this time she managed to act like an adult.
However, I don’t think this is the end of this problem, not by a long shot. Ava is still jealous and convinced Rafe will leave her for Nicole no matter how many times Rafe insists that he is committed to her and does not want to act on his feelings for Nicole. Ava is going to do something to screw this up sooner or later because of that.
Christine: I can’t believe it! Two people on a soap actually had a mature and honest conversation about the problems in their relationship. That was amazing! But I don’t know that Ava and Rafe will be happy long-term.
Ava’s not wrong; Rafe has strong feelings for Nicole, and I don’t think they’re going away no matter what Rafe says. Once Nicole has gotten over Eric, will Rafe want a shot with her, or will he still choose Ava? I’m really not sure.
Is Allie jealous of Chanel being with Johnny? Does she want a romance with Chanel? Does Allie really not trust her brother?
DoolFan4Life: Allie is definitely jealous, and maybe she doesn’t trust her brother as well. I don’t think it’s one over the other. It’s a bit of both. I don’t think she knows what she wants, and it’s a pity because Tripp is going to get hurt.
Jack: I think Allie is all mixed up. She’s not sure if she’s into Chanel or not, her feelings towards women (or at least toward this woman) are all new to her, and she’s also got a lot of fear of letting herself be too close to Tripp because of what Charlie did to her.
So part of this might be an attempt to sabotage things with Tripp even though she wants to be with him, part of it might be jealousy, and part of it might be genuine fear that if things don’t work out between Johnny and Chanel that it’ll negatively impact her friendship with Chanel.
Allie seemed to be close with Johnny and totally supportive of him until she found out he was with Chanel, so I don’t buy that she really thinks Johnny is a player who will quickly break Chanel’s heart — and as everyone has pointed out, Chanel is no fragile flower who can’t take care of herself if Johnny dumps her.
Besides, Chanel jumped into a marriage with Xander, and apparently, she and Allie did a lot of partying and crazy drunk things when they were both in London. So if Allie were being honest about this, she would be worried about the possibility that party-girl Chanel was toying with Johnny’s heart too.
Christine: I think Allie’s confused right now. She loves Tripp but can’t say it back to him because she’s still dealing with the long-term effects of being raped.
She’s attracted to Chanel, and they’re best friends, but she doesn’t seem to really want a romantic relationship with her. Johnny is probably a bit of a player, but so is Chanel.
I just think Allie’s emotions needed an outlet, and blowing up at her twin is safest as he’ll likely forgive her once things blow over.
Who won and who lost in the Brady/Chloe/Philip hotel room debacle?
DoolFan4Life: I don’t believe anyone won. Chloe gave into Brady’s demands, Brady didn’t get the girl, and Philip was kicked out. It was just a disaster. It should have ended with Brady out on his sorry, pathetic behind.
Jack: Nobody won. Brady was manipulative and ridiculous, and Philip was in a jealous rage and disregarded Belle’s advice to stay out of this.
You can’t really blame Philip for being suspicious of Brady’s hard-to-believe story, and Brady is spending a lot of time trying to poison Chloe’s mind against Philip. But Philip’s way of handling this is making Chloe feel that he doesn’t trust HER.
Technically, Brady won because Chloe made the boneheaded decision not to take Philip up on his offer to fly them both to New York so they can do what they were supposedly on this trip to do. But he also lost because Chloe no longer trusts him and decided to sleep on the floor.
Christine: What a mess! There were no clear winners, but Brady was the biggest loser. He was clearly manipulating the situation to his advantage.
I wish Philip hadn’t acted on his jealousy, but I can understand it. I wish Chloe would have left with him, but I get why she didn’t. She wanted Philip to prove that he trusted her the way he says he does. At least she chose to sleep on the floor after that, so I’ll take that as a mini-win.
What was your biggest disappointment this week in Salem?
DoolFan4Life: The biggest disappointment was all the airtime Bonnie and her sister-in-law got. It was nonsense and a waste of airtime that I could have done without.
Jack: Why isn’t Calista gone yet? The writers seem to think that showing this Bonnie/Calista nonsense for 3/4 of an episode at a time is the way to go. A better solution would be for Calista to be quickly exposed and leave town in disgrace.
We even wasted half an episode of Steve/Kayla time on discussing Bonnie and her discomfort plus making sure the audience “got” the unfunny joke about Calista’s name.
The Brady/Philip nonsense was a close second. It’s a good thing that Nicole decided to go back to work after all, or nobody would have been at Basic Black thanks to this nonsensical “business” trip.
Christine: The Calista Lockhart/Harrison Lord bit is just terrible. Every scene with Calista or mere mention of her name makes me cringe and want to fast-forward.
And does anyone else question leaving twin babies with Doug and Julie for the entire weekend? Doug is in his 90s, and Julie her 70s. Babysitting for an afternoon is one thing, but for days and nights is a lot of work. This just seemed like a bad idea to me.
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives?
DoolFan4Life: This wasn’t a great week for me as far as stories, but I guess I’d go with Xander standing up to EJ because he’s not as stupid as the writers have been making him lately. I also liked how honest Ava was with Rafe. It was refreshing to her usual crazy
Jack: I loved most of the lead-in to the Beyond Salem stuff!
Even though I’m not generally a Jarlena fan (I don’t like the damsel in distress storylines that Marlena is always getting into), I enjoyed John and Marlena’s conversation about John’s new mission and Marlena’s decision to accompany and assist him instead of being anti-ISA like she usually is.
I also liked Roman trying to talk some sense into Anna, though I wish he would lock the Pub door when he doesn’t want customers in there. This is the second time someone has walked in to talk to him before the Pub was open for business!
Also, even though EJ is far from my favorite character, I always enjoy it when EJ and Xander face off. Xander is basically the Kiriakis version of EJ and I always feel like the two of them are looking into a mirror when they interact.
Christine: Xander and EJ were a definite highlight. I’m enjoying these two sort of working together but never quite trusting one another.
I also liked Johnny confiding in EJ about Chanel and Allie. I know it didn’t last long but it was a nice father/son moment that I hope to see more of.
What do you think, TV Fanatics?
Hit that big, blue, SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us your answers to our round table questions. Then head over and check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review. And don’t forget to check out Beyond Salem on Peacock starting Sept. 6th!
C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.