Brady ripped up the custody papers in front of Kristen!
Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by DoolFan4Life from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate if Leo and Gwen’s friendship will survive, Wendy choosing Tripp over Johnny, and Alex living across the hall from Stephanie and Chad.
Plus, Lani found Abe! But will she be able to save him? Read on to see what our round table team thinks…
Should Brady have signed the custody papers and given Kristen joint custody of Rachel?
DoolFan4Life: He probably should have. Personally, I think Rachel is screwed either way.
She has psychotic Kristin as a mom and Brady as a dad who is selfish, arrogant, and painfully stupid on so many levels.
Does it really matter who gets custody? She’s clearly already a chip off the ole Dimera block anyways.
Jack: Absolutely not, but he shouldn’t have handled it the way he did.
Brady was right that giving in to Kristen was 100% the wrong move. But ripping them up before he got Rachel back was a bad idea and is only going to antagonize her.
He should have double-crossed her AFTER Rachel was returned to him, not before.
Christine: Yes, he should have signed them. Joint custody makes the most sense and will keep Rachel from running off and putting herself in danger. Plus, he and Kristen going head to head does Rachel no good.
Rachel loves Kristen. Keeping her from her mom just makes her idolize Kristen more. The only way that will change, if it ever does, is if she can see Kristen’s flaws for herself.
The problem is Brady is almost as violent and crazy as Kristen. Although I don’t want her soras’d too fast, I do look forward to the entertainment we are bound to get from a grown-up Rachel.
Dimitri wants to marry Gwen for his inheritance but keep having an affair with Leo. Do you feel sorry for Gwen?
DoolFan4Life: Not really, Gwen has been around a while now, and I still haven’t really seen her as a necessary character on the show.
She doesn’t really mesh well with other characters and is hard to feel sorry for. Just my opinion.
Jack: Not really. Gwen is blinding herself to Dimitri’s manipulations. Leo is not the only one who has tried to tell her that Dimitri is moving way too fast, but she won’t listen.
I suspect she knows on some level that this “love story” with Dimitri isn’t real but isn’t admitting it.
Christine: Yeah, I do feel sorry for her. Gwen should be smarter than this, but given her childhood, she’s so desperate for someone to want her and love her that she’s got blinders on. The crash that’s coming is going to be painful.
Is there any chance Gwen and Leo’s friendship can survive Dimitri or will this ruin their friendship?
DoolFan4Life: Perhaps, if he was to tell her the truth now rather than have it blow up later. But this is a soap, and that won’t be happening. Unless they decide to screw with DVL and surprise us all.
Jack: Look, these two managed to stay friends after they both threw the other under the bus and landed their BFF in jail! So if they can survive that, they can survive anything.
Plus, I will be really upset if they don’t survive this, so they’d better, even if Leo’s behavior was atrocious.
Christine: Oh, they better survive this! Leo and Gwen are my favorite friendship on the show. I’ll be heartbroken if I can’t have my Leo and Gwen banter.
I hope Leo comes clean with Gwen and she still marries Dimitri for the money. Gwen can be rich, Leo can have great sex, and everyone can be happy.
Alex is moving across the hall from Stephanie and Chad. Do you love this scenario or hate it?
DoolFan4Life: I don’t love or hate it. Stephanie and Chad are too happy for a soap, so that’s when a triangle is usually thrown in the mix.
I just hope it’s done well and not painful to watch.
Jack: I’m not a fan of these sitcom-like scenarios. It also provides too many opportunities for Stephanie to end up in bed with Alex instead of Chad. DO NOT WANT.
Christine: Eh. Chad and Stephanie are boring. Throwing Alex into the mix and making this a love triangle raises their interest slightly, but not by much.
They seem to have nothing better for these characters to do, so we’ve got this. I just hope it’s somehow more entertaining than I expect.
Wendy chose Tripp over Johnny. Was this the right choice?
DoolFan4Life: I agree with Wendy about Johnny and Chanel. I really hope they get back together because they had a lot of chemistry.
I think Tripp belongs with someone more exciting. I would love to see him interact with more characters. He’s been limited to mostly Wendy and tiffs with Johnny outside of the odd encounter with Steve.
Jack: The right choice was choosing nobody and focusing on her forgotten career.
I didn’t like how either of these guys behaved, honestly. Tripp became insufferably smug, and he and Johnny were every bit as petty and juvenile as he said they were.
Christine: Wendy definitely has more chemistry with Tripp than Johnny. And Johnny does belong with Chanel.
But it’s not like Tripp and Wendy are setting the world on fire. I’m willing to give them more time to find their footing as a couple, but so far, they just aren’t that exciting.
Harris wants to be committed to Bayview? Is he right? And do you want him to go?
DoolFan4Life: I think Harris asking to go means it was probably a good call. He knows the extent of what’s been done, and he’s admitting he needs help.
I think he should go, and I’m also assuming this will be a possible setup to bring Ava back as the actors have a bit of history
Jack: I felt like Harris is hiding from the world and his fear of getting out of control again. I don’t think that’s healthy, so Marlena should have talked him through those feelings instead of giving in.
At least if he goes to Bayview, his story will stop going in circles. Hopefully, he won’t run into Ava there and start a whole new mess.
Christine: Harris has killed multiple people! If he doesn’t trust himself, then maybe some time in Bayview under intensive care to reevaluate his mental health isn’t a bad idea.
And if he went there and then didn’t wander back to Salem, I’d be fine with that too.
Lani found Abe! Do you think this rescue will go smoothly?
DoolFan4Life: As much as I’d like this to be true, no, I don’t think it will go smoothly.
It never does, and she likely didn’t tell anyone where she was going or why, so even if they track her ankle monitor, no one will know why she went there.
Jack: Absolutely not. Lani is no longer a cop. In fact, she is due to return to prison within hours.
Lani can’t arrest Whitley or even subdue her if Whitley comes home before she gets Abe out of there, and she may face additional charges for breaking down her door since, again, she’s no longer a cop and can’t claim exigent circumstances.
Abe is heavily sedated and likely doesn’t remember who Lani is anyway, so getting him moving is going to be a HUGE challenge, too.
At the very least, Lani should have called Jada to come with her to Whitley’s apartment. She needs backup and someone who is capable of making arrests.
Christine: Oh, we know nothing about this will go smoothly. Whitley is bound to come home and bash Lani over the head or drug her the way she did Abe.
And then Lani will be in trouble for missing her deadline to head back to prison. We likely have at least another week of drama before Abe is really saved.
What annoyed the heck out of you this week in Salem?
DoolFan4Life: Marlena is really annoying with her smug and arrogant attitude. I don’t enjoy her hypnosis scenes at all.
I also found Eric and Nicole a bit tiresome to watch.
And lastly, I hate what the writers are doing to Shawn. He’s Bo’s son, and I feel like this is so out of character for him. I don’t know what’s worse, that they never seem to give Shawn a story or that when they do, they chose this. It’s pure garbage.
Jack: I didn’t think I cared about this stupid Kristen story, but when Marlena and Belle gave Brady that terrible advice, it made me SO angry!
It is NOT always in a child’s best interest to be with her mother, no matter how much she wants to be. Kristen is a toxic mother who has been manipulating Rachel from the get-go.
Rachel has become a spoiled brat, partially because of her influence and partially because all the adults in her life, except possibly her grandfather, John, give in to every demand.
They think that Rachel is too fragile to learn that she can’t have whatever she wants, especially when what she wants is her parents to get back together, which is never happening.
Belle’s advice was even worse. She deserves to be disbarred for suggesting that a judge will see Kristen, who has been in and out of prison and attempted to kidnap Rachel twice before, as the more fit parent because Brady committed the crime of sending Rachel to a sleepaway camp that Rachel didn’t like and sneaked away from.
Kristen can’t even find a lawyer to take her case! Why would she engage in parental kidnapping to force a change in custody?
I’m so sick of everyone creating a monster by enabling both Rachel and Kristen’s bad behavior! Enough already.
Separately, it irked me that Lani didn’t have the sense to bring an actual cop with her to rescue Abe. That means this is likely going to get dragged out further because of Lani getting overpowered. Ugh.
Christine: Brady tearing up those papers. Why ask Marlena to work something out with Kristen to then do this? Kristen could take off with Rachel at any time and Brady would never see her again.
Heck, Brady is lucky Kristen is so crazy that he got full custody. If Rachel’s mother were a sane person, then they could take custody away from the recovering addict who tortured Stefan just so he could win his girlfriend back. Maybe that’s why Teresa keeps Tate in California and away from Brady.
And hadn’t EJ hired contractors to close up those tunnels? Then why are people using them as a back entrance to the mansion?
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline in Salem this week?
DoolFan4Life: I think seeing everyone at the vigil for Abe and listening to what a big part of their lives was kind of nice. Even though we all know Abe is alive. It’s a nice reminder of his history in Salem. I also liked that John and Steve refuse to give up searching.
Jack: I loved that even sedated Abe was insisting that Jerry was not Theo. His dream about being on Body and Soul was also fun.
Even though it was a bad move, I liked Brady ripping up the custody agreement. Someone needs to tell Kristen NO.
Christine: Leo and Dimitri were way more fun than I expected.
And I’m thrilled we’re finally getting some movement on Abe being rescued, even if I suspect that we’re not quite there yet.
Okay, now it’s your turn, Days fans. Did Brady do the right thing? Will Lani actually rescue Abe? And should Harris be sent to Bayview?
Hit that SHOW COMMENTS button below to let us know. 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.