Marlena threatened to out Eric’s feelings for Sarah, Rafe walked away from Hope, Jennifer kidnapped Jack and baby David needed a place to stay in Salem.
Our TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Kierstin and Mikey from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate Marlena’s advice, Hope and Rafe’s future, Jack marrying Eve, who has the right to baby David, and more!
Is Marlena pushing Eric to come clean about his feeling for Sarah good or bad advice?
Kierstin: It's good advice because Sarah and Eric still have feelings for each other.
Jack: It's beyond bad. Marlena has decided that Sarah belongs with Eric and is being the opposite of objective here.
Eric can acknowledge his feelings to himself. Put them in a diary or something. He doesn't need to act on them and he has good reasons not to.
Note to the writers: Having the parents of 30-somethings insist a couple belongs together does not make that couple rootable or even interesting! Stop it.
Mikey: In theory, it’s good advice. Carrying around something like that, especially for an addict in recovery, is asking for trouble. It’s always a good thing to unburden yourself instead of carrying things around and letting them build until they combust.
That said, Marlena’s attitude is a little too, “Screw Rex! Look out for yourself!” — which is about on par with the crappy advice she’s given everyone else in Salem, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.
Christine: Ugh! Marlena’s acting like these are teenagers, not grown adults and she doesn’t seem to have any problem with Eric ruining his relationship with his brother as long as he gets what he wants.
Eric has acknowledged his feelings to himself. If he wants to tell Sarah, he’s a grown man, he can make that decision on his own. Marlena threatening to tell her was way out of line.
Should Hope and Rafe fight for their marriage or file for divorce?
Kierstin: Rafe and Hope should file for divorce. They have tried so many times to make their marriage work and it just doesn't. Plus, I think Hope and Ted have chemistry.
Jack: Divorce ASAP. Maybe when Justin finishes with Tripp and Haley's wedding he can file a quick no-contest divorce for them.
The issues between them are not only too big but show why Hope should have got the annulment in the first place instead of staying married when she wasn't sure she wanted Rafe. The trust issues have not been resolved, they never talk through anything.
Rafe belittles Hope and denies that her feelings are valid, and his answer to everything is to punch someone. This is a recipe for disaster and the fact that Rafe thinks they can raise a baby together without their conflicts affecting the baby negatively just makes it worse.
Related: Days of Our Lives Review: The Silly Season Begins!
Mikey: For the love of all that is good and holy, file for divorce! They just seem so perpetually miserable around one another.
I don’t mind what they’re going for with the Ted and Jordan complications, in terms of building the story, but Ted being “in love” with Hope (for what? scowling and snapping at him?) feels forced, too. It’s almost like Hope just wants an excuse to jump ship from this marriage.
Everyone cut bait and move on — anywhere out of Salem would be great for Rafe, and a nice stint on the backburner to be a good cop, mother, grandmother, and friend might do wonders for Hope.
Christine: Has a couple ever been more miserable to watch? Please let them divorce already. Hope should have left Rafe when he cheated on her with Sami, except all of Salem seemed to push them back together.
Rate belittles Hope and ignores her feelings. Hope is insecure because she doesn’t feel like she’s a priority for Rafe who needs to play hero. Just end it already and put us all out of our misery.
Do you think Jack and Eve will get married and why?
Kierstin: Jack and Eve will probably get married because if they don't, Jack will worry that it will affect the election.
Jack: Sadly, I think they will. The writers don't seem to want to end this story and keep teasing us with the false hope that Jack is coming to his senses, and I have no doubt that he will decide on Monday that what he can't go through with is Adrienne officiating because she's obviously a Jen plant.
I think Jack really does feel lost and like Eve is the only one not pushing him to remember a past that he believes is gone forever, but I would love to see some progress in this storyline already.
Mikey: Yes. The rhythm of this whole story would best be served by having them actually get married, only for Jack to have to extract himself once he remembers.
One thing I’m liking about this whole story is that it’s very clear that Jack and Jennifer are the endgame, but their obstacles harken back to their original love story, with Jen having to chip away until she digs out Jack’s humanity once again.
I still don’t have a clue why Eve is doing anything she’s doing, but purely from the standpoint of being an obstacle, her marrying Jack makes a lot of sense.
Christine: Unfortunately, yes, because it will add to the obstacles to get Jack and Jennifer back together, but watching Jack be twisted around Eve’s finger has gotten really tedious.
Should Ben have any rights when it comes to baby David?
Kierstin: Yes because baby David is Ben's nephew.
Jack: I’m not sure of the legalities when it comes to next of kin, but I don't think a mentally incompetent mother saying "this guy is dangerous" is enough to bar him from the baby without a court hearing.
Also. I don't see why Ben can't have supervised visits with the baby. And Lani should have no say. She is not the baby's guardian no matter how much she wishes he were her lost son.
Mikey: Absolutely. I personally don’t think it’s the best idea, considering that he’s a tenuously medicated serial killer who’s essentially working as a thug for hire, but he is the baby’s closest relative — and a much better option than Clyde!
If the state decided that Ben is fit to be free, he should have the same rights regarding his family as any other citizen. And if that’s a problem… don’t turn a damn serial killer loose in the first place!
Christine: Ben is the child’s closest living relative unless the father comes forward. That said, he’s also “reformed” serial killer. But if he’s served his time in the eyes of the law, and Jordan is the one locked up in Bayview, then I think he has the right to help care for his nephew if that’s what he wants.
If you could scrap one storyline on Days right now, which one would it be?
Kierstin: If I could scrap one storyline on Days right now, it would be the Stefan and Chloe one, because El Fideo going after Chloe isn't a good storyline.
Jack: Just one? I would like to dump the whole Haley story. There's way too much wrong with it. Nothing in it makes any sense and is just annoying.
A close second is this awful Rex/Sarah/Eric triangle. Nobody is rootable in it and I don't care who Sarah ends up with.
Mikey: Hope and Rafe. I just find them so depressing to watch. They never light up around one another — it’s like they are both always so burdened by having to do the bare minimum to sustain this marriage.
Christine: There are so many to choose from, too many! But I’ll go with Haley and this horrible immigration storyline. I don’t care a bit about Haley, I don’t like her with JJ, and I hate all of the political rhetoric coming from Jack and Eve. If it could all disappear tomorrow, I’d be thrilled.
Kierstin: When Hope told Rafe about Ted kissing her and saying that he loves her.
Jack: Well we'll leave out the whole ridiculous idea of a government agent having time to observe a wedding to see if it's romantic enough to be legitimate since Agent Smith is not a full-fledged character.
So I'll go with Jack asking JJ to be his best man at his wedding to Eve. Amnesia or not, Jack should not be stupid enough to think there's any universe where JJ would accept that, especially 30 seconds after JJ said that Jack was being selfish and breaking Jennifer's heart by marrying her worst enemy.
Mikey: Can I say “Tripp wearing that bright blue tie and sloppy collar with the navy suit for his wedding”? It’s driving me nuts every time he pops onscreen.
I’m tired of harping on Rafe and Hope, but Hope hen-pecking him about wanting to help an innocent child and throwing Ted in his face was gross. Go away!
Kierstin: My favorite scene on Days of our Lives this week was Ciara defending Ben saying that he didn't start the fire.
Jack: I loved JJ confronting Jack (minus the stupidity I mentioned above). But hands down the best part of the week was Jennifer and Jack's trip down memory lane. I loved seeing the flashbacks and the reminders of why this couple was so legendary before this crazy storyline.
Mikey: Jennifer’s forced walk down memory lane with Jack. The callback to him kidnapping her from the wedding was fantastic, and even though they were trapped in a storage closet for two days, I didn’t mind because of all the flashbacks and recounting of their history.
That was a great way of paying tribute to their love story and the core of the characters, and it really played up that sense of yearning for Jen to win him back. Loved it!
Christine: The Jack and Jennifer flashbacks! They were wonderful and harkened back to the Days when the show knew how to do romance and could afford to go outside the studio for location shoots.
As a runner up, I enjoyed Eric and Eve. These two are far more fun than Eric and Sarah or Eve and Jack and I wish the show would give them a chance.
Tell us, TV Fanatics! Which storyline would you scrap right now if you could? Leave your answer in the comments below.
Want to chat more about the happenings in Salem? Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review here at TV Fanatic.