A Critic's Review of Days of Our Lives: Death Is Not Permanent (Especially Not in Salem)

 

When it comes to Days of our Lives, every fan has their own opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of the Days of our Lives week that was.

Days of our Lives: A Critic’s Week In Review

True-blue fans know that death means nothing on a soap opera. Characters that are gone today are typically back by, if not tomorrow, the next calendar year – two at the most. And sometimes the presumed deceased returns sporting a face different from the one they’d previously had.

The only deaths that seem to truly stick are the ones that occur due to the passing of the actor who portrayed the character…but that’s still no guarantee. Remember when the Salem Stalker was slicing and dicing folks and Tom Horton’s disembodied head would pop up as a portent of the imminent doom and gloom?

Still, it’s hard to argue that Days of our Lives isn’t playing Abigail Deveraux DiMera’s (Marci Miller) assassination to the hilt. The always underused Bryan Dattilo is front and center contending with not only his fall off the wagon but the very real possibility that he might be the one who stabbed his niece.

Matthew Ashford and Cady McClain are back on my Days of our Lives screens as Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Rose Horton Deveraux and I couldn’t be more thrilled – even though I’ve been a blubbering babe since their return.

All this coupled with Billy Flynn’s tour de force as Chad DiMera and Camila Banus’s Gabi Hernandez DiMera baring her claws and appointing herself the leader of the effort to unmask her frenemy’s killer has made for great Days (of our Lives) indeed.

Now, if only the setup had been as strong as the fallout…

Further DAYS Musings

* Attractiveness and animal magnetism aside, I just don’t see EJ DiMera’s (Dan Feuerriegel) appeal, and I most definitely cannot see what he’s so appealing to Belle Brady (Martha Madison). Amongst other things, EJ is her sister’s rapist, and despite this very real fact, Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and EJ have proven time and time again that their heart burns for one another and for no one else. Why on earth would Belle want to set herself up for inevitable heartbreak…and the sound slap across the face that Sami will surely deliver?

* Did I miss the scene where someone, anyone, in Abigail’s family mentioned that JJ Deveraux had been informed of his sister’s passing?

* Exchange of the Week – Days of our Lives Edition:

Chanel: So, let me get this straight. Just when you finally stop hating me, you decide to up and leave town?
Tripp: I never hated you! … Okay, okay. I strongly disliked you there for a while, but now I hope we’re friends.
Chanel: We are.  Mean, you may be the only friend that I’ve made in Salem that I haven’t slept with. … To fresh?