Abigail was attacked! Jan gave birth to her and Shawn’s baby. Belle kissed EJ again while Allie and Johnny tried to win back Chanel.
Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Mikey from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate who attacked Abigail, who Chanel should choose, if Jan’s baby will survive, and their biggest pet peeve in Salem!
Who do you think attacked Abigail?
Mikey: I don’t think it was actually any of the suspects we saw in that final montage. I expect a clever (“clever”) reveal of the true killer’s identity, much like we had all those suspects in Charlie’s murder.
It turned out to be Jan, who’d come out of her coma long enough to commit a murder before going back into hibernation.
Jack: I hate to say it, but I think it’s Sarah. Marlena made a point of telling Sarah to talk to Abigail about her hallucinations, so it’s not a big stretch to imagine that Sarah mistook Abigail for Kristen and attacked her.
That would also be consistent with the way Days writes about mental illness, and it feels like that’s the kind of thing the writers would think was a shocking twist.
Christine: Ugh. I think I hate this story already, and it’s just begun. With what we know now, Sarah is the most likely suspect.
Marlena, possibly the worst psychiatrist on the planet, directed Sarah to talk to Abigail, even though Sarah was having frightening and dangerous hallucinations about someone trying to stab her.
But this is Salem. So, as Mikey says above, it could be someone who seems to have nothing to do with this storyline, and when they’re revealed months later, we won’t care because we’ll be so tired of this story we’ll just want it to end.
Now it’s your turn, Days fans! Who do you think stabbed Abigail?
Assuming that Abigail is dead and this will be a big summer murder mystery storyline, are you okay with Abigail being the victim? Would you have preferred it to be someone else, and if so, whom?
Mikey: This feels like an incredibly forced whodunnit. It reminds me of when they used Abe’s murder to kick off the Salem Slasher storyline, and everyone was suddenly running around declaring, “I could KILL Abe Carver!” because, like, he wouldn’t give Brandon’s phone number to Sami.
That said, I’m fine with it being Abigail. I know they’ve had trouble getting either actress to commit full-time, and I’m tired of all the in-and-out stories they’ve had to write for her.
If it were me, I just would’ve shipped her and Chad off into the sunset with their kids, but I presume they’re doing this because they want to keep Billy Flynn as Chad.
At any rate, I’m so desensitized to death on this show that I can just shrug and assume we’ll see her in a few years, whether with Marci Miller’s face or Kate Mansi’s or someone new.
Jack: I’m annoyed with this. There were so many other ways to write Abigail out if they needed or wanted to retire the character. She could have gone to Milwaukee and not returned, which would give Chad the same guilt over covering up Lucas’ crime.
Or, she could have gotten pregnant, but her pregnancy caused a flare-up of her mental health issues, so she had to go to a hospital off-screen for a while.
I’m not a fan of killing off legacy characters, and the implication is that Gwen had a hand in both Laura and Abigail’s deaths, or is at least suspected in both! Come on.
If we have to have a murder mystery, I prefer it to be a bad guy that a lot of people had a problem with. Leo would have been a better choice, especially with Gwen angry that he wouldn’t do her bidding and all the people on his enemies’ list not happy with him. Plus, Nancy, Chloe, and Brady would have had a problem with how he treated Craig.
Li Shin would have also been an interesting choice, as there is a lot of drama around the CEO nonsense. With EJ making that callous comment about Shawn’s baby, Belle could have been torn between being attracted to him and suspecting him of murder.
Jan is another one that would have been a good candidate, and they could have had her in yet another coma that was expected to be permanent so that it could be considered murder.
Christine: I’m not happy if they kill off Abigail, but I understand that neither actress wants to commit to the role and Billy Flynn wants to remain as Chad.
But if they wanted to do a big murder mystery story and eliminate a character where the actor won’t return, they could have killed off Jennifer? Missy Reeves is only on a couple of times a year. Cady McClain is okay in the role, but she can’t really replace Missy in fans’ eyes.
Killing off Jennifer would have been incredibly dramatic, gotten rid of a character we rarely see, and given Jack a lot more story possibilities, including allowing him to team up with Abigail to track down Jennifer’s killer.
Jan had the baby, but he was very premature. Do you think he will survive?
Mikey: I do. I think it’d be a huge waste of a long-term storyline to set up all this and just have the baby die, which effectively removes Jan from Shawn and Belle’s lives.
But I suspect the child’s health struggles will cause Shawn to devote more attention and time to Jan, which will only deepen the rift between Shawn and Belle.
Jack: I’m hoping for a realistic story about a preemie. So often, premature babies in Salem look like full-term babies and have no health problems.
If this baby survives but has a lot of disabilities because of his extreme prematurity, that will tie Shawn and Jan to the baby far beyond his 18th birthday, which will make this a harder pill for Belle to swallow.
If the baby dies, there’ll be less drama. Plus, we already have enough death and grieving on canvas, so we don’t need a dead baby in the mix.
Christine: I hope the baby survives because it makes for good drama. As was said above, preemies can have a lot of health issues moving forward, which would tie Shawn and Jan together for years to come.
If that ends Shawn and Belle’s marriage, so be it. I’ve always found them rather dull, so I don’t mind each of them moving on to someone else.
Belle asked EJ to make her feel better, and she kissed him. Will EJ sleep with Belle, will he turn her down, or will circumstances stop this couple from uniting?
Mikey: Since they’re outside the mansion and Chad just found Abigail inside, my money’s on them being interrupted by this family tragedy. But it’s probably only prolonging the inevitable.
Jack: I have a feeling EJ will be the opposite of how he was with Sami, and instead of trying to coerce sex with Belle, he’ll want to be a perfect gentleman and not take advantage when she’s clearly inebriated.
I also think we’re going to do this dance for a while longer where they kiss and then pull away and decide not to go further until they both eventually give in.
Christine: I think EJ will back off. He seems to care for Belle and wants more than just sex. And he knows she’s emotionally in a very bad place.
Plus, Chad is about to start screaming for help because he just found Abigail stabbed on their bed, so that will certainly kill the mood for Belle and EJ.
Both Allie and Johnny are trying to win Chanel’s heart? With whom would you like to see Chanel end up?
Mikey: I actually don’t know! I like the idea of Allie and Chanel more, but I think Raven Bowens has better onscreen chemistry with Carson Boatman.
I hope they really play out this triangle and don’t rush through it like they have so many stories lately, or worse, turn one of the twins too devious too quickly in an effort to undermine the other’s chances with Chanel.
This triangle could have real legs, and it feels like an original spin on a well-worn story.
Jack: I loved Chanel wanting to choose herself, and hope that lasts a while. We don’t see that enough on soaps. But if she has to be with one of these two, I hope she chooses Johnny.
While I love the idea of a bisexual couple, and it’s beyond time for there to be a female/female relationship on Days, Chanel and Allie aren’t it. Allie is so immature and bratty.
I’d much rather we go there with Lani and Kristen discovering their feelings for each other someday.
Christine: As much as I love the idea of Salem finally having a female/female couple, I have to agree that Chanel has better chemistry with Johnny.
And thank goodness Allie is bi. She’s both a Horton and a Brady, which means she’s related to most of Salem. With such a limited dating pool to choose from, it’s a good thing that gender isn’t an issue.
Why is Sonny having dreams about Will sleeping with Leo? Is he that insecure about his and Will’s relationship, or is he still traumatized over Leo drugging him?
Mikey: That didn’t really make sense to me! In general, I can’t tell what they’re going for here. Are we supposed to think that Sonny’s fixation on — and distaste for — Leo is being overblown because he secretly harbors an attraction to him?
That dream hinted at some kind of insecurity within Sonny, but I’m not sure what that insecurity is, other than believing Will might cheat on him again… which hasn’t really been a factor since Will returned from the dead.
Jack: I think he’s traumatized. Will also wasn’t sold on the idea of Sonny having been drugged when he first found out about the salacious article.
So Sonny might have felt like Will is not fully on his side and expressed that in his dream by having Will sleep with Leo. It also doesn’t help that Will is only in Salem part-time, so Sonny may fear that Will could meet someone else in Arizona.
Christine: I only know for certain that Sonny should be in therapy. He’s fixated on Leo. He’s been drugged. He’s having nightmares. Sonny is a man in need of help!
What is your biggest pet peeve about how stories or characters are being written now?
Mikey: There’s so much hypocrisy and contradiction in the writing — and often, it comes in the form of blind spots for certain characters.
It should’ve been satisfying to see Sarah rip into Gwen, and while it was in part, it was hard for me to watch her spew venom about having to experience the loss of her baby twice while she’s just forgiven Xander (the person who was actually behind that!) so easily two times.
I hate that they downplay the reality of stuff we have watched when it doesn’t suit their agenda.
Jack: I’m not happy with the constant doppelgangers, magic masks, unrealistic drug cocktails, violence, and murder. These are not the things I watch a soap for, and they’re way too prominent.
I’m also not happy that we have no real romance. Couples get together and are quickly torn apart, often for spurious and out-of-character reasons.
And the writers seem to have a habit of putting fan favorites together with the goal of tearing them apart and putting them with other characters.
I also dislike that characters are written any which way to serve the plot. There’s a ton of character assassination going on and has been for years.
Characters suddenly get drunk or violent because it suits the plot. Lucas’ sudden shift to being a semi-villain who kidnapped Sami makes no sense. It is an insult to Lucas and Sami’s long history. And Belle has suddenly become Sami 2.0.
While soaps aren’t supposed to be fully realistic, SOME realism would be nice. People are constantly plotting crimes from jail and escaping when they see fit. The hospital never has any security. Kayla is in charge of psychiatric care when she isn’t a psychiatrist, etc.
These things are SO unrealistic, and it’s distracting. But the biggest pet peeve of all is how unbalanced the storylines are.
Instead of having most stories on all week long, they feature two or three stories for the whole week, and everyone else disappears. Where are Paulina, Lani, and Eli, for example?
It’s hard to keep track of the stories when they leave certain stories hanging for weeks at a time and oversaturate viewers with other stories and characters.
Christine: The huge gaps in storytelling! It’s been weeks since we’ve seen Paulina, Abe, Lani, and Eli. Is Paulina still in prison? Has Eli come home from the hospital?
I can understand that some weeks we’ll only have a quick update with certain characters, but to have gaps this long makes it feel like those storylines just don’t matter.
What, if anything, disappointed you this week in Salem?
Mikey: If they were going to do a “Who Killed Abigail?” storyline, the buildup needed to be a lot stronger. It felt like they were rushing to create motives, which just had me rolling my eyes and took me out of the drama.
Jack: There was no need to have Abigail become a bloody mess. And that whole nonsense with the cup that Abby broke was also stupid and unnecessary.
Christine: Why would Abigail go see Gwen in prison? She knows her sister just wants to mess with her, and Abby is smarter than that. Then Abigail smashing the mug was just mean and unlike her.
It all screamed of setting up a motive for Gwen to kill her sister and a lame one at that.
What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline on this week’s Days of Our Lives?
Mikey: Belle laying into Marlena, and John was golden. Martha Madison nailed those scenes, and while everything she said wasn’t exactly true, you could tell that it *felt* true from Belle’s point of view.
Seeing that family have some juicy material together was a treat, and the actual content was a lot of fun to watch.
Jack: I loved Chanel saying she chose herself and that Johnny and Allie needed to stop fighting over her like spoiled brats fighting over a toy.
Christine: Belle letting John and Marlena have it in public was the scene of the week!
However, Tripp gets the quote of the week when he said to Chanel, “I do love Allie. You don’t do a header through a stained glass window for someone you feel lukewarm about.”
Now it’s your turn, Days fans! Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button below to tell us your answers to our round table questions. And 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.