You’d think that after all the secrets that have come out and doppelgangers that someone discovered, people in Salem would smarten up!
But no, it took three renditions of Kate’s story about Kristen kidnapping and impersonating her for Abigail to figure out that a newly-returned Sarah was a fake.
And no one but Susan has realized that Johnny is possessed by the Devil even though he’s not acting like himself.
On Days of Our Lives during the week of 1-17-22, Xander was ready to drink himself into a stupor over what a fake Sarah told him about their relationship.
Craig made it clear he was hiding something from Nancy. Chanel tried to lie to Paulina about having slept with Allie. Does EVERYONE have amnesia about the way these things go?
The Johnny/Devil stuff is incredibly ridiculous. Maybe EJ is so blinded by his excitement that Johnny is finally falling in line, but Allie is Johnny’s twin sister.
She’s closer to him than anyone in the world, plus she just lived through Marlena’s possession and exorcism.
Allie: I came over hoping to talk to the Johnny I once knew and loved. I was hoping that you would apologize to Chanel for what you did to her.
Johnny: Apologizing is not the Dimera way.
Allie: Fine. Be a good little Dimera soldier. But know this. You had a twin sister. You no longer do. I have one brother and that is Will.
Instead of disowning Johnny, she should realize something is wrong with him. At the very least, she should sense an evil presence that creeps her out.
Not that Allie and Johnny’s scenes weren’t powerful. It takes a lot to disown your twin brother, and Allie did it as a last resort because Johnny wouldn’t stop acting like he didn’t care about other people.
And since Johnny broke Chanel’s heart with his bad behavior, Allie might also have been motivated because she loves Chanel. Of course, she’s still denying that to herself, instead insisting she’s in love with Tripp. But still.
I wish that the writers would delve more deeply into bisexuality.
It’s possible that Allie is in love with both Tripp and Chanel and is torn between them. Yet the writers keep having her say she loves Tripp as if that means she can’t also have feelings for Chanel.
Anyway, Chanel seems to realize something is off about Johnny, even though she hasn’t put two and two together yet. So that’s something, even if Allie, who is supposed to be closer to Johnny than anyone in the world, is clueless.
Chanel keeps saying that the man she knew was nothing like the one who broke her heart, so it’s only a matter of time before she figures out what happened.
Allie/Chanel are probably a bump in the road to Chanel and Johnny’s eventual reconciliation, but when will that happen? At Allie and Chanel’s wedding someday when the Devil decides to reveal itself?
That would be trite, especially given how often Days of Our Lives uses the interrupted wedding trope, but at least then we’d get rid of those yellow eyes and that creepy voice, neither of which add anything worthwhile.
Across town, Abigail seemed to have taken the Salem Brain out of her desk drawer before she confronted the phony Sarah. I think she should have told Kate what was going on, though.
Backup is always a good idea when dealing with Kristen and her endless supply of look-alike masks, and Kate is the kind of person you want in your corner.
Besides, Abby running out of the Pub just as Kate was about to buy her a drink felt all sorts of awkward.
Abby: You’re not Sarah. You’re Kristen. Kate told me how you did the same thing to her, that you stuffed her in a suitcase and then put on a mask so everyone would think you were her.
“Sarah”: I’d prescribe you anti-psychotics, but unfortunately I didn’t bring my prescription pad with me.
Abby also might have called Shawn or Rafe to arrest the phony Sarah so that they could get some answers out of her, but that would have been too easy.
Instead, Abby confronted “Sarah” by herself, put up with a ton of ableist insults about her having a mental health condition (is Days of Our Lives ever going to learn to take mental health seriously?), and tried to pull her mask off.
It’s probably Ava under that mask since it’s neither Kristen nor Gwen. Hopefully, Abby will pull the mask off rather than give up now that Gwen has shown up. I didn’t blame her for doubting Kristen really spoke to her on the phone, though.
It was all too huge a coincidence to be unplanned, and Abby’s right — Kristen is not beyond having a doppelganger call her to throw her off the trail.
Can this be the end of the stupid mask motif, though? Gwen and Ava are not the same size, nor are Gwen and Sarah. This magic mask which turns you into a replica of someone you want to impersonate is almost as ridiculous as the Devil possession nonsense.
Getting back to the Devil possession, this Jake/Gabi/Johnny story is hard to take. Gabi has her faults, a lot of them, but she doesn’t deserve to be kissed against her will, and the Devil wouldn’t stop coming on to her or getting physical.
Yuck!
I mean, props for pointing out that sexual assault comes from the Devil, I guess, but it would be nice if anyone would call it what it is.
People grabbing other people to kiss them is not romantic, and Gabi said no twice. Considering she’s already a survivor thanks to Nick, she should have had a stronger reaction to Johnny’s behavior here.
Elsewhere, Craig and Nancy’s return has been one of the more interesting stories lately.
Nancy and Craig left town with Joy in 2005, and while Nancy has been back a couple of times since, this is the first time that both she and Craig are in Salem at the same time since then.
Chloe: You need to straighten this out with Mom. She’s convinced you’re cheating.
Craig: I would never sleep with another woman.
Chloe: I know, but Mom is convinced you’re cheating on her. You’re not, are you?
Craig: You know your mother. When she gets something in her head no one can talk her out of it.
[Nancy shows up]
Nancy: So it’s all in my head, is it? You know, every man who is cheating says he’s going on a business trip or that he is working late. Thanks for turning our beautiful marriage into a cliche.
Hopefully, Nancy really is being paranoid about Craig having an affair. Her impassioned speech about how she didn’t appreciate him acting like the stereotypical cheating husband was good stuff, but I don’t want Days of Our Lives to bring this couple back on-screen just to break them up.
The guilty look on Craig’s face as he hugged Chloe after all was said and done made me think this story is far from over, though.
There have been persistent rumors that Craig is having an affair with a man, and his focus on saying Nancy is the only WOMAN for him makes me wonder if that’s where this is going.
If handled well, that could be an interesting story. Just please, no bad depictions of open relationships as it progresses! We have enough of that over on New Amsterdam.
Speaking of non-traditional relationships, I enjoyed Chanel and Paulina’s conversation.
Days of Our Lives’ backbone used to be family members and friends talking with each other, and I’m glad they’re finally getting back to that. Paulina and Chanel had a mostly honest conversation, though Paulina is very much a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of parent.
Chanel: Horton was nice enough to hang out with me til I fell asleep.
Paulina: Chanel. Do you remember when you were a little bitty girl, what I always said when you were scared to tell me something that might get you in trouble?
Chanel: Never be scared to tell you the truth.
Paulina: That’s right. And I know I haven’t always lived up to it, but you still can tell me anything.
Chanel: I am telling you the truth. Allie and I hung out til I fell asleep. That’s it.
Paulina: Chanel. When I say that I saw you and Allie together, I mean I SAW you.
After all, how many lies has Paulina told Abe that have caused her relationship with him to implode?
I’m glad that Chanel turned down Paulina’s suggestion of demanding a large chunk of money from Johnny during the divorce.
Chanel still holds a torch for Johnny, and hopefully, once the Devil stuff is over with, they will be back together. Plus, a move like that would only serve to convince EJ he was right about Chanel being after Johnny’s money.
EJ might not have much control over what happens with Johnny and Chanel for a while, though, considering he was just convicted of kidnapping.
Belle told him he did it to himself, and she was right.
It wasn’t so much his testimony. I hold Belle equally responsible for that because there are other questions she could have asked him to help plant doubt in the judge’s mind that EJ was guilty.
But EJ threw more than one tantrum in the courtroom.
Yelling and carrying on doesn’t communicate the idea that he’s a mature, upstanding citizen. Instead, his behavior suggested he was the kind of person who might decide to have his ex-wife kidnapped during a moment of anger.
That said, if only Chad had told EJ what he thought EJ had done, that aspect of it would have been straightened out.
EJ was in the courtroom with Belle at the same time as he allegedly assaulted Abby, so that could have quickly been resolved. But that would interfere with the Devil messing with Johnny’s family, so it didn’t happen.
Similarly, it was so frustrating that Xander thought that was the real Sarah breaking his heart all over again.
He even admitted to Brady that for a while, he thought Kristen was involved in Sarah’s disappearance until he talked to “Sarah.” He was right the first time. Trust those instincts, dude.
Brady and Xander’s conversation was a nice change of pace, though. Usually, these two are at each other’s throats, but Brady managed to be empathetic and supportive.
Xander: Can I ask you something before you go?
Brady: I guess.
Xander: How do you drown your sorrows without alcohol?
Brady: I don’t anymore. I let myself feel bad and I talk to people. If I need to I make amends. And eventually, I feel better.
Xander: The problem is I’m not as patient as you. Eventually is too far away for me.
He should have invited Xander to come to the meeting with him and Maggie, though.
Xander seemed like he was trying to understand how to not drink over this, and the Twelfth Step says to bring awareness to all those still suffering.
Finally, no matter what Kristen says, I don’t believe Steve is dead.
That would be a horrible end to a legacy character, so Days of Our Lives had better not go there!
This whole Kayla pretending to be a nun story is awful. Why couldn’t Steve and Kayla have just told the straight-laced Mother Superior what they were trying to prove?
Instead, Kayla wasted an hour reciting Bible verses and saying stupid things while trying not to give away what she was really up to while Kristen was busy confronting Steve.
Ugh. This story sucks. And if Steve is MIA for a while or dead, it’ll be twice as bad.
Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought of the various Salem happenings!
Hungry for more Days of Our Lives chat? Be sure to check back on Sunday for the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.
Days of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.