Days of Our Lives Round Table: Sarah Dumps Xander!

Orpheus poisoned Marlena, Kayla, and Kate. Sarah left Xander. Johnny’s relationship with Ava shocked Chanel, and Kristen threw down the gauntlet to get Chloe out of Rachel and Brady’s lives.

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by BillieReed and Horizon from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate where Orpheus ranks as a villain, if Sarah overreacted, Nicole’s job offer, and Stefan’s return to Salem.

Orpheus has drugged Marlena, Kayla, and Kate with a fatal poison. How do you rate Orpheus as a villain?

BillieReed: Stefano DiMera, Orpheus is not. He’s about as threatening as a puppy dog. I fully expect the ladies and their gents to thwart his latest naughty plan through the power of true love yet again.

Jack: Orpheus is my favorite villain! I have always loved his tragic backstory and that he is a more intellectual villain than a mob boss. His plays on words and threats delivered in a seemingly gentle, calm voice are chilling.

And in this story, he’s written correctly. He’s gone back to his roots and is no longer a random kidnapper.

That said, I’m not thrilled with this story. The symptoms of this toxin may remind some viewers of COVID, and I’d rather a war between Orpheus and the Dimeras than Rolf seeming to be helpless as Orpheus steals his things and attacks people who were important to Stefano.

Horizon: As a character, Orpheus is articulate with a sinewy (albeit sadistic) wit. As a “bad guy,” that character doesn’t quite jibe with the wrongdoing he has cooked up, so as a villain, I give him a D +. Deducted from a C- because, as one member put it, he is such a windbag.

Christine: It’s difficult to rate Orpheus. He’s not a serial killer-type villain. He’s diabolical but completely different from someone like Stefano.

But Orpheus loves riddles and puzzles, which can be fun at times, and he’s got some great quips. I’d grade him at a B- this time around.

Was Sarah right to get angry and walk out on Xander, or did she overreact?

BillieReed: Yeah, she overreacted big time! I mean, Sarah has forgiven Xander for X number of crimes, including covering up her own child’s death, but it’s breaking up Eric and Nicole’s marriage that is unforgivable?! I just can’t with that woman!

Jack: Overreaction is an understatement! Sarah has forgiven Xander for far worse than this, and she insisted he tell her, then stormed out when he did. Couldn’t the writers come up with a better story than this for these two?

Horizon: Sarah was right to get angry but wrong to walk out on Xander, but it seemed a bit too dramatic and out of the blue.

Christine: This was ridiculous. Sarah knows who Xander is. She knew what he was capable of when she married him.

Xander was devastated when he thought Sarah dumped him on their wedding day, so he returned to his old ways.

Plus, he was flat broke, and Sami offered him $1 million. Sami was going to out Nicole anyway, so it’s easy to see why Xander took advantage.

What do you think, Days fans? Did Sarah overreact when she walked out on Xander?

What do you think of the possibility of a future relationship between Johnny and Ava?

BillieReed: I love Johnny and Ava’s burgeoning friendship, but their kissing scenes made me feel icky. It’s not their age difference that bothers me either because I thought they would be hot together before they actually kissed.

Sometimes even great actors just don’t mesh well romantically, and it feels like that’s the case here, so I say “no” to a pairing.

Jack: No, thank you. So far, it’s better than JJ/Eve, which isn’t saying much. These two seem to be respectful of each other, but I don’t see a purpose to them being together beyond annoying EJ and Chanel.

Horizon: I think the future of Johnny and Ava falls squarely on Ava’s shoulders. There is no doubt Johnny has the hots for this very attractive older woman, so if she gives the green light, he will likely be there in a nanosecond.

Difficult to tell if Ava will go there or not. Queasy as the romantic alliance would be, just to see the reaction on Allie’s face might make it worth it. The duped EJ has naturally flipped his lid over it.

Christine: I don’t mind the age difference, but I prefer these two as friends. I’m hoping that Ava and EJ will eventually become a serious couple. They could be the power couple that Salem needs.

Should Eric have taken the job at Basic Black? Should Nicole have offered it? Will Nicole and Rafe’s marriage survive this?

BillieReed: No, no, and no. Rafe and Nicole’s marriage is two seconds away from completely detonating. I just hope something good finally happens for Rafe. He’s one of the good guys.

Jack: Ugh. Eric told Jada not 10 minutes before that he wouldn’t take a job at Basic Black because he didn’t want to work with Nicole.

When Nicole was a reporter and Eric was decent to her, I thought he should go into photojournalism and work with her. Now, I wish they’d kept the photojournalism idea and had Eric work with Jack.

That might have been interesting, especially since Eric is Jennifer’s ex and a fellow addict, and she’s back on pills while Jack is oblivious.

Nicole offered Eric the job so she wouldn’t get caught in a lie. That could have been avoided by not lying in the first place. All these lies are going to kill her marriage to Rafe.

Horizon: Neutral on whether Eric should have taken the job offer, but slithery Nicole should have never offered it.

I believe the frail Nicole/Rafe marriage was doomed before it even got started. Put a fork in it.

Christine: No to all three! I was looking forward to Eric working with Jack, so his taking the job to be near Nicole is disappointing.

Nicole has been lusting after Eric and lying to Rafe since the moment they got married. It’s so bad that I’m feeling sorry for Rafe, and I’m not a big fan.

Were you surprised at how easy it was for Kristen to make Brady look bad during the custody hearing? How do you think the judge will rule?

BillieReed: I was surprised by how easily Kristen twisted things around, but I guess I shouldn’t be because she’s a master manipulator.

I definitely think the judge will grant Kristen full custody of Rachel, which could lead to some interesting storyline possibilities.

Jack: This is par for the course in Salem, where trials and hearings are not subject to real-life rules. The judge seemed incredibly biased toward Kristen and likely is being paid off, so I have no doubt she will rule in Kristen’s favor.

Horizon: For lack of a better description, the entire courtroom drama was ludicrous. Days ditched the reality of legalese in order to push their narrative forward.

It appears Kristen will get full custody, but I can’t be 100% certain about that. If she does get full custody, it would be absurd based on her long list of crimes from the past.

Christine: No one can say Kristen wasn’t prepared. Brady is an addict, and he has a temper. So Kristen is using what she’s got, and Brady is taking the bait.

I’m not a fan of Brady and Chloe, and although in real life I’d feel differently, I hope Kristen gets custody because I think it makes a more interesting story.

What disappointed you the most this week in Salem?

BillieReed: The lack of a resolution to the murder storyline! How do we still not know whodunnit?! And why didn’t we see Will and Sonny’s reunion (assuming they had one when Sonny woke up in the hospital after being stabbed)?

Jack: I hated the joke of a custody hearing. It bore no resemblance to reality, and worse, Belle was enabling Kristen and giving Brady/Chloe horrible advice. 

Belle sounded more like Kristen’s lawyer than Brady’s when she advised Chloe to go home and apologized for Brady’s outburst in a way that made his anger at the millions of crimes Kristen has committed against his family sound unreasonable.

Also, while I didn’t expect it per se since there has been no news of this nature, I would have loved it if Philip had walked in while Kristen accused Brady of killing him.

Finally, as stated above, this Eric/Nicole nonsense is all sorts of ugh.

Horizon: Apart from Monday, which had brilliant moments of humor, I thought, in general, this was a tepid uneven tone-deaf week.

The Stefan storyline barely moved the emotional needle, and the whole Orpheus-directed “Damsels in Distress; Part Two” showcase was plain annoying.

And the courtroom drama was simply ridiculous. And Sarah flipping out seemed overly dramatic.

Christine: I hated that the entire Abigail’s murderer/Sonny’s attacker story was silent. I want to find out who did it already. And I’d also like to see more of Leo.

And Sarah dumping Xander for being Xander, and on their honeymoon no less, was horribly disappointing.

What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline on this week’s Days of Our Lives?

BillieReed: The Stefan/Gabi crypt reunion scene showed that those two still got it! The chemistry between them was as strong as ever, so that gets my vote for favorite scene of the week.

Jack: I loved the women’s determination to defeat Orpheus and cure the mysterious disease, especially this: www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/just-because-orpheus-said-that-he-won-doesnt-mean-that-he-has-wo/

Orpheus also had some great lines when he was tormenting the men with that video.

Finally, I enjoyed Stefan seeing through EJ’s loving brother act.

Horizon: I enjoyed the subtle humor behind Ava’s “visions” of Jake. It played out as an oft-kilter homage to Mrs. Kravitz, the beloved “Bewitched” character who kept seeing witchcraft being performed next door, which would stop once her husband went to the window to take a look. Ava’s confusion felt real.

For the most part, none of the storylines excited me, but I have been relishing EJ and his constant sardonic outrage.

My favorite quote was when Brady turned to Belle in regard to the judge’s tolerance of Kristen. “Doesn’t she read The Spectator?”

Christine: I liked that Ava held her ground and didn’t let Johnny manipulate her, even when trying to get back at EJ. Now that the show has given Ava a story, I’m enjoying seeing more of her.

Okay, Days of Our Lives fans. Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button below to tell us what you think of our round table and share your thoughts on this week in Salem.

Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review!

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C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.

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