A Critic’s Review of Days of our Lives: Mask-erade Madness

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 week that was.

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

Don’t get us wrong…we enjoy a good campy storyline. And this is the same soap that had its resident shrink possessed by the Devil himself, so it knows from good campy storylines.

But this whole Kristen (Stacy Haiduk) taking over and ruining the life of a Salemite with the aid of a high-tech mask that can alter not only her voice but her height and figure as well shtick has worn painfully thin.

It was a jaw-dropper of a tale back when it was first introduced. We still thrill at the scene of “Nicole” peeling back her face to reveal the villainess underneath. But since that time, we’ve been asked to believe that she’s been able to impeccably impersonate Sarah Horton (Linsey Godfrey) AND Kate DiMera (Lauren Koslow), and it’s just too much.

Firstly, (and yes, we are just going to ignore the “science” behind it all) it makes Kristen nigh on impervious to call out and capture. Someone roots out her secret, into a secret room they go, out comes the mask-making tools, and off Kristen goes, leaving chaos in her wake.

Secondly, it makes so many townsfolk look downright stupid…and oh the plot holes. We’re expected to believe that Xander (Paul Telfer) just up and accepted the fact that his fiancée left him? And we are supposed to buy the fact that Rex (Kyle Lowder) hasn’t called a single person back home and mentioned the fact that Sarah did not return to Chicago with him?

And is Jake (Brandon Barash) really going to accept Kate’s sudden about-face where their relationship is concerned? The Jake that we know wouldn’t. But the writers will no doubt twist the characterization and make Jake be the kind of person who would accept his new normal and go about his day.

At the very least, we’re hoping against hope that he won’t turn to Gabi (Camila Banus) for solace. After all, he hit the nail on the head where his fiery ex is concerned – she’s not so much in love with him, as she is in love with the man whom he looks exactly like.

Further DAYS Musings

* How did Jan (Heather Lindell) and Nicole have an entire conversation about a murdered rapist and not once bring up the fact that Jan shot and killed Paul Mendez – Nicole’s father and the man who raped, impregnated, and passed an STD on to Jan?

* As a couple, Sami (Alison Sweeney) and Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) are a disaster. As partners-in-crime, they’re a HILARIOUS disaster. However, we can’t help but think that the Lumi of old would have done a much better job with “Operation: Distract Chloe.”

* Had Gabi not stopped her intimate rendezvous with Philip (Jay Kenneth Johnson) when she did, how much further would Philip have let it progress before he brought it to a halt in order to explain about his prosthetic leg…or have the writers forgotten about this rather salient fact about the character?

* Fare thee well, Ciara (Victoria Konefal). We’ll see you come summertime! But before that much-anticipated return, we’re hedging our bets that Ben (Robert Scott Wilson) and Claire (Isabel Durant) will spend an awful lot of time together, and inch ever closer to a full-blown romance.

* Of course we weren’t made privy to the secret that Paulina (Jackée Harry) shared with Jules and Carver, but hopefully, it’s a juicy one that will see the light of day once she makes her triumphant return from Miami.

* On paper, an Abby (Marci Miller)/Gabi friendship just doesn’t work. And it doesn’t work in practice either. But their…let’s call it “frenemyship”…is really, really growing on us. Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.