Three rogues have been driving storyline on Days of our Lives. From Philip scamming Xander out of half the Kiriakis fortune to Xander retaliating by beating up his little brother to EJ swapping Rafe with his sleazy lookalike, Arnold, and abducting Kristen’s mother, Rachel, their actions certainly appear irredeemable.
But in the world of soaps, there are always options for the baddest of bad boys. Here are a few ways to fix Xander, EJ, and Philip.
Xander Gone Rogue
Beating Philip (John-Paul Lavoisier) to a pulp was a major and disappointing regression for Xander (Paul Telfer). He’d been walking the straight-and-narrow for well over a year, devoting himself to being a good husband to Sarah (Linsey Godfrey) and model father to their daughter, Victoria, before he snapped and reverted to his old thuggish ways.
Obviously, there’s a good decent man inside Xander, but he’s going to have dig deep to bring him back to the surface and convince people – mainly, Sarah and Maggie (Suzanne Rogers) – to give him another chance.
A major fix would be having him put his life on the line for either Sarah, Maggie, or Victoria. Perhaps Victoria could suffer a health crisis that requires a donor, and Xander could be the match to save her.
A more subtle fix would be having him genuinely repent to Philip and begin working to rebuild their bond as business partners and, ultimately, loving brothers.
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Fraudulent Philip
A spoiled rich kid since birth, Philip’s been used to getting away with things his whole life, like framing Brady (Eric Martsolf) for his “murder” out of jealousy. So finagling his way to take part of the Kiriakis fortune away from Xander, and scamming his attorney, Belle (Martha Madison), in the process, was just monkey business as usual.
This time around, however, it seems like Philip may have learned his lesson. He was contrite, admitting what he’d done to Belle and getting her involved in his con. And when Xander learned the truth about his betrayal, Philip was genuinely sorry for having duped the brother he’d formed a real bond with.
One way to fix Philip might be to have him insist on covering up Xander’s crime against him in an effort to regain his trust. But to really make things right, Philip should be the catalyst in reuniting Xander and Sarah, since he was the reason their happy marriage fell apart in the first place.
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Exonerating EJ
Holding Rafe (Galen Gering) hostage and allowing Arnold to take over and ruin his life was truly despicable, and following that up with abducting Kristen’s (Stacy Haiduk) mother, who could testify against him, only upped his loathsome level. So when he was randomly shot, it was hard to muster up any sympathy for him.
Yet, since that incident and his miraculous recovery, he’s appeared to be a changed man, preaching about turning his life around. EJ took a huge first step by keeping his memory of Johnny (Carson Boatman) pointing a gun at him to himself, determined to protect the son who may have shot him. Yet, to reach another level of redemption, fix his extremely tarnished reputation, and keep Belle by his side, EJ may have to use his new position of power at the hospital to lead a benevolent charge that will resonate with everyone in Salem.
