A Critic’s Review of Days of our Lives: Unions, Reunions, and Criminal Chaos

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. Here, we lead with optimism. Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want. So here’s a review of the week that was, including relationship reveals, milestone moments, romantic interludes, and all-around chaos.

What I Am Feeling This Week: Johnny and Chanel’s Wedding

For the second straight week, DAYS is the soap that brought the romance. Of course, the romance came the same week as gunfire and a devastating house fire. So romance and the consequences of the drug ring violence competed for attention.

Wednesday — the Valentine’s Day episode — featured many, many moments of love, and I really appreciated it. The successful examples came from Johnny (Carson Boatman) and Chanel’s (Raven Bowens) wedding, Steve (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) reminiscing at home, and John (Drake Hogestyn) and Marlena (Deidre Hall) in the park.

I wrote about it last week, and I have to say, these three couples made me super emotional. And the flashbacks for the two classic couples provided the perfect touch to trigger my love for nostalgia. But I’d like to touch on Chanel and Johnny’s nuptials because it gave us great moments along with “huh?” moments.

• Johnny and Chanel are one of the few newer couples that have chemistry and have been rootable since the very beginning.
  
• Overall, the ceremony, with Abe (James Reynolds) officiating, was sweet, emotional, and adorable. Their vows lived up to the hype. I may or may not have teared up.
  
• Specifically, however, I really wish the ceremony didn’t take place at Paulina’s (Jackée Harry) hospital bedside while she waited to go into surgery. First of all, that room was small. And second, it was just Abe and Paulina. This is Johnny and Chanel’s second wedding.
  
  The characters have both come a long way so I feel they deserved a wedding that was a bigger deal. One fitting their quirky and lovable personalities. Johnny didn’t even have a single family member to witness the festivities. Did any of them even know about it?
  
• I get that the time of the big, sweeping weddings is over. The last big wedding on this show — was it Ben (Robert Scott Wilson) and Ciara’s (Victoria Konefal)? Johnny and Chanel didn’t need a massive “I Do” moment, but I think they deserved a bigger one than they got, one with multiple family members present, including Lani (Sal Stowers), who’s APPARENTLY still in prison. (Meanwhile, Lucas [Bryan Dattilo] is out. Come on, now.)
  
• Regardless, Raven Bowens and Carson Boatman sold “Janel’s” love, and I hope the show gives them plenty of material now that they’re newlyweds. That is material that has nothing to do with a third party.

Other DAYS Thoughts

Favorite Romantic Non-Wedding Moments: John and Marlena; Steve and Kayla. Like I said earlier, the nostalgia of these super couples hit me hard. It was so great to see them back in the day. It brought back a lot of fun memories. Also, Marlena giving John that “Goes Home to Doc” keychain was everything.

Favorite Reunion: Xander (Paul Telfer) and Sarah (Linsey Godfrey). Xander comes back from his “run”. And Xander’s still trying to avoid connecting with the woman he loves. But Sarah had no qualms. They connected in the shower and then in bed.

Biggest Buzzkill: Theresa (Emily O’Brien) and Alex (Robert Scott Wilson). The two took a walk on Valentine’s Day and ran into John and Marlena, who invited the couple to join them. The entire time Theresa acted blissful over a potential proposal that was never going to happen. And Alex acted like a Valentine’s Day troll. The dark, toxic cloud that floated above him threatened to destroy the positivity and peace everywhere he went. Thankfully, love won out in the end. Except not for Theresa. Sorry, Theresa.

Least Favorite Interruption: Xander and Sarah again. They’re in bed when the police burst in and don’t even let Xander put on a shirt before carrying him off to the police station on suspicion of murder. I mean, couldn’t they have waited a few more days before cuffing him? Good thing Sarah’s standing by her man this time around.

The Horton House Fire: I’ve been putting off talking about the show burning down the Horton house. While I do want to see how this all plays out, it was still upsetting. Clearly, it was arson. But, honestly, all I could think about for days is how those Christmas ornaments are gone. Just gone! Why would the show do this? And how big a deal is next Christmas going to be? (Checks calendar…with DAYS’s accelerated filming schedule, they should be taping the holiday-themed episodes any day now, right?)

Everett/Bobby Drama: I’m so happy that Jada (Elia Cantu) FINALLY saw her cheating ex-husband. Now, we can move on and get into the nitty-gritty of this. Because movement was much needed. Too bad this didn’t happen a few weeks ago. The interesting thing is Jada called Everett, Bobby (both Blake Berris). And I couldn’t even tell if Everett reacted to the name. Feels like he didn’t.

Random Thoughts
-Never ever thought I’d see both Roman (Josh Taylor) and Kate (Lauren Koslow) sport guns to take down the mystery men who tried to kill Lucas. Never.

-I really wish there were more actual Hortons around to feel this loss. I think Billy Flynn’s doing a good job, as are Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) and Doug (the late Bill Hayes), who are conveying apt devastation. But having more Hortons around was needed for this to completely work.

-Did you notice that the Valentine’s Day episode was roughly 50 minutes long? Much longer than your typical DAYS episode.

-I’m glad Rachel (Finley Rose Slater) yelled at both Brady (Eric Martsolf) and Kristen (Stacy Haiduk). Because they’re being ridiculous, fighting where Rachel can hear. It’s hard to come back from everything Kristen did to his family, including raping Eric (Greg Vaughan).

-I can’t with Ava (Tamara Braun) in the chapel. She’s never going to be this heroic character with this great love for Harris. I adore Tamara, but the Ava/Harris love story is falling a little short. And now she’s crying over his comatose body.

The Mole: It’s Goldman (Christy St. John), right? Not shocked that she broke bad. I feel like viewers suspected her. Now, show me why and how.

Burning Question #1: How nice was it to see both Arianne Zucker (Nicole) and Ashley Puzemis (Holly) back in Salem?

Burning Question #2: Are we going to take bets as to when Sloan (Jessica Serfaty) is going to send Jude back to Nicole? At this point, she might even send Eric back to Nicole, too. This man isn’t made for her lifestyle. He’s down to earth (a little clueless) and is ready to make fatherhood his raison d’etre. Clearly, she doesn’t want to give up her sexy times with the photographer. That’s what she’s about.

Favorite Quote #1:
Johnny: “I will give you all my love for the rest of my DAYS.”
Chanel: “I give you my hand, I give you my heart, and I give you my love.”

Favorite Quote #2: “Time goes by so quickly. That’s a fact.” (I love any time John gives us a “that’s a fact”)

Days of our Lives airs weekdays on Peacock+ in the U.S. and The W Network or Global TV App in Canada. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.