A Critic’s Review of Days of Our Lives: Smug Smirks and Double-Crossing Duds

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 a health crisis, a drug crisis, a lot of crises overall.

What I Am Feeling This Week: The Little Things

A lot about DAYS tried me this week, so I attempted to focus on what I enjoyed.

• Eric (Greg Vaughan) visited the DiMera Manse where he caught up with Nicole (Arianne Zucker) and Holly (Ashley Puzemis). There is such an ease with the three of them that isn’t there with Nicole, EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel), and Holly. It’s this natural comfortability factor that I enjoy and, at the same time, I resent it because we don’t get it all the time. I know we’re on borrowed time here, but I’d love more scenes with these three. The way Eric interacts with Holly is simply lovely. There’s a connection there.
• Abe (James Reynolds), Lani (Sal Stowers), and Chanel (Raven Bowens). Sure, this health and heart crisis story is about Paulina (Jackée Harry). But it’s James Reynolds who’s giving me the moments to remember as Abe starts to say goodbye to his wife. And I adored sisters Lani and Chanel reminiscing about Paulina. They were must-see scenes especially since Lani remembered moments when she knew Paulina as her cool, exotic aunt and not her mom yet. However, these scenes also made me sad that Stowers isn’t always around. I’m greedy that way.
• Temp Sloan: As much as I enjoy Jessica Serfaty as Sloan Petersen when Natasha Hall stepped in for her temporarily I was…pleasantly surprised. The transition was seamless. Hall can come back anytime.
• The Bobby Stein (Blake Berris) Connection: One thing about this Everett Lynch (also Blake Berris) story I found interesting… In his therapy session with Marlena, Dr. Evans (Deidre Hall) opened a file she got from Jada (Elia Cantu). The name stated in it was Robert Everett Stein, and his mom’s name was Lynch. I don’t know why, but I kind of like the fact that we have an explanation for all of the names he’s using. Especially since, he’s a lying liar that lies, right?
• Any Scene with Brady (Eric Martsolf) and Tate (Jamie Martin Mann). Brady’s doing whatever he can to clear his son’s name. He’s talking to Nicole about her daughter who only came out of a coma a second ago. He’s going to the halfway house to be upfront with Tate, talk Premier League apps, and enjoy Sweet Bits donuts. These two are such an enjoyable father/son duo.

Other DAYS Thoughts

What Was That? Part 1: Everett’s smirk. DAYS writers had to work really hard to get Everett!Bobby to the burned down Horton House in order to engineer a conversation between Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) and Everett. They even had her make a Nick Fallon (Blake Berris) reference. Julie told Everett about her Uncle Tommy’s messed up story and she listened to Everett go on about his story. And she concluded he needed to find out about his past. Anyway, the last thing we see Everett do after he talks to Julie is privately smirk in a smug way. It was as if he could check another gullible Salemite off his list. I am so sus when it comes to him. And I always will be.

What Was That? Part 2: Ava (Tamara Braun) doublecrossing Steve (Stephen Nichols) and John (Drake Hogestyn) I mean, I’m not surprised she took it upon herself to go against Steve and John because she thinks she knows what’s best for her son. And, I’m also not surprised it backfired big time. Because this Ava we’re seeing these days? She’s not the same Ava Vitali we’ve seen in the past. There’s no way GOLDMAN could overtake her. Please. We know how badass Ava can be, even with Goldman coming at her from behind. Speaking of which…

What Was That? Part 3: Goldman (Christy St. John) and Clyde (James Read)? Hard pass.

Random Comments and Burning Questions

-Marlena knows Everett is full of it right? She has to know. That’s how I choose to see it. At one point during their session, maybe at the end, there was a look on her face. She knows.

-Lucas’s (Bryan Dattilo) safe house at the monastery. Did he ask Eric for tips?

-Stefan (Brandon Barash) who made his bed in this mess is now asking EJ for help. Unfortunately for him, it’s going to cost him everything. Of course, he doesn’t think it’s fair, even though he made EJ the same type of deal once upon a time. The man needs to take accountability. And these DiMera brothers need to break the cycle of brother-to-brother bullying.

-Wendy (Victoria Grace) and Tripp (Lucas Adams) are in dire straits but with a parent like Ava, how could they not be? She’s botching this whole “operation rescue the lovebirds.” But I have faith that John and Steve will still get the job done.

The best place for true soap fans to be is our Facebook groups. Have you joined? If you love soap spoilers, gossip, and fans as dedicated as yourself, check out Days of our Lives Fans, General Hospital Exclusive, The Young and the Restless Fans, and The Bold and the Beautiful Fans.