Addicted To Love: Do Addicts Eric and Jennifer Have a Future on Days Of Our Lives?

Marlena (Deidre Hall) certainly thinks there’s a chance of her son Eric ending up with Jennifer – or, rather, she’s pretty afraid of it on Days of Our Lives (DOOL).

Marlena promised Jennifer she wouldn’t interfere in whatever it was that’s happening between them, but even that civilized promise had a touch of menace to it, as if Marlena (Deidre Hall) were putting Jennifer on notice. (Remember, folks, any bad Marlena gets up to, she can always claim the Devil made her do it.)

Does Marlena have a reason to fear? And do ‘shippers have a reason to cheer?

Age Of Consent
Jennifer (Melissa Reeves) and Eric have a lot in common. They were both born in Salem, Jennifer in 1976, Eric in 1984.

Although, by the time Eric was a toddler, Jennifer was a runaway teen. And when Eric was a teen, in 1997, Jennifer was already a mom to five-year-old Abigail.

Both grew up without their moms. Jennifer’s mother, Laura, was in and out of mental institutions, while Eric’s (Greg Vaughan) was presumed dead.

Could that early loss have been what ultimately led them to their respective addictions, which is currently the main thing they share?

Lost And Found
Marlena reminded Jennifer about Eric’s lost years. But Jennifer already knows about that, and she feels more than empathy. She can relate. Eric’s drinking led him to accidentally kill his childhood friend, Daniel (Shawn Christian).

Meanwhile, Jennifer’s pill-popping caused her to hallucinate her dead husband, Jack, and completely miss that her now-grown daughter was losing her grip on reality–and suffering hallucinations of her own.

(So, for Abigail, maybe it wasn’t the drugs, maybe it was just bad genetics. Not only Grandma Laura, but her own mother, was also mentally ill.)

Headed For the Future
Marlena is worried that someone with Jennifer’s background is not a good fit for her son at this fragile time in his recovery. But that works both ways.

Jennifer already has a daughter in the middle of a divorce, and a son with a traumatized girlfriend to take care of. Does she want to take on Eric’s issues, too?

The big issue is: Is this a relationship or a support group? Will Jennifer and Eric be able to tell the difference? Are they confusing feelings of sympathy for something more? And what will happen when neither one needs a de-facto sponsor anymore?

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