On Days of our Lives, Xander had been coming apart for a while, and in ways everyone had already seen before. His temper kept flaring, his marriage to Sarah finally buckled under it, and any progress he thought he’d made seemed to vanish the second he felt pushed aside or replaced. Anger became the thing he reached for first, especially where Brady was concerned, and it had already cost him more than he liked to admit. He exploded and ended up firing Brady from Basic Black. But after doing that, he surprisingly realized that a true change was in order.
Key Takeaways
- Xander recognized that his blowup with Brady was really triggered by receiving the divorce papers from Sarah.
- He admitted his anger toward Brady may be tied to Sarah moving on with him.
- Marlena set clear boundaries and warned she would step away if Xander hurt her family again.
- Xander apologized for taking his anger out on Brady and agreed to focus on being a better father and to do the work on his anger issues.
Xander Finally Named the Real Trigger
When Xander (Paul Telfer) sat with Marlena (Deidre Hall), he didn’t posture or bargain. He came in already worn down, already aware that the blowup hadn’t really been about Brady (Eric Martsolf), even if Brady happened to be the one standing there. The divorce papers were what finally pushed him over the edge, and saying that out loud mattered more than the apology he hadn’t quite found yet.
Marlena didn’t soften it for him. She pointed out the pattern without dressing it up, and when she suggested that his anger toward Brady might also be tangled up in Sarah (Linsey Godfrey) moving on, he didn’t fight it. He acknowledged that, on some level, it probably was. That alone was new.
It wasn’t growth so much as recognition, the kind that flickers on and off before it settles. He hadn’t fixed anything. He’d just stopped lying to himself for a few minutes.
Marlena Drew the Line and Meant It
Marlena explained she couldn’t continue seeing him at her apartment and laid out her limits plainly: hurt her family again, and she would step away without a second thought.
Xander didn’t argue. He apologized for taking his rage out on Brady and listened as she redirected him toward something smaller and more practical. Focus on being a father. Stay out of Sarah and Brady’s business. Find something to occupy the hours when resentment usually crept in.
He promised he would do the work, and for once it didn’t sound like a performance. It sounded like someone trying to hold onto a thought before it slipped.
That was the danger of it. Self-awareness didn’t arrive as a breakthrough. It showed up as a brief clearing, and Salem has a long memory when it comes to men who swore they were different this time.
