Lost Hope: Rafe Lands In Sami’s Arms After Bitter Breakup on Days of Our Lives

A big blowup with Hope–ending with her returning his engagement ring–sends a reeling Rafe into the arms of another woman on Days of Our Lives (DOOL): Sami!

Actor Galen Gering (Rafe) admits he had some reservations, when he first heard about the surprise twist.

Character Assassination?
“I was very concerned about my character, his future and the story,” says Gering. “I wanted to make sure that it fit for [Rafe] and the situation and was not just like, ‘Oh! Let’s just do this, because it’s totally this big monster thing…'”

So Gering met with head writer Ron Carlivati when the plot turn was just a seedling. “I talked to Ron about it before it was in the script. I wanted to meet with him, see what he was thinking,” explains Gering. “And I thought it was great.

“Here’s the thing. I wanted to make sure that Hope (Kristian Alfonso) and Rafe weren’t together [when it happened],” Gering continues. “That would seem tremendously out of character for Rafe and would be really disconcerting.

“I wanted to make sure there was time, even more time [than there was], that these two characters were apart. But I loved the story. It’s a totally real story. The fans are going to be throwing stuff at the TV. It’s great soap.”

The set up aligned with Gering’s hopes for the story. After Abe (James Reynolds) fires Hope for not firing JJ (Casey Moss), he appoints Rafe the new Salem PD police commissioner.

It leads to a work spat between Rafe and Hope, but then turns to an underlying personal issue: the fact that Hope won’t commit to Rafe and set a wedding date. When Rafe suggests that it’s because he’s not Bo, Hope admits he’s not and gives her fiancé back his ring. It leaves Rafe feeling down and dejected.

Commiserating with His Ex
Afterwards, he runs into Sami (Alison Sweeney), who’s having plenty of problems of her own with Will (Chandler Massey) and…continue reading on the next page —>

Continue reading on the next page…

Commiserating with His Ex
Afterwards, he runs into Sami (Alison Sweeney), who’s having plenty of problems of her own with Will (Chandler Massey) and they end up going back to her room at the Salem Inn to commiserate…

“For me, she’s like the one person who it would be acceptable to be with and based on the circumstance,” contends Gering. “The thing that I really love is the way that the story was crafted. Hope was really reticent to marry Rafe. It made him have feelings of uncertainty. Am I good enough? There was doubt…”

Enter Sami. “Here’s this woman, who did marry Rafe, and now all of a sudden wants to be with him,” explains Gering.

“They fit so well together. They were married. It all made sense, and I loved that. There are so many things that make this story. It’s threaded, as I always say. There are things that are woven into it that are complicated that make it work on large scale.”

Moving On
So what happens next, particularly for the rooting couple, Rafe and Hope? According to Gering, Rafe feels “incredible guilt. He regrets it and wants to tell Hope everything. Sami wants to push it all under the carpet.”

It all leaves Rafe and Hope’s once happy looking future up in the air.

“How do they mend fences and move forward as a result of this thing happening, this transgression? It will be really interesting to me,” says Gering, admitting that he’s “totally nervous about how it’s all going to be [perceived].”

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.