Why Belle Black and Shawn Brady Must Stay on Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives has suffered some hits over the years, with huge draws like Peter Reckell’s Bo Brady, Kristian Alfonso’s Hope Williams Brady, Greg Vaughan’s Eric Brady, and Alison Sweeney’s Sami Brady DiMera taking off (though thankfully, the latter does return for visits). The next generation needs to be in place to keep Salem’s stories spinning. Luckily there are two important characters there — and they need to stay.

Days of our Lives: The Next Generation

That’s why it’s never made sense for the show to send off to Hong Kong Belle Black (Martha Madison) and her longtime love (and current hubby) Shawn Brady (Brandon Beemer). Thank goodness they are currently back and here’s hoping they’re back to stay for a very long time. Soaps are about family and this soap has several who have been around for a long time.

The longest of course is the Horton clan. Current members today are few and far between but Hope Williams (her mother being Addie Horton) was all set to carry that torch — except where is she? She was last heard to be in South Africa, having tracked down Ciara Brady (Victoria Konefal), but, well…Ciara’s back in Salem. Yet, no Hope. And Ciara’s pregnant!

Luckily for her (and Days of our Lives viewers), big brother Shawn is in town. She needs support from her family and if her mom can’t bother to come home, her brother needs to stick around. He can give her and Ben Weston (Robert Scott Wilson) plenty of advice since he’s a father too. Speaking of which, daughter Claire needs to return. She’s doing no one any good off in South Africa…except maybe Grandma Hope. Shawn is also working at the Salem Police Department, which has had a Brady there for 40 years. He’s holding up that tradition!

Let’s not forget that Marlena Evans Black (Deidre Hall) is possessed again…but barely has any family around to notice! No Sami, no Eric, so thank goodness daughter Belle is around to react to the strange way her mom is behaving! She’s also a lawyer, so considering how much crime happens in town, having Belle around is always handy!

Shawn is also connected to Grandpa Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston), though they rarely interact. This of course makes both Belle and Shawn related to Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) — Belle is his half-sister while Shawn is his cousin.

Days of our Lives needs to be thinking about the future and positioning the next generation to drive story in Salem — and there’s every reason to feel that Belle and Shawn are the ones perfectly positioned to take that on. Here’s hoping the powers that be realize that as well and keep these two in Salem for the foreseeable future.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.