The week was bookended between Philip waking up and Rachel falling asleep, both of which are sure to shake things up on Days of Our Lives in their own way. And in between? The show made it clear that we’re already in 60th anniversary celebration mode with flashbacks and nostalgia giving longtime fans plenty to dine on.
A Path to Forgiveness?
I think we all figured Philip would keep his mouth shut in getting beaten by Xander, seeing as how he’d want to keep his fortune and his role at Titan/DiMera. But what I didn’t see coming was his and Xander’s genuine apologies to each other! But if those two somehow come out of this allying for real, will they help each other grow and mature or just feed off each other’s worst impulses? I’m hoping for the former, against all odds. Maybe at the end of all this, Philip’s machinations can come affecting positive change? Of a sort.
It does seem like this latest violent episode is going to finally push Xander into truly reckoning with himself as Paul Telfer promised — but that doesn’t mean it’s going to save him and Sarah. That was clear during their confrontation on Thursday.
And on that note, I’m going to say that I’m all in on this new Sarah. She’s taking control, putting Xander in his place hard and just feels so much more decisive in all aspects of her life. Even Xander seemed taken aback at her cold reaction, and I half wonder if maybe he was more stung by Sarah’s reaction to the news that charges against him had been dropped. A part of him seemed like he was truly hoping she’d soften towards him a bit.
And when she didn’t, he shut down with her immediately. Things will eventually turn around, I think, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to get very, very nasty between them. (And we’re gonna start seeing that next week!)
Sleep-Talking
Marlena’s grief is taking a toll and Deidre Hall is still knocking it out of the park. I just about crumbled when she pulled out John’s Yankee cap, smelled it and hugged it to her. She knows the grief is wearing her down, she knows what she’s supposed to do, but it’s clearly much harder to give therapy advice than take it.
So as much trouble as Rachel causes, it was nice to see the two spend some quality time together on Friday. But then that took a turn and Rachel blurted out the shooting in her sleep. And it looks like next week, Marlena’s going to get the details of EJ’s shooting from her granddaughter.
If she does, well… at least it’ll give her something to focus on besides losing John! But the last thing she needs is more family drama and pain. We know EJ’s determined to keep Johnny safe (but what’s his plan with that flash drive with the video?), but will Marlena — and, it looks like from spoilers, Roman — do the same?
I’m still sure Johnny isn’t the shooter, but I am hoping that we can get back to wrapping this up now. Things are starting to spill out, and that usually means the truth is about to come out. So let’s get to it.
Let the Good Times Roll
Steve’s retirement was certainly the fastest I’ve ever seen, but at least it gave us an excuse for a ton of flashbacks! But who is he going to end up partnering with? Because despite Bo offering himself and Hope, their skipping town put the kibosh on that…
As for Bo and Hope, I don’t think any of us expected them to stick around long, but Bo’s comment that they should retire to the Horton house some day and pick up where Doug and Julie leave off, certainly got my attention. I honestly expected them to vanish forever, maybe just popping up for things like the 60th anniversary.
Days of Our Lives either made that promise because they’re hoping no one will remember, or because they have hope now that there is a possibility of a permanent return for them. And the former just feels too cruel to be true. The long and the short of it is that the show’s given us hope for the future for its beloved vets, from Steve to “Bope.”
