Days or Our Lives Round Table: What Are We Thankful For In Salem?

Will Eric ever forgive Sloan when the truth comes out?

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Mikey from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate Stefan bursting in on Nicole, Sarah and Xander’s reconciliation, Eric wanting to name his son after Sami, and more!

And what is our round table team most thankful for in Salem? Read on to find out.

Sarah and Xander have reconciled. Do you hope it lasts?

Mikey: No, because Sarah made such incredibly strong points about why she shouldn’t trust Xander — as a partner and a father — that it now seems asinine that she’d ever reconcile with him.

And she was such an unreasonable shrew when he repeatedly offered to drop the custody case that I can’t fathom why he wants to be anywhere around her, either.

Actually, maybe I do hope it lasts, so I don’t have to watch any more triangles or quadrangles featuring this pair, sucking characters I actually like into their orbit. May they live happily ever after, far offscreen!

Jack: I hope so, only because it means no more tantrums from Sarah (for the moment.) I hope they realize what Konstantin is up to and go after him together.

Christine: Yes. Sarah and Xander were entertaining when they were together and happy. Apart, they’ve been unwatchable. Sarah has turned into a shrew who has so many mood swings I worry about her mental health.

Together, these two have the possibility of being fun again. Fingers crossed, we can get back to that, and it will last.

Konstantin got Sarah and Maggie to ask him to stay through Christmas. Who do you think will eventually figure out Konstantin’s plan?

Mikey: I’m hopeful that Steve can put together the pieces and intervene before Konstantin can do much more.

It would be nice to see Maggie figure it out herself, but I know that she’s deep in grief and blinded by this sense of connection to her beloved Victor.

It isn’t that big a leap for someone to figure out that Konstantin staged the whole “kidnapping” just to position himself as a hero, so someone had better figure this out.

Jack: Well, Steve and John are already on the case, so they are first, probably.

I hope Xander also realizes it quickly or that Theresa double crosses Konstantin.

Christine: I was hoping that Theresa would turn the tables on Konstantin, but it doesn’t look as though that will happen.

Secondly, I’d like Maggie to wake up and help take Konstantin down. I know that it’s a long shot, but I’m still holding out hope.

Was Stefan out of line, storming into Nicole’s hospital room and trying to bribe EJ with the CEO’s job to drop the charges against Gabi, or is this justified because he believes Gabi is innocent?

Mikey: Stefan was 1000% out of line! It’s the “storming into Nicole’s hospital room” that’s inappropriate.

He’s desperate to help Gabi, and I get that, but he could’ve texted EJ that it was urgent or waited outside the room to catch him en route to the restroom or the cafeteria.

Yes, EJ’s grieving this baby, too, but approaching him away from Nicole would’ve at least been more tasteful, and there were ways to come at that conversation that didn’t entail busting in on a woman who just lost a baby and ranting and raving like a jackass.

Jack: Totally out of line. The evidence against Gabi is not circumstantial. I mean, it is because she’s innocent, but her prints are on the knife, she was standing over the body, etc.

In any case, whether Stefan believes Gabi is innocent or not, interrupting EJ’s grieving over the perceived loss of his son and yelling at him in front of Nicole was totally inappropriate.

So was trying to bribe EJ. All that does is make Gabi look more guilty.

Christine: Stefan was completely out of line. Bursting into anyone’s hospital room is not okay, never mind a grieving mother’s.

Stefan’s insistence that the only reason Gabi was arrested is that the EJ has a vendetta against him is ludicrious. Gabi was found standing over the body with the murder weapon and overheard trying to hide the evidence. Anyone would have charged her, not just EJ.

Do you find it sweet or weird that Eric wants to name his son after his sister Sami?

Mikey: A little bit of both? I know Sami is his twin, and Marlena named Sami after her own twin, so there’s a nice sense of continuing the legacy here.

So, while I don’t find it weird or creepy or anything, I do find it a little out of the blue. Eric loves Sami, but he seems exasperated by her rather than constantly in admiration of her.

I can’t define the ‘why’ of him wanting to name the baby Samuel other than the fact that they needed a reason for Eric to tell Sloan about the Sami/Nicole baby switch, and this was a somewhat heavy-handed way of steering the conversation there.

Jack: Sami and Eric have always been very close, so I’m not entirely surprised, though I don’t know why anyone would want to name their child after a troublemaker.

Besides, Samuel is a strong, biblical name, which goes well with Eric’s religious faith.

Christine: It’s a little weird. Yes, Marlena named Sami after her own twin sister, but she had passed away, so it was more in remembrance of her than anything else.

It is kind of sweet, but I’m with Mikey that it felt like a heavy-handed way of bringing Sami and Nicole’s history into this storyline.

For all that Eric has forgiven Sami and Nicole, do you believe he will forgive Sloan when he learns what she’d done?

Mikey: No, because Eric doesn’t forgive anyone in the immediate aftermath of their misdeeds. He gets self-righteous, he tells people he’s done with them, he takes pity on himself and drinks.

Then, months or years later, he slowly begins to cool off and get over it. But it doesn’t happen quickly, and it doesn’t happen without a lot of drama.

So, in the immediate future? No way. In 2027, if both they and the show are still around? Maybe.

Jack: I laughed when Eric said he was a forgiving person. You mean like the way he berated Nicole for a year over those shredded documents?

Or, more recently, how he berated her endlessly over Jada’s choice to have an abortion and broke up with her after five minutes?

I hope he treats Sloan with at least a tenth of the vitriol he usually reserves for Nicole.

Christine: Yeah, Eric describing himself as forgiving was rather ironic. It takes years for him to reach the stage of forgiveness, so Sloan’s got a long, long wait once the truth comes out.

What are you most thankful for in Salem so far this year?

Mikey: What I’m most thankful for is that the show is still around. Days of Our Lives is here, and as long as that’s true, there’s the chance of turning things around and refocusing the show on people we care about and stories that feel complex, coherent, and satisfying.

Jack: I’m thankful Days is on Peacock, so I can watch it anytime I want!

I also think Holly and Tate are great additions to the show, and I am thankful Gabi is gone for now because she had become one-note and obnoxious.

I am also grateful for whatever Abe/Paulina scenes we get since Abe is off-screen 99% of the time, even though he supposedly has a story. Abe and anyone is great. I love his scenes with Nicole and Chanel, too.

Christine: I agree that I love having the show on Peacock. It’s easier and more enjoyable to watch. And I hope it means that Days will continue for years to come.

I’m grateful that Johnny and Chanel are back together and hope they get more story time soon.

I hate that Victor’s gone, but I love how the show honored the character after John Aniston’s death and continues his legacy.

I’m also grateful we still have so many of the veteran actors on the show, and I hope they are involved in storylines for years to come.

Who is the best father/son duo on Days of Our Lives right now?

Mikey: I’m going to go with John and Brady. John has a way of being a rock for Brady while still calling him out on his foolish ideas and actions.

They also have such an easygoing, familiar vibe about them, thanks to the strengths of both actors and the fact that they’ve been playing the roles for so long. I hope they’re able to transfer that vibe to Brady and Tate, and they’re doing well so far.

Jack: I wish Jack and JJ were in Salem so I could include them on this list. I like how Brady is with Tate (despite some bad advice) and how Steve is with Tripp (also despite bad advice.)

Christine: The show has a lot of great father/son duos. I love EJ and Johnny and wish we saw more of them together.

Justin and Alex seem to get one another and have a special relationship.

Brady is far more interesting with his teenage son, Tate, than with almost anyone else.

And I love John with both Brady and Paul and wish we’d get more of the latter.

What annoyed the heck out of you this week in Salem?

Mikey: Although I liked the idea of it, I really didn’t like the execution of Abe’s visit to Nicole. It felt like someone who doesn’t know the show or the characters wrote those scenes.

Abe has taken on something of a surrogate father role for Nicole over the years, but this was unnaturally accelerated to a very forced place without earning it.

Nicole calling him “Dad” felt so extreme and out-of-synch with what we’ve watched between them over the years.

I also really don’t care about anything happening with Ava and Harris, but I especially hate how they had Gil randomly attempt to assault Ava just as a plot point.

Jack: What a lackluster Thanksgiving! Everett’s inclusion in Julie’s celebration made little sense. This guy came to interview her, and she ended up not only inviting him to dinner but having him do the cooking so Doug could rest.

And Doug plans only to have dessert, no dinner? And the kids are outside while the adults have Thanksgiving?

Also, Ava could solve this whole Clyde thing quickly by telling Harris or letting him listen in on Clyde’s call! I also don’t believe that two experienced criminals like Ava and Stefan would let Clyde push them around.

Christine: Did Everett really show up unannounced to interview someone in their home on Thanksgiving Day? Is he still suffering from brain trauma because that seems really inappropriate?

At least if Chad had blown up at Everett, things would have been interesting. Instead, it just added to a really boring Thanksgiving.

And as much as I’m happy that at least Ava and Stefan are working together to try and take Clyde down, it made no sense for her not to confide in Harris.

What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives?

Mikey: It wasn’t a happy event, but Nicole’s all-consuming grief and the way she pushed Holly away felt so raw and real.

Arianne Zucker has been fantastic, and the way that they used Nicole’s tragedy to impact her troubled teen daughter was the kind of soap writing I want to see more of from Days.

The baby switch storyline might be contrived and over-the-top, but when they lead to such emotionally impactful material, these setups can be worthwhile.

Jack: I’m thrilled we got some Abe and Paulina scenes. This story has been missing from our screens for too long.

I also loved Abe’s support of Nicole. Memory loss or not, he’s still her surrogate father. Beautiful!

Christine: The “loss” is EJ and Nicole’s baby, although difficult to watch, has allowed the actors to give brilliant performances. I can’t wait for Nicole to get her son back, but I also can’t look away even as my heart breaks for her and EJ.

Also, leave it to Leo to both make me laugh and break my heart all at once as he mourned the loss of the baby he helped deliver and not getting to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Now it’s your turn, TV Fanatics. Could Salem’s Thanksgiving dinner have been better? Do you think Eric will ever forgive Sloan for this? And how long are you willing to wait to have Nicole get her baby back?

Hit that SHOW COMMENTS button below to let us know. Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review here at TV Fanatic.

Days of Our Lives streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes drop on weekday mornings at 6/5c.

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