‘Days of Our Lives’ Week In Review: A Town Called Panic

Days of Our Lives is two weeks into its latest reboot and – I can’t say that I see that drastic of a change? Ken Corday promised us (again) that we’d be seeing everything we loved about DAYS gone by on our screens again yet there still seems to be a whole lot of nothing. The escaped criminals looming over the town has worked out much better than I’d initially expected it to but other than that, what is there? Anyone? It is still pretty early to pass a full judgment on this reboot though there have been many promising moves, fresher bits of dialogue and such as well. I think it’s safe to say we can thank newbie Ryan Quann for that. But I digress; let’s get into some of the highlights of this last week in Salem, USA!

Week in Review for Days of Our Lives episodes airing September 19th – 23rd.

Shake It Up

Photo Credit: © XJ Johnson/JPI Studios

The town of Salem was not in the best place these last few months. The citizens seemed to be lost in a funk, one that took the form of some kind of thick fog that kept everyone weighed down and boring. Going about their day to day lives as zombies, bouncing from coffee shop to coffee shop and arguing about nothing in between was not the way to live. I am almost grateful to Orpheus, Clyde Weston and Xander Cook for breaking out to get revenge on all these Salemites. This town needed to be woken up again and these escaped convicts shook things up just right.

When the week began with Xander working out shirtless, I knew that I was going to enjoy what was to come. Finally, having Paul Telfer back on screen being smoldering and sinister just felt right – and somehow having Orpheus play the evil mama bear felt good too. Xander was sick and tired of waiting around, passing the time by doing push-ups instead of getting revenge on the family that threw him under the bus in favor of Theresa Black. Out of the three, Orpheus is just much more patient especially after having waited decades to exact this revenge. He promised that the time would come soon where they’d wreak their havoc but for now they were to wait for a package. Using some of Clyde’s connections, disguises were delivered to the criminal’s hangout and thanks to Xander’s efforts; walkie talkie (or burners?) were secured to make sure the gang kept in touch. Then to round it all out, Orpheus had a plan that would satisfy this blood lust that Xander was growling for. The next we see of the escapees is, when in disguise, they’re packing bombs and heading off to somewhere. Is it a coincidence that Salem experiences a town wide blackout soon after? I think not!

Even with the criminals on the loose, Salemites didn’t heed much of the warnings and still went about their days. Forget getting held up at gun point at a family wedding, let’s just stroll through Horton Town Square to get a coffee and enjoy the weather! I would have been the first one throwing myself into the nearest panic room, so I really appreciated Marlena Evans reaction to Claire Brady sneaking out at such a dangerous time. It was refreshing to see some soap characters actually implement real life logic to dangerous situations. Claire’s attitude was characteristically adolescent but Marlena chopped her back down to size with ease. It was nice to see her play grandma and they were lucky this escape happened before the lights went out. Kayla Brady was not so lucky in that regard. By chance, Steve Johnson had seen Orpheus about town, recognizing him even through his disguise and made to tail him but the criminals cleared their hideout before Patch could catch up. While Steve was out searching, Clyde and Orpheus broke into the Johnson family home where a sick Kayla was resting in the dark. A hostage situation arises and the danger level only escalated when Steve came home full of taunts.

Photo Credit: © XJ Johnson/JPI Studios

Hilariously, Patch called Clyde, Orpheus and Xander the Three Stooges (did he read my recap from two weeks ago?) and boy, did that set them off. The dysfunctional aspect of these three convicts forced to work together is honestly the best part of the entire Salem wide revenge story. Clearly they don’t like to be told they’re funny so after some pushes from Clyde and Xander, shots ring out and Steve went down for the count. Before the cops could arrive, the Stooges take Joey Johnson as their captive and fled the scene of Kayla sobbing over Steve’s body. He’s alive thanks to a Kevlar vest but the moment was classically emotional in that soap opera superhero way. If this doesn’t make Kayla forgive Steve for whatever it is she’s still mad at him for then, I don’t know what will!

Outside of their fun banter, the three criminals running amok in Salem has been so enjoyable. It’s not Passions’ Vendetta storyline, an obviously zany but still intricate umbrella storyline that saw nearly every Harmony resident entangled in its web, but this story is doing good things for DAYS. Connections are forming again, characters are reacting to things outside of their little bubbles, checking in with family and reconnecting with friends over fears. It’s slowly moving back toward what a town full of family and friends should feel like. This was definitely one of many shake ups that DAYS needed and I can’t wait to see it continue. Are you enjoying Clyde, Orpheus and Xander’s antics too?