By 
Never Gonna Give You Up
Steve helps Kayla pack up her office. Courtesy JPI
Steve and Kayla Johnson were all kinds of relationship goals this last week. Kayla found herself ousted from Salem University Hospital pending an investigation of patience negligence, one that she only seemed guilty of though viewers knew the truth.
While I don’t want to dig too deeply into the misplaced revenge saga with Tripp, it did take a nice turn this week. His motives are still thin considering who his mother is. Had Ava Vitali not been an illustrious criminal that the entire town could drag through the mud with her list of crimes, then I’d feel really bad for Tripp missing out on meeting his birth mother. But the fact is, he’s been told numerous times how awful she was and yet he still wants to carry a torch for her? I get why this had to happen though. For once, characters are being punished for covering up something as terrible as murder and deservedly so. Joey Johnson should pay for his crimes and Steve and Kayla should understand why.
But what I did love is when they took a step away from the main story, to really focus on themselves. There were some really great moments of vulnerability when Kayla opened up about being scared of no longer being a doctor and what that could mean for her. I love that Steve was there by her side through it all, not only by throwing an adorable anniversary party (sign language included!) but by vowing to not give up on figuring this whole mess out. The very best part of that? He’s doing it all with her, not for her and making her sit on the sidelines to twiddle her thumbs. Carlivati is known to write strong female driven characters and stories which is what DAYS has been known for, but in recent years there’s been such a gross misogynistic undertone to stories. Women were regulated to being nags and damsels who need men to pull them out of their troubles.
Kayla’s dejected and uncertain but she’s not done fighting yet. Steve is like a driving force for her, a support, just like a husband should be for his wife. I think Steve showing that he’ll be there for Kayla no matter what was just the most romantic, even after the revisiting of their decades long romance over their anniversary meal. That’s true romance to me!
Pans of the Week
When I Grow Up
Brady Black had to let everyone know that Nicole Walker was the love of his life – this just two years after Theresa Donovan was the love of his life which was after Madison and Ariana too… Brady really has that wash, rinse and repeat cycle of love down pat. Because of this laundry list of women that he’s loved and repeatedly lost, I just cannot buy into this extremely passionate love he has for his best friend Nicole, however I do buy his childlike jealousy.
Jennifer confronts Brady about using her to keep Nicole and Eric apart. Courtesy JPI
I think it truly says something when the poorly planned out and thinly crafted insta-son of John Black seems more viable than the one we’ve known of for twenty years. Brady has become more and more insufferable with the passage of time with no end in sight. The last few weeks have seen him unable to deal with the fact that his step-brother and girlfriend shared a chaste kiss while under the influence, so instead of confronting the issue head on like a grown up, Brady chose to play matchmaker to Eric Brady and Jennifer Horton to keep the former away from Nicole. Reminder, this is a man with a child and an executive level career, not a sad teenage boy.
Jennifer Rose was my absolute hero when she put two and two together, deducing Brady’s flimsy plan and reaming him out for it. He tried and tried to worm his way out of admitting his insecurities, but give Jennifer even a flake of a bone and she’s run off with it, unable to let go. It was like she was doing the work of the frustrated viewers by letting him have it. Brady’s behavior is almost always misogynistic and granted who his grandfather is, maybe it makes sense but it doesn’t make it okay.
Jennifer and Eric may make a good couple, but it’s not up to Brady to force them together so he can sleep better at night. It’s manipulative, exploitative and just downright gross. While I loved that Jennifer refused to be a pawn, I don’t have hopes for the once fiery Nicole to have the same reaction. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe Ron will give her a return to form and have her shut down these men who claim to love her but love tearing her down more. For once, I’d like to see her truly stick up for herself and understand her self-worth. Moving her back into Eric’s orbit is a start, their scenes together this last week highlighted that beautiful chemistry that was still there. Now with forgiveness at play, I cannot wait to see Nicole’s heart move back toward a man who will actually understand and value her.
Granted, Eric has had his slip ups and treated Nicole awfully but she also did the same to him which I think was mostly due to bad writing. Brady has always been childish, pathetic and insecure. Once Nicole dumps him, I think the best course for him would be to parent his child on his own, go back to therapy and just live the single life. He clearly can’t handle relationships at this point.
Hypocrites
Abigail and Dario face off. Courtesy JPI
Did anyone else have a laughing fit when after arresting Dario Hernandez, both Hope Brady and Rafe Hernandez tried to preach about morals? These are two cops who covered up the death of an ailing and defenseless octogenarian for nearly a year and got away with it. They are in no way superior to any of the people they inexplicably still hold the power to arrest and detain. No matter how many times they claim to.
I don’t think anyone would chastise a Salemite for shooting The Phoenix. Never forget, Stefano Dimera has victimized everyone in town on multiple occasions. Yes, the man technically had it coming but if he can barely move, can’t defend himself due to sickness then why take him out? Even more importantly, why not just own up to the crime? Instead the old man’s body was dishonored and thrown out like trash at a demolition site.
The very same people behind this went on chastising Dario about counterfeiting money. For upstanding citizens, the two cops went through every channel possible to keep everyone from knowing their dark truth. Literally, who are they to judge Dario at this time? I was so happy when their control over this case was relinquished; Eli Grant handled it instead and did so appropriately. He should have been at the helm of this investigation from the start, considering the sheer scope of Dario’s crimes should have been something the FBI was immediately interested in taking on.
Speaking of that scope, I do wonder who Dario’s partner might be. With the heavy Stefano references since last week, DAYS viewers are beginning to wonder if The Phoenix’s fire wasn’t properly extinguished.
Again, we don’t speak about Prague or anything that may have happened to Salemites there. We just don’t.
As usual, if I missed something you really wanted to talk about or something you felt was important, let’s start a discussion! Comment below, tweet me and let’s chat!
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