Days of Our Lives had me in my feelings all of the last week! There were highs and lows and lots of in between as well, but most if not all were enjoyable. The entire canvas seemed to be out this last week whether they were major factors in story or there to help push it along, it warmed the heart to see so many familiar faces behaving in familiar ways. This all made this last week one of the strongest, most engaging weeks for DAYS in a very long time. Kudos to everyone involved for not giving me much to rant about and more to rave about!

Let’s check out some of my picks and pans from this last week on Days of Our Lives!

Picks of the Week

What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost?

The ghostly Will Horton could not have shown up at a better time than this last week. I cannot be the only viewer that could feel the absolute anguish of Lucas Horton as he continued to drink his sorrows away. It’s amazing to see how Lucas’ descent back into alcoholism has opened up so many untreated wounds involving Will. With Will’s reappearance, we’ve finally begun to given back the multi-layered characters and drama we know and love. I can’t enthuse enough about how this story is playing out!

Last week ended with Will showing up to St. Luke’s to talk his ranting father down from what we assume is beyond the grave – or in the back of Lucas’ mind, as it’s explained later. I was pleasantly surprised to see this last week pick up right where we left off, not even teasing us or making us pine for more. Though his last year in the role really soured things for me, I have to say that seeing Chandler Massey again assume the role he made famous felt really sweet. Massey and Bryan Datillo played off of each other so well, it’s clear that they share a great bond off set because these scenes were so dynamic. Lucas’ happiness at Will’s return also felt like Datillo’s happiness to work with Massey again.

Monday’s episode was thick with emotion from every side but it was so interesting to see how it all tied back to Will. The smartest part of having Paul Narita, JJ Deveraux, Chad Dimera and Sonny Kiriakis simultaneously talk about the loss of Will was that these emotions truly were never dealt with onscreen. To these characters he was a husband, best friend, cousin and lover – yet his death left no real impact to them. Instead of glossing over that to fit years’ worth of grief into a week of scenes to usher in Will’s return, the show instead spoke about how much of this grief was left unresolved and showing it wasn’t for the better at all.

Everyone seems to want to take the blame for Will’s death which Will disagrees with. Will did not go out as a saint and hearing him touch upon that was powerful, especially as his father continued to blame everyone else for his problems. Will’s ghost may have left his drunken father disappointed, but I do not think this is the last we’ll see of the sagely ghost. Lucas seems to only be keen to listen to his son’s spirit than to living, breathing family that pled all last week for him to go into rehab. Unfortunately, I think Lucas has a long way to go before he hits rock bottom – and I think the real, living and breathing Will will be there to pick him up again.

Was I the only one lowkey rooting for the Lumi propping that Will’s ghost put out? How I would love to see that dastardly duo back together again though it does seem impossible considering we’ll only be getting stints from Sami Brady now. Even so, I’d love to see that family unit reunite and to hear Lucas get to sing some Chuck Berry to his little boy again. What a beautiful set of scenes this was!

Father Figure

I find it so funny how similar Nicole Walker and Eric Brady are under pressure and how neither of them knows how to deal with it, especially when it comes to romantic tension. This last week, the both of them crumbled and chose to run away from the truth instead of confronting it. Brady Black’s ridiculous threats to Eric made him pack up and leave Salem to resist the temptation of his true love while Nicole chose to ignore sound advice and stick with a schmuck. No matter how frustrating this familiar love triangle is, there’s also so much to love especially when it comes to characterization and interactions.

The absolute highlight in this story last week was Nicole reconnecting with Abe Carver. When Nicole went through – well, every trouble she’d ever been through – it never made sense to me that she always had to suffer alone. Her brother and sister weren’t in town, she often pushed away her friends but Abe was always there! The connection Abe shared with Nicole’s mother and the son they produced, you’d think it was only natural for the writers to position him as a father figure to Nicole. While she was desperately trying to deny her feelings for Eric, Nicole tried to get in touch with her brother Brandon Walker only to bump into his father instead. Abe cementing himself as Nicole’s pseudo-father truly made me tear up! No matter how irritating Nicole’s become in recent times, it swells my heart to see her finally receive some love and support instead of being constantly torn down. Abe even gave her some of the most realistic advice I’d ever heard in a soap, telling her if she loved Eric, then don’t lead Brady Black on but if you love Brady, then stay with him. Simple as that! Not to mention, his read of Nicole mistaking years of friendship with Brady as love was also spot on too. Now if only he could open her eyes to see that Brady’s form of love has shifted into emotional abuse now.

With that said, just thinking of all the times Nicole could have used some support or how her birth father was an absolute monster, her reconnecting with Abe was such a great moment laced into a very emotional week at DAYS. After a long, long time, I was so thankful to finally be moved by a soap opera again. It’s just so unfortunate that so much in-character goodness is happening with Nicole and Eric just as Arianne Zucker is set to exit the show.