Days of Our Lives Recap: What Might Have Been...
Jack Ori
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Change is in the air -- or is it?
On this week's Days of Our Lives, Nicole and Deimos both struggled with the question of whether reformation was truly possible while Victor insisted it wasn't. Meanwhile, Hope and Aiden questioned whether they could ever move past the past and Abigail's disappearance left Chad with regrets.
Deimos angered me a couple weeks ago with his insinuation that the "real" Nicole wouldn't be happy with Daniel. He seemed to be determined to continue along this annoying path, telling her again that she changed for Daniel and that he loves her for who she really is.
Not only is Nicole more interesting and authentic as a good person who does questionable things for the right reasons, but this is disrespectful to the fact that she lost her fiancee less than a year ago. Deimos, who has been mourning Helena for 30 years, should be a bit more empathetic about her loss than this.
But at Chloe's, Deimos again reiterated that he loved the "real" Nicole -- all while Chloe, who he had professed his love to thirty seconds earlier, listened in from outside.
Both of these women should limit their involvement with Deimos to proving Nicole's innocence. It is ridiculous for Chloe to be jealous when she knows Deimos got involved with her in order to make trouble for Philip, her closest and oldest friend.
You said you'd changed. A whole new outlook, remember?
Nicole
Nicole's encouraging Deimos to forget this revenge nonsense and just clear her name was applause-worthy -- until she changed her mind just because Kate said that Nicole hadn't really changed.
Nicole's flaw has always been that she puts too much stock in other people's low opinion of her. That's why she messed things up with Eric a couple years ago and that's why she was even considering forgetting her reformation.
I was glad that Deimos told Nicole that he took her advice to heart and was going to drop the revenge thing. If he is sincere, which remains to be seen, then Nicole will have the honor of doing for him what Daniel did for her.
It would be ironic if the man who insisted Nicole's transformation was fake ended up transforming because of her love for him.
Hopefully this won't be a story of Nicole returning to bad behavior and concluding that the woman who was in love with Daniel didn't exist. While some fans adored the evil Nicole, Nicole being just reformed enough to do the right thing but not minding if she bends the rules to do it seems much more appealing.
Hope, nothing we have experienced is normal.
Aiden
Aiden and Hope's romantic getaway demonstrated why the writers made a severe wrong turn by having him work with Andre again.
Daniel Cosgrove knocked Aiden's PTSD out of the ballpark. This was truly amazing acting, and Hope's support of Aiden while he wondered whether he should give up on putting their life back together showcased everything that made Hope/Aiden fans fall in love with this couple.
Significantly, Hope told Aiden that he doesn't get to tell her what to do. Yet she constantly lets Rafe tell her what to do, making that pairing much less authentic and interesting. Aiden's reluctance to let Hope see him as weak and their concern for one another was vintage Haiden stuff.
The writers really missed the mark by not making this the sum total of Aiden's storyline. Knowing where this is going made the scenes a little less enjoyable, though they were certainly better than much of what passes for romance lately on this show.
Try to lose that self-righteous tone, will you, Rafe? We both know full well who killed my father.
Andre
Andre is involved in a few too many schemes. Dimera or not, I don't know how he keeps everything straight when he's messing with Hope/Rafe, Chad/Abby and Kate all at the same time.
Kate and Andre's scenes were among the most interesting of the week.
Kate is a generally loathsome character, especially when she throws people in rivers without blinking an eye, but she and Andre might make an interesting couple. They would constantly be trying to outmaneuver each other, and there's unmistakable chemistry there.
Andre: I realize that policemen are suspicious by nature, but I assure you I do not have a hidden agenda.
Rafe: You wanna take a polygraph on that?
Andre's visit to Rafe at the police station was a bit pointless. Since he has so much else to do, he might want to cut some of the needling out of his daily schedule. All it did was make Rafe determined to investigate him and discover his connection with Aiden.
His plans for Chad and Abigail are far more interesting. Has he kidnapped Abigail or does he merely plan to make Chad think that he knows where she is so he can worm his way back into Chad's life? Either way, that letter he supposedly found in Abigail's handwriting is likely a forgery (unless it's been written under duress).
Abigail's last thoughts before deciding to run away were about how she wanted to be home with Chad and Thomas so it's highly unlikely that she would willingly pen such a letter. If she did, why would Andre get ahold of it before Chad?
His claim that he found it hidden underneath something is not likely to be the truth, and hopefully Chad knows this.
It was great to see JJ in his element rather than uttering lines that could be given to any stock cop. He was at his best as he investigated his sister's disappearance, told off the idiotic guard who let her slip away while on duty, and confronted Chad about his plans to keep Abby away from the rest of her family if he found her first.
It would have been nice to see JJ connect Abby's state of mind to his own state of mind a few years ago when he was not doing well emotionally, but otherwise these were very solid scenes that finally gave him something worthwhile to do.
JJ is much better at investigating without Roman breathing down his neck and abusing him when he doesn't do things perfectly. Maybe he should turn in his cop uniform for a PI's license and join Steve, John and Paul at Black Patch.
Also enjoyable: seeing Brady finally get a clue and realize Summer has been playing him. Since this is about the 19th time he's been duped by a woman, maybe he needs to ask Marlena for a referral to someone who helps people deal with these kinds of issues.
That doesn't make Victor's hatred of Theresa any less annoying. Where did Victor get the idea that people can't change? Hasn't he been married to Maggie since 2012 or so, based on the fact that she brought out a softer side in him and inspired him to temper his ruthlessness?
Maggie's upset at Victor seemed to be partially upset that she can't move independently because of her injury, though it's about time she called him on his bullying behavior. The fact that Caroline did too should make him think twice.
Caroline knows Victor better than anyone, was his first love (at least until this Helena retcon happened), and has been his closest friend for decades. If she is threatening to kick him out too, then he's doing something very wrong.
All that will make it even more interesting if Deimos does change for real. It would be the ultimate revenge against Victor for the brother who hated him to transform into a more peaceful guy while Victor is left to stew in his rage.
So what did you think? Will Nicole change Deimos for the better or will he change her for the worse? Is Victor getting on your nerves too? Do you think Kate and Andre could be a love-to-hate couple?
Weigh in below, and don't forget to check back in on Sunday for our Round Table discussion!
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
