JJ can never get a break.

When he was with Paige, half the town harassed him for his past, nobody paid attention to his signs of mental distress, and he ended up getting drunk and having a sexual encounter with Eve where his consent was dubious.

After Paige's death, he was able to move on with Gabi, who seems far more interested in Chad. 

And now, this week Orpheus shot him at point blank range and left him for dead in the Square.

I've long wanted JJ to have a story, but did it really have to be this?

JJ as a cop didn't really ever make sense. He was an emotionally troubled teenager who was passionate about music and felt guilty about being a risk taker who didn't fit in to the Horton family mold. 

Following in Jack's footsteps as an investigative reporter or Uncle Steve's as a private investigator would have made sense for JJ. Police culture, with its emphasis on rule following, bureaucracy, and hierarchies of power never really seemed like JJ's thing.

JJ is more of the kind of person that cops distrust on sight than the one ordering someone else to put their hands up in surrender.

To make matters worse, until now he has been used as a stock cop, being given lines that any random uniform could say and not being allowed to acknowledge his relationships to the people he works with and serves.

So in a sense, JJ being shot is a good thing because it finally gives him a storyline, if only the writers follow through. I'm frightened that they'll leave him languishing in the hospital for months on end in order to keep him shoved into the background.

The scenes of his shooting and its aftermath were intense, realistic, and painful to watch. Casey Moss did an excellent job showing JJ's physical and emotional pain and his dwindling ability to remain conscious, and I was thrilled to see JJ finally get a meaningful scene with Marlena.

He's long needed therapy but at least he got it when it was literally life and death. It would have been wonderful if Daniel were still alive to see him be the one to comfort JJ and get him to believe he was going to survive. But Marlena did an excellent job.

I also enjoyed seeing Jennifer finally reference JJ's birth history, which I have long believed has been a contributing factor to the problems between them. JJ was not expected to live or to be healthy, and that has to have had an impact on the way Jennifer has interacted with him his whole life.

Jennifer's scenes with him were touching and emotional. I hope as JJ recovers, we'll see more of their relationship and the ways his near-death experience influences it.

Gabi...I'm sorry... forgive me...

JJ

• Permalink: Gabi...I'm sorry... forgive me...

After being in a coma for a day, JJ began to awaken and immediately began begging in his sleep for Gabi's forgiveness. Hopefully this is not the beginning of some annoying storyline meant to convince viewers to root for Gabi and Chad.

JJ had said he was sorry right after being shot when Gabi arrived to help tend to him. It seemed like he felt guilty about getting shot after promising he wouldn't get hurt. That would be realistic, especially given JJ's tendency to take on guilt that he doesn't actually deserve.

However, lately the writers seem to be into these big, bombshell revelations that come out of nowhere. It doesn't make any sense that JJ would have some secret that he felt no guilt about until after he nearly died, then wake up feeling horrible about it.

It would be a great, engaging storyline if JJ was dreaming about Paige's murder but somehow thought it was Gabi who he had failed to save.   If JJ is near death, he should be getting visits from both Paige and Jack, and possibly Daniel as well.

Jack's absence makes no sense. Abby sees him and that allows her to escape a fire but his comatose son doesn't get an otherworldly visit or vision?

Anyway, JJ supposedly wanted to take things slow with Gabi because of Paige's death, but then all mentions of Paige disappeared and suddenly JJ is close enough to Gabi that Ari is writing his name, even though the relationship is mainly off-screen.

In any event, hopefully this is not the set-up for some other inane conflict between JJ and Gabi now that she's finally decided she might want to treat him like her boyfriend rather than as an acquaintance who is interfering with her reconnecting with her true love Chad.

Gabi's heartfelt pleas to JJ to wake up would have been even more emotional if there was more reason to believe she actually loved him. It would have been better to see him playing his guitar for Gabi on-screen instead of his passion for music being erased and given to Claire, but something is better than nothing

In any event, Julie was no less annoying than Gabi was during the hospital scenes. Whatever she thinks of Gabi as a partner for JJ, this was not the time to express it. During times of crisis, families need to put aside negative feelings and support one another.

JJ will be up and around soon enough and then Julie can interfere with his recovery by whining about Gabi all she wants.

Instead of standing up to Julie or declaring her love for JJ, Gabi let Chad take her to lunch with Arianna, where it seemed like she was on a date despite her professed concern over JJ.

Chad offered to pay for JJ's care. This might be a sweet gesture, and I have no doubt Chad does have some affection for his brother-in-law despite the conflicts between them since Abby disappeared, but the timing is suspicious. 

Chad spent most of Friday's episode worrying that Jennifer will renew her custody suit if Lucas and Adrienne move out of the mansion, then offered to pay for JJ's medical treatment. It just seemed like this was at least partially an attempt to stop Jen from being angry or renewing her bid for custody by taking care of her son.

Meanwhile, Orpheus was finally arrested after trying to kill John, only to quickly escape and take what appeared to be a suicide pill.

This was one of the most ridiculous plot points in Days of Our Lives history.  Except for JJ and Abe, who coincidentally are both recovering from gunshot wounds at the moment, the Salem PD is full of idiots, but this reached new levels of professional incompetence.

Marlena has been attacked by Orpheus before and knows how he thinks. She was able to put together a psychological profile on each of the three fugitives, for goodness sake. So why on Earth would she fall for his claim that he needed to be uncuffed in order for her to examine a superficial wound on his arm?

Furthermore, this stupid device of taking a suicide pill to avoid being brought to justice was used not that long ago -- with John's father, Yo Ling. This whole storyline appears to be a rerun of that one. Crazy terrorist is after John, hurts Paul and JJ, and takes a suicide pill when he's finally caught.

The only question is whether Orpheus is really dead.  Marlena and John should be questioning that, given the fact that he just showed up wreaking havoc after being presumed dead for 30 years.

Harold told me that he had to call a cab for Anne Milbauer this morning.

Chad

• Permalink: Harold told me that he had to call a cab for Anne Milbauer this morning.

Anne randomly showed up at Kiriakis mansion, giving Lucas the opportunity to be as funny and assertive with her as he normally is with Kate. The look on Anne's face when she found out Lucas was related to Jennifer was priceless. Though as a career Horton hater, you'd think she'd know that already and avoid Lucas because of it.

These were some funny scenes and if I had to choose, I'd rather have Lucas and Anne than Lucas and Adrienne, a pairing that never made any sense to me whatsoever. Lucas and Anne doesn't really make much sense either but at least they're amusing together.

Also in the world of couples that don't make sense, there was some more nonsense with Hope and Rafe this week.

While JJ was fighting for his life in the Square, somehow Orpheus' man managed to break into the Brady Pub without anyone being aware of it and strap a bomb to Jennifer. If this wasn't silly enough, Hope called Rafe, who then called Eduardo, so that they could instruct Hope over the telephone how to dismantle the bomb.

When all was said and done, Hope's phone, which had lost signal for dramatic effect a couple of times, rang again. This could have been a dramatic moment in which Hope's relief over Jennifer being okay was dampened by learning that JJ had been critically wounded.

Instead, it was Rafe, and he and Hope exchanged their high opinions of each other. This was intended to be a sweet, romantic scene, but it really just added to the silliness of the whole situation.

In fact, I’d have to wonder if any child would want you as a mother in the first place?

Deimos

• Permalink: In fact, I’d have to wonder if any child would want you as a mother in the first place?

Nicole decided to betray her best friend so that Deimos would know he had a child, only to have Deimos totally turn on her. This is yet another redundant, obnoxious story in which Nicole gets caught in (or admits to) a lie and then the guy she's with becomes incredibly cruel and goes after her for everything she's ever done.

It wasn't entertaining with Eric, it made no sense when Daniel suddenly started doing it and now Deimos is doing it too.

Nicole should not have betrayed Chloe, but that doesn't mean that she deserves to be abused yet again. She'd better walk away this time and never look back. Deimos' decision to have Chloe kidnapped after learning the truth also wins him no points.

I hope the baby turns out not to be his after all. It would serve him right.

Finally, Sonny had coffee with Paul, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his cousin was in critical condition in the hospital. Surely Sonny knew about JJ being shot, since Adrienne was splitting her time between comforting Jennifer and tending to Justin, who randomly showed up and even more randomly fainted.

That made it seem slightly cruel for Sonny to be flirting with Paul. In addition, it was obvious Paul meant to go on a date. Who invites themselves to their ex's date?

Even sillier, when Paul and Derek couldn't go to the movies, their date became a conversation about how great it would be if Paul were to date Sonny again.

Nobody spends a date pushing their dating partner towards someone else. Nobody.

It's not realistic, and if Paul and Sonny are a great couple, viewers will see that without constantly being told what to think. Gabi, Derek, and everyone else need to lay off the propping and let things develop naturally.

What did you think of this week's Days of Our Lives? What do you think JJ's secret is? Did you enjoy the ending to the saga of the three villains, or was it anti-climactic for you?

Weigh in below, and don't forget to check back in on Sunday for our Days of Our Lives 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.