It’s hard to know what to feel about Gabi.
Her raw grief after losing Stefan was heartbreaking, but the way she demanded to be part of the discussion about Julie’s ongoing heart needs and the way she lashed out at Lani every time Eli left the room was obnoxious.
The scene in Gabi’s bedroom when she awakened from a dream that Stefan was still alive was easily the best scene on Days of Our Lives during the week of 10-13-19.
This scene was more minimalist than much of what happens on Days of Our Lives.
Viewers weren’t treated to the dream, but only to Gabi mumbling in her sleep that she loved Stefan, hugging her pillow, and then waking up alone.
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This worked perfectly. We didn’t need an elaborate dream sequence to get the point, and it was an incredibly relatable moment.
I’m sure I’m not the only viewer who has dreamed of spending time with someone who recently passed away, only to wake up to the reality that they were still gone. THAT is the kind of painful, human story that has attracted viewers to Days of Our Lives for nearly 54 years.
And Camila Banus sold it.
Every one of Gabi’s movements and mannerisms, from throwing down her phone because she couldn’t deal with the missed calls to putting on Stefan’s coat before crawling back to bed, felt authentic, and for the first time in a long time, Gabi was sympathetic.
Then Julie made the mistake of inviting Gabi to the hospital.
Don’t tell me that Julie is rejecting Stefan’s heart!
Gabi
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with it. Julie was grateful to be alive and wanted to thank Gabi in person.
If Gabi had managed to make it to Julie’s room, maybe things would have been different.
But instead, she ran into Eli and Lani and turned back into the obnoxious, vengeful Gabi that makes me want to change the channel before I’m tempted to break my TV.
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Gabi blames Lani for Stefan’s death. That’s understandable, even if it is ironic considering that she saved JJ from suicide after a similar situation.
But now that she’s made Lani beg and Stefan’s heart is inside Julie, that should be the end of Gabi’s power over Lani.
Eli and Lani fell all over themselves apologizing to Gabi for kissing in front of her when they didn’t know she was there.
Granted, Salem could do with fewer public displays of affection. Hospital hallways, the police station, and living room couches are far too popular places for this sort of thing on Days of Our Lives.
But it’s not reasonable for Gabi to demand that nobody show any happiness because she lost her partner.
Furthermore, Gabi is causing a rift between Lani and Eli without trying because Lani is stupidly holding onto the secret that Gabi was mean to her.
This gives Gabi power she shouldn’t have as well as impedes communication between Lani and Eli — and for what? So that Eli won’t be disappointed that his ex acted the way his ex always acts? Why on Earth is Lani enabling Gabi with this nonsense?
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabi demanded to be privy to Julie’s private health information because the heart once belonged to Stefan.
That is not how this works, and Eli should have put his foot down and told Gabi that they appreciated her donating the heart, but her role in this is over.
But then again, he thinks that Gabi spontaneously and generously offered Stefan’s heart to Julie and has no idea that she’s calculating her next move, though the look on both Lani and Gabi’s face after their latest confrontation should have told the real story.
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This whole mess is part of why in real life, most of the time people do not learn the identity of the family that donated vital organs. Recovering from a lifesaving transplant is difficult enough without all this added drama.
That said, Kayla’s bedside manner needs some work.
She was too quick to try to convince Julie not to let Gabi in her room and too quick to treat Julie’s bradycardia as such a serious complication that Gabi couldn’t visit.
Plus, she began discussing Julie’s condition in the middle of the hall instead of asking to talk to Eli in Julie’s room in the first place.
This is par for the course lately on Days of Our Lives, but it was still aggravating and Kayla came off as more controlling than compassionate in her scenes with Julie and Julie’s family.
Before going to the hospital, Gabi had some beautiful scenes with Kate. Kate is another mixed bag type of character who can sometimes be cold and cruel and other times displays a shocking amount of humanity.
Kate’s scenes with Gabi fit into the latter category. Kate was the closest thing to a mother Gabi had. She refused to take Gabi’s wrath personally, held her while she cried, and encouraged her to forget her latest revenge scheme.
Revenge is Gabi’s default reaction to everything, so Kate’s words of wisdom fell on deaf ears, but at least she tried.
Kate’s scenes with Lucas and Will were also enjoyable. Even though it was predictable, it cracked me up when Kate took advantage of Eli and Lani’s interruption to sneak into the elevator behind Lucas’ back.
Kate was right about Lucas leaving, too. His visits are always too short. Hopefully, he’ll be back in Salem soon (preferably with Sami).
The latest power struggle over the CEO position at Dimera Enterprises is the least interesting aspect of Kate’s story, though.
This happens far too much. Someone is always trying to push someone else out of that CEO position, work for Titan to spy on Dimera, or get secrets from Brady or Victor to help the latest Dimera CEO.
Kate herself has bounced back and forth between working for Dimera, working for Titan, or working for neither too many times to count.
Only a month or so before this, Shin was begging her to come back to Dimera while she was working for Titan, making Victor question her loyalty, and now Shin wants to install Tony instead of waiting 24 hours for Kate to be cleared to go back to work.
Plus Gabi had papers drawn up giving her ownership of the company, but she’s not even in the running for the CEO position, except in her own mind.
Enough already!
Another thing that needs to go: Nicole keeping secrets from Eric for no reason.
Eric: Yesterday when you pulled me into the bedroom, I had a feeling you were trying to distract me.
Nicole: I was trying to distract you from everything but me.
Back in 2014, Nicole and Eric’s relationship imploded when Eric found out that Nicole shredded the proof that Kristen had raped him because she was scared he would choose the priesthood over her.
We were then treated to Eric berating Nicole for a year over that boneheaded decision, then a whole lot of other unenjoyable stories, like Eric getting drunk every time he saw Nicole with Daniel and eventually killing Daniel in an alcohol-fueled accident.
Eric has dumped two girlfriends to reunite with Nicole, only for Nicole to listen to Xander’s nonsense about how Eric will dump her for Sarah if he learns that Sarah is pregnant.
Can we not start this cycle all over again? Please? It wasn’t fun the first time and I don’t want to see it again!
Nicole should know better. She’s the one who told Eric that Brady didn’t need to reconcile with Kristen to be there for the baby.
But now that Brady has decided to move Kristen into the mansion, she’s changed her tune, believing that Eric would leave her for Sarah.
Meanwhile, Xander’s arguments for why Nicole should keep her mouth shut are a carbon copy of Eve’s arguments in 2018 for why Jennifer shouldn’t tell Eric that Nicole still loved him.
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Nicole told Xander she wasn’t listening to him, but the story would end too quickly if she did the right thing and told Eric the truth about Sarah now that he’s walked in on this.
Of course, Eric SHOULD have put two and two together from that weird conversation with Sarah at the mansion, but he likely won’t.
Sarah acted too nervous when she thought he thought SHE was pregnant and too calm once she found out he was talking about Kristen.
She said she was on edge because she didn’t like sharing a house with Kristen, so how likely is it that Eric will next ask Sarah to move back in with him even though that was a disaster last time they tried it?
Maggie should also realize what’s going on since Sarah responded in the same weird way twice in one afternoon and made it obvious that she and Xander had some OTHER secret besides her desire to leave town.
The worst part of this is that Sarah is continuing to act like a spoiled teenager during this whole thing.
Adults don’t leave their jobs with zero notice, pack up, and move to a random city with no plan for how to support themselves just because their ex lives in the same town.
It was stupid when Rex did it and stupid now.
And in Sarah’s case, it’s even worse because she wants to cut her family off from knowing that they will soon be welcoming a new baby just so Eric won’t feel obligated to help her.
This isn’t what’s best for the baby. It’s Sarah running away from a messy situation, and quite frankly it’s selfish for her to do that when a baby’s future is involved.
Brady’s behavior towards Kristen isn’t much better. He thinks he can make a clear distinction between caring for the mother of his child and having a relationship with her, but he’s already crossing the line.
Kristen didn’t need to live in the mansion. Brady could have accepted Victor’s offer to pay for an aide and a place for her to stay until the baby is born.
And now that she’s here, she didn’t need an expensive shawl to keep her warm “for the baby’s sake”.
The only thing Brady is doing right so far is refusing to let her kiss him, but how long will that last? After all, he refused “Nicole’s” advances until one day he didn’t.
Across town, Jack made what was hopefully the last stop in his apology tour.
Storywise, it makes more sense for Abe to be mayor than Jack. Now that Jack has his memories back, he probably wants to go back to teaching journalism at Salem University or some such thing.
And since Abe is a cop through and through and Days of Our Lives likes to think the mayor is part of the police department, Jack may as well undo the last election.
Jack: So do I have your blessing for the opportunity to throw your hat back in the ring?
Abe: I would very much appreciate that.
[Jennifer comes in]
Jennifer: What’s going on here?
Jack: Well, you’re looking at the once and future mayor of Salem, and a very dear friend of mine. Or at least, I hope he still is.
The whole idea that Jack can step down and then hand his position to the opponent he defeated is silly and not exactly democratic, but if it puts an end to this awful Jack-as-semi-demagogue story, I’m all for it.
Now let’s get on with his and Jennifer’s romance!
Hope’s weird behavior, random aches, and sometimes robotic responses to her loved ones is a good set-up for a Halloween story, even if this Hope as Princess Gina thing has been done before.
We don’t need any more doppelgangers, but what on Earth is she doing?
Stealing Stefano’s portrait seems pointless — what’s really going on here?
And will anyone figure this out before it’s too late?
Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics!
How does Gabi’s grief — and her subsequent return to lashing out at Lani — make you feel about her?
Do you care about any of the CEO drama?
And what do you think an under-Rolf’s-influence Hope is up to?W
Weigh in below, and don’t forget to check back on Sunday for our Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.
Days of Our Lives contnues to air on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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