Days of Our Lives: Look Who’s Leaving Salem!

Lots of folks were leaving Salem this week, including Chloe, Philip, Gwen, and Vivian.

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by LumiForeverAndAlways from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate Chloe’s breakup, should Gwen have forgiven Leo, if Shawn and Belle will survive, and their favorite storylines of the week.

And is Sarah using Rex or putting him in danger? Check out what our round table team has to say.

Chloe broke up with Xander because Sarah has his baby, and she might still be in love with Philip. What did you think of their breakup, and will you miss them as a couple?

LumiForeverAndAlways: To be honest, no, I won’t, as I never liked the pairing because I am team Broe (Brady and Chloe).

Jack: I was annoyed by this. There was no real reason for Chloe and Xander to break up. Xander wasn’t interested in a relationship with Sarah beyond co-parenting, and it seemed like Chloe was projecting fear onto him.

I didn’t like how fickle she was, either. I have long wanted Chloe and Philip to be together, but jumping from one to the other in record time, especially since Chloe had jumped from Brady to Xander not that long ago, was not a good look.

Christine: This made little sense. Sarah has been despicable to Xander. Why would he want to get back together with someone who is willing to keep his child from him?

Chloe was happy to get married until the moment she wasn’t, which made the baby sound like a convenient excuse. But at least it’s not ending in a love triangle. 

As for Philip, the poor guy ended up in a mental institution because he was obsessed with Chloe! I know she’s being honest, but she’s also basically dangling a relationship in front of him like a carrot and asking him to follow her to New York. It really doesn’t seem fair.

Leo begged Gwen to forgive him. Should she have, and do you hope Gwen returns to Salem sometime in the future?

LumiForeverAndAlways: No, I don’t think she should have forgiven him, and again, no, I don’t want her to return to Salem.

Jack: I hope that Gwen does eventually forgive Leo. I loved their friendship even though I wasn’t a fan of either character otherwise. And I’m not sure how it is that their friendship can survive accusing each other of murder, but not this.

Christine: I understand why Gwen wasn’t willing to forgive him, for now. But I’m hoping after she’s had some time to heal, she will. Gwen and Leo had one of the most entertaining and heartfelt friendships on the show, and I want them back!

Surprisingly, I do want Gwen back. I wasn’t a fan at first, but she grew on me over time, and I like that Jack had a child that was as much of a screw-up as he was in his younger days.

Is Kate right? Is Sarah taking advantage of Rex and/or putting him in danger?

LumiForeverAndAlways: Look, Rex knew what he was getting himself into, but I understand Kate’s concerns.

Jack: I don’t think Rex would be in any danger from Xander if he would stop trying to cut Xander out of the baby’s life.

But Kate was right in the sense that Rex has dreams of making Sarah fall hard for him, and it’s not fair to him for Sarah to stay in a loveless marriage and let him think it could become something more.

However, I didn’t like the way Sarah suddenly decided to get a divorce because Kate said so. She and Rex need to talk honestly, see a lawyer about custody arrangements, and take it from there.

Christine: Yes! Sarah knows Rex is in love with her, and she’s using that to keep Xander from his child. Rex may be an adult and a supposedly brilliant doctor, but emotionally, he’s always been pretty immature.

And Kate’s right. Sarah claims Xander is so dangerous that he can’t be allowed near his own daughter, but she’s willing to put him in Xander’s crosshairs. And Rex is doing it willingly because he thinks it will make Sarah fall in love with him.

Sarah is just lucky that she’s dealing with a more mellow version of Kate. A decade or two ago, Kate would have poisoned Sarah and not thought twice about it.

Chloe asked Philip to accompany her to start over in New York, and he agreed to tag along at a respectable distance. With both characters leaving town, are you happy they are leaving together like this?

LumiForeverAndAlways: Honestly, I am not a Phloe fan, but it will be nice to see her go off and parent her son.

It will also be nice for Philip to have a fresh start after everything, so even though I am not a Phloe fan, I am okay with them leaving this way as it’s kind of a fresh start for them both.

Jack: Here’s the thing: Chloe should know better.

It wasn’t that long ago that she moved in with Xander “just as friends,” and then they got hot and heavy quickly and almost got married.

So what makes her think she can control herself if she moves to New York with Philip just as a friend?

Philip is trying very hard to respect Chloe’s boundaries and remain mentally healthy. But if Chloe falls for him after two weeks, he’ll follow her lead, and given her recent track record of hopping from guy to guy, that’s a bad idea.\

Christine: I love that Chloe and Philip are getting another chance; I just wish it was on screen and done over a much longer period of time.

Chloe has jumped from Philip to Brady to Xander and now back to Philip. She and Philip both need some time to be on their own, so for those reasons, I think this is a bad idea.

Harris, Ava, Rafe, and Tripp all went to London and rescued Susan. How would you rate their London adventure, and are you glad to have Susan back?

LumiForeverAndAlways: I did fast forward through these scenes as I cannot stand Ava and Harris, but I am glad Susan is back.

Jack: I’m aggravated that Edmund was turned into a bad guy for the sake of this story. It would be much better for an amnesiac Susan to have forgotten Roger and gotten back together with Edmund.

Also, this adventure didn’t require much sleuthing. Everyone found Edmund via a Google search in five seconds. Yawn.

That said, I like Susan as long as her silliness doesn’t take over the show. Also, let’s hope Kristen doesn’t do any more switcheroos or other troublemaking now that Susan is back. And I am curious as to who rescued her and brought her to Edmund, so there’s that.

Christine: If viewers were seeking adventure, this wasn’t the storyline to find it. It feels like Ava makes Harris slightly more interesting, but Harris makes Ava more boring, so this pairing really isn’t worth the screen time.

I only barely remember Edmund, so I didn’t much care that he was a part of this plot or what they did with him.

I’m happy that Susan’s back only because I enjoy that she brings out EJ’s softer side. But too much of Susan isn’t a good thing.

Belle learned that Shawn slept with Talia. Can their marriage survive this?

LumiForeverAndAlways: Ooh, we are getting into my favorite storyline of the week since I am Team #Shalia. As for Shawn and Belle’s marriage surviving this, I doubt it very highly.

Jack: Their marriage eventually survived Belle having multiple affairs and her insistence that Jan tricking Shawn into sex was Shawn’s fault. So it SHOULD survive this one-night stand, but Belle is being rather hypocritical, so I don’t know.

If EJ wasn’t with Nicole, I would expect Belle to seduce him to get revenge. She seems to have turned into Sami-lite lately, which is disappointing.

Christine: Shawn and Belle have never had the healthiest of relationships. If Belle is Sami-lite, then Shawn is Eric-lite. Shawn is less judgmental than Eric but almost as brooding.

I’ve watched Shawn and Belle from the beginning and have never been the biggest fan of this pairing. I actually liked Belle and Philip better way back when.

So, I can’t say I really care if they save their marriage. As a matter of fact, it might be more interesting if they didn’t.

Which characters weren’t on screen this week that you wish had been?

LumiForeverAndAlways: This is easy if we are talking about being there for storylines that were airing this week. I wish Claire Brady, played by Olivia Keegan, was on screen so she could help her parents.

I have many others I won’t list, though, if we aren’t talking for storyline purposes.

Jack: I feel like I say this every week, but where the heck is Abe? He may have amnesia, but I don’t, and I remember he was in the middle of a story and is suddenly MIA.

Also, Paulina fired Trask, and Trask got an offer from Sloan to work for her, and then the characters evaporated. I don’t like Trask or Sloan, but I also don’t like when stories disappear for weeks at a time.

And where was Nicole? She was conveniently absent from EJ’s schemes to kill Ava and Xander, and her goodbye with Chloe is (so far) off-screen.

Also, when they did the Theresa switch, where was Tate? They supposedly went to California to get him, but Brady only called for Theresa at the end of the scene.

Christine: Johnny and Chanel! I was so thrilled to finally have their love conquer all, even the devil, and now we’ve gone another whole week without them on screen. Not to mention that Susan ran over to tell her pal, Dr. Marlena Evans, that she was alive, but not her own grandson!

What annoyed the heck out of you this week in Salem?

LumiForeverAndAlways: Anything to do with Ava and Harris annoyed me, and also the fact they have recast Theresa.

Jack: I couldn’t believe how unprofessional Marlena’s behavior was. First, she insists Talia remain her patient. Then, when she finds out about Talia and Shawn, she fires her as a patient after accosting her.

I wish Days of Our Lives would show mental health treatment properly just once. I generally like Marlena, but her behavior in this case was so off-kilter I thought she deserved to have her license suspended.

Also, as I said earlier, the Edmund thing was more character assassination, this time of someone brought back after several decades just to rewrite their character.

Gwen and Vivian’s exits were both rushed and since they both appear headed to Alamainia, I feel cheated. I’d love to have the story of those two crossing paths!

Finally, Belle, get off your high horse. What Leo said to Kristen about that really is fitting for her. Yes, Shawn has been behaving atrociously lately, and she has every right to be upset that he had a one-night stand. But she’s acting all high and mighty and perfect when we know how many times she’s had full-blown affairs in the past.

Christine: Sarah and Rex! How many times can Rex poke the bear by getting in Xander’s face to declare that he’s going to steal the man’s child? I know Rex isn’t very bright, but does he really think if he says it often and loudly enough, Xander will just slink away?

And I couldn’t believe how quickly Sarah threw Rex under the bus with Kate. To hear her tell it, she had no choice but to put Rex on the birth certificate and marry him because he came up with an idea.

With so many character exits in one week, it’s disappointing knowing that there are more to come. And as for the character recasts, I don’t know what to think!

What was your favorite quote, scene, or storyline from this week’s Days of Our Lives?

LumiForeverAndAlways: This is the question I have been waiting for. I will begin with my favorite scene, and that was when Shawn threw all of Belle’s past affairs in her face, including the professor in Maine.

My favorite storyline was the fallout of Shawn and Talia – Brandon and Martha did an incredible job in these scenes.

Jack: Surprisingly, Leo begging Gwen for forgiveness was quite emotional, even if there’s no excuse for his behavior.

I also liked Vivian’s ridiculous disguise at the airport. That cracked me up.

And while Vivian’s exit seemed super-rushed, I am glad that Jada seems to be turning the police force into something that actually solves crimes.

Finally, I liked Philip and Chloe’s scenes.

Christine: Leo and Gwen really broke my heart in all the best ways. Greg Rikaart really sold Leo’s pain and self-loathing.

Even Xander and Chloe’s breakup had me tearing up, and they are a couple I never expected to invest in because I knew they wouldn’t last!

Okay, now it’s your turn, TV Fanatics. What were your favorite storylines? Who annoyed you the most? Hit that SHOW COMMENTS button below to let us know.

Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review for this week here at TV Fanatic.

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C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.