Does anyone know what Whitley’s real motive is?
Sometimes she seems like a nurse who doesn’t mind bending the rules to help people, and other times she’s a mob boss, blackmailing those she helped into doing her bidding. Still, other times, she seems like a love-obsessed loon, more like Kathy Bates’ character in Misery than anything else.
And on Days of Our Lives during the week of 6-19-23, Whtiley’s thoughts took a dark turn after Eli revealed he was onto her.
Will Whitley kill Abe? It’s not likely.
That would be an awful ending to this story. Plus, we’ve been down the route of Abe being presumed dead, only to turn up alive again, back in 2008 when he was stuck on Melaswen with half the veteran actors.
But I buy entirely that Whitley will fake Abe’s death. In her mind, that’ll get everyone off her back so she can live with him in peace.
Of course, there’s one problem with that: Abe is becoming more and more like his old self every day. He’s talking back to Whitley, questioning her bizarre stories, and most importantly, getting flashes of memory regularly.
Abe: Oatmeal again?
Whitley: Well, it’s good for your heart. I want you to live a long time.
Abe: It’ll feel like a long life if I have to eat this every morning.
That’s what’ll ultimately bring Whitley’s scheme crashing down. Abe will eventually remember enough about himself and his old life that she won’t be able to explain away the discrepancies in her stories.
It’s also possible that Fake Theo will crack under pressure and tell Abe EVERYTHING. That won’t be good for Whitley, but it will be great for viewers; many of us are tired of this silly story.
Fake Theo is both the best and worst part of this storyline.
Terrell Ransom Jr. slipped effortlessly back into the role, even if he played a fake version of the character he portrayed as a child. He still has the mannerisms and speech patterns of an autistic character down so well that it made me wish he was playing the real Theo.
Cameron Johnson is doing fine work too, but Theo’s autism is often forgotten nowadays, and Johnson doesn’t remind us through small movements that Theo is on the spectrum.
It was jarring for this faker to keep calling Abe “Pops” or not know basic facts about Theo or Abe. Let’s hope that flashback Abe had is the end of the fake Theo scheme!
The Abe/Whitley stuff has been more silly than serious, especially that goofy outfit Whitley wore to their fake wedding, her magic two-second Photoshop job, and her obsession with cats.
But now the walls are closing in on Whitley; does this story really need to take a hard turn into darker territory?
I hope my theory is correct that Whitley will fake Abe’s death. I don’t want any onscreen attempts at murder, thanks.
Also, while the police department’s incompetence is a Salem trope, it’s ridiculous that no one saw the huge hole in Whitley’s account until Eli arrived in town!
How did Rafe and Jada miss that Whitley clocked out hours early, especially since her disappearance coincides with Abe’s?
And although Eli had the brains to realize that obvious problem, he wasn’t smart enough to stay with the suspect until he was done questioning her.
The last time he wandered off while in the middle of talking to someone at the police station, Eli ended up in a coma. And this time, he has the kidnapper at the station and is suspicious of her, yet he leaves her to her own devices so he can take a call.
It might be Lani calling from jail or his mom with news about the kids, but still. This overused “bad guy gets away with something while the good guys take a phone call” trope has to go!
Meanwhile, Jackee Harry has been handling Paulina’s grief and depression perfectly. Paulina keeps trying to be strong and to hold it together, but she’s a mess.
Olivia rubbed her the wrong way less than she has during previous visits. She made a real effort to be there for her daughter… and then disappeared into the other room before heading home. What a pity!
Marla Gibbs’ interactions with her former 227 co-star are always fun. And storywise, it didn’t make much sense that Olivia, who hates to travel, made the trip only for a few days before hurrying back home.
Paulina and Chanel also had a series of mother/daughter talks about Talia, culminating in Chanel telling Paulina about the abuse Talia had suffered at Colin’s hands.
Emotional abuse is an important issue, but it’s one that’s been hard for many viewers to swallow when it comes to Talia.
If you’ve been fortunate enough never to have fallen into an abuser’s trap, it’s hard to fathom how Talia could have been manipulated into throwing her life away to help Colin with his evil plans, especially since, as a doctor, she should have known better than to drug those biscuits.
And there’s also the fact, as Trask pointed out, that Talia bears responsibility for her choices even if she was being manipulated. Trask changed her tune as soon as she read Marlena’s affidavit, but her sentencing recommendations might feel like a slap on the wrist to many viewers.
Having Talia drug the biscuits took this story a step too far. If the furthest she went was trashing Paulina’s office, it would be much easier for viewers to accept Talia as both victim and perpetrator.
But it’s harder to understand when someone does something so heinous in the name of not being abandoned by a crappy lover.
Theo and Olivia arrived partially for Paulina and Abe’s anniversary, which is also Juneteenth.
Theo read his speech aloud to Chad, which was great, but I’d have loved to have had some of the festival onscreen. Hearing Theo’s words about its importance is not the same as seeing Black families celebrating.
In addition, the editing was choppy.
It seemed like Eli came to tell Paulina he missed her at the festival while her family was in the middle of convincing her to go, which didn’t make much sense.
The second most annoying storyline of the week involved Megan holding EJ and Kristen captive in the secret room. Maybe Eli can find them before he leaves town.
EVERYONE is always stuck in the secret room. It should be the first place people look whenever someone is missing in action, especially if they appear to be sending texts that sound nothing like them.
This one is especially irritating because it opens the door for a Nicole/Eric reunion that shouldn’t happen.
Nicole believes that EJ mysteriously abandoned her hours after setting up an appointment with a specialist, so she will likely turn to Eric when she needs help with her pregnancy. By the time EJ manages to free himself, Nicole will have moved on — just like Chanel did when she thought Johnny broke up with her, but it was really the Devil.
Can we not, please? Nicole used to be a top investigative reporter! Why has it not occurred to her that something is fishy about EJ’s disappearance?
And why is she so insecure that when EJ disappears when it is entirely illogical for him not to be with her, she assumes he’s gotten cold feet about their baby?
Megan is one of the best villains Days of Our Lives has had in a long time, but this story is beneath her, and her other story isn’t much better.
Leo confronting Megan was entertaining, but he’s hardly a match for her, and this Gwen/Dimitri storyline is far from compelling.
Leo’s right that Dimitri is using Gwen. However, Gwen needs to finally gain some self-respect.
She’s always had holes in her self-esteem because of growing up with a drug-addicted mother and no father. That’s driven her to do horrible things to Abigail, and now that Abigail’s gone, she’s self-destructing because Xander doesn’t want her.
I’m all for people sleeping with whoever they want. Hook-ups and one-night stands aren’t my thing, but if everyone consents and there’s no cheating, it’s not for anyone to judge.
However, Gwen is jumping into bed with a man she barely knows with a history of violence. His mother is one of Salem’s most notorious villains, too.
This seems like a recipe for disaster, and Gwen needs to be more careful!
Elsewhere, Stephanie and Chad made it clear they were moving too quickly. Chad has convinced himself that Abby would want him to move on, but he’s not over her death. And Stephanie doesn’t want Chad to take the job at Titan because it’ll upset Alex!
These two make a cute couple but must slam on the brakes as hard as possible. They have no business dating, never mind moving in together when neither is ready to be with the other instead of half being with someone else’s ghost.
As for Maggie, she needs to chill out.
I have been on Maggie’s side against Alex for most of this story. Alex has been condescending, insubordinate, and disrespectful, and to this day, he believes Maggie is incapable of anything more than whipping up a batch of lemon bars.
In the real world, news travels fast, and when an employee is fired for constantly undermining his boss, he might find it hard to get another job in the same industry. But this is Salem, where nepotism and giving jobs to friends on the spot are standard business practices.
While Alex was wrong not to tell Brady that he had tried to land Yuri’s business while he was at Titan, Maggie had the wrong impression of how that meeting went down.
Yuri bailed because he felt Maggie’s approach was too conservative. Ironically, Titan lost that deal because Alex stuck to Maggie’s instructions instead of changing the agreement to suit the client.
And in any case, the way to deal with a business issue is not to storm over to the competitor’s office and throw a tantrum.
That undid all the hard work Maggie has done to demonstrate her competence.
But then, as soon as she left, Alex made that stupid crack about lemon bars, demonstrating that Maggie is right about his attitude in general, even if she was mistaken in this instance.
This storyline needs to end soon! Sadly, John Aniston passed away around the time this was filmed, so Victor couldn’t be included in a story clearly written with his character in mind.
That gaping hole, plus Maggie and Alex’s annoying attitudes toward each other, makes this scenario less than enjoyable, and these business war stories are never fun.
Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts!
Don’t forget to check back on Sunday for the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.
Days of Our Lives streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes drop on weekdays at 6 AM EST / 3 AM PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
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