Days of Our Lives’ Stephanie believes that Joy is nothing but a troublemaker, and many fans seem to agree.
Some of Joy’s behavior is suspicious — I’ll give you that — especially emergencies that could have been avoided if she’d acted like a responsible adult.
Still, there’s a far more interesting story here than the one that appears to be playing out, if only Days of Our Lives is willing to leave the more obvious explanations for Joy’s behavior behind.
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Joy Should Be a Product of Nancy’s Influence…
Joy’s mother, Nancy Wesley, was one of Salem’s worst schemers, so it’s not hard to imagine that Joy takes after her, especially given that she looks like a mini-Nancy.
However, when Days of Our Lives‘ Joy returned to Salem with the baby, she said she didn’t want to interfere with Alex and Stephanie, and it’s been clear since Day One that she doesn’t want to be like her mother.
We all know that on soap operas, and sometimes in real life too, the harder we fight not to be like an annoying parent, the more we end up like them, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Joy was manipulating Alex and telling herself that she wasn’t.
Still, Joy’s psychological makeup, along with the nature of her misbehavior, suggests something else: she’s the way she is because Nancy didn’t allow her to learn how to be independent.
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Stephanie — and most of the audience — rolled her eyes at the idea that Joy needed Alex to help her with a health insurance issue a day before she needed help with a flat tire.
These seemed like excuses to get Alex alone with her, especially after Joy admitted that she hadn’t filled out her insurance paperwork for the baby after moving to Salem, nor did she have Roadside Assistance.
However, Joy also said her father always handled insurance matters at home, which is a clue to the bigger story that deserves to be told.
Think about it. If Joy doesn’t know how to do basic things like fill out insurance paperwork or get roadside assistance, it’s not necessarily manipulation; it could be that she’s an adult who isn’t very good at adulting yet.
And if that’s the case, there’s a strong reason for it, and her name is Nancy.
… But It Should Be in a Different Way
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We never saw Nancy raise Joy because Joy was a baby when the Wesleys left Salem. But Nancy was a firecracker whose scheming was often an attempt to make life better for Chloe in some twisted way.
After almost losing Chloe to leukemia, which is what led to Joy’s conception in the first place, Nancy likely would be even more protective of her younger daughter, and that could include doing things for her that Joy really should do for herself.
And once the baby came along, that tendency could have become even worse.
Nancy might have insisted on Craig and herself taking care of things like insurance paperwork and car maintenance because they believed Joy was overwhelmed and unable to adult while also taking care of a baby on her own.
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This type of behavior could easily have become a vicious cycle.
Nancy and Craig took care of things for Joy.
Then, during a crisis, Joy didn’t know what to do, which convinced them that their daughter was too flighty and immature to care for a baby without significant help, driving them to take on even more of Joy’s responsibilities.
Do you think Joy is a mini-Nancy who is scheming to get Alex, or is something else going on with her?
Let us know in the comments! Don’t forget to share this article with your friends and family.
Nancy’s Behavior Might Have Driven Joy Away — And Back to Salem
If Nancy had continually treated Joy as fragile and incapable, Joy was likely looking for a way out of this nightmare — thus, the opportunity to come to Salem and get Alex’s help with the baby was extremely attractive to her.
In this scenario, Joy’s move wouldn’t just mean the baby’s father would be in Kelsey’s life and thus be able to help her take care of him.
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It would mean living independently of Nancy and her lowered expectations, but it would be stressful for Joy because Nancy’s treatment of her left Joy ill-equipped to handle adult responsibilities on her own, even though being a mother meant she had to step up.
Worse still, Joy might feel she needs to prove herself, especially given that she knows she was conceived to provide a bone marrow donor for her sister.
She might be desperate to prove she’s far more than Nancy gives her credit for and that she can live without her mother’s help.
That could be why she doesn’t want Nancy around.
It would also explain Nancy’s absence from this storyline far better than some of the outlandish theories I’ve seen about Joy stealing a baby from Chloe to pass off as her own!
What do you think, Days of Our Lives Fanatics?
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Is Days of Our Lives’ Joy simply scheming to get Alex, or does she really not know how to take care of herself?
Which story would you prefer to see?
Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join the conversation.
If you enjoyed this article, check out our recent thoughts about Dr. Rolf‘s promise to stop resurrecting people.
Days of Our Lives airs on Peacock. New episodes drop on weekday mornings at 6/5c.
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