Days of Our Lives: Emily O’Brien Is Now Theresa Donovan?

Gwen walked out, but Emily O’Brien remained as the new Theresa Donovan!

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Kathy from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate which characters leaving Salem they’d like to keep, their take on the soras’d Tate and Holly, if Sarah and Xander have a future and more.

And what was your favorite moment from this week’s Days? Check out what our round table team had to say

Gwen left Salem, but Emily O’Brien has taken over the role of Theresa Donovan. What do you think of the somewhat abrupt switch?

Kathy: It would have been a surprise change if we had not been warned by social media that it was happening. The crossing at the airport was clever, but I wish there had been a few days between Gwen’s exit and Theresa’s entrance.

Jack: There had been rumors circulating for a while, so I wasn’t as shocked as I would have been if I hadn’t read regularly about the show. I imagine spoiler-free viewers might have been more so.

I’m glad that Emily O’Brien has now had a few scenes. It’s still a bit early to judge how I like her portrayal of Theresa. I think she’s doing well so far.

But one problem is that Gwen also would have gone after someone like Alex for his money and had a brief fling with him earlier in the year, so that makes it harder to separate Theresa from “Gwen with a blond wig” during her scenes.

Christine: I didn’t think I’d like the switch, but so far so good. I’ve always really liked Jen Lilley as Theresa, but Emily O’Brien has slipped into the role fairly easily, and I’m willing to keep an open mind as we move forward.

As only happens in Salem, Tate and Holly have been SOARS’d (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome). Are you happy to have them in Salem as teenagers?

Kathy: It will be interesting to see how Brady and Nicole handle being parents of teenagers. Other than that, I’m not really interested in teen angst.

Jack: Yes! I love teen stories (unsurprisingly, since I write young adult fiction in my non-TV Fanatic life). We need more than two teens; let’s SORAS some other characters or bring on some new characters.

I’m hoping we’ll get the Salem High set back since Holly mentioned not seeing Tate around the halls, and Brady said that he enrolled Tate at Salem High.

So far, both these characters are interesting, and their behavior pegs them as the children of the parents they’re dealing with. I wonder if Nicole and Brady might bond over having rebellious teenagers who act too much like they did at that age.

I’d also like to know what Holly really thinks of EJ as a stepfather and Nicole having another baby. Will she be like Neighbours’ Nell currently is, trying to break up the new relationship? Or is she accepting of it? Or is she tolerating it because it means she has an in-built excuse for spending time with Johnny?

Similarly, how does Tate feel about Rachel? Or about Brady’s tumultuous love life? Or about the fact that Brady has gone from a long-distance parent who sees him once or twice a year to a full-time father who is trying to discipline him?

Does Tate want his parents back together, or does he think they’re better apart? How will he feel about Theresa and Alex? There are so many storyline possibilities here!

That said, I think it’s bizarre that Brady is able to be so firm with Tate yet was never able to muster more than a half-hearted “Don’t do that, honey” when Rachel engaged in worse misbehavior.

Christine: So far, I’m loving Tate. He seems like a good mix between Brady and Theresa. I’m not sure how I feel about Holly. She’s a little over-the-top as a bratty teen, and she feels like a younger version of Allie when she first arrived in Salem.

But there needs to be more than two teenagers in Salem. How old is Sidney now? Are there other teens off-screen who could wander back to town?

Belle, Shawn, Chloe, Philip, Susan, and Rex are all leaving Salem. If you could keep any of these characters, which ones would you choose?

Kathy: I would like to keep Belle, Shawn, Chloe, and Philip. I hope they come back someday with interesting stories.

Jack: Chloe and Philip. I feel like they were rushed into a relationship and rushed off-screen. (It must run in the family since they did the same thing with Nancy and Mike the last time they visited.)

I’d rather they take their time and develop a rekindled flame. Plus, I wanted to know how Chloe would interact with Tate and her true feelings now that Xander and Sarah are moving back toward one another.

I hate this Belle/Shawn story, but if they’re going to leave, I’d like them to reconcile for real and leave together, so I guess I wish they were staying a little while longer.

And I like Susan as long as she doesn’t take over the show. So she can stay to keep EJ in line.

Can’t say I’ll miss Rex, though.

Christine: I just started to enjoy Chloe again when she was paired with Xander, and I would have liked to see her spend more time with the new Philip. I’m disappointed they’re leaving just when there’s the possibility of a future between them.

Shawn and Belle bore me as a couple, so maybe it’s a good thing they are headed out of town for a while.

A little of Susan goes a long way. She’s really only tolerable when she’s with EJ. And I’m happy to not have Rex on my screen at all.

But with all of these departures all at once, it’s easy to wonder if it had anything to do with the controversy surrounding executive producer Albert Alarr and if any of these actors will consider returning now that he’s gone. 

Ava has been released from Bayview. Are you looking forward to a romance between her and Harris?

Kathy: Ava seems to go off on tangents really easily. I’m not sure she can maintain a stable relationship without going to dark places.

Jack: Ugh. I wanted Harris and Eve to have a second-chance romance, and I don’t understand the point of him running into Eve if he’s going to be shuffled off to Ava.

I also read some spoilers I dislike for where this is going, so double ugh.

Christine: I like Ava, but I’m not a fan of Harris, so this storyline really doesn’t appeal to me. And, like Jack said above, what was the point of bringing Eve Donovan back for one day to see Harris? It seemed like a waste of everyone’s time.

Any idea who kidnapped Susan and sent her to England and why?

Kathy: I’ve seen spoilers that hint that Clyde is responsible. Not sure why.

Jack: I’m guessing it’s the prisoner who was looking at the article about her rescue at the end of Friday’s episode. That looked like Clyde’s hand to me. If it’s him, he likely wanted leverage over EJ, though it’s odd he never did anything about it til now. The bad blood between the two of them has never ended.

Christine: The only two people I can come up with are Clyde and Orpheus, and Clyde makes more sense since he has a vendetta against EJ.

But again, what was the plan, and why wait months to execute it?

Sarah is divorcing Rex. Do you think Sarah and Xander will eventually get back together?

Kathy: Sarah and Xander will probably get back together. I hope they take time to work out their many differences.

Jack: Probably, but Sarah’s reasoning makes no sense. She didn’t want Victoria around Xander because he was a “kidnapper and accomplice to murder,” but just being a violent kidnapper whose victims all survived is okay. What?

Christine: I’m lost as to Sarah’s reasoning. So it was okay that Xander kidnapped Susan, but her sticking point was that she died after Xander let her go. Huh?

But yeah, I’m expecting that Xander and Sarah will find their way back together, but if Sarah thinks as little of Xander as she’s said previously, I don’t know how this is going to work long-term.

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

Kathy: I was annoyed by Holly’s clumsy attempts to get between Johnny and Chanel.

Jack: I’ve already mentioned my irritation with Sarah’s attitude and with this Ava/Harris nonsense.

There were way too many rushed endings, too. I don’t like the way Chloe and Philip so quickly reconciled and left town together. But the worst is this Belle and Shawn nonsense.

I get Shawn going to rehab. Given that he’s been turned into an alcoholic, it makes sense. Insisting Belle stay away makes no sense whatsoever, especially given that he wants the rest of his family around him.

In addition, outpatient rehab is usually for people whose addiction has not yet severely impacted them and who want to get a handle on it before they ruin their lives. Shawn needs a more intensive program; what he’s proposing sounds like what he’s already been doing, except with someone who isn’t his mother-in-law.

And why has no one mentioned Claire at all? It’s like she has ceased to exist while her father is going through this crisis.

Christine: Chloe gets over people very quickly and it’s a really tired soap opera trope. She was going to marry Xander just last week, but now she’s over him and off to New York with Philip.

We finally got to see Johnny and Chanel, and we had to have Holly in the middle of them, literally. Ugh.

And is there a point to Talia still being in town besides that she’s Jada’s sister? I’d prefer her to leave Salem, but since she’s working as a doctor, maybe she can get her own place instead of sharing a room over a bar with her sister.

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

Kathy: My favorite scene was the introduction of Konstatin- I want to see where this goes. I also enjoyed Justin and Alex working out their relationship. Happy to see that they consider themselves father and son again.

Jack: I loved all of Tate’s scenes. I’m forever hoping to reclaim the magic of my favorite character, JJ. Tate isn’t exactly the same, but he’s caught my attention.

Christine: I loved Alex and Justin’s scenes together. They’ve always had a strong bond, and it might just be stronger now that they’ve gone through this.

And I like Tate putting Brady through his paces as a teenager. He doesn’t seem like a bad kid, just a normal teen, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

What do you think, TV Fanatics?

Which of those characters leaving Salem would you like back? And what are your thoughts on the new Theresa?

Hit the SHOW COMMENTS button below, and then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review here at TV Fanatic.

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

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