Days of Our Lives Review Week of 8-09-21: Remembering the Past

The moment Cin shippers have been waiting for finally happened.

After Ben took Ciara to the cabin where it all began, she remembered their relationship… and he didn’t let her run away from the truth.

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 8-09-21, Ciara had a ton of flashbacks… but was that enough to make this couple’s newly discovered love story compelling?

This whole setup was entirely predictable.

It was unsurprising that Ciara remembered her entire relationship with Ben after being stuck with him for a couple of days’ worth of episodes.

If she’d forgotten because of trauma, you’d think this latest kidnapping would make it worse. But in Salem, things don’t work that way.

Anyway, the entire thing felt like a redux of the first time Ben and Ciara met. Back then, Ben took an injured Ciara to the cabin to recover, and she was scared of him and pulled a knife before finally letting her guard down enough to let him into her world.

Now she was back in that same state of mind, and Ben had to win her trust all over again.

At least this didn’t end in the cabin being set on fire while Ciara was helpless to move!

Instead, Shawn burst in with his gun drawn, but this will likely be easily straightened out once Ciara tells him she has regained her memories and doesn’t want to press charges.

Meanwhile, Ben and Ciara’s reunion reminded me of all the reasons I don’t like this couple.

Lovey-dovey Ben/Ciara is preferable to the shrieking, obnoxious shrew that Ciara had become and good on her for admitting she’d been cruel.

But as soon as Ciara regained her memories, Ben begged her to stay with him in the cabin rather than talk to Theo, and we were treated to scene after scene of them in bed not wanting to move.

That’s understandable after a long ordeal, but it’s also par for the course with Ben and Ciara, and it’s annoying.

The super-clinginess and co-dependence aren’t romantic. It’s unhealthy and boring. Let’s hope that the writers have something more planned for this couple than an eternal honeymoon!

Once Shawn puts his gun away, the first order of business is to get Allie and Claire out of jail.

The idea of the girls making a pact to keep their silence and being willing to go to jail for it was interesting, but the lack of a jail set made this story feel lower stakes than it was.

Claire and Allie being forced to hang out in the interrogation room instead of at the wedding reception didn’t seem like a big ordeal while being held in separate jail cells so that they couldn’t influence one another might have been. And when Shawn finally took them away, he didn’t even use handcuffs!

Nobody except Eli seemed to be taking this seriously. He was right when he told Belle that this was a felony investigation, not a romantic comedy. The women’s belief in Ben and Ciara’s epic love story wasn’t a defense for aiding and abetting a kidnapping.

Half of Claire and Allie’s shock probably came from the idea that the police were actually holding them accountable.

Most of the time, the Salem PD looks the other way while citizens break all sorts of laws, only stepping in to arrest the wrong person or when a bad guy is leaving Days of Our Lives.

So for two people to be arrested for helping to plan a kidnapping was as refreshing as it was unexpected!

Of course, the stakes really aren’t that high. Now that Ciara has her memory back, she’ll likely be grateful for her cousins’ help and refuse to press charges.

But what was up with Tripp and Chanel?

Tripp was clearly jealous when Chanel’s first reaction to learning about the arrest was to want to rush off to the police station.

But having him be the latest person wearing nothing but a towel in front of Chanel made me wonder where this is going. Will Tripp and Chanel also develop feelings for each other, making the Tripp/Allie/Chanel triangle that much more complicated?

Meanwhile, Chanel’s mother offered an all-too-convenient plot device for getting Shawn to the cabin.

The idea of a woman demanding $100,000 BEFORE offering information was such an obvious scam I couldn’t believe Paulina even considered it.

And I’m not sure which was more ridiculous: the fact that the tip turned out to be legitimate or that when Theo thought it was a scam, Shawn said there was nothing he could do about it.

Great police work there, Shawn. He came off as apathetic and somewhat lazy.

Also, why on Earth did he not think of searching for Ciara at the cabin? She’d been held there against her will on at least one other occasion, and Ben had been squatting there obsessively after rescuing Claire from a different kidnapping/arson attempt.

Paulina’s reaction to learning that Ben is a former serial killer was funny, though.

Paulina: I don’t think Ben would hurt Ciara.
Theo: When she rejects him, he could snap. And did he even take his medication with him?
Paulina: His medication?
Theo: Ben used to be the Necktie Killer. He killed three women and now he takes meds to stop him from doing it again.
Paulina: And Ciara’s mother let her baby marry that man?

I love how Paulina is an outsider who doesn’t know anything about Salem. But the whole idea of Ben taking medication to stop him from killing any more women was so ridiculous I don’t know how the actors pulled it off without cracking up.

Also ridiculous: Lani’s reasons for not forgiving Paulina.

Abe was right that Lani’s tantrum over Paulina offering a reward for Ciara’s safe return was uncalled for. She can choose not to associate with Paulina if she wants, but she doesn’t have any right to tell anyone else what to do or not do in that regard.

I just wish Abe had called her out on other things Lani did that were just as bad as things Paulina has done… like lying about who the father of her baby was or making up a stakeout because she wanted to be alone with Shawn, or all the other awful things Abe overlooked before Lani got her act together.

Anyway, her sob story about not getting to go to Paris just reeked of entitlement.

Okay, so as a child, she was disappointed and embarrassed when the trip didn’t materialize, and her friends laughed at her. Is that really a reason to hold a grudge for 30+ years?

Most children don’t get to go on trips to Europe, rich aunt or no rich aunt, and while Paulina’s failure to follow through on her promise to give Lani one might have been disappointing, it’s far from the kind of thing that should cause a lifelong grudge.

Lani sounded like a spoiled brat. Boohoo, she had to endure the humiliation of admitting to her friends that she hadn’t gone to Europe over the summer after all.  How incredibly traumatic.

Meanwhile, Days of Our Lives squandered a great set-up from the EJ/Sami/Lucas triangle across town by having Sami kidnapped and removed from the story.

The kidnapping was partially because Alison Sweeney was filming a movie, and thus Sami had to be written out temporarily. But still, this is the second Sami-napping in the last couple of months.

Couldn’t the writers have come up with another way to write Sami out? For example, she could have gone back to Italy to try to get revenge against Kristen. That would have been totally in character for Sami, and the story could have picked up with a face-off between Sami and Kristen when Alison Sweeney returns.

Instead, Sami’s just going to be missing for a while. Blah.

And there isn’t that much of a mystery about who took her, either. EJ is so obvious a suspect that viewers might doubt his guilt. But who else could it be, really?

EJ told Kristen he was plotting revenge against Sami and reiterated it to Stefano’s portrait, and he has access to henchmen who would do his bidding, no questions asked.

If EJ is behind the kidnapping, it should be the end of Sami/EJ, but will it be?

Sami keeps excusing EJ’s abusive behavior as “the way we are,” so why should this be any different?

Lucas will have a hard time winning her back from her abuser, even if he ends up being the one to rescue her! She is so convinced EJ is a good guy that no amount of evidence seems capable of changing her mind.

Of course, Lucas is just as stubborn, so now we’re in this holding pattern where he won’t give up on Sami, and Sami won’t give up on EJ.

Meanwhile, Sami being off-screen means she’ll have to stop messing with Nicole, at least for a little while.

Nicole was right: Sami brought this on herself. The only reason Nicole cared at all about who Sami was sleeping with was that Sami was determined to break up Nicole and Eric.

It’s really too bad these women went back to being bitter enemies. Teaming up to get Sami away from EJ would have been fun.

In any case, it led to an unnecessarily awkward moment between Rafe, Nicole, and Ava.

This whole Ava/Rafe/Nicole triangle is strange, to begin with. Ava keeps inviting Nicole to spend time with her and Rafe that would be better spent alone.

It’s almost as if Ava has resigned herself to Rafe’s feelings for Nicole and is hoping for some sort of polyamorous relationship.

Also, could people please stop walking into other people’s houses just because the door is open? Not only is that rude, but it leads people to see things they wish they could unsee, and it’s an overused plot device.

In any case, I hope that Ava and Nicole manage to keep their friendship intact. I enjoy them and would hate for them to become bitter enemies over Rafe.

Similarly unnecessary: the rivalry between Brady and Philip.

This should have been settled years ago. I’m glad that Philip realized he was acting like a teenager and cut it out. But let’s back up those words with action!

If Philip/Chloe is going to work as a couple, the writers have to do more than recreate their teenage love story. They need a more mature story that’s worthy of two middle-aged adults.

LIke… exposing Gabi’s plans to sabotage Philip and snag the CEO position for herself.

This has to be one of the most disappointing stories of 2021. Philip and Gabi had decent chemistry and an easy friendship based on their mutual tendency to bend the rules as needed.

Sure, Gabi’s rivalry with Kate was a sticky point, but still.

Gabi trying to destroy Philip’s career now is a major disappointment, especially since her plan won’t work anyway.

Victor would NEVER hire her as CEO. Ever. She needs to realize this.

Finally, Xander and Gwen are mostly a waste of time. Could Xander realize Sarah never dumped him and go looking for the love of his life, please?

Their arguments are not cute — they’re annoying. And Xander is interfering with Jack learning the full truth about Gwen, which needs to come out already.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics! Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought about Days of Our Lives during the week of 8-09-21.

Hungry for more Days of Our Lives chat? Be sure to check back on Sunday for our Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.

Days of Our Lives continues to air on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.

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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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