Days of Our Lives Round Table: Should Bonnie Be Forgiven?

Bonnie and Justin’s wedding came to a screeching halt, Julie was in denial about Doug, Xander and Gwen got closer, and Abigail returned!

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Soaps4Ever and Matt4Days from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate if Bonnie should be forgiven, Xander and Gwen as a couple, their reaction to Abigail’s return, whether they watched Beyond Salem, and more!

Bonnie and Justin’s wedding was called off when the police took Bonnie into custody. Will Justin forgive Bonnie? Do you want him to?

Soaps4Ever: I’m afraid that when all the details come out, Justin will see Bonnie as a victim and forgive her.

I don’t want him to because there is always bad drama with her around, plus they probably should have never gotten together in the first place.

Jack: I would LOVE for this to be the end of this stupid story, but I doubt it will be. I’m afraid that Justin will fight for Bonnie in court and/or learn the whole story and decide Bonnie is an innocent victim and want to go ahead with their relationship.

At least we (hopefully) are rid of that stupid joke about Calista’s name now. (Please don’t let some judge comment on it during a hearing!)

Matt4Days: I certainly hope not. While her back seemed against the wall, Bonnie would have come clean with Justin upfront if she had really changed.

I mean, he’s an (alleged) attorney, so he could’ve helped her. I want this to be the end of this awful “love story” once and for all, and I really hope Calista stays dead.

Christine: It’s unanimous. We all hate this story. Justin deserves better than Bonnie. But I suspect that Justin will forgive her, and I’ll hate every minute of it.

I feel like they brought Calista on just to make Bonnie more sympathetic. It didn’t work. I’m relieved Calista was killed off, but I’d also like it if Bonnie were to leave Salem and never return.

Now it’s your turn! Should Justin forgive Bonnie?

Abigail is back. Are you happy to see her? Do you hope she and Chad reconcile?

Soaps4Ever: I’m glad Abby is back because I like Marci Miller, and it will be interesting to see what will happen as far as her history with Gwen.

I don’t think Chad and Abby should reconcile because I think they have a very dysfunctional relationship. I don’t see them as soul mates. I like the characters, just not with each other.

Jack: I’m cautiously optimistic. I like Marci Miller a lot, but I didn’t enjoy Abigail the last time she was on. She was doing too much screeching at Gwen and little else, and I hope that we’re not in for a rerun of that.

Logically, Abigail should be involved with Doug’s story. She is close with Doug and Julie, and a few years ago, Doug asked her and JJ to promise to keep up the Christmas traditions after he and Julie were gone.

As for her and Chad, I’m not a fan of this couple anymore. Their last few stories have not been compelling in the slightest. But as long as we don’t have a repeat of EJ sleeping with Abigail, I could go either way on this.

Matt4Days: Happy is a loose term. I’m not unhappy, but I just don’t want to watch angry Abigail walk around yelling at Gwen, Jack, and Chad all the time again.

She has had months away, relax a bit. You don’t have to forgive, but carrying anger around isn’t healthy. This is something she should have learned during her time in the mental hospital.

I hope she and Chad reconcile for their children’s sake, but also, I don’t want to see Chad end up with Gwen or Gabi.

Christine: Eh. I’m not the biggest fan of Abigail, and as everyone else has mentioned, the last time she was on, she spent months screeching at everyone.

I don’t need Abigail and Gwen to be besties, but I don’t want to see them constantly arguing. It isn’t fun to watch.

And Chad and Abigail have become a boring couple. I wouldn’t mind if they split up. It could make both characters more interesting to see them paired with other people.

What do you think of Gwen and Xander as a couple?

Soaps4Ever: I don’t hate Gwen with Xander, but I don’t like it either, especially since Xander has gone to great lengths to protect her. She doesn’t necessarily deserve that kind of devotion.

I want Gwen to come clean to Jack about what really happened with the baby and how it involved Dr. Snyder. She seems like she has decided to finally tell him the truth, but that likely won’t happen.

I think the truth will eventually come out but probably not by her telling Jack. I think Gwen is a redeemable character, but she has a lot to make up for.

Jack: Yuck. While Sarah was not my favorite character, I’m hoping that Xander/Gwen is a bump in the road to her being rescued from that island and reunited with Xander.

I wouldn’t mind if Xander did what Eric did to Jennifer and dumped Gwen the second he learned Sarah didn’t really break up with him!

Xander is continually encouraging Gwen to keep up the lies to Jack (a story which needs to go ASAP). And he and Gwen laughed about Doug locking Julie in the freezer, and in my mind, that’s unforgivable. Especially since Gwen supposedly has some affection for Doug and knows he has a potentially serious health issue.

Matt4Days: I’m sure this is an unpopular position, but I actually do like Gwen and Xander together for several reasons. They bring out a human side of one another that is appealing.

I am a Xander fan, and he makes me want to be a Gwen fan when they are together. It’s refreshing to see a couple build a friendship, and I prefer this version of Gwen over the constantly whining, boring version of Sarah that we had before she left.

Christine: I preface this by saying that I loved Xander and Sarah, but I like Xander and Gwen too. Like Matt4Days says, they bring out a more human side of one another. They get each other and have fun together.

Was laughing about Doug locking Julie in the freezer the right thing to do? No, but I get where they were coming from. They were mainly making fun of Julie, who wasn’t seriously hurt, and hates them both!

Doug is having memory lapses, but neither he nor Julie are willing to seek medical treatment. What are your thoughts on this storyline?

Soaps4Ever: I think they will eventually have to seek treatment when Julie continues to notice Doug’s declining memory. The sad thing is there is really no cure or effective treatment for dementia, so a diagnosis would only put a label on it.

Although it might be a relief because finally, they will know exactly what they are dealing with, and Julie can decide what will be best for Doug.

I have mixed feelings about this story because although it is an important subject, it would have been better for Doug to be offscreen or write him off the show. Frankly, it’s depressing to me, and I’m hoping there might be another reason for Doug’s memory lapse.

Alzheimer’s isn’t the only reason an older person loses their memory. In rare instances, there can be a physical, treatable cause. I’m hoping that this will end up being the case, though it probably won’t.

Jack: I have mixed feelings about this. I’ve been BEGGING Days of Our Lives to do a realistic medical storyline with the older people instead of silliness like Gabi controlling Julie’s pacemaker or Marlena switching places with Hattie to evade a DNR.

Plus, Bill Hayes is 96 years old and barely on the show anymore, so he may be ready to retire. And if so, this is (so far) a dignified exit for Doug that is worthy of his long association with the show.

However, this story is incredibly sad, especially if it goes where I expect it to go, and it hits home for me. Doug and Julie have always reminded me of my late grandparents, and watching them go through this is like watching another grandparent decline and probably die.

I’m secretly hoping this turns out to be a side effect of Doug’s cholesterol medication that can be reversed by changing his meds.

I also have a few issues with the realism here. The story is 95% realistic, which is great for DAYS, but locking someone in the freezer should not have been the first sign of trouble.

Dramatically, it would also have been better for the story to begin with some minor memory lapses so that viewers could debate whether anything was really wrong or if Jack was overreacting. As written, it’s obvious that Julie is just in denial, and her behavior seems utterly foolish.

Matt4Days: I am excited that Doug and Julie are getting their own story again, but it feels off that Jack is the one in the middle of this. It should be Hope, Jennifer, or Maggie trying to help.

The fact that Jack is the only family they have in town (other than Eli) should be a wake-up call to the writers to bring back more Hortons. A

nd I am glad that Roman was the one who first noticed Doug’s mental slips. It reminded me of the scenes with Caroline when she started losing her memory.

I think Doug and Julie are both in denial about what could be happening, but that’s believable for people their age. While this seems like a repeat of the Caroline story, it’s still compelling and relevant. I only hope the writers do it justice and continue to make it believable.

Christine: I actually love that Days is doing this story. This is something that a lot of families have to deal with.

Julie is in denial because she’s scared that nothing can be done for Doug, which isn’t true. Like Jack says above, this could be a reaction to a medication. But if it is dementia or Alzheimer’s, getting diagnosis and treatment early is critical. They may not be able to stop the progression, but they can slow it down and give Doug more time.

No matter where this plot is headed, I’m glad Days is giving us a realistic story involving veteran characters we love.

Paulina and Abe talked about marriage. Is it too soon for them to get married? Do you want them to eventually get married?

Soaps4Ever: Paulina and Abe should not get married right now, especially with the huge secret that Paulina is keeping.

Although it seemed like marriage was something she brought up to explain why she wanted the twins to call her grandma, I do think she wouldn’t mind being married to Abe.

I think when the truth comes out, Abe will be very, very hurt. But maybe when he finds out how much Paulina was pressured to hide the truth, he may forgive her. I don’t think Paulina is a bad person, and Abe will realize why she did what she did. I see them maybe getting married after everything is revealed and Abe recovers from all the fallout.

Jack: It is way too soon for them to get married, and it seems out of character for Abe to be thinking about it yet. I like them as a couple, but I’d like this to be built up slowly.

Plus, there’s a secret hanging over their heads, so we know this rushed wedding, whenever it may be, is just an excuse for the truth about Lani’s parentage to come out at the ceremony so that it never happens.

Matt4Days: I’m torn on this one. I like Paulina, but I hate that she is keeping this huge secret from those that she is the closest to. This will devastate both Abe and Lani.

So, until she comes clean, and Abe has had time to process the news that Lani isn’t his daughter, no, I don’t want them to marry. I know Lexi did some awful things, I mean, she was a Dimera after all, but I think Paulina’s secret is worse.

Christine: Ugh. This is way too soon to be talking about marriage. They just got back together. If these two end up getting married, I want a slow build.

And I don’t want a wedding interrupted by the truth coming out that Paulina is Lani’s biological mother. I don’t want that coming out at all. It’s not fair to Lani or Abe.

What disappointed you the most this week in Salem?

Soaps4Ever: The whole Bonnie/Calista story. Bonnie should have come clean with Justin from the beginning. Calista was a ridiculous character, and I didn’t like the way she threw herself at Steve. I wasn’t too sad when she met her predictable end.

Jack: This may be picky, but I was annoyed that some characters were on air at the same time as they were out of town having adventures on Beyond Salem. I know the dialogue made it sound like this took place AFTER Beyond Salem, but it just made the two shows seem disconnected as if the spinoff was an alternate universe.

I felt like some of these scenes should have taken place next week after everyone was back from their trips and that the writers should have inserted a whole week’s worth of new material, not just the intro episode that they did last week.

As I mentioned above, I also hated Gwen and Xander laughing about Doug’s condition, and Johnny trying to convince Tripp that Allie was more into Chanel than Tripp also annoyed me.

Another picky point: I know Days doesn’t have a huge budget, but I wish we’d seen the inside of the bakery instead of just the sample table at the Square. It seemed silly that Doug and Julie were standing by themselves eating all the samples while no employees were watching.

Matt4Days: Everything Phillip, Brady, and Gabi. I was so excited when I thought that Phillip had fired Gabi and Jake, but I was quickly disappointed when he was tricked by Jake. They are making him look like an idiot.

And the whole conversation with Phillip and Belle seemed odd. Did it never occur to him that Belle didn’t want or need to hear his threats against her brother?

If Gabi remains in Salem, either give her a real story or make her a likable background player.

I’m also disappointed that we keep hearing a lot of talk about Victor, but he hasn’t been on the canvas for months.

Christine: That so much air time was taken up by Bonnie and Calista. Ugh!

Also, I agree that they’re making Philip look like an idiot, and even worse, Chloe gets more scenes with Brady than she does with Philip. How about putting some time into a real Philip and Chloe romance? The way it’s done now is not fair to this couple and really disappointing to watch.

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

Soaps4Ever: I’m glad Bonnie didn’t marry Justin, and I thought it was beyond ridiculous how she still tried to marry him even after killing Calista. True, it was self-defense, but the whole thing was pretty gross. So I’m relieved that part of the story is over.

It was also kind of fun to see Sweet Bits become a reality.

Jack: A lot of the Doug/Julie/Jack stuff was quite good. I thought including Roman in this story was a brilliant move considering that Caroline had Alzheimer’s, so Roman would be more sensitive to the signs of cognitive decline. I wish someone had brought that up, but the scenes were great otherwise.

I also liked Chad trying to talk some sense into EJ. Chad’s right — if EJ would leave Johnny alone, Johnny might come around. EJ needs to stop being so pigheaded, especially since literally everyone is telling him this! And why would Johnny want to work for EJ if EJ is acting like a mob boss?

Matt4Days: I liked Xander calling Kayla out on him being right about Nicole, and I liked that Bonnie’s story came to a quick halt instead of endless months of her sneaking around lying.

I am really enjoying the Rafe and Eli guy talks. It reminds me of the bromance that Abe and Roman/John shared when they were on the force.

Christine: Xander telling everyone that he was exfoliating in the shower when Bonnie stole his money, then realizing he was the only one who exfoliates made me laugh.

Also, what Philip said to Gabi in this Days of Our Lives quote was priceless…

You see something you want, you’d run over your own grandmother with a tractor to get it.

Philip [to Gabi]

And I’m thrilled that Chloe finally told off Brady. It’s been a long time coming. I just hope she sticks to it and doesn’t let Brady get away with any more of this crap.

Did you watch Beyond Salem? If not, why? If so, did you enjoy it, and why or why not?

Soaps4Ever: I watched all the episodes of Beyond Salem, and I really liked it. I could tell from the preview it was going to be fun, and it really did turn out to be quite entertaining with all the twists and turns and the fun plot.

Leo was comedy relief even though he can be quite obnoxious. It was nice to see some characters who don’t regularly appear on Days. I also especially liked how Chad seemed to be more lively and a lot less forlorn and serious than usual.

The Drag Queen segment was probably the main highlight of Beyond Salem for me. And the Billie Reed lookalike was pretty funny. Though it was a little strange seeing another actor play Sonny, he seemed to take to the role pretty well.

Twins/doppelgangers are a big part of DOOL storytelling, though here it seemed a little different and refreshing.

I liked how they wove Carrie/Austin, John/Marlena, and Anna/Tony into the story. Adding Kristen was campy fun.

At first, I thought it was ridiculous that Anna wanted to go to Zurich to try and save her daughter’s marriage, but then I saw how it led into the rest of the story.

Ben/Ciara seemed like they were the most out of place though I liked their interactions with Billie. I

The storyline with Abe/Paulina, Lani, and Eli was entertaining. I did think it was strange that Paulina’s friend Michelle would give her a huge ring and be mad that she wore it and it was stolen. The scenes between Paulina and Abe were nice. There was a lot to like here, and the plots were interesting.

Beyond Salem was super fun, and I enjoyed watching it.

Jack: Yes, and I loved it and am already missing it! I read that Charles Shaugnessy (Shane) said this was like an old-school soap, and I agree with him about that. These episodes seemed like a throwback to the madcap adventures of the 1980s and 1990s that I grew up with.

We got some legacy characters back, and it was great to catch up with both Shane and Billie. There were a ton of nods to history, too, and some surprising twists. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but I didn’t see a major twist coming that, in retrospect, I should have!

There were some campy/silly parts, but for the most part, I found these funny and not irritating like what we get on the regular show sometimes.

And while there were one or two cringe-worthy scenes, these were the exception rather than the rule. All in all, I enjoyed it and hope there’s a second miniseries coming at some point.

Matt4Days: I did watch, and overall I did enjoy it. There were some things I didn’t love, like the way the Miami crew was in Salem on Wednesday having breakfast reminiscing on their Miami trip only to see them in Miami on Friday. Same with Chad being in Salem, Boston, and Phoenix on Friday.

Leo sexually harassing Chad all week got stale quickly, and they made light of Leo’s being a sexual predator, especially the shower scene.

I like the new Sonny. I really dislike the way they used Eileen Davidson. What a waste.

The New Orleans story was quirky and would likely never have been shown on NBC, but it was entertaining enough. Also, I liked Shane and Ben face to face.

And I love the way it ended with the photos with Carrie and Austin and six legacy characters. It’s what makes Days what it is to me, familiar and comforting.

I liked Deidre Hall doing the speak-over initially, but I couldn’t help but notice they completely left Christe Clarke and Austin Peck (Carrie & Austin) off of the opening credits. They were as much stars of this series as any of the others.

And lastly, it was good to get so much Billie time. It was fun to see her in ISA mode and not lurking around Salem fighting with her mom. Now, let’s do another Cruise of Deception!

Christine: I watched it, and I loved it! Leo with Chad, Will, and Sonny was my favorite. It felt like the actors were having such fun with this storyline. It was campy and silly, but it made me laugh out loud more than once, especially Billy Flynn’s facial expressions when he was dealing with Leo.

I loved that John and Marlena and Tony and Anna all got in on the fun and that Shane was back. It really felt like Days was revisiting its heyday from the ’80s and ’90s. I hope we get another visit to Beyond Salem sometime soon.

Want to chat more about the happenings in Salem? Then check out Jack Ori’s Days of Our Lives review. And keep an eye out for our Beyond Salem round table later this week!

Now hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button down below to let us know your thoughts on Days of Our Lives and Beyond Salem.

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

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