Salem observed Valentine’s Day with a ton of bed-hopping.
It seemed like almost everyone jumped into bed with their partner’s rival after something happened so that they couldn’t be with the one they loved.
Triangles are a soap staple, but how many did we need on Days of Our Lives during the week of 2-06-23? And why on Earth did we have so many couples experiencing the same plot point on Thursday’s episode?
Currently, there are eleven triangles on canvas, and several characters are involved in two triangles at once!
Allie and Johnny compete for Chanel’s heart, while Chanel and Alex fight for Allie’s. Wendy and Chanel compete for Johnny’s, while Johnny and Tripp are both in love with Wendy.
Meanwhile, Alex and Chad are rivals for Stephanie’s affection, so Alex is also in two triangles.
And Sarah is also stuck in two different triangles. Gwen wants Xander and has won for the moment, but Xander still wants Sarah while she is turning toward Rex.
Technically, Chad is still in love with Abigail’s ghost while dating Stephanie — does that count as a triangle too? And let’s not forget that Nicole is dating EJ while still in love with Eric, who is dating Sloan while still in love with Nicole.
Finally, now that Stefan’s been deprogrammed, he’s in love with both Chloe and Gabi, while Li is also in competition with Stefan for Gabi’s heart.
Remember when we had a year of nothing but doppelganger stories? The love triangle trope has taken over — except these are all happening at once!
The Allie/Chanel/Johnny/Wendy/Tripp mess is one of the most annoying stories Days of Our Lives has had in years, so we don’t need all these other triangles on top of it.
Allie’s drunken antics could have been a great story if it wasn’t a plot point in this irritating tale of two women who think the other is cheating.
Since Allie is Lucas’ daughter and he’s one of the worst alcoholics in Salem, this easily could have been a story about Chanel losing the woman she loves to her battle with the bottle.
Everyone’s been concerned about whether Allie’s behavior is a manifestation of grief, so it would make sense that she might turn to alcohol for comfort. If Allie only acted nastily toward Chanel while drunk rather than drinking because she started another fight with Chanel, that could have been such compelling drama!
Chanel might have initially tried to excuse Allie’s bad behavior, only to decide that she can’t take it anymore and can’t be with Allie if Allie doesn’t sober up. This story would have also brought up Paulina’s feelings about being a survivor of domestic violence as she tried to guide Chanel through this minefield.
There’d be a historical precedent, too, since Lucas went to Italy when Allie was a teenager to try to stop her from drinking too much. Sami and Lucas cut her off financially when she was partying too much in London.
Allie could deny that she had a problem, and the fact that she’s caring for a young child while drinking too much would also be in play.
Alas, this is not the story Days of Our Lives chose to tell. Instead, Allie and Chanel both accused each other of cheating until it almost happened in Chanel’s case and did happen in Allie’s. What a shame!
Paulina’s insistence that Chanel reconcile with Allie annoyed me. It was out of character for Paulina to be so strongly on the side of the person who had hurt her daughter.
Paulina: Now finish telling me what happened when you saw Alex sucking Allie’s lemons.
Chanel: Can’t we talk about anything else? Like the weather?
Paulina: Chanel.
Chanel: Okay, fine. So when me and Johnny came back here, we started reminiscing about when we were together and then one thing led to another and we almost kissed.
Paulina: Oh, Lord give me strength. Chanel! Again?
Chanel: I said ALMOST. Okay? Johnny realized it would be a mistake.
Paulina: Oh. Whew. For once in his life, Casanova showed some common sense.
Chanel: He’s a decent guy, Mama. And he’s been a really good friend to me through all of this.
Paulina: Chanel, I know the past few months have been very difficult. Between the arrest and now the civil suit, it’s been a lot. And you know I am here for you. I will always be here for you. But Allie is your girlfriend and you need her support too.
Chanel: I wish I had it. And I wish I could be there to support her too.
Paulina: Well, it’s time to stop wishing and start acting now. You need to move back in with Allie.
Chanel: You’re kicking me out?
Paulina: No, of course not. My home will always be your home. But if you want to fix things with the woman that you love, you can’t do it by sitting around my kitchen or sitting at the bar with your ex-husband. You need to go handle your business.
She had a point when she said that Chanel wouldn’t fix anything if she didn’t go home and talk to Allie, but the rest of her opinion was ridiculous. She made every excuse in the book for Allie and Alex’s behavior while castigating Chanel for her two aborted kisses with Johnny.
Granted, Chanel shouldn’t be this close to infidelity either, but Chanel DID stop before betraying her commitment to Allie. Besides, all the signs pointed to Allie and Alex having sex, while at most, Chanel almost had an inappropriate kiss.
They’re not nearly the same thing. And why would Paulina, who is such a fierce advocate for her daughter that she paid off a school to cover up Chanel’s alleged involvement in a crime, take Allie’s side in this for one second?
It’s especially perplexing given how much Paulina dislikes Alex after learning that he turned off Stephanie’s phone when Kayla was dying.
The only reason I can think of for Paulina to be this way is that they want her to be against the eventual Chanel/Johnny reunion. Having her be staunchly pro-Allie now sets the stage for her to disapprove of Chanel’s decision later.
Paulina’s already taken it upon herself to tell Johnny to stay away from her daughter. That all but ensures that Chanel and Johnny will be back together soon.
Chanel should stop discussing this with Paulina, period. It makes her seem flighty and unable to make decisions for herself if she goes back to Allie every time Paulina says to, only to run away again because of Allie’s behavior with Alex.
This time, Allie’s gone too far. What will Paulina say if Chanel says that Allie cheated on her? Paulina might not believe it, but once Chanel has proof, it would be ridiculously out of character for her to continue pushing her to reconcile with Allie.
The Johnny/Wendy/Tripp side of the equation isn’t any less aggravating. I’ve always liked Wendy, but I was disappointed in her behavior surrounding this “date” with Johnny.
Wendy’s anger that Johnny invited her to the movies with him seemed out of proportion. Even if they had agreed to table the idea of romance for now, had they decided not to be friends or spend time together?
Wendy was acting as if Johnny had violated her boundaries by inviting her to go to a movie that was only playing for one night. And then, to add insult to injury, she flipped out about him spending time with Chanel instead, moments after flaking out to be with Tripp.
It was hypocritical and juvenile. Is she a young adult or a high schooler?
Joey was equally irritating. He practically forced Tripp and Wendy to spend time together after Tripp said multiple times that he didn’t want to interfere with Wendy and Johnny’s relationship.
Kayla’s death felt like an afterthought for these guys, too. Tripp was more interested in comforting Wendy after she rejected Johnny for refusing to end his friendship with Chanel. Joey didn’t want to help Steve with the funeral arrangements until he’d made sure Tripp was hanging out with Wendy.
While Kayla wouldn’t want the boys to let grief consume them, it seemed too soon for them to be involved in this silly triangle instead of dealing with her death.
In other circumstances, I’d be proud of Wendy for deciding she has too much self-respect to date a man whose heart belongs to another. But there’s no proof that that’s how Johnny feels about Chanel, and 99% of Wendy’s concern has been planted in her mind by Allie.
Plus, getting mad that Johnny hung out with a friend after she bailed on their date to hang out with one is so hypocritical!
It doesn’t matter that Tripp isn’t her ex and Chanel is Johnny’s. She can’t expect Johnny to accept her friendship with Tripp, who has a thing for her, while refusing to accept his with Chanel.
The bottom line is that there was no reason for her not to go to the movie with Johnny while Tripp hung out with Chanel. If Wendy is more into Tripp, she should be honest with Johnny instead of using his friendship with Chanel as an excuse to call things off.
Sarah jumped into bed with Rex at the same time as Allie did with Alex, while Chanel almost kissed Johnny. Having all three of these stories happen within minutes of each other was too much.
It felt like it was the same story with three sets of characters. I guess the Johnny/Chanel and Allie/Alex scenes effectively paralleled each other, but we didn’t also need Sarah and Rex.
While Sarah and Rex get along well now, Rex has cheated on Sarah more than once, so it makes little sense to reconcile with him. At least the two are clear that Sarah is only using Rex!
Still, it likely won’t stay that way. They’ll probably be a couple until Sarah is ready to take Xander back.
Gwen and Xander’s relationship is obnoxious for so many reasons. How many scenes of Gwen obsessing over why Xander hasn’t called do we need?
Gwen was acting like a fifteen-year-old, and Leo’s support of this relationship makes no sense considering that Xander recently tried to choke him to scare him out of testifying against him.
The Jack blackmail scheme is even worse. Jennifer was right that she should turn herself in. That would neutralize the blackmail threat, and Justin or Belle could argue that since Jennifer voluntarily went to rehab following the accident, she’s already done what the judge would likely sentence her to anyway.
This could easily be disposed of, but the plot dictates that Jack give in, so he refused to allow this common-sense solution.
Gwen and Xander’s plan is not only stupid but also makes it likely that Jack won’t forgive her, which is what she wants.
Hopefully, Johnny recorded that random confrontation with Xander (if not, what was the point of that scene?), and Xander will soon be on his way back to jail, ending this ridiculous story before it goes any further.
Anna’s encounter with Brady and Eric was equally random. She cracked me up talking to Kate’s urn, and her comment that those ashes might not be Kate’s is likely foreshadowing.
Still, there was no reason for her to push so hard for a Brady/Chloe reunion, and why was she insisting on following Brady to Chloe’s motel room?
This Chloe/Stefan/Gabi triangle has taken a bizarre turn. Hopefully, Chloe went to New York to talk to her mom and get perspective rather than running to the Dimera mansion.
She was going to break up with Stefan before learning he was in love with both her and Gabi, so why would she stay in the relationship now? She’s not into polyamory as far as we know, and neither she nor Gabi will want to share him.
Speaking of which, when did Rolf get arrested? While we didn’t necessarily need to witness it, it felt like something was missing when he was in the police station all of a sudden.
And don’t the Dimeras have lawyers they work with? Belle might not want to take Rolf’s case, but she can’t be the only one on the Dimera payroll. There’s no reason Rolf should have to resort to hiring Sloan.
Stefan deciding to go ahead with his plan to drug EJ had to be one of the most disappointing choices of the week.
He knows Nicole’s suffering from accidentally ingesting the drugs, so that should stop him from any more shenanigans like that. Plus, won’t EJ and Nicole put two and two together when they both have strange symptoms after drinking things Stefan prepared?
Nicole’s dizziness was an excuse to fall into Eric’s arms again. Thank goodness she had no interest in being rescued by him and called him out on the beer on his breath!
This triangle is far from over, though. Since EJ is about to take Nicole out and Eric insists he’s moved on with Sloan, there will be fireworks soon.
Keeping the Heaven silliness to a minimum was a good idea. The more this story progresses, the less sense it makes. If Nick is the Devil’s right-hand man, why is he in Heaven? And why would the Devil not write the contract in English just because he knows other languages?
Trying to understand any of this makes my head hurt. I’d rather have Angela, the annoying angel, than this!
And for the love of all that is holy (pun fully intended!), can the women please be allowed to make ghostly visits to their husbands before something happens that shouldn’t?
Steve, John, and Roman have no reason to stoop to Orpheus’ level and try to take him out, and Roman encouraging Lucas to drink was a super low point of this whole thing.
If it takes divine intervention to stop them, let’s do it sooner rather than later.
What did you think, Days of Our Lives fanatics? Are you as burnt out on all these triangles as I am?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know. And 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 / 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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