Days of Our Lives Review Week of 7-25-22: Another Devastating Death

Spoilers

Could lightning strike twice for Ava?

Shortly after she was devastated by Tripp’s death, Bo brought him back to life.

And now, on Days of Our Lives during the week of 7-25-22, Ava’s heart was broken when Jake was randomly killed by a mugger… only for Kristen and Rolf to sneak the body to Rolf’s lab. Could a resurrection be in the works?

That would be too simple a story, especially after the play that Gabi and EJ are both making for Jake’s shares. (Side note: this constant attempt between these two to wrest control of Dimera from one another needs to go!)

With Ava and Gabi teaming up to illegally give Jake’s shares to Ava and EJ already onto Gabi’s subterfuge, it wouldn’t make sense for Jake to come back to life. Besides, sitting through Ava’s powerful, painful grief scenes would be pointless.

Rolf is up to something, though. Now that he and Kristen have got their hands on Jake’s body, something weird will happen.

Could Jake be resurrected with a Stefano microchip in his head like Steve was a couple of years ago? Will he come back to life but think he’s married to Gabi? Or will there be some Rolf-ish switcheroo so somehow we end up with a very much alive Stefan?

Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: Brandon Barash’s time on Days of Our Lives is far from over.

This storyline was both emotional and annoying for various reasons.

First, the good news: Tamara Braun knocked Ava’s grief scenes out of the park. Ava was at her most vulnerable while yelling at an imaginary version of Jake for being the latest person to abandon her, even though he didn’t set out to get murdered.

Ava is a mixed bag these days. She can be petty and vindictive, such as when she found out that Rafe slept with Nicole, or she can be a domestic goddess who loves her boyfriend of the time with her whole heart, cooks for him, and shares her fears and insecurities with him.

Her interactions with Rafe underscored this point. When Jake was bleeding out, Rafe got Vulnerable Ava instead of Vindictive Ava, and as a result, she could accept his compassion.

Since these scenes were juxtaposed with Nicole telling Eric that she might have been the one shot had he not been there, I couldn’t help wondering if we’re headed for a partner switch storyline where somehow Rafe ends up back with Ava and Nicole returns to Eric.

It’s hard to fathom that Rafe would forgive Ava for framing him to look like a dirty cop, which lost him both his job and his freedom for a while, but stranger things have happened in Salem.

Anyway, Vulnerable Ava has been out for a while, and now that Gabi has pressured her to pretend she had the wedding with Jake she so desperately wanted and never got to have, Ava is likely to switch back into vindictive mode.

Gabi lacked empathy as usual; the woman who was torn up over Abigail’s death was gone. Instead, all she cared about was getting her hands on Jake’s shares so that EJ couldn’t try to oust her from the company.

Ava: Really? Jake’s body isn’t even cold yet and you’re talking about getting his shares.
Gabi: I’m sorry he died, but some of us still have to make a living.
Ava: And some of us aren’t living.

Ava was right to call Gabi out for her callousness. And if Gabi thinks she’s going to get the better of former mob boss Ava, she’d better think again,

Ava teamed up with Gabi for one reason and one reason only: to teach Gabi her lesson. Gabi thinks she has the upper hand and can push Ava around, but she will learn the hard way that she doesn’t.

While she’s at it, Ava might punish Gabi for seeing Jake’s death as little more than a moneymaking opportunity for herself. Plus, she gets to live out her fantasy that Jake had lived long enough for them to wed. So it’s a win-win for her.

Jake’s death scenes would have been more compelling had we not sat through this exact scenario not that long ago.

Abigail’s killer is still at large, with Chad attacking one person after another only to be proven wrong about their involvement, so why do this now?

Jake’s murder was random and unnecessary, even if it leads to interesting storyline possibilities. Having so much death and destruction on Days of Our Lives crosses the line from entertaining to depressing.

In addition, it’s bizarre that the mugger that took Jake’s life is a random bad guy who held up a bunch of people and then died at the hands of a police officer.

There are five recently-pardoned criminals wandering Salem, several of whom could easily have hired someone to mess with Ava or Jake. Instead, his death was at the hands of a random criminal who seems unconnected to any of these supervillains.

Random, senseless murders happen, and it’s tragic when they do, but it’s not good storytelling. In addition, this mugger’s motivations weren’t clear, and his robbery spree could have been prevented in several ways.

Brady was going to call the cops when the mugger was just a thief who tried to take change out of the tip jar, but Eric stopped him. That left the guy free to wreak havoc all over Salem.

Just as importantly, does no one in Salem know that lives are more important than property? It’s a basic tenet of self-defense that you give an armed robber any possessions they demand of you! If neither Nicole nor Jake had argued with the mugger, most likely, no one would be dead.

Instead, Eric convinced Brady to let the mugger go because Eric wanted to help the guy turn his life around.

There are counselors and clergy visits in prison, Eric. (Even though Eric is no longer a priest, he’s acting like one, so Statesville would probably treat him like one if the story demanded it.) Arresting a thief and getting him help don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Equally ridiculously, Nicole refused to give the mugger her purse, nor did she turn and run when he was so distracted by Eric that he turned his back to her.

Also: it was silly for the mugger to become the latest Salemite to encourage an Eric/Nicole reunion. He stood there for far too long trying to steal Nicole’s purse before he gave up, but that line was the most ludicrous part of this whole story.

Jake’s death scene also bordered on the ridiculous. If mob boss Ava was willing to hand over her new engagement ring to satisfy the mugger, Jake should have followed her lead. And even if he wanted to fight back, why make a sudden move toward a man with a gun? Come on!

It also made no sense that the mugger stood staring at Jake’s body, only snapping back into reality when Ava tried to call 911.

Running away was a better option than staying there and insisting Ava not call for help. Plus, halfway through, the mugger switched from simply not wanting her to call 911 to wanting to shoot her so she couldn’t tell the cops about him.

Nicole had already given Rafe a description, not that it mattered since Rafe was wasting time competing with Eric for Nicole’s attention instead of immediately organizing a search. And killing the former head of the Vitale crime family would have been a terrible idea.

When Rafe and Jada eventually arrived on the scene, Jada shot and killed the mugger. Chances are she’ll never face an IAB investigation for firing her weapon, while Lani languishes in a Maryland prison for shooting TR even though Abe was lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor when Lani fired the shot.

Instead, Jada seems to be getting close to Eric over this. Good. While Jada is likely a distraction, anyone who keeps Eric from reconciling with Nicole yet again is a hero.

Roman is proving to be just as judgmental with Kate as Eric always is with Nicole, too.

Kate: Do you have a minute to talk?
Roman: Actually, I don’t. I just found out my boiler’s on the fritz and I don’t have much to say to you anyway.

Despite Abe’s calm, reasoned explanations, Roman is convinced that Lucas would have harmed Sami while they were living together in Europe.

Has he found out yet that he was wrong about Lucas being the one who murdered Abigail? Maybe that would help him question his assumptions about Lucas’ motives, which run contrary to what Lucas and Abe have both explained.

Anyway, there is no reason for him to be so cold to Kate at this point. He should be able to see this from her perspective, but he refuses to despite the whole world seeing what he doesn’t: Sami was not in continual danger from Lucas, nor is Lucas a sociopath who messed with her for fun.

If Kate moves on with someone else, it might inspire Roman’s jealousy. But since Abe is already taken — and Paulina seems to be Kate’s new best friend — who could she move on with?

Kate and Paulina’s newfound friendship is one of the best parts of Days of Our Lives. Friendships can and should be the backbone of this series; we don’t see them enough.

Meanwhile, Chanel made a mistake by choosing either of the twins rather than walking away from this whole mess.

Johnny and Allie’s competition devolved into them throwing pies at each other.

While it might be nice to feel wanted, Chanel deserves better than this nonsense. Who says either of them would respect her, considering how they treat each other and how impossible it was for them to honor her boundaries while she was thinking things over.

If Days of Our Lives were willing to explore a poly relationship, Chanel might try to date both twins. Instead, she chose one, leaving Johnny heartbroken and Allie eager to have sex.

Chanel’s reasons for her choice made little sense. First, she said she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Allie. Then she said she wanted to explore what was possible between them.

It didn’t sound like she expected it to be serious, even though she first made it sound like she was looking for her life partner.

Plus, the way she phrased it made it seem like she was choosing Allie because they’d known each other longer and therefore had more of an opportunity to get to know each other.

These are not solid reasons for her choice, and she seemed heartbroken over Johnny’s heartbreak.

It felt like she was choosing Allie because she was still hurt by the Devil breaking up with her when Johnny was possessed. Chances are she will bounce back and forth between the twins for a while, no matter what she says about choosing one.

Elsewhere, Robert Scott Wilson had his highly anticipated debut as Sonny’s brother, Alex.

Sonny: In the name of full transparency, I have to tell you, my brother is staying with me.
Chad: Which brother?
Sonny: Alex.
Chad: I didn’t know he was coming to Salem.
Sonny: Neither did I.
Chad: How long is he staying?
Sonny: He’s not leaving. He wasn’t having a blast in Phoenix with Joe and Vic so he decided to come here. Apparently he thinks he’s going to work with me.
Chad: How do you feel about that?
Sonny: He assumes I’m going to hire him and there really isn’t any reason not to, right?
Chad: In my book, working with your brother is a bad idea.

So far, Alex seems somewhat flaky. He didn’t understand that Sonny had work to do, quit a job because he didn’t get along with his other brothers, and is wandering around shirtless and treating the mansion like a resort.

He might be comic relief, or he may be a disaster. It’s too soon to say. One thing is certain: Justin and Sonny aren’t thrilled that Alex plans to stay all summer.

Also, Bonnie’s flirting with Alex was completely inappropriate. She’s married to his father!

Finally, Xander again acted like an idiot when Gwen came to see him, while Sarah fretted about possibly being the killer.

My money is now on her being completely innocent. There’s a good reason she doesn’t remember going to the mansion — she didn’t go.

My theory is that someone else killed Abigail moments before Gwen arrived in a Sarah mask. Scaredy-cat Gwen then ran away, and that’s who Lucas saw.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts on Days of Our Lives during the week of 7-25-22.

Eager for more Days of Our Lives chat? Then you’ll love our Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion. Check back on Sunday for the latest edition.

Days of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes or watch online on Peacock TV on weeknights after 8 PM EST / 5 PM 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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