When kids go to summer camp on soap operas, they usually return as teenagers, but not this time.
Instead of following the usual rapid-aging soap trope, Days of Our Lives spoilers for the week of 7-10-23 suggest that Rachel’s being shuffled off to sleepaway camp is the beginning of a new storyline.
Brady will soon learn that his spoiled pre-teen daughter is missing, and there’s only one likely culprit: Kristen.
It is unsurprising that Kristen would go this route.
She hasn’t had any luck finding a lawyer to help her wrest custody of Rachel from Brady, and before she turned against Kristen, Megan recommended that her half-sister forget the legal route.
Plus, with Megan in the wind, someone has to take over the role of the crazy Dimera lady who will do anything to get what she wants. So why shouldn’t Kristen be up to her old tricks?
Chloe’s with Xander now, even if she and Brady still carry torches for each other, and a single Brady is far more vulnerable to Kristen’s manipulations.
Bad news for Kristen, though: her BFF Lani is in town and has no doubt about what her old friend is up to.
The only mystery here is what Lani will do about it. She often acts like she’s in love with Kristen and has risked her career and freedom for her before.
Lani’s on leave from prison and set to get out on parole in six months, so covering for Kristen or actively helping her would be a terrible idea. Still, can Lani help herself when it comes to her old friend?
She often feels Kristen’s behavior is justified when it comes to Rachel. She shares her belief in mothers doing anything, right or wrong, not to be separated from their children.
Plus, Lani’s about to learn the truth about Abe’s “death.” Kristen would probably love to help her friend out — for a price (no pun intended).
Check out our thoughts on this and seven other Days of Our Lives spoilers!
Chloe and Xander’s lovemaking is interrupted.
When will people in Salem ever learn to have sex in private?
If they aren’t doing it in the living room, they leave their door unlocked so anyone can walk in.
Gwen’s presumably come to gloat to Xander that she’s engaged to Dimitri, so she shouldn’t care about Xander/Chloe’s sex, but she probably will throw a fit.
Brady learns that his daughter has gone missing.
As mentioned above, Rachel is one of the only Salem children not to fall victim to Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome.
It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who’s behind this. Kristen’s been caught trying to kidnap Rachel from her home twice before, and the child always follows her mother without question.
But will Brady stand firm if Kristen demands a relationship in exchange for Rachel’s safe return, or will he cave to her so-called charms, as usual?
Wendy is upset with Li, while Stefan is furious with Gabi.
Li is a big disappointment. Wendy’s probably the only one in Salem who ever admired or expected the best of him, so it’s understandable why she’s furious now.
He put her life in danger and many other people’s, all in the delusional hope that if Stefan were killed, Gabi would magically fall for him.
Wendy needs to write her brother off and concentrate on her IT career, which seems forgotten now that she’s gotten the position she’s wanted her whole life.
Shawn spirals out of control after Melinda catches him drinking on the job.
If only this were a better-written alcoholism story, it could be so powerful!
Unfortunately, we’re coming in on the tail end of it, with Shawn already in full-blown alcoholism after being off-screen for weeks.
To make matters worse, Rafe will choose to suspend Shawn instead of following Melinda’s demand to fire him, and Shawn will retaliate by accusing Rafe of sleeping with Jada in front of the new Acting Mayor.
Wendy chooses which guy to date.
Boring spoiler alert!
First of all, no one cares about this ridiculous triangle. Johnny needs to return to Chanel, and Wendy needs to return to her career.
And to add insult to injury, these scenes appear to be word-for-word what happened when Chanel decided between Johnny and Allie, and the first time was bad enough.
Kristen makes a confession to Lani.
If Lani weren’t in prison, this would be the perfect time for her and Kristen to give in to their feelings about each other!
These two have fantastic chemistry that Days of Our Lives has never acknowledged. They’d be a far better same-sex bisexual couple than Chanel and Allie or Talia.
And the potential for drama, if former cop Lani left her steady but by-the-book husband for Salem’s most infamous female career criminal, would be off the charts.
Steve questions Whitley while Jerry speaks with Lani.
The walls are again closing in on Whitley, but we’ve been here so many times that I’m afraid to hope.
By the end of the week, Lani will know that Abe is alive. But will this really be the beginning of the end of this obsessive love story?
Spoilers also have Abe hallucinating that he and Paulina are playing a married couple on Body and Soul, so it’s anyone’s guess where all this is going.
Kristen tells Marlena about her desire to revise the custody agreement.
Kristen is as delusional as Li if she thinks kidnapping her daughter will help her gain custody.
It would be far easier to pay off a judge, which generally happens in custody cases on Days of Our Lives. And why on Earth is she telling Marlena, of all people?
Marlena hates Kristen and will want to protect her granddaughter from her. Sheesh.
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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.