Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (4)

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Days of Our Lives closed out October with some big exits, some trouble-making entrances and the last news we wanted to get about Clyde. And while Halloween spooked up some laughs this year, with Philip threatening Xander’s happy ending, the bloodshed may not be confined to a spooky holiday fever dream. The long and the short: November’s set to blow up! 

From Melaswen to Weivenip

This year’s Halloween episode was mostly inconsequential with only a few scenes in the real world — but I’ll give it points for making me laugh a few times and lampooning some of the show’s most bizarre storylines. The nightmare was essentially a Salem Stalker/Melaswen parody in Body and Soul’s Pineview, complete with all the “dead” characters showing up alive on the island of Weivenip. And they even made a reference to poor Don Craig, who went out to mail a letter and was never seen again.

Also, Robert Scott Wilson has great comedic timing and he and Carson Boatman in particular know how to deliver those silly lines. I lost it with “Arrow’s” response to “Detective John Hotson” showing up and announcing who he was — “I know who you are!” — and the cop saying he’s seen Arrow before — “Yeah, because we’ve met before!!”

But it’s still Body and Soul and the well’s been poisoned too much on it by now. And I get the folks who didn’t even want to give it a chance. If this was the extent of the fake soap stuff, just having fun with it every now and then but not putting half the cast in a never ending storyline revolving around it, I might actually enjoy it. Sigh.

As for the actual “real” stuff that happened in Salem, I’ll just say Johnny’s in a whole lot of trouble.

So Long, Farewell(s)

I figured Fiona would be out of here, but I’m kind of disappointed she didn’t get a final confrontation with Xander before she left. I mean, it was smart on her part to avoid that, but not exactly dramatic fodder. Goodbye, Fiona. At least that last letter left the door open to her return and maybe a bit of redemption.

Also, goodbye to Stefan. What’s Vivian’s plan again? I know, she wants to keep him away from Gabi, but is she just going to keep him tied up in Alamainia forever now? He’s not gonna stop wanting to get away and get back to Salem. At least they didn’t kill him. Few things are worse than bringing a character back to life, just to kill them off again. Unless it’s Stefano… But that was his whole shtick.

And I really hope Ivan comes back after he drops Stefan off. Vivian’s fun (and gets the best lines), but Madame and Ivan together are fantastic. And I think she’s going to need help keeping Philip under her control, especially now that Kate’s found her.

Face Off

For those who are a bit lost and haven’t been watching for years: Yes, Kate is Philip’s mother. But Vivian stole Kate’s embryo with Victor, had it implanted in herself and carried Philip to term. It was all part of her plot to get Victor (and his money) for herself. Philip’s never been Vivian’s son, but she did give birth to him and she has a twisted obsession with him because of it.

So to put it mildly, Kate is not going to be happy that Vivian’s got her claws in Philip. I hope Kate is the one who puts a stop to her son’s scheme like Xander’s hoping, but does it by taking Vivian down, exposing her tricks, and removing Philip’s ally and her mysterious backing. To say Kate and Vivian hate each other is an understatement, and I can not wait to see them go at each other on Monday.

Of course, if Philip is stopped, I still don’t see Sarah getting Kristen’s magic potion. I think he derailed that train. And while that may seem cruel at first, honestly, good. For one thing, Kristen’s demands for the serum are absurd, plus, there’s got to be a better way to heal Sarah. Just go for experimental surgery or something that doesn’t rely on wacky alchemy.

But since we’re on the topic of Sarah…

Killing In the Name of Love

The show’s really leaning into Xander being a killer again, and I don’t love it. Because killing Philip?! Put the morality aside, it’s just a dumb idea. At least Kristen had some sense to turn Xander’s proposal down since they’d both be obvious suspects. And I know Xander will always be Xander and he’ll always be capable of horrible things, but there are levels of that without defaulting to murder — which he’s now done twice in the span of as many months. And all for Sarah who, again, does not want him to do any of this for her!

Plus, there isn’t a lot of dramatic tension, because Xander has been pulled away from the psychopathic path so much that we know the show won’t let him (intentionally) kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it. I said what I said, Konstantin. Heck, they wouldn’t even let him kill anyone consequential back when he was an actual murdering sociopath.

Actually, now that I think about it, if Kate and Vivian get wind that Xander could be (literally) gunning for Philip, that could turn them into reluctant allies to save their boy. Or what if Xander finds out about Vivian and goes after her, instead? OK, maybe my curiosity is at least a little piqued by Xander’s latest murder idea.

Stray Thoughts…

• Javi’s introduction came in a bit… forced, but I already like his and Gabi’s rapport. And Gabi and Rafe could use some more family, so let’s see where this goes. Just don’t put him in the Body and Soul crowd.

More: Cherie Jimenez stands up to bullying viewers

• Clyde escaped. Again. Please stop making him the go-to villain. Please. Still, this could ultimately be a good thing, at least for Abigail answers.
• As regular commenter Tango pointed out on Thursday’s recap — shouldn’t Leo have had some reaction to Joy being cast? He almost married her father. And Joy definitely knows who he is.
• As Kate lamented, the show hasn’t even started up online yet and they’ve just been plagued with problem after problem. Well I say, time to cut your losses and pull the plug! Problems solved!
• Kudos to condom use. Tate and Sophia are more mature than most of Salem — but boy, they moved fast. He was with Holly for months and they never did the deed and now he and Sophia aren’t even officially a couple (are they?) and it’s already sexy time.