Days of Our Lives Round Table: Hope & Rafe Break Up...Sort Of

Hope and Rafe broke up when he said she didn't want to get married, Eli accused JJ of shooting Theo because he was black, Sami tortured Will in order to get him to remember her, and Ciara returned to Salem this week on Days of Our Lives.

Our TV Fanatics Jack Ori and Christine Orlando are joined by Stephanie and Kathy from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate Hope and Rafe's break up, Sami's plan, if they want Ciara back and if Eli's accusation held any merit in our Days of Our Lives round table.

Hope and Rafe broke up, but Jennifer wants them to get back together. Do you want it to be over for good?

Stephanie: I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority, but I kind of always thought Rafe and Hope were a good match. They both do police work, both take risks, and both care about their families.

I have been bored by them for quite a while now, but I don’t necessarily want to see them be over for good. They just need a little more excitement in their lives since they’ve basically been stuck in the same place with their relationship since Rafe proposed.

Jack: The sooner this relationship ends for good the better. When Rafe said something about them being better off without each other I was hoping he'd stick to that permanently.

I love Jennifer and her sense of optimism but she is wrong on this one and I wish she wouldn't encourage this travesty of a relationship to continue.

Kathy: Yes. They seem like a very mismatched couple. I liked them as friends.

Christine: In the beginning I thought these two would make a good couple. I was very, very, wrong!

Not only are they boring, but I feel Rafe is frequently condescending and passive aggressive with Hope. Hope used to be strong, feisty, and fun, but Rafe always has her second guessing herself and it's horrible.

This couple needs to be over for good in order to save both characters.

Do you think Hope didn’t want to marry Rafe because he’ll never take Bo’s place, because of her disastrous marriage to Aiden, or just because she doesn’t belong with Rafe?

Stephanie: I think that Hope has been through a lot of trauma when it comes to love and hasn’t really taken the time to focus on herself and heal.

Soon after the disaster with Aiden, Bo died. As a result, she lost two men she had loved within a very short period of time. Then, very quickly, she started dating Rafe. Putting off the marriage is probably her heart’s unconscious way of trying to keep from getting hurt again.

I think she is just realizing now that she’s been trying to cope by ignoring her pain and jumping into another relationship. I think she loves Rafe, but she won’t be able to fully commit to him until she finally works through the pain of losing Bo and experiencing the horror she did with Aiden.

Jack: I think that it's because Rafe constantly pressures her. He wants to get married, he wants her to do her job a certain way, etc.

He's 10,000x more controlling than Aiden ever was! Aiden's worst actual crime was blackmailing Hope after finding out she murdered a man in cold blood. Rafe tries to control her life in a million different ways.

Kathy: I think Hope knows that no one can take Bo’s place, but her new love would make his own place in her life. It seems that Rafe has not been able to do that if she is comparing the two.

Christine: Rafe is a fool. No one will ever take Bo's place but that doesn't mean Hope can't love again.

Rafe seems to want things his way and on his timeframe and he needs to always be the hero, as when he hid Stefano's body to "rescue" Hope from her actions. I think that's why he's drawn to Sami; her life is always a train wreck of her own making.

But usually Hope is more than capable of taking care of herself and making her own decisions, and doesn't need a white knight to save her. I think on some level, Rafe needs to feel superior and he doesn't get that with Hope unless he's belittling her.

Was Gabi right to be livid with Eli over him calling JJ a racist for shooting Theo?

Stephanie: This totally came out of nowhere. As Gabi told Eli, there are many very strong pieces of evidence to show that out of all the reasons JJ shot Theo, race is very low on the list if it’s there at all.

I think this is just the show’s way of addressing the issues that have sprung up in police departments across the country within recent years. I applaud their attempt to work it into a storyline, but I don’t think it works with this particular one being that JJ has never shown any racist tendencies in the past.

Jack: Yes! Eli is being really ridiculous here. Yes there are white cops who abuse power and shoot black suspects for no good reason, but this is not a situation like that, and anyone who paid attention for half a second would see how wracked with guilt JJ is, which contradicts the idea that he's a racist who thinks that all black men are thugs.

Even before knowing it was Theo, JJ's first reaction was to tell the suspect that he wished he had listened to orders because he hated the idea of shooting ANYBODY.

Plus Eli and Abe seem to think that Theo didn't do anything wrong and I hate to say it, but it seems to me that they're saying that because Theo is black he should get a free pass on breaking and entering, refusing to obey police orders, and pointing a gun-shaped object at a cop.

Kathy: Yes, Gabi was right to express her opinion and support for JJ. Just as Eli was right to express his concerns.

Christine: I wasn't surprised that the question was raised, but I was shocked it came from Eli.

It seems to me that JJ is living every cop's worst nightmare, that they mistake something for a gun and shoot someone who is unarmed. I'll sort of give Abe a pass because his son was shot, but why are Eli and Rafe so sure that JJ was in the wrong? They could have easily found themselves in the same position.

I was thrilled that Gabi, someone who knows him well but isn't family, was so vehement in standing up for him. JJ deserves someone to have his back.

Did Sami’s plan to traumatize Will into getting his memory back have any merit?

Stephanie: I don’t think it really did. As usual, Sami thought she was helping her son, but she was actually hurting him more. Now, instead of bringing him closer to her, he is even farther away because he wants nothing to do with her.

Then there’s the fact that he could have actually died this time. Sami just needs to take a cue from the rest of her family and allow Will the time and patience needed to regain his memories on his own. She is just being selfish here.

Jack: No. This was ridiculous, and I didn't need that re-enactment of Will's death scenes, thank you. How Sami could think this wouldn't blow up in her face is beyond me.

Kathy: Only in Sami’s mind. Will is an adult and should be allowed to find his own treatment.

Christine: If this was ever used, it should have been a last resort with proper psychiatric vetting, and with Will's total consent.

Sami was selfish, impatient and reckless, and she deserves to pay the price for putting her son through this.

Ciara’s back. Are you happy?

Stephanie: I’m interested to see what Ciara’s role will be this time. My guess is that she and Theo might end up together since the writers seem to be pushing Claire and Tripp toward each other.

I’d be happy to see them having mutual feelings for each other since I always thought they had more of a connection then Theo and Claire. They’ve known each other forever and have a strong friendship while Theo and Claire kind of just happened because Theo thought he couldn’t have Ciara.

Jack: I'm curious to see where this goes. I hope Ciara is written properly and is spunky again.

Kathy: Too soon to tell. I will be interested to see this new version of Ciara.

Christine: I'm hesitant. I hated the last version of Ciara. She was boring. The child Ciara was so spunky, self confident and fun, and I'm really hoping we see more of that this time. I'm hoping that her riding into town on her motorcycle, an obvious homage to her father, Bo, is a good sign.

What, if anything, disappointed you this week in Salem?

Stephanie: I was disappointed in Abe’s behavior. He has always been a well-respected character, but this week, he completely abused his power as mayor to get what he wanted.

I realize that he is hurting, but as a man who has held several leadership positions, he should know better than most people that he can’t let his personal feelings affect the decisions he makes when it comes to Salem and the people in it.

Jack: I really hated seeing those re-enacted strangling scenes. They were bad enough the first time. What were the writers thinking by making us sit through them again?

I'm also really disappointed that Abe actually thought JJ was a cold-blooded murderer who went into Theo's room to finish the job of killing him and this whole debacle of firing Hope for doing her job instead of serving his insane agenda is ridiculous.

Kathy: Sami’s risky plan to get Will’s memory back.

Christine: I hated that Jennifer had Hope thinking she needed to go and grovel to get Rafe back. That entire conversation made me ill.

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

Stephanie: I loved the scenes with Kate and Will. I thought Kate handled meeting her grandson again after a long absence with just the right amount of care and caution.

I also liked the fight scenes between Rafe and Hope. The dialogue was strong and honest, and it was good to see these characters have a little drama since they’ve been rather bland for a long time now.

Jack: I continue to be surprised by how much I am enjoying JJ and Gabi. She still isn't as good as Paige would have been, but if she can stay focused on JJ and not on jumping from one man to another I might actually get behind this couple again.

I also liked Will telling Sami off, and I found it hilarious when Lucas thought that breaking out of a mental hospital is easy in this Days of Our Lives quote...

John: According to Roger, it couldn't have been Susan. She's been in a psychiatric facility ever since we left Memphis.
Lucas: Yeah, but people break out of those all the time, don't they?

Permalink: Yeah, but people break out of those all the time, don't they?

Kathy: I liked Will’s reaction to his mother putting him at risk. Andre not outing Kate - it will be interesting to see what he does with the info. Robert Scott Wilson’s strong performance as Ben.

Christine: Gabi sticking up for JJ and being their to support him as a friend. Also, Will reuniting with his loved ones. I thought everyone, except for Sami, handled it really well.

TV Fanatics, you can chime in too! Do you think Rafe and Hope should be over for good, or would you like to see them give their romance another chance?