Ciara may have amnesia, but viewers don't.

Days of Our Lives during the week of 3-15-21 seemed determined to make us relive old storylines, and not just because Ciara kept lashing out about things that happened three or four years ago.

We also had a redux of the Kristen as Nicole storyline, only this time Kristen masqueraded as Sarah. Does ANYONE like these constant doppelganger stories?

I feel bad for Xander/Sarah shippers. Days of Our Lives again cheated superfans out of their happy ending, just like they did when Eric and Nicole quickly married, only for Eric to disappear to the other side of the planet within weeks.

At least Eric and Nicole got married, though. Xander and Sarah only did in fantasy.

I'm sure Days of Our Lives thought that the romantic fantasy wedding Sarah had while trapped in the Dimera dungeon (which for some inexplicable reason now has bales of hay in it, but I digress.) would thrill Xarah shippers.

But I'm not even a fan of this pairing, and I was disgusted.

You don't give fans what they want in a dream sequence while simultaneously pulling the rug out from under them by having the characters experience the opposite in reality.

Especially when the obstacle they haven't yet managed to overcome is a repeat of a story nobody liked the first time around.

Sarah and Xander were denied their happy ending because unhinged Kristen engaged in an impulsive kidnapping that didn't make any sense whatsoever.

There are so many holes in the Kristen masquerading as Sarah storyline that I could fill this entire blog and still not hit all of them, and Days of Our Lives' attempt at explaining them didn't help at all.

The biggest issue I have with this is that it doesn't further Kristen's plans one bit. She switched places with Susan for the sole purpose of messing with Chloe. Not Sarah. Chloe.

Kristen got sidetracked when Sarah stumbled upon her secret and knocked her out. Okay, fine, typical Kristen.

But then she decided to masquerade as Sarah and sleep with Rex for the sole purpose of hurting Xander.

I got the sense that Kristen wanted revenge on Sarah and Xander for stealing baby Rachel from her. But it wasn't framed like that.

Sarah was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then Rex just happened to call, so Kristen sprung into action even though it was nothing but a distraction from her goal of hurting Chloe.

And we won't even talk about the absurdity of Kristen just happening to have a Sarah mask complete with a voice adapter even though she 1) had no plans to abduct Sarah until it happened and 2) has not had any time to create a mask even if she did somehow learn how Rolf did it.

Kristen also changed her plan from dumping Xander at the altar to sleeping with Rex for the sole purpose of making sure Xander thought Sarah had cheated on him, and there are no words for how disgusting that is.

At the very least, she took advantage of Rex's naivety and used him. She also told him they would run off together, and she probably will just disappear now.

She also cheated on Brady, the man so beloved to her that she's willing to kill Chloe to get her out of her way, to put this stupid plan into action.

And Brady and Chloe became heartless, not caring at all that their friend Sarah was missing and probably in trouble because her disappearance meant that they could rub it in Xander's face that he wasn't marrying her today.

This is what happens when characters are twisted out of shape to further a plot that doesn't make sense.

The saddest thing is that this could have been a story that Sarah/Xander fans loved if it had been written properly.

Back in the supercouple era, things like what happened in Sarah's fantasy were standard fare. No matter how crazy the storyline was, fans went with it because they knew that in the end, love would triumph, the bad guys would get what they deserved, and the lovers would get their happy ever after.

Of course, back then, couples were built up properly too. They didn't rush to get the couple into bed then rush to tear them apart. They wrote love stories about characters that viewers came to care deeply about.

Xander and Sarah's wedding seemed rushed when Sarah proposed, and now we know why: it was a necessary plot point so that we could have yet another doppelganger story.

And now that news has broken that Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) is out at DAYS, it's unlikely that Sarah and Xander will ever get their happy ending.

Now that Sarah and Kristen are fighting over a syringe of poison let's hope that Sarah's storyline doesn't end with her dying, ending up in a mental hospital, or going into an indefinite coma.

It doesn't help that this story is going on simultaneously as the aftermath of Ciara's rescue.

In a lot of ways, it seems like the same story. Villain kidnap woman to torment her lover and keep them apart, woman becomes desperate to escape, woman does something dangerous that makes things worse.

I like that Sarah tried to fight for herself in ways that were more reasonable than opening a random gas pipe, though.

And the one thing the Ciara storyline had going for it was that the hero realized his wife was in danger when no one else did, rather than taking an obvious doppelganger at face value.

But now that Ciara's been rescued, that story has also veered into the land of the ridiculous.

Leaving aside the ludicrous notion that Ciara's concussion can make her think it is 2018 but leave the rest of her memories intact and cause no other brain function problems, this story is another example of getting fans excited only to dash their hopes.

A huge number of people 'ship Cin and thought Victoria Konefal (Ciara)'s temporary return meant their favorite couple would finally get their happily ever after.

But now, fans are being treated to a ridiculous rehash of the past, and since the actress who plays Ciara is leaving again, most likely, there will be no happy ending here either.

Most likely, after Ciara finishes bashing everyone the same way she did when the storylines she is stuck in were actually happening, she'll be shipped off either to Bayview or some other rehab facility. After all, she is Victor's granddaughter, and he has a wide variety of specialists at his beck and call.

And then what are they going to do with Ben?

Inquiring minds also want to know if anyone will bother to inform Hope that her daughter has been found. Or is she going to be given the Bo treatment and be said to be off looking for Ciara when everyone else knows where Ciara is?

The best solution really is to recast Hope despite Kristian Alfonso's 37 years of work at Days of Our Lives.

The actress doesn't want to come back. To make the end of this story make sense and not leave characters in limbo, the showrunners should consider finding someone who can fill some big shoes.

Sami: I told you already. I have nothing more to say to you.
Rafe: Yes. And in most cases, fewer words from you is something that I would welcome. But I didn't come here to speak. I came here to tell you that you have a visitor.
Sami: Oh good. I hope it's my new lawyer, since I got dropped as a client by my loving sister.
[Lucas comes in]
Lucas: Try again. The loving ex-husband.

• Permalink: Try again. The loving ex-husband.

Anyway, one bright point in all the craziness is the murder mystery, which finally got some movement this week.

Although it's obvious that Sami isn't the killer, Days of Our Lives used her effectively, and her scenes with Lucas were especially well done.

I've shipped Lumi for years. That whole EJami thing never made any sense to me, and every time Sami and Lucas share scenes, it's obvious that they're the loves of each other's lives no matter what anyone says.

Nice job bringing up that Lucas went to jail so that Will wouldn't have to, too. I've been thinking about that since this story began.

I hope the writers are throwing some major red herrings our way by suggesting Allie is the most likely culprit, though.

Days of Our Lives has had so many murder mysteries in the past several years in which everyone guessed the "shocking" solution months before the big reveal, and I'd like this to be different.

Besides, Allie is one of the best newer characters to hit Salem, and I don't want her to be shipped off to jail any too soon. Or worse, be let off the hook because "look what he did to her."

While Charlie's rape of Allie was a horrible, traumatic experience, I'm also sick of Days of Our Lives using the misogynistic trope that women snap when upset and become violent and that that's okay because they can't help it.

I've known Sami for a very long time, and this is the first time I've ever heard of her exercising her right to remain silent.

Nicole

• Permalink: I've known Sami for a very long time, and this is the first time I've ever heard of her...

Gabi's torment of Ava and insisting Ava did it made me wonder if Gabi was involved.

I can't think of any reason she would mess with Charlie, but the way she was talking made me think.

Gabi has few if any limits -- I think the reason she stopped Abby from poisoning Gwen was more because she wanted to double-cross Abigail than anything else.

So could she have decided to off Charlie in the hopes that Ava would be arrested and therefore removed from Rafe's house, if not his life altogether?

It's farfetched, but so is everything else in Salem, and Gabi did shoot Nick in the back, even if it was after years of abuse.

In any case, it's not Ava. That would be ridiculous even for Days of Our Lives. If Ava is a "Mafia princess," why would she kill Charlie herself instead of hiring someone to do it?

And if Ava really has cut ties with the mob for Tripp's sake, it wouldn't make sense for her to turn around then and kill Charlie herself. That's not exactly better than hiring a hitman.

Rafe and Nicole seem to be getting closer during this investigation, and Nicole snapped back into reporter mode when she found out that Rafe had new evidence.

I think she should forget Basic Black and open a competing news service with Jack.

If Jennifer ever comes back, that might be fun, especially if Nicole is dating Rafe by then and interferes with his investigations by reporting news he wishes she'd keep to herself.

In any case, all of this is more entertaining than this Gwen/Jack/Abigail stupidity.

Gwen and Abigail have now both demanded that Jack disown the other, which isn't happening. And Abigail has become Gabi 2.0, constantly complaining that Gwen drugged her, took her away from her family, exposed Jack's affair with Kate, and then slept with Chad.

I'm glad Chad talked Abigail into acting sane for the moment, but I don't trust it. She switched back to sweet, lovable Abigail too quickly, and I have this feeling a DID resurgence is in our not too distant future.

I hope not. The original Abigail DID story was so inaccurate and full of stereotypes. And most fans hated it.

But that didn't stop the writers from inserting this Kristen-with-a-Sarah-mask story when almost no one liked the Kristen-with-a-Sarah-mask story, so I'm afraid Gabby with a Y and "Dr. Laura" will soon make appearances, especially since the real Dr. Laura is now dead.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics.

What did you think about Days of Our Lives during the week of 3-15-21? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!

Eager for more Days of Our Lives chat? Make sure to check back on Sunday for our Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.

Days of Our Lives continues to air on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.