HOLLYWOOD—I have to admit it was his character that caused me to reignite my interest in the NBC soap “Days of Our Lives.” Do you have any guesses as to who I’m referring to? I’m referring to Ben Weston aka ‘The Neck Tie Killer’ played with devious perfection by Robert Scott Wilson. Ben was a character that came to town and didn’t make too many waves, but the writers decided to make the character dark to celebrate its 50th anniversary and give audience’s a murder mystery that was one of the best I’ve seen since the Salem Stalker.
Audiences haven’t seen Ben since he crashed Abby, Chad, Paul and Sonny’s double wedding, when he dropped that bomb about Will being alive. Let me take that back, we saw Ben when he was recruited by Sami to recreate Will’s murder in hopes of reigniting his memory. Well, “Days” has brought the character back and in epic fashion to say the least. I swear it’s only in the soap universe where you can kill people and actually get a second chance. Yeah, I get that Ben is insane, but do the writers actually expect the audience to believe overnight that Ben is a reformed individual. Well based on Marlena’s assessment that is the case, but it has Rafe and Hope super concerned and rightfully so. I mean Eve is not going to have a chat with Ben who murdered her only daughter, Paige. As for Serena the only true connection she had in Salem was to Eric, and when it comes to Wendy, I forgot she was a victim of Ben’s. So in essence there are several people who will not be pleased with Ben’s return.
Specifically JJ, Eve, Jennifer, Will, Sami, Kate, Chad and of course Abigail! Ben’s return will definitely be interesting drama to watch as we witness Abigail, who just had a major mental break. Ben’s return to her orbit will not be good for Abigail, and Chad will want to protect his wife at all costs, so fireworks galore is headed in the viewer’s direction. Will seems semi-trusting of Ben, but cautious. Ben stopping by Will’s doorstep to make amends for attempting to murder him was gutsy to say the least. However, the interesting development is it appears that the writers could be pairing Ben with another troubled soul: Ciara!
Yes, this is very interesting considering Hope is concerned about her daughter’s behavior, and her with a supposedly reformed serial killer, what the hell do we expect could happen? I’m seeing a relationship in the works. Ben did save her life after she crashed her motorcycle and was found lying in the road by Ben. If it wasn’t for Ben, Salem would be planning another funeral right now. However, we have to rewind a bit because Ciara was only out her bike after spotting Tripp and Claire in a very compromising position! Yes, that did indeed happen, which could have been seen coming from a mile away. Let’s just say, this will reignite the rivalry between Claire and Ciara yet again, but Tripp learned a devastating truth about Ciara that will make him feel guiltier than ever.
We have to talk about the Brady, Eve and Theresa love triangle. What appeared like a slam dunk for Theresa when she arrived back in Salem blew up in her face. Why? She totally thought leaving Chloe behind would not come back to haunt her. C’mon already, we all knew Chloe would be rescued, but I really don’t know how Theresa didn’t make some sort of effort to rescue a friend or a pal in need. I mean she left him with a murderous drug lord. When Brady learned about Theresa’s betrayal he booted her from the house, but Theresa wasn’t going alone: she wanted Tate as well! We can expect the notion of sibling rivalry to intensify as its apparent Brady might be closer to Eve than Theresa. Kate, oh Kate, you have played with fire for the past year and it looks like your comeuppance is headed your way. You’d think her role in Theo’s shooting, blackmailing Tripp, losing Andre, being locked away and killing Vivian would teach her to keep her hands out of so many cookie jars, but nope.
Kate wants to take down Titan and she is using Leo to neutralize Sonny. Yeah, Sonny has had a tough year, and Leo’s latest allegation made things worse. Why? Victor fired him, Leo is gloating about his deception, which has only irked Will more. Yes, Will is with Paul, but with Dr. Rolf’s formula in his hands, Will could regain his memories and that spark between the former loves could reignite and Paul becomes the third wheel yet again. Sonny is in an absolute mess, and Leo has all the evidence to bury his ‘lover’ at all costs. However, Kate is getting sloppy with her new lawyer who seems to have a torch for her. Oh, Kate its just a matter of time before someone finds out what you’re up to and goes after you with an iron first. I sense that person is likely to be Stefan.
I’m dying to see Kate’s reaction when Victor learns what she has been up to. But dare I say, Stefan has become my new favorite villain of daytime television next to Bill Spencer on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” He has taunted Kate and it looks like a plan is in action to take out the woman who murdered his mother, but little does he know Vivian is very much alive. Oh, and we have to chat about the repairing of JJ and Theresa. I forgot these two used to be a thing, but JJ and Theresa have both grown up a ton sense. As a result, he handed out an invitation for her to stay with him! Oh, I wonder how Jennifer will respond to that news. However, Ben’s arrival to Salem yet again, will be an interesting one to say the least. Is he really reformed or does he have something sinister in store for audiences? We will soon find out.
