Days of Our Lives - Wed., Nov. 16, 2016

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Days of Our Lives
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

A rather emotional episode, with strong performances by everyone involved, as the end of Hope's hearing ensues, while Theresa pulls out all the stops to force Brady to understand she is through with him.

Justin makes an extremely forceful case for Hope's killing of Stefano DiMera. He recites all the misery that Stefano heaped on her and her family, how he took Hope, turned her into another identity, while letting her family thinks she was dead for years. He talks of torture, etc., submits a file with statements by 13 witnesses of the horrors Stefano heaped on them all, but all the while managing to escape being put on trial for the crimes. He mentions Stefano having paid off various people within the legal system, indicating it was not only police. Trask objects at times, but Judge Fitzpatrick overrules, and allows all Justin has to say. He has psychiatric reports from 2 separate doctors attesting to Hope's mental state at the time. And then he has Hope go herself to tell the judge what happened that day.

Will break away from the goings on to give huge kudos to those family & friends, sitting in the courtroom, as, while they have no dialogue, there is constant camera work on their reactions, which are terrific. Especially Doug, Julie, Shawn and Roman!

Hope goes to the witness stand, talks directly to the judge, tells of her conviction of Stefano being responsible for the imprisonment and torture of Bo Brady, all the evidence pointing to him, of really not remembering too much of what happened there, of pulling the trigger, but she did. She leaves the stand. And now Trask calls for the DiMera family members. First up is Andre, who makes his usual snide spiel, Justin assuring Hope he is just playing with them all. Andre references thinking that with Hope being a cop, having so much influence, he was worried that justice might not be served, but since it has been, he trusts the judge's decision as to punishment.

Next comes Chad, and this is our Chad of old, the strong, emotional man, who now admits his father should have been brought to trial many times, but wasn't. That his father wronged a great many people, but adds it was all in the past. He talks of love, and how he hoped his father would have changed because of grandsons, Theo & Thomas, just as Thomas changed Chad himself. He talks directly to Hope, saying he married into her family, became part of that family. But she has admitted killing his father, (he doesn't think she came there intending to do so), but mentions Hope was armed, his father not, infirm, old, frail. He steps down. The judge calls a recess to go deliberate.

Meanwhile Brady is trying to find Theresa who has not come home all night, not like her. He is on phone with Anne, Nicole arrives. He rants away to Nicole, who tries to make a few mild excuses, but Brady is beside himself. Tate coos, Nicole picks him up, more conversation about Theresa, as Brady tells all the things Theresa has said, done, etc. but two weeks ago it all just changed. He wants to go look for her, Nicole wants to stay & take Tate to the park. Fine.

Theresa is gathering her things together, Shane comes in, they talk, he really is so worried. She promises to never do anything like that, love will give her strength and get her through this. Shane knows he was trained for this stuff, but her.....she is going to persevere. He is going to have someone on her, she won't see him, but will be watching.

Later, outside the hospital, she is on phone with Mateo, Shane is listening in. He is getting impatient, she realizes it, just taking longer, not to worry, she will manage and he can make arrangements to leave. Mateo has a way to make Brady give up on her.

Theresa is at the Kmansion, writing a note on a pad of paper. She gets a call from Guillermo, who is to meet her, in accordance with Mateo's plan. She tells him Salem Inn, rm. 514, and leaves. Later, Brady comes home, calling for Theresa. He calls Nicole to say he is back home, but sees the notation on the pad. Salem Inn, Rm. 514. He abruptly hangs up, and off he goes.

Arriving at the door of the Inn, he knocks, hears Theresa laughing, giggling, knocks more and just opens the door. She is smiling, laying on the bed, waving a credit card. (I guess to use for the cocaine?) He asks what she is doing, she says something about this guy she just met, but he sure knows how to show a girl a good time. Guillermo comes out of the bathroom, shirtless, asking Brady if he came to join the party.

Back at the courthouse, Hope sits in the interrogation room, Rafe comes in, holds her. (how does he get all these privileges?) Everyone is milling around in the courtroom, Adrienne tells Justin he was brilliant, he hopes it works, Trask assures him it will not, Hope is a murderer, Angry Steve protests, saying anyone in this room could easily have pulled that trigger with good cause. Jen comes up to Chad, he talked of being in the family, that still goes, she will always be there for him. Andre goes out in the hall to call Laura, tell her Abby is there in town, no he has not told his brother, and doesn't intend to do so. He quickly hangs up when Jen comes out, telling Andre there are a lot of family there for Hope, Chad needs some, too. Andre agrees, goes back in with Jen. The bailiff announces the judge has a ruling.

All are seated, Hope is brought in. The judge tells all to be seated, except Hope. Judge Fitzpatrick read all the material, agrees this was not premeditated murder, and therefore the death penalty will be set aside. She decides that it is 2nd degree murder and is sentencing Hope to 25 years in maximum security prison, with no chance of parole. The courtroom erupts in chaos, voices are yelling, people have jumped up, "no parole"? What the heck is that? Down slams the gavel, court is adjourned, judge leaves.

Hope is handcuffed, Ciara hugs her, won't let her go, wants her home. Hope is assuring her daughter she is o.k. it will be o.k. She tells Rafe to take care of Ciara. Shawn is insisting they have to do something, get this changed. Steve agrees. Hope is led out, one last, longing, loving look at her family.
 
Rafe should take care of Ciara? Not her older brother or countless aunts, uncles, cousins or grandparents? Give me a break. This is why fans get upset about this couple being so forced. Let things naturally evolve rather than forcing Rafe into family situations and scenes with Hope. The Shawn scenes yesterday are another example. He should have been shown to be upset and kissing Hope and that's it.
 
Actually, I think she said "keep an eye on" Ciara.....but then, so much was going on in that room at that point. Either way, the statement should have been made to Shawn, her father, Jennifer........definitely not Rafe.
 
She did say "keep an eye on her". I felt like it was more for Rafe to feel "connected" to Hope while she was in prison. Not that Ciara needed Rafe when she has two big families, the Bradys and Hortons, to look out for her. (in addition to Victor's Kiriakis crew)
 
Kudos to Billy Flynn (Chad) for his fine performance on the witness stand. Justin also looked good and sounded good, but his legal strategy and arguments left something to be desired. His claim that Hope and her family were in "imminent" danger from Stefano stretched the meaning of "Imminent" beyond all legal recognition. Also, if he had psychiatric studies showing that Hope was temporarily insane at the time she shot the Phoenix, why didn't he plead her not guilty by reason of insanity? Experts could have given their testimony, the victim could have been dramatically put on trial, and the jury's heartstrings could have been tugged by having Hope, Ciara, Julie, Doug, and Jenny weep at the proper moments. After a not-guilty verdict, Hope would have been showered with bouquets by courtroom spectators. Finally, if Justin wanted a plea bargain, why not try for first-degree manslaughter based on the argument that a distraught Hope was merely lashing out at Stefano at the moment she pulled the trigger and had no intent to kill him? On the subject of crimes of passion, the Mateo flunky is taking a big chance by appearing to be trysting with Jeannie T. An enraged Brady might just separate his head from his shoulders giving Melina Trask the chance to charge another Salem insider with murder.
 
but adds it was all in the past. He talks of love, and how he hoped his father would have changed because of grandsons, Theo & Thomas
Talk about an overused plot/line in Salem. "That's the past" and "he's changed" could never be said on the show again and it'd STILL be their theme.

Sydney and Johnny didn't change him. Neither did Steven. (Wow, for a guy who spawned so many critterlings, he sure doesn't have an extensive grandchild list!)

His claim that Hope and her family were in "imminent" danger from Stefano stretched the meaning of "Imminent" beyond all legal recognition
Not in Alamainia, from which I understand Salem adopted all of its laws.
 
I'm glad Jennifer talked to Chad and told him he was still part of the family
after his testimony. Then she talked to Andre. I think her attitude toward him
will change if she learns what he did for Abigail.

Twenty five years sounds like a long time. In Salem, maybe that will be next month :)

Will Theo and Ciara's friendship be hurt after the verdict?

I wonder why Mateo had his henchmen be with Theresa and not him when Brady
came to the room.

Nice to see Shane today, but it's hard for me that he's helping Theresa with her plan.
 
Rafe should take care of Ciara? Not her older brother or countless aunts, uncles, cousins or grandparents? Give me a break. This is why fans get upset about this couple being so forced. Let things naturally evolve rather than forcing Rafe into family situations and scenes with Hope. The Shawn scenes yesterday are another example. He should have been shown to be upset and kissing Hope and that's it.

Actually, I think she said "keep an eye on" Ciara.....but then, so much was going on in that room at that point. Either way, the statement should have been made to Shawn, her father, Jennifer........definitely not Rafe.

No offense, but... why not ? Why shouldn't Hope ask Rafe to take care of Ciara ? It does not mean that she can't ask Shawn, or Jennifer, or the rest of her family too. But why not Rafe also ? He has looked out for Ciara in the past. And, whether some like it or not (I for one do like it a lot... no tomatoes please), Hope and Rafe are together now. It's only natural that she would rely on him, and ask him to look out for Ciara, as she knows Rafe will do a good job. It does not seem forced to me, not at all. In fact, I think Hope and Rafe are sweet together, it took them a while to be together and I hope it lasts. Not forced at all to me, definitely. It's a refreshing change from all the bed hopping going on otherwise.

Now, do I think this whole storyline is dragged out and stupid ? Indeed. But that's another story...
 
Thanks for the summary. Now I understand why the episode yesterday was so bland---they were saving the best for today. Really emotional show all around, and wonderful acting. And while I don't care for the Hope storyline or her relationship with Rafe, gotta admit it's hard not to feel for them today.
 
I guess in a Salem courtroom witnesses don't need to be sworn in or cross examined! I was extremely impressed with Chad's testimony. He was right; Stefano may have been a monster to most, but he had a family who loved him, albeit, off and on. And he was unarmed, infirm and frail. It will be interesting to see how much time Hope ends up spending in jail. We all know just how long those sentences really last!
 
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I still think it will either turn out that there was another shooter or they'll find out Stefano is alive.

I agree it was a great job by all in the courtroom with the non-verbal cues. However, still no Claire. And shouldn't Marlena have testified on Hope's behalf?

Hope actually asked Rafe repeatedly to keep an eye on Ciara. I wish they'd have Shawn and Claire move into Hope's house now and have Shawn look after the 2 girls.

Is the Jeannie T stuff over yet?
 
Guess I am in the minority, but I like Rafe and Hope together, for now. Given past story lines (I have been watching since November 1965), I am sure the writers will break them up and each will move on with someone some viewers will find more appropriate. For now, "let it go" (from Elsa in Frozen).
 
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Thanks, JS. :)

65days, that minority isn't as small as you may think. I posted a poll about Hope and Rafe several months ago and, if I recall correctly, it was pretty much neck-to-neck, then leaned more toward not liking them as a couple. I like them together. I was so tired of Bo's constant flitting from woman to woman while Hope waited by the fireplace with his pipe and slippers until he rode in (AGAIN!) on his white horse.
 
Why shouldn't Hope ask Rafe to take care of Ciara ? It does not mean that she can't ask Shawn, or Jennifer, or the rest of her family too. But why not Rafe also?

Because she didn't ask the others too. She repeatedly asked Rafe to look after Ciara as if he were the only person capable of doing that. Shawn even mentioned looking after Ciara on Tuesday's episode but that was all overlooked today and Shawn was treated like a glorified extra once again instead of as Bo Brady's son.
 
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