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Days of Our Lives continues to have a large and loyal fan base. Soap opera fans love following the Salem-based stories, as they have for many decades. However, critics of the show have recently spoken out about it. They’ve said that the quality of the show has significantly decreased over the years. And now, they’ve come up with a list of ways the show could improve in this season and beyond.

Days of Our Lives stars Lisa Rinna, pictured here in a black leather jacket, and Drake Hogestyn, pictured here in a black flannel jacket and holding a gun
‘Days of Our Lives’ | Evans Vestal Ward/Peacock/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

‘Days of Our Lives’ has been bringing back old storylines

It’s not unusual for soaps to recycle and resurrect old stories. And Days of Our Lives is no exception. But some storylines are working better than others.

For example, the Abby and Chad story is finally being brought back to life. Part of the reason why the story was on the back burner was due to Marci Miller’s maternity leave. The “Chabby” ship, however, isn’t as popular as it once was. But that’s not to say that the story isn’t any good.

Other storylines, however, are being brought back and aren’t for the better. In a recent Days of Our Lives spoilers post, it was revealed that the tired old storyline of Marlena’s possession is coming back to life. Fans are split on the popularity of that storyline. Some fans even think it shouldn’t be done in the first place.

‘Beyond Salem’ breathed new life into the series

When Days of Our Lives announced the Beyond Salem spinoff, fans were thrilled at the possibility of seeing their favorite soap in a different medium. The spinoff series was featured exclusively on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service provider. Days star Charles Shaughnessy, who played Shane Donovan, said that he was thrilled at the opportunity to return back to Salem and work with his old colleagues.

“For a couple of years now, I’ve thought, ‘That’s a great idea,’ and then suddenly my agent called and said, ‘Peacock is doing a streaming one-off of Days, sort of based off of Days storylines and characters, and they’re interested in having you come on board for it. Are you interested?’” he said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely!’ So that’s how it came about. And I was delighted! I had a blast. It was just a wonderful week [of taping], being back with the gang.”

Indeed, critics lauded Beyond Salem for breathing new life into the Days of Our Lives franchise. Decider especially extolled Lisa Rinna’s reprisal of Billie Reed. “We’re pretty sure Rinna will be running through all of the various scenes, drawing as much attention to herself as she does on RHOBH, her Instagram feed, or, well, her entire life,” they said. “But having her be the tying factor will certainly make the show more fun than the individual mini-stories will.”

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But not everything on Days is working. And critics want some changes to the show as soon as possible.

But there are several elements of the show that aren’t working, according to critics

Soaps @ SheKnows is very specific about what isn’t working on Days of Our Lives. The outlet says that Judi Evans‘ character of Bonnie is one that needs to go as soon as possible. They believe Evans was better off in her original incarnation as Adrienne, and killing her character off was a mistake.

Additionally, the outlet speculated that the “love triangles” weren’t working. In particular, the outlet pointed out that the Rafe/Ava/Nicole triangle wasn’t a hit with fans. Neither, they said, was the Philip/Chloe/Brady love triangle.

Finally, the outlet pointed out that the Abby and Chad story — which was once a hit with Days of Our Lives fans — is falling short. That’s because there’s too much of a gap between when the stories are shown on the series. If Days isn’t able to right the ship soon, the outlet fears that the show could lose its loyal fan base.

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