Chad and Belle's Italian adventure on Days of Our Lives should be one of the most thrilling storylines on television right now. On paper, it has everything a classic soap opera fan could want: a twisted scavenger hunt, a potentially alive Stefano DiMera, and Belle Black insisting on diving headfirst into an international investigation. Yet according to critics, the execution has been anything but exciting.
The central problem, according to the critique, is not the premise but the players. Chad and Belle lack the romantic chemistry needed to make their partnership sizzle, and the unnecessary flirting between two characters who read more like friends than lovers falls flat. But the bigger obstacle is one of believability: Joe Mascolo, the actor who originated Stefano, died in 2016, making it nearly impossible for viewers to accept that the villain could still be alive.
That hurdle could have been cleared if the story had pivoted to an investigation of who is impersonating Stefano and why. Instead, the show has framed everything as though Stefano himself is about to walk into the room and reveal he survived. The refusal to show the mystery man's face, while repeatedly offering scenes of someone wearing Stefano's ring, smoking his cigar, and drinking a martini, has become a tedious bait-and-switch rather than a suspenseful slow burn.
It apparently never occurred to any character that someone might be trying to make them believe Stefano is still alive. That narrative blind spot has left the story in limbo, and the repeated inserts of the mysterious ring wearer have grown repetitive. Even now, after Dante's conversation revealed that «Dom» is the mystery man, his face remains hidden, raising the question of what the point of the secrecy actually is.
The soap has also missed golden opportunities to build genuine suspense. Rita's loyalty to EJ is clearly questionable, yet her subplot spins its wheels. EJ keeps calling her to investigate various matters, including his missing ring, and then she vanishes from the screen. A scene where she was interrupted during a facial provided a brief laugh, but she did nothing afterward to suggest who she is working for or what she is up to. The odds are she is working for Dom, but a more ambiguous, suspenseful moment in which she clearly undermines EJ's mission in Italy would make that connection far more compelling.
Similarly, Chad and Belle's investigation should not feel like watching paint dry. The two arrived in Italy and spent an entire episode in a hotel room discussing the latest clue while Dom secretly watched them on his tablet. Instead of all the back-and-forth and one-sided phone calls with Paul, they could have immediately followed the clue about the green staircase on Milan Street. Even though it was predictable that EJ would be the one to show up uninvited, a faster pace and a Friday cliffhanger of someone rattling the doorknob at Dom's home would have instantly raised the suspense.
Once EJ did arrive, doing something other than a lengthy discussion about how strange it was that someone had assembled all of Stefano's favorite things might have helped. The critique suggests that the Italian adventure can still be saved with a few minor tweaks, but only if the show stops stalling and starts delivering the thrills its premise promises.
Days of Our Lives airs on Peacock, with new episodes dropping on weekday mornings at 6/5c.