Days: How they wrote off Nathan, Stephanie and Philip

The title of this blog entry is self-explanatory. I’m going to summarize how these characters left the Days of Our Lives canvas in the last few weeks.

Nathan Horton (Mark Hapka) left first. Nathan still loved Melanie, but she felt their time had passed. His engagement to Stephanie and her marriage to Philip doomed the duo. Nathan didn’t care that Melanie was pregnant with Philip’s child, and would have supported her regardless. Then she miscarried and still he stood by her. Melanie had enough of being smothered, and wanted some time on her own. Nathan decided to leave town. While he was with Stephanie there was interest from Johns Hopkins, which he had turned down. He contacted the valued institution to see if the slot was still open for him. Nathan left after saying goodbye to his assorted family and friends.

Stephanie Johnson (Shelley Hennig) just disappeared. Jennifer Horton, her aunt, took over public relations at University Hospital. This had been Stephanie’s job, but I never heard a line that she left the hospital. She had a bitter break up with Nathan Horton, who admitted he never loved her. In her last scenes, she shared with Dario what kind of person Melanie Layton could be. Since we didn’t hear where Stephanie went, she could be anywhere in the world. Her parents live in Africa, so it is possible, she joined them, but she had been a racecar driver, so who knows if she got back into that career.

Philip Kiriakis (Jay Kenneth Johnson) moved to Chicago with his son Parker. He had custody of the boy, and his mother Chloe Lane had acted out one too many times. Chloe suffering from post-partum depression, jumped off the dock and left the baby in the stroller. Philip came by saving them both. Philip and Chloe started to get closer, and he took care of both of them. Philip even tried to encourage Chloe to sing again. When Kate (Philip’s mom) spurred on a drunk Chloe, she said she’d take the boy and run. This was enough of a reason for Philip to leave Salem. He had lost his marriage to Melanie, and he would not give up his kid. What’s sad is that Philip and Chloe were getting along well before Chloe’s drunken words. The co-parenting was working for them, but alas it was not meant to be.

With how Days of Our Lives handled these departures, the door is wide open for any of the characters to return. It is nice sometimes to see people not leave a soap opera with a death, but I wish they had specifically told us Stephanie’s plans as if I hadn’t read the news, I wouldn’t have known Stephanie had left Salem.