Jack and Jennifer’s visit to Salem was too short.
I’ve always loved this Days of Our Lives couple. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a journalist because Jennifer was.
But why the heck are Jack and Jennifer ignoring JJ now that he’s back in town?
Mourning Abigail Makes Sense, but Did Jack and Jennifer Forget They Have Another Child?
JJ has been missing in action since before his parents came to town. But the way Days of Our Lives ignored his existence once they landed was ridiculous.
Jennifer was disappointed that JJ wasn’t home when she first came in, but Jack said that it was okay because he had to go visit the paper anyway — and that was the last time either of them mentioned their son.
Ostenibly, they were in Salem to attend John’s funeral and offer comfort and support to Marlena. But they also had another reason for coming to town: it was the third anniversary of Abigail’s death. That was something that JJ should have been present for.
Look, I don’t begrudge them spending time on the tragedy of Abigail not being here anymore.
That’s one of the worst things a parent can go through. The saying goes that children should bury parents, not the other way around.
However, I think that’d make Jack and Jennifer more eager to hold onto the son who is still alive, yet they never once mentioned him or how he is handling his sister being gone for three years.
Jack went to Abigail’s gravesite without Jennifer, who couldn’t bring herself to go, and that’s fine… but no one even asked JJ if he wanted to or gave any indication of where he was.
This omission is even more bizarre considering that when Doug died, JJ didn’t find out until after the funeral because he assumed his mother’s calls were an attempt to rant about him not being in town for Thanksgiving, and he ignored them.
That’s far more typical of Jennifer than focusing on everyone but her son.
And Jack has lost so much time with JJ because of being presumed dead for years. I can’t imagine a world where his saying it was fine that their paths didn’t cross because he’d rather check on his paper makes any sense whatsoever.
JJ’s initial storyline revolved around his mental health deteriorating after Jack’s supposed death, partially because he was very close to his dad.
I realize that JJ is no longer that impulsive teenager. He’s an adult in his early 30s with a career as a cop.
Still, it doesn’t seem reasonable that neither he nor his father particularly cared if they saw each other.
Jennifer and Jack Seem to Have Replaced JJ with Chad
It’s not acceptable for Jack and Jennifer to ignore JJ in favor of their son-in-law. That seems to be what the writers are doing.
Two separate days of Jennifer’s visit centered around her anger at Cat Greene and her fear that Chad was falling for her.
She ranted about that as passionately, if not more so, than she did about JJ’s teenage friends who were getting him in trouble.
She doesn’t like Cat because Cat pretended to be Abigail. I get that.
And all the talk about her and Abigail is likely a precursor to Abigail somehow being alive after all.
Still, this overprotectiveness towards Chad, while ignoring JJ, makes no sense.
Plus, that’s not the only way that Jack and Jennifer have turned Chad into their surrogate son.
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Chad runs Jack’s paper — something that should have fallen to JJ, who was always far more suited to investigative reporting than Abigail.
Jack checks in with him regularly and gives him life advice as needed, while never visiting JJ.
Days of Our Lives Ignoring JJ Is a Longstanding Problem
This isn’t the first time that the soap has pretended JJ doesn’t exist.
A long time ago, when he first met Gabi, JJ told her that he was “more Deveraux than Horton” and pointed out the bookstore where he had been arrested for breaking a window, as proof that he was considered a black sheep.
That isn’t just a character moment. It’s also how the last three sets of writers have treated him.
More often than not, the writers treat JJ as expendable, or at least, not an important part of the family.
It was a bit different when Bill Hayes was alive.
Although I’m not sure, I have long suspected that the soap legend insisted the writers treat JJ as the legacy character he is, because Doug always fully accepted JJ, while the rest of the family ignored him.
JJ’s first story was brilliant, but afterward, it was as if the writers didn’t know what to do with him.
His love story with Paige was ruined by a story that made zero sense about JJ sleeping with Eve, and after that, he wasn’t even allowed to grieve when Paige died.
Or when Daniel died.
This time was even more egregious. Days of Our Lives cheated JJ out of everything he deserved in this storyline.
No visit with his parents.
And no reaction to John’s death or Bo’s miraculous return (Have we also forgotten that Hope is JJ’s cousin?).
No inclusion in Steve’s 40th anniversary episode, even though he is Steve’s nephew — instead, Alex Kiriakis got to ask all the questions about stories from before his time that JJ should have asked.
Only a superficial interaction with Ari, when it should be natural for him to insert himself into the conflict between her and Gabi, because he once was a rebellious teenager, too.
If nothing else, JJ should have been the cop who investigated what happened that led to John’s death, but he didn’t even get that much.
Nor did he get a flashback of how John helped save his life after Orpheus shot him.
JJ Should Be Far More than a Glorified Extra
I’m not just angry because JJ’s been my favorite character since he was SORASed in 2013, though it aggravates me that he gets such little screen time and is often written out of character when he does appear.
He’s also a legacy character.
He’s Tom and Alice Horton‘s great-grandson. There’s a reason that Doug asked him to continue the Christmas Eve tree-trimming tradition after he and Julie are gone.
It’s beyond time for Days of Our Lives to start acting like it and stop doing ridiculous things like not even letting Jack and Jennifer care whether they see him or not.
Your Turn, Days of Our Lives Fanatics
Does JJ get enough screen time for you?
Let us know in the comments! And if you have a strong opinion, share this article with friends, especially those who disagree. Let’s see if we can get a debate going in the comments.
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