The latest destruction of Jennifer Horton’s character has begun, and it’s a huge disappointment.
Jennifer was absent for a long time, then was temporarily played by Cady McClain, and Melissa Reeves finally returned as the character in Salem.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Days of Our Lives has ruined her character — it’s the culmination of years of character assassination that has broken my heart.
Jennifer’s Downward Spiral Arguably Began When Jack “Died.”
Jennifer was my favorite character when I was a kid.
I especially loved the story where she became Jack’s intern at The Spectator and was spunky, brave, and committed to the truth.
In fact, that story made me dream of becoming a journalist, so if you enjoy my articles, you can thank the 1980s Days of Our Lives writers.
Unfortunately, the way she’s been written since 2013 or so has gradually gotten more and more on my nerves. Her spunk has been exaggerated and turned into cruelty and efforts to control others’ lives.
It started with Jack’s “death” in 2012.
Days Never Writes a Proper Grief Arc
Instead of writing a proper grief story for Jennifer, she was quickly pushed into a relationship with Daniel.
It seemed to erase Jack, left her son in boarding school in another country for nearly a year, and then jumped back and forth between obliviousness and helicopter parenting when JJ returned to Salem with a drug problem and a ton of unresolved anger.
Although I didn’t like the suggestion that Jack was the only reason Jennifer hadn’t acted like this before, I forgave her for a lot of that nonsense because she was a mother terrified that her out-of-control child was ruining his future (though abandoning JJ for a year was out of character and not really forgivable).
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So her misguided efforts to save JJ from himself made sense, and I was more annoyed with the writers for not exploring this fully, instead of just having Jennifer make bad parenting choices over and over, and never receiving any guidance from Marlena or Maggie about what to do.
Looking back, Jennifer was a devoted mother who didn’t know how to handle her own grief, never mind her son’s.
That was a strong direction to go in, if only Days of Our Lives hadn’t started making Jennifer unsympathetic in the process.
Jennifer Should’ve Been Involved with The Spectator
It’s true; Jennifer should’ve been part of Nicole’s TV news program, or some other form of journalism.
Instead, she became more or less a stay-at-home mom who had way too much time on her hands because Abigail was an adult and JJ was nearly there.
Yes, she worked as a PR representative for the hospital, but she was only there when it would cause drama — most of her stories involved inserting herself into her adult children’s lives.
That didn’t fit Jennifer’s character, and all that free time got converted into her minding other people’s business and being generally obnoxious, with an obvious low point being when she was angry that Daniel offered JJ support instead of sending him back to his mother all the time.
Her jealousy seemed both petty and out of character, and was yet another manufactured crisis between her and Daniel, which was why they were so awful as a couple.
To give the writers the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they wanted to suggest that Jennifer had empty-nest syndrome and needed more to do.
But again, that wasn’t explored fully, and she came across as controlling and obnoxious.
How do you feel about the way Days of Our Lives treats legacy characters like Jennifer, Julie, and Abe?
Sound off in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your DAYS-loving friends so they can participate too.
Then Came That Awful Opioid Story…
After the involvement in the accident that killed Daniel, Jennifer started taking painkillers and became addicted.
Okay, fine. It didn’t seem like it fit her character, but lots of people who wouldn’t touch illegal drugs become addicted to prescription painkillers.
Of course, the story wasn’t written properly.
It was mixed up with a lot of unnecessary drama for her and Eric, and rushed to a conclusion where, after sitting around holding a pill bottle and then trying to obtain more illegally, Jennifer had a dream that Jack told her to sober up, and then she did.
Jack’s presence was a beautiful sequence, but come on!
This story didn’t do Jennifer any favors, nor did her bland relationship with Eric, nor the next nonsense about how ultra-moral Jennifer kept it secret that Nicole was alive so that Eric wouldn’t leave her.
None of this was in character — none of it.
And when COVID happened and Melissa Reeves couldn’t travel from Tennessee to Los Angeles regularly, the character went off-screen for a while, and instead of being sad, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Fast Forward to Now.
Jennifer’s return has made her into an antagonist for the sake of having one, and ruined her character so much that Jennifer fans across social media are angry.
Most people want her to leave again, and it’s a damn shame because she was such a wonderful character once and could be again.
We saw shades of THAT Jennifer when she told Thomas that “It’s okay to be angry but never okay to hurt people,” and later, when she wanted to take him out for ice cream to celebrate his good grades despite his recent misbehavior.
But then Thomas had his accident, and she completely disappeared, replaced by some angry woman who wants to take Chad’s kids from him for no real reason.
This story is a repeat of one from 2015. I don’t fully remember why Jennifer wanted custody of the kids the first time, but I recall thinking she had a point, and this time, no.
Jennifer’s behavior is incredibly out of character.
The Custody Arc Ruins Two Characters
She keeps screeching that Chad is a neglectful, dangerous father because he dated Cat even though Thomas doesn’t like it, and she is blaming him for his nine-year-old running into the street without looking.
Jennifer was watching Thomas at the time, so if we want to blame an adult, we can blame her.
In any case, demanding custody and threatening to “win in court” if Chad doesn’t cooperate isn’t Jennifer.
And this story also assassinates Jack’s character when he isn’t even there by having Jennifer say Jack agrees with her (which we all know he wouldn’t, but he also wouldn’t have shoved JJ into boarding school after Harper did the same to him).
I can understand Jennifer being angry and disapproving of Cat. Cat DID impersonate Abigail, and Jennifer was the only one who saw through it.
But this reaction is SO out of character. I can see her being angry, disappointed, and scared, and even telling Chad, “I’m really afraid for what Thomas might do next.”
Days Made Jennifer Too Out of Character
But the Jennifer I once knew wouldn’t have jumped straight to a custody battle. She would have tried to work with Chad to resolve these issues.
Jennifer was raised by Alice, for goodness’ sake, and Alice would not have been so quick to blame Chad for this mess.
How about the writers give Jennifer back some compassion and let the drama come naturally instead of trying to force it?
Let’s hear your thoughts about Jennifer.
Maybe you love this story as much as I hate it, or maybe you agree with me that this is out-of-character nonsense. Either way, I want to hear your opinion.
Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join in the conversation.
If you enjoyed this article, you might like some of our other coverage of soap operas, including our recent editorial about the end of Ari Zucker’s court case against Days of Our Lives.
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