It was a tale of Stephanie and Philip and Alex and Joy on DAYS.

There was a lot of pillow talk happening in the Friday, January 3 episode of Days of Our Lives. New Year’s Eve fun and drama gave way to New Year’s Day

conversations and hashing out what happened the night before. JJ and Gabi woke up in bed. As did Alex and Joy and Stephanie and Philip. One of these

Alex/Stephanie pairings unexpectedly surprised us…in a good way.

Positive Development for 2025

Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) and Joy (AlexAnn Hopkins) kind of snuck up on us. The two shared much quality time lately, especially when Johnny (Carson Boatman) threw Alex under the bus and lied to Chanel (Raven Bowens), saying that Alex and Joy had slept together. Obviously, everybody and their brother (at the time) knew that it was Johnny and Joy who had been together.

Along the way, something happened that we didn’t realize or understand until this Friday episode of DAYS. We like them. They’re cute together. So far, they are real with each other. They can open up about their respective romantic pasts with other people, and there’s no jealousy. And already they want what’s best for each other.

Since Robert Scott Wilson jumped from Ben Weston to Alex Kiriakis, we’ve been waiting to like one of his pairings. Maybe it could be Alex and Joy. It’s just the beginning, but they’re fun. They are a couple to watch, for sure. However, can he actually move on from Stephanie (Abigail Klein)? We think so.

More of the Same

On the other side of things: Stephanie and Philip (John-Paul Lavoisier). The two could also be fun, but unfortunately, the show still has Stephanie hanging on to remnants of Alex and her being together. And this is the problem. They never let her get over a guy before moving on to someone else. The overlap is exhausting.

How can she be sincere about Philip when she’s dreaming about Alex? Stephanie must give Alex a definitive goodbye before we believe she is ready to move on with anybody else. She’s always thinking about the guy that came before. Meanwhile, Philip wants to focus solely on her. If she thinks she’ll miss Alex’s shirtlessness, Philip loves to be shirtless just as much. In fact, he cooked for her while shirtless — with an apron, of course.

What can Stephanie do to finally find someone she can stick with?

What Needs to Happen

First, Stephanie needs to figure out her true feelings. She never takes the time to process them properly. Second, both Stephanie and Alex need closure. They need to sever the connection completely if they want to end things. And one of them needs to move because living across from each other won’t work.

Personally, we’d love for Stephanie and Alex to be able to reach a resolution. This Alex and Joy pairing is interesting, and it’d be great to see the show invest in them.