You know the song and the adage, “Save the Best for Last”, well, that is exactly what Sal Stowers (Lani Price Grant) did, when she had viewers of Days of our Lives in tears during her final scenes on Friday’s episode of the long-running NBC soap opera.

Stowers, who along with her co-star, Lamon Archey (Eli), opted not to renew their contracts with the series, which then facilitated their exits. Thus, viewers were in for one last emotional ride during their departures.

Now, while Lani admitted she killed TR, and quickly got a plea deal, she was then ready to be transferred to an out-of-state prison facility to serve out her time.  While all of this happened in short order, for the back-half of Friday’s episode you needed to have the hankies ready. That’s because of Stowers heartfelt goodbyes with her co-stars, which also played out for her on-screen alter ego, Lani.

In story, Abe (James Reynolds) joins Paulina (Jackée Harry) and Lani in the Salem PD interrogation room. With tears welling up in his eyes, Abe hands Lani some documents to sign.  After she realizes what they are, Lani says, “You want to adopt me?” Abe says, ‘yes’, and lets her know that she’s his daughter in every way that counts.

After Lani and Abe share a tender moment together, Lani turns to Paulina and gives her the greatest gift – acknowledging Paulina as her mother.

Photo: JPI

Later with Chanel (Raven Bowens), Theo (Cameron Johnson), and now Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) and Eli present, Rafe shows up to tell Elani that the transfer is done, and Lani can go to the facility in D.C.  That prompts Rafe to share emotional hugs with his two best cops.  It is then that Eli tells Lani he is moving to D.C. to be close to her.

Before Lani heads off, Paulina asks her to say it one more time.  Lani simply, once again, calls her “Mom”.  Elani’s twins, Carver and Jules are there as well, and Lani tells her children she is going on a little trip, but she will never, ever stop thinking of them.

Photo: JPI

The final moment of the episode has Lani and Eli giving one last look to their family collectively, before they exit the police station.

Throughout all of the goodbyes, there was never a false note delivered by Sal Stowers.  She always brought the strength, elegance, and determination of Lani Price to her performances, and this time, she did it with heartbreaking moments we will remembers for some time to come.  For all of these reasons, Michael Fairman TV names Sal Stowers work, The Power Performance of the Week.

What did you think of  Lani and Eli’s goodbyes to their loved ones? Sal’s performance? Let us know in the comment section below.

After all the speculation and reports, it looks like #Cin may be taking it on the road!  According to multiple reports and confirmed by Soap Opera Digest in their latest issue on newsstands now, next week on the Friday, July 8th episode of Days of our Lives, it will mark the final appearances of Rob Scott Wilson and Victoria Konefal as Ben and Ciara.

However, while Ben and Ciara will be off the canvas on a new adventure, #Cin fans won’t have long to wait to see them appear on their screens again, when the following Monday, July 11th they will be part of the first episode of the Peacock limited-streaming series, Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem Chapter Two.

According to SOD, the exits of the popular characters came about when Victoria Konefal opted now to stay with the NBC soap opera and to continue her desire to spread her wings and do other projects.

DAYS head writer, Ron Carlivati shared: “She (Victoria) really just wasn’t available on a regular basis, and in the way our show works and how you have to schedule people, it just became less feasible to keep her in that status.”

The head scribe also added: “The couple is so popular, you want them to have a happy ending. But then that involved writing Rob off the show, who doesn’t necessarily want to leave.”

There has been significant social media and internet buzz over the last few weeks that Rob will actually return to Salem as a new character.  Once such character being bantered about is that of Justin and Angelica’s son, Alexander Kiriakis,  Could that be the trick up the writing teams sleeve to keep Rob on DAYS, or is something at else at play and this is a red-herring?  Stay tuned!

So, what do you think of the upcoming departures on-screen of Ben and Ciara on DAYS? Comment below.

That’s a wrap for both Sal Stowers and Lamon Archey and their on-screen alter egos, Lani and Eli Grant.  Today on the July 1st episode of Days of our Lives,  the couple exited Salem paving the way for the real-life departures of Sal and Lamon who are going on to pursue other TV and film roles.

On her final airdate, Sal tweeted: “What an incredible journey these past seven years have been. To all our #Elani crew and #Days fans thank you for loving and supporting us the way you did. We will miss you much, I will miss you. Xx”

Lamon Archey also added his own tweets, sharing: “#Days fans, THANK YOU! We made a #SUPERCOUPLE & a #SUPERFAMILY #ELANI”