Up above ground, Salem is also in turmoil, but it’s more of a “mother-daughter confrontation” drama than a “being locked in the basement” scenario.

Ari is at an age where she’ll want to do something just because she’s forbidden.

And Gabi is the type who, the more she fears her daughter getting into danger, the more controlling she becomes, so the two clash like two flames.

Ari can’t take it anymore, so she chooses a very Days-esque approach: running to Kate for advice.

Just hearing the Ari + Kate combination already smells like “fueling up the fire.” Kate is incredibly persuasive and skilled at legitimizing impulsive decisions. Ari goes to Kate feeling both angry and hurt: she feels her mother is too authoritarian, too suspicious, and doesn’t treat her like an adult. Kate wouldn’t just say, “Go apologize to me.” Kate would say things like, “You have the right to live your own life,” or “You can’t let other people’s fears decide your future.” Hearing that would give Ari the strength to fight back.

The problem is, Gabi isn’t forbidding things because she hates her daughter. Gabi is forbidding them because she understands Salem, understands DiMera, understands the feeling of being dragged into a quagmire from which there’s no escape. But Gabi’s way of expressing it is too commanding, making Ari feel insulted. And when Ari feels insulted, she’ll want to prove she’s right by any means necessary, even extreme ones: arguing, running away from home, or doing the opposite just to get her mother to “lose her power.”