LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW WE GOT HERE
TL;DR: Sophia Choi‘s mental breakdown on Days of Our Lives was INEVITABLE! The girl spent nine months constructing an elaborate lie about Tate Black being Tesoro‘s father, falsified adoption documents, DRUGGED Holly Jonas, and staged compromising photos!
But here is the tea: While Sophia absolutely made terrible choices, she did NOT do this in a vacuum! So let us talk about who is REALLY to blame for Sophia‘s breakdown! Is it Sophia herself? Her enabling parents? The adults who should have noticed something was wrong? The writers who gave a teenage girl a soap opera villain arc? GRAB YOUR POPCORN!
Sophia Choi Made TERRIBLE Choices—Let’s Not Sugarcoat It
First things first: Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd) made HORRIBLE decisions! Let us not pretend otherwise!
Sophia lied for NINE MONTHS about Tate being the father of her baby! She let Tate Black (Leo Howard) agonize over giving up parental rights! She watched him obsessively search for the adoptive family! She let him TORTURE himself!
And it gets WORSE! Sophia falsified adoption documents with an attorney’s help! She created FAKE adoptive parents in Chicago! She constructed an elaborate scheme to keep Tate tied to her!
Oh, and let us not forget: Sophia DRUGGED Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis) and staged compromising photos to break up Holly and Tate! DRUGGED HER! That is MULTIPLE FELONIES!
So yes, Sophia made terrible choices! She is not blameless! She is not a victim! She did horrible things!
But let us dig deeper! Because while Sophia is responsible for her actions, she is also a TEENAGER! A teenager who clearly needed help and was NOT getting it!
Where Were the Adults? SERIOUSLY!
Here is the question that keeps bothering us: WHERE WERE THE ADULTS?
Sophia spent NINE MONTHS constructing this elaborate lie! She falsified documents! She created fake adoptive parents! She staged photos! And somehow NO ADULT NOTICED?
Where were Sophia‘s parents? Did they not think it was weird that their teenage daughter was so calm about giving up her baby? Did they not question the adoption arrangements? Did they not notice ANYTHING suspicious?
Where was Melinda Trask (Tina Huang), the ATTORNEY who presented adoption paperwork to Tate? Did she not do ANY due diligence? Did she not verify that these adoptive parents in Chicago actually EXISTED? What kind of attorney does not check documents?
Where was Brady Black (Eric Martsolf)? He is Tate‘s father! Did he not think to verify the adoption arrangements? To make sure everything was legitimate?
SOMEONE should have noticed that something was OFF about Sophia‘s story! But NO ONE did! All the adults just accepted everything at face value!
The Pressure Cooker of Teen Pregnancy
Let us talk about the PRESSURE Sophia was under!
Sophia got pregnant as a TEENAGER! That is incredibly stressful! And instead of getting proper support, Sophia was thrust into a situation where she had to make life-altering decisions!
Did Sophia have access to counseling? Therapy? Mental health support? Or was she just expected to handle this massive life event on her own?
The pressure of teen pregnancy, combined with whatever was happening with the baby’s ACTUAL father, clearly pushed Sophia to make increasingly desperate decisions!
And here is the kicker: Once Sophia started lying, she had to keep lying! She dug herself deeper and deeper! And still, NO ADULT stepped in to help!
The “Good Girl” Trap
Here is something else to consider: Sophia probably felt trapped by expectations!
Society puts SO much pressure on teenage girls to be “good girls!” To not make mistakes! To not get pregnant! And when they DO get pregnant, they are expected to handle it quietly and gracefully!
Sophia probably felt like she could not tell the truth about who Tesoro‘s father really was! Maybe there was shame! Maybe there was fear! Maybe there were circumstances we do not know about!
So instead of asking for help, Sophia tried to CONTROL the situation! She tried to create a narrative that made sense! She tried to avoid judgment and shame!
And her attempts to control everything led to increasingly destructive choices!
The Writers Gave a Teenager a VILLAIN Arc
Let us be REAL for a second: The Days of Our Lives writers gave a TEENAGE CHARACTER a soap opera VILLAIN arc!
They had Sophia drug another teenager! Falsify legal documents! Construct elaborate lies! These are things ADULT villains do on soaps! And they gave this storyline to a TEENAGER!
That is a CHOICE! The writers could have written Sophia as a scared teenager who made mistakes! Instead, they wrote her as a scheming manipulator!
And now Sophia is having a mental breakdown and fleeing Salem! Because of course she is! What did anyone EXPECT would happen?
So Who Is REALLY to Blame?
Here is the truth: EVERYONE shares blame for Sophia‘s breakdown!
Sophia is responsible for her terrible choices! She made decision after decision that hurt people!
The ADULTS are responsible for failing to notice and intervene! They should have seen the warning signs!
Sophia‘s parents are responsible for not providing proper support and supervision!
The SYSTEM is responsible for not providing adequate mental health resources for pregnant teenagers!
And honestly? The WRITERS are responsible for giving a teenage character a villain arc without considering the implications!
Sophia‘s breakdown was INEVITABLE! You cannot have a teenager live a lie for nine months, commit multiple felonies, and NOT have consequences!
The Bottom Line: Sophia Needed Help, Not Judgment
Look, Sophia Choi made terrible choices! But she is also a teenager who clearly needed help and did not get it!
Now she is having a mental breakdown and fleeing Salem! And while she absolutely needs to face consequences for her actions, she ALSO needs mental health support!
Sophia is not just a villain! She is a scared teenager who made increasingly desperate choices because she felt trapped!
So yes, blame Sophia for her choices! But also blame every adult who failed to notice! Blame the system that did not support her! Blame the pressure society puts on teenage girls!
Sophia Choi breakdown was inevitable! And we ALL share responsibility for how we got here!
Spoiler Prediction Challenge: Think you can predict next week’s drama TODAY? Got a hunch about where this is all going? Drop your predictions at [email protected] and let’s see if you’re psychic!
