For fans of Steve Burton’s portrayal of Harris Michaels on Days of Our Lives, the actor’s recent departure from the show has left many questions unanswered. Burton, who has been pulling double duty by also appearing as Jason Morgan on General Hospital, wrapped up his stint as Harris on Days just before the holiday season. And based on the character’s latest storyline developments, it appears Harris may have made his final exit from Salem.
In Thursday’s episode, Harris shared an intimate goodbye with his love interest Ava Vitali, promising he would return soon after pursuing a lead to take down the nefarious Clyde Weston. After a round of passionate farewell lovemaking, Harris assured Ava “I’m gonna miss you like crazy” before leaving town. Their heartfelt parting seemed to foreshadow Harris’ inevitable departure.
Of course, characters frequently come and go in the world of daytime drama. Temporary exits allow for storyline shake-ups and keep things interesting for the audience. However, the circumstances surrounding Burton’s exit from Days suggest Harris’ time in Salem may truly be over this time.
Burton had been juggling his dual soap roles since first arriving on Days in January 2022 as the mysterious Harris. The veteran actor managed to pull off the feat for well over a year before producers decided to finally consolidate his roles back to just General Hospital’s Jason. With Burton’s permanent return to Port Charles, writing Harris out of Days became a necessity.
The show could have simply had Harris disappear off-canvas without much fanfare. Daytime drama is rife with examples of characters vanishing into thin air, never to be seen or heard from again. Looking at you, Don Craig! However, Harris’ current storyline intimates the show may have decided on a more definitive conclusion for the character.
Having successfully stolen Clyde’s incriminating black book of criminal contacts, Harris appears intent on using the information to finally bring Clyde to justice once and for all. Armed with the book’s coded details, Harris has assembled a team of his old Navy SEAL buddies to crack Clyde’s cipher and hunt him down. Such heroic attempts at tying up the Clyde saga could prove fatal for Harris if he gets too close to catching the villainous mobster.
While a tragic demise would certainly be a cruel fate for poor Ava after recently losing her lover Jake, it’s a believable outcome befitting a gritty daytime crime drama like Days of Our Lives. Viewers will have to stay tuned to see if Harris truly meets an untimely end in his quest for vigilante justice against Clyde. For now, his future remains shrouded in as much mystery as the character himself once was.
