Days of our Lives Performers of the Week: Linsey Godfrey and Paul Telfer

Days of our Lives fans witnessed something so raw and brutal that they almost had to turn away. No, we're not just talking about Xander's savage beatdown of Philip but rather the subsequent showdown enacted by Paul Telfer, who plays Xander, and Linsey Godfrey, who plays Sarah. We felt as if we were intruding on dear friends breaking up. Soap Central is bestowing Performer of the Week honors on Telfer and Godfrey for their performances.

Days of our Lives Performers of the Week: Paul Telfer and Linsey Godfrey

Often, soaps whitewash the dark pasts of some characters. But the Days of our Lives scribes reminded viewers this week just how lethal Xander can be when he decided he would beat up Philip (John-Paul Lavoisier) for his various duplicitous acts. The writers gave Telfer the emotional backstory of having Xander revert to his wicked ways. After pummeling Philip, he blasted him for hurting the family.

Philip didn't get any shots in on his opponent physically, but he turned Xander's world upside down when he told him that "Sarah knew." That led to Xander and Sarah having a showdown in the Kiriakis mansion. Kudos to episode director Scott McKinsey, who made sure that John Aniston's portrait of Victor was prominently displayed in the scenes when Victor's son, Xander, told his wife just how betrayed he felt by both her — and Victor's other son.

Initially, Xander didn't let on why he wanted to speak to his wife. This allowed the charming rogue to fire off some zingers with hidden meanings, which are always great fun to hear. "One can hope," Xander quipped when Sarah pointed out that Philip could die.

Xander had been kept in the dark by both Philip and Sarah. Now, it was his turn to withhold what he knew. He refused to give his wife an inch after she deduced that he was Philip's attacker. When Sarah asked how he could do something so vicious and inhumane, the look on Xander's face read, "How could you?"

"Trust me, darling, the feeling is mutual," Xander said next. Telfer knows just how to play Xander's killer (no pun intended) charm. The lilt in his voice that lets other characters know that he's on to them builds the anticipation for what's to come: a lot of yelling.

Telfer didn't bring mere anger to Xander's accusations and verbal attacks on Sarah. He also played hurt because he felt deeply betrayed. "Someone said just enough to set my gaze in motion, and it all started to fall into place," Xander informed Sarah. Telfer had Xander put air quotes around "someone" to let Sarah know that, yeah, it was Philip, but I'm not going to confirm that.

Sarah confessed that she knew about Philip's duplicity, and Godfrey made the choice to have Sarah hold eye contact with Xander as she justified keeping secrets from her husband. The Days of our Lives writers gave Sarah a solid motive for behaving the way she did. She wanted her husband to be kept in check.

"That's how much faith you had in me," a deeply hurt Xander responded. Forget about Philip's betrayal — Xander was now feeling kicked in the stomach by the person he loved more than anyone else in the world.

Godfrey gave a controlled tremble to Sarah's voice as she told Xander that while she loved him, she knew fully well what he was capable of doing. "It wasn't an easy decision...I agonized over it," Sarah stated. "As it turns out, I didn't make the wrong choice." Telfer had Xander let that remark wash over him as Philip's abuser realized she had a point — but not a fully justified point. He still felt stabbed in the back.

When Sarah reminded Xander that he'd held a gun to Philip's head, Telfer had Xander reply sheepishly that it wasn't loaded. "You didn't know that!" Sarah shouted.

And, now, Sarah stated that Xander was responsible for Philip clinging to life in the hospital. "I've admitted to nothing," Xander shrugged as if he were on the witness stand. Telfer is an expert at maintaining Xander's roguish charm even when he's been caught dead to rights.

"Well, it's clear to me, darling, that I can not trust you. If I did beat the living daylights out of poor, crazy Philip, you'd only have yourself to blame," Xander countered. He never would have had to have gone after Philip if she'd been honest with him. Therefore, she made the wrong choice.

Before telling Xander that the only wrong choice she made was believing he could be a decent person, we saw a flash across Sarah's face as if Godfrey chose to have her character acknowledge some truth in Xander's words.

What makes episodes like these shine is that neither Godfrey nor Telfer ever tried to "win" the scene. Each character presented their point of view, and the conflict is just there. The two performers respect and support each other immensely, and, as a result, viewers are treated to these fantastic performances.

Not surprisingly, Xander's moving out, but before he did, we saw another aspect of Xander and Sarah's relationship: their roles as co-parents to little Victoria.

Is it too early to ask for a Xarah reconciliation?

Xander agreed to vacate the premises, telling Sarah, "This is far from over." (We certainly hope not!) Before leaving the mansion, he said a touching farewell to Victoria in her nursery.

Godfrey had Sarah hold back the tears during her confrontation with Xander, but when her mother Maggie (Suzanne Rogers) returned, she tearfully collapsed in her arms. Later, Sarah overheard her estranged husband's sweet words to their baby girl. Godfrey played Sarah as not unaffected by hearing Xander express his love to Victoria.

"I'm sorry that it came to this," Sarah mustered the courage to share. "I'll always love you, Xander. I can't live with you." Xander softly but pointedly said, "You take good care of our little girl. She's all that matters to me now."

Lesser actors might have shouted these last moments at each other, but Telfer and Godfrey knew that there was great drama to be found in playing quiet heartbreak.

Couples are torn apart all the time on soaps by love interests from the past, surprise children they didn't know existed, and supervillains. Sarah and Xander have a much bigger obstacle in their path, as there are fundamental differences that they may not be able to get past — though we suspect that DAYS fans everywhere are hoping that they do just that, because these two actors together are dynamic entertainment.

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives on Peacock.