The 13th death
Salem’s iconic villain Stefano DiMera dies one last time – and this time, the evil phoenix won’t rise from the ashes.
Hope (Kristian Alfonso) has gone over the edge. She isn’t surprised when she tracks the powers behind late husband Bo’s (Peter Reckell) callous kidnapping and torture to the doors of the DiMera mansion. The same DiMeras who recently kidnapped her child and also framed Hope herself for murder. It’s not the first time that crime lord Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) and his family have destroyed Hope’s life… but it will be the last.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
When Hope barges into Stefano’s office and waves a gun in his face, he treats her with such contempt that it seems deliberately provocative. After calling her boring, Stefano sneers, “Bo got what was coming to him. You are an absolutely miserable cop. Only your idiot husband was worse. You are going to get me to confess? With what? The force of your personality? Ha ha! You and that ape you married, setting yourself up against me! There were times that I wished I had worthy adversaries and instead I got you two. You are a coward, just like that banal dead husband of yours.” And after all that ranting, Stefano dares Hope to shoot him. Challenge accepted. Hope opens fire, pumping three bullets into Stefano’s body.
SHOT TO THE HEART
“I couldn’t believe this was really going to happen,” reveals Kristian. “I totally gasped because of my love for Joe, my love for this iconic character. The more I thought, the more I felt I couldn’t get through the material. When I had to shoot him… seriously, it took me to another place. Even now I can’t believe that Joseph Mascolo won’t be walking these halls.” But in a way, it’s poetic that Hope was the person to kill Stefano. After Hope “died” in an explosion in 1990, Stefano brainwashed her and gave her the memories of his art thief accomplice Princess Gina – his lover – and the former Salem cop spent the ’90s robbing the rich. The year 2000 saw Stefano stealing Hope’s baby and in 2003 his family faked the murders of most of her family in the Salem Stalker plot. They held Bo prisoner for three years, making Hope believe that he abandoned her, and the DiMeras also got Hope’s new husband Aiden (Daniel Cosgrove) to try kill her on their wedding night in December. Now they’re even. NB! We will see Stefano on screen five more times in ghost form this year.
PREVIOUSLY
Andre brainwashed Chad to seduce Belle, Ava faked having cancer, Abby found out that Chad is her babydaddy, and Salem had a sad Xmas. 27 FEB – 1 MARCH Salem rings in the new year, and Abby tells Chad that he’s a father and he holds his son in his arms, which breaks the grip of Andre’s brainwashing. Eric gets drunk at the fashion show after-party and crashes his car, sending him, Daniel and Brady to hospital. Dr Fynn reveals that Daniel is braindead, and Maggie must choose who’ll get his heart: Eric or Brady. 4 – 8 MARCH Chad proposes to Abby after they have sex, then he disowns the DiMeras and warns Belle to beware of Andre. Nicole says goodbye to Daniel in the morgue, and Ciara finds out that Theo is being bullied. Ava asks Patch to help her find their missing son who was taken from her and sold on the black market. Chloe arrives to comfort Nicole, who must tell Parker that his daddy is dead, Hope confronts Stefano in a rage and shoots him after he insults Bo, and Rafe helps Hope cover up Stefano’s murder. 11 – 12 MARCH Melanie returns for Daniel’s funeral, and Eduardo gives John his birth mother’s info. Andre arrives at Hope’s with questions about Stefano, and Rafe reminds Hope that only Stefano could prove that she didn’t kill Dr Malcolm.