Days, after days
5 big questions answered and 5 big storylines to follow as we catch up on Days Of Our Lives after e.tv’s big switch off.
Days Of Our Lives has left us hanging off a cliff by the tips of our claws. On Friday 8 April, Dr Marlena Evans’ (Deidre Hall) heart stopped beating and there she was in a glossy white room, suspended between heaven and hell with only the ghosts of Tony and Andre DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) and Princess Gina (Kristian Alfonso) to guide her into the afterlife.
Now South African fans are asking, “What happens next?” because that’s the last we’ll see of Days since e.tv has pulled the plug on the show. tvplus is stepping up as your guide to the Days Afterlife. Read on as we wrap up the current storylines and chat about the big upcoming stories to bring you up to speed with what’s happening in Days in the US right now (the final episode that South African fans saw aired in the US on 18 March 2019).
5 QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1 Is John/Roman (Drake Hogestyn) the biological father of Sonny’s (Freddie Smith) hubby and blackmailer Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart)? Nope. The trash apple didn’t fall far from the trash tree in this case, and Leo’s mama was a liar. PS:
Leo returned to Salem in January 2022 when he seduced Chloe’s (Nadia Bjorlin) dad Craig (Kevin Spirtas). Right now, Chad DiMera (Billy Flynn) is trying to seduce Leo right back. 2 What happens with the Eric-Sarah-Rex love triangle? Rex (Kyle Lowder) left after his wife Sarah (Linsey Godfrey) said Eric’s (Greg Vaughan) in the middle of sex. Sarah fell pregnant with Eric’s baby but hid the pregnancy when Eric got back together with Nicole (Arianne Zucker). Sarah became part of the baby-swap drama during the one-year leap (read on for more about that).
3 How can Nicole be back, didn’t she die in an explosion in 2018? Eh, kind of. The Nicole in the Eric-SarahRex arc was really the evil Kristen (Stacy Haiduk) in disguise. Nice wig, babe. The real Nicole returned in 2019, and Eric’s twin Sami (Alison Sweeney) crashed her wedding with Eric. 4 Who started the cabin fire that nearly killed Ciara (Victoria
Konefal)? No take backs!
It really was Claire (Olivia
Rose Keegan), who ran about burning things and people on a rampage until July 2019 when she was sent to an asylum for treatment.
Who becomes Salem’s new mayor? This storyline dragged on until May 2019. Eventually “Amnesiac Jack” (Matthew Ashford) was elected mayor thanks to his Trumpstyle campaigning. Days fans got their ultimate romance story when the Real Jack came back at last, and regained his memories and love for Jennifer (Melissa Reeves).
THE BIG 5 STORYLINES
NB! All dates refers to US airing dates.
1 The Leap Year: In November 2019, Days time-jumped a year ahead when Hope/Princess Gina (Kristian Alfonso) pushed Jennifer off a balcony,
putting her in a coma. During Jennifer’s coma year, Xander (Paul Telfer) claimed to be the father of Sarah’s baby Mackenzie, who died during a multiple car pile-up. Orpheus (George DelHoyo) kidnapped Maggie (Suzanne Rogers) then framed her for the drunk driving accident that killed Adrienne (Judi Evans) and caused baby Mackenzie’s death later, but Will Horton (Chandler Massey) confessed to causing the accident while texting and driving, and he was sent to prison. Maggie’s husband Victor (John Aniston) ordered Xander to swap dead baby Mackenzie for Kristen’s new-born daughter Rachel. And a grief-stricken Kristen killed Haley by pushing her down a flight of stairs. Ben (Robert Scott Wilson) was arrested for his sister Jordan’s (Chrishell Stause) murder. Kristen and Lani (Sal Stowers) left Salem and became nuns in Rome (we know, right!?), and Salem’s uber-villain Stefano DiMera returned to Salem as an artificial intelligence inhabiting the body of Steve “Patch” Johnson (Stephen Nichols), leading to hilarious hijinks as he joined forces with his old co-conspirator Princess Gina/ Hope, thanks to a microchip in Hope’s brain (Marlena and Steve also had chips in their brains).
EJ DiMera, back from the dead: Clyde Weston’s (James Read) bodyguard shot EJ (then played by James Scott) dead in 2014. In 2018, Kristen confirmed he was still alive, and EJ finally returned in person in June 2021 (played by Daniel Feuerriegel), disrupting
Sami’s affair with Lucas (Bryan Dattilo), chasing after Nicole, and seizing back control of DiMera Enterprises from
Jake DiMera (Brandon Barash) – Vivian Alamain’s (played alternately by Robin Strasser and Linda Dano) illegitimate son with EJ’s dad Stefano. Jake was later proven to be Stefan DiMera, Gabi’s (Camila Banus) ex-husband who was killed by Lani in October 2019. EJ is now in prison for 10 years for kidnapping his wife Sami, and guess who his cellmate is… Clyde Weston!
The Devil In Salem: In September 2021 in the US, the Devil returned to Salem to possess Marlena again in the renewal of a 30-year-old storyline, just as Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) set out to make his first student film about Marlena’s original possession – which set a cat among the pigeons as people fought over who they wanted to play. Evil has been running amok ever since, possessing people willy nilly, from Doug (Bill Hayes), who pinched a nurse’s bottom, to Johnny (who left his fiancée at their engagement party and blackmailed EJ into giving him control of DiMera Enterprises), to Marlena, who plotted to kill Doug, chained up John in the DiMera crypt, raised Allie’s (Lindsay Arnold) rapist Charlie Dale (Mike C Manning) from the dead, turned Susan (Stacy Haiduk) into a cat, and set fire to the Horton Christmas tree. Salem’s folk have done uncharacteristic things while possessed, including Shawn (Brandon Beemer) having sex with his nemesis Jan (Heather Lindell) while she was shapeshifted to look like his love Belle (Martha Madison), and The Devil transforming into EJ to kiss his ex Abby (Kate Mansi)!
4 Who killed Philip Kiriakis? Philip Kiriakis (Jay Kenneth Johnson) was suspected to have been murdered when his prosthetic leg was found in the Salem river December 2021. Brady was found unconscious, holding a knife and covered in Philip’s blood. In reality, Philip framed Brady thanks to the jealousy he was feeling over Brady and Philip’s long-time love Chloe working together. Philip’s mom Kate (Lauren Koslow) made him then skip town.
The Island (part XIIV): In March 2021, Kristen injected Sarah with one of Rolf’s (William Utay) serums and shipped her off to Stefano’s old deserted island after Sarah realised that Kristen was running around Salem in disguise. Kristen then donned a Sarah disguise to wreck Sarah’s relationship with Xander. Kristen kept Sarah prisoner on the Island until Gwen (Emily O’Brien) started posing as Sarah in Salem in January 2022. When Abby realised that Gwen was pretending to be Sarah, Kristen held both Abby and Sarah prisoner. In February 2022, Kristen added Steve and Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) to her Island Collection. The serum that Kristen was been injecting Sarah with now makes her believe that she is Stefano’s dead daughter Renee DuMonde. Chad
(Billy Flynn) and Tony meanwhile managed to rescue Kristen’s prisoners in March 2022 and they’re trying to deprogramme Sarah and get her back to her original self. Phew!