DAYS: Jan Takes Claire Hostage
■ After discovering that Belle and Shawn know she woke up from her coma and left the hospital on the night Charlie died, a furious Jan holds Claire at gunpoint and reveals that yes, she is the one who killed Charlie. “Jan loves to be in control and Jan thinks she’s smarter than everyone, so she’s obviously gone to great lengths to plan this murder and fake a portion of the coma,” points out her portrayer, Heather Lindell. “She is excited to finally be rid of Belle and be with Shawn, so this is kind of her moment, where everything that she’s ever been dreaming of is coming together. So then to find out that someone outsmarted her and outmanipulated her? That’s the thing that makes her totally crack. That, coupled with the fact that she assumed Claire would be very, very grateful to her and Claire is anything but. Claire is still telling her, ‘I don’t want to be your friend, I don’t want you to be my stepmom,’ and Jan is confused, like, ‘Why wouldn’t you want
“She still has tricks up her sleeve.”
me to be your stepmom? We’re going to be family.’ So now she’s like, ‘You know what? I’m done. I’m going to get rid of all of you to get what I want.’ ”
Shawn and Belle worry when they can’t locate their daughter. Claire is able to dial Ben’s number and leaves a message that indicates she’s in danger. Ben immediately finds the
Bradys to play them the message, then goes off in search of Claire. Shawn, meanwhile, calls Jan, who demands to speak with Belle. Belle offers to confess to Charlie’s murder in exchange for Claire’s freedom. Jan says she will think about it. “I think that she’s skeptical,” notes Lindell of the offer. “She doesn’t entirely trust anything Belle says at this point. And she thinks it’s another setup. She’s not going to give up all her cards. She still has tricks up her sleeve in case they’re going to try to mess with her again.”
Jan then hotwires a car and forces Claire to drive them out of town. En route, she hears a thumping sound from the trunk and discovers a bound-and-gagged Chloe. “That’s a big wrinkle but another enemy, so Jan can use her to her advantage,” muses the actress. “Initially, she’s like, ‘Ugh, this is the last thing I need,’ but then she thinks about it and is like, ‘Wait, this is actually fantastic. What’s one more hostage?’ It’s just one more person she can manipulate to try to get what she wants. She thinks, ‘Well, now I’m going to have one of them off the other one and I’m going to keep my hands clean.’ So Chloe is going to do Jan’s dirty work for her.”