Can EJ save himself before it's too late?: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of March 17, 2025

The Days of our Lives week began where last week left off, as Johnny belted EJ after learning the truth about his own conception. Any secret kept for that long is impressive in a soap.

EJ explained that he and Sami put it behind them ages ago, but Johnny wouldn’t buy it. So I think it’s good that Sami will be returning for the 60th anniversary to talk with her son. EJ also told him that Stefano was dying and forced EJ to have sex with a Brady so the stem cells could be used to save Stefano’s life. That only made things worse for Johnny who now felt he was only conceived for his stem cells and not love.

Let’s face it, EJ is an awful human being and has done so many deplorable things over the years, yet we can’t help but continue to love him. I think because he’s a character who’s in constant conflict with himself and his decisions, and lives in the gray area between good and bad, which makes him supremely interesting. We cheer when he cries after Johnny yells at him and tells him to go pound sand. We cringe when he does things like try to inject Rachel Blake with the memory-erasing serum…yet, we were hoping he would succeed!

Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I find myself rooting for EJ when he enacts a plan. But even more so, I’m rooting for him to try and resist doing misdeeds and be a better person. He claimed to Johnny that he wasn’t the bad man who raped Sami anymore, and he’s regretted it (well, a part of him did) ever since, but if he hadn’t done it, Johnny wouldn’t exist. Such a compelling dichotomy.

After Johnny kicked EJ out, EJ was reminded how Belle screamed at the top of her lungs for him to leave the bedroom they were in. He was simultaneously enraged, scared, and horrified as he scrambled to grab his clothes and exit. That kind of thing has GOT to take a toll on even the most hardened person.

Both Dan Feuerriegel and Carson Boatman should get Performer of the Week awards because they did justice to a scene that was decades in the making, and the payoff was utterly heartbreaking but much needed.

Meanwhile, Rachel Sr. returned to Aremid and grabbed some stuff from a trunk, including a pistol. Later, Melinda gave Ava a gun to protect herself. At one point, Johnny swore if he had a gun right then, he’d kill EJ. Guns and thoughts of using guns appear to be everywhere in Salem, and it seems all roads are pointing toward someone shooting EJ. He’s cheesed off so many people in town that somebody’s bound to try and kill him.

EJ was back up to his usual tricks when he tried to use CRS-17 to wipe Rachel's memory. However, she had seen the needle earlier when he opened the safe, figured out Stefano’s birthday was the combination, and switched it out with a placebo. EJ then resorted to more nefarious tactics...and the Woman in White disappeared off-screen. Kristen had a major conniption when she came home and realized her mother was gone. She then picked up Rachel’s gun with rage in her eyes! And that’s how the week ended…

Charles Shaughnessy's return was highly anticipated! He’s such a great actor as he proved when he brought the devilishly delightful villain Victor Cassadine on General Hospital. And here, he’s the hero spy Shane Donovan. It’s funny, I tend to refer to most of the characters by their first name, but ‘Shane Donovan’ rolls off the tongue so well and has a nice ring to it. Being a super spy, he also dabbles in gray areas because he often has to make hard choices to kill or be killed in the name of protecting people.

They kind of pulled a bait-and-switch here, though. A justifiably frustrated Marlena and Steve went to Washington DC to confront Shane face-to-face and find out where John was. Shane had no answers for them except one fact: John’s last known location was Estionia. Marlena, and the viewers, felt Shane was holding back and some even thought for a moment that he’d been replaced by his evil twin, Drew.

But, it turned out that his ex-wife, and Theresa’s mother, Kimberly Brady is having a resurgence of her leukemia. He contacted his daughter and the two planned to meet in California to be by Kim’s side. But DAYS is not going to kill off a core Brady character off-screen. They couldn’t. They wouldn’t do that to fans, would they? It’s more likely that they’ll let that linger until after Emily O’Brien, Theresa’s current portrayer, returns in a few months to reprise Gwen. Then she can don the blonde wig again, and we can have some resolution to the story.

Perhaps if Salem University Hospital overcomes its financial woes, Kim can be transferred there and we can either enjoy her overcoming cancer or be collectively sad as everyone says goodbye to her.

Loose Ends

Once again, Phillip asked Stephanie OUT LOUD if she was going to reveal that he forged Victor‘s letter! When will these characters learn? Of course, Xander happened to be nearby and skulked in some brush, listening in on their conversation. Fortunately, all he heard was Phillip telling Stephanie they weren’t going to tell Alex about something, and she said it was their secret. Of course, they were talking about the forged letter, but Xander at this point doesn’t know that.

He later told Sarah that he thought Stephanie and Philip were having an affair behind Alex’s back. That thought makes me laugh out loud because I can see the whole thing exploding, causing all kinds of chaos. It’s like one of those Three’s Company moments when Mr. Furley would overhear something and interpret it as something dirty when it was really innocuous.

Extra Scoops

NAUGHTY

I know it’s not Christmas, but I’ve decided that for now, I’m going to change the Hot List and the Not List to the Naughty List and the Nice List since there have been far more good and bad actions than couples hooking up lately.

EJ tops the naughty list this week. Not only for his past transgression against Sami which came to light for Johnny, but also in whatever the heck he did with Rachel Blake. Perhaps he sent her off to Argentina to live with Arnold Feniger. Or did he just kill her…?

And Melinda’s been pretty naughty this week. Julie, JJ, and New Doug went to eat at the Bistro and Julie spotted her grandmother’s (stolen) necklace on Melinda! The corrupt attorney had no problem lying about it, sending poor Julie into a tizzy. To top it off, Melinda told New Doug that if the police investigated where she got the necklace, she would squeal on him to save her own bacon.

NICE

Rafe topped the Nice List this week. He bumped into Johnny who explained that he’d been told his secret origin tale. Rafe gave the young man a hug and told him, “You’re not alone in this.” That was super sweet and was probably some much-needed comfort for Johnny.

Theresa also surprisingly made the Nice List when she genuinely wished good fortune to Alex and Stephanie. It seemed like she was bettering herself after realizing how short life is considering her mom’s cancer is back.

And Javi was a nice guy letting Leo live with him at Gabi’s, who was furious at first. But he stood his ground and she allowed it as long as Leo made himself scarce when Arianna came to visit.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

In a bit of foreshadowing, Xander told Sarah, “Something tells me that this secret will end up tearing my family apart.” He was referring to his mistaken thought that Steph and Philip were carrying on behind Alex’s back. Little did he realize the irony in his words, as was evident on Sarah’s face.

EJ confronted Kate for telling Johnny the horrific secret, and when he figured out that Roman was the one who initially let the cat out of the bag he said, “I’ll swallow that Irish relic!” Kate reminded him that he’d be arrested for assaulting a former police commissioner, and then retorted, “That Irish relic could still wipe the floor with you.”

Brady told Belle, “Sounds like the DA needs some DA.” She looked strange at him and he clarified, “DiMera Anonymous.”

Johnny’s reaction when EJ tried to use Stefano’s stem cell needs as the reason he assaulted Sami was, “You were so eager to please Daddy that you impregnated my mother!”

Stephanie had a hilarious dream in which Joy was at the door with a huge baby bump and said, “Hey, Steph! Is my baby-daddy home?” in a southern accent.

Roman was talking to Kayla about Alex and Steph and remarked in a meta way, “Wherever Alex Kiriakis goes, drama follows.”

EJ injected Rachel with the memory-erasing serum and before it was supposed to kick in, asked her if there was a message she’d like him to pass on to Kristen. She said, “You spineless, soulless, self-serving snake!” “Um is that the message you’d like me to relay on to Kristen?” he glibly responded.

Brady told Tate about John’s last location in Estonia. Tate asked, “Isn’t that like a whole country?” Brady asked him what kind of grades he got in geography and Tate clarified, saying, “Dad, I know it’s a whole country. I’m just saying he wasn’t more specific? What are you gonna do wander around Estonia and call out his name?”

RANDOM THOUGHTS

The show has been using obviously CGI-created establishing shots of Salem and the various locations to illustrate where things are taking place. For the most part, these are well done and sharp looking, but obviously fake because there are no people or any kind of movements. However, in Monday’s episode after Johnny basically laid out to Chanel what EJ had done to Sami, the transition was a new one: A shot zooming through the dark and gloomy city.

It helped continue the somber mood set by Johnny. The transition began with a shot of EJ, then dissolved to the city, then cross-faded to Belle who was also looking forlorn. As much as some of these shots look fake, this one had a nice atmosphere to it, and I think the special effects department is amping things up in terms of quality.

When Shane said John’s last known location was Estonia, that reminded me of the film Encino Man. Brendan Frasier plays a caveman who was frozen and thawed out, and Sean Astin’s character tells people that he’s from Estonia — a play on the fact that he’s from the Stone Age. Did anyone else have the same thought?

So, Joy left town. That’s probably a good thing because in a couple of years she can return with a SORAS’d child and introduce them to their father, Alex.

PARTING THOUGHTS

Things are starting to finally get really interesting in Salem. Watching EJ continue to dig himself deeper with misdeeds is highly entertaining, and hopefully, he’ll come out on top and eventually redeem himself.

But the best was the return of Shane and I hope we get more ISA action soon, as well as a resolution to the John story!

Thanks for joining me again, DOOL-ers! Until next time!

Days of Our Lives can be found on the Peacock app.