Guess who’s back? Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of March 24, 2025

I know it may be a sensitive topic, but it’s common knowledge that Drake Hogestyn had a hand in how John was going to exit Days of Our Lives. Executive producer Ken Corday said he wanted to make sure Hogestyn was okay with how they were writing John out, and the actor loved the concept. John’s final scenes were filmed last year, and he had total approval of the story. We’re edging ever closer to seeing him one last time.

That being said, it’s a biggie. Marlena and Steve went to Tallinn, Estonia in an effort to get some clue as to John’s whereabouts. Paul and Andrew showed up, and Andrew finally filled everyone in on the missing pieces: Someone’s been building a nuclear weapon in Estonia and is ready to sell it. John found the secret facility where the device was being stored. The ISA told him not to infiltrate, but when they lost contact with him, they suspected he went rogue. Paul figured John was still at the facility. Andrew knew where it was, and it wasn’t far from where they were.

While Marlena hung back at the hotel, the three men infiltrated the facility and Steve found a folder, the contents of which didn’t surprise him (But we’ll have to wait until next week to find out what it said, although we can probably guess.)

In a chilling moment, an uninvited guest showed up at the hotel room, creeping up behind Marlena: none other than Orpheus! If things weren’t dangerous before, they’re going to get crazy now!

Meanwhile in Salem, Holly foolishly left Tate to go and help New Doug, illustrating that she cares more about the new guy/thief than her own boyfriend. Tate was justified in his anger and later called Julie to rat out New Doug as the thief of her diamond necklace. Perhaps it was a hasty decision because New Doug was already on his way to tell Julie the truth. But there’s no way to know if she would have reacted the same way to the circumstances if Tate had just kept his mouth shut.

Doug went back to the Horton house, thinking he was going to tell Julie about what he’d done and was surprised that she already knew. The way Julie laid into him was awesome. She should get performer of the week. She screamed bloody murder and kicked him out! Her scream was so loud that I was scared, and I’m pretty sure so were her neighbors. (There’s a lot of that going around in Salem lately. Like when Belle screamed at the top of her lungs for EJ to leave last week.)

Of course, EJ is on the phone outside in the town, talking to Rita about how she helped him make Arnold and Rachel disappear! And then, of course, Ava shows up. EJ did a good job of keeping up the charade in front of Ava and said if she ratted him out, all the blame would go to her, and Rachel would be taken away from Brady and Kristen. Poor Ava’s been stuck in this rut where her love life with Brady went down the toilet, and everything hinges on little Rachel not being taken away. It seems like they’re writing Ava into a corner, and I’d hate to see Tamara Braun exit because of a lack of storylines.

But Ava recalled Melinda slipping her a gun to protect herself in case Rachel Blake showed up at her place again. Would she use it against EJ if he keeps pushing her buttons? It doesn’t matter because EJ told her that Rachel Blake was “taken out of the equation,” meaning she was neutralized.

In a desperate attempt to get EJ to spill where he hid Rachel Blake, Kristen offered him the CEO position at DiMera Enterprises. Good thing he wasn’t stupid enough to go for it. He knew she would double-cross him once she got her mother back. Kristen yelled at him that she would make him pay, again leaning toward a “Who Shot EJ?” scenario.

Of course, Amy Choi read the scathing article about EJ’s alleged crimes and pulled the plug on the adoption. Poor Johnny and Chanel were bummed. Someone should probably inform the couple that there are many, many other children in the world who need a family.

LOOSE ENDS

They’ve been stringing us along with this John storyline with a few scenes here and there of Marlena and Steve looking for him. It was great that Paul finally showed up, surprising Marlena in Estonia. Then Andrew surprised Steve elsewhere in Tallinn and had information about John’s mission (Finally!). We need more than just a couple of scenes scattered throughout the week. I want to see more of the hunt, especially now that more characters are involved.

Andrew and Paul took out over a dozen anonymous henchmen…off screen! I understand budget constraints, but they couldn’t even show them taking down those last two guards that were on the floor? Come on, DAYS, give us the goods! Action! Adventure! Karate! Shooting! That’s why we watch this show instead of sports...which has no karate and shooting.

At the nuclear facility, Steve entered an office that had a large logo on the door and wall. It was a circle with an atom in it that had the letter “C” in the center. The wording along the top said Tegutsevad Tipptase in Estonian, which means Operating Excellence. Through the center is Raudsepp Operatsioonid which translates as Blacksmith Operations. And along the bottom are the words: Saavutamine Onnestumisi which means Achieving Success.

I’m not sure what they mean by “Blacksmith Operations” except to make an educated guess that since blacksmiths are known for making weapons, the same goes here except the weapons are on an atomic level. On the wall are also blueprints, most likely for the facility they’re in.

I’m glad that John’s mission involved the fate of the world at the hands of madmen. That’s the kind of blaze of glory we hope he’ll go out in.

EXTRA SCOOPS

NICE

Tate ended up on the Nice List because, while it may have cost him his relationship with Holly, he did the right thing by telling Julie that New Doug was the one who stole her grandmother’s necklace. It’s good to see the younger generation being portrayed as having morals.

Stephanie also ended up on the Nice List. Because Xander inadvertently revealed to Alex that he thought Philip and Stephanie were having an affair, Alex went to her to demand an explanation. Instead of lying, she told the truth! (Will wonders never cease?)

She laid out the whole story about the forged letter to him, and then made a compelling argument about why she and Sarah decided to keep the secret. Good for Steph for doing the right thing while simultaneously saving her relationship with Alex. It could easily have gotten out of control with a series of more lies upon lies.

NAUGHTY

Obviously, Orpheus tops the Naughty List, even though he hasn’t done anything on-screen yet. However, if he’s behind the nuclear facility and plans to sell his weapons, he’s definitely naughty. He’ll especially need to be punished if he has a hand in John’s demise. Wouldn’t it be a funny twist if it turned out he wasn’t there to disseminate weapons of mass destruction and instead was trying to stop them? (Okay, I’ll come back to reality now.)

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

Leo bumped into Melinda and said, “Melinda Trask. Long time no see, which is especially unusual here in Salem where one tends to run into everyone they know at least every five minutes or so…”

Leo and Javi were having dinner. They had wine and toasted with Leo saying, “To us, to our future, to cohabitating, to me…being on my best behavior in front of your cousin Gabriella, who is beautiful when she’s angry. Reminds me of Margaret Hamilton.” Javi asked who that was, and Leo had to point out the obvious, that Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz. Javi responded, “Ah. Okay.”

Tate was angry that New Doug got Holly mixed up in his necklace theft drama and shouted, “This guy stole from his dead grandfather‘s wife!”

Alex came home from work early, surprising Sara and Stephanie. Sara exited the apartment, and Stephanie asked him, “Don’t tell me your cousins let you play hooky?” He responded, “I’m more interested in what one of my cousins is letting you play with!” Gotta love innuendo. I laughed for a solid minute.

Philip was talking to Alex about Xander and hilariously remarked, “Now that I’ve gotten to know my brother, I actually kind of like him.” Which is another reason why I’m hoping they just bury the secret about the forged letter for a few years. Give Xander and Philip a chance to truly bond as brothers, so when the truth comes out, Xander might be able to deal with it without killing Philip.

There was another funny moment when Sarah asked Xander why Alex showed up looking like he just punched someone in the face, and Xander replied, “Well it was more choking than punching.” That was because Alex tried to choke Philip.

Paul said that John, “Is like James Bond only cooler.” He’s not wrong. After 39 officially licensed James Bond books authored by six writers since 1953 (with the first 14 written by Ian Fleming), 27 movies, and one animated spinoff called James Bond Jr. in 1991, I don’t think I need to explain who the character is here.

REACTION OF THE WEEK

Here’s a new segment I’m adding in, and we’ll see if it catches. Basically, there have been many moments where characters have a hilarious reaction, and I figure it would be fun to show them here.

This week’s reaction comes from the scene where Xander told Philip that he knew all about his secret. Philip nearly had to change his pants thinking Xander was referring to the forged letter. However, when he spoke, he accused Philip of sleeping with Stephanie, not forging anything.

The look on Philip’s face simultaneously showed fear, worry, shock, disbelief, and relief, and John-Paul Lavoisier should get a mention for such an amazing reaction!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

There was a funny scene on Monday’s episode when Chad went to Cat’s and heard her screaming inside the apartment. I thought he was gonna kick in the door, but he just turned the handle with vigor and ran in. It turned out she was watching a baseball game and cheering for her team rather loudly. She was saying that she liked the Royals and that the White Sox were doing terrible, affirming that Salem is located in Illinois.

Things got weird when she offered him hot dogs with only mustard (Personally, I prefer ketchup on dogs and can’t stand mustard). It was funny how Chad was amused by her tripping over herself and her words throughout the scene.

Then he tried to jump for joy at the baseball game on TV and turned around, slamming into her tray of hotdogs. I thought it was going to be an excuse for him to take his shirt off so she would get all starry-eyed, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he hilariously left, looking rather embarrassed. He later chuckled to himself in the hallway, which was a nice touch and shows she’s starting to grow on him.

You know it’s going to be a short amount of time before Julie recalls that Original Doug started out as a criminal, and she’ll see that New Doug is cut from the same cloth. He’s starting to grow on me as well. Wouldn’t that be cool if he lasted as long as his namesake and in a few decades the show flashed back to these episodes?

It was really sad when New Doug was getting ready to leave, and he apologized one last time to Julie. It was really heartfelt, but she was just cold as ice!

PARTING THOUGHTS

It does seem like the show has been pulling the focus back to where it should be and got rid of fluff like Joy, Body & Soul, Hattie, and other things. The Johnny reveal was heartbreaking, and we need more emotional scenes like those, especially with such great acting. The nuances are wonderful, and the show needs to keep that up.

Paul and Andrew’s return was welcome, and signals more action to come. Let’s hope Shane returns soon as well.

Overall, things are moving in a fun direction that’s focusing on the core characters, and I’m continually entertained.

OUTRO

Join me again next week, DOOL-ers, when I prove that gaslighting has nothing to do with flatulence.

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