History Lessons: Days of our Lives digs deep into Sami's soul for a soap opera win

Content Warning: The following Days of our Lives article has mentions of sexual assault.

When we learned that Days of our Lives was going to go there and have Johnny (Carson Boatman) finally learn how he came to be, we knew the scenes would be compelling. However, we weren't prepared for just how raw and real Sami's (Alison Sweeney) life confessions would be. She explained herself to her son as decades of history flashed before her eyes — and we finally understood this infinitely complicated longtime character.

Days of our Lives takes us on an incredible journey

Sami Brady is a legacy character we saw born on-screen in 1984 to Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop) and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall). One half of a set of twins, Sami had a tumultuous childhood that many fans may have forgotten about. However, longtime fan and former DAYS writer Jamey Giddens did not.

The scribe, who is now a writer for Beyond the Gates, shared that he wrote the scenes that aired on April 11, 2025, last year when he was still on the DAYS writing team. His deep knowledge of DAYS history has always lent itself to scenes during his writing tenure, and he outdid himself as Sami explained to Johnny how she could fall in love with his father after he had sexually assaulted her.

For these scenes, Giddens looked into past storytelling as only soaps can do, while Sami looked inside herself. The writer was grateful for the opportunity to tell this tale.

"Sami Brady returns to Salem next week after learning her ex-husband, EJ DiMera, has been shot," Giddens shared in his Instagram post. "She also has to deal with their son Johnny finding out he was conceived when EJ raped her. I am so grateful @carlivatiron trusted me with this episode. Can't wait for y'all to see it next week."

Sami's emotional journey rings true for so many

While Chanel (Raven Bowens) sat at home with her mother, wondering how some men think they should have such power over women and their bodies, her husband, Johnny, stood in his father's hospital room while his mother told him some harsh truths about herself that he never expected to hear.

Despite having a psychiatrist for a mother, Sami had always avoided therapy and believed it wasn't for her. However, things changed over the last few years while she had been away from Salem. Sami has finally started to discover herself with the help of a therapist.

A tearful Sami told an emotional Johnny how his own grandfather, Stefano (the late Joseph Mascolo), had upended her life when she was just a small child. Sami was only a baby when Stefano shot Roman, and Roman was presumed dead. He then allowed the Bradys to believe that John (the late Drake Hogestyn) was Roman before taking Marlena away from them. Sami's childhood confusion scarred her. She was a teenager before she had Marlena and the real Roman back, but by then, the damage was done.

Longtime fans remember the teenager with low self-esteem and an eating disorder who just wanted boys to like her. Sami told Johnny about that time and how Alan Harris (Paul Kersey) had raped her when she was in high school. She even admitted to the shoe being on the other foot as "the abuser" when she drugged Austin (Patrick Muldoon) and tricked him into having sex with her.

Sami wasn't proud of her actions, and therapy has taught her that her attraction to toxic men and toxic relationships was a result of her tumultuous childhood. She explained to Johnny that she felt it was almost like karma when EJ (then played by James Scott) forced her to have sex to save Lucas' (Brian Dattilo) life. Johnny immediately and correctly told his mother that nothing she did made what was done to her okay. Sami knew that now, but didn't at the time, which was why it was easier for her to eventually fall in love with EJ.

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Samantha Gene Brady is one of soaps' most famous and multi-layered characters and Days of our Lives has done her and her history justice in 2025.

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock.

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