Days of our Lives Recap for Wednesday, February 5, 2025: Abe confronts a familiar foe

At the Body and Soul office, Abe declared that he knew who was responsible for the on-set incidents.

In an unknown room, the mystery person gazed at a picture of Abe, then attached it to a bulletin board and put a red X over it. Shortly thereafter, Abe came through the door and said, “I should have known it was you all along.” The person turned, revealing Nurse Whitley, who was in her room at Bayview. “What took you so long?” she asked Abe. Abe angrily stated he wasn’t on a social call and accused Whitley of going after his employees.

Wearing a big smile, Whitley wondered how Abe had figured it out. Abe explained that Kassandra’s proposed method of death had tipped him off, as he remembered how much Whitley had loved both cats and Body and Soul. Whitley admitted to the crimes and proudly pronounced, “I’d do it again.” Abe couldn’t comprehend why Whitley would launch an attack on a show she claimed to love. Whitley had to do it, she claimed, precisely because she loved the show so much and Abe had ruined it.

Abe was aghast that Whitley had reacted so extremely just because he had taken the show in “a new direction.” Whitley reiterated that Abe had destroyed the show. “The plot lines are abysmal, the sets are trash, and the recasts are a joke,” she proclaimed. Abe grew furious that Whitley had poisoned him and his cast and crew just to make a point. Whitley insisted it needed to be done before the show was “damaged beyond repair.”

“I had to clean house completely, starting with Bonnie Kiriakis,” Whitley continued. Abe expressed confusion as to how Whitley had managed to arrange Bonnie’s fall. Whitley said the staff had dismissed her as a grieving but ultimately harmless woman. She could find out anything from the dark web and from Soap Twitter. The former had provided her Bonnie’s phone number, and the latter had allowed her to view a call sheet indicating where Bonnie had been shooting scenes.

The final straw had come when Whitley had discovered that her “beloved Kassandra Lovegood” was being replaced by a doctor. Both Bonnie and Kayla had to go because they were not Kassandra. A shocked Abe told Whitley that although she loved the show, she had taken it too far. Whitley shot back that she was fighting for her life because Body and Soul was what had kept her going after she had lost her family. She held up a vial and stated with menace that she had taken care of “every last cast member” that Abe had hired.

Whitley claimed the vial contained an experimental drug that had a “toxic side effect.” She had raided Bayview’s drug supply closet and discovered the drug. Then, she had spritzed the fake scripts while wearing gloves and had sent the scripts out afterward. Abe reacted with horror, especially after Whitley announced that he was next.

Whitley stalked toward Abe and informed him that once the drug touched his skin, he would be a dead man. Abe urged Whitley to rethink her plans. Whitley had believed Abe and she shared a special connection, but Abe had destroyed that connection when he had destroyed Body and Soul. She took the cap off the vial and called Abe “a dead man.” Suddenly, Paulina appeared behind Whitley and grabbed the nurse’s arm. “No, you don't, heffa,” Paulina warned.

At Steve and Kayla’s place, Kayla updated Steve on her call with Abe. She suddenly slumped into Steve’s arms, and he tried to rouse her. Steve moved an unconscious Kayla over to the couch and realized that she was barely breathing. He called 911.

At the DiMera mansion, Johnny complained about Leo killing off Seth’s character. He wanted to get answers. When he tried to rise from the couch, however, he fell back onto it, seemingly unconscious. Chanel kept calling out to him, and Johnny soon responded. After Chanel told him what had happened, Johnny reported that he still felt “dizzy and nauseous.”

Chanel dialed for emergency assistance, but they informed her that it would take a while for an ambulance to arrive because they had been “overwhelmed” with calls. An angry Chanel held Johnny up and walked him to the door. She was taking him to the hospital herself.

At the hospital, Sarah approached Seth, who was in the process of ranting about being “fired.” When Sarah assumed that Seth meant he had lost his job at the hospital, he clarified that he’d been let go from Body and Soul “in the most humiliating way possible.” Seth ranted about the audacity of Abe, Kate, and "Leo the hack,” having the nerve to kill him off when he was so popular with the audience. Sarah, attempting to offer sympathy, advised Seth not to take it personally since soap opera characters were routinely killed.

Seth was offended that he wouldn’t have a memorable exit, such as going over a waterfall or blowing up on a water ski. He complained that his character would simply succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty space heater. Sarah said the method wasn’t unrealistic and mentioned that Nurse Whitley King’s husband had died in the same manner. Seth recalled Nurse King as the woman who had held Abe hostage for months. Sarah defended Whitley as a woman who had suffered a “psychotic” break after losing her husband and all of her cats in the tragic accident.

Seth still wasn’t happy with the script and pledged that he would have a more dramatic death in real life. “A little bit of poison won't take out Seth Burns,” he exclaimed. Just then, he clutched his chest and crumpled into a nearby chair. Sarah rushed to examine him.

Later, Steve rushed into the hospital and approached Sarah. They compared notes on what had happened with Kayla and Seth. After confirming that Kayla had experienced the same symptoms as Seth, Sarah theorized that they might have been poisoned. When Steve left to see Kayla, Sarah got on the phone and demanded lab results promptly. She turned around and was immediately met with another crisis as Chanel wheeled Johnny into the waiting room.

Once Chanel filled Sarah in on Johnny’s condition and what he had been doing prior to falling ill, Sarah told the couple that she believed the scripts had been poisoned. Later, Sarah stopped by Johnny’s hospital room and administered an antidote for the poison. Johnny and Chanel profusely thanked her. When the couple was alone again, Chanel admitted how afraid she had been and expressed her overwhelming relief that Johnny would be okay.

The incident had reaffirmed for Chanel how much Johnny meant to her. She believed everything they had endured would make their relationship even stronger. Johnny agreed and promised Chanel he would never take her for granted again. The couple sealed their reunion with a loving kiss.

In Kayla’s hospital room, Steve begged Kayla to wake up and come back to him. Sarah entered with a syringe and quickly told Steve that she had uncovered the source of the poisoning. She had the antidote that, once administered, should lead to a full recovery for Kayla.

Later, Steve expressed his love to a recovering Kayla. They joked about Kayla’s upcoming marriage to “Rhett” before the conversation turned serious. Steve vowed to make Kayla’s attacker pay.

At Alex’s apartment, just as Alex leaned in for a kiss with Stephanie, he grew light-headed and stumbled onto the couch. After continuous attempts, Stephanie eventually awakened Alex and told him he’d passed out. He said he didn’t feel well. Stephanie confirmed he had a fever before picking up the phone to get help. After being cut off on the phone, she incredulously stated that they had put her on hold.

Later, Stephanie had taken off Alex’s shirt and was tending to him with a cold compress. She announced that she would be taking care of Alex herself, but the dispatcher had given her good instructions. After Alex had a coughing spell, she got him water and continued to fuss over him. “I don’t know what the hell I would have done without you,” he said as he gazed up at Stephanie

Following an update from the dispatcher, Stephanie resumed her caretaking duties and joked with Alex about missing her calling in the medical field. When Alex had another bout of coughing, she lightly warned him not to die on her right after they had confessed their true feelings. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” he pledged.

Later, a paramedic checked over Alex and instructed Stephanie to keep an eye on him. Stephanie was grateful that Alex would be fine in a few hours. When the paramedic left, Alex and Stephanie shared their disbelief about the chain of events at Body and Soul, which had ended with another presumed poisoning. Alex recalled that there was something he had wanted to do before falling ill. When Stephanie asked him what he had remembered, he pulled her in for a kiss.

In Leo’s hotel room, Leo presented a theory to Hattie that the mystery attacker had been responsible for delivering the fake scripts. Hattie cracked that at least she wouldn’t be dying for real. Just then, she grabbed her head, said she felt "unsteady," and collapsed onto the bed. Leo looked on with confusion and curiosity. He instructed Hattie to wake up and to stop messing with him, since he still had PTSD from finding Sonny with a steak knife in his back.

Noting Hattie’s lack of response, Leo timidly approached her and felt her wrist. He jumped back and recoiled his hand, realizing that Hattie didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing. With a sigh, Leo sat on the edge of the bed and gave Hattie an impromptu eulogy in which he praised her “hammy” but “not bad” acting. He also reminisced about the times they’d watched Drag Race while eating “disgusting” pork rinds. “I’ll miss you,” Leo sadly mused as he stroked Hattie’s head.

Leo pondered how Hattie might have died, and he attributed her end to either a stroke from her anger or bad cholesterol from the pork rinds. He reassured her that he would have never killed her character for a second time. Even though she could be a “total diva,” Leo thought of Hattie as “a crass, bizarro version of Marlena” and considered it an honor to call her a friend. “Stop your blubbering,” Hattie muttered from the bed. Leo was elated that she wasn’t dead after all.

Leo called 911 and demanded they send someone over to help the “soap opera goddess.” He joined Hattie, who was lying on the bed and sporting a cold compress. “I feel hot as a firecracker all over,” she complained. Leo said it might take a while for the ambulance and entertained Hattie with an anecdote about a spider monkey in traffic.

Hattie asked “Lenny” if he had meant what he had said or if he had only gushed about her because she was about to meet “that big network executive in the sky.” “I meant every word, kiddo,” Leo assured. Hattie beamed at the response.

Later, Leo thanked a paramedic who had arrived to examine Hattie. The paramedic told Leo that Hattie was on the mend and left. Leo sat with Hattie and declared that he hadn’t known how much he cared for Hattie until he had thought she was dead. Hattie was touched and hugged “Lenny.”

Back at Bayview, a groggy Whitley laid in her bed. Paulina and Abe sat beside her, and Paulina explained that she had raced right over after she had gotten Abe’s text message containing his theory about Whitley. Paulina had thought they were free of “that crazy woman,” but Abe said she hadn’t been through with them. Both hoped that the rest of Whitley’s victims were safe.

Whitley began rambling about “Henry Marshall.” Abe explained to a confused Paulina that Henry was a character on the show. Looking at Whitley, Abe told Paulina that he wanted to show the woman compassion since she had no one. With Paulina’s blessing, he approached Whitley and gently attested that he was not “Henry.”

Whitley was unconvinced and wondered if she was talking to Henry’s twin brother. She asked him if they would always have Pineview. “We will always have Pineview,” Abe promised.

Stream new episodes of Days of our Lives on Peacock.