Titan takes DiMera. Checkmate: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of April 7, 2025

With the help of Wei Shin, Xander and Philip pulled off a hostile takeover of DiMera Enterprises with Titan Industries the clear winner. With EJ in an induced coma and Kristen being questioned by the police as to whether or not she was the shooter, DiMera was ripe for the picking, and Xander and Philip boldly made the gamble, and it paid off.

I can’t wait to see Kristen’s reaction. As I mentioned in a previous Two Scoops, she’s going to have a full-on conniption, if not a meltdown. With Stacy Haiduk’s great acting skills, that will be fun to watch as it plays out.

And EJ’s shooting has had some other benefits as well. Aside from making it easier for Titan’s takeover, Sophia and a few others realized that taking EJ out of the equation might change Amy Choi’s mind. Despite being a holy roller, could Amy have been the one to shoot EJ? Anything’s possible.

Sami returned and had a long-overdue conversation with Johnny. She tearfully explained her point of view and that she truly loved EJ despite what had happened. She also mentioned she’d been a victim of other men more than once, and Johnny had a tear rolling down his cheek. But the good news was that therapy had helped her realize she didn’t deserve any of the bad things that ever happened to her, and she’s made peace with her life. It was a tender moment, and I feel it was worthy of a Daytime Emmy for both Alison Sweeney and Carson Boatman.

Rex returned with his arm in a cast. He assured Kate that the hit-and-run driver that nearly wiped him out had been caught and arrested, so it couldn’t have been EJ. However, EJ is fully capable of hiring someone to do it, so this could be a loose thread that may need to be followed up on at some point.

Shawn and JJ brought a warrant to the DiMera mansion and told Kristen that her purse was also covered by it. When they searched her handbag, they found a gun! So she got hauled in for questioning, which allowed Titan to take over DiMera. But while Kristen might be inclined to shoot her brother, it’s highly unlikely and is probably just another red-herring.

Vivian is back! She’s always fun and this time she didn’t escape from jail. She somehow got pardoned (that seems to have been happening a lot on soaps lately) and went straight to Philip to demand her cut of Victor’s fortune. She then threatened everyone and declared that she would be moving into the mansion! It’s going to be great fun watching her antics, especially since she knows where Stefan is but most likely isn’t going to tell anyone.

LOOSE ENDS

Johnny recalled taking the gun from Roman’s lock box, and it was a .45. However, the gun that Rex found was a 9mm. It’s just a matter of waiting for the police report about the bullet pulled from EJ’s chest to determine which kind of gun it was fired from.

That should easily rule out a few people in town. Most everyone, including Ava and Kristen, had a 9mm while as far as I could tell, only Roman had the .45. But let’s not forget that last week, Roman put the gun back in the lock box. Did Johnny perhaps use it or decide not to and replace it, so then Roman took it and shot EJ? It’s a bit convoluted, but hopefully, the writers will shake things out for us.

Sarah almost confessed to Xander about the forged letter and then switched gears and made a phony confession that she knew about Phillip and Stephanie's affair before he did and she pretended she didn’t when Xander told her about it. She’s walking a dangerous line here by building lie upon lie, and that clearly is not gonna end well. Do I really need to once again state that if these people would just keep their trap shut, they wouldn’t have any issues? Why don’t they hear me when I yell that at the television?

It seemed as if Sarah made the so-called secret about the affair into more of a test to see how Xander would react to her if she told him the truth about the letter. He, of course, passed with flying colors and forgave her right away. I think that in Sarah’s mind, that bodes well, and when the time comes that the secret comes out, it needs to be her that breaks the news to him, and fingers crossed that he’ll have a similar reaction.

So, for a hot minute, the bullet that was extracted from EJ had been misplaced. It never made it to the police evidence room. Later, Shawn and JJ went to the hospital looking for it, and Kayla managed to find it in a post-op room. She handed the plastic baggie over to them so they could have it analyzed to see if it matched Kristen’s gun.

It’s important to note that there was some time where the bullet was unaccounted for. This means that someone could have either tampered with it or replaced it altogether. If someone had access, for example, to Kristen’s gun, they could have fired it off somewhere, collected the bullet, and covered it with EJ’s blood, thereby framing her. That seems quite complicated and tricky to pull off, so the chances are very slim that that’s the case. But still, the fact that the bullet was missing for a time throws its veracity into question.

Belle imagined that EJ woke up and talked to her. It was the same old thing about him being in her head, heart, and soul, and he accused her of being in love with him. Clearly, she is, and it was basically her subconscious telling her that.

EXTRA SCOOPS

NICE

With all the secrets and drama unfolding, it was hard to find a truly nice character this week. But when I remembered Sophia’s sad face, I realized she was the nicest person this week. The poor girl had a thing for Tate and now that she’s pregnant with his child, she’s caught in a tough predicament. They’re furiously trying to give the child up for adoption, and I think when the time comes, she’s going to fall in love with her newborn and change her mind.

Is it so inconceivable that they could have the child and co-parent with help and support from their respective families? For that matter, Amy could adopt the child and raise it with her husband. That’s not unprecedented, and many grandparents are raising their grandchildren because the kid’s parents have issues that prevent them from being there full-time, for any number of reasons. This whole adoption thing seems panicked because Sophia and Tate don’t want the hassle of raising a kid and how their lives won’t be going in the directions they wanted.

By the same token, the whole Johnny and Chanel wanting to adopt that child seems kind of end all be all. Is that the only child available for adoption? Hardly. This story’s going to need a boost one way or the other.

NAUGHTY

Vivian has come to take her piece of the Kiriakis pie. Xander’s going to go through the roof, and her demands might end up setting the secret about the forged letter loose. However, she just got out of prison, and most likely, if she admits to the forgery or is fingered as the perpetrator, she might end up back in the slammer. She can’t be that stupid, can she? She’s a master manipulator and criminal mind, so hopefully, she’ll have a plan that doesn’t out her.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

As they were talking about the takeover, Xander told Alex, “Kristen’s one crisis away from a straight jacket.”

Brady told Belle that EJ is a pompous ass. Belle replied, “I want to hate him. I do. I want to do a freaking happy dance that he’s lying in a coma, raise a glass, and say that an evil ruthless man finally got what he deserved. But I can’t, Brady. I can’t.”

After talking to Amy Choi, who’s reconsidering her adoption stance since EJ’s in a coma, Sophia said to Tate, “That went better than I thought it would.” He said, "What, with your mom?” and she sarcastically replied, “No, with Zendaya.”

Tate went to Holly’s and saw New Doug standing in her room in just his skivvies. After a heated exchange with New Doug calling Tate jealous, Tate popped him in the face. Later, Doug said to Holly, “At least Tate hit me before I got dressed.” Holly’s response was, “Yeah, last time you got hit, you got blood all over your shirt.” She was referring to when the baddies that he owed money to beat the snot out of him.

Belle was telling Sami how it was EJ who pursued her, not the other way around, and Sami said, “I don’t care who ran to whom. Or who. I always forget which is which.” That was a nice writers’ inside joke, as I often grapple with grammar conundrums like that.

Philip was talking to Victor’s portrait, and after pausing for a moment, he asked, “Am I imagining it or is that smirk turning into a smile?”

Vivian told Xander, “If you don’t give me half of Titan, I will blow your life to smithereens.” I love the word ‘smithereens.’

Paulina told Chanel she did not shoot EJ but said, “Whoever that is, I wanna give them a medal.” So does half of Salem.

REACTION OF THE WEEK

Philip, for the Reaction Win two weeks in a row! He walked in on a shirtless Xander hugging Sarah and had to shield his eyes with his tablet until they stopped. Then Xander told him they were just talking about him. You could see the panic in his eyes until Xander further explained that it was about the so-called affair between Phil and Steph. He was relieved, but John Paul-Lavoisier should get more points for hilariously showing his emotions on his face with no words necessary.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

In one of the funniest moments of the week, which occurred at the beginning of Monday’s episode, Stephanie brings coffee to Alex, who’s in bed. He asked her if she brought two cups, and when she asked why, Sarah popped out from under the blanket next to him, and the two were grinning from ear to ear. Needless to say, Steph was quite shocked and then woke up because it was a bad dream. I wasn’t expecting that and laughed out loud.

But what it showed was the chaos going on in Steph’s mind as she continues to try to rationalize keeping the secret of Victor’s forged letter. But is this a portent that perhaps Xander and Sarah and Alex and Steph are headed for splitsville with Sarah ending up with Alex? While there are no romantic inklings between the two, stranger things have happened.

Another laugh-out-loud moment was when Kate showed Philip the news report about EJ being shot, and he asked her if she had done it. It was a valid question, but to hear him blurt what we were thinking caught me off guard, and it was quite humorous.

Tate’s in total denial that he was jealous of New Doug. He even told Sophia that, and it seemed like he was trying to convince himself of it. That’s why he punched New Doug in the face when he called Tate out on his jealousy. In my humble opinion, Tate’s jealousy and concern are warranted. If I had a girlfriend that brought a guy home to stay with her, I’d probably hit him as well (hypothetically speaking, of course!). It was unfair of Holly to do that and not expect the reaction she got from Tate. New Doug didn’t deserve to be punched, but he had such a smarmy look on his face that screamed, “Hit me!”

PARTING THOUGHTS

It was good to see Sami back and even better that she and Johnny had begun the healing process. That was a tough storyline, and the show and actors handled it with grace.

I was also happy that Vivian returned, and she’s going to put a monkey wrench into everything. Does her return mean that Stefan and Brandon Barash can’t be too far behind? Time will tell.

OUTRO

Thanks for joining me again this week, DOOL-ers! Join me next week when I call a friend and tell them I can’t talk right now.

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