HOLLYWOOD—I thought I saw a ghost when I saw that trailer of NBC promoting the drama headed to Salem on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” This week I got confirmation of what I suspected: the great Kristen DiMera lives people! Why am I so happy about this news? Salem has been in desperate need of a villain, and I hate to say this, this is likely why I checked out early 2016 after Stefano DiMera was shot and killed by Hope Brady. The great villains of our time were dropping like flies and when Kristen was presumed dead after falling out that window, the last of the DiMera’s who were truly evil to the core had vanished.
Well, Kristen decided to visit Susan’s home after she was taken in by doctors for her ruse in Will’s ‘death.’ It was not only the fact that audiences saw Kristen in the flesh that meant she could soon return to Salem with revenge on the mind. I mean this woman hates Dr. Marlena Evans, she despises John Black and slept with brothers Eric and Brady, not to mention she stole Theresa’s baby and passed it off as her own child. Yes, Kristen DiMera is Stefano’s daughter to say the least, and there are plenty of people she would like to even the score with.
However, she dropped the biggest shocker of all to “DOOL” fanatics: EJ DiMera is alive. Her message was cryptic to Susan about trying to make Will Horton into her dearly departed EJ, when she could have had the real EJ all along. I mean, we did see Kristen with EJ when he was in the morgue and she injected him with something and he has not been seen since. So if EJ is indeed alive, where is he and just what the hell has he been up to?
I mean could you imagine both Kristen and EJ returning to Salem to wreck wholly havoc? It would be glorious people. Now, that is how you deliver a cliffhanger America. In the past 15 years, I’ve only seen 3 soaps do so with absolute justice: “Bold and Beautiful” ushering in the return of Sheila after Quinn was shot at, “General Hospital” revealing that Robin was not dead in that hospital explosion, and now “Days” revealing not only that Kristen is alive, but so is her brother, and Sami’s one true love.
Speaking of Sami, she is proving that she is a tyrant not to be messed with. She wielded her rage at Susan for making Will think she is this horrible woman. I mean the more Sami pushes Will the angrier he becomes with her. Will has amnesia Sami, it’s going to take a moment for him to remember his old life, and if you let your mother, Marlena utilize her magic, your son will indeed come back to you. However, whenever Sami wants something she is willing to go to extreme lengths to get it.
How so? How about utilizing the psychopath who ‘murdered’ her son, to restage the murder in horrific fashion. Yes, Ben has a few marbles loose, but even he realized Sami’s plan was bonkers people, bonkers! Rather her tactic works has yet to be seen, but it will further stretch the rift between mother and son. The good news is that Will is back in Salem and doing his best to reclaim his old life, but if his friends and family push too fast and too hard, there is no telling what will happen to him.
The other major storyline in Salem is the shooting of Theo at the hands of JJ. Yes, this has turned the town upside down. JJ and Lani were on cloud nine, but that relationship seems kaput at this point. Lani is leaning on Eli, who if memory serves me right was getting closer to Gabi. So this is odd. I mean Abe is Lani’s daughter, and Eli is Valerie’s mother, kind of awkward if you ask me people.
JJ is just overconsumed with grief and unable to contain his emotions, it’s honestly some fine acting from Casey Moss with this unexpected storyline. Lani is not able to forgive him, neither is Chad, who happens to be married to his sister Abigail. Making the situation tense is that Mayor Abe Carver wants Commissioner Hope Brady to fire JJ from the force. Yes, JJ and Hope are cousins, and Abe is wielding his power, which does not bold well with Hope, who ultimately loses her position to her lover Rafe!
Yeah, things are getting very messy in Salem, and Hope is none too pleased with the news, which leads to a massive fight between the couple. So how do things end, well, you already know, Sami and Rafe hook-up in a time or misery, and what happens next is up in the air people, but it will indeed be interesting to watch rather this rekindled flame will last the time or fizzle out, especially if EJ DiMera is alive as we expect him to be. That is a game-changer for Sami Brady people, a major one.
With all this madness and fingers being pointed his way, it looks like Andre DiMera might return to the dark side. Salem should indeed be worried, especially if EJ, Andre and Kristen all align to bring back the glory and the fear that has become synonymous with the DiMera name. Oh, the chaos in Salem is reaching a feverish peak and this is just the beginning because kooky Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel) is slated to return to the canvas any day now people.
