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Days of our Lives had everything this past week: courtroom tension, suspiciously selective honesty, Leo Stark treating dialogue like an Olympic event, and at least one back alley that still looks like it’s been using the same fog machine since 2007. If nothing else, consistency is alive and well… even if decision-making isn’t. So, let's dig into the week that was in Salem.
Days of our Lives loose ends
EJ continues to operate as if he has two completely separate operating systems, neither of which communicates with the other. On one hand, he insists he had no idea Stephanie and Jeremy were being held in a secret lab. On the other hand, he casually told Dr. Rolf that if they needed to be eliminated…We guess that he has to continue living these two lives so he doesn't get caught.
Ari had been hiding Liam in her dorm room after Klaus tried to kill him. At one point, she steps out for what is apparently the world’s most suspiciously timed supply run, giving EJ just enough room to glide in like a well-dressed nightmare, inform Liam that everyone who could’ve protected him is conveniently dead, and gently imply that the only thing keeping him alive is how well he behaves going forward. And yet, EJ was nice to Johnny and Chanel, helping them secure the adoption. The real question is: is EJ intentionally unraveling, or is he slowly losing command over his own story?
Then there’s Rachel, who did what Sophia asked her to. She not only pinched Marlena for no reason other than shadenfreude, but also fell for Sophia’s story and gave Holly the psych meds disguised as skincare supplements, and Tate unwittingly took them, leading to a bad reaction. Things are going to get worse for her and might not improve unless she owns up to her actions and disowns Sophia as a friend.
And speaking of things spiraling, Belle suddenly being in the crosshairs for prosecutorial misconduct opens a door that could swing very wide, very quickly. If her judgment is compromised, and let’s be honest, it’s looking a bit shaky, what does that mean for every decision she’s made so far?
Salem's pop culture references
When Marlena noticed that Leo was acting differently, Kayla explained, “Leo has a grade-two concussion, so he’s a little emotionally labile.” I like learning new words, and “labile” is one of them. To be emotionally labile means to experience fast, really intense and uncontrollable mood swings, or in Leo’s case, jumping from one absurd simile to an even more absurd simile in the blink of an eye.
Leo is always full of pop culture mentions, and they were plentiful again this week when he made it back to Salem from Alamainia. After discussing Dimitri, Marlena notes that he sounds like he could hurt someone. Leo hilariously responded, “Well, yeah. I mean, he was a super spy, like James Bond, only he’s terrible at card games.” For the woefully uninitiated, created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953, James Bond is a fictional British Secret Service officer—codenamed 007 and possessing a "license to kill"—who serves as a suave, ruthless, and highly skilled secret agent in a long-running series of international spy novels and films.
As Leo and Marlena continued talking and wondered whether Dimitri had been lying, Leo said that if he was, “that would have been a Daniel Day-Lewis-level performance.” Sir Daniel Day-Lewis is a British-Irish actor widely regarded as one of the greatest performers in film history, known for his intense method acting and selective film choices, which earned him a record three Academy Awards for Best Actor.
After explaining that his deep-seated trust issues were merely factory settings for him, Marlena asked if his old feelings for Dimitri surfaced when he saved Leo from the sniper. Leo hilariously explained, “Oh, they didn’t just come to the surface. They tap-danced to it. Like Ginger Rogers. I asked her to stop. She did jazz hands and encores…it was terrifying.” Ginger Rogers, who lived from 1911 to 1995, was a versatile American actress, dancer, and singer who became an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, best known as Fred Astaire's leading dance partner in a series of revolutionary 1930s musicals and as the Academy Award-winning actress for her role in Kitty Foyle (1940).
Look of the week
Brady, after the judge rules that Rachel must return to Bayview, stares absolute daggers through the back of Marlena’s head like he’s trying to melt it with pure irritation. Then the shot cuts to him alone, eyes dark, still, almost black like a great white shark. Not blinking, not softening, just… waiting. It’s the kind of shot that says everything without needing a single line. But it does seem odd that at any moment, Brady could turn on Marlena and disown her. He really needs to get a grip.
Days of our Lives lines of the week
Leo Stark did not come to play this week. He came armed. In his hospital bed, Marlena and Kayla come to check in on him, and as he and Dr. Evans have a happy exchange, he misinterprets the looks on their faces and reacts, “The way you’re looking at me, my God, I can feel the disdain radiating off of you like an expensive cologne. Your side-eye, it has its own gravitational pull!” Kayla had to explain that Leo’s concussion was making him wackier than usual.
When Kayla said he was emotionally labile, Leo responded, “What I think you’re saying is that my emotions are like Jell-O on a trampoline. But you’re wrong. I am the very definition of stable: emotionally anchored, mentally unshakeable, spiritually moisterized.” That last bit caused him to think for a moment about what he’d just said, so he continued, “Who am I kidding? I’m an absolute mess!” He then begged Marlena for a hug.
Talking to Marlena, Leo realized that Dimitri had the means, motive, and opportunity to disappear Vivian. He then stated, “Oh, God. I need a martini. No, make it a lobotomy. No, make it a time machine so I can fast forward to when this nightmare is over.”
Sarah and Maggie had a nice conversation about Xander. Sarah explained that she would always love him, but resolved never to act on that again. She further explained, “I think, if I can make peace with that, then I can move forward with my life and, I don’t know, maybe find love with someone who’s kind and dependable and not fighting homicidal impulses every other second.”
Philip's fantastic facial reactions
After Philip learned of Vivian’s death, he and Xander had a nice conversation, and Philip realized that you can still love someone even if they’ve cheesed off everyone else in the world. Xander exited at the end of the conversation, and Philip’s face in that moment deserves its own closing credits billing. It’s not just a reaction; it’s a full internal committee meeting happening behind his eyes. You can practically see the agenda: grief (begrudging), confusion (intense), and the reluctant acknowledgment that yes, this wildly unhinged woman did, in fact, love him… in the emotional equivalent of a house fire.
Salem odds and ends
Salem’s shiny new suburban flyover looks like it was assembled by a committee of very optimistic real estate agents and one overly enthusiastic graphics card. Every lawn is suspiciously perfect, every tree hits peak season as if it’s auditioning for a calendar. It’s all quiet streets, tidy driveways, and an almost aggressive sense of calm, like the entire neighborhood signed a contract agreeing not to acknowledge the chaos happening five minutes away.
Meanwhile, cut to the back alley behind EJ’s secret lab, and we’re back in the show’s natural habitat: a narrow corridor of perpetual fog that billows on cue as if it’s getting paid scale… yet somehow no one ever walks through it. It just… exists. The contrast is almost poetic, really. On one side, Salem is pretending everything’s fine. On the other, a haunted steam vent that knows exactly how not fine things actually are.
Stephanie’s hesitation when Alex tried to put the ring back on her finger felt… off. Not dramatic, not explosive, just enough to make you wonder what’s ticking under the surface.
Marlena telling Kristen she essentially taught Rachel to lie and manipulate — and calling it emotional abuse — might be one of the most quietly brutal moments of the week. That’s not just dialogue. That’s a line that sticks with you long after the episode has aired.
Johnny bringing EJ in to represent him and Chanel might actually be the smartest decision made all week, which says a lot considering the competition. Ultimately, EJ won it, and Johnny and Chanel legally adopted Trey!
And Brady (finally!) putting his foot down with Kristen? About time. Whether it sticks is another story entirely.
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Join us next time, when we’ll check in on whether Salem’s legal system is still functioning, whether Leo has run out of references (unlikely), and whether that back alley fog machine has finally been given a day off.
Days of our Lives is available on the Peacock streaming app.
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