EJ and Sami meet and Sami is extremely distraught that EJ seems a bit aloof about Sami getting joint custody of Allie. He tells her that things would have worked out better had they stayed married and then explains why; that a united front between them would have looked a lot better than her by herself.

Bo and Hope tuck into a romantic dinner that Hope apparently has had catered. Hope also gets into some shameless product placement that I will not dignify with a thorough mention.

Tony tells Lexie that he is going to get the power away from both John and Stefano. Good luck with that, kind sir.

Stefano and Tony argue and fight and Tony attacks him with a wrench only it turns out that it's not Stefano, it's John. John seems displeased.

We apparently go back two days for this one: we see Sami tripping EJ who briefly looks like Stefano and when she realizes what she did she freaks out. She tells him that he has to be okay. Somehow the power of opening up his shirt gets his eyes to open. She says that she can't imagine her life without him and of course he questions that only to have her say that she doesn't want to discuss it.

Sami tells him that Lucas dropped her because of just one tiny little thing. She says that she can't change how she feels about him and has to stop lying to herself.

Tony finds Anna passed out and has to wake her up with a kiss. Anna goes to Marlena's room where Marlena tries to indicate the syringe holds the key to making her better but Anna just doesn't get it.

While John tries to get things going in the power room, Stefano tells him over the loudspeaker that he was a bad soldier and that he will reboot him and complete his metamorphosis.

Kayla and Patch are startled that their baby is gone. You can guess that Stefano was stolen.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Stefano tells Marlena that he isn't going to kill her and that he has something more interesting in mind for her. Marlena apologizes for what she did to him and he tells her that it is far too late. He says that he wanted to make her dreams come true. He finds the syringe left behind by Kayla and contemplates injecting her with it. She hopes he will do it and he of course does not as the lights flicker.

John, Tony, and Anna try to figure out the power room for their floor. Tony tells her not to touch anything. Anna goes off to find Stefano and manages to find his empty room. She is startled by him. Meanwhile, Tony and John discuss the relationship that he had with Marlena and how that upset Stefano.

Stefano and Marlena somewhat argue. By this I mean that Stefano did most of the talking and she mumbled from time to time. He shows her the disc that she thought was fixed and was in fact still broken. He says it is beyond repair.

Tony has an imaginary argument with Stefano. This is chiefly because he thinks that Stefano is there but he is not.

Marlena calls out for help but there is nobody there.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Kayla goes off to find her husband who is trashing a room for no apparent reason. Maybe the toxic gas that is coming out of the vents has something to do with it. Steve finally finds what he is looking for in the form of an oxygen tank for his baby.

Tony and Anna talk about the gas and Anna thinks that Stefano is trying to kill them all. John wonders if Tony knows where Stefano might be hiding. John, incidentally, seems to be immune from the effects of the gas.

Stefano finds Sami in the hallway. He tells her that he won't hurt her if she only will cooperate. He says that he has nothing but the best to offer her son and that she and EJ should be together forever. She is not chuffed to hear this offer. Sami says that her son will grow up to be a strong and decent man. She then tells him to go to hell and flees.

Chloe freaks out because the gas causes her to hallucinate that she has bacteria eating at her face. Of course, Lucas is the one to talk her off of that ledge.

Sami sees Stefano in the stairwell; he is calling out her name. He suddenly turns into EJ and she trips him as he tries to walk down. When he gets to the bottom in a most Ford Decker way she yells at him and tells him to die. This is of course before she notices that he is not Stefano.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Tony and Anna argue with Stefano about what happened to Marlena. Stefano gets a little 'fresh' as they say with Anna and Tony yells at him, "You're talking about my wife!" Stefano is less than pleased to hear that. Naturally, John walks in during this kerfuffle and sees that talking with Stefano would not be a waste of time as he is awake.

John asks Stefano what he did to Marlena and he gives the standard DOOL response. Everybody say it with me: "I have no idea what you are talking about." John asks him one more time. Stefano says that he has no bargaining chips and didn't even kill him when he had the chance. John tells him how Stefano's plan to have Colleen eliminated was a wash and she died surrounded by her friends and family. They sure do like reusing scripts.

Stefano wonders if John reckons he is the savior of Salem and he says that he is simply his enemy, and so Stefano's enemies are therefore John's friends. This is when he tells Stefano that EJ is his lawyer.

A crowd has gathered in Marlena's room, where Patch wonders what happened. Kayla tells him that she was injected with some sort of paralyzing toxin. Marlena slurs Stefano's name. Well that sounds like "j'accuse!" to me. Kayla goes off somewhere and when she comes back she announces that the technicians are stopping what they are doing to work on Marlena's tests.

Sami and EJ argue about what side he is on because he seems to be siding with Stefano, perhaps even feeling sorry for the formerly paralyzed man.

Marlena tries to tell them what was injected into her and what the cure would be and how she will soon not be able to move or even speak. A bit later, Tony goes to see her and she admits what she did and that she did it to protect the family. Very DiMera of her, Tony observes.

John decides that the time is right to kill Stefano so he grabs his neck and it takes Patch to save Stefano's life. Yep, Patch to save his life, of all people.

At the same time, a noxious gas starts coming out of all the various vents on the floor of the hospital where all of this is taking place. Coincidentally, Stefano is nowhere to be seen. Also coincidentally, it happens right before Kayla has time to inject Marlena with something she considers to possibly be an antidote. Funny, that.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Tony and EJ tell Stefano that Marlena couldn't have done anything to hurt him and he says that he is going to destroy her. This is just when Sami comes in to ask what he has done to her mother. They argue and Sami is taken out by EJ, who assures her that she just hasn't been heard from in a few hours and that is not a crisis. She says that Stefano has some evil plot and she will find it. They argue about this of course.

Tony says that if something happened to Marlena, the authorities wouldn't have a long list of suspects. He tells him that he's a big believer in 'an eye for an eye'. Naturally he only understands that phrase in the literal sense and not in the fiscal sense that the rabbis intended. Stefano says that he is clearly not being loyal and explains that Marlena injected him with drugs whereas he could see and hear anything but not move. Not only that, but he heard his children talking about moving him into a "hideous medieval facility."

Marlena languishes on the ground. It's fortunate that soon, Anna and John come in and Anna calls for an ambulance. Soon, Sami and EJ come in. John does CPR on her and she wakes up. Soon, Kayla is there to save the day. She also yells at John for the way he was behaving at the wedding ceremony. She says he's clearly good on the inside because he saved Marlena's life. Sami thanks John for saving her mother's life and says that they will now stop waiting for the old John to come back. He says he will hold her to it. (Cue the old John coming back in 3...2...)

At the hospital, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water... er, something like that... dark gas starts coming out of one of the vents.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Philip and Morgan are having a perfectly pleasant time talking when Kate and Victor come in and tell him that the media had found out about the tape. This leads to Philip telling Morgan the truth about the tape (with insistence of his innocence) and a slap from her to him. Well, it was nice while it lasted. Kate says that he is better off without her and that they will protect him if the tape contents come out.

Max and Melanie are put in jail thanks to the bracelet that Melanie stole and then gave to Max. Naturally, when Stephanie comes to bail one of them out, she only can bail out Max. Actually, she doesn't even have the money to do that. Would you believe that in the end, Melanie is the one that gets out of jail thanks to her ex-boyfriend, and Max and Stephanie end up in jail together?

Tony and EJ talk with Stefano about what his plans are. He tells them that he was perfectly aware of how John is actually his half brother thanks to his coming and visiting him when he was in his comatose state. He tells them about how Marlena did it to him; caused him to be in a comatose state, that is. They don't think it's possible that she would have done it but he insists that she did and that he has now returned the favor. We see Marlena laying on the floor in her home.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Bo and Hope recite their vows all over again and they kiss. Hope tells Bo that she loves him. Doug says that they will exchange wedding bands and Hope says that she no longer has hers (as she threw it into the water when she was on the remote island with Patrick - remember?) Hope then frets that she has nothing for him and Ciara comes up with what is apparently the ring that Shawn Senior wore.

EJ, Lexie, and Tony have a group discussion about Stefano. She says that she should be at the church attending the wedding renewal ceremony but she wants to know what is going on. They assure her that their father is just as out of it as he ever has been.

Marlena gets a phone call from John. Meanwhile, she gets a little from a sinister stalker with a large needle.

John talks to Stefano, presuming that he cannot be heard. He stuffs a large pillow in his face and tells him that he is taking over. He gets a phone call from Marlena and so he lets up on the pillow. She tells him the truth about how she contacted the authorities about Ava and tells him not to do anything foolish. Too late. John tells her where he is and then decides that there is something he must do before taking his revenge on Stefano.

The wedding reception is interrupted by a reporter for the Salem Spector who asks Bo how he can sleep at night knowing that he is a liar and a disgrace to the police department.

The masked man in Marlena's place finally reveals herself and she warns him not to come any closer so of course he does. She grabs a letter opener and tells him that she will stab him at necessary. Instead of actually doing this she throws it at him and he runs after her, grabbing her and pushing her down onto her bed. He raises his needle over his head.

-- Gordon Davidescu

John and EJ have a lengthy yet not particularly interesting conversation about where EJ's loyalty lays now that Stefano is coming out of the coma and EJ says that he is loyal only to himself.

Both Tony and EJ get told in confidence by none other than Stefano that he is actually awake and not to tell anyone else which presumably means each other because they don't tell each other. Of course Anna nearly finds out by accident but then tells her and makes her promise not to tell anyone. That must be a record for secret breaking after secret revelation. John suspects that he is actually fine when he briefly opens his eyes but Lexie says that it was only a muscle spasm.

Marlena gets a phone call from Sami and she says that she has to check to see how Stefano is doing. Naturally, there is a man in a ski mask at the door who enters the house. Stefano, alone, has a good laugh while thinking of what he knows is happening.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Melanie, Max, and Stephanie chat it up. Of course, Melanie is extremely rude to Stephanie. Their fun conversation is interrupted when the police show up and for some reason Melanie runs out of there but is stopped by said police who take her away. Max and Stephanie follow, of course.

Hope goes to visit Philip, who is finally out of the hospital. They go straight into arguing about what Bo did and whether it was a case of protecting family or not. She worries that the truth is going to come out and Philip says that it's not a problem because John is responsible for everything going on.

Marlena goes to see John and tells him that Stefano might be making a comeback as she apparently didn't give him a strong enough dose of whatever chemicals she injected into him. She is concerned that Stefano will come after her. How she didn't think of that before doing something so horrific, I cannot tell you. He tells her that there might have to be a trial after he kills Stefano. He says he is going to take care of Stefano and leaves, so of course Marlena finds the "Dear John" letter that Ava left for John. Naturally, she calls Roman to tell him the good news.

Tony worries that Stefano might be up to no good already. He also tells EJ that he should probably not work with John any longer and EJ says that he can keep an eye on John this way. Tony says that Stefano is going to want to resume his place at the head of the DiMera Empire. This is of course when John comes back in and smugly announces that he heard that Stefano might wake up. John wonders if he will wake up and Kayla says there is a possibility. After EJ and Tony leave to take care of some hospital business, Marlena comes in and tells John that she doesn't condone murder.

With Marlena somehow alone with Stefano, she tells him that she would do what she did again if she had the opportunity and he of course opens his eyes and has a good look at her. He thinks to himself that he will have his revenge. Great thing to say to someone who is listening to you, Marlena.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Max finally finds Melanie but before he can talk with her she gets an earful from some friend of hers about relationship problems and of course she takes off to take care of the problems her friend is having. When she comes back she is confronted by the same guy who wanted money from Max and he confronts him, telling him that he will pay what he wants. Melanie naturally wants to know who Max is. He won't say but instead pays the man. She tells Max that she wants to know why he did it and who he is. He finally admits that he is her brother.

Ava tells John that she knows for a fact that she is being followed by an undercover cop and that they are onto her. EJ comes in and is discomforted by their displays of affection. He also thinks that John is hiding something from him. John says that he's not hiding anything and when EJ gets a moment alone with Ava he tells her that her judge was switched to a less than favorable judge and that things are looking less than good.

Hope tries to encourage Ciara to eat her pancakes but she's not that into them. They should write a book about that. There is clearly a lot of tension between Bo and Hope thanks to the big reveal. After Ciara leaves to go upstairs they argue about Philip and how Bo thinks that he is innocent. She says that he is acting as though he were a Kiriakis and not the man that she loves.

Kate and Victor talk about Daniel and her feelings for him and how they seem not to be so nice. Kate mentions that Lucas is recovering and that she hopes he won't go running back to Sami as soon as he is out of the hospital. Victor, meanwhile, is worried about Philip. She tells him about the note that she got and Victor wonders what is happening with John that he would do something like that.

Tony tells Lexie that there is an update with Stefano - apparently he has had a seizure of some sort, and that there is a chance he is going to come out of his coma. EJ soon joins them for this bit of news, be it good or otherwise.

Hope says that she is pretty positive that the new John is capable of murder and Bo wonders if she will stand beside him. She says that she will always do so and that they will deal with it together. Big hug.

-- Gordon Davidescu

At the cafe, they talk to people who manage to get security video and of course it was Ava that sent the e-mail.

Philip and Bo have a heart to heart about their strengthened connection thanks to what Bo did for Philip. Philip tells Bo that he will never forget what he did for him.

Maggie visits with Lucas and is shocked that Chloe is there. She wonders how Sami would feel about it and he tells her that she knows about Chloe being there. Maggie gives Lucas some donuts from Alice. I miss her onscreen presence. He tells her about taking a break from Sami.

Morgan visits Philip and they talk about what she said while he was out of it. He says that even though he wasn't really there, he heard everything and he has strong feelings for her as well.

Nicole says that she is sorry that she had to be so rude to EJ but thanks to her precarious relationship with Trent, she had to do it. She tells him about Max being Trent's son and they discuss how they are going to possibly going to use that against him.

Hope and Bo have yet another talk and he finally tells her the truth; that he tampered with evidence to protect Philip. Oh, like you didn't know that he was eventually going to tell her.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Trent tries to call Melanie but fails so he finds Nick, who was watching a video of some party girl on his computer. Better video quality than possible, of course, but what do you want from a show that thinks nobody will notice that Max is using a Palm III to view full color photographs and send and receive text messages. After they have their completely useless conversation, Nick goes back to looking at Premiere Party Girl's blog and figures out that she might be Max's sister.

Nick calls Stephanie and gives her all the details.

Sami and EJ actually get along pretty well for once because of of the children. They talk about how they are sorry for everything that happened, etc. They then talk about how Lucas is sort of now out of the picture because he is in prison. Sami gets a call from Roman who tells her that he is in the hospital and of course she dashes right off to see him.

Nicole comes to see EJ and says that she needs his legal advice because she is getting blackmailed by Trent.

Roman and Lucas talk about what happened. Apparently he was supposed to get close to a couple of thugs in prison and they saw through his disguise and beat him up pretty badly. When Sami arrives she is so sad to see him like this but is happy when she finds out that he is getting out of prison for good. They then argue about where he feels he belongs in life and Lucas tells her that he feels that he needs a break from her and she turns into a blubbering mess.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Daniel confronts Kate and asks her what it was that she said that nearly killed him. She finally admits that she told Victor about his son getting shot and of course he tells her that was less than a good idea. Chelsea of course approaches and they go at it for the way he spoke to her grandmother. There is much arguing and of course he eventually comes around and apologizes to Kate.

Morgan visits with Philip and tells him the standard routine of how she would trade places with him if she could and that she should be there, not him. She tells him that she thinks that she is falling in love with him just in time for Chloe to be there, clearing her throat. Hope steps i to speak with Morgan and Chloe apologizes profusely for how things went between them. She says she should have prevented him from getting involved with Morgan.

Hope and Morgan discuss what happened with her father and how all she was left with was a letter and a package that was supposed to contain proof but clearly did not. Hope wonders if she is sure that there really was nothing else in the package and Morgan wonders if she is trying to imply that she is concealing something and Hope says that this is not the case. When Morgan goes back into the room she looks longingly at Philip and wow, if there ever was at time to fast forward it would be now. Outside, Chloe asks a nurse about Philip and she says that she was actually assigned to his brother, Lucas, who was just admitted to the hospital.

John says that he is intrigued how things turned out and escalated so quickly. He tells her not to worry because he has an ace up his sleeve, so to speak. He says that he will show her something to calm her fears after he gets Rolf to clean up all the blood. He takes her to the basement where they unlock a door only to reveal none other than Paul, perfectly well and alive. Paul asks when he will be released and John says that he should consider himself lucky to be alive. Paul says that he just wants his daughter to know that he is alive and John tells him that will ruin everything as well as not help in his own quest to get Philip away from his daughter.

Bo and Hope discuss the evidence from the package and how there was nothing but money and a letter. Hope says that it seems to her that there was something missing and Bo says that there was really nothing else there. A policeman approaches Hope and says that they just got an anonymous e-mail saying that the evidence in the case seemed to be subject to a police cover-up. Huh oh.

-- Gordon Davidescu

Bo finds out that Philip was shot and he and Hope head out to the DiMera mansion.

Morgan goes crazy as the EMT get to working on Philip. This is just when Bo and Hope come in and Philip is taken out. Hope tells Morgan it's no use to go with him and Roman informs John that he is wondering if he set this up. EJ and John tell him exactly what happened and then Roman asks about Paul. John even says that he wants to press charges against Morgan of all people. EJ tells John that he has to tell him what is going on.

John tells EJ that he knows everything and EJ says that he's not a big fan of surprises. On the plus side, they get a fax saying that Ava's extradition was denied so that is good for her. Even better, Judge Fitzpatrick was set to be the ruling judge over the case.

Morgan gets to the Salem Police Department where she says that she just knows that her father is dead and it's all John's fault. She says that when her father used to give her counsel, he would tell her to stay away from Philip but she never understood why. She says that he is clearly a good guy because he took a bullet for her.

Daniel tells Kate that Philip has lost a lot of blood and of course, it is a rare blood and they are plum out of it. Kate is willing to donate but she has the wrong blood type.

Kate goes to see Victor and stupidly tells him what happened to Philip. Of course his machines all go crazy. How do these people never seem to learn a thing? They bring in a crash cart and barely are able to bring him back from the precipice. I bet you didn't think you'd see the word precipice in a blog describing a soap opera.

John and Ava have a wild time together and then discuss how lovely it was. He can't believe that Morgan could have possibly tried to kill him - and wonders how she would react if she knew what really had happened to her father. Do tell, John!

-- Gordon Davidescu