Days Of Our Lives
DAYS Massey, Wilson & Sweeney Deliver Heart-Stopping Performances As Sami’s Twisted Plot Backfires!
Photo: RScottWilsonInstagram
This week, Days of our Lives served up can’t-miss soap opera! Head writer, Ron Carlivati crafted a riveting story arc that had viewers on the edge of their seats with some frightening drama portrayed masterfully by three all-star performers involved: Chandler Massey (Will), Rob Scott Wilson (Ben) and Alison Sweeney (Sami).
In story, a misguided Sami wanting to trigger the buried memories of her son, Will, takes a lesson from her mother’s psychiatry books about re-creating a traumatic event to do that. In some patients, that works in opening the floodgates to their memories. So, what does Sami do? She gets her goons to kidnap Killer Ben. Sami quickly lets him know who’s in charge, and she slaps him around, and tells him he’s going to bring her son back to her. Next, Sami’s got a gun, and uses it to make Ben stay in-line. Later, Sami has detailed what she wants Ben to do for her. He doesn’t think he can do it, but then he agrees. Meanwhile, Sami has Will kidnapped, and thrown into Ben’s apartment in the dark. Let the plot unfold …
Then comes the reveal, while Sami stays hidden with a gun on Ben, the killer appears with a red necktie in front of Will. A frightened Will asks, “Who are you?” Ben says, “Benjamin” and moves toward Will. Next, Ben starts to strangle Will with a red necktie, and when Will, who has fallen to the floor, is being choked he seems to flashback to the first time he was “killed”. Sami is watching from the closet in tears.
Will begs for Ben to stop, and an anguished Ben realizes he can’t “murder” Will a second time. The whole plot falls apart. Ben tells Will it was his mother who put him up to strangling him again. Sami’s henchmen emerge and nab Ben as Sami comes forward and explains she was trying to jog her son’s memory! Will screams at her, “What is wrong with you!? You’re a terrible human being. I never want to see you again as long as I breathe!” Will storms out devastated. Sami yells at Ben for wimping out on her before Will remembered everything. As the henchmen hold Ben, he tells Sami, “You’re sick!” Ben tells the henchmen, “Bring this bitch to the padded room!”
Later at Marlena’s (Deidre Hall), Sami tries to apologize to Will by stating she needed him to remember his life, but Will says, “If remembering his life is remembering she’s his mother, he prefers to forget.” He runs to his room! Everyone is pissed at Sami, and she leaves in tears. Chandler Massey, Rob Scott Wilson, and Alison Sweeney all played their beats to perfection in this very dark and twisted plotpoint.
So what did you think of Sami’s plan to jog Will’s memory on DAYS? Did you enjoy the performances? Comment below!
Days Of Our Lives
‘Days of our Lives’ Rachel Boyd on the Return of Sophia Choi as She Makes Her Way To Salem: ‘I Wanted Her to Come Back Stronger Than Ever’
Next week on all-new episodes of Days of our Lives, the Peacock streaming soap opera will pick right back up from where Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) has tracked down a very much alive, Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd) in a diner in Kentucky. But what will happen when Sophia returns to her old stomping grounds of Salem?
In official spoilers for the week of October 12-16, look for Kristen to make a deal with the woman she supposedly killed, and by week’s end for the once-conniving Sophia to make her way back to Salem. Meanwhile, in a new interview with TV Insider heralding her return, Rachel Boyd, who did a tremendous job with Sophia’s original exit story, explains how she thinks this version of Sophia will be different than the last.
The exit story had Sophia setting out to kill Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) by a demand made by Kristen DiMera. Sophia failed to end Johny’s life and Kristen lured Sophia to the bridge and clunked her over the head with a rock and pushed her over the rails to the steely waters below.
Photo: Corday Productions
Sophia’s body was never found, but she was declared dead. At the time, Boyd thought Sophia might be ‘dead-dead’ but in soap opera’s and especially Days of our Lives, nobody really ever truly dies!
WHAT’S DIFFERENT WITH SOPHIA CHOI COME FALL OF 2026?
Reflecting on her first run, which featured many an emotional scene, Rachel recalled: “As crazy as some storylines can be, working on a soap opera is truly a boot camp in acting because you’re given one take and you have to tackle really hard circumstances.”
Those dramatic circumstances included: “Giving birth in my bedroom alone, penning a suicide note, or even attempting to murder someone by blowing him up are all things a younger version of myself would be so intimidated by,” expressed Boyd. “But I learned that preparation is everything and as long as I do the hard work before I show up to set, then I am capable of it.”
Rachel ended her first run back in December of 2025, but due to DAYS tape schedule, the character of Sophia “died” five months ago on episodes on Peacock. Once she returned to the set for her second-go round, it was all systems go. “It was more like being thrown into the deep end, which honestly worked for me. I enjoy working under pressure and with momentum.”
The actress hopes viewers will see the internal change with the character as things move forward. “I knew I wanted her to feel distinctly different,” she explained. “I’ve always tried to keep the character constantly evolving and changing as she experiences new things and responds to trauma. But now that the audience hasn’t seen her for months, I had a great opportunity to fill in those blanks for myself and come back in a whole new way.”
DAYS fans should really began to notice the change on next week’s episodes. “I wanted her to come back stronger than ever,” admits Boyd. “Now that she’s survived a near-death experience and kept herself alive and hidden for six months, this version of Sophia is going to be much more independent and a fighter. I can’t say exactly what is going to happen, but as long as Sophia’s alive, chaos will follow!”
So, are you glad that Rachel Boyd is back as Days of our Lives Sophia Choi? What do you think she will do once she gets back to Salem? Turn a new leaf or be back to her scheming ways? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Breaking News
2026 Daytime Emmys Gold & Silver Circle Inductees: Francesca James, Patrika Darbo and Meredith Vieira Among Those Being Honored
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced on Thursday, October 8, the 2026 Gold & Silver Circle Inductees who will be celebrated at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, October 30.
This year’s honor roll features industry professionals that have made contributions across daytime television, including daytime dramas, talk shows, comedy, and more.
The Gold inductees include: Meredith Vieira (former c0-host of The View, journalist and EP and CEO, Meredith Vieira Productions),Patrika Darbo (ex-Nancy, Days of our Lives and Shirley, The Bold and the Beautiful, soon to be seen reprising her role of Shirley on Y&R), three-time Daytime Emmy winner, Francesca James (ex-Kitty/Kelly, All My Children, and ex-Marcy Wade, One Life to Live, plus director and/or producer at All My Children, General Hospital, Loving, Santa Barbara et al), and finally Byron Allen (Founder, Chairman & CEO Allen Media Group).
It should be noted that Vieira made guest appearances on both All My Children and General Hospital throughout her career. On GH, she played madam Bree Flanders in 2003 and 2012. She also appeared as a wedding planner on All My Children back in 2001.
Photo: NATAS
The Silver inductees are: Stephen Brown (VP Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations) and Rubin Ervin (Announcer/Warm-Up Host for Family Feud, The Bachelor and more).The Gold and Silver Circle Society Inductees are deemed by NATAS as “exceptional professionals who have performed distinguished service within the television industry, setting standards for achievement, mentoring, leadership and professional accolades for 50 or 25 years, respectively. They represent the best and brightest in the industry.”
In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS shared, “This year’s Gold & Silver honorees are recognized for their continued exceptional contributions to our television industry. We are proud to honor a class of honorees from diverse career paths across many daytime genres. Their impact is evident in programming every day, inspiring generations and enriching the lives of countless viewers.”
MORE ON THE 53RD ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMYS
NATAS previously announced that soap opera icon Genie Francis (Laura, General Hospital) will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s ceremonies.
The 2026 Daytime Emmys will be held at the historic Hollywood Palladium and will stream live on the NATAS YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@theemmys and watch.TheEmmys.tv.
The annual awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of genres, including daytime dramas, talk series, entertainment news, culinary, adventure, instructional and legal/courtroom programming.
The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be a single ceremony in 2026, produced by NATAS Productions. Adam Sharp and Lara Gates are executive producers, with Leon Knoles returning to direct for a fifth straight year. Rachel Schwartz serves as Head of Daytime, and the firm of Lutz & Carr, LLP, provides accounting services for the competition.
So, what do you think of this year’s Gold & Silver Inductees? Happy to see some of the names that will be recognized on October 30? Who in the future who has had enduring contributions to daytime television or the soap opera genre, would you like to see receive these honors in years to come? Let us know via the comment section below.
This week on Days of our Lives, Dante Vitali (Franco LoPresti) surprises Sydney DiMera (Sydney Malakeh) when he arrives in Salem, while the woman he loves Sami Brady is over in Italy, Viewers are becoming quite suspicious of Dante, who seemed to be in collusion with Dominic Marino, leading us to try to surmise just what are Dante’s true intentions to coming to Salem? To meet Sami’s family, or so he says?
Meanwhile, Sami Brady has spoken! In a new video that dropped on Wednesday October 7 on the official Days of our Lives Instagram account, Alison Sweeney appears for what is being called as Sami Brady’s Confessions from Italy or Salem Confessionals!
In character, Sweeney talks to camera explaining Sami’s perspective on her engagement to Dante, and how she feels about him coming to Salem without her to meet the Brady clan. Sami says, “This is such a crazy time. I’m engaged, but I’m not ready to be older. It’s just been my reputation in the past. I’ve always been in such a hurry to sort of like, get it done because it hasn’t always worked out. I’m engaged to a wonderful man named Dante. He’s Italian. He’s dreamy and fabulous. I’m enjoying all of it, like the whole thing. Being engaged, being in love, dating, it’s a new thing for me.”
Photo: Corday Productions
DANTE’S ARRIVAL IN SALEM
Sweeney as Sami continues to explain and rationalize, “Dante, hired my daughter, Sydney, to work for him, which has been amazing. She actually likes him. She’s approved of this relationship, which I’m very happy about. But I will be honest, I’m a little nervous because my fiancé is going to meet my family in Salem without me. I think that’s a good idea. I’m nervous because my family, you know, knows a lot about me. But, I have told Dante everything. I mean, okay, not like literally everything, but a lot of. No, not a lot. Some, you know, enough and he doesn’t want to know the rest.”
All in all, it seems like Sami thinks she has found happiness with the guy, but she made be in for rude awakening as she brings up her manipulative past with the loves of Sami’s life. “He’s (Dante) happy and he loves me and I’m not like that anymore, so it’s fine,” explains Sami. “But I’m just saying that things might come up, um, because my family doesn’t forget either. I’m nervous for them to just like him. I’m nervous for them to be happy for me. I want them to be happy for me, and for us ,and for them to see that this is different for me. I understand why they don’t believe that. I understand why they would be, you know, suspicious of my intentions.”
Photo: Days Peacock IG
IT’S LOVE FOR SAMI
Sami shares she has fallen hard for Dante! “All I can say is I’m in love. It’s amazing. I recommend it. I really hope that Dante wins over my family, and they can all be happy for me. I do hope to get married sometime and celebrate that with my family. That’s what I want. That’s honestly actually what I’ve always wanted and now I think it’s really gonna happen.”
As previously reported, Alison Sweeney will be back on-screen come June of 2027 on the Peacock streaming soap opera, when Sami returns in story along with Christie Clark (Carrie Brady), Chandler Massey (Will Horton) and Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Horton).
So, what did you think of Sami’s confessions from Italy? Do you think Sami will be duped by Dante? Will their love conquer all, or is Dante even in love with Sami? Stay tuned.
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I love having the Sami/Will (Alison Sweeney/Chandler Massey) dynamic on the show. Alison needs to submit these scenes for Emmy consideration. This past month of “DOOL” has been edge-of-your seat great drama. It has been a long time since the show has had two great stories moving at the same time, with the other being the fallout of Theo’s shooting. It seems none of the actors are standing on the sidelines. I also love the Hope/Rafe drama. I have never felt chemistry with the characters and actually liked Hope better with Aiden. I look forward to the return of Ciara, Vivian and also the arrival of Tyler Christopher. DAYS IS BACK!
I would be mad at Sami too…and shouldnt she be arrested????
Will doesn’t want to press charges.
maybe he doesnt but Sami broke the law when she snuck/kidnapped Ben from the mental hospital or wherever he was so there should be criminal charges for that!!!
That was something so outrageous, Jimmy. What is wrong with this picture? Jar his memory by shock?
Why didn’t Sami or anyone else try something more, gee, I don’t know…..watchable?
Maybe Will and Ariana should ‘meet’…or did they, already? If they did, then I missed it.
But, seeing his child should stir some dormant memory.
.
Yes they met, and, heartbreakingly, she didn’t trigger his memories. That’s what made Sami so desperate to try anything. (I think maybe that episode was pre-empted? I watched it online. Marlena had also tried hypnosis unsuccessfully).
I liked that they did it. It gave us something new both by taking Sami’s crazy to a new level, and taking Will’s outrage at her to a whole new level! We’ve had excellent Will and Sami arguments in the past, so to give us something new they had to kick it up a gear, and Massey really brought it. He knocked it right out of the park! Loved it! And the Sweeney rocked it when she thought she’d lost Will again and this time properly forever! And it made their reconciliation that much more wonderful!
@Stephen.
Thank you for your well-written, sooo informative post, Stephen. I soaked up every word….
Unfortunately, I did not see that special moment between father and daughter….I am certain it was as hearbreaking as you described.
Yes, Chandler’s maturity, in both his acting and as Will, has risen a few notches—-looove him….always have…
Sami? What can I say—Ali plays her to heaven and back….she is perfection. That is one character which cannot be played by any other…it is what it is. We need her rare visits more often.
Lets hope Day’s keeps Ron.. he is good for Days.. remember you may not like all of the storylines, but he is really good for Days and let us all embrace him!!
Excellent episodes! Great performances and superb writing! Ron has done wonders with DAYS! Where were you a decade ago when GL needed saving? DAYS is the best soap on the air today! Followed closely by GH!
I have tears on my cheeks simply reading the recap ~ the real thing was awe inspiring. Kudos to the terrific trio!
The folks at ABC are quaking in their boots. They let a genius go. In their heads they were thinking, we have better ideas, we can save our show. So Ron disappeared for a bit and then went over to DAYS. DAYS was literally on the chopping block. Their stories were so horrible that no good acting team could save the stories. Then Ron’s writing appeared…and poof, they went from chopping block to top of the heap. They brought back excellent actors in roles that nearly EVERYONE wanted to see. DAYS always thrives on knock you on your butts drama. The Marlena/Hattie, Adrienne/Bonnie story started the roller coaster ride and then comes Will/Sami/Ben and add in the Paul/Sonny drama. Then add in the very relevant – although a little late – story of Theo’s shooting. Casey Moss deserves an Emmy for the intensity of his role. That boy is very underrated in how good he actually is. He was always written as a boy toy but now he’s being written a young man with many layers. This is a perfect vehicle for him to show off. Eve coming back is so great. They need a fireball like her again with a writer who knows how to use her. All I can say is that I can’t wait for what comes next and previous to Ron my statement was I can miss DAYS and not even notice. Now it’s the first one I watch in my DVR viewing schedule. So glad they got it together and I am so THANKFUL to Ron for what he has done to bring the craziness of DAYS back to life.
Um, the folks at ABC are doing okay. While Ron had a good run at OLTL and some great moments at GH, it was time for him to move on. Ask GH fans about Fluke and Denise Demuccio and you’ll discover it’s all not candy canes and lollipops.
And yet, with all the misfires, it was still much more watchable–at least to me–while Ron was writing it than it has been for the vast majority of the time since he left.
Given the number of equally bad story ideas that have played out on GH since Ron’s departure, it’s at least possible that the problem isn’t with the headwriters, but with ABC.
I agree.Plus maybe Ron Carlivati was okay been fired from GH because maybe he knew he needed a break because adding the time he was head writer at OLTL and head writer at GH it was like 8 years or so in total.So maybe he knew it was time to move on.So between the time he was let go from GH and time he was hired Days maybe Carlivati recharged himself and lived his life without the pressure of been head writer.Plus i’m sure both Carlivati and GH are happy with how things went down because Carlivati is probably enjoying writing for Days and GH is doing good right now.
Ron’s tenure on gh was action packed and must see a large Portion of the 1st two years. The 50th anniversary short term return of Legacy characters, The Return of Faison which played out via The fake Duke Mask story, The Saga of Robin Scorpio death, return from dead Saga which brought Anna Robert
Back to battle Faison and tying into Lukes race to secure the cure storyline, The Critchon Clark/!Cassadne adventure! The way he handled Frisco, Aj returns flopped as well the convoluted f
Messy flop that was Lukes last adventure and reimagining as a man with dissocative idendity crisis. I will The say Gh lately feels less disjointedwhilrthe
I love what chandler Massey has done since he’s been back. He definitely grew stronger as an actor. I love Allison and Rob too. The show is on a very even keel right now and I know this is going to be a good journey for all of us.
Gotta agree. At first I did miss the always-smiling, charming, almost coquettish version of Will that Chandler Massey played in the past. However, I’m now enjoying the more worldly-wise version of Will, who has his own agenda, who doesn’t appreciate having his comfortable world ripped away from him, and who doesn’t accept at face value everything his relatives say to him.
It’s intriguing that this version of Will might demand a true blank slate for himself, not WANTING to be pigeon-holed back into his former self, resenting that former self, while resenting even more those trying try to force that former self onto him.
I must commend the new head writer for making sense out of the previous writing team’s mash, and doing so in thought-provoking and fresh ways.
General Hospital is just now beginning to recover from the horrible damage Ron Carlivati did to it. The TRUE return of Jason Morgan – one of the characters he destroyed – was a big help. Sadly the damage he did to Luke Spencer – THE legendary GH character of all time – will probably never be undone, as the lame assed storyline drove Tony Geary into retirement.
I’m going against my better Devil judgment and giving Ron the benefit of the doubt here. Starting off with the ridiculous double doppleganger story was NOT a good sign. Bringing Will Horton back was a good move…. I’ll even accept the memory loss on a temporary basis (standard soap cliche though it is). But throwing him right back into the ridiculous triangle that ruined the previous re-cast version of Will…. sorry, that’s complete dragonshit.
Paul needs to go back to Hawaii Five 0…. or at least find his own boyfriend. Enough with him hopping between Will & Sonny’s beds already.
And for Hell’s sake, bring back Charlotte Ross and quit propping your OLTL pets.
I don’t think Charlotte wanted to return.
I don’t want a Sonny-Will-Paul triangle either. I can understand Paul hanging onto Sonny though. He’s the only other gay guy in Salem!
Cassis D-Eve isnt a pet…she was on Days before Ron took over the show and only just return…would had liked CR as Eve too but had other commitments and thats why CD was recast and that was before Ron’s arrival!!!!
Ron Carlivati was fired from GH in July 2015.So that was over 2 years.I’m not saying that Carlivati didn’t make mistakes at GH but i don’t think he did kind of damage that it would have taken GH 2 years to repair.As for Kassie DePaiva, she was hired to play Eve long before Carlivati was hired.So is it fair to have Kassie be fired just because she and Carlivati worked together in the past?
I agree that Days is in great shape with Ron. Ron is a soap fan. He gets what viewers like to see and has worked hard with Sheri and Ryan to embrace histories etc. GH is a good soap. I liked it under Ron’s pen as well. Charlotte Ross did not want to return full-time. She was only interested in a short story arc. I loved her as Eve too…but Kassie is great in the role too.
Everyone did a great job. Chandler’s face was red and it looked like he was really being choked.
Just sad that Will doesn’t want to have anything to do with Sami. They were always so close.
I do hope they don’t hook Will up with Paul.
This is a perfect example as to why I can’t stand the “Sami” character…never could, never will.
I love all of this, since Ron C. has joined Days it has been firing on all cylinders! Love it so much. We’ll still have Alison Sweeney and Eileen for a while.
Please let Will hook up with Ben, then Paul, then Derrick before he goes back to Sonny lol.
Hook up with Ben, blake? LOL. Who could blame anyone wanting to hook up with Ben….but, he did ‘kill’ Will. LOL.
PS.
So sorry, blake…..Stephen replied to an old post of mine and after I responded, I read on and completely forgot it is an older site, so I replied to your comment….sorry, again. Forgive me? LOL.
Lol it’s all good Celia.