Days Of Our Lives

DAYS OF OUR LIVES: Abe Goes to the Light While John Faces Off with MarDevil

By Michael Fairman

Published

5 years ago

October 26, 2021

Michael

Courtesy/PeacockNBC

Monday’s highly-anticipated episode of Days of our Lives did not disappoint. In fact, we think that this episode should be a strong contender for DAYS to consider for one of their Outstanding Drama Series submissions for next year’s Daytime Emmys. Why? It has it all – emotional heart with Abe’s journey to and from the light, touching flashbacks, a great performance by James Reynolds, and some special effects and editing during the John (Drake Hogesytn) vs. MarDevil scenes, which also gave us a delicious performance by Deidre Hall.

At the start of the episode, Abe has flatlined after being shot as Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) tries to revive him, but they are losing him. As this is going on, Paulina (Jackée Harry), Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) and Eli (Lamon Archey) are gathered at the hospital awaiting news on Abe’s condition. Later, Eli decides to go find out what is happening with Abe, and gets the shock of his life when he walks in on Abe flatlining, while Kayla tells him that Abe is gone. Eli implores her to try to bring him back. He tells the others they are working on trying to save Abe, as Julie and Paulina bond, and later, Lani must call Theo and Brandon to let them know about Abe’s condition.

Photo: JPI

Julie reminisces about Abe, and how they have known each other for 40 years, our wink-wink that this is James Reynolds’ 40th anniversary episode. Then, we see Abe has gone to the light wearing a white sweater and who should he see but his beloved late wife, Lexie. No, it’s not Renee Jones, but an actress who delivers Lexie’s lines, since it had been previously reported that Jones was unavailable for the episode. In scenes with the replacement Lexie, Reynolds showed us why he is an MVP of DAYS. He acted up a storm and brought the emotion regardless of who was standing there.

However, longtime viewers got a wonderful surprise when flashback clips of scenes between Renee Jones and Reynolds were shown and they were some major moments in the history of Abe and Lexie’s relationship including: the moment when Abe learns Lexie’s pregnant, the moment when he is disgusted by Lexie’s betrayal when he learned of her involvement in the Zack baby switch storyline, and what she did to Bo and Hope, all because she was desperate for a child. Later, it’s the five-hankie moment of when Lexie, who was dying from a brain tumor, passes away in Abe’s arms.

After all the flashbacks, Lexie tells Abe he needs to go back and not to come with her to heaven. He has children, and people who love him and need him. Eventually, he says his goodbyes to Lexie and returns to the present, just as Kayla is about to call his time of death in the hospital room. All of a sudden, Abe’s heart begins to beat.

Photo: JPI

Kayla brings Julie, Eli, Lani, and Paulina the news that Abe will need surgery, but he will make it. Then, Paulina and Lani make their way to see him. In another emotional moment, they tell him how much they love him (Paulina looks worried about her lie being exposed that Lani is not really Abe’s bio-daughter). As the episode comes to its conclusion, we see the back of Lexie making sure Abe is safe and sound among the living, while signifying she is watching over him.

And if that was not enough, this episode also picked up where John had confronted MarDevil in the church, letting Satan knows he is on to him and that he is not going to win … he is going to get Marlena back. Satan drives home the point that Marlena belongs to him now. John is mortified as the cross on the church wall turns upside down. Later to show off his prowess and control, MarDevil turns the holy water blood red. As the scene progresses, MarDevil is jumping all over the church and showing up in different spots.

Photo: JPI

John then gets the lowdown on how Satan struck a deal with Marlena to let Doug (Bill Hayes) live if she let him in. That is followed, by some of the back-story of Marlena’s first possession over 25 years ago, and why it happened when she was alone and very distraught. MarDevil even goes on to say that he tried once before to regain control of Marlena during the Salem Serial Killer storyline, but it did not work out that time, because all the victims turned out to be alive. MarDevil brings up Stefano and how he had made Marlena believe John was dead which left her vulnerable. He goes on to relate that Doug was the gateway for Marlena’s re-possession.

Photo: JPI

MarDevil tells John what she did with Doug by committing him and how she wanted to kill Julie. John knows that Marlena can hear him and tries to bring her back, but as the devil struggles with that, ultimately, he wins and begins to show his strength to John tossing him around the church, where he is eventually is knocked unconscious and then dragged to, we don’t know where, by the MarDevil!

Throughout the scenes, Deidre Hall looked like she was having so much fun playing the devilish one in this campy storyline revisited.

So, what did you think of James Reynolds performance and his 40th anniversary episode? What was your favorite moment? Are you glad John knows for certain now that Marlena is once again possessed? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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5 Comments

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Richard

4 years ago

Days has it all! The haters will come forward but every scene is this episode has something going on. The scenes with Abe were fantastic and so great to see James Reynolds get the respect for being on for 40 years and the scenes with mar devil were great as well it gave a great balance of good vs evil in Salem Great job

Richard

4 years ago

And can we say how great it was to see Renee Jones as Lexie in flashbacks

Rodd

4 years ago

I thought they did Abe’s scenes with Lexie very well, almost showing her face without doing so, since Ms. Jones wasn’t available to reprise the role. It was a nice walk down memory lane, though Abe had a lot more t o do than just the story with Lexie. Still, congratulations to Mr. Reynolds on his anniversary!

Violet Lemme

4 years ago

I was kind of disappointed with Abe’s Anniversary episode. I thought they would show interaction with his castmates, family and friends and not just a few conversations with his deceased wife, Lexi

Patrick

4 years ago

this one’ going to make me cry – Mr. James Reynolds. My Abe and lexie w/Theo and lani. W/ Ms. Valerie. hollah w/Celeste !!!! 40 glorious years.. AND it’s ALL on even keel. Sir

Mr. Emmy You

as a person of color… and i will make this short.. because his person and character REEL are always on track. when a show SHOULD FEATURE color… race… variable… catch! what is this life without ? COLOR

incomparable

he needs no net… Thank the soap gods… i’m not to be so serious

light

Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of Our Lives’ Favorites Making Returns: Alison Sweeney, Christie Clark, Chandler Massey and Bryan Dattilo

Published

6 days ago

July 28, 2026

Michael

Great news for Days of Our Lives fans, now that Ryan Quan is co-head writer of the long-running soap opera. Coming in June of 2027 (since DAYS tapes ten or so months ahead), you can look forward to the returns of Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady), Christie Clark (Carrie Brady), Chandler Massey (Will Horton) and Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Horton).

The foursome is back on set and began last week to tape their upcoming story arc, according to TV Insider. As to what exactly is going on that brings sister Sami and Carrie’s history back up, as well as Will and Lucas’ is only being teased at this time, but suffice to say, it should be intriguing.

Alison Sweeney explained on being back on set, “It was a lot of dialogue and emotion, but with all the best actors to work opposite, we fell into it as if no time had passed. It was really wonderful.”

Photo: JPI

As to working with the longstanding rivalry of Sami and Carrie, Alison added on working with Clark, “So, it really does feel like we’re sisters. It’s so fun, and she’s such a good actor that she makes everything so natural that you can really disappear into those stories.”

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES

It also seems like the deep-history, which often had the sister fighting for the love of Austin Reed, but that might not figure into the equation this time, or will it?

Alison indicated what she thought of the scripts she was given. “I felt like when I read it, it was a page-turner. I was very excited. There’s a lot of history here, and a lot of things that haven’t been said. So, it’s really not like, ‘Oh, rehashing stuff.’ And now having played some of the scenes, I’m psyched.” Sweeney added, as for the men, working again with her on-screen son, Chandler Massey and Will’s on-screen father Bryan Dattilo, was also extra special.

The last time DAYS viewers saw Sami on the canvas was back in November of 2025, when she revealed she has gotten engaged to never-before-seen Dante Vitali. As for Clark, she last visited Salem for the episodes surrounding John Black’s memorial in June of 2025.

Chandler Massey’s Will Horton last made a visit to Salem in November of 2025 when he attended the gala for the Tom Horton Free Clinic as part of the soap opera’s 60th anniversary celebration. Bryan Dattilo was last seen in December of 2025. So, by the time we see all four again it will be close to two years since they were on new episodes of the series. Time to look forward to June of 2027.

So, excited by the news of Alison, Christie, Chandler and Lucas making a return to Days of Our Lives? What do you think the story will be involving, Sami, Carrie, Lucas and Will? Let us know via the comment section.

Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of Our Lives’ Alum Al Calderon Talks On His Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes as Javi Hernandez (Exclusive)

Published

2 weeks ago

July 23, 2026

Michael

Last Tuesday, Al Calderon scored the first Emmy nomination of his career for his role as Javi Hernandez on Days of Our Lives.

Calderon name was announced as one of the performers competing for gold in the Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on October 30.

This week, Calderon chatted live on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel for a one-on-one conversation where he discussed: his nominated scenes and time on the Peacock streaming soap opera, his decision to leave DAYS, his role of Nico Silva on Brilliant Minds and its sad cancellation, plus his passing the torch of Javi to Jacob Martinez, who took over the role on-screen on the June 30, 2026 episode of Days of Our Lives.

Photo: JPI

JAVI REVEALS TO LEO THAT HE HAD A DAUGHTER WHO DIED

Al revealed the scenes that comprise his now Emmy-nominated reel have at its epicenter the heartbreaking moments from the September 12, 2025 episode. In it, Javi shares for the first time to Leo (Greg Rikaart) that he had a daughter named Solana, with a woman he was seeing named Sylvia. One fateful day, Sylvia left their child in a car when she went to work and the little girl died. Javi had blamed himself for not being the parent to take his daughter to school that day since he was hungover the night before, therefore it opened up the opportunity for something to happen to the his child, and it did.

The multi-talented actor/singer explained his reel: “It was the scene where he is talking about his daughter to Leo. I also included the scene where Javi goes to talk to Melinda (Tina Huang) and to see if it would be a viable option to adopt, because I wanted to introduce the subtlety and nuance of why Javi kind of has this whole connection to Tesoro, in a way.”

It is true that Al can bring the tears and make us cry right along with him during his run as Javi. To that, Calderon added, “I’ve read the comments that I’m a little bit of a crybaby, so I didn’t want the entire reel to be of me crying, but I wanted it to show a little bit of an emotional range of the restraint that Javi was feeling so I included that scene

In addition Calderon shared, “I also included a really beautiful scene with Cherie Jimenez (Gabi Hernandez, DAYS) where I’m looking at photos of Tesoro, and of course, Javi is crying. I just wanted to show the relationship between Javi and his family as well, and as I mentioned the reveal of the child that he lost.”

Photo: JPI

ALUMS AL CALDERON AND ALICE HALSEY REPRESENT DAYS OF OUR LIVES IN EMERGING TALENT CATEGORY

In a twist of fate, Calderon is also nominated in the Emerging Talent category with Alice Halsey who played Rachel Black. Halsey is currently starring in the reboot of Little House on the Prairie in the lead role of Laura Ingalls on Netflix.

As to his hope on Emmy night, Al expressed, “Of course, I want to win, but Alice Halsey is going to give me a run for the money. And if’s not me (who wins the award), it better be her!”

You can check out the full interview with Al below.

Now let us know, do you remember Al’s emotional scenes when he explained to Leo he had a daughter who died, which made it all the more heartbreaking to not end up with permanent custody of Tesoro? What do you think of Al’s chances to win the gold based on his Emmy scene selection? Do you miss him as Javi? Weigh-in via the comment section.

Days Of Our Lives

Emily O’Brien Talks On Her Y&R Past as Jana Hawkes and Working with Peter Porte on ‘Days of Our Lives’

Published

2 weeks ago

July 21, 2026

Michael

On the latest edition of Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart which dropped on Tuesday, July 21, Emily O’Brien is the featured guest. As soap fans know, Emily has worked with Rikaart both in her first soap role on The Young and the Restless as Jana Hawkes and now on Days of Our Lives in her current role of Gwen Rizczech.

While Emily continues on DAYS, she has very impressive list of credits in the other part of her career as a voice-over actress and one in motion-capture in some of the most popular video games in the world.

O’Brien was first seen on The Young and the Restless back in 2006. She recalled her landing the role which eventually paired her for her five year run with Greg Rikaart.

Photo: JPI

BEING CAST ON THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

“The role was just a few days and she wasn’t even supposed to be English,” Emily recalled. “The role was originally called Jade. Karen Rae, the casting director of The Young and the Restless at the time said to me “Oh, you’re from England. Try it with the dialect.” I put it on and she said, ‘I’m going to bring you back at like 3 for s callback.’ So then they changed the role to Jana and they said she’s going to be a Brit. I was only supposed to be on for like five episodes and it turned into 5 years.”

In explaining why she loved crazy Jana, Emily shared, “Jana was sort of like the misanthrope. She was just was the odd one out and I loved it. I felt so comfortable playing that because she was just eclectic and weird and she loved playing with Ouija boards and she rode a motorbike. There was just so much color to bring to her. It was just such a great match to play with Greg (Kevin), and Christian LeBlanc (Michael) and Tracey Bregman (Lauren).

Photo: JPI

GWEN, DIMITRI AND LEO ON DAYS OF OUR LIVES

On Days of Our Lives, the Leo, Gwen, Dimitri dynamic is quite unique and been through many schemes and entanglements. Often Emily finds herself in repartee with her ex-lover, Dimitri, who turned out to be gay and then had a thing for her bestie, Leo (Greg Rikaart)!

During the conversation, Greg and Emily sang, Peter Porte’s praised with O’Brien expressing, “Peter is just ready to play. He comes on set prepared. I’ve never seen him with his script. From blocking and rehearsals, he doesn’t have it. He’s prepared. He’s a physical actor and he always trying to come up with something. I think he let me slap him. He let me kiss him. He let me throw a cheeseburger in his lap. He’s ready for anything for anything.”

You can catch the full episode of ‘Soapy; featuring Emily O’Brien below where the actress also talks about replacing Jen Lilley as Theresa Donovan after being let go as Gwen; and being paired again with Greg Rikaart on the Peacock streaming soap opera this time as best friends and more.

So, were you a big Jana Hawkes and Kevin Fisher fan on Y&R? Did you like them as a couple? Do you like the dynamic between Emily and Peter Porte and Greg Rikaart on DAYS? Weigh-in via the comment section below.