Friday’s episode of the weeklong wedding event of DAYS supercouple John and Marlena brought with it an oh-so-perfect nod to the show’s history, high camp, drama, outstanding performances, and a major cliffhanger!  What more could any soap fan ask for, right?

We pick up with Sami (Alison Sweeney) who has crashed Jarlena’s nuptials, and seemingly drugged out, telling her mother, Marlena (Deidre Hall) that she cannot marry John (Drake Hogestyn).  Meanwhile, Susan (Stacy Haiduk) reaches into her purse and viewers see she has a gun!  Sami can barely speak, but warns Marlena if she marries John, she is going to die.  In a haze, Sami says she figured out ‘her’ plan, but that “she” got a way.  An upset and desperate, Sami goes through each row of guests looking for the culprit she is speaking of!  When she sees Susan, she screams out:  “It’s you.  You are not going to get away with it.”

Next, Susan and Sami struggle as Marlena yells that she invited Susan to the wedding and for Sami to leave her alone.  However, Sami declares that the woman she is calling “Susan” isn’t Susan!   To prove her point, Sami tears off Susan’s wig in a struggle, and it is revealed that it’s Kristen DiMera!

Courtesy/NBC

Next, in a throwback and nod to the Days of our Lives classic, Kristen and John wedding of the 90’s, Sami hits Kristen in the face and her fake teeth fly across the Horton Town Square and into Marlena’s bouquet.  Marlena is shocked and grossed out.  However, now Kristen grabs her gun and reveals her plans!  Steve (Stephen Nichols) tries to come at her, but backs off when Kirsten retorts:  “Easy, Cyclops.”  She tells Marlena that she survived Marlena “pushing her” out of that tower window a few years ago, and that now she is at the nuptials for payback as she aims the gun at the good doc.  Kristen adds that Marlena she is the worst excuse for a human being.

Next, Kristen’s former love, Brady (Eric Martsolf) steps forward trying to reason with Kristen to put the gun down.  Now, doing a little reverse psychology on her (maybe he learned that from Marlena) he tells his ex-lover that he knows she’s just trying to love herself.  Kristen briefly shows some emotion. but toughens right backup after talking about the child she should have had with Brady blaming Theresa (Jen Lilley).

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Eric (Greg Vaughan) and Brady make their move and grab Kristen, but as they do the gun is tossed to Sami!  Now Kristen wants Sami to kill John.   She even brings up the conference room table sexcapade between Marlena and John, which Sami held against John all those years.  But that doesn’t shake Sami, and nothing does until Kristen reveals that EJ is alive.  Kristen announces that she will gladly take Sami to EJ; all she has to do is shoot John.  Shocked, confused. and not knowing what to do, Sami has the gun pointed in John’s direction, as Eric tries to grab the gun from her …  a shot is fired!

Away from the wedding, there is also major drama going down.  Will (Chandler Massey), who is in tears in the park remembering his wedding day to Sonny… and finally having a major breakthrough with his long bout of amnesia … is found by Sonny (Freddie Smith).  They go to Doug’s Place to help Will calm down.  Sonny knows Will all too well and knows something is bothering him.   Will reveals he remembered their wedding.  Tears well up in Sonny’s eyes as he begs Will to remember more.  Will is seemingly afraid to, and says he just recalls fragments from his past.  He says he has to get back to the wedding because his grandmother is getting married, and he is in love with Paul (Christopher Sean).   Then, Sonny says he was robbed of their past and so was Will, and for him to please stop running from it.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

All of a sudden; a floodgate of memories come to Will.  He remembers that Marlena was his grandmother, not a woman he just met a few months ago.  He remembers his love for Sonny.  He remembers his grandmother, Caroline’s speech at their nuptials. Will then says he remembers coming out, and always wanting his parents to be together, not divorced.  Then to cap it off, Will remembers the birth of his daughter, Arianna, and how he held her for the first time, and he remembers his love for his mother, Sami.  He even remembers Nick Fallon causing him so much trouble.  Finally, he remembers kissing Sonny at their wedding, and now in the present; the two longtime loves finally move in for a kiss.

Once again this episode featured heart-tugging performances by Chandler Masssey and Freddie Smith, and special nods to Stacy Haiduk and Alison Sweeney, who made all of the “crazy” of this episode so soapalicous good. Finally, kudos to head writer Ron Carlivati for delivering another memorable episode and a week’s worth of fun that only he could construct.

So, what did you think of Friday’s episode of DAYS?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.