As viewers of NBC’s Days of our Lives are watching the revisiting of the classic possession storyline revisited with its 2021 version 2.0, the stage is being set for plenty of devilish drama, now that good doc, Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) is once again in the grips of evil.

We have already seen her with yellow eyes, conjuring up some demonic plans, and of course, the devil trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Marlena’s husband, John Black (Drake Hogestyn).

Photo: NBC

Back in the 1994/95 version of this storyline, Father John emerged and exorcised the demon from Marlena, so he knows a thing or two about being possessed, and the horrors it caused to Marlena, and the town of Salem 25 years ago, and as we have seen John is very, very concerned about all this talk of Marlena being possessed by the devil from the script that Johnny (Carson Boatman)  is set to make into a film on Sami’s life story.

Current Days of our Lives head writer, Ron Carlivati, spoke with Soap Opera Digest in their latest issue on newsstands now, about his plans and the creation of the 2021 possession storyline. Ron revealed that John is not going to be in the dark for long, sharing: “John has been through this, so the devil isn’t going to be able to pull the wool over his eyes the way he did the first time.”

Carlivati also added: “Even though all soap opera stories, I would argue, depend on some characters being a little bit dumb, in this case, we decided John needs to get on to this sooner than he did in the original because that’s what they audience would expect.  Look for the story to move along at a pretty good clip. We are not rushing, anything by any means – we are having so much fun with the story, but it was important to us that John not look stupid here so he starts to suspect something is wrong with her pretty soon.”

So, are you glad that John will not be completely dumped? Will Father John return to save the day? Are you enjoying the story thus far? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Then, check out our recent interview with Ron all about the creation of DAYS limited-series, Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem still streaming on Peacock.

On Tuesday’s episode of Days of our Lives, the devil had his way with his favorite person, Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)! In story, leave it to Marlena to save Doug (Bill Hayes) by giving herself up to Satan!

As Doug revealed himself to be Satan while in a therapy session with Marlena in her office, a shook Marlena tries to comprehend what is happening! When the devil says if Marlena won’t accept him in, she will punish Doug, he does just that.

Photo: JPI

Poor Doug is left writhing in pain and on the floor, crying out for help! When we come back to the scene Marlena is not exactly right near his body, but sort of overlooking what is happening. Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) rushes into Marlena’s office to find Doug as Marlena stares blankly. Eventually, she calls for help.

After Doug is put in a hospital room and is monitored, Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) and Tripp (Lucas Adams) can’t find anything wrong with him. Meanwhile, Julie finds Marlena at the nurses station and asks what happened with Doug during their therapy session.  Marlena flashes back to what led to Doug writing on the floor, and clearly something is way off with Marlena, because she has now become possessed.

Later, Julie sits by Doug’s hospital bed as he opens his eyes, as he tells his beloved wife, “He left me and went in to her.”  A confused Julie is left to ponder what on earth Doug could be talking about.

When Marlena comes home to John (Drake Hogestyn) – who is already concerned with Johnny (Carson Boatman) being set on making a movie of Sami’s life story which includes points on Marlena’s original possession – she tells him Doug collapsed in her office. When the two hug, Marlena slowly opens her eyes  revealing that they are glowing yellow.  Yup! We are off to the races. Marlena is now once again possessed.

So, what did you think about the scenes between Deidre Hall and Bill Hayes? Are you enjoying the revisiting of the infamous ‘possession’ storyline thus far? Comment below.

Did the ‘Devil’ make them do it? Doug Williams  (Bill Hayes) is Satan? In what can only be described as major surprise twist on NBC’s Days of our Lives, for weeks, fans have thought they were about to embark on another dementia or Alzheimer’s storyline on the soaps with another beloved character.

However, Days head writer, Ron Carlivati ,and his writing team came up with a way to make it seem like this may be Doug’s fate only to use the long-running character as the impetus to bring the classic possession storyline back on the air some 25 years later.

It all goes down after Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) calls Marlena (Deidre Hall) to ask him to see Doug, after his MRI and other tests proved inconclusive for dementia, etc, to see if Dr. Evans can assess him.  The phone call to Marlena happened after John (Drake Hogestyn) was discussing the past, since Johnny (Carson Boatman) is ramping up to a shoot a movie on Sami’s life, that will include the time that Sami walked in on John and Marlena having sex, which caused Sami to act out for years and years.

However, and this is key, John tells Marlena that moment in time also left her alone and vulnerable to the darkest time in her life – alluding to when she became possessed by the devil – and Marlena was clearly having difficulty admitting that or going down that road of remembrance, when the phone call from Kayla saved her from digging deeper into the past.  Well now, John and Marlena may never have that conversation as she is primed to once again become possessed.

Meanwhile, Johnny is reading Will’s script for the Sami movie, and is shocked to read in it that Marlena was once possessed by the devil, as John takes out a dusty box with his Father John collar, a bible, and a news clipping of Marlena being possessed.  John is feeling that this movie will bring bad things on to all those he loves, especially Doc, and he looks to be right!

Now at her office with Doug, he admits he knows something is wrong.  He acts out and does strange things and does not know why.  Marlena brings up why Doug locked Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) in a freezer by accident. Doug gets adamant saying: “That was no accident. I locked that bitch in there on purpose.”  Marlena is shocked at his word and tone.  Then as Doug laughs, he says, “I’m not Doug.”  Next thing you know, the lowered voice of Satan comes out of Doug’s mouth and he tells Doc, “It’s been over 25 years Marlena. But did you really think I wouldn’t come back for you?” End of episode.  Great cliffhanger!

Now, check out the fall preview released following the airing of Friday’s episode by NBC below, which teases more demonic moments on Days. Then let us know in the comment section, what you thought of the ‘Doug’ twist as the possession storyline begins?

Plus, make sure to cast your vote in ‘Michael’s Poll’ of the week on the revisiting of this classic tale now in 2021 below the preview.

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