Credit: Peacock screenshot (3)

John (and John Doe) wrapped up their story at lightning speed, but was the payout worth it? And Victor’s funeral may not have been quite what we were hoping for, but it was still packed with emotion and led straight into trouble for Sarah and some massive, Vivian-shaped fall-out! 

Good Enough!

First off, that was the fastest, easiest Who’s John’s Daddy reveal ever, and that’s saying a lot seeing as how there’s been a few dozen of them. Secondly, maybe get a DNA test, fellas. I have so many questions about the Dick Van Dyke story.

But at the end of the day, I’m going to give it all a pass because as John said on Friday’s episode, he’s had so many changes to his family over the years, each one worse than the last, but this one is finally something good. Plus, they didn’t even rewrite John’s backstory for this, just his… front story? He’s still who he thought he was, it’s just that Yo Ling wasn’t who he said he was. So there you go.

More: Paul and Andrew are coming home

Plus, it was genuinely heartwarming to see father and son embrace. That’s one thing John’s never gotten, and Dick Van Dyke brought so much warmth to it. Hopefully he filmed enough that we’ll get to see them build something of a relationship before he leaves the show. Maybe that’s what brings Paul back?

Faulty Memory?

Has the show just forgotten that Brady and Theresa have been playing nice for some time now? Have I gotten this wrong? Suddenly Brady’s got a lot more animosity towards her than I remember. (And Jen Lilley kind of brought it up too when she posted some behind-the-scenes photos and mentioned she and Eric Martsolf were a bit nonplussed by the “remember, they don’t like each other” notes they were given.)

The thing is, Days of Our Lives doesn’t need to sacrifice history for story. Brady could still be taken aback and shoot Theresa down because this reunion thing is so out of the blue. He doesn’t need to backpedal, call her irredeemable and claim he’s waiting for her to reach Kristen levels of treachery.

More: Will Theresa be the end of Alex?

But it looks like this is setting up a Theresa and Alex fling, and that’s got me intrigued. If the Emily O’Brien as Theresa rumors are true — which I don’t think any of us who don’t work on the show can confirm, but even Lilley at this point seems to support — then that brief Gwen/Alex fling we got before Dimitri now seems a lot more like a chemistry test.

Alex, though, had better watch out. He may be working on improving himself, but I don’t think I’ll ever see him with a goodie goodie like Stephanie. Theresa’s a lot less devious than she used to be, but she’s still Theresa. And I’m still pretty sure she could chew Alex up and spit him out. If she wants to use him to make Brady jealous, she’ll make it work even if Alex thinks he’s in on it.

Life…

I’m pretty sure none of us believe Sarah’s actually going to die, but that doesn’t take away from ending her birth Friday on a good, dramatic cliffhanger. Though that would be one heck of a twist! It would set up a major confrontation is Rex tried raising the baby as his own and so devastate poor Maggie after losing Victor, there’d probably be one less person to challenge Vivian’s claims.

I am, however, fascinated by Sarah worrying she’d tell Xander the truth while she was in pain. Do people usually just blurt that out when they’re in pain? I mean, I know that’s the fallacious logic behind torturing people, but does it just happen in the real world? Drop something heavy on your foot and tell your boyfriend you hate his haircut?

But no, the flashbacks and the close call made clear that sooner or later, Sarah’s going to consciously decide Xander really has changed and tell him herself. And I’m hoping that after the initial hurt, he’ll take the lessons he’s been learning with Chloe and forgive her.

Speaking of Chloe, I was honestly waiting for more jealous cuts of her as Xander fawned over Sarah, but again I was reminded of why I like them together, because she was just trying to help. Maturity!

Death…

After all that speculation over who would be coming back to say goodbye, Victor’s funeral was smaller than we may have liked (find out why here), but I can’t fault the heart behind it. The tears that Sonny and Brady let loose, Justin’s voice breaking as he spoke, Philip’s line about having the distinction and the burden of being raised by Victor, Maggie’s longing for her husband’s voice, his touch — it was all heartbreaking. Also, I’m a sympathetic crier, so when Justin’s voice started breaking as he spoke, I lost it.

And it was all the more impactful because we knew so much of it was real. The actors were saying goodbye to John Aniston as well as Victor. They loved him, perhaps more but maybe Maggie was allowed to love Victor.

And Vivian’s entrance was perfect. Her coming in during the funeral might have made a bigger splash, but she’s played more for humor, and this service needed to be left alone. As for her revelation: Called it!

But I wasn’t expecting the vanishing will. She doesn’t even have to fight for control, she now gets it all. The house, the money, controlling share in Titan, I’m guessing. She can pull Stefan over to run it and rattle the DiMeras and the Kiriakises.

More: Alison Sweeney is in for a shocking truth

I think folks are already speculating that Vivian swiped it somehow, but my money’s on it being tied to wherever Victor was when his plane went down. I know we’ve talked about it before, but there’s that Isabella theory still. Victor’s been keeping her alive over in Greece and finally managed to wake her up, so he had to amend his will. Even if not, I’m excited to see where this is going. In one swoop, she’s suddenly poised to upend half the Days of Our Lives canvas.

… and Rebirth

Susan’s alive! I’ll pause a moment for the collective gasps to finish. Or just to let us listen to the crickets chirping. Yeah, none of us actually thought she was gone but still, where in the world has she been? Is she being held prisoner somewhere? I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough because Jason and Carly Harris and Ava made their escape and are on the case.

Stray Thoughts…

• Theresa and Xander were vicious fun together. But, uh, her line about how Brady told her that Xander used to pull the wings off butterflies as kids has me a little worried.

• I knew I liked Johnny. EJ pushing him to go after Chanel prompted: “You’re encouraging me to be the odd man out in yet another love triangle?” Self-awareness is so rare in the DiMera family.

• I was a bit confused when Kate told Philip he wasn’t in the will, then I remembered, a dead man couldn’t be in it. Victor kept up the ruse to protect Philip even in death. That’s kind of sweet.

• Sloan wants to adopt now? Are we getting a baby switch story after all? Watch out, Nicole.

Find out who’s who in Victor’s family and how they’re all related with our new Kiriakis photo gallery!

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