On Tuesday, it's the night before John is scheduled to die for a murder
he did not commit. [In Salem, Kristen is thrilled when Fr. Francis regains
consciousness, but the nurse doubts he is really cognizant of what is going
on. All he says is "Tony", no matter what is asked of him. In his head,
Fr. Francis realizes what has happened, but he cannot express himself. Since
she believes Fr. Francis can't help John, Kristen returns to Aremid.] Marlena
cannot hide her tears as she watches John share a final moment with his
children. [Hey, I reached for the kleenex too. Despite John's protests,]
Marlena goes to Stefano's house, supposedly to have dinner with him; but in
reality, Marlena intends to do whatever she must to get the evidence that
could set John free. [While Stefano is preparing the wine for their dinner,
she takes the opportunity to sneak upstairs and look in his room for the book.
Celeste notes that Marlena is missing and alerts Stefano, but he's foolishly
not worried about her intentions toward him.] Hope is getting worse instead
of better [and Jude has used up all the aspirin]. Jude thought her fever
would have broken by now, but she sinks deeper into delirium. [He tells her
to try to stay awake, but she finds it very difficult. She asks him to talk
to her, so he starts telling her about himself. He has two older brothers,
and his parents divorced when he was very young. He didn't take it very well,
and he lived with his father, who beat him. He was a trouble maker. Then he
got involved in the "good life". Hope asks if there have been any women in
his life. Lots of women, he says; but she wants to know if he's ever been in
love. Yes, when he was much younger. Her name was Marie, and she looked a
lot like Hope. Disturbed, Jude stops talking about himself.] By the end of
the day, Hope collapses [she's in bed, but she loses consciousness and Jude
can't rouse her], and Jude fears that her fight to hang on to life might be
over. Meanwhile, Bo returns to work, stubbornly resisting his parents and his
partner's fear that he is not ready to return to the mean streets of Salem.
[Caroline gets a 'cold feeling' that she tends to get when her kids are in
danger.] Bo and his partner get a call about a possible drug deal going down
in some apartment. It should have been a routine bust, but the dealers refuse
to surrender. Before the police can react, the bad guy grabs the gun and
starts shooting. Bo and his partner return fire, and afters the smoke clears,
someone has taken a bullet.
Feb. 21, 1996
On Wednesday, Marlena manages to get a moment alone and she uses it
to snoop through Stefano's bedroom. She's shocked when she opens the drawer
and realizes that the diary -- the evidence that could save John's life --
is missing. Marlena knows Stefano moved it, and her attempt to find the book
before John is executed becomes even more desperate. [She hears Stefano coming
and quickly leaves his room, pretending to have been in Kristen's room to
freshen up. Luckily Stefano is called away shortly to the kitchen about the
dinner he is having prepared. Marlena wonders if she should risk going into
Stefano's room again. Then the lady in white appears, and wants to help.
They develop a plan. Marlena will get the diary, give it her, and she is to
bring it to Abe Carver. During dinner with Stefano, Marlena says she smells
smoke, knowing Stefano will go and get the diary. She sees where he is hiding
it and sneaks back into his room later, but gets caught by him. He says she
has been acting strange all evening -- What is it? "I want you, Stefano," she
says. Euuuwwwwwww!] Kristen and John's friends are forced to watch as John
is led to the gas chamber. [Mickey was not able to talk to the governor
directly because he was in a meeting. He assures John he will kick down the
door and interrupt this meeting if he has to. Abe and Lexie feel helpless,
because their investigation has turned up nothing to help John.] Hope has
survived the night, but her fever is still raging. Jude doesn't know what
to do until all at once the fever breaks. Hope is all right. She's still
weak, but the worst is over. Jude is glad of it, but he has no intention of
letting Hope go -- not now, not ever. [Despite Hope's thankfulness for saving
her and her belief that there is some good in Jude, he will not let her return
to her family. She is handcuffed to the bed again, and she clings to the Hope
that Bo will rescue her.] Remember Bo's involvement in that drug bust that
turned into a shoot-out? Well, he's fine, but a young pregnant girl was
caught in the crossfire. She is now in labor, and with no time to call for
an ambulance [or more accurately, no way to get help with all the gangs around]
Bo helps her through it. He does his best to be there for her, in a way he
wasn't able to be for Hope. [She gives birth to a baby girl, whom she decides
to name Hope. Disturbed, Bo calls his parents and tells them he's made a
decision.]
Feb. 22, 1996
On Thursday, John is strapped into the chair and prepared for the
lethal gas release. He is told to breathe in deeply and not fight it, or
he will die much more slowly. The only thing that can save John is a phone
call from the governor. There is a phone near the execution chamber for that
purpose. Abe, Lexie, Mickey, Maggie, and Kristen watch helplessly as the time
of execution draws nearer. In Salem, Victor has gotten wind of it and gets on
the phone to call in some favors. Just as the gas is about to be released,
the phone rings. The governor has allowed a temporary stay of execution while
he looks over John's case, thanks to Victor. Now that he has been given
another chance, John tries desperately with the others to figure out a way
to clear him of Tony's murder. Jude St. Clair still hasn't been found, and
Jennifer and Hope believed he was telling the truth when he said he didn't
kill Tony. But perhaps he knows who did. Meanwhile, Jude tells Hope that
no one is looking for her anymore. And now that she's well, he can have his
way with her. She believes he is a good person and doesn't really want to
hurt her, but it doesn't stop him. She wards him off for a while longer by
telling him she's still sick. Alone while a frustrated Jude goes out for
some air, Hope fervently tries to contact Bo in her thoughts. She believes
that their love is strong enough that he will feel that she is still alive.
In Salem, Bo tells his parents that he has decided to hold a memorial service
for Hope, so that Shawn-Douglas can remember his mother and move forward.
Victor stops by to tell Bo about John, and because he's concerned about him.
Bo admits that he can't let go of Hope, because something is telling him that
she's still alive. Then the bell on his boat rings. He takes it as a sign
that Hope is alive. (Fake flashback time: Hope said that ringing the bell
meant all is well. Carly gave him a bell; not Hope.) On some faraway island,
Kate tries to figure out a way to get back home. While her husband is out of
earshot, the woman confides to Kate that she has a telephone. Overjoyed, Kate
calls Victor's place, but Vivian answers. The connection is terrible, but
Vivian thinks it sounded like Kate. Marlena continues with her charade of
wanting to sleep with Stefano. He is shocked, and she claims it was a surprise
to her too, which is why it took a while to admit it. He suggests they
continue with dinner. Marlena agrees, but knows she's running out of time.
She takes her first opportunity to make certain the lady in white is still
waiting outside to receive the book when she gets it. Stefano lingers over
supper and dessert, and Marlena pretends to be anxious to get back to his
bedroom. They start to head upstairs when the phone rings. It's Judge
Walker, telling Stefano that John was not executed. Stefano orders him to
have the stay of execution rescinded immediately.
February 23, 1996
On Friday, John has been granted a last-minute stay of execution.
Now that he has a new lease on life, John gets together with Abe, Kristen, and
Lexie to figure out who really did Tony in. Stefano is not happy about this,
and he orders the judge to go over the governor's head and rescind the stay.
If Stefano gets his way, it will be curtains for John. Marlena is aware of
this [the lady in white appears again and tells her that Stefano is threatening
the judge to have John executed], but she hides her panic and continues to
pretend that she cares for Stefano, in an effort to get her hands on that
diary. [Celeste warns Stefano that Marlena may have ulterior motives for
coming on to Stefano, but he refuses to believe that she would do that to him.
Upstairs in Stefano's bedroom, he kisses Marlena. She's clearly uncomfortable,
and he says he knows why. He openly declares his love for her, and gives her
the pearl necklace which she refused at Christmas. She cannot return the
sentiment with the same intensity, but claims to be overwhelmed by all of her
emotions and unable to put them into words. When he leaves to answer the
door (it's Lexie with questions about her father. Stefano says he knows
nothing), Marlena takes the opportunity to get the diary. The lady in white
appears from a secret passageway and takes it. She encourages Marlena to
leave, but she says she must stay with Stefano until she's sure John is safe.
Later, as Marlena is 'freshening up', Stefano notices a cabinet door ajar, and
realizes she was alone in the room. He discovers the diary is missing, and is
very angry. John becomes understandably frustrated as they go over the case
again and again and get nowhere. John talks privately with Abe and admits
that he realizes he still may not have much time to live. He asks for pencil
and paper so he can write a note for Marlena. In it, he tells her that if she
receives the note, it means he has been put to death. He says he has few
regrets in life. He's sorry that his children will grow up without a father,
and he's sad to leave her too. He has realized how much he loves her, and how
no one will ever be able to replace her in his heart. Kristen returns to John
with some food. She feels hopeful that John will be set free, and then they
can be married and have children. John is unresponsive; his thoughts are
elsewhere.] Unfortunately, the judge does as Stefano orders, and John is told
that he will be taking a second walk to the gas chamber. John turns to Lexie
and cries "Do whatever it takes to get Celeste to tell you who your father is."
[Well, he didn't specifically tell her to go to Celeste -- just never to give
up looking.] Lexie tries, but as usual, Celeste insists that it's better
Lexie never know. ["It will not give you the peace you seek," she claims.]
Lexie refuses to accept this. Later, Lexie follows her mother to the grave-
yard. There, Celeste talks to a photograph of a man whose face Lexie cannot
see -- well, not yet anyway. [Back in the Cayman Islands (forgot about that,
didn't you?) Jennifer and Jack are released from the vault. The bank officials
learned that they were reporters, and send them back to the U.S. (It's Peter
who tipped them off.) In a blink, they land in Aremid. The lady in white
rushes with the diary to find Abe Carver and save John. She trips and falls,
then runs off (without the book) when she hears someone coming. It's Jack
and Jennifer. Jack sees the book and picks it up. Meanwhile, John is strapped
back into a chair and the execution goes forward. Kristen goes ballistic,
saying there must be *something* they can do. The judge arrives and shows
Mickey an old law that gives him the authority to enforce his ruling. Kristen
sobs as the gas is released. John fights it.]
