Monday 26Feb96

On Monday, John is placed in the chamber [again]. The doors are sealed shut and the gas pellets released [again]. As the noxious fumes begin to fill the closet-sized room, John awaits death, dreaming of what could have been if he had not been convicted of a crime he didn't commit. [Thinking through his situation one final time, he realizes that Tony was insane, and the only person who could have killed him is Tony himself. John resists the gas fumes as long as he can, but soon falls unconscious.] Just then, the door to the viewing room bursts open, and Jack and Jennifer rush in with Tony's diary. As Jenn shouts "This is proof of John's innocence", Jack grabs her arm, showing Jenn that the execution has already begun. [Everyone gets excited and they try to get John out of the execution chamber. The cops are not very helpful until Jack beats one up. They tell Abe where the control panel is and he sets to work on ventilating the room.] Jack charges for the chamber's door and breaks the lock. Jack then pulls John out of the gas-filled room. John does not respond to their efforts to revive him. They try everything but John is not breathing. [Mike and Laura happen to be there and quickly give John proper medical attention. Laura begins mouth-to-mouth (Mmmm! Lethal gas!) and Mike gets an IV started and requests an oxygen supply. Soon John responds and everyone is thrilled. Even Peter apologizes for being wrong about him. Even though John is alive, Kristen still feels responsible for his death sentence because of her testimony against him. She feels even worse when she hears John ask Abe to contact Marlena to tell her he's OK.] Marlena has no idea what is happening to John, and continues to sacrifice herself to prevent Stefano from discovering the diary is gone. But Stefano realizes the diary has disappeared, and he confronts Marlena. [She continues to play dumb, acting confused about why he's so upset about a book, which she insists she didn't take. He dumps out her purse, but the diary isn't in it. He figures she had an accomplice, and tells her that her efforts were in vain. John is already dead. He calls Judge Walker to tell him to disregard the diary when it arrives. It's too late -- Peter has the diary, and the execution has been interrupted. He's uncertain if John is alive however. Stefano informs Marlena that John is dead. Then her cell phone rings (it's Abe). He won't let her answer it. As angry as he is with her, he tells her he loves her and he will take her away so they can be together. Marlena tells him in no uncertain terms that even if she believed he had changed, she would *never* go with him after what he did to her family and to John. Certain that the phone call was Abe with news about John, she begs Stefano to let her call him. He lets her, but then prepares to knock her out with chloroform before she can complete the call.] The parrot man finds Lexie at the cemetery. He knows who her father is, and thinks it's time he told Lexie. [Celeste tells her to disregard the foolish man, but he continues to speak in rhymes. Celeste was talking to a photo of Lexie's father, and slipped it into her purse when Lexie arrived. It is a photo of Stefano DiMera. Lexie is repulsed.]

Tuesday 27Feb96

On Tuesday, after a few tense moments, John is breathing on his own. Instead of going home to rest, John insists on going to the pub to celebrate. [Mike wants him to check into a hospital since he's still weak and coughing, but John refuses. He asks to stop in a chapel before going to the pub, so he can pray and give thanks. At the pub, he gets dizzy and almost collapses, but he won't stop. He wants to find Marlena to let her know that he's OK. "After all," he says with a laugh, "I've just been given a second chance at life, so why waste it sleeping?" Kristen agrees, and sets up a happy reunion for John and his kids. [Abe says that he will find Marlena. Then John agrees to get some sleep. Abe runs into Lexie, who is still very upset about learning that Stefano is her father. Celeste explained that for Lexie's sake, she could not tell Stefano that she was carrying his child, or else Lexie would become entangled in the DiMera world forever. Lexie decides to confront Stefano, and she is headed to the Blake house when Abe found her. There is no answer, so they go inside. They knock on Stefano's door, but no one is there. Abe makes a remark about Stefano, and Lexie breaks down and tells him that she "has DiMera blood in her veins." Abe assures her that he loves her just the same.] Later, Kristen tells John that she wants to be accepted back into his life too. "But I don't know if that's possible, because I lost faith in you when you needed me most," says Kristen. "But if you can, would you please forgive me?" Before John can answer, Abe and Lexie burst in with the news that Stefano and Marlena are missing. [Actually, they think little of it. John realizes what it means, however. Marlena said there was a book that would clear him, and she thought Stefano had it. Marlena must be with Stefano. John panics and says they *must* find her.] Stefano has given Marlena a sedative [knocked her out with ether.. Once she's out cold, he carries her to a helicopter [I think it's a boat that will take them to a plane] that has been standing nearby. >From there, Stefano and Marlena will fly off to an island where Marlena will be Stefano's prisoner forever. [Celeste enters Stefano's room and notices Marlena's earring on the floor by the bed. She realizes that Stefano has put his plan into action.] Everyone is getting ready for the Kate Roberts gala. [Sami is determined to make herself attractive to Austin, despite the fact that Jamie says it's chemistry that determines that -- the chemistry Austin has with Carrie.] Victor gives each of Kate's sons, Austin and Lucas, a bracelet that Kate had made for her children as a symbol of her love. [He also sent one to Billie and is holding one for Philip when he gets older. Lucas offers it to Carrie, but she only agrees to wear it for the evening in his mother's honor. Austin gives it to Sami, who is touched until he says he wants her to pass it on to Will someday. She asks if she can wear it that evening. Austin sees the bracelet on Carrie, and she sees it on Sami, and of course everyone gets the wrong idea.]

Wednesday 28Feb96

On Wednesday, John, Kristen, Abe, and Lexie rush to the Blake house looking for Marlena and Stefano. They're not there but Celeste is. She doesn't let on that she thinks Stefano has kidnapped Marlena, but Lexie suspects something is up and begs her mother to tell them where Stefano and Marlena are. Celeste says nothing, but later she slips out to find Stefano. She spots him waiting for the next boat to arrive. Celeste cries "Take me with you so Lexie will stop asking questions about her biological father." Stefano snaps "So tell her the truth and be done with it!" [More like: she's kept the secret from her for all these years, and now Lexie knows that Celeste is her mother. Doesn't she have the right (or, as Stefano says it, "the rrrright") to know her father as well?] He is unaware of the fact that he is Lexie's true Dad. [Back at the Blake house, everyone searches for clues as to Marlena and Stefano's whereabouts. The lady in white lurks around the secret passageways and frets and whimpers as well. John finds a bottle of ether in Stefano's room, and deduces that he used it on Marlena. He then encounters the lady in white, who freaks, but he refuses to let her go. She doesn't know where Stefano has taken Marlena, but (at this point Kristen, Abe, and Lexie are now on the scene) reiterates that Stefano is a baaaad man. Meanwhile, the boat is about a mile away, and Stefano prepares to exit. Celeste warns him that John is alive and is looking for them. Stefano is certain that where he and Marlena are going, no one will ever find them.] The gala fundraiser in Kate's memory begins. There is even a television crew there. [Carrie and Austin exchange the typical forlorn glances while each is with Lucas and Sami, respectively. Bo shows up for Victor's sake, but clearly isn't up to the event. He sees a woman who looks like Hope, and follows her. It isn't her, of course. Shawn tells Bo that he needs time to heal. Alone on the balcony of the Penthouse Grille (I half- expected that bird to show up again), Bo says for some reason he can't let go of Hope. Back in the mountains, Hope has another chance to escape from Jude when he goes to get more food for them, but she knows she's too weak to make it, and he threatened to kill her if she tried to run away again. She prays that Bo will find her.] While Victor delivers a glowing speech praising Vivian, the scene switches to that deserted island. Although Zip doesn't want any part of the hustle and bustle of the real world, that hasn't prevented him from getting a satelite dish [it's homemade, and he has a small TV that he saved from the boat.] As he's watching TV with Kate, she's horrified to see Vivian, the woman responsible for her predicament, standing by Victor's side. [Helen, the woman on the island, admits to Kate that she didn't believe she was actually the wealthy President of Titan publishing until now. Kate is desperate to get back home. Helen tells her there may be a way, but it's very dangerous. Kate doesn't care. Is it me, or does Helen remind you of Sally Field?]

Thursday 29Feb96

On Thursday, Lexie is filled with conflicting emotions after learning that Stefano is her father. She goes to Stefano's room and finds Celeste slipping out [she returned to the house to get the ether Stefano left behind. Marlena woke up and became uncontrollable. Stefano told her that John died, and that he is taking her away with him.] Despite Abe's warning [that she stay away from Stefano], Lexie follows Celeste. Marlena cannot be found, and everyone is convinced that Stefano has kidnapped her. John talks to the lady in white, who tells them that Marlena was pretending to be romantically interested in Stefano in order to get her hands on that book. Aware of Marlena's sacrifice for him, John is more determined than ever to find her. [He also realizes that this woman in white is from his flashbacks and may be the key to unlocking his forgotten past. However, the woman is obviously very fragile and frightened, and it may be some time before they learn anything about her. Kristen, frustrated by the tension between her and John, wants to talk about it. John puts it off. He has to find Marlena first.] Meanwhile, Stefano orders Celeste to help him carry an unconscious Marlena to the beach. There, he will wait for the boat to spirit them away. The beach is suddenly flooded with light. It's the police. As the search lights pass the area, Stefano struggles to stay out of sight. [His boat radios him and tells him they cannot land or the police will follow them. Abe hears news of a boatthat changed direction, and deduces that Stefano was planning to escape via water. John worries further because he knows what Stefano is capable of when he is trapped. Jennifer admits to Jack that she was worried about him when he went into the gas chamber to rescue John. Jack is thrilled to hear her say she still cares about him. She says she always will -- he's Abby's father. But she's married to Peter now, and her life is with him.] Jack lists his reasons for thinking Peter is involved with Jude. When Jennifer poo-poo's his theory, Jack asks: if Tony wasn't the person from Salem that Jude came to Aremid to meet, then who was? Jenn follows Jack's gaze to Peter, and all at once, there is a question in her eyes. [As Stefano calls for a helicopter, Celeste again begs to be taken with him. He refuses, and tells her she should stay here with her daughter. Celeste reveals that Lexie has learned who her father is. Stefano is curious as well. Just then Lexie appears. With a chilling look in her eyes, she announces to Stefano, "It's you."]

Friday 1March96

(Seen Monday 13 November 2000)

Victor and Vivian are delighted that the Gala raised more than a million dollars. They reminisce the old times the two of them had and then they kiss. Victor breaks away and Vivian excuses herself from the room. Victor goes and gets Kate's photo and puts it away in a drawer. Vivian comes back into the room and he says that he has to accept that Kate is now gone. He then says that they should go to bed and he kisses her. In the meantime Ivan has overheard all the conversation and is drowning his sorrows (of losing Vivian) by drinking straight out of the brandy decanter.

Kate is on the raft cursing Vivian when a shark starts to circle her. She frightens it off by beating the water with an oar. She sees a light in the distance so she starts paddling towards it. She makes it to the island and spots a seaplane and finds the pilot and begs him to take her to the States. She tells him that she will pay for his cargo and an extra $20,000 for his trouble. He decides to do as she asks. Whilst they are in the air, a storm is approaching.

At her apartment, Carrie tells Lucas that they are just friends and returns his mothers bracelet to him and she goes to change. Next door, Sami and Austin are dancing together and she says to him that she wants him to be happy. Will interrupts them so Sami goes to get Will whilst Austin goes to empty the trash. Carrie comes back out into the living room to find a classical guitarist playing for her. Lucas then starts to sing "You are so beautiful to me" but she imagines that it is Austin. Speaking of Austin, he just happens to walk past her door whilst Lucas is singing and hears him. After empting the trash he goes back to Sami and tells her that he likes being with her and Will. Carrie thanks Lucas for the evening and they start to kiss but Lucas breaks off and leaves.

Stefano is stunned to learn that Lexi is his daughter. Celeste tells Stefano that she didn't want him involved in bringing up Lexi because of his lifestyle. Lexi tells him that it makes her sick that he is her father and that he is pure evil. Stefano blames Celeste for Lexi's attitude and then they start to argue about Tony and what he had done to John. Lexi is disgusted that Stefano knew about the diary and did nothing to save John. Stefano decides it is time to take Marlena away but Lexi tells him that she will stop him and pulls a gun. Celeste tells her to put the gun down and Stefano tries to play on Lexi's feelings but she resists him and he tells her that she will have to shoot him to stop him. Seeing that Lexi won't change her mind Stefano says that he will do what she wants and he asks Celeste to help him put Marlena into the wheelchair. He tells Lexi to go ahead with Celeste and he will follow with Marlena. As soon as Lexi and Celeste move on, there is a cave-in.

John talks to the Woman in White about Stefano, but she is not helping them. John then goes on about how wonderful Marlena is and how they have a baby together etc. Kristen is upset and says she is going to speak to Abe. When she comes back she mentions about there being secret passages in the house. They all start looking for them. John gets through to the Woman in White and she eventually shows them the passage that leads to the river. John and Abe go to the caves. They start looking around and hear a noise and realise it is a cave-in. John shouts "Doc".

Thanks to Barb Thack for Friday summary

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