March 4-8, 1996 Updates
Monday 4March96
On Monday, Vivian and Victor prepare for their night of lovemaking. Vivian changes into something more flimsy, and wonders what's keeping Victor. He's thinking about Kate, and saddened by the thought that he'll never be with her again. While Vivian waits for Victor, a heartbroken Ivan asks her if she's certain this is what she wants. He sadly accepts that he's destined to worship her from afar, and Vivian shoos him away. She finds Victor, and seeing Kate's photo, realizes he was thinking of her. He admits he was, but feels ready to move on. Vivian tells Victor that she never lets her guard down or shows her vulnerability except with him. The two head off to bed. Unbeknownst to them, Kate is on her way home. She made it through a rough storm where her pilot injured himself and she had to land the plane. Oddly enough, she's right outside of Salem, and gets a ride into town. Back in Aremid, Stefano and Marlena are separated from everyone else by the cave-in, which was set by Stefano (shades of Alamainia). He apologizes to a still- unconscious Marlena for the danger he put her in, but he had intended to have her out of the tunnel by then. He takes her to the beach, where he calls his pilot. They'll be picked up on the water, and Stefano puts Marlena in a boat and begins to row away. John and Abe move some cave-in debris and find the area where Marlena was being held. They and the others (Kristen, Lexie, Celeste) split up and search the different tunnels, but don't find Marlena. The lady in white shows up, and since she knows her way around, leads John to the beach. There, he thinks he sees a boat on the water. Stefano's pilot, unable to see him, tells him to shoot off a flare. John sees it, and refuses to let Stefano take Marlena away. He rips off his shirt (woo hoo!) and dives into the icy water.
Tuesday 5March96
On Tuesday, John jumps into the icy waters to save Marlena, but because of John's recent brush with death in the gas chamber, he is weak. Stefano knows this, and manages to get a death grip around John's throat. Marlena regains consciousness just in time to see Stefano choking the life out of John [whom she thought was dead. Stefano tosses him overboard and calls to the helicopter. He prepares to be pulled up, along with Marlena, but she struggles and falls into the water. Then John resurfaces, and when faced with the choice of going after Stefano or saving Marlena, he dives under water and frantically searches for her. Stefano wants to wait to make sure Marlena is OK, but the pilot says they must leave now or they'll be caught. Stefano vows to come back for her if she's alive. However, John can't seem to find her.] Back home in Salem, Victor and Vivian's night of love turns into Vivian's worst nightmare when Kate returns from the dead. [She walks in on Victor and Vivian in bed. "It's a ghost!" yells Vivian.] Victor pulls Kate to him for a hug as he cries "I can't believe you're alive!" [He's also embarrassed about the way she found him -- in bed with Vivian, and explains that had he known she was alive... etc.] Kate returns Victor's embrace, then she notices Vivian trying to slip out the door. "Stop right there!" shouts Kate, "because it's time for Victor to hear the truth." [Kate tells Victor that Vivian is responsible for her plane crash. Victor is shocked -- did Vivian really try to murder Kate? Viv is speechless.] Bo is struggling to let go of Hope, this time because of her upcoming memorial service. [Shawn-Douglas has written a poem that he will read for his mother. Caroline stops by and goes through the "You have to let her go" speech with Bo. He agrees that it's the best thing for Shawn-Douglas.] But the feeling that Hope is still alive continues to haunt Bo's every moment. Meanwhile, Hope has her hands full fighting off a drunken Jude as he tries to force himself on her. Hope manages to fend him off this time, but she doesn't know about the next time. [First she tries to convince him that she's still sick, and if he contracts it, there's no one to take care of him. Then she hints that maybe she *does* want him, and after all he did save her life, but it would be so much more exciting and passionate if they got to know each other first. She badgers him about this "Marie" person he was in love with, and he clearly doesn't want to talk about her. She finally wears him down and he says he's tired (must be all the booze). When she thinks he's asleep, she works on getting out of her handcuffs, but he's awake, and tells her there's no escape.]
Wednesday 6March96
On Wednesday, John somehow manages to break free from Stefano's vise- like grip [actually Stefano took off on yesterday's show]. He struggles in the storm-tossed sea desperate to find Marlena. John is about to go down for the third time when he sees something in the distance. Convinced that it's Marlena, John swims that way. [The others (Abe, Lexie, Kristen, Celeste, and the lady in white) are concerned when they can't find John. Abe spots John in the water, and rows out to him.] Finally Marlena and John are rescued. [John performs CPR on Marlena, and they bring her back to the Blake house, where Dr. Mike is conveniently waiting. Marlena is alive, and John insists on being at her side when she regains consciousness.] After the excitement dies down [actually this occurred before the 'excitement', and Mike had to break up this little tiff because they should be trying to help Marlena rather than bickering], Jack feels the time is right to accuse Peter of being connected to Jude's Cayman Island bank account. When Jennifer mentions that only Jack saw the supposedly incriminating evidence, Peter quickly denies any involvement with Jude St. Clair, but Jack knows in his gut that Peter is in up to his ears. [When Mike hears Jack's accusations and reasons for it, he tells Jenn it makes sense, but of course she refuses to believe it.] In Salem, Vivian attempts to explain why she caused Kate's plane to crash, but even Vivian can't talk her way out of this one. [Ivan tries to help by saying that anything Vivian did, he was involved as well. Kate also reveals that Vivian purposely switched their embryos. Victor is shocked, saying he might be able to forgive Vivian for the accidental plane crash, but not for something so twisted as stealing their embryo.] Realizing that her goose is cooked, Vivian turns to Victor and cries "Anything I did, I did out of love for you." When Victor turns away in disgust, Viv tries to remind him of how much he wanted her tonight. "Come on," she coaxes, "It's been good between us in the past, and it could be good again in the future." [No dice. Victor is only concerned about Kate, who before throwing Vivian out of the house, dumps a pot of fish stew on her (she was complaining about Kate's 'aroma' earlier). Kate is reunited with her baby Philip. Back in Aremid, Kristen cringes each time she hears how concerned John is about Marlena. John waits by Marlena's bedside for her to awaken. When she does, she's overjoyed to see him, to know that he's still alive. He goes on about what she did for him, and how no one ever has done anything so selfless for him. John says something profound about Fate not wanting them to be on this Earth alone, and he wonders what else Fate has in store for them? Their tender moment is interrupted by Dr. Mike. John leaves and returns to the others. Kristen wants to talk, and he admits to her that her doubts in him deeply affected him. He does still love her, however. She's thrilled to know that there's still a chance for them. John confesses to Abe later that in his final few moments in the gas chamber, all he thought about was Marlena and the love they shared. It made him realize how much she means to him. Abe encourages him to talk to Marlena about it, but John doesn't want to tell her. He remembers the letter he wrote for her, and knows she mustn't see it. However, the jail guard has returned John's belongings and finds the letter addressed to Marlena, and asks Dr. Mike if he can give it to her.]
Thursday 7March96
On Thursday, as they say good-bye to Aremid, each person's life has been affected by what they have experienced. John is torn by his feelings for Marlena, but he chooses to keep those feelings to himself until he knows what to do. He's relieved that the letter he wrote to her before his execution has disappeared, but a guard from the jail has just slipped that very letter into Marlena's bag. [While Marlena is sleeping, Kristen is by her bedside, telling her that she knows she and John share a past, but she (Kristen) is John's future.] Meanwhile, Peter senses a certain chill in Jennifer's mood [and the nightmare he had earlier about Jack exposing him doesn't help. Peter suggests that they don't return to Salem, but take a honeymoon in some beautiful exotic place. Jennifer refuses, saying she wants to be there for her grandmother because of Hope's death, and she just plain wants to go home.] He fears that Jack has finally managed to plant some seeds of doubt in her mind. [Jennifer admits to Mike that maybe some of Jack's accusations make sense, but until there is solid proof, she's standing by her husband.] Later Peter and Jennifer come across Jack grilling the mysterious parrot man about a possible connection between Peter and Jude. Naturally Peter is peeved about this, and warns Jack to leave him and Jennifer alone. Jack looks at Jennifer to see how she feels about that. He's hurt when she hisses "I agree with Peter." [She tells him it's time he accepted the fact that she is married to Peter now. Sarah, who is saying her good-byes to Jack, asks him if he can accept it.] Jack is frustrated because he knows he's right about Peter, but without proof his hands are tied. He's got to find a way to convince Jennifer that Peter is connected to Jude. [Of course the parrot man doesn't give a straight answer, and Peter blames the mentally unbalanced lady in white for the strange goings on in Aremid. Everyone else (Abe, Lexie, Kristen, John, Marlena) prepare to fly home to Salem. Marlena thinks the lady in white should come with them so she can be helped. When they ask her to leave Aremid with them, she cries "No, I can't!" and runs away. Whilst looking for her, Kristen and Lexie find the woman's room, filled with various collected things. When she sees a favorite doll from her childhood, Kristen is thrilled. Elsewhere, the lady in white encounters the painting. It talks to her, encouraging her to go to Salem so they can help her uncover the secrets she is keeping deep inside her. She tells the others that she changed her mind -- she'll go with them. As they prepare to leave Aremid, the parrot man watches and sayss something profound. Clearly not all of the secrets of Aremid have been revealed.]
Friday 8March96
On Friday, Marlena is glad to be back in her own penthouse. John has made sure that she's comfortable, but she's a bit nervous because Stefano is still at large. [Both John and Marlena are a bit edgy around each other because of what they went through, but neither talks about it.] John fears that Stefano might try to get Marlena back, but he says nothing about this. [He assures her that she has the best security system money can buy, and the entrance to the adjacent penthouse (where Stefano entered her bedroom) has been sealed and the new tenants' background checked carefully.] Then John sets the security system and leaves so Marlena can get some shuteye. A few minutes later, the alarm goes off. John returns to find Marlena shaking in her shoes. He checks the system and discovers a short that needs repairing, but it can't be done til morning. "That's all right," says Marlena, "I'll brave it out anyway." [NOT. She's scared stiff. John will take Belle and Brady, and she'll stay in a hotel.] Shaking his head, John insists that Marlena go home with him [she wouldn't be safe in a hotel. Uncomfortably, she agrees.] Kate is so glad to be home and is really eager to see her kids. Kate is in for a surprise, especially since she thinks Austin and Carrie are together, and that Bo and Billie are too. [Victor doesn't have the heart to tell her about what has happened to her children over the past year. He hopes the joy of seeing them again will overshadow the bad news. Meanwhile, Lucas stops by to see Carrie and shows her a videotape he edited last night (stayed up all night doing it) of her in New York. She thought he was taping the sights and landmarks etc. He gushes about how beautiful she is, and tells her that he loves her. She can't return the sentiment, but agrees to give Lucas a chance and spend more time with him. Sami tries, again, to make Austin notice her as a woman. Jamie tells her it's not big deal to get a guy's attention by walking around half-naked. There needs to be love, and Austin still loves Carrie. Sami is certain it will happen soon. Victor calls them all and invites them over, not telling them that Kate has returned. Kate peeks in and sees Austin, Carrie, Lucas, and Sami, and the baby (whom Austin is holding). All conversation ceases when she enters the room.] Jennifer talks to the woman in white. She tries to find out if the lady knows anything about Peter and Jude but the lady refuses to talk. Jennifer keeps pressing her, desperate to uncover the truth about Peter's possible involvement with Jude. [The lady in white did witness Peter meeting with Jude, but keeps it to herself. She is staying with Kristen in the DiMera home, and freaks when she learns that "the dead man" (Tony) lived there, and freaks again when she sees a photo of Stefano. Kristen removes it and assures her that she's safe here. Kristen then heads to John's place to see him and try to salvage their relationship. She does this by showing up wearing nothing but a black bra, panties, and stockings, to "remind him of how good they were together." Imagine her shock when Marlena walks in.]