The Jungle
(September 12, 1997 - November 3,
1997)
The jungle story began when Rman Brady returned from the dead, thanks to Kristen Blake and her adopted father Stefano DiMera. John and Marlena were to be married and Kristen wheeled in "a not so dead" Roman. John and Marlena called off their wedding. Roman was diagnosed with a rare blood disease that seemed to be fatal. As the Bradys stood by and watched Roman deteriorate, John, Abe, and the Salem PD finally arrested Stefano. With the evidence stacked against him, John realized that capturing Stefano was way too easy and he must be up to something. He was. Stefano had the ultimate ace up his sleeve--his freedom for the antidote to Roman's deathly virus.
After much hesitation, Abe agreed to release Stefano. Stefano was to take John to his jungle compound to retrieve the virus. Kristen wanted to tag along, which infuriated everyone. Marlena pleaded with John not to go, as she feared for his life, but knew he had too. It was the only way to save Roman. Unbeknownst to anyone, Hope Williams had stowed away on Stefano's private jet, as she hoped to uncover her 4 missing years as Gina Von Amberg. She was eventually discovered, but it was too late too send her back to Salem. The plane had already taken off.
With the passengers arriving at the jungle compound, Stefano quickly imprisoned John and Hope. They eventually escaped. While searching the compound, Hope saw a picture of Maison Blanche and realized she was coming close to finding out the answers of her past. She also recognized an associate of Stefano's, Dr. Rolf, who pretended not to know Hope. Dr. Rolf eventually came up with the antidote for Roman but accidentally dropped it. The vial was destroyed.
Meanwhile, local natives were angry that Stefano was invading their land. They prepared to attack the compound, but Stefano (using a disguise) scared them off. Hope hit a dead end at the compound, but knew Dr. Rolf was hiding something. Hope was almost killed in the jungle by the natives, but John saved her (as did her thoughts of Bo). Kristen's attempt to seduce John after the natives attacked him failed. John hallucinated and pulled Hope into a passionate embrace. Dr. Rolf completed the second vial of the antidote.
It was time to leave the jungle and the natives were ready to attack again. Stefano piloted the helicopter with Kristen aboard, and planned to leave john and Hope in the jungle. Kristen went as far as to pull a gun on Stefano and demanded he rescue john from the natives. Stefano eventually picked up John and Hope as they left the jungle. On the way back to Salem, their plane crashed. All 4 eventually made it back to Salem with the antidote, just in time to see Marlena about to marry roman (as a dying wish). Roman was cured with the antidote and a blood transfusion from Stefano (he had the same virus years ago). Stefano was pardoned.
This wasn't the last we saw of the jungle compound. Several weeks later, Peter Blake showed up there with a case of jungle fever. He begged Dr. Rolf to come up with the antidote. Both, Peter and Dr. Rolf eventually returned to Salem, leaving the jungle behind.