Javi Reveals His True Reason for Returning to Salem

Rafe (Galen Gering) — not to mention Dimitri (Peter Porte) — was surprised to see Javi (Al Calderon) back in Salem. Rafe and Gabi (Cherie Jimenez) assume he’s there to reunite with Leo (Greg Rikaart). But Javi has something a bit different in mind.

Meanwhile, after the — pretty honest — assessment he got from Dimitri, Leo goes running to Marlena (Deidre Hall) so she can assure him he’s not the hot mess he so obviously is.

Stephanie Defies Alex

Stephanie (Abigail Klein) told Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) that, after her kidnapping ordeal, she really wants to get a gun for protection. Alex wasn’t thrilled by the idea. Neither was Steve (Stephen Nichols).

Stephanie can’t push back against her beloved Papa. But she can go against Alex. So she does. She’s the one traumatized, so she should be the one to decide how she deals with it. Besides, Marlena is busy counseling Leo. She doesn’t have time for people with real problems.

Chanel Pressures Theo for Answers About EJ’s Secrets

Chanel (Raven Bowens) has already told Johnny (Carson Boatman) how she feels about EJ (Dan Feuerriegel). And she’s told him how Johnny should feel about EJ, too. Now that this is settled, Chanel can move on to the other side of her family.

She suspects Theo (Tyler Joseph Andrews) knows something about EJ. And Chanel wants to know what it is. Goodness knows, her mother isn’t talking. And Paulina (Jackée Harry) obviously knows something, as well. Chanel has a teething baby at home and another one on the way. Of course, she’s got the time to stick her nose into other people’s business.

Well, the big Lexie day came… and went! Days of Our Lives teased that she’d wake up on Thursday, only for us to learn as we watched the episode that it was just a dream. Theo fell asleep by his mother’s bedside, which Dream Lexie wasted no time in pointing out.

We did get to see a quick snippet of Nikki Crawford’s take on Lexie, but we’re not even sure if that’s how Abe’s beloved wife will behave in the real world. Well, in the “reel” world!

Reactions to the fake out have, so far, been a bit mixed, but at the end of the day, it’s been over a month since we’ve learned that Lexie was the person in the tube. While there was mystery and intrigue over what was happening and who EJ and Gwen were trying to revive, the story could play out a little longer to keep us guessing.

But now it feels like it’s just being stretched out to stretch it out. It feels like it’s lost some momentum and now we’re just twiddling our thumbs waiting for her to wake up.

When Will Lexie Wake Up?

Yes, there was some fun in Paulina and Theo both dancing around Lexie, each one knowing she’s alive, but not knowing the other person knows. But this “sleeping” time could be compressed. EJ just keeps telling us how much Lexie’s improving and that she could wake any day now, but she hasn’t.

But that has to change soon, doesn’t it? Everything is in place. Theo’s stepped down and Johnny’s gotten the OK from everyone (besides Paulina) to step up. Gwen’s feud with Dimitri looks to be wrapped (unless he has something up his sleeve, despite Leo’s request) and Owen’s safely out of the picture.

And then, to top it all off, Abe called EJ to congratulate him on a job well done in getting Theo to step away from DiMera.

We’ll get the official spoilers from the show for next week soon enough, but if there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s to take them with a grain of salt. So when Lexie finally does wake up, it could very well be a surprise. But with things where they stand now, there just doesn’t seem to be any more reason to drag it out.