The Monday, June 2nd episode of Days of our Lives will go down as an historic one in the history of the beloved soap opera which will turn 60 this fall. As one man’s life comes to an end, another man gets another chance to return to the living; such is the story of beloved heroes, John Black (the late Drake Hogestyn) and Bo Brady (Peter Reckell).
The juxtaposition of the two stories that intersect make this all the more heartbreaking, and it gave longtime series heroines, Deidre Hall as Marlena and Kristian Alfonso as Hope, extraordinary emotional material in which to sink their teeth into. Throughout the episode, if you didn’t reach for the hankies, and by the end sobbing your eyes out, that you may have been watching a different show than we were.
JOHN’S STORY COMES TO ITS CONCLUSION
Steve (Stephen Nichols), Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) and Marlena are watching John seemingly rally from this life-threatening injuries and complications. He is still holding on to life. Meanwhile, Kayla worries if the drug that John secured to save her brother Bo’s life is working and he is coming out of his coma.
Marlena at John’s bedside tells him she could stay there with him forever. She flashes back to a time (now with clips featuring Drake Hogestyn) they tossed a coin in the fountain in Italy and the deep meaning behind it which is “he would make it.” She puts that coin from Belle in John’s hand, and he whispers,.“I’m still here.” Next, Marlena recalls John’s myriad of identifies over the years and we see a flashback to a time she thought he was Stefano. In the present, Marlena says, “You were the man who protected me even in my darkest hours.”
Later, Kayla and Steve return to the room as the nurse comes into give John some morphine for his IV. Next, Steve recalls the conversation they had in which started they started their PI agency, “Black Patch.” Steve gets every emotional. Marlena flashes back to her wedding night with John when she accidentally pushed him off the bed.
Suddenly, things take a drastic turn. John starts choking unable to breathe as he grasps for air. The alarms goes off on his monitors. Kayla gets him started on oxygen as Marlena tries to get him to breathe with her. Kayla thinks that John has just gone through so much lung and bodily damage from the explosion that all they can do now is make him more comfortable, and she feels it might be best to call in a priest.
Marlena is beside herself with grief, and asks Steve and Kayla to leave her alone with John. Before they exit, Steve and Kayla say the most heart-tugging tear-filled farewells to John. Next, Marlena and John are somehow are are able to tell each other how much they love the other. As tears stream down her face, Marlena tells John, that it’s OK if he needs to go. He’s fought so hard and she knows he’s suffering so much. She promises to John that everyone he loves will be OK, and he will always be in their hearts. He can rest now.
Outside John’s hospital room, a panicked and heartbroken Steve asks Kayla if there is anything she can do to save his best friend. But there isn’t anything and they cry in each other’s arms.
Back inside John’s room, Marlena lays in the bed with John, remembering their life together in flashbacks with John’s voiceover (Drake Hogestyn’s voice) telling Marlena that their love has always endured and survived everything thrown in their way. As she lays next to him, John takes is last breath, his heart stops and he dies as “Doc” holds him until the very end.
BO WAKES UP
Hope, Ciara (Victoria Konefal) and Shawn (Brandon Beemer) are at Bo’s hospital bedside. Next, they flashback to Bo telling a young Zack a bedtime story. In the present, Hope notices Bo’s eyelids flickering and thinks perhaps this is the moment he will wake up out of his two-year coma. Hope calls the doctor, but she says his condition is unchanged.
Now, somewhere between the present and heaven, Bo bursts into the Brady Pub that was previous locked. He is shocked to see a grown-up Zack (Brandon Butler) behind the bar working there. Bo is confused as he knows he isn’t in Salem. He says he vaguely remembers a dream with Zack and Hope with a lot of white (referencing Beyond Salem: Chapter Two), and then wants a hug. Zack tells his father it’s not a good idea. He’s not supposed to be here.
In the present, Bo’s eyes start to move some. Hope is convinced that he’s becoming back to life and tells him about their love story flashing back to when they first met and memorable moments from their life together.
Back at the Brady Pub, Zack tells his dad that his place is with his living family. Zack says he is doing OK, he has grandma Caroline and grandpa Shawn with him. Bo says he doesn’t want to leave Zack, but Zack says to go back to his family. He’ll always be waiting for his dad when it’s time.
Next, Hope, Ciara and Shawn all appear at the pub telling Bo it’s not his time to leave this earth, but time for him to come back to them. Bo says he has tried for years to come back and nothing has worked!
Now back in the present, Hope tells Bo to think of all they have endured and that their lives together can’t end this way. All of a sudden, Hope gets the shivers and a terrible feeling washes over her. She clearly felt John’s passing.
Hope sits at Bo’s beside begging imploring him to, “Fight for us! You fight for your family!” Suddenly, Bo’s eyes open slowly for the first time in two years as he sees Hope and whispers, “Fancy Face!” Hope is beside herself with joy.
As the episode comes to an end, it will be remembered for the performances of everyone involved from: Deidre Hall to Kristian Alfonso, to Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans, to Peter Reckell and Brandon Butler. It will also be remembered as the final moments of one of soap opera’s most iconic character’s, John Black.
