For many years the DiMera and Kiriakis families have been fighting. Stefano DiMera (Joe Mascolo) and Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston) are rivals in business whether it is of the legal nature or not. Both men are seen as villainous, but regardless of their behaviors they do love their families. The war is currently at a truce, but there is no indication that this is built to last.
A few years ago Stefano’s son Tony (who isn’t his biological son) died in an accident on the pier while fighting with Victor’s youngest son, Philip. Then Stefano got revenge by having Philip get shot, and he nearly died. It was quiet for a time after that, but it showed that both men were willing to fight to the death. Stefano’s son EJ (James Scott) and Victor’s grandson Brady (Eric Martsolf) also have a rivalry. They are still fighting over Nicole, and also they don’t get along because of everything that happened between EJ and Brady’s stepsister Sami. In some ways, Victor and Stefano are fighting less, due to the changes in their lives. Victor has fallen in love with Maggie, while Stefano with his wife Kate at his side is dealing with diabetes.
What is interesting to me about this fighting is that over the years other than Victor the rest of the Kiriakis family is seen perhaps as less honorable than the Bradys or Hortons, but not as bad as the DiMeras. Perhaps part of this impression comes from how the majority of the Kiriakis family hasn’t followed Victor into the more shady side of the business. Victor’s oldest son Bo is on the police force, (Bo’s son Shawn is also a good guy), his nephew Justin is an attorney, Justin’s youngest son Sonny is working in the DA’s office, and his godson Daniel is a doctor. Philip went into the military and served with honor, but now is a civilian. He goes between bad and good and lives outside of Salem. The only Kiriakis character these days that is relatively bad is Brady Black. He stole Titan from his grandfather, and unlike the others is also a DiMera. Brady’s father John is Stefano’s brother, while his late mother Isabella was Victor’s daughter. Of course, this is never mentioned or acknowledged. Then again Brady’s turn to the dark side began when he became an addict, but was fully realized after Vivian planned to kidnap Maggie, so he turned the tables and kidnapped her instead. In a fit of rage, Brady nearly beat EJ to death over his involvement in the death of Brady’s former fiancé Ari. There were other reasons for Brady’s attack, but finding out that news was what sent him completely over the edge.
The DiMera clan only is really Stefano and his two sons EJ and Chad along with daughter Lexie. EJ and Lexie have young children, who aren’t capable of being master villains. EJ’s children are related through their mother to the Kiriakis family, as Sami’s grandmother Caroline is Bo’s mother. EJ and Stefano worked together to destroy Sami as she is the mother of EJ’s two children and he wanted them to himself. With the help of plastic surgery, they created a double for Sami’s husband Rafe. They held the real Rafe hostage, while allowing everyone to believe this criminal was a police detective. Eventually this was discovered, but none of it could be proven in a court of law. Stefano’s wife Kate paid a man to force the mother of her youngest grandson into prostitution. This has been somewhat glossed over, but very disgusting. Chad is a student and focusing on his life. As someone who recently discovered his heritage, he appreciates the love from Stefano, but cannot deal with the families’ bad actions. It is too bad he doesn’t spend more time with Lexie as she is able to juggle her family ties.
The latest blows to the war came while the younger generation tried to make peace. Brady, Sonny, Chad and EJ were meeting, while Victor and Stefano were at the pier. Maggie ran to warn Victor that something was up and got shot. While Maggie lain in the hospital, Chad was out with Maggie’s great-niece Abigail and he got a surface wound. Maggie almost died from her injuries even after surgery, but made a miraculous recovery.
A truce was made among Brady, Sonny, Chad, EJ, Victor and Stefano with Maggie as a witness, they decided to not fight anymore. How long this will last who knows, as already it started again with EJ and Brady. They argued about Nicole as EJ put her down. She hit EJ, so technically Brady did not re-ignite the war. Meanwhile, Chad and Sonny have become pals, as Chad has no issues with Sonny’s homosexuality. It would be interesting to see the rivalry skip a generation and allow the younger members of the families to be friends. Hopefully new stories will occur where the DiMera and Kiriakis clans disagree, but no blood is shed.
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