Days: Stefano's Gone

Thursday, February 9, 2017 marked the end of the reign of Stefano DiMera on "Days of Our Lives". Below are my thoughts on the character's goodbye.


Everyone had believed Stefano was dead after Hope (Kristian Alfonso) shot him. Of course, he rose again, but not before Hope went to prison for murdering someone who wasn't deceased. She went on the run to save her life after she'd be attacked numerous times. Marlena (Deidre Hall) and Rafe (Galen Gering) were determined to find Stefano and a group of people went on the hunt.

Money was missing from the DiMera coffers, but there was no proof. Later there was a citing, but it was inconclusive. Eventually there was a chance he was in Prague. Anna (Leann Hunley, doing a guest stint) appeared and shot at him scaring him away. Everyone was angry with her, but well Stefano was responsible for the death of her Tony. As part of this we also had guest visits from Anna's daughter Carrie (Christie Clark) and her son-in-law Austin (Austin Peck). They were to take care of her and keep her out of the action. As part of the first wave, Steve (Stephen Nichols) was shot, but he recovered. Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) appeared to help with his injuries. John was completely out of this story due to Drake Hogestyn's real life health problems caused by an on set accident.

There was a costume party that Steve, Kayla, Marlena and Rafe all decided to attend. Sonny (Freddie Smith) and Paul (Christopher Sean) also were at the event and shared a kiss. Due to Paul's connections they were able to go to the party, where Stefano revealed himself at midnight. Austin returned to the story to keep Anna from interfering again. Stefano was arrested and everyone went to the jail. Only Anna, Marlena, and Rafe spoke to him. He didn't say a word, but disappeared before he could be arraigned and extradited. (The characters only discovered this in the next episode.) The joke of course, was the reason Stefano didn't speak was it wasn't him. Shane (Charles Shaughnessy) was in a mask faking being Stefano with Steve's help. The Thursday episode ended with a tribute card to Joe Mascolo with Good Night Sweet Prince; and flights of angels sing thee to rest...

I'm glad that they resolved Stefano's story, and Hope will get out of jail. Having Stefano be ailing, but well enough to run away, was a decent compromise. I hope Days will be able to move on from this and write a future without the phoenix.