Today was a lot. Chanel broke down in a hospital room, Kristen puts Johnny’s murder plot into action, and Marlena did what Marlena crossed the “good therapist” line. Also: Roman and Kate had the fight they've been avoiding for months.

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Xander and Sarah Start the Day as Co-Parents

Xander runs into Sarah at the hospital. He needs to talk to EJ, but EJ is in Chicago. Sarah reminds him that his therapy with Marlena is a condition of their custody agreement, and Xander says he takes it seriously. "Anything to keep Victoria in my life." He asks to take Victoria to the zoo this afternoon and then to dinner. Sarah agrees, with one condition: "Nothing deep fried or neon colored." He promises to have her home at the proper time.

Roman Warns Johnny About DiMera

Roman and Johnny are outside the Pub, and Roman isn't hiding how he feels about Johnny staying on at DiMera Enterprises. Johnny says he only stayed to deal with the plagiarism lawsuit, not because he's going deeper. "Like I promised my mom and Chanel, I am not going to get sucked back into the DiMera way. I'll resign before I let that happen." (Foreshadowing of the day!) Roman hopes he means it. Kate arrives, and Johnny bolts.

Tate Drops Out, Brady Gets a Badge

Brady and Tate are having coffee at the Pub, and the news is flying. Tate tells Brady he's decided not to re-enroll at Salem U in the fall. He took an exercise physiology class that lit a fire, and he wants to become a certified personal trainer. Brady is supportive. He tells Tate he has news of his own: he's going to be a licensed PI, working at Black Patch with Steve. "I'm putting the black back into Black Patch." Tate also has a summer job lined up co-instructing at a martial arts dojo. One thing he hasn't done yet: told Holly. He's waiting until her finals are over, especially since she's been stressed about Sophia being out of Bayview.

Marlena Presses Xander in Therapy

Xander sits down for his session with Marlena, and she doesn't waste time. She tells him Johnny believes Xander set him up to publish a plagiarized manuscript, and asks if it's true. Xander pushes back. "Don't you think it's just a wee bit manipulative to ask me a question like that under the guise of therapy, when you really want to know the answer for your own purposes?" Marlena says his answer will show how successful his therapy has been. Xander's response: "I have nothing to say." Marlena doesn't drop him. She tells him he's done far worse things during their time together, and this isn't a deal-breaker. They move on to Gwen.

That's when it gets interesting. Marlena asks how the relationship is going, and Xander admits that now that EJ kicked Gwen out of the mansion, "spending so much time with her isn't quite as appealing." He's been using Gwen. Not only for the relationship, but to snoop around the DiMera grounds. He calls it "a big added bonus." He tells Marlena he believes she supports any attempt to bring down EJ. Marlena ends the session right there: "And here we are out of time."

Lani and Kristen Reunite

Chanel and Lani are in the square with baby Trey. Lani has been helping at Sweet Bits all day, and they're making plans for the aquarium tomorrow. Lani mentions the "Carver angels" and says she can't wait. After Chanel leaves, Kristen appears. The reunion is warm. Kristen says this is the best news she's had in a long time. They catch up about Rachel being in Bayview. Kristen says she'd do anything to take her daughter's place. Lani mentions that she and Chanel are going to the aquarium tomorrow while Johnny works from home. That detail matters later.

Kate and Roman's Marriage Takes a Hit

This runs through most of the episode and it's the most charged material between these two in a long time. Roman confronts Kate about the plagiarism lawsuit. Kate denies setting Johnny up. Roman isn't convinced. He points out that Kate's devotion to her family has always come first, and when she's had to choose between her family and his, she's chosen hers. He brings up the time Lucas kidnapped Sami and Kate kept it to herself. Kate fires back: "By the time I found out, Sami was already home, safe and happy." Roman: "And you also wanted to protect Lucas."

Kate tells Roman they're one family now and asks what she can do to fix this. Roman's answer is simple: drop the lawsuit against DiMera. Kate says she can't. It's too big, it's taken on a life of its own, and if Titan didn't respond to such blatant plagiarism, it would be open season on their intellectual property. Roman is left unsatisfied, and Kate is left trying to hold the marriage together without giving an inch on business.

Chanel's Lump Gets Real

Johnny comes home and drops a bomb: he called Sarah and made a doctor's appointment for Chanel about the breast lump. Chanel is furious. "Why would you disrespect me like that?" She reminds him they don't even know anything is wrong, and he's acting like she's on life support. Johnny apologizes but holds his ground. If something is wrong, the sooner they catch it, the better.

Chanel agrees to go. At the hospital, Sarah examines the lump and says it could be hormonal, but she needs to order a mammogram. She's scheduling it as soon as possible. When Johnny asks if she's worried, Sarah says no, but she wants to make sure "mama and baby are healthy."

Before they leave, Chanel and Johnny get an ultrasound. They look at photos of the baby together. It's sweet until Chanel breaks down. "I'm worried that I might have cancer and that I just won't get to raise our kids." Johnny holds her and promises he'll be by her side. Always.

Tate Confronts Sophia

Tate finds Sophia in the square and tells her to stay away from Holly. Sophia fires back that Holly is the one making her life miserable, spreading rumors and saying horrible things to her face. Including, Sophia says, telling her she wished Sophia was dead. Tate doesn't believe it. Sophia is bitter: "Right, because I'm the evil manipulative bitch and she's just the sweet princess." Tate tells her he and Holly are solid, and nothing Sophia says or does will change that. Sophia's parting shot: "Be careful what you wish for, Tate."

Xander and Kristen: The Enemy of My Enemy

Xander shows up at the DiMera mansion, claiming he left an earbud in Gwen's old room. Kristen blocks him. "EJ doesn't want you snooping around, and neither do I." Xander pushes. Kristen pushes back: "Cut the crap, Xander. What does he really want?" Xander says EJ wants the same thing she does: to find out what EJ's hiding. The conversation shifts. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Kristen says. Xander responds: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

The Cliffhanger: Kristen Calls Sophia

The episode ends with a phone call. Kristen tells Sophia the time to move on Johnny is tomorrow. His wife will be gone all day. Sophia hesitates. Kristen cuts her off: "This gets done tomorrow. No emotion, no mess. Johnny made himself a target and now we will take the shot. Clean, quiet, permanent." Sophia says okay.

Today Marlena sat across from Xander, looked him in the eye, and asked whether he set her grandson up to publish a plagiarized manuscript. She framed it as a therapeutic question. "Your answer will show how successful your therapy has been," she said. Xander called it what it was: manipulative. And he wasn't wrong.

Marlena Evans has been practicing psychiatry in Salem for over forty years, and for most of that time she's been treating people she's personally entangled with. She's counseled her own children, her stepchildren, her grandchildren, her husband's ex-wives, and multiple people who have kidnapped her. She once treated Stefano DiMera, the man who held her captive, brainwashed her, and convinced the town she was dead. There is no version of this that passes an ethics board.

But here's the thing. It works. Not by the standards of the American Psychiatric Association, but by the standards of Salem, where there are apparently three therapists in the entire town and Marlena is two of them. People talk to her because she already knows the context. She doesn't need a patient to spend six sessions explaining who EJ DiMera is or why the tunnels under the mansion matter. She's lived it.

Today's session was a perfect example of the contradiction. Marlena used the therapy hour to fish for information about the plagiarism scheme. That's a conflict of interest the size of the DiMera estate. But she also got Xander to reveal something real: he's been sleeping with Gwen partly to snoop around the mansion. He admitted he's using her. That's a genuine therapeutic breakthrough, and it happened because Marlena pushed the conversation past where a more ethical therapist would have stopped.

And then came the ending. Xander suggested that Marlena approves of any effort to bring down EJ. Marlena's response was to end the session. "And here we are out of time." Not a denial. Not a correction. Just a pivot. That silence said more than any answer would have.

The show has leaned into this tension before. Back in October, Marlena agreed to continue seeing Xander only if he stayed completely honest with her. In March, Xander brought her flowers after what he called a breakthrough. She visited Sophia at Bayview in April, trying to help, and Sophia threw it back in her face. Marlena keeps crossing lines, and the show keeps rewarding her for it.

What makes Marlena interesting as a therapist isn't that she's good at her job. It's that she's good at her job despite doing it in a way that should get her license revoked. She gathers intelligence. She advocates for her family. She blurs the line between care and control so smoothly that her patients don't always notice. Xander noticed today, and he called her on it. She didn't flinch.

Forty years in, Marlena's couch is less a place for healing and more a place where Salem's secrets go to get rearranged. And somehow, people keep sitting down.

Tate announced today that he wants to become a certified personal trainer. What sport did Tate play in high school? (Answer at the bottom of the email.)

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Steve Teaches Stephanie to Shoot

Steve wants to make sure Stephanie knows how to handle a gun safely. This was Stephanie's idea, not his. She's been dealing with a lot since her kidnapping, and this is her way of feeling like she has some control. Given the May Sweeps spoilers about Stephanie and firearms, this feels like the beginning of something, not a one-off.

Chad Has Questions for Gwen

Chad goes to Gwen looking for answers. About what? The most obvious guess is the pod. Chad just confronted EJ yesterday and got nowhere. Gwen lived in the DiMera mansion for months. And now that we know Xander has been using Gwen for exactly this kind of information, Chad may be working the same angle.

Leo Reaches Out to Javi

Leo tries to reconnect with Javi. Yesterday he was scrolling through 515 firefighter headshots in Corpus Christi. Today he's apparently skipping the research phase and going straight to the source. Whether Javi picks up is another question.

Alex and Stephanie Reconnect

After a rough stretch, Alex and Stephanie find their way back to each other. Enjoy it while it lasts. Joy Wesley returns on Friday with a baby.

Kristen Slaps EJ

Kristen hauls off and slaps her brother. No context yet on what triggers it, but Kristen just told Sophia to move on Johnny tomorrow. If EJ finds out what Kristen is planning, a slap would be the least of it. Or this could be about something else entirely. Either way, the DiMera siblings are not getting along.

Finally, Julie Lends Jeremy an Ear

Jeremy needs someone to talk to, and Julie is there. Julie has been keeping a close eye on Jeremy since he came back to Salem, and he's been struggling more than he lets on.

The Patrick Muldoon tributes keep coming. Bryan Dattilo (Lucas) shared the fullest remembrance yet in a Soap Opera Digest exclusive, saying Muldoon never called him "Bryan" on set, only "Lucas." He remembered Muldoon's obsession with his hair (he called it "the lid") and their decades of friendship off-camera. "57 years was not enough for Pat Muldoon." Galen Gering (Rafe) also added his tribute, joining remembrances earlier this week from Deidre Hall (Marlena), Christie Clark (Carrie), Alison Sweeney (Sami), and Lisa Rinna (Billie). The show's official Instagram posted a formal tribute noting Muldoon's nearly 500 episodes as Austin Reed. No memorial details have been announced.

Next week's spoilers are starting to surface. Early looks at the April 27 week suggest Steve may regret teaching Stephanie how to use a gun. Chanel's mammogram results may arrive, and the show may force her to choose between her pregnancy and her health. And Alex will have to deal with the fallout from Joy's return.

Celebrity Dirty Laundry is reporting that Kristen makes a major move after Stefano's will reading. The article suggests the will could give Kristen legitimate control of the DiMera mansion, potentially letting her kick EJ out. If Lexie wakes up before or during the reading, the legal picture changes for all the heirs.

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