In Horton Town Square, Holly admitted to Doug that Tate and she had been fighting. When he asked her what the fight was about, Holly lied that they had argued about the adoption. A hopeful Doug told Holly that he would soon be meeting the woman who had bought Julie’s necklace. Just then, Melinda strutted up and announced she was the buyer. She showed off the necklace, which she had around her neck.
Holly began laying into Melinda for her participation in Jude’s kidnapping. Melinda decided she would not be insulted by “a high school brat and her petty thief companion” and turned to leave. Doug jumped up and pleaded with her not to go. “I really need that necklace back,” he said. Doug pitched his plight to Melinda, but she didn’t see how it was her problem.
Holly and Melinda sniped at each other again before Holly backed off and asked Melinda to reconsider Doug’s offer to repay Melinda with more money than she had given for the necklace. Holly insinuated she would seek her grandmother’s financial help, if necessary. Melinda smirked and claimed Holly was interested in Doug. Holly balked, but Melinda pressed forward and offered the younger woman a word of caution about getting involved with a “thief.”
Melinda flatly rejected Holly and Doug’s offers and strode away. Doug apologized for getting Holly involved, but she was undeterred. Doug and she would work together to get the necklace back, Holly declared with a smile.
At John and Marlena’s place, Tate arrived home and confronted Brady about John being missing. As Brady tried to assure Tate that his grandfather would be fine, Theresa came through the door. Father and son were shocked. Theresa announced, “Guess who got their ‘get out of jail free’ card?” Theresa took note of Brady and Tate’s less than enthusiastic response, but Tate said he was just surprised.
Brady asked, with a hint of worry, if Tate and he were harboring a “fugitive.” Theresa explained her release date had been moved up. She asked Tate for a hug, and he gladly complied. Brady remained reserved, which prompted Theresa to ask, “You don’t have a hug for the mother of your child?” Theresa believed Brady still hated her. He explained that he had other things on his mind, namely his father’s disappearance.
Brady filled Theresa in on the details about John and on Shane and Andrew’s involvement with the search. She said she was sorry and asked if she could give him a hug. He accepted the comfort. Theresa pulled back and promised Brady and Tate she was there for both of them. She turned the subject to Tate and asked how Holly and he were doing. Tate didn’t want to talk about it.
Brady explained that Tate and Holly were navigating issues about “the baby.” Theresa’s eyes widened and she exclaimed, “What baby?” Brady said he’d thought Tate would have told Theresa when he had visited her. A confused Theresa couldn’t contain herself and blurted out, “Did you get Holly pregnant?” Tate reassured his mother he hadn’t and then reluctantly confessed that the baby in question belonged to Sophia and him.
“My baby’s having a baby,” Theresa bemoaned, “and I’m going to be a grandmother.” As Tate tried to stammer out an explanation, Brady excused himself so Tate and Theresa could talk, to Tate’s chagrin. After Brady departed, Tate told Theresa that Sophia and he had been exploring adoption as an option. When he mentioned Ms. Choi’s resistance to the idea, Tate was taken aback when Theresa seemingly agreed with the woman’s reservations. She cited Kristen and Tate's aunt Eve as cautionary tales regarding adoption.
Tate protested that he didn’t intend to surrender the baby to “criminal masterminds.” He lashed out at Theresa for judging others but quickly apologized. Theresa understood that Tate was still angry with her, but she needed to state her piece anyway. She told her son that the objections of Sophia’s mother could prove to be a “blessing in disguise.”
At the hospital, Jada entered Rafe’s room and happily greeted her fiancé. Rafe assured her that other than some left-over “fogginess,” he felt “great.” He added that he was the “picture of health” and Kayla would soon be discharging him. Jada wanted his help to begin building a case against EJ. Rafe theorized his memory loss could be due to the blow to his head or to Dr. Rolf’s brainwashing.
Rafe was unnerved and angry when Jada told him he’d been gone for three months. When Jada deemed the case against EJ as “circumstantial,” Rafe vowed it was “the last time” EJ would take his life away from him. He couldn’t understand EJ’s motive for making the most recent switch, as the last time had been to destroy his relationship with Sami. Jada said she had “an idea” and then told Rafe the full story about EJ supposedly hiring “Rafe,” leading up to “Rafe” ditching her at the altar. Rafe grew angrier and sympathized with Jada for what she had experienced.
Rafe was confused as to why EJ would go after Jada, so she updated him on her role in having EJ fired as DA. “He took everything away from me,” Jada lamented. Rafe was saddened that Jada had thought he had betrayed her in such a horrible way. He apologized again and hugged her. Jada and Rafe both agreed that EJ was “pure evil.” Jada was determined to bring him to justice, but Rafe didn’t want to wait -- he was going to confront EJ himself.
At the DiMera mansion, EJ fielded a call from Rita, who told him Gabi was in a foul mood at the office. EJ was pleased with the news, since it meant that Rafe still hadn’t regained his full memories. EJ ended the conversation after Kristen stormed by him. When he inquired what was wrong, Kristen harshly told him her mother was missing. Kristen insisted she’d told her mother to stay put and wondered where she could have gone.
Kristen believed her mother had been happy to be reunited with her daughter. Rachel had only appeared unsettled by Stefano’s portrait. EJ suggested Rachel might have felt more comfortable at Aremid and might have gone back home. Kristen thought it was a possibility, then she recalled how focused her mother had been on Kristen reuniting with Brady. Kristen had told her mother about Ava almost sending them to prison and had instructed the woman to stay away from Ava.
Both Kristen and EJ questioned if Rachel had listened. Kristen defended her mother as “a kind and gentle soul” who wasn’t in her right mind. It wouldn’t surprise her if Rachel had gone after Ava again. Kirsten tried to get in touch with Ava by phone, to no avail.
EJ cracked that at least they might not have to worry about Ava ratting them out. Kristen reminded her brother that Rafe should be their top concern in that regard. She bid EJ adieu and went in search of her mother.
Later, EJ was lounging in his chair when Rafe burst into the room and exclaimed, “I know what you did!” EJ kept his cool and played dumb, chiding Rafe for his intrusion. Rafe responded by going for EJ's throat, literally. Jada rushed in soon thereafter and kept Rafe from strangling EJ to death. She scolded Rafe for skipping out on her at the hospital.
When EJ suggested they take their “couples’ therapy session” elsewhere, Rafe and Jada demanded he “shut up” in unison. EJ contended that the duo couldn’t prove the man that had been posing as Rafe was Arnold Feniger. Rafe was enraged by EJ’s denials and got in his adversary’s face. “You’re not gonna get away with it this time. That’s a promise,” Rafe pledged.
Upstairs at the Brady Pub, Ava entered her room only to be startled by Rachel Blake’s presence. Ava demanded to know how the woman had gotten in and what she wanted. Rachel had used a bobby pin for entrance, and she wanted to have a “friendly little visit” with Ava after being released from jail. Rachel stalked toward Ava. As Ava backed up, she warned Rachel that the woman was committing another crime.
Rachel had a word of caution herself: she had a “very low tolerance” for people who crossed her or stood in the way of her family’s happiness. She intended to make Ava fully aware of her displeasure. Ava again reiterated that Rachel was lucky she was not in jail. She then told Rachel that she would not be pressing charges against anyone for Rachel’s granddaughter’s sake. The woman claimed she was relieved to hear it and made a motion to leave.
Just as Ava breathed a sigh of relief, Rachel picked up a large knife laying on the table and wielded it at Ava. Rachel stroked the knife, which she had retrieved from the DiMera kitchen, and mused that it could “cut through flesh like butter.” Rachel said Kristen had cautioned her to stay away, and Ava backed up the suggestion. Rachel grew more agitated as she talked about how Kristen had been taken from her by “that awful family.” She owed it to Kristen and to her granddaughter to make things right.
Ava tried in vain to offer sympathy to Rachel, so she switched tactics and warned Rachel that she’d run a Mafia organization. “And now you’ll sleep with the fishes,” Rachel retorted. Ava made a grab for the knife and for her phone. During the struggle, Rachel sliced Ava’s hand. Kristen arrived on the scene and tried to persuade her increasingly unstable mother to relinquish the knife.
Eventually, Rachel acquiesced and collapsed onto the bed in sobs. While Kristen comforted her mother, she and Ava bantered about the extent of Ava’s injury. Ava was outraged and firmly stated the woman needed to be locked up. Brady soon joined the fray. He received another shock after Ava informed him that Kristen’s mother had just tried to kill her.
