Johnny unleashes his fury and fires EJ: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of August 11-15, 2025

Well, Belle wasn’t happy with what EJ had done to her in court when he asked Johnny to tell everyone what kind of relationship he and Belle had. She’s not going to let that go. But she might forgive him down the road.

Through the hypnosis, EJ recalled that the shooter was female! But, and I think I speculated on this last week, Marlena said she didn’t think EJ could go any further with the hypnosis because whoever shot him was someone so close that his mind would break if they tried to smash through the walls. It was revealed throughout the week that Marlena seems to know who the shooter was, and I think it’s going to turn out to be Rachel.

Holly and Tate finally slept together, so that was a big step forward for them. But it’s looking like Tate and Sophia may have an attraction that could increase if the whole baby secret comes out and they end up having to take care of the child together.

Ultimately, Johnny fired EJ because he believed that the video of Chanel threatening EJ was a deepfake. But will EJ manage to talk his way out of that next week? Stay tuned to find out!

LOOSE ENDS

I still don’t understand why Belle couldn’t appreciate EJ’s tactic to try and cause a mistrial. Maybe when she eventually cools down, they’ll be talking over drinks and she’ll admit that it was a great move.

Rachel turning out to be the shooter might be a good idea, but is it realistic? In order to squeeze the trigger on a gun, you have to have a modicum of strength. This would have thrown her accuracy way off, and she wouldn’t have been able to get him in the chest. Rachel’s a little kid, so while she was trying to squeeze off a shot, EJ would have had time to duck for cover. But, assuming she was able to shoot it, perhaps by cocking the hammer first, what about the angle? She’s a kid, so she’s much shorter than EJ. Wouldn’t forensics have noticed that the path the bullet took was an upward one? That would show that the shooter was much shorter than him. However, if I’m recalling this correctly, I believe EJ was seated. Thus, Rachel would have been more in line with EJ’s chest, which could explain how she hit him with accuracy.

Amy mentioned that Tesoro resembled Sophia’s brother, Cooper. Was it revealed before that she had a brother?

We’re starting to get more nuggets about Javi’s past with a baby. Ever since we saw him looking at a photo of himself holding a baby, and then being sad after seeing it, I’ve been eager to find out more about that story. This week, Javi shared his thoughts with Rafe about Sophia, but figured the timeline was off and she couldn’t be the baby’s mother. He then sadly said he felt for her, which reminded Rafe of the time he had to give up David. He then said, “But that’s nothing compared to what you went through.” Javi responded, “Yeah. It seems like a lifetime ago.” Rafe responded, “Never goes away, does it?” What happened?!? Did Javi have a baby with someone who died?

Later, we got another clue about Javi’s past with a baby when he was talking to Ari, who was praising her dads. She said they were the best ‘girl dads,’ and added, “Just like you would have been.” So now we know that the baby in Javi’s past was female. He thanked her for saying that, and she suddenly felt bad for bringing it up. He told her it was okay and said, “It’s not like I don’t think about her all the time.” He told her he didn’t want Leo to know about it because it was too hard to explain.

EXTRA SCOOPS

REFERENCES

Leo called Javi from a payphone. I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain this, but for those younger viewers who are reading this, long before cell phones, people had hard-wired phones in their houses. Outside of the home, payphones were everywhere. All you had to do was toss a dime or a quarter in, and you could call someone almost anywhere. Do I need to explain what coins are now?

When Paulina was talking to Chanel and Johnny about the deepfake video of Chanel threatening EJ, the mayor told them about the time someone cut and pasted her head on the body of the Monopoly man. For those who don’t know, Monopoly is a classic board game where players buy, trade, and develop properties while trying to bankrupt their opponents through rent collection and strategic financial management. The Monopoly man is a short guy with a handlebar mustache and monocle, although some people believe the timeline has changed because when you look at game boxes, even from the past, he doesn’t have the monocle! Must be a Mandela effect.

SHOT OF THE WEEK

Right off the bat this week, Sarah was angry at Xander for showing some PDA when Gabi kissed him at the Bistro. So, she turned around and kissed Brady, enraging Xander, who tried to punch his nephew. But Brady was ready for him, blocked Xander’s punch with his left arm and smacked him in the chest with his right, sending him backwards. The look of sheer anger on Xander’s face was truly frightening. It did look a tad choreographed, but it was still fun nonetheless.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

After Brady deflected Xander’s attack, Sarah said, “Well, your boxing skills look sharp. Been training?” Brady doesn’t really answer her and instead says, “That man’s a menace, and he’s lucky that Gabi got him out of here when she did.”

After the fight, Gabi lit into Xander, saying, “Not only did you try to sucker punch Brady in front of your estranged wife and a room full of witnesses, but you got us kicked out like a couple of losers!”

After EJ smashed his hand, Gwen said to him, “You DiMeras, you’ve got every medication under the sun in this mausoleum, including some very strange medical bag labeled ‘Property of Dr. Rolf,’ which I don’t even wanna ask about. But yet I can’t seem to find a single bottle of ibuprofen anywhere.” EJ’s response was, “Father taught us to embrace the pain. Plus, we’re usually the ones creating the headaches.

Marlena explained to Belle that while she can’t stand EJ, she was willing to do hypnosis on him if it meant helping Johnny. Belle then said, “Well, I mean, maybe after you get EJ to remember who shot him, you could hypnotize him into walking into traffic.” Marlena pretended to get frustrated and yelled, “Darn! I don’t have that kind of power!” Belle’s response was, “Shucks.” I didn’t think many people used that word much these days.

Gabi was pissed that she and Xander got kicked out of the Bistro and weren’t welcome there for the foreseeable future. Xander’s reaction was, “Oh, no. How will we go on without overcooked beef and overpriced wine?”

Brady was telling Gabi about how John always fought for justice. Gabi said, “Everyone in Salem thought that John Black was responsible for saving the world.” Brady smirked and replied, “He actually did that on more than one occasion.”

EJ was shocked that Belle stated he was as bad as Stefano. She then said, “Oh, you’re worse. He never tried to hide who and what he was. But you…You pretend to have a soul.”

Leo was telling Javi that he was frustrated because he couldn’t discuss Johnny’s trial, then stated, “I thought that jury duty was gonna be a total snooze fest.” He then explained he found it ‘riveting’ and added, “I was never really into true crime. I always found it to be a little too murder-y. But now I totally get it. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up making a movie out of this. ‘The People vs John Roman DiMera.’ I wonder who they’ll get to play me?”

Leo then explained to Javi, “I shouldn’t be juror number 9…just some anonymous, yet exquisitely moisturized face, in the crowd.” He felt he should have been covering the trial as The Spectator’s ‘star’ reporter.

When the judge told the court that the jury would be sequestered, Leo jumped op and shouted, “Objection!” The judge just looked at him and he sheepishly retracted it, saying, “Withdrawn,” and slunk back down into his seat.

Gwen strolled into the living room, and EJ simply said, “Gwen.” She reacted, “Someone in this house has actually greeted me.” She then touched her upper chest in shock and stated, “Perhaps I’m not invisible after all.”

An angry Gwen told Xander that from now on, she was going to stay away from him and from Sarah. She then said, “Have a nice life, stupid tosspot.” Tosspot, a great word that I hadn’t heard before, is a British word that means an obnoxious person. I’ll have to add that to my vernacular.

REACTION OF THE WEEK

In perhaps one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve seen in a long time, Holly and Tate were being all lovey-dovey, and when they walked away, it was revealed that Sophia had walked out of a shop and saw them. She just dropped her head, and it was so sad! She’s definitely proved her amazing acting chops because later Arianna helps raise her spirits, and she seemed overjoyed. Rachel Boyd has a bright future ahead of her.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Through happenstance, Javi has been bumping into Sophia often. He’s starting to put the pieces together that Tesoro might be her baby. I like that because while everybody else has been thrown for a loop by her supposedly giving the baby to an adoptive couple, no one is questioning it or looking into it. But Javi’s an objective observer, and it’s cool to see the gears in his head moving every time something pops up that raises a question about her baby.

The best part about that was that they allowed Javi to have a moment of thought. He just looked into space, trying to figure it all out, and I thought that was a nice touch because everything is so rushed these days; it was nice to give him a moment to put everything together in his head.

Belle walking in on Tate and Holly in bed was simultaneously hilarious and awkward! Thankfully, she didn’t flip her lid and just calmly told Tate not to do that at the house again. I laughed out loud during the walk-in!

I’m convinced that the baby in Javi’s past died. But this being a soap, odds are that they’re setting things up and the child will somehow come to Salem a little grown, and it will be a whole shocking storyline.

PARTING THOUGHTS

The interactions between Leo and another juror named Adam were hilarious. Since the jury was sequestered, they were put up at the Salem Inn, and Adam and Leo were forced to become roomies. Adam can’t stop talking about inane things, and at one point, Leo wondered aloud if there were any tranquilizers in one of the hotel room’s drawers. In trying to find something to occupy their time, Adam suggested they play cards. “No. Listen, every time someone tries to explain a card game to me, my soul leaves my body. In fact, my therapist suggests I stay away from all card games.” I have that very same affliction.

OUTRO

As always, thanks for joining me this week, DOOL-ers! Until next time, when I attempt to combine Quantum Leap and The Love Boat -- traveling through time, but always in Hawaiian shirts.

Days of Our Lives can be found on the Peacock streaming app.