Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (4)

Forget the 4th of July — the real fireworks on Days of Our Lives happened the next day! Li’s murderer was finally revealed and it was almost entirely out of left field, and Gabi did not waste a second in righting EJ’s wrongs in dramatic fashion! Plus, a soap was cancelled and given a second life and Bobby finally popped up again — determined never to disappear again! So let’s dive right in. 

The Truth Is Loose

OK, Friday was a good episode. I was a little worried after that 4th of July episode. It was alright, but nothing spectacular. Days of Our Lives mentions pretty much every holiday ever, so I was really hoping for more family gatherings and a summery feel to the Fourth, rather than kids hanging out in the pub and parents calling each other over to talk about lacrosse camp — you know, like any other day of the week.

More: Finally, Stefan’s got a new look!

But then we got Friday… I had more than a few suspicions that Gabi would not be happy with keeping Jude’s paternity a secret, but her being that messy and telling everyone at a press conference was such a freaking blast. And I get it. Coming out of prison and being kept from her daughter a second time, has got to have her hyper sensitive to the thought of a child being kept from his parents.

But doing it at the press conference EJ threw to make himself look good is just prime Gabi vindictiveness — for a good cause! And Cherie Jimenez did such a good job with that. I could feel her satisfaction as she drew that out, toyed with EJ, then just dropped the boom on him.

So what’s next? Nicole, I’m guessing, is going to run straight to Eric and stop him from leaving. (Actually, we know from spoilers that she’s going to do just that on Tuesday.) We know they have an airport set — we saw it with the Gwen/Theresa switch — so maybe we’ll even get a dramatic airport reunion! (Or as much of one as we can get in a post 9/11 world.) Pull out all the stops! Arianne Zucker is leaving in three weeks, so let’s see some of her fire aimed at EJ. Either way, he’s just lost everything. Nicole, the baby, his DiMera shares, probably the DA position… EJ is toast.

I really don’t know how they’re going to juggle this, but I don’t think either Holly or Eric is leaving, so I’ve got no clue how they’re going to send Zucker off.

Killer Connie

Connie killed Li! Connie killed Li! I called it! (Seriously, I laid out that theory earlier in the week here.) Or did she just fantasize about it? Or… here’s something out of left field, did Li get her to go along with faking his murder by appealing to her true crime obsession and assuring her that she could get in on the fun without facing actual jail time. Either way, I knew the timing of her reappearance was suspicious! If it is real, though, I guess poor Connie’s time is just about up.

So did Bobby spot her leaving the crime or is there another twist coming? Why does he know anything about Li? Is he just making this up because he knows that now that Gabi is out, Li’s murder is up for grabs? Blake Berris does great with differentiating Bobby and Everett in pretty much every tic and mannerism. Bobby’s just a creep — though I liked that they had Jada point out that most alters aren’t violent.

Grow Up

I still don’t understand why they’re so committed to making Alex such an obnoxious spoiled brat. Good for Justin for being the better person and not decking his son when he was called “cousin,” but I really hope this wedding to Theresa goes forward because that’s going to sting all the more when it falls apart. Something has got to knock Alex down a peg and inject some humility in him.

And it’s all the more apparent when you contrast that with Xander’s growth in turning down Maggie’s money. I suppose that’s the point, to show us how a real heir would act, but I think I’d like it better if I cared about Alex and the truth coming out would be heartbreaking for us to see, rather than sublimely satisfying.

Saved from Cancelation

I’m not gonna beat around the bush here and say that Abe and Kate’s soap opera discussion was remotely subtle, but I am intrigued by the idea that they’re going to fold Body & Soul into Days of Our Lives lore proper — much like One Life to Live’s faux soap, Fraternity Row. And I realized why they’re going to buy the rights to Body & Soul instead of start a new one: budget.

More: First Body & Soul canceled, next Days of Our Lives? 

Since they’ve already established that the actors look like Salemites, Days of Our Lives won’t have to worry about hiring new people to film Body & Soul. They can just tap their existing actors and, I guess, have a bunch of doppelgangers running around? Hopefully they don’t make them identical and just stick to Abe’s “You kind of remind me of this actor…” Because we don’t need everyone with their own Bonnie/Hattie.

Plus, as I said earlier in the week, now that Chanel and Johnny are staying and he still needs a job, you can bet he’ll be hired onto the soap.

Stray Thoughts…

• So Sonny and Will are back in Arizona? That’s where Gabi was visiting Ari.

• Did anyone else catch Chanel spilling water on herself on Monday’s episode? It was such an unintentional, but adorably human moment and Raven Bowens just handled it without flinching, I couldn’t help but smile. And that was very welcome after watching her heartbreaking performance as Chanel grieved her baby’s death.
• Brady saying that the past “week” has been tough ever since Konstantin almost killed Theresa was jarring. That was a month ago. I knew time was running wonky when the prom happened the night before the 4th of July, but wow.
• Poor Bonnie just wanted to have fun and watch fireworks for the 4th of July and it was all Kiriakis drama, instead.
• Did you catch Aaron’s comment about his mom’s barbecue? We just got confirmation that there are Greene parents!