As one hero falls, another rises — John’s farewell Sparks Bo’s Return: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of June 2, 2025

This week was rough for Days of Our Lives fans. John fought the good fight, but ultimately succumbed to his burns. Marlena had a flashback to when John was in the hospital, and he had a coin that was good luck for him. She again put it in his hand in the present, and he was able to utter the words, “I’m still here.” Ultimately, Marlena told John it was okay if he needed to let go (See Lines of the Week for the full quote). He finally did, and I know I had tears in my eyes, but it was a nice way to honor Drake Hogestyn.

Poor Marlena eventually heard that Bo had woken up from his coma, and it was very difficult for her to tell people that she was happy about it. She did through tears, and the moment was so bittersweet. Fans online are clamoring for Deidre Hall to receive a Daytime Emmy for her performance, and I fully concur.

Interestingly, the comatose Bo was dreaming again and was at the Brady Pub, where he met his son, Zach, who had died years ago. Zach told him that he didn’t belong there, and further explained that the longer Bo stayed, the harder it would be to return. This was super cool because you then realized that Bo wasn’t dreaming but was caught between Heaven and Earth. And Zach was guiding him back home, which was a nice touch.

Ultimately, as John died, Bo woke up, so the entire situation was rather bittersweet for everyone involved.

LOOSE ENDS

Kayla and Steve were talking about going to see Bo. This would imply that he’s back in the hospital in Greece. They’re really messing around with proximities and time frames here. Remember last week when it seemed like Hope teleported back and forth from Salem to Greece? I don’t mind when a timeline is truncated on a soap to focus more on the story than watching people travel, but there was no mention at all about traveling, so it makes it just confusing.

Rafe’s still looking for his memory stick, so hopefully we’ll get a resolution to that at some point. But as I recall, we already saw that it showed Johnny walking in with the gun. Perhaps someone’s going to get their hands on that, and Johnny will be blamed for shooting EJ.

There was one glaring loose end that seemed wholly inaccurate. The skydiving instructor was telling Chad which handle to pull to launch his chute and where the backup chute handle was located. I’m sorry, but first-time parachutists are always tethered to an instructor and never allowed to just pull the cord on their own.

Cat recognized a photo of Sami! How do they know each other?

Also, we got a glimpse of the guy who’s been taking pics of various Salemites, particularly the young folk, so I’m excited to see where that leads and who this guy is!

And did we ever learn where Abigail’s body had gone off to?

EXTRA SCOOPS

REFERENCES

The bandaged John may have been inspired by the many bandaged characters that have appeared in comics, TV Shows, and movies over the years. Depicted above is John on the upper left, then going clockwise starting from the top right is The Invisible Man from the 1933 film of the same name, Darkman (1990), The Unknown Soldier from the DC comic, next to him in the center left is Bill Bixby as David Banner from the Incredible Hulk episode "Mystery Man," in which he was in an accident and had amnesia, and to the left of that is Larry Trainor from The Doom Patrol who’s also known as Negative Man.

Paulina referenced a book called When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner. She said, “Though he didn’t have any theories as to why life was so unfair, he wrote that acts of God are reflected when a community responds and rebuilds after a tragic event, meaning that — that it’s how people support each other and comfort each other during hard times, that’s where you find God.”

Ciara brought little Bo to meet his namesake, and the kid had the same hairstyle as Adam Rich, who was part of the ensemble cast on the TV drama, Eight is Enough. Rich was all over the TV dial in the ‘70s and ‘80s, appearing in such classic shows as Code Red, The Love Boat, The Six Million Dollar Man, and more. He hasn’t been in anything since 2003.

Chad admitted to Cat that he was terrified to go skydiving, then stated, “But, hey, like Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘You should do something every day that scares you.’ ” Cat followed that up with, “Her husband, President Roosevelt, also said, ‘The only thing to fear is fear itself.’” They both agreed that the Roosevelts were cool, and Cat added the cringeworthy, “They slayed,” and immediately caught herself, stating, “Oh, wow, that was…we’ll leave that to the kids.”

Anna was telling Kate about her grandson’s graduation, and Kate told her that she’d seen it because Austin sent her a videotape! I’m sure she meant that he shared a video file with her. For those who may not know (and shame on you if you don’t) a videotape is a black, plastic case that houses magnetic tape upon which analog video and audio can be recorded. Many, many movies and TV shows were released on tape long before they went to DVD and Blu-ray, and then streaming. I have hundreds and hundreds of them that I still watch to this day. But I digress…

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

Not all of the lines this week I’m quoting here are funny ones. Many are somber, considering John was exiting this mortal coil.

Hope was telling Ciara and Shawn about the different things she would say to the comatose Bo, explaining, “And when I’m desperate, like, truly desperate, I Google motorcycle crankshafts.” She then added, “Oh, and this one time, please don’t ask me why, but I went into great detail about a documentary I watched on…” She started laughing and continued, “The making of Irish cheese.” Ciara hilariously asked, “The Irish cheddar documentary didn’t wake him up?”

When it came near the end for John, Marlena lovingly told him, “You have put up the bravest fight I have ever seen. The thing is that I…I know you’re weary. I know you’re suffering. If you need to go, it’s okay. I know that you’re worried about me, about the children. You’ve given us all the love we will ever, ever need. We will always have you in our memories. We will always hold you in our hearts. So…It’s okay…If you rest now. You can rest now.” That was so touching, and I definitely had tears in my eyes.

Roman and Kayla had a nice conversation and talked about how, through no fault of his own, John thought he was Roman for a while and even raised Roman‘s kids. But in the end, Roman said, “I very, very much feel like I lost a brother. And even more than that, I feel like I lost a part of myself.”

When an awake Bo started fretting about what he had done while under Megan’s control, Hope told him, “This is the first day of the rest of your life. Of our lives.” Another clever way of slipping the title of the show in, which they do every so often.

Paul was in tears about John, and Andrew had some comforting words: “Listen, what your dad did…he lived his life as a hero. And that’s how he died, too. He saved my uncle Bo’s life.”

When Bo learned that Xander was his brother and was in charge of Tita, he remarked, “Gardening to CEO. That’s quite a move.”

Chad told Leo that John was a true hero who deserved the tribute that Leo was writing. He replied, “Yeah, well, the copy editor, who it should be noted needs to start carrying around some TicTacs, is insisting that it’s too long, but I’m having trouble cutting any of it. John Black lived such an extraordinary life, I…I just wanna do his memory justice.”

Ariana was telling Gabi that her father wasn’t too happy she was living under the same roof as Leo. Gabby agreed, and Ariana said, “Did you know that he keeps giving me these, like, these Céline Dion CDs? I mean, it’s sweet, I guess, but it’s also like ‘Dude, does it look like I have or ever had a CD player?’ ”

After surprisingly praising Leo for being a great writer, Jack asked him if his mother knew he was a respected journalist now. Leo said they haven’t talked for a year and added, “I thought about dropping by Statesville to tell her the news about John, but she would just grow wild-eyed and hysterical and find a way to take it out on me. So not worth it.” Jack mentioned that she let Leo think John was his father for a while. Leo responded, “I should have known that a man like John Black could never have been my dad.” That was so sad! Poor Leo.

People kept messing with Chad’s fear of skydiving, and at one point, Cat gave him a speech about how wonderful it would be and how freeing it is. He mused that it could be an awesome experience, and she said, “That is, if your chute opens.” He was not happy to hear that.

Leo told Doug, “Loan sharks are not your friends. They are not in your improv group. They mean business. And until you pay them back, your life is in danger.”

REACTION OF THE WEEK

Chad admitted to Leo that he was afraid to skydive, so Leo advised, “Well then, canceling the date would probably be the best thing for both of you. I mean, think about it. You won’t have to jump out of a plane, hit terminal velocity, blackout, and bounce.” Chad was suitably shocked.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Jack had a really nice conversation with Leo in which he not only praised him for being a really good journalist, but also shared that he knew Leo’s biological father was abusive and shared that his own father was abusive to him. The two had a surprising bonding moment. Jack told him that they weren’t defined by their parents, and praised Leo, saying, “It’s your resilience, your courage to change, courage that you have a lot of. That’s what makes all the difference.” Shockingly, Leo simply thanked him and didn’t put his foot in his mouth by saying something stupid.

INTERESTING DETAIL

There are often cool details that are only gleaned if you screenshot them, so I’m going to add in a section about those, although if there aren’t any during a given week, I won’t include it.

This week, at the beginning of Thursday’s episode, we saw the obituary Leo was writing for John. I felt it was very poignant, so here’s what was revealed onscreen:

Headline: “JOHN BLACK DIES A HERO” Writer: Leo Stark, OBITUARY

“It will sadden many to hear that John Black, long-time resident of Salem, died last night. However, it would surprise none who knew him to learn that he died a hero. And it would surprise even less that he saved countless lives in the process.

After a bizarre series of events, John found himself faced with the choice to not only save a dear and close friend, but also a complete stranger. The stranger was Dr. Jeffrey Russell, a doctor at Salem University who was responsible for a major breakthrough within the world of sepsis treatment. His new drug was on track to save hundreds of thousands of lives before it was mysteriously stolen from the lab. When the drug’s location was finally determined, our hero John Black was contacted, and even though there was no expectation that he should even get involved, he came to the rescue anyway. In doing so, he saved the doctor’s life, right before shielding the only remaining sample of the miracle drug with his own body when an enormous explosion rocked the area.

John’s wounds from the blast were extreme — and eventually fatal — but he did what he had set out to do. The drug was saved. And the futures of countless sepsis patients were forever changed.

Among those countless patients, there was Bo Brady, another long-time Salem citizen, who had developed sepsis as well — and it was John’s sacrifice that allowed him to not only beat the infection, but rejoin the living from the throes of a coma, reuniting him at long last with his friends and loved ones. For anyone who knew John Black, this miraculous turn of events would almost seem commonplace — and certainly no one that met him, either personally or professionally, would doubt that John wouldn’t have undergone anything he went through if it meant that someone else — even someone he didn’t know— got to have another chance at life.”

PARTING THOUGHTS

Overall, a sad week, but rewarding nonetheless. Drake Hogestyn and his alter ego John Black were suitably honored as he went out a hero, and was the same in real life as he was in reel life.

OUTRO

Thanks for sharing the tears with me this week, DOOL-ers! Join me next time when I attempt to figure out why hamburgers are not made out of ham.

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