The search for Sophia reaches a fever pitch in Salem: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of October 13th, 2025

Everyone in Salem is hunting for Sophia! Finally, everyone who was looking into what she had done collaborated, and it was realized that she not only tried to frame Holly and Johnny for having an affair, but also that something major was up with her baby story. She seems like she’s going down the road of madness, and may be losing her mind. It was kind of sad watching her leave as she clutched her teddy bear, which symbolized the fact that she’s still just a kid herself.

Alex finally got to meet Jeremy, and he wasted no time warning the Horton that he needed to stay away from Stephanie. His reaction when he learned that Jeremy had made contact with Steph was great and accurate. I know if someone who abused a woman I loved came back to town, I’d be laying down the law as well. Alex better be on his toes because even though this guy claims to have changed his ways, he’s got a creepy vibe and could still be dangerous.

It wasn’t too hard to predict that Tony was going to double-cross Gabi. He promised her the CEO job when DiMera was extracted from the merger with Titan. But then he told her that it would never happen because she violated a morality clause in the contract they signed when she took a gun to the mansion and planned to shoot EJ. But it ended well with him giving her Gabi Chic back. Later, Philip tried getting her to keep the company with Titan, but she wants to run it on her own. Besides, that ended up being a good excuse for them to sleep together!

And after EJ blabbed the Anastasia Sands secret to Leo, who then confronted Stephanie about it, she decided to go public and reveal her secret double life. In terms of a soap opera character being forced to admit their secret to prevent someone else from doing it, that’s how it should be. But honestly, is there really any suspense in Steve finding out that his daughter wrote a naughty book? Seriously.

LOOSE ENDS

Cat talked EJ into giving her the VIP tour of the new facility. He’s gonna flip his wig when he finds out she’s working undercover against him! For the ISA, no less!

It turns out Aaron’s the father of Sophia’s baby! Not a huge surprise when they established that Tate wasn’t the father last week. Aaron had a good explanation for why he didn’t think there was a chance that he was the father because other crazy things were going on in his life at the time. He took Sophia’s word for it that Tate was the dad, and back then, there was no reason to doubt her.

As I predicted, Foster is staying in Salem. He’s now going to be working for Julie at the bookshop, so I think romance is in the air for them. It’s going to be interesting to watch it unfold because Julie’s going to end up dealing with worrying that she’s betraying Doug. But someone will convince her that Doug would approve.

EXTRA SCOOPS

REFERENCES

As Abe and Theo were having a rather heated discussion about Theo’s new job, Paulina walked in and immediately could sense the tension. She stated, “Somebody want to tell me why it feels like high noon at the O.K. Corral up in here? I mean, what’s going on?” So, going by the subtitles, they were lowercase “high noon,” meaning she was referencing a Western movie trope that good guys and bad guys have showdowns at precisely noon. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a 30-second shootout in 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona, between lawmen led by Wyatt Earp and the outlaw Cowboys, sparked by escalating tensions over law, power, and control of the town. The best film version of that was also called The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, starring Burt Lancaster as Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holiday. A runner-up version that was almost as good was called Tombstone and starred Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer in those same roles, respectively.

High Noon is a tense, real-time Western about a principled marshal, played by Gary Cooper, who stands alone to face a vengeful outlaw gang while the town he’s sworn to protect turns its back on him. So it was both a nod to the Wild West as well as a sly reference to three great American-made Western films.

Leo was interrogating EJ for his story on the blackout, and he explained how it affected a children’s production of Annie. Annie tells the story of a spunky orphan in the Great Depression who gets a chance at a new life when she’s taken in by a wealthy man, a plot adapted from the long-running comic strip Little Orphan Annie. Leo was reading what he had written about it so far, ending on, “Where joyful, tapdancing orphans suddenly found themselves hurled into darkness.” EJ pretended a tear was rolling down his face and said, “Awwww. I never was a fan of Annie.”

Kayla told Steve she wanted to enjoy her day off and not think about EJ. Steve asked what she wanted to do, and she said, “How about a matinee? I saw that the Bijou is showing these retro horror movies, you know, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Night of the Living Dead. Those kinds of fun drive-in classics.” Steve was intrigued and said, “Drive-in? That’ll give us a good excuse to make out like a couple of teenagers.” She reminded him it was an indoor theater, and he quipped that the darkened back row would be fine.

Both films are indeed classics. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and its acclaimed remake Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) both tell the chilling story of ordinary people discovering their loved ones are being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates, capturing Cold War paranoia in the original and a more modern urban dread in the remake. Night of the Living Dead (1968) revolutionized horror cinema with its gritty realism, shocking violence, and social commentary, cementing itself as the blueprint for the modern zombie genre and a landmark in independent filmmaking.

Gabi explained to Philip that she negotiated with Tony to get Gabi Chic back (and didn’t tell him what really went down). Philip then said, “Then Coco Chanel has nothing on you.” Coco Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer who revolutionized women’s style in the early 20th century by popularizing elegant, minimalist clothing and creating the iconic Chanel brand.

SHOT OF THE WEEK

I’ve said it before, but I really love it when a character is given a moment to have a reaction or think about something. In this case, the shot of the week goes to Chad. After Jennifer read him the riot act about dating Cat, even though he said he dumped her for the family, she went to answer the door. This gave Chad a great moment to count to 10 in his head, and you could see him working hard to suppress his anger and not yell at her. Points go to Billy Flynn for a fine performance as we knew what was going on in Chad’s mind without him saying a word.

TONY’S OUTFIT OF THE WEEK

Tony DiMera’s outfit this week is once again pared down — and that alone is a statement. Instead of his usual formal tuxedo or three-piece suit, he’s opted for a sleek, dark dinner jacket with satin lapels paired with a simple black shirt. The crisp tailoring is still present, but the absence of a tie lends it a looser, more casual vibe. The one pop of flair? A deep red pocket square, folded sharply — the kind of detail Tony never forgets. It’s a subtle nod to his old-world elegance, but everything else about this look feels just a little less polished than usual.

And if you’ve watched enough Salem history to read the signs, you know what that sometimes means. When Tony gets more casual, it isn’t just a fashion shift — it’s often a narrative one. It’s the kind of understated wardrobe change that has fans whispering: is this Tony being Tony… or is his not-so-dearly-departed twin Andre up to his old tricks again?

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

Theo was trying to justify taking the CEO position at DiMera Enterprises to Abe. He cited Chad as being a good guy, then added, “And, well, Uncle Tony, he’s definitely less morally dubious than EJ and Kristen.” Abe responded, “That bar is really, really low, Theo.”

At the Pub, Susan Banks tells EJ, “I got a hankering for a peanut butter and bacon sandwich. You think they can make that for me here?” EJ hilariously responded, “Oh, I think they’ll make just about anything while trying not to…” then he feigns throwing up and finishes, “...gag.” She had no choice but to react, “Son, stop being such a snob.”

Shortly after, she accidentally let it slip that Johnny and Chanel were having issues with the adoption, and EJ said he wanted to know more so he could help. She responded, “Yes, but the last time you tried to help, you blew your relationship up with your son like a balloon filled with kerosene.”

A panicked Sophia went to Melinda for help. The lawyer told her to calm down, take a breath, and tell her what happened. Sophia explained, “So you remember how you told me not to do anything stupid?” Melinda said, “Yeah…?” The young woman then stated, “Right, well, it turns out that I decided to do something really, really stupid instead.”

She hilariously laid out what she did to Holly and Johnny and timed it with the social worker visiting Johnny and Chanel and wanted the adoption to blow up in their faces. She then stated, “But instead, the whole thing just kind of blew up in mine.”

Johnny and Chanel explained everything Sophia did to Paulina, who responded, “Mm, she is obviously a very disturbed individual.” Truer words were never spoken.

Alex bumps into Jeremy Horton at the Pub. He introduces himself and that he’s Stephanie’s boyfriend, then says, “I’m going to use very small words with you, Jeremy. That way, you understand.” Then, trying to be cool, Alex leaned in, made his voice more gravely, and said, “Stay the hell away from her.”

After EJ gave Leo the most tepid quote about the blackout, he said, “Now your story will be as boring as an amateur production of Annie in the dark.” Leo retorted, “You’ve never seen a group of orphans in tap shoes panicked.” And EJ’s response to that was perfect: “Hard knock life, isn’t it?” If you know, you know.

Alex asked Steph how Jeremy knew where she lived, and she said it didn’t matter. He replied, “Well, it does matter because I’m going to kick his ass.” You go, Alex!

Steve asked Kayla to quit her job and come be his partner at Black Patch. “What do you say, Sweetness?” he said, adding, “You want to be my partner? We can call the agency ‘Sweet Patch.’ ” Hilarious!

REACTION OF THE WEEK

After Sophia laid out how she tried to frame Holly for using a “thirst trap” on Johnny, Melinda asked her if she wished harm on Holly. Sophia didn’t answer right away, and just had sort of a psycho look on her face while Melinda just kept growing increasingly horrified.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

OK, I think I finally understand the whole baby Tesoro thing. So Brady did a DNA test on Tate and Tesoro, but when that came back negative, he, for some strange reason, assumed it was not Sophia‘s baby. I don’t know why he thought that, but that’s what was confusing me last week. Then, Brady said it finally dawned on him that the test only proved that Tate wasn’t the father, so they did another test. They learned that Sophia was, in fact, Tesoro’s mother, but Tate was not the father. Whew! That whole thing was far more complicated than it needed to be.

I like that Xander and Sarah went to Marlena for couples therapy, and he said he’d never been held accountable to anyone before he met Sarah. I really like that. I hope the whole him-beating-up-Phillip thing doesn’t come back to hurt him. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again: Not every secret needs to come out on a soap.

I couldn’t help but laugh when Sophia laid out exactly what she had done to Holly and Johnny. Hearing it all strung together cemented the fact that she’s becoming unhinged. If this keeps up, she’s going to become dangerous. Like Connie Vininski level dangerous.

And I may have done so before, but I’m officially taking a stand here and siding with Chad. Julie and Jennifer have absolutely no right to tell him who he can and cannot date. That’s just absurd, especially in the 21st century. Even Jeremy told Chad that, and you could see the gears turning in Chad’s head. They’ll be back together before you know it!

Wait a minute! I just realized those two characters are their own reference: Chad & Jeremy were a British folk-pop duo of the 1960s known for their soft harmonies and gentle, romantic hits that helped define the British Invasion’s more mellow side.

PARTING THOUGHTS

I’m rooting for Foster and Julie. Even though I think she needs to take like 10 chill pills when it comes to Cat and Chad, she deserves some happiness. But Foster had better use the money he got from selling the store to buy a comb!

OUTRO

Thanks for joining me again this week, DOOL-ers! Tune in next week as I solve mysteries with Jessica Fletcher — though to be fair, I am starting to worry about the local murder rate.

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