Stefan Has EJ Over a Barrel on Days of our Lives

Stefan uncovered major leverage to blackmail EJ with on the June 17 episode of Days of Our Lives. This forced his brother to make a bold move and change his stance on getting Paulina ousted as mayor.

Stefan Couldn’t Be Happier

Giddy with delight over discovering paperwork in the DiMera mansion safe of a DNA test proving EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel) is not Jude’s (Oliver McLarty) biological father, his portrayer Brandon Barash had an ear-to-ear grin throughout the entire episode. Thankful that he didn’t have to pull the trigger on busting his wife Gabi out of jail, he immediately told his brother what he found. Although he’s extremely clever, EJ couldn’t lie his way out of this one, especially when Stefan correctly deduced that Eric (Greg Vaughan) must be the bio daddy, and he’s keeping the secret so that Nicole (Arianne Zucker) doesn’t go running back to her one true love.

Stefan laid everything out in no uncertain terms that the onus was on EJ to get Gabi free, thereby preserving his secret. Stefan gets points for tenacity in trying to free his bride. While a daring prison break would be fun to watch, Sloan (Jessica Serfaty) has already absconded to parts unknown for her baby switch scheme, so another plot watching Stefan and Gabi live elsewhere in the world would be a tired retread. With more people realizing that EJ isn’t actually Jude’s dad, it’s only a matter of time before his whole scheme falls apart and he loses his marriage on top of everything else he’s lost.

EJ Resorts to Eating Crow

As Paulina (Jackée Harry) and Abe (James Carver) were settling into a cozy evening and planning a going away party for Chanel (Raven Bowens) and Johnny (Carson Boatman), there was an abrupt knock at their door. They were shocked to realize that it was EJ, who referred to the fact that Abe had previously asked him to stop trying to get Paulina out of the mayor’s job, stating, “I’ve had some time to think about what Abe said earlier, and I’ve decided that the Concerned Citizens of Salem will withdraw our petition to recall you as mayor.” You could see in his demeanor that he didn’t want to do it, but he had no other choice.

However, nothing EJ does comes without a price, and he followed up his statement with, “However, in exchange for my gesture of goodwill, I’ll need something in return.” EJ’s pretty close to rock bottom at the moment: Paulina fired him as district attorney, and his sister Kristen (Stacey Haiduk) snagged the permanent CEO gig at DiMera Enterprises right out from under him.

All he has left is his marriage to Nicole, and he’s gonna fight tooth and nail to preserve it, even if it means allying himself with Paulina, whom he can’t stand. (Let’s face it, there are very few people that EJ CAN stand.) His surprise change of attitude will no doubt allow Paulina to give up her fight with him over her mayoral seat. He’s most likely going to claim he’s asking on Stefan’s behalf for her to get Gabi’s case reopened, which brings us closer to seeing her possible recast.