Soap Supercouples: The Romance of Days of our Lives’ Shane and Kimberly

Shane and Kimberly – the secret agent and the prostitute. The Days of our Lives couple was as mismatched a pair as there ever was, and yet, their love persisted.

How Did Shane and Kimberly Meet?

Kimberly Brady was less than thrilled to return to her apartment and find Abe Carver and another man (who could only be described as tall, dark, and handsome) rifling through her things.

But what truly chilled her to the core was the stranger’s admittance to having been surveilling her and the goings-on in her home. Though ISA Captain Shane Donovan apologized for the invasion of her privacy, he explained to Kimberly it had been a necessity, owing to her accidental appropriation of vitally important photographs – ones that revealed Stefano DiMera’s Caribbean hideout.

Once alone, Shane assured Kimberly that he would not reveal the occupation in which she had been indulging – prostitution! The acquisition of the much-in-demand snapshots allowed the ISA (and a posse of interlopers) to track down and infiltrate the DiMera stronghold, but Kimberly’s older brother Roman was presumed dead in the melee.

In the tragedy’s aftermath, Kimberly found comfort in Shane’s arms, and his support emboldened her to reveal that the recently arrived Eric Brady had molested her in her youth. It was also thanks to Shane’s ingenuity that Kimberly was able to extricate herself from a blackmail scheme orchestrated by her former madam Linda Anderson.

It was because of his nascent romance with her that Shane bristled at his superior’s suggestion that Kimberly’s former association with punter Leopold Bronsky be exploited.

When he finally explained the situation to her – including the fact that Bronsky was a DiMera associate and the possessor of one of three prisms that the madman was desperate to claim – Kimberly told Shane she would happily assist him… even if it meant offering Bronsky the use of her body.

Luckily, Kimberly was able to extract the information without resorting to such a tactic. Once the case of the prisms was solved, Shane reluctantly set off for his next mission. Days later, he returned – having decided that Kimberly was reason enough to stay in Salem,

The couple’s courtship continued but at a slow and timid pace. Kimberly feared being vulnerable with a man while Shane admitted that he was still mourning the passing of his wife, Emma.

Crises
The daring, daylight assassination of a nobleman, enacted during a fashion show, heralded the arrival of The Dragon, the anti-monarchist supposedly responsible for Shane’s loss.

Kimberly, who had been amongst the photographers covering the parade, was sure she had seen The Dragon’s face. Afterward, she began to suffer bouts of temporary blindness. Tests indicated that she was suffering from Papillitis – a disease that Dr. Neil Curtis warned could go into spontaneous remission or render her totally blind.

In spite of her predicament, Kimberly accepted Shane’s request to accompany him to his ancestral home in England. Once there, an argument erupted between them that culminated in declarations of mutual love and ended in Shane’s private suite.

Third-Party Interference

But while working to bring an end to The Dragon’s reign of terror, Shane discovered that not only had the rumors of Emma’s death been greatly exaggerated, but she had also been subjected to brainwashing and programmed to kill!

At the caper’s conclusion, Shane felt duty-bound to remain with Emma and his dismissal of Kimberly prompted her to become involved with Victor Kiriakis – and exacerbated her bouts of blindness.

She accepted Victor’s offer of hospitality, but quickly realized her mistake once the extent of his criminal doings became obvious. Rather than flee, she acquiesced to Shane’s plea that she remain in the house and offer him assistance in gathering enough evidence to have Victor imprisoned.

When Shane’s plan was rumbled, and he found himself trapped in Victor’s fortified study, Kimberly slept with the villain in order to distract him. Subsequently, Shane and Kimberly reunited and their happiness was compounded by the discovery that Kimberly was pregnant.

But the altar-bound couple would soon face serious impediments. First, a vengeful Emma ensured that a pair of paternity tests would identify Victor as Andrew Shawn’s father, then she kidnapped the babe and put him up for adoption.

And when Emma’s corpse was discovered, Kimberly became the prime suspect and it was up to Shane to prove her innocence. Though a lavish and traditionally Catholic wedding followed, life as Mr. and Mrs. was no less complicated.

They weathered the arrival of Shane’s teenage daughter Eve, his presumed death and amnesia, her involvement with Cal Winters, and the resulting question of daughter Jeannie Theresa’s paternity (she, like Andrew, belonged to Shane).

Shane and Kimberly – Present Day
Continued troubles led to a divorce but an eventual reunion – coinciding with their attempt to set a troubled Theresa on the straight and narrow – proved instrumental in spurring them into reuniting. The family is currently helping Kim through a crisis with cancer. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings or airtimes.