February 8, 2018 (Thursday; S53E96): One Secret Out

The minute Claire gets him alone, she asks Tripp what the secret was; when he refuses to tell her, she asks what’s going on between him and Ciara.  She seems jealous, saying they were friends first; Tripp assures her they are still friends.  She tells him about the contest and he says she is a shoe in; she says it might not hurt that her “Pop-pop owns the company.”

JJ asks Abe for his blessing to ask Lani to marry him; Abe is impressed.  Valerie looks worried; she tells JJ marriage is a huge commitment and they should take their time.  Abe thanks Valerie for her concern and gives JJ his blessing, saying, it is important to him that Lani marry the father of her child.  Eli is shocked at what Lani just told him; he is angry in fact.  But he seems to understand when she explains her reasons; he is happy she didn’t wait until their child was an adult to tell him.  She tells Eli that she still thinks it’s best for everyone if JJ thinks he is the father and asks him not to tell anyone.  He sees his mom and Abe in the square; Abe gets a phone call.  Eli tells his mom he doesn’t know what he is going to do about the baby.

Will and Paul spy on John and Marlena at the hospital; Marlena turns to check on Steve and they are stopped by a man, who says he needs to talk to John NOW.  He wants to hire him and says it’s urgent; John goes to talk with him.  The man threatens John when they get alone; tells him to carry out his mission and gives him another vial.  Marlena spots Paul and Will; they say they are there to see a friend who works in administration.  They follow John outside and overhear the threat; Paul goes to follow the man when he leaves… Will stays to watch John.

Kayla gets the results from Steve’s blood tests back; Steve is frustrated when there is nothing conclusive.  When he stands up to leave, he almost passes out.  She wants to admit him to the hospital, but he refuses to let her; he laughs off his body falling apart and hugs her.  John calls Steve and asks him to meet him to talk about a new client; Steve agrees to meet him.  He turns to leave and passes out, falling to the floor.  Paul rounds the corner on the docks and finds a gun in his face; the man says, “I don’t like being followed.”

February 7, 2018 (S53E95): The Invitation

Ciara gets an invitation in the mail for her mom and Rafe’s wedding; she seems surprised.  She is just afraid of her mom getting hurt again, she says; she and Tripp talk about the time Rafe cheated on her mom and Ciara says he better not do it again.  Claire is a mess, late for work, can’t find her purse… Ciara laughs at her.  After Ciara leaves, Claire gives Tripp a hard time about being in love with her; he returns the favor with mention of her undying love for Theo.  She tells him he can’t ever tell anyone about Rafe cheating on her mom, “especially not Claire,” she says, just as Claire walks in the door.

Eve and Brady go out together, all dressed up; they go out to dinner and laugh about how their previous dates didn’t involve much conversation.  They try not tot talk about having sex; Brady suggests they talk about work.  Eve calls him a hopeless romantic and they laugh.  Claire is surprised to see the two of them together; she tells them she is having a hard day… Eve sympathizes with her and Brady is impressed to see “there is a heart in there.”  They encourage her to enter a contest that they invent on the spot for the magazine they plan to launch; Brady says her mom was the “face of the 90s” so she is a perfect fit.

Rafe tells Hope about the woman they saw on the videotape; Hope can’t believe it was Gabi – she mentions that she wasn’t wearing a coat earlier in the day when she spoke with Andre.  He tells her about the piece of the urn in this person’s hand; they both admit this doesn’t look good for Gabi.  Hope is a little upset when Rafe tells her that they already brought Gabi in for questioning.  Gabi tells Eli she left her coat in the workroom that day and never went back to get it; Hope tells Rafe she thinks they may have to book Gabi for suspicion of murder.  Eli tells Gabi he will do everything in his power to see she’s found innocent, but she should get a lawyer as soon as possible.  She starts to cry, saying “I can’t go back to prison, I can’t, I can’t” and Rafe and Hope enter the room.  Gabi cries when Hope says she is going to have to spend the night there; Rafe says they have 48 hours to either charge or release her.  Hope allows her to go pick up Ari from Sonny’s; Rafe says he will take care of her.

Abe and Valerie talk; he tells her he hopes she catches the boquet at Hope and Rafe’s wedding.  They start to discuss the coming grandchild, and Valerie tells Abe to not be so certain Lani and JJ are going to make it.  Lani tries to talk to JJ; he can’t understand why she crying.  She tells him it’s all the unwanted attention she’s getting and begins ranting, and sobbing; he says he’s sorry.  She tells him Valerie, specifically, is full of “unsolicited advice these days” and he says she needs to get used to it because when she and Abe get married, she will be this baby’s grandma; she says “if they get married.”  Lani bursts into Eli’s office and tells him the baby she is having is his.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 (S53E94): The Truth Hurts

Lani tells Valerie now isn’t a good time for her, but Valerie insists they talk about the baby’s father.  Lani is angry when she realizes Valerie looked into her confidential records; she starts to cry.  JJ comes in to talk to Kayla and asks if she can answer some questions about the pregnancy; Kayla tells him she can’t reveal any details, but talks, in general, about the baby’s progress.  Lani tells Valerie she cannot tell JJ that the baby isn’t his; she explains about his attempted suicide, and says she can’t tell him the baby is Eli’s and neither can she.  Valerie says she promised Eli she would never lie to him again; she says she can’t keep this information from him.  Lani says the truth will hurt everyone.

Abigail talks to Andre at his crypt; she says she wants to know who took him away from her.  Chad finds her and tells her that there wasn’t any evidence against Hattie or Anna.  Chad asks her if she thinks it could have been Gabi; Abigail says she asked her point blank, and Gabi denied it.  She feels bad now that she even accused Gabi.  Vivian tells Stefan that they “actually got away with it” and can go forward with their plan; “one less thing to worry about,” she says.  Gabi walks in, and says, “oh yeah?”  She asks what they got away with; they make up a story about some business deal.  Gabi tells Stefan she is there about business herself, and wants her company back that Andre stole.  Stefan agrees to bring it up to the board and recommend it; Vivian tells him he can’t do that.  She brings up his obsession with Abigail and he says he is used to getting what he wants; Vivian slaps him and says he can’t have Abigail.  Chad and Abigail walk in.  Stefan thanks Chad for his words at Andre’s funeral, then gets straight to business; he says he understands if Abigail isn’t up to coming back to work right away.  Chad ushers Abigail away, saying they are going to spend the day along in their room with their son.

Hope and Rafe are shocked when the security footage reveals a woman coming back to Andre’s door; it looks like Gabi from the back.  They call Gabi in to ask her about the footage; when she sees it, she gasps and says, “that is not me.”  They forward the film; the woman leaves without showing her face.  They tell Gabi they will do everything they can to find out who that woman was; she is hopeful they believe her.  They zoom in on something in the woman’s hand; it is the missing piece of the urn (the murder weapon).

Monday, February 5, 2018 (S53E93): Days Gone By

So, Anna has been arrested for Andre’s murder and pretty much everyone is sure she did it; the theory is that she bashed him over the head with her dead husband’s urn… but in this episode, we learn (and get to see the replay of the scene) that Anna’s attempt to hit Andre over the head was thwarted by Andre, who grabbed her arm and took Tony’s ashes away from her.  He told her to leave, holding the urn hostage, and not to come back until she has come to her senses.  She leaves, crying.  She tells Hope and Rafe that she wanted to kill Andre – but that he was still very much alive when she left there.  They review more security footage turned over by Stefan, and see something; it isn’t Anna or Hati.

JJ is over the top happy about Lani’s baby, which he believes is also his… but we have been let in on the secret that the baby is really Eli’s – and Valerie knows this, because she took a peek at Lani’s medical records and saw the date of conception (last Christmas), which was when Lani and JJ had broken up, and she was with Eli.  Valerie is about to confront Lani about this fact when Abe walks in the door and sits down at the table with them; he is followed by JJ, who is carrying to little bicycles (one pink and one blue).  He says he may have gotten carried away.  They laugh.  Abe tells him he will make plenty of mistakes, and Valerie blurts out, “yeah, like the one I made not telling Eli, who his real father was.”  Lani looks uncomfortable; JJ just smiles a silly smile.

Valerie puts the idea in Eli’s head that Gabby might have had something to do with Andre’s murder; he upsets her when he begins to ask all kinds of questions, trying to establish a time line.  He says he is looking out for her, but she doesn’t see it that way.  Julie tells JJ that she is sure he will be a great dad, but warns him being a parent is the hardest job in the world; he says he and Lani will figure it out as they go along.

Theo is moved to a special clinic in Africa; Abe returns from taking him and says he is the star of the whole facility.  Everyone loves him.  He meets with Valerie for lunch and he can tell she is suspicious about something, but she gives no hint as to what; he leaves to take a phone call from the doctor at the clinic.  Valerie tells Lani that she knows that Eli is the baby’s father.