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.

Thursday, February 1, 2018 (S53E91): Will They or Won’t They?

Rafe walks into Hope’s office; she tells him she has something for him to look at… it’s their wedding invitations.  He kisses her, happy that it is finally happening.  Kari interrupts them; she tells them the wedding isn’t happening.  She says she is suing them for every cent they have for wrongful arrest of her father; she is allowed to see them.  She says she has to know exactly what happened, and asks her mom if she killed Andre.  Anna says, no… they are released on bail.  Kari tells Rafe she knows he cheated on Hope; he looks worried.  Paul speculates about why his dad is lying to him about the eye drops; I’m not sure why he doesn’t go hide when John knocks on the door, asking to talk to Will.  John asks him what he is doing there; John says he was actually looking for Paul.  He asks Paul if he would give him a hand with this new case he is working on; he says John isn’t feeling well and he is pretty worried about him right now.  After John leaves, Paul tells Will they have to figure out what is going on and he thinks he has a plan.  Paul goes to the Pub to meet with his father; he shows him the letter Anna found in her purse.  Paul realizes that Roman doesn’t know whether he is protecting an innocent woman or a guilty one.  Will goes to the station and tells Hope he needs to report a crime and it’s pretty serious.

Kate sits down at a table and recalls Andre asking her to marry him, “as a business transaction.”  She throws a martini in his face and he kisses her; Paul sees her sitting at the table and asks if she’s okay.  She tells him she is drinking a martini in his memory; very dry, with a twist… just like him.  Stefan’s mom talks to Steffano’s picture, dressed in black, prepared for Andre’s funeral.  Stefan tells her she better hope he doesn’t show up to this one, saying he probably wouldn’t approve of her asking him to kill Andre.  She thinks Steffano would have understood; she says Andre was “becoming nice” and he “had to go.”  She tells Stefan that they are safe; he says they aren’t.  Abigail has a nightmare; she sees Andre laying on the floor and he dies just before he can tell her who killed him.  She says she can never thank him enough for bringing her back to Chad and Thomas; Chad admits that he really loved him too.  He asks Abigail if she wants to speak at his funeral; she says sure.  Chad overhears Stefan telling his mother than they have a problem with Chad; he still wants to take over the company.  Chad walks in and asks, “can you blame me?”  They start to fight, and Abby asks them to drop it for a few hours so they can bury their brother.  At the funeral, Chad talks; then Abby… she breaks down saying she so wishes she could tell him how much she loves him again.