Sarah’s Hypnosis Leads to [Spoiler] Giving Her an Alibi — and Dr. Rolf Has a Back-Up Plan When He Can’t Resurrect Jake

Xander comes back to the Salem Inn and sees Sarah’s note. “Dear God,” he exclaims. “Where’d she go?” He rushes to the door to search for her, but opens it to Gwen. She offers to come up with an alibi for Sarah, but Xander knows she’s not interested in helping her. Also, Lucas saw Sarah running down the stairs, and he doesn’t know a single person who can prove he is lying. “Are you happy now?” he asks.

Gwen sits next to him on the bed and reaches out to touch him. He flinches, ordering her not to do that. He has Sarah for comfort. Gwen apologizes and suggests Sarah could claim temporary insanity. Bayview is far better than Statesville. He ushers her to the door, vowing Sarah won’t go anywhere if he has anything to say about it. He asks how she got out of prison in the first place. Gwen explains Kristen helped her get a pardon. He shudders thinking about the two of them back on the street together.

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In Marlena’s office, the good doctor puts Sarah under hypnosis. She brings her back to the day Abigail was murdered. Sarah remembers confronting Gwen in prison and then going back to Xander’s room at the Inn. He was in New York on a job interview. She took a sleeping pill and got into bed. She slept for a while, but then awoke from a bad dream. She decided she had to see Abigail and grabbed her raincoat, which Marlena recalls Lucas mentioning.

Before Sarah could leave, Rex came to the door. He wanted to check on her after hearing about her ordeal with Kristen. It bothered him that he wanted to believe Kristen’s lies that she wanted him back. But he never stopped loving her or hoping there was a chance for them. In her memory, Sarah apologized and said she and Xander had never been more in love. She faltered. He caught her and got her back to the bed.

After Marlena brings Sarah out of hypnosis, Marlena calls Rex and puts him on speaker. Sarah asks if he remembers seeing her at the Salem Inn. He was hoping she forgot about that to save him a lot of embarrassment, but verifies Sarah’s recovered memory. He adds that he waited till after she fell asleep and determined that she was okay before he left, which was after ten o’clock. Sarah thanks him and they hang up. Marlena says this means she has an alibi for the time of Abigail’s murder.

Kristen comes to Rolf’s lab, where the mad scientist pulls back a curtain. She looks at Jake’s body hooked up to machines and says, “We got big plans for you, brother Jake.” He is happy she came aboard his latest Lazarus project. Kristen barely knew Jake, but he’s her father’s son, and that means a lot to her. Rolf injects a syringe into an IV. When nothing happens, Rolf admits he doesn’t know what to expect. Jake’s body may have been left dead for too long. It too late.

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Rolf says he does have a stronger drug he could use, but it’s untested. Kristen doesn’t think that matters and orders him to administer it. Later, Rolf determines the serum wasn’t successful either. Jake’s heart might be beating, but there’s no brain activity. Kristen really thought she was getting a brother back today. Rolf says she might still get her wish.

At the apartment, Ava jolts awake from a dream that Jake is alive. As she sits up in bed, Gabi knocks on the door. She bursts in with plans to lock down Ava’s claim to the estate before EJ discovers it’s a scam. Ava remains incensed over her insensitivity over Jake’s death. Gabi rattles on about how important work is and produces a marriage license. Ava just needs to sign the papers and Gabi will take it from there. She just needs to trust her. Ava spits that was the wrong thing to say and throws the envelope.

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Ava points out Gabi has backup money if this plan doesn’t work. However, she has nothing so she’ll need more than a promise of dividend checks. She wants an executive position and a seat on the board. Gabi doesn’t think that will fly, but Ava warns if she wants to remain CEO, she better get everyone onboard. Gabi reluctantly agrees and hands Ava the papers to sign so she can go file them. With a smirk, Ava obliges. Before she leaves, Gabi asks if Ava really loved Jake. Ava confirms. He was pretty much what she was searching for her whole life. Gabi is sorry. She cared about him a lot, but she was only with him because he reminded her of his brother. Stefan was the love of her life, and a love like that only happens once.

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At the DiMera mansion, Tony and EJ discuss Ava’s surprise marriage to their late brother. EJ worries Gabi and Ava will form an alliance, and with Li on their side, the brothers will be left out in the cold. Tony suggests they team up with Vivian, but EJ knows that’s a terrible idea. He gets a message and tells Tony their fretting might be much ado about nothing.

Sarah rushes to Xander in the Salem Inn with the best news: Rex was there. Xander looks confused and then irate upon learning Rex came to get her back. Sarah explains she turned him down, but he was with her the night of the murder and he’s going to give a statement. Xander exclaims, “God bless Rex Brady.” He then angrily says he knew Lucas was lying about seeing her.

Gwen enters a seedy motel room and pulls a mask out of her suitcase.

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Back at the apartment, Ava gets another visitor: EJ. He checked with City Hall, there’s no record of their marriage certificate. She counters his death certificate isn’t there yet either and suggests he call again. He offers to call right now.

In his lab, Rolf pulls back a curtain and says while Jake won’t be coming back, but his twin brother, Stefan is another story. Kristen gasps at the sight of Stefan hooked up to machines with a glowing blue light protruding from his torso.

Next on Days of Our Lives: Rolf shocks Kristen, and EJ tries to call Ava’s bluff.

Stefan is far from the first soap character to be brought back from the dead. Take a look at other notable returnees in our photo gallery below.

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