Days of Our Lives in 2020 was chock-full of excitement. From love and romance to brainwashing and devastation, viewers were kept entertained all year long, while saying a few sad goodbyes and welcoming old friends home.
The year began with Steve receiving Stefano’s essence via a microchip, while Hope was brainwashed to be Princess Gina. Stevano set his sights on Marlena, while Gina focused on John. After they were exposed and Hope was Hope and Steve was Steve again, Steve reunited with Kayla after she left Justin at the altar. Alas, poor Hope didn’t fare as well, as she left town later in the year to search for her presumed-dead daughter, Ciara.
Ben began the year in a bleak place. He was on death row for killing his sister Jordan, but it was Evan Frears, the father of Jordan’s son David, who strangled her to death. The same Evan who romanced Sonny and nannied for baby David while Rafe was raising him. The same Evan who was really Christian Maddox, a.k.a. Orpheus’ son. Luckily, Ciara got Evan to confess, just in the nick of time.
Nicole found proof that Xander and Victor switched Sarah and Eric’s dead baby with Brady and Kristen’s live one. Before that happened though, a grieving Kristen accidentally pushed Haley to her death. Post reveal, Kristen stabbed Victor for what he did to her, landing her in prison. The baby switch also separated Xander and Sarah for a time, but she eventually forgave him, and Nicole and Eric finally got married, even though he left town soon after.
Orpheus was revealed to be the driver responsible for the accident that caused Adrienne’s death, not Will, who was initially arrested for the crime. This also cleared Maggie, who took Will’s place in prison, despite Xander and Victor trying to cover up her perceived guilt. Xander got the good news to Maggie just after she tried to hang herself in her cell, thereby saving her life. Meanwhile, Will’s freedom allowed him and Sonny to reunite and move to Arizona to start a new business with Sonny’s brothers.
After Ben got out of prison, he and Ciara got the big church wedding with half of Salem in attendance. Sadly, their happiness was short-lived when a bomb exploded moments after they said “I do.” Things went even further downhill when Ben was kidnapped and brainwashed to kill his beloved. Fortunately, Ben’s love was stronger than any mind game, but his torturer, Vincent, was still able to grab Ciara and kill her. Ben was left devastated, while viewers were left wondering if she was really dead.
Allie returned to Salem very pregnant and wanting nothing to do with the baby. So, she asked Nicole and Eric to raise him. Of course, her meddling mother Sami got involved, which led to an ugly custody fight when Allie took off after giving birth. When she resurfaced, Allie disclosed her baby was the result of Tripp raping her while she was drunk in London. Though Tripp denied ever having sex with her, baby Henry’s DNA test results told a different story. That’s because Tripp has a brother no one but Ava knew about who actually attacked Allie. That would be Charlie, a.k.a. Claire’s new boyfriend and bumbling Titan intern.
Gwen first showed up as Claire’s fellow Bayview patient and Jake’s ex-girlfriend from Philly. However, the Brit quickly revealed her true agenda, which was to take down Abigail and her family. Her schemes included obtaining drugs from Dr. Rolf to melt Abby’s mind (which didn’t work), exposing Kate and Jack’s affair at Jack and Jennifer’s anniversary celebration, and trying to destroy Abigail and Chad’s marriage. Her motivations aren’t clear yet, but her machinations have led to a lot of speculation about who Gwen’s mother and father could be.
Eli and Lani reunited, became pregnant, got married, and separated all before the year was over. Eli may have had his reasons, but this year has probably taught him not to lie to his wife about coercing a confession out of her best friend, Kristen — whether said best friend is guilty or not. Regardless, Elani ended 2020 reunited and the proud parents of a son and daughter.
Gabi planned to marry Eli at the start of the year, but getting exposed for tampering with Julie’s heart and blackmailing Lani put a damper on things. She went on to focus on herself and grieve for her beloved Stefan until she met his long-lost twin brother Jake. Just after they gave in to their feelings for each other, Gabi left town to help protect her family from their ne’er-do-well father’s shenanigans. When she finally returned to reunite with Jake, she found him in bed with Kate, reinforcing 2020 has been another not so great year for her.
The high school friends technically reunited in New York at the end of 2019 in the digital series Last Blast Reunion, but that story spilled over into 2020. Then, one by one, Shawn, Belle, Philip, Jan, and Chloe returned to Salem throughout the year. Jan was still laser-focused on landing Shawn for herself and targeted his daughter Claire and love Belle to pave her way. Fortunately, her schemes were once again thwarted, leaving Belle and Shawn free to marry one more time, and Philip and Chloe to possibly reunite.
As far as we know, John wasn’t brainwashed or implanted with a mind-controlling chip, but an aneurysm left him acting very un-John-like. He violently lashed out at Sami, his best friend Steve, and stalker Jan, who he tried to strangle. All the while, his beloved Doc remained at his side trying to figure out how to get his hostile impulses under control and keep him out of jail.
Advertisement
