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Sophia reassures Rachel that she’s not upset over Johnny and Chanel adopting. Just… a little sad. But Rachel sees through the act and asks if she can trust Sophia. “Don’t be silly! Of course you can trust me!”

Rachel decides not to be silly, and opts to trust Sophia — who tells her they’re misunderstood kindred spirits who need to help each other out. She lays out how things work in Bayview, warning Rachel to watch what she says in therapy or she’ll be kept in here longer.

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Then Sophia cozies up some more, offering to help Rachel out, starting with double desert. She promises she’ll “figure something out” when Rachel wishes she could do something in return.

How Much Trouble Is Tate In?

Holly comforts Tate in the square after his Rachel visit. But he tells her she can’t visit with him. Also, Sophia was wandering around, so he’ll be visiting her, too. Sure thing, Holly says, in a good mood after getting an A in film class. She leaves to get back to her internship, while Tate mopes over his C-.

Across the square, Chanel mentions to Johnny that it might be time to hire someone else for Sweet Bits so she can spend more time with the baby. They table the talk, though, when they spot Tate, who tells them about Sophia and Rachel. Chanel takes Trey for a spin, which gives Tate the chance to corner his teacher about his grade. Johnny bluntly tells him the C- was generous already. If he’s failing his other classes, he should work on them to get passing grades, not his.

Who’s Stalking Stephanie?

Stephanie tries getting through some Christmas decorating before leaving for her book tour. She takes a make out break with Alex, then cuts it short because she has to be ready to leave for the tour. Which begs the question of why she thought she’d have time to decorate…

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Papa shows up at their door to wish her luck, just before Kate arrives with the car for the tour. Steve escorts Stephanie out, then returns to tell Alex he had someone analyze the fan letter. The writer was left-handed, probably male and has “obsessive thoughts and emotional instability.” That… seems like a leap just from handwriting. But OK.

Alex knows from his time at Body and Soul how uncomfortable it is when fans get obsessed and can’t separate him from his character. (This is definitely pointed.) That’s when Holly drops in with a stack of letters from the emotionally unstable guy, all sent from Salem.

How Does EJ Remember Cat?

Cat drops into the DiMera mansion still worried about Chad. EJ shrugs her concern off, saying Chad reached out to him with a text, telling him not to worry. He gets all defensive when Cat questions it, then backs up and apologizes.

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While Cat’s explaining how she feels about Chad, quoting Wuthering Heights, apparently, it triggers a memory from EJ — she was the woman reading to him in Italy when he was recovering from “death!” Cat’s confused. Her memories from before and around the accident were hazy.

But… she was sent to a specialist in Italy after her own accident. EJ insists that’s why he’s so drawn to her! She read by his side for hours, looking after him, and it’s why he always felt the need to look out for her. They must have had a connection.

In the Show’s Final Moments

While playing cards, Rachel thanks Sophia for making the place less scary. Then Sophia makes a scary smiling face saying she feels the exact same way!

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Cat takes it all in, and they’ve both got a ton of questions. EJ invites her to dinner, so Cat suggests Italian to jog their memories. Perfect! EJ’s chef can tackle that. Drinks at five!

Steve heads out to analyze the new letters, assuring Alex there’s no immediate threat. But when Stephanie gets into her room in Chicago, someone in a black jacket, pants and gloves hovers outside her door.