Steve and Kayla are working on dough for pizza night, when she notes that something’s bothering him. Steve admits that he found something on the case he’s working on that could affect Stephanie. He found something disturbing about Alex. He was arrested for a couple crimes a few years back before coming to Salem. He pleaded guilty “in the face of overwhelming evidence.”

Justin just told Steve that Alex was young and stupid and straightened himself out afterwards. But the incident reminds him too much of the guy Stephanie dated years ago who turned out to be bad news: Jeremy Horton, who was abusive to her. Kayla insists Alex is not Jeremy.

Steve knows, but he’s never been a fan of Alex. He’s not sure if Stephanie should know, or if he should just drop it. Kayla says Stephanie has a good head on her shoulders and Kayla did fall for a bad boy with a checkered past… Steve admits he probably did worse stuff than Alex.

They both lament, though, that Stephanie’s had trouble in love. But she’s happy now, and neither wants to rock her boat. Steve will just keep an eye on Alex. That settled for now, they kiss and start getting frisky.

Alex Messed Up

Stephanie gets home to find Alex wearing just an apron and underwear, making dinner. He’s got a few surprises up his sleeves. If he was wearing sleeves. He breaks out her book on his tablet, ready to print. She scrolls through, but her joy turns to horror when she sees the passage she wanted gone is still in.

Alex apologizes, he forgot to circle around to Kate on it, but he picks up the phone right away to call her and tell her. Kate tells him the manuscript went to print, so there’s no way to stop this without scrapping it and costing a fortune. He offers to do just that, but Stephanie warily tells him not to. “It’s not the end of the world.” That passage was just “inspired by” an ex.

Alex points out that it’s unlikely he’d pick up a romance novel, plus she’s got her pen name. He still feels terrible, but Stephanie says she just has to be OK with it. Alex grabs some wine, promises the tacos will be done soon, and tells Steph Kate wants to know if she’s got more books.

Maybe… but it’s a murder mystery. But no, he can’t see it. It still needs a lot of work. Instead, maybe they can have some fun after dinner.

Chad Catches Cat and Rafe Together

Cat runs into Rafe in the square, pushing Tesoro in his stroller, where he thanks her for everything she did to bring Ari and Holly home safely. Chad walks over out of nowhere and they clam up fast. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.” They just say they’ve crossed paths a couple times, and Cat brought one of Tesoro’s toys back that he dropped.

Chad makes some small talk, then leaves. “OK, that was close,” Cat sighs. Rafe suggests they split fast, but before he goes, Cat tells him she needs to talk to him about something. Somewhere else.

Is Stefano Alive?

They meet at Rafe’s office, lamenting being caught in public, but he suggests that at least they’ve established that they know each other. Now if they’re seen in public, it won’t be weird. Cat moves on to her problem — Marlena’s hardly been in the hospital since John died, which means Cat has hardly had a reason to be there.

The only thing she’s gotten has been people complaining about how much of a tightwad EJ is. Shaking the hospital down seems too petty, so, Cat asks, “What is Mr. DiMera really up to?” Rafe volunteers to fill her in on all things DiMera. Cat’s had run-ins with everyone in town but Tony. What’s his deal?

Rafe says he’s one of the good DiMeras. Unlike his lookalike Andre, but at least they know where he ended up. Megan disappeared in a submarine, Dimitri vanished off the face of the earth. Cat asks about Stefano — he’s dodged death before, are they sure he’s gone?

Rafe points out that he would be “older than Methuselah” at this point. Cat brings up the microchip essence, which Rafe says was destroyed. “Although they could have made a backup…” Cat’s suddenly worried and he points out to never discount anything in Salem. “There was a reason that he was known as The Phoenix.”

Is This It for Xander and Sarah?

Xander brings Victoria to the hospital to see her mum. He wanted to bring her by to spend the night with Sarah, a day earlier than he was scheduled to. Sarah says that’s generous, but that rarely happens without an ulterior motive. Xander gets upset and starts to go, but Sarah stops him.

She apologizes for questioning his niceness, and says she’s under stress. She just had a very long, difficult conversation with a patient (Sophia, of course) and it made her realize how lucky they were to have the means to provide for Victoria. She’s grateful she has both parents — and they both admit they love each other still and always will.

But while that leaves them in a decent place, hopefully, they have to move forward for Victoria and be at peace with separating. They both think they are at peace, but seem unsure. Still, Xander gives her the papers from his attorney.

Sarah thinks this was his ulterior motive, but Xander tells her he wasn’t going to mention it until she said she was at peace with their decision. He didn’t do anything wrong, she assures him, then looks through the papers and signs them. Xander will file them tomorrow, then says goodbye to Victoria.

No, Really, Is Stefano Alive??

Picking up from yesterday, Susan gets a chill mid chastising EJ to tell him that “Stefano DiMera is alive!” She’s not happy about it, but she’s getting a vibe that he’s alive, despite EJ reminding her he’s been gone for nearly a decade. Why has she never sensed this before? “That was before. Before I became a medium.”

EJ’s dubious, and Susan clarifies she’s not one yet. She’s a medium in training. Turns out, her talents are a blessing from the Lord, and so long as she uses her talents for good, she’s good. “I’m going to need more alcohol,” EJ cheerfully announces and throws back a drink.

He’s doubtful, but Susan chides him and asks if she’s ever been wrong before. Chad drops by to save the day, but Susan just pulls him in. “Stefano DiMera lives!” And they need to do something about it. The brothers both look amused, but Susan’s not.

She feels their father’s presence, not in body, but in soul. She needs to walk around and let her chakras feel the room. As she starts making a scene wandering around in the background, Chad and EJ have a heart-to-heart where the elder brother thanks him for what he said in the courtroom.

EJ asks if he’ll stay for dinner, but Chad glances at Susan hugging a lampshade and declines, then heads out.

In the Show’s Final Moments

Alone, Susan tells a stunned EJ that she knows he’d talked to Chad to try to skew the press coverage in his favor. She looks over at Stefano’s portrait, upset that he’s “looking at me like that.”

Chad’s running through the hospital when Cat stops him. He thought she had the day off, then ran into him in the square. With Rafe. They talk a bit about him testifying at the trial and Cat tries prodding him for info about all the troubles with the law the DiMeras get into. Chad’s not interested in talking about that.

They get onto the elevator together, only for it to stop suddenly. It’s dead. “Looks like we’re stuck,” Chad says. Outside, Xander’s waiting for the elevator himself, watching Sarah gushing over Victoria.