Production decisions caused chaos; Days of our Lives Recap for Monday, September 30, 2024

On the set of Body and Soul, Chanel and Alex made out in a bed. “Faith” declared that she had waited a long time for the moment, and “Arrow” responded with passionate kisses. Johnny came into the scene and yelled “Cut!” but Chanel and Alex were too caught up in the moment to stop. Suddenly, Johnny jerked awake in his and Chanel’s bedroom.

At Stephanie’s place, Stephanie invited Alex—who had arrived with coffee—inside. Stephanie recalled her steamy dream about Alex while he handed her the coffee and explained that he’d barely slept the night before. He had been stressing about the show and wanted Stephanie’s advice about how to approach the producers with a concern. Alex stated his reservations about filming a sex scene with Chanel during the first week of the show. He believed that since the characters were supposed to be “star-crossed lovers," their first time should be delayed to keep the audience tuning in.

Stephanie agreed with Alex’s points. She suggested that he and Chanel approach the producers together. Stephanie then stepped away to answer a call from Jada. Her shaken demeanor caught Alex’s attention. When Stephanie hung up, she cried to Alex that Everett had been murdered. Stephanie lost her composure as she updated Alex on the discovery that Connie had stabbed Rafe and had murdered Everett.

Stephanie couldn’t believe that she had invited the woman who had killed Everett to his funeral. She sobbed on Alex’s shoulder about how her grief kept overwhelming her. Alex comforted her, but Stephanie encouraged him to go to his meeting. Alex reluctantly left and promised to drop everything if Stephanie needed him. She thanked him and broke down after he left.

Paulina answered a knock at her door and found Chanel, who asked if she could use Paulina’s shower. Paulina was confused, so Chanel explained that she and Johnny had gotten into a fight about Johnny’s “crazy” jealousy of Alex. Chanel sat down on the couch with Paulina and listed the offensive things Johnny had said during their argument. She was hurt and angry that Johnny didn’t trust her. When Chanel ended her rant, she was surprised that Paulina said she understood Johnny’s feelings.

Paulina acknowledged that she did not like Johnny’s distrust of Chanel, but she reminded her daughter that Chanel did have a past with Alex. Paulina believed Johnny could view the sex scene as a “hall pass situation.” Chanel insisted that she was a married woman and that Johnny had nothing to worry about. Paulina encouraged Chanel to reinforce that fact to Johnny. Another door knock interrupted the conversation, and Chanel was displeased to find that the door-knocker was Johnny.

When Johnny came inside, he acted annoyed that Chanel had moved out after one fight. As Paulina looked on in wide-eyed horror, Chanel quickly clarified that she had just come over to Paulina’s because she and Johnny “needed space.” Johnny apologized for his overreaction. Chanel expressed reticence about forgiving Johnny, but Paulina urged her to hear him out. Johnny conveyed his sincere regret, and Chanel agreed to forgive him—but not before extracting a promise from him that he would not let his jealousy get the best of him again.

Chanel then informed a relieved Johnny that she and Alex were going to talk with Abe and Paulina about delaying the planned sex scene. After Chanel left, Johnny opened up about his worries to Paulina, who assured him that she understood and that Chanel had chosen him. Later, Stephanie dropped by to deliver some business documents to Paulina. The women discussed the tension between Alex, Chanel, and Johnny and hoped that the trio could work past their issues.

At the production office for Body and Soul, Abe and Kate anxiously anticipated the first day of production. Abe informed Kate that they needed to address a problem caused by one of the show’s stars. Kate rolled her eyes when she learned that Hattie and Bonnie were the source of the conflict. Kate snarked that after the women’s wardrobe clash, she had felt she was producing Crazy Ladies of the Wrestling World. Abe added that Hattie had come to him with an ultimatum: either Bonnie went or she went.

Abe believed that Hattie was serious, and he proclaimed that he and Kate would have to make a choice. After Abe suggested they fire Bonnie, since Hattie’s character Charlemagne was the “star of the show,” Kate pushed back and chided Abe about Charlemagne being Abe’s favorite character. Abe conceded the assertion but claimed the audience data backed him up. Kate agreed that Bonnie and Hattie could cause massive disruptions on the first day of production.

Kate asked Abe to consider the ramifications of surrendering to Hattie’s demands. All the actors could begin demanding creative control. Abe acknowledged that Kate’s argument made sense, and both agreed that they needed to take care of the problem.

Later, Alex greeted Kate at the production office. He said that he wanted to wait for Chanel and talk about a suggested script change, but an impatient Kate told him that they didn’t have time. She asked what he wanted, and Alex made the case for postponing his and Chanel’s love scene. Chanel arrived a short time later. She got testy when she realized that Alex had spoken to Kate without her, but she backed up Alex’s request.

Kate listened to Alex and Chanel’s plea. When they were done, they hopefully asked if she had changed her mind. Later, Chanel and Alex were fretting over the script when Johnny came into the office. He assumed that the love scene had been cut. Chanel reluctantly informed Johnny that Kate had been reminded of Alex and Chanel’s chemistry during their fight. Chanel announced that the scene was still a go, to Johnny’s chagrin.

Bonnie angrily knocked on Leo’s door. After he answered in a leopard print robe and complained about his lack of sleep, Bonnie stormed inside and demanded her new “pink pages.” Bonnie’s anger grew after an exasperated Leo told her that he had not made her script revisions. Bonnie accused Leo of caving in to his Drag Race buddy Hattie’s demands. Leo clarified that Abe, the boss, was the one who had told him not to change the script.

When Leo urged Bonnie to stop ranting and to be grateful for the opportunity, an irate Bonnie refused. However, she eased up after Leo huffed that they did not have the luxury of doing multiple rewrites as would be done on a movie. Bonnie admitted that she understood the fast pace, as she was a faithful subscriber of Soap Opera Digest. Leo then launched into a tirade about Johnny wanting rewrites of Arrow and Faith’s sex scene.

Leo could not believe that Johnny didn’t understand how audiences tuned in to see “hot young people have mad, passionate sex and whisper schmaltzy little nothings in each other’s ear.” Bonnie sympathized with Johnny and again reiterated to Leo that she wanted the changes made. He told her to take it up with Abe and then ushered her out the door. Later, Leo fielded another unwelcome visitor in the form of Abe. Leo groused about listening to Bonnie’s rant and reaffirmed to Abe that he had not budged on Bonnie’s demands.

Abe shocked Leo when he revealed that production wanted a script change, just not the one that Bonnie had anticipated. Later, Abe and Kate met in Horton Town Square. Kate confessed that she’d already “put out one fire” for the day. Abe worried about the next problem, as he had sent Leo to deliver Bonnie’s new script.

At the Brady Pub, a tracksuit and curler-clad Hattie marveled at the transformation the pub had undergone in preparation for production. She excitedly threw her hands in the air and exclaimed to Roman: “We’re gonna put on a real, live soap opera!” Roman thought the set-up could work, since his employees were going to be used as extras, so they would not miss any pay. Hattie grinned and said she’d received a “win” herself, thanks to Abe.

Later, Roman read lines with Hattie. The scene ended with Charlemagne exclaiming, “Take me, Thrust!” Roman remarked about the steaminess of the scene and Hattie exuberantly concurred. Hattie’s good mood changed when Bonnie entered the pub. Hattie demanded to know what Bonnie was doing there, and Bonnie testily reminded Hattie that she worked on the set, too.

Hattie insisted that was no longer the case, as she’d had Bonnie fired. Bonnie could not believe that Hattie would try to have her fired. The two women argued, and Roman attempted to intervene. His efforts to get them both to see reason failed. When Leo arrived on the scene with papers in hand, Bonnie smiled and asked if the papers were the requested script revisions.

Leo handed the papers to Bonnie and explained that changes had been made, and he cautiously requested that she not "shoot the messenger." Bonnie’s smile fell when she read the new scripts. “You’re killing me off?” she asked Leo incredulously. Hattie smirked in the background.