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With an impromptu act with EJ, Sami Brady recreates a moment that would define her life just 18 years ago.
Spoiler Alert! This column contains spoilers.
SHOCKER! EJ and Sami have sex after being lead to believe their son, Johnny, has been kidnapped and murdered. No doubt this is the most shocking (on air) twist this year on soaps. It is sudden, out of nowhere, and nobody saw it coming. The news broke during the fourth annual Day of Days event. As the event came to a close, the legions of fans and most of the cast watched on the jumbo-tron as the November Promo came to a conclusion showing the two fighting with each other, silenced with a kiss. The fans went insane, both excited and upset.
Fans of the pairing have a reason to be excited. Since James Scott’s EJ appeared on the forty six year old long NBC soap opera Sami and him have been one of the most popular pairings. He was the male version of Sami Brady, through and through. He “got” Sami, the real Sami – the Sami family and previous boyfriends shamed into hiding. He loved her, bad and all. It looked like the show finally found her main man. Then, one episode changed everything. In one of the most controversial and heavily debated episodes in my lifetime, they had sex – or he raped her, depending on your view point.
Before anyone comes at me from either side, let me break it down with just the facts. Sami was with Lucas, though she had been fighting feelings for EJ. Through a series of events, Lucas ended up trapped and dying. Sami went to find help and EJ was there. He was fleeing town after an attempted murder (or some crime I don’t really remember, to be honest). He offered to help – if she had sex with him there on the spot. He did have a gun with him, but he didn’t threaten her nor was it implied he would harm her with the gun. Cops were near by. Sami accepted his offer. They did the deed. He saved Lucas. Was it rape? That is up for you to decide – though on screen it was not played as a rape and only much later was it referred to as such.
Since this event occurred, the two have gone up and down in their relationship; she lied about the paternity of her child, and he tortured her with the truth; she married him to save her family where an attempt was made on his life; she found herself drawn to him again and again, and they even had (totally consensual) sex where she ended up pregnant again; she was going to tell him the truth but saw a murder and was put in witness protection; she returned to Salem with Rafe and a baby, she claimed to have adopted; that baby was swapped with her sons girlfriends baby via EJ’s wife Nicole and neither of them knew; they mourned the loss of Grace when she told him he was her father – after she died; they truth came out and they got their baby back only to lose her; He was behind that kidnapping, and the faked death; She shot him in the head in an attempt to kill him; He had her husband held hostage and replaced him with a monster to drive her and the kids away from him. This is not even a complete list. To say that these two have a volatile, violent, abusive relationship is an understatement.
On the flip side, with Rafe she has found something long lacking in her life: A stable person to lean on. He has been there for her through thick and then. They have had their fair share of issues and fights but overcome them and come out stronger. He is the kind of man that her father, who she idolized, is. He is a good guy and he makes her a better person. All he wants from her is love, respect, and the truth. The last bit has always been hard for Sami.
So how does a woman cheat on her good guy husband who loves her with, for all accounts, an abusive ex? Let alone over their presumed dead child? Well, Sami did not want to see John nor take her children to see him out of fear that someone may attack as an act of revenge. When that exact thing happens, Johnny goes missing. Sami blames Rafe and her family as they encouraged her to attend and assured her nothing would happen. When bad turns to worse and the media reports that Johnny’s body has been found, she is with EJ and their anger and hurt turn into a fight that EJ silences with a kiss that leads to sex.
Sweeney tells Soap Opera Digest: “It is built up to a point where they think the child is dead. They go at each other and get so angry and in that heightened state of rage – and it does become physical, where they are pushing and shoving each other and yelling – there’s not a lot of rational thought taking place. One physical outlet turns into a different physical outlet, ultimately.” Sweeney says her direction was to hold onto the moment to forget the pain of losing her child. Co-Head Writer Marlene McPherson adds, “Everything is building up in them and it just explodes. It wasn’t anything that they planned. It isn’t romantic.”
This moment changes everything for Sami Brady, who in 1993 walked in on her mother, Marlena, having an affair with John Black. That was the defining moment in Sami Brady’s life. She held that secret for as long as she could to keep her parents marriage together. It drove her obsession with Austin. It, more than anything else, shaped her as a person. At this point you may be asking why this is relevant to her grief filled sex romp with EJ, well if you have not heard or figured it out now – Will, Sami’s son, walks in on the act and catches his mother in the same position (no pun intended) as she caught her mother in. Though the relationship leading up to the events are clearly different, Sami has recreated the moment that defined her life, except now she is in the role her mother was.
This does not appear to be a storyline about Sami sleeping with EJ. This seems, from all reports and interviews so far, to be a story about Sami Brady. In that same issue of Digest, it is said to be a full-circle moment for her. It will change Will. It will change the relationship between Sami and Will, who never should have had this loving, perfect, happy relationship to begin with. Hopefully the writers also take the opportunity to work on the relationship of Sami and her parents – Marlena, Roman and even John. So much damage has been done to Sami over the years that taking her back to this moment, but putting her in the other role, is brilliant and exactly what the character needs.
Twitter is all abuzz with people talking about Sami having sex with EJ. Some are cheering with anticipation for it while others have had a visceral, angry reaction. It seems to come down to team Safe vs team EJami. For me, I have been on both sides of her pairings (though, lets be real, Sami + Austin 4ever!) but for me this is not about her pairing. This is about Sami. The soap opera character I care the most about, the one I have grown up watching, the one that no matter what keeps me interested in the show. With some good writing and dedication this event can redefine a long time favorite character that has been thrown off the rails by a series of writing and producer changes accompanied by bad storylines and out of character writing. Sami Brady is not her sister or mother, she should not be a saint, but in the same regard she is not evil or malicious. Getting her into a place of maturity, yet keeping her edge, feistiness, and drive to get what she wants is the key.
If your are a newer fan to Days or an old fan who wants to brush up, check out these two YouTube videos revolving around that fateful night that Sami caught her mother in moment of passion with John.
Sami spies Marlena and John having an affair; Stops Roman from walking in:
Sami confesses – and confronts – Marlena about the affair:
Marlena was wonderful in this scene. I had forgotten just how much. Thank you.