I have to hand it Days of Our Lives for that Stefano memorial. For the most part, it was a fairly small affair, as, honestly, it should be. The show said a grand farewell

to Stefano back when portrayer Joseph Mascolo passed away, and this was really just a way to add some closure now that his body was found. At least, that’s what I thought going in.

Days of Our Lives has spent decades teasing us with Stefano’s deaths and resurrections. They did it countless times when Mascolo was still alive, and even, thanks to Steve’s brain chip, managed to pull it off once he was gone. Then the show gave us a winter preview, teasing EJ talking about the House of DiMera and someone slipping Stefano’s phoenix ring on. Would he be back? Maybe!

But then the DiMeras found Stefano’s remains in the crypt, and the body that had been missing for nearly a decade was cremated and laid to rest. This had to be the show’s way of saying, “OK, we can move on from Stefano now and focus on the next generations.” That ring preview? Surely it was just one of the heirs taking Stefano’s place and putting it on. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Then, this week, Susan insisted she wasn’t wrong in feeling Stefano’s presence. And I got a definite kick out of the memorial as it turned into a parade of folks tempting fate, from Kayla’s wistful declaration that he can’t hurt them anymore, to Roman insisting that he finally wins. And then the episode ended with Marlena saying how much she hoped Stefano was at peace only because that would mean he’s gone.

“I’m not sure we get that lucky,” she admitted. “Lucky enough to have you gone forever.” Then the memorial candles blew out in a chilling gust, Stefano’s grand music swelled and Marlena jumped, turning to look at his portrait behind her. It was a fantastic end, not just to the memorial, but the week.

One way or another, the show just let us know that whether or not Stefano comes back for real, he will never be gone from Salem. They’re always going to keep us guessing. They’re always going to keep us on our toes. I’ve swung back and forth on Stefano’s return countless times over the past half year, and now I’m swinging right back into being sure that one way or another, he’s on his way back. Maybe that’ll change again, but right now, I won’t be surprised by anything.

And why not? Like it or not, this is a show with death-defying medical miracles. It has prisms that can cure brain cancer, a doctor who’s figuring out how to reverse death. And clones. So many clones. (What did happen to those Marlena clones??) Even though the current writing regime has pulled us away from the utterly fantastical (I would be shocked if we ever got demons and devils again), all of that stuff is still baked into the show. It all happened.