Days of Our Lives (DOOL) spoilers recap for Monday, July 20, reveal that Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) and Claire Brady (Olivia Rose Keegan) talked at the penthouse about Claire’s night out with Ciara Brady (Victoria Konefal) and Allie Horton (Lindsay Arnold). Marlena thought it was generous that Ciara gave Claire the benefit of the doubt after the gown and ring fiascos. Claire was a little perturbed that Marlena knew about those incidents, then she took off to deliver Ciara’s gown to her.
At Hope Brady’s (Kristian Alfonso) house, Ciara was on the couch still in her clothes from the night before. Hope quickly realized that something was wrong, and Ciara promptly got sick.
After Hope and Ciara established that Ciara didn’t have the flu or was pregnant, Claire came in and told Ciara that she looked awful. Hope stepped out to go to the pharmacy, and Ciara laid into Claire, asking what Claire put in her drink last night.
Claire was astonished that Ciara was accusing her of basically poisoning her. Claire and Ciara argued fiercely, and finally Ciara fired Claire as her maid of honor. Ciara then vomited all over Claire, and Claire ended up leaving very upset. Hope returned and Ciara promptly fainted on the couch. Hope immediately got on the phone and called the doctor.
At the Salem Inn, Ben Weston (Robert Scott Wilson) woke up to see Jordan Ridgeway (Chrishell Stause) standing in his room wearing a wedding gown. Jordan told Ben that he ruined everything for her, and that if Christian Maddox (Brock Kelly) hadn’t killed her, then Ben would eventually have done it.
Jordan said that Ciara was deluded, and she berated Ben for being a killer as she played with a necktie, eventually choking herself. Then Ben woke up in bed with a start, having dreamed the whole thing.
Ben called Marlena, who arrived to see him a bit later. Marlena listened to Ben’s worries about still being a killer and did her best to reassure him that he had made a huge life change and that she was proud of him.
Ben started feeling better and he told Marlena that she was like family to him. Ben then sweetly asked if he could hug Marlena, and they embraced tenderly.
Once alone, Ben examined his suit and held the necktie in his hands. Even though Ben was very much awake, Jordan appeared again and told Ben that he was hallucinating and that he’d always be the necktie killer.
Suddenly, Ben’s phone rang, and he snapped out of the hallucination. It was Ciara calling, and she told him what happened with Claire poisoning her. Ciara said that she didn’t think they could get married today.
At Jake Lambert’s (Brandon Barash) place, Gabi DiMera (Camila Banus) arrived and told Jake that his mother was dead of an apparent heart attack, and that it had happened when Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel) was in police custody.
Jake was stoic but clearly upset by this. Gabi reeled that Ivan Marais (Ivan G’Vera) was holding a wake for Vivian this morning. Jake said he’d go alone, and Gabi left.
At the chapel, Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) drank champagne alone in front of Vivian’s closed casket. Kate gloated about Vivian’s death, clearly happy about it. Kate decided to check to see if Vivian’s body was really in the casket, and just then Ivan walked in and stopped her.
Ivan told Kate about how Vivian died at the police station with tons of witnesses, then he opened the casket and there was Vivian’s body.
Jake came into the chapel, and Ivan called him “Jacob.” “It’s Jake,” Jake said, irritated. Kate continued gloating about Vivian’s death and took Jake off to tell him war stories about how awful his mother was.
Ivan went back to the casket and told Vivian’s body that he was sorry that she had to endure that vicious attack by Kate. Suddenly, Vivian sat up, most clearly alive.
Vivian and Ivan drank champagne together and talked about how Vivian had ingested drugs that made her appear to be dead at the police station. Ivan and Vivian took a little walk down memory lane, musing about how Vivian had drugged and buried Carly Manning (Crystal Chappel) alive years ago.
Ivan said that the next time Vivian wants to shoot up a wedding, not to choose the wedding of the mayor’s daughter. Vivian exclaimed, “And there WILL be a next time!”
Meanwhile, Kate and Jake strolled up to the Brady Pub. Jake looked horrified by all of Kate’s stories about Vivian. Kate gave her nearly full champagne bottle to Jake and left. Gabi came along and saw Jake sitting with the bottle.
Jake mused that he never imagined that he was the son of two murderers and the brother of a rapist. Gabi didn’t like that, and she defended Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash). Jake apologized.
Jake then invited Gabi to sit with him on the bench and toast to his dead mother. Jake took a swig from the champagne bottle, as did Gabi. Finally, back at Marlena’s penthouse, Claire returned, slamming the door in anger.
Marlena learned that Ciara fired Claire as maid of honor. Marlena quipped that it must be hard for Ciara to accept Claire’s denials. Claire bolted out of the townhouse angry.
That was a terrific episode of Days of Our Lives! There’s plenty more on the way this week, so be sure to stay tuned to the NBC soap! Here at CDL, we’ve got you covered with all the latest DOOL news and spoilers, so keep reading!