Jarlena History - 1985 to 1987
Written by: Ms. Goldie
1985
When a bandaged man arrived at Victor Kiriakis' mansion he was known to Days viewers only as The Pawn. Years of trauma and brainwashing had left him with nothing more than pieces of memories, and a lot of unanswered questions. While The Pawn storyline began the week of October 28, 1985, viewers wouldn't see his face officially until January of 1986.
The Pawn was caught in a web of deciet being used by Stefano DiMera, Victor Kiriakis, and Ilya Petrov. Ultimately he escaped only to be held by none other than Steve "Patch" Johnson. Steve knew Victor was looking for the man, so he kept him hidden hoping to use him for leverage later.
Eventually, The Pawn was able to escape from Steve as well.
During this time Dr. Marlena Evans was dealing with struggles of her own. Her husband Roman Brady died in November 1984, leaving her alone to raise his daughter Carrie, and their three-week-old twins, Sami and Eric. In her quest to keep her family safe she had to rescue her twins, who were kidnapped by Stefano DiMera (the man responsible for her husband's death), and ultimately she made a choice of desperation that only a mother would make. Following Stefano into the rafters of the Salem Opera House, she shot him. He fell into a fire below, and was presumed dead (after all it is a soap). Marlena was arrested, charged with murder, and went on trial. She was acquitted because of the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and Stefano's longtime targeting of her family. Her defense attorney was none other than her ex-husband, Don Craig.
She found love again with the Salem Police Chief Richard Cates only to find out he'd been working with Victor Kiriakis to run a drug ring in the city of Salem. He was discovered, and later killed by Abe Carver in late October 1985, leaving Marlena wary of her own judgement. Richard was responsible for the death of Abe's brother Theo, who he killed accidentally (Cates had rigged a shotgun to kill Abe, not Theo).
1986
January 3, 1986 The Pawn ended up at the hospital, dirty and scared. That was where he had his first interaction with Dr. Marlena Evans. He didn't speak, but she got him to agree to having his bandages changed. However, once he realized Victor and Steve were in the hospital, he fled. When Dr. Curtis returned to the exam room, The Pawn was gone.
On January 24, 1986 the face of The Pawn was shown for the first time in a mirror at a local food kitchen. We learned right away that he was prideful, refusing food the first time the priest offered. He chose his name from a plague of Vietnam War Veterans. In that moment, viewers watched him become John Black.
During this time Days writers were tentatively pairing Marlena with Chris Kositchek. It fell flat, but not before we had to watch them kiss at a wedding, and on Marlena's couch.
Marlena's first encounter with John Black occurred at Shenanigan's on January 29. She was the victim of an attempted robbery which was stopped by John. It was suggested that John apply for an open security position at the hospital, since the storyline at that time was The Hospital Rapist (which we later learned was Ian Griffith).
Once John became the head of hospital security, his relationship with Dr. Evans ran hot and cold as he implemented safety measures at the hospital. Marlena felt that many of the security measures took anonymity from her patients, and stubbornly fought them, while John felt like those measures were necessary to protect the women in the hospital.
As their interactions became more heated he won her over with friendship, and a charming smile. Marlena tried to get to know him, but when questioned about his past his answers were always vague and incomplete. Eventually Marlena learned that John had amnesia after she realized he'd used her office computer to create a false identity for himself. She went to his apartment to confront him, and while trying to prove who he was, he grew agitated. That's when she put the pieces together. She offered to help him learn about his past, but he was wary of hypnosis, and initially turned her down.
John's first hypnosis session with Marlena occurred in March 1986. At that point her feelings for him had changed, and they argued much less. They had a friendship built on mutual respect, which enabled John to trust her while under hypnosis. By April, John's character started knowing things he shouldn't have known (like where Marlena kept the matches for the fireplace).
It was late April when Victor realized that John was The Pawn. Nurse Honeycutt was sent to John's apartment in an attempt to track him down. Aware that Victor was searching for him, John called Marlena from a payphone asking her to go by his apartment to gather some things for him since he was planning to leave Salem. Nurse Honeycutt and a henchman caught Marlena in John's apartment, and tied her up. John realized Marlena might be in danger, and he went to his apartment where he saw her through the window. He indicated that she should run towards the door, and when she did, he entered the apartment, taking down the henchman. Marlena injected Nurse Honeycutt with a horse tranquilizer she found in the nurses medical bag. John tied the henchman up in the closest.
Marlena and John went on the run together, having an angsty night at a hotel. While at the hotel they contacted the doctor they believed did the surgery on John's face, changing it forever. They made plans to meet him the following day.
At The Bluebird Bungalows in Gauley Valley, West Virginia John and Marlena prepared to meet with the doctor. John said he was going to shower, and jokingly asked Marlena if she would like to join him. She laughed, saying no, and he went into the bathroom. The telephone rang, and John exited without a shirt. That was the moment that Marlena saw the tattoo of Stefano DiMera's phoenix crest on his shoulder. She immediately became fearful, but was able to cover until John left to go to the store. She called Bo in a panic, telling him that John was Stefano. John returned, and overheard her talking to Bo.
Bo, and Shane headed to West Virginia unaware that Hope was a stowaway in the backseat of their jeep.
John also believed he might be Stefano, but he kept Marlena with him. They left the bungalows, because he knew Bo and Shane were coming. As the car sped down the road, he and Marlena struggled, causing the car to wreck into a ditch. He then forced Marlena into the forest, ultimately being pursued by Shane, Bo, Hope, the KGB, Victor, and yes... a pregnant Kimberly Brady (who worried that her baby could be Victor's, and also worried that Victor could be her dad, based on a letter she found written by her mother).
The Gauley Valley storyline brought us Jarlena's angsty cave sleepover, their first kiss, and yes... Marlena slapped John for getting fresh (but secretly she liked it). By the third week of May, it was revealed that John Black was actually Roman Brady. RoJohn (as he will henceforth be called until late 1991) went home to Salem with Marlena. Shawn and Caroline Brady accepted him immediately, but Carrie did not. Domestic struggles ensued as the writers moved us away from The Pawn storyline, and towards a new adventure - Stockholm.
As RoJohn settled into his new life he was confronted with his past as Roman, and his lack of memory. According to the storyline, Roman accidentally killed the wife of his ISA partner in 1979, thus creating the villain we all know as Orpheus. Milo Harp became Orpheus, intent on revenge against Roman for Rebecca's death. This was key to the Stockholm storyline.
Deidre Hall was away from the show for six weeks when she was filming the primetime show Our House. During that absence her character, Marlena, was in a coma after falling from a building while assisting a drug addicted teen named Matt in June of 1986. When filming wrapped for Our House, Marlena woke from her coma.
Jarlena fans still love the August 1986 wedding of RoJohn and Marlena. After she woke from her coma, RoJohn asked her to renew their wedding vows with a romantic hospital proposal.
Quick sidenote: I always like to consider this her true wedding, if only because later (in 1991) when the real Roman returned, there was no vow renewal.
The ISA asked RoJohn to resume the search for the savings bonds he was searching for in 1979. He refused, telling them he no longer worked for the ISA. They pretended to accept that, and he and Marlena left to go home. Marlena was later kidnapped, and RoJohn was led to believe that she was taken by Orpheus. The ISA was actually behind the kidnapping, but they told RoJohn that Orpheus had Marlena. and would not give her up until he got the savings bonds.
During that time, Bo was working undercover for the ISA, pretending to be interested in forming a relationship with Victor (who he had recently learned was his father). Hope was upset by that, and didn't understand Bo's sudden change of heart considering how much he'd hated Victor previously. Because she and Bo were estranged, she teamed up with RoJohn to search for Marlena.
The ISA was holding Marlena in Stockholm. This storyline was used as a cover for Deidre Hall's absence from the show while she filmed more episodes of Our House. Eventually Steve, Kayla, Shane, Kimberly, Bo, and Hope were all in Stockholm. Bo realized that Victor was also searching for the savings bonds.
Marlena was able to escape from the ISA, only to be found wandering outside at night by the real Orpheus. He kidnapped her for real, and using her as bait, he lured RoJohn to the location where Rebecca was killed. He told Marlena to run to RoJohn. When she did, he shot her with a tranquilizer, leading RoJohn to believe she'd been shot with a bullet. Orpheus explained that he wanted RoJohn to hurt the way he hurt when he lost his wife.
Beneath the street, Steve threw open a manhole, and RoJohn tossed Marlena in, jumping in after her. They made their escape.
RoJohn and Marlena went home to Salem by the first week of December. Unbeknownst to them, Orpheus had planted a bomb in their home. December 15, 1986, just as Marlena was preparing to leave with RoJohn and the children on a trip, the bomb detonated with her inside the house. RoJohn was told by Abe that Marlena was deceased. When he told Carrie what happened she broke down in tears.
The family struggled through Christmas, and a memorial service. RoJohn talked to Alice about Carrie's fear of death, and later he received a telephone call from Orpheus. RoJohn was determined to track the man down.
1987
Unable to cope with the loss of his wife, RoJohn took the children to the mountains. While there he met a woman named Olivia. He didn't know it, but she was a plant by Orpheus. Olivia was the sister of Rebecca Harp. Olivia managed to insert herself into almost every single family interaction RoJohn had for the next three weeks. Finally, he was ready, and took his family home. Carrie was sad to leave Olivia.
Viewers were stunned to learn in the first week of February that Marlena was still alive, and Orpheus was forcing her to pretend to be the mother to his children. When Marlena became defiant he threatened to hurt her family in Salem. All the while, Olivia showed up in Salem. Surprise, surprise. Not. Olivia warned Orpheus that RoJohn was looking for him, but he was unconcerned.
RoJohn caught up with Orpheus the last week of March 1987, and that was when he was shown a videotape of Marlena... alive! Orpheus escaped again. Olivia developed feelings for RoJohn, which infuriated Orpheus because it was contrary to his ultimate plan to hurt RoJohn.
RoJohn investigated the legitimacy of the videotape trying to determine if Marlena was really alive or not. Bo and Hope worried that he might be getting his hopes up. His search for Marlena led him to Orpheus' island, but Marlena was gone. Orpheus stated that it was unfortunate. He believed RoJohn wouldn't shoot him because he was the only one who knew her whereabouts. He was shocked when Olivia walked in, and said she knew where Marlena was. In his rush to find out, RoJohn turned his back on Orpheus. A fight ensued, and Orpheus was shot, and presumed dead. Olivia told RoJohn that Marlena was at the airport.
He rushed there, only to find her airplane already taking off. He couldn't stop it, and he watched in horror as her plane crashed. Later, as he was returning home to Salem, he read the letter Olivia had given him from Marlena, and he said goodbye.
Since this is a history, but also slightly editorial, I'd like to say I was angry that the writers had RoJohn kissing Olivia, and Marlena hadn't even been dead for four months. That was awful. Then they rushed in with Diana Colville, a Marlena look-a-like, which was just gross. Not only that, Diana never fully trusted RoJohn. She lied to him on several occasions, and ultimately snuck away in the middle of the night breaking his heart, and Carrie's too. Follow that up with Yvette Du'Pre, Isabella Toscano, and later Dr. Whitney Baker for some flirting... then back to Isabella.
That being said, by September of 1987, RoJohn was already jealous of the amount of time Diana was spending with Victor. He tried to warn her away from Victor, telling her Victor was a dangerous man. But later he asked Diana to help him and the ISA trap Victor, since she had such close access to him. She agreed. Diana started hanging around RoJohn's house, and at one point Eric mistook her for his mother. RoJohn kissed Diana for the first time in November 1987, a week later they were sleeping together.