YOU WROTE THE STORY!

Here are the scenerios YOU came up with for how you would like to see the John Is Roman Story! Thanks for all the contributions!

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By Former DAYS Head Writer SHERI ANDERSON

"If you were to become head writer of Days ever again, would you want to make John Roman again?" - Jiggs

Jiggs,
In my mind and heart Drake will always be Roman. When I wrote for Josh Taylor when he was Chris Kositchek I loved him, and perhaps it's my clinging to the past, but one reason I stopped watching the show was that Roman recast. Josh is a terrific actor, but doesn't have the particular kind of likability that Roman needs. If only he'd been brought back as Chris--who was a great, sexy character! Plus I've never felt the all-too-critical heat between him and Deidre that a true supercouple needs. No one connects like Drake and Deidre!

Would I want to make John into Roman again? In a heartbeat. Could it be done? I'm not sure. It would take alot of maneuvering--perhaps even falling back on the old trick of this all being a 10 year long nightmare!

For me, Days has had so many writers rewriting history that I as a
viewer don't trust it any more. It's not just that the dead come back to life so easily, but when established characters have new 'loves of their lives' I feel cheated. I want to know that Bo will always love Hope, Jennier will love Jack, Roman (Drake's Roman!) will always be passionately commited to Marlena--and even if they're separated because of emotional circumstances they'll always be the love of each other's lives. And some how they'll always get back together. People CAN love more than one person, but in different ways.

But that's just me!

For me I think it becomes sort of a full-circle thing, especially if there's a backstory to Roman escaping and making his way back to Marlena in 86. Which, there can be - it can make sense if the writers just care to put a little effort in.

To me it would make Roman/RoJohn/John the one and only true love of Marlena's life. Because she did love Roman in the early eighties and I would love for that all to be tied together in a sexy RoJohn and Marlena package.

I love the idea that despite what everyone else told them and what their heads told them, their hearts always knew the truth - they were always drawn together - NOT because he is Roman, because ultimately the name does not matter. It's the fact that they are bound at a soul level that matters.

I also love the idea of John losing his money and going back to the force and suddenly having his family back. I love the idea of watching the Brady's deal with the idea that they turned their backs on Roman for 15 years. That Marlena was the only one that ever stood by him. I love the idea of the angst that could come out of that.

And of course, Fauxman would not be Roman, which would be uber cool.

I would like Sami to find out John IS Roman FIRST! Sami has always wanted her parents together and for John to be Roman I think it would put Sami in complete shcok! John is paying for Sami's wedding too, so to have her REAL father walk her down the isle would just be great! We need more John/Sami Father/Daughter scenes, their really amazing together, they HAVE the father/daughter chemistry, FauxRo and his children don't have that father/daughter chemistry! I would definatly want emotionally scenes between John and his REAL parents. I would LOVE Carrie to come back, John and Carrie have always had a special bond even when Carrie found out John wasn't her father, (well thats gonna change ;) when John IS Roman..hehe.) John NEEDS to be Roman, him not being Roman just doesnt explain how he was able to remember being Roman for 5 years of his life, and he remembered many things including where the matches were in the house, that he and Marlena's "thing" was strawberries and whip cream. I LOVED him as RoJohn. Marlena was already in love with him before she even found out he was Roman. I mean how could the writers just throw that away? John as "John" in '91 would have chosen Marlena over Isabella. Marlena should have done the same over "Roman" because she was not in love with "Roman", she was in Love with RoJohn, not matter who he is, her husband or a pawn, she's was in love with him...I also want FauxRo to just get out of our sight!
 
 

While on the Island (or shortly after returning to Salem, I am flexible on this part) it is revealed that Roman is a pawn of the MM who just happens to be Orpheus. During that time we find out that Roman is not the real Roman. This leads Bo, John and Marlena to try and find out where the real Roman is, is he alive, dead or being held by someone?

They back track to when Roman had left town and find out that Roman was not the real Roman either. They learn that Orpheus had teamed up with Stefano to take everything from Roman including his very identity. Stefano, upset that Roman had found out his true identity, was all for stealing it from him. Orpheus still upset over how he felt Roman took his wife, wanted revenge.

In 1991 Roman was sent to Salem to take over the real Roman's life including reuniting with his *wife* Marlena. Stefano and Orpheus did not count on the fact that RoJohn and Marlena's soulmate connection was so strong that they could not break the ties that bound them. They had the *affair*. FauxRoman was sent away from Salem. Stefano and Orpheus felt they needed to replan their idea. Years later they used Kristen as a way to reintroduce *Roman* to the people in Salem. Again the love RoJohn and Marlena felt for each other was to strong to break. The only joy Stefano and Orpheus got was in knowing the real Roman was stripped of his true family and identity.

So they plotted and waited and set Island Salem in motion. The wanted one last chance of stealing everything from RoJohn. They came close but the only way they could do it was by drugging Marlena and planting subliminal messages in her mind. In the end though her love for John was stronger than anything they could have done and she stayed true to him, her soulmate.

Now they must stop Orpheus from hurting them ever again. Plus they feel Stefano is still alive and involved. So they must find out where he is and put a stop to his evil ways as well.
 
 

Severe blow to the head and bam, John suffers from amnesia. When he starts to regain his memories, the first ones that come back are the ones from 1986. He will be drawn to Marlena, not knowing why of course but he falls in love with her all over again. At this point Marlena can be trying to help him remember his past with her, without giving too much away but perhaps taking him to places they have been, i.e the pier and mentioning things that were symbolic to them. He can feel strangely connected to these places and begin to remember bits and pieces without being able to make it all fit together, not knowing of course it was Marlena with whom he shared these things until of course he sees her face in one of his more fevered fantasies, I mean memories :> He then realizes she has something to do with his past. Then he remembers something major …

He can remember Stefano brainwashing him before he came back in 1986 so that he would forget about Marlena. Of course, when John mentions these memories to Marlena she will wonder what exactly it is that he is remembering because surely he didn’t have any memories of Marlena before he came to Salem in 1986. In fact Stefano had to implant the few memories of Marlena that John had, didn’t he??? Because he was an impostor wasn’t he??? Apparently not. So he and Marlena begin to investigate this together. During this time we would get recreated memories where we would LOVE TO HATE Stefano all over again; where he is a true villain with no remorse, not a lame ass Art Thief that prances around Paris with a wannabe Princess. This would be ala Maison Blanche, need I say more? Either way, this means we are back to where we started, 1986. So we witness the whole process; RoJohn being drugged but hanging onto his memories of Marlena, lots of internal monologue like Reilly had him do during Aremid, professing his love for Marlena and what not, trying his hardest not to let go of her and to not let Stefano win. Then we get to see him make his daring escape back to Salem and to the woman he loves. This is where he got to Marlena in 1986 and the Pawn Storyline began. He held onto her memory at least until he could get to her and then finally when he got there he didn’t remember a thing. John begins to remember things from 1986 and surprises Marlena with his memory breakthroughs again i.e, strawberries and whipped cream and what not. She could work exclusively with him to help him regain all of his memories but in the end they get more than they bargained for because his memories will take him even further back than 1986 and there will be hints that he is Roman i.e the aforementioned memories of brainwashing that Stefano performed. Faux of course is an impostor and will attempt to thwart (Ro)John and Marlena and their plans to get to the bottom of it all.

Throughout the whole storyline, Marlena will instinctively know that John is Roman. Not because of the memories that are resurfacing for John but she begins to have her own dreams where she thinks of Roman and it is John’s face she sees. Her dreams begin with Faux standing there perhaps (not laying of top of her, Reilly) and she feels terribly frightened until of course he morphs into John at which point a sense of peace and relief wash over her. In her dreams, it is John that she calls “Roman”. Of course she chalks it up to the fact that she has been thinking of their time together as RoJohn and Marlena because of John’s memories.

Confusing, I know but these are just some of my thoughts, jumbled as they are.

All I do know is that if and when John turns out to be Roman, I want it to end on the Pier. When they both come to the realization, I want them both to be drawn to the pier for yet another poignant reunion. And I do want what John meant to Marlena to be respected in all of this by the writers. I expect it to come through in dialogue. None of this “I loved you because I thought you were Roman” crap. Yes, I want my cake and I want to eat it too :)

And this is how it will kick off from the current storyline...

When John sees Marlena through the forcefield, he can't think of anything else but getting to her no matter what. Being so close and yet so far away makes him desperate and determined to hold her in his arms again. So somehow (without making John look like a total idiot, I haven't quite figured that out yet lol) he will try and jump through the forcefield. Maybe we can overlook the stupidity in favour of his love for Marlena lol He falls through and Marlena rushes to his aid. Perhaps we can have a few minutes of "I love you"s and "oh Doc I finally found you"s. Then he finally succumbs to the darkness. When he awakens, he remembers absolutely nothing. His mind is now a blank slate.
 
 

Haven't worked out all the bugs yet, but here's the story....

John is Roman and Resolution to the Island Story:

Bo tells John that Roman and Marlena are alive. John is overjoyed at the thought so he and Bo get to work on trying to pinpoint the signal. They decide to call Shane for some help. Shane says that the ISA is in uproar right now because there’s a mole and he’s not sure if he’ll be able to help. John convinces him to grant them this favor, so Shane traces the signal. The signal is traced to a group of islands in the Caribbean, but before Shane can pin point the signal exactly, we see “evil ISA guy” denying Shane access to the ISA mainframe. Shane is puzzled, but calls John back with the information about the group of islands. Bo and John research the islands and John remembers that the old Dimera compound is on one of them. They immediately suspect Stefano. They decide to investigate all of the islands until they find their families because they don’t know which one the signal came from.

Meanwhile, Roman is dying and asks Marlena to make love to him. Marlena thinks this is a very inappropriate request, but luckily Roman loses consciousness before he can do anything. The mystery person in the jungle leaves some medicine for Roman. Marlena decides she has no choice but to risk giving him the dose. Roman begins a speedy recovery. However, he’s still not content with Marlena’s answer and tries to make a move on her again. This time Marlena slaps him across the face, but in doing so notices that something is not right. It’s a mask!! Roman turns out to be Stefano!! He injects Marlena with something and she collapses on the jungle floor, while he begins to make his escape through the jungle.

Abe and Hope return with Jennifer, the baby and Patrick to find Roman gone and Marlena unconscious on the ground. When Marlena wakes up she tells them that Roman is actually Stefano. Abe and Hope aren’t in the least surprised at this and they all begin to wonder where the real Roman is.

Bo and John’s plane is shot down and they crash land on Salem Island. They reunite with the islanders who were left inside the compound, but of course, Marlena, Hope, Jennifer, Jack, Patrick and Roman are still missing so Bo and John begin working on getting through the force field. They succeed in disrupting the field long enough to get through. They wonder which way they should look first. Suddenly all the escapees come out of the bushes behind them. John and Marlena are thrilled to see each other again. Reunion!

Marlena tells John that Roman was actually Stefano, but that he managed to escape into the jungle. John tells Marlena that they are near Dimera Island, so it’s possible that Stefano owns this very island too. The group disperses. Patrick and Jennifer go back into the compound to recuperate. Abe, Hope and Bo go off to find Jack. This island is very familiar to John and it begins to trigger suppressed memories. He gets a very bad headache, so Marlena stays with him while the rest of the islanders go off to search for Jack and Stefano.

The rest of the islanders spot the mystery person running through the jungle and go after him. Once John is ready to continue, he and Marlena can’t find Abe, Hope or Bo (who ran off after the mystery person). John and Marlena decide they’ll continue looking for Stefano on their own. John is continually plagued with memories of his past, but can’t connect them all. He thinks that it is something here on the island that’s triggering his memories. They decide to rest for the night in a nearby cave. Marlena tries to comfort John as he tries to deal with the missing pieces of his past. He has a flashback of falling, but can’t figure out where it’s from. Not having seen each other for several months, they can’t keep their hands off each other. Unfortunately, as they roll around on the cave floor, they trip a trap door and fall into a secret tunnel!!

John and Marlena think it’s a tunnel that connects the islands. Sure enough, they spot some of Stefano’s blood on the ground (you know, from that gaping hole in his foot) and they realize this must have been how Stefano escaped. They head down the tunnel and after a while, find that it indeed connects to the Dimera Island.

Meanwhile, Shane is trying to figure out what happened to Bo and John’s plane, which went down in the same restricted air space that Jennifer, Hope and Patrick’s. Shane decides to go to Salem to continue working on the case. He meets up with Tek and the two of them begin working of finding the lost Salemites. They decide to start with Dimera Island. Another plane attempts to shoot them down, but they manage to land on the island. They begin looking around inside one of the buildings and find a bunch of files. Some labeled “Roman Brady”, some labeled “John Black” and some labeled “Robert Benson”. They wonder who this “Robert Benson” is and why Stefano would have files on him.

Back in another part of the compound John and Marlena still think that Stefano is the mastermind. They spot him around the corner, but he escapes through one of his many secret passages. This leads John and Marlena to search the basement. They hear someone calling from one of the rooms. They try to follow the sound, but lose it before they can find the person. As they continue to search the compound, they run into Shane and Tek. Both sides share information. Suddenly, Stefano sets fire to the files. Stefano says that he’s not the mastermind and is angry that they think so. They try to go after him, but the fire stops them. The four try to save the files as the fire spreads and head for the exit. Unfortunately they get a little lost, but they manage to find “Roman” locked in a room. They think he’s delirious, because he keeps insisting that his name is Robert Benson and not Roman Brady. They decide that they need to save him no matter what, so they carry the delirious man to safety. They begin to extract information from the man who looks like Roman. Stefano captured this man after arriving on the island and impersonated him in order to try to get to Marlena. “Roman” was put in the dungeon and left to die. Sensing that he is about to die, “Roman” decides to spill it. He says he’s not Roman at all, but just a man, Robert Benson that Stefano hired. John demands to know where the real Roman is. Robert says that as far as he knows the real Roman died on an island and with that, Robert dies.

John and Marlena are stunned to hear this news. They begin to read over all the files they managed to salvage from the fire. John begins to remember more about his life as Roman. They soon come to the realization that since the Roman that returned in 1991 was a fake, there’s a possibility that John really was Roman. Shane puts calls into the ISA for help and realizes that Tek has disappeared. Shane’s call doesn’t go through, so he tries again, but as he’s doing so, Tek returns with what Shane assumes is help. Unfortunately the men pull guns on Shane, John and Marlena. Stefano, refusing to let anything happen to Marlena, emerges from the bushes behind them and tries to get the evil ISA guys to put down their weapons. Tek tells the men that they need them alive, then  suddenly a helicopter flies overhead and drops a net on to Shane, Stefano, John and Marlena. All four are drugged and taken captive in a secret ISA base. John demands Stefano to tell him if he’s Roman or not. Stefano tells John that that is not information he needs to know. John begins to get frustrated that Stefano won’t give him the answers he needs. Marlena gets John to calm down so that she can try hypnotizing him in order to see if he remembers anything new in light of recent events. Meanwhile, Shane questions Stefano about his involvement with the ISA and island scheme.

Under hypnosis, Marlena helps John to remember his entire life as Roman. They're together on this...connected, mind, body and soul. He can remember his childhood and growing up with Bo. He remembers his life as a police officer, protecting Marlena from the Salem Strangler, their wedding, Sami and Eric, his “death” on the island, his return as the Pawn….it all comes flooding back to him. He believes with out a doubt that he’s Roman. John’s new memories as Roman correspond to the information they recovered from the files.

…..Eventually, Shane, John and Marlena are rescued by….let’s say Bo, Hope and Abe. Patrick turned out to be an ISA agent who had refused to go through with the plan. The corrupt ISA was the “mastermind”. Tek was the mole and Lexie was the link to the Dimeras. Stefano escapes once again. The rest of the islanders are rescued. Everyone returns to Salem and the next task is….telling everyone that John is Roman!
 
 

I want for Stefano to have sent John as Roman back in '81. Not sure how he made it happen though.

His goal, to destroy the Brady's. But he met Marlena and her love changed him. Stefano had RoJohn "killed" so he could erase his memory and change his appearance. Stefano then sent John back to Salem to finish the job. But Marlena's love again stopped him from being the man Stefano had trained him to be.

This means John is the father of Sami, Eric, Belle, and Brady, and maybe Carrie also.  He is not a Brady and none of the children have Brady blood, UNLESS Shawn Sr is John's father.  That would not make Shelle related.  (As much as I want Shelle over I am just not sure TIIC are going to make them related.)  Brady would not be Brady Brady.

It would explain why Roman was so different in '93. He wasn't different, that was the first time we had seen the real Roman Brady. He had John's memories of being married to Marlena inplanted into him, not the other way around.

This would mean that Marlena's love truly did save John.  Her love made him the man he is today and not the man Stefano trained him to be.

This is not my theory, I read it on Linn's board.  I do love it.  You may hate this but in a way it makes John Roman LOL.   So does this count for me wanting John to be Roman?

And for how it happens. I just want it to be simple. Maybe Stefano comes on for a few episodes and tells them the truth. I dunno.  I think simple would be good for discovering the truth.  All the exciting stuff would come after they find out.
 
 

There really was a John Black who was Stefano’s trained mercenary and who was involved with Princess Gina. Stefano discovered that John Black was betraying him so he held him captive on his island. After Roman Brady fell from a cliff, Stefano took him prisoner and for revenge on both John Black and Roman Brady, he pulled a “face-off”, changing their looks and brainwashing Roman into believing he was Stefano’s mercenary. After training him for his new role, the new John Black did some work for Stefano but the brainwashing didn’t completely take, resulting in The “Pawn” not knowing who he really was. The Pawn made his way back to Salem and assumed his old identity as Roman Brady, though his memory was hazy. In the meantime, Stefano turned the original John Black into “Roman Brady” and sent him to Salem to further disrupt the Brady family. Working with some corrupt ISA agents, the Roman imposter’s DNA test was rigged to make it seem as though he was the real Roman. The Roman currently in Salem is a “sleeper agent” who isn’t fully aware of his true identity. As part of the current serial killer story, Stefano has been using “Roman” to further his agenda of revenge on “John” by taking Marlena away from him.  “Roman” has been giving Marlena drugs to make her remember her feelings for the real Roman. Because of Marlena’s confusion, she and John remain separated, thinking she needs to work through her “feelings” for Roman. Meanwhile “Roman” begins to remember his old life as Stefano’s mercenary and not wanting to give up his life in Salem, he develops his own agenda, which is to eliminate Marlena and go back to a life with Kate. He starts upping the dosage of the drug Stefano provided, which is slowly killing Marlena. By reading entries in her journal, Marlena, in a moment of lucidity, realizes something is wrong with her. Panicked, she flees the penthouse and checks into the flea bag motel she once stayed in when she first returned to Salem. Marlena calls the only person she instinctively knows she can trust – John! This all eventually leads to the discover that John is the real Roman Brady and “Roman” is a Stefano operative who is killed…by Marlena! Next chapter...where is the real Belle Brady??
 
 

I wrote this back when Bope were giving up JT, which is why that episode is where this storyline takes off from. I was going through my old computer files and came upon this, and thought you all might like to read my version of a long storyline for J&M, and what I would have liked to see happen.

This is *my* J&M storyline...a storyline that could have provided years worth of entertainment (if you ask me, anyway LOL). Before you read it, know that it goes back and forth from storyline *arc* to storyline *scenes*. Mostly it's a broad description, but sometimes I actually broke down and wrote a scene with dialogue.

"Intro:  John has handed BB over to Kate and became a cop again.  Frustrated for having to share his glory with John, Roman quit the force and moved out of town.  This story picks up with John meeting Marlena for lunch at Salem Place."

It's 12:30 and John is waiting for Marlena outside Salem Place. He squints into the noon sun to see Marlena's car coming around the corner to pull into the parking lot. As he bends down to pick up the bouquet of flowers he had bought for her, he hears the horrible sound of screeching tires and the smashing of metal upon metal. His head snaps up to see Marlena's car get broadsided and sandwiched between the car and a telephone pole.

"DOC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MARLENA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screams as he runs across the parking lot to her smashed car. As he arrives there, he drops the bouquet of lilacs on the grounds and rushes over to the driver's side, where he finds an unconscious, bloody Marlena. He's crying as he screams her name, helplessly.

As ambulances race to the scene, John stays there and talks to Marlena. Frightened to move her, he whispers in her ear that everything will be ok. The ambulances finally get there, and take Marlena to the hospital. Many of the family members gather at the hospital to offer John comfort and to be there for Marlena.

Marlena is in a coma, and John stays by her side for days. Finally Caroline suggests John go home for just one night to eat sleep and freshen up. She says she'll stay with Marlena. When John goes home, he sees pictures of him and Marlena and we hear the beautiful RoJohn and Marlena theme from years ago. (In my world they start using it for them again LOL). John falls asleep holding their wedding picture in his arms.

At the hospital, Caroline is sitting with Marlena, telling her all the happenings with Bo and Hope and the rest of the family. She hears the door open and she sees Roman walk in. He tells her he is there to see Marlena, as he heard about the accident. He tells her to go get some coffee if she'd like and he'll sit with Marlena. As soon as Caroline leaves for the cafeteria, Roman puts his plan into action. He motions for the two guys outside to come in, and they put Marlena in a wheelchair and wheel her out of the hospital. Roman kidnaps her and takes her to his new residence/hiding place, where he plans to keep her there until she realizes she loves him more than John. Only problem is, when Marlena finally *does* wake up, she has amnesia and can't remember *anything* about her past. Not even him.

When Caroline returns she finds Roman and Marlena gone. She immediately calls John who rushes to the hospital. His anger swells as he figures Stefano must have returned and taken Doc. Caroline is worried about Roman too, and they guess that Stefano must have taken Roman as well. He promises Caroline that he will find both Roman and Marlena.

Back at Roman's hideout, he is trying everything to get Marlena to fall in love with him, but she has no interest whatsoever in him. In fact, she finds him revolting. She just wants to find out who she is and remember her past, but this guy that's holding her doesn't seem to want to help her do that. She tries to leave, but he shows his ugly side and tells her that she is his prisoner, and she will learn to love him.

*************************************
COMING UP....

-Marlena will repeatedly try to escape Roman's place

-After much searching John will eventually find her and realize that Roman was her captor all along.

-John and Roman Square Off.

-A fight ensues and John finds out Roman isn't really Roman Brady after all. That he is one of Stefano's pawns, hired to break up him and Marlena.

-They fight, and John kills "Roman". Before "Roman" dies, he admits that SubSex was all implanted memories that Stefano created to cause trouble for J&M and the Bradys.

-John brings Marlena home to help her regain her memories (lots of good storyline to be explored here)

-John tells everyone about the fake "Roman", and about SubSex being implanted memories. Although relieved about SubSex being fake, the family is upset over the fact that they had been living with an imposter for so long.

-Shawn and Caroline ask Abe and John to find the real Roman and bring him home.

-John tries everything to get Marlena to remember their life and their love. She seems drawn to him, but doesn't know why. Her entire family is there to help. Carrie is back, Eric returns, and Sami is there. Sami and Eric still resent John, however, and want to find their real dad.

-One foggy night, Marlena takes a walk on the pier and her memories flood back. John walks out of the fog and as the memories of Marlena's life flood back, she remembers being pregnant in 87 when her plane crashed. She remembers having a son, but the remaining four years of when she was missing still is blank.

-They go on a search for their long lost son--down to the island where she was being held.

-They finally end up finding him......and he knows a lot about DiMera because he's spent his life trying to find his parents and to get enough dirt on Stefano to put him away...only thing he's known was his parents first names..Roman and Marlena, and what Stefano did to them

-He holds the same characteristics as John and Marlena. He tells them that he's spent his entire life getting information on DiMera, because when he was younger his adoptive parents confided in him that his real parents had been taken away by Stefano. He tells them that he's always wanted to put DiMera away, and that he always wanted to find them.

-J&M ask just what information he does have on DiMera. He begins to tell them everything he's learned, most from his adoptive parents, who were killed for betraying Stefano and leaking so much information. He tells them he knows about Roman's "death" at the cliff at the hands of Stefano. He tells him that he knows Stefano had reconstructive surgery performed on Roman to make him look different. He knows that Marlena's plane crashed and that she was brought here, to this island, where he was born. He knows that Stefano held her here and took him away as a baby and gave him to other people to be raised. He knows that eventually she made her way off the island. He knows that Stefano performed reconstructive surgery and brainwashed another man, and shortly after Marlena escaped the island, Stefano had him set him free to cause trouble for them. He knows that *that* "project" failed and that Stefano tried one more time to send *another* man to break up their marriage. He tells them that he has his adoptive parents to thank, even though they were working for Stefano, since they ultimately told him what they knew. The only thing they never told him was how/where to find J&M *or* Stefano. That's why he's been on the island so long...he wanted to gather as much information as possible before setting off to find them.

-J&M tell him to back up to the part about the first guy with reconstructive surgery...the one that was sent off the island shortly after Marlena escaped. Their son tells them that they made that guy's face look like Roman Brady's original face, in hopes of making people believe that John wasn't the real Roman. He tells them that the theory was that even though John had lived in Salem for so many years as Roman, as soon as someone showed up that had Roman Brady's original looks, that they would be fooled into believing that John was the imposter.

-They can't believe what they are hearing. This means that John is really Roman after all. That he really *did* have reconstructive surgery before returning in 1986 and that the Roman that returned in 91 was actually the pawn...some guy made to look like he had before his surgery. And when that didn't work out the way Stefano hoped, he tried it one more time with the man that John had just killed.

-J&M realize he's really the true Roman after all. They head back to Salem with their son, and begin to tell the family everything that has happened. Shawn and Caroline are happy as ever and say that they never stopped loving him as a son, even when they thought he was John, so knowing that he is really Roman couldn't possibly change the way they feel about him. They couldn't love him any more than they already do. Most of the family is ecstatic. Carrie feels the same way and her and John have another bonding moment on the pier as they talk about how crazy it is that they had much of the same talk 16 years ago.

-There are, however, consequences with Sami and Eric, who have a hard time accepting it, and letting their feelings take over. We see a lot of emotional stuff played out as S&E show John the love they've always wanted to, but felt too guilty to before.

STAY TUNED....
 
 

There was no call for it, it set no precedent, and it came and went, but I got a bunch of people to write up why they want John to be Roman again. Thanks to all that took the time to do it. You are all eloquent, funny and intelligent fans of John being Roman. Kudos! If you would like to add your own reasons, please email me and I will add your thoughts to this page.

Like many J&M fans, I am hoping that some day we will find out that John is really Roman. Not so much because I'll die if it doesn't happen, but because it would be SO COOL! I don't need it, I don't live and breathe it, but wow, it would really be a fantastic story!

Not only "fans" want John to be Roman again, or miss John being Roman....

"That's the end of Roman Brady. It wasn't so much about what would happen to Drake Hogestyn, it was... I started realizing I have a lot of emotional investment in this character and I thought, 'There goes the relationship with Mom and Pop, Bo and Kim, and there go the kids.' I saw a lot of years of storytelling kind of go down the drain and how were they going to explain all of that?" -- Drake Hogestyn

Here are some fan's (some are not even J&M fans) reasons why they would love to see it too!

By 3Marlenas:

1) Drake was HIRED to play the character of Roman Brady, the soulmate of its most beloved character, Marlena Evans back in the day. When Drake was hired, Roman and Marlena were NBC's version of Luke and Laura. They were HUGE. Anyone with half a brain would realize that for DAYS to bring back its previous success with the R&M couple, they needed an actor who possessed incredible chemistry with its biggest star. (Deidre) Drake clearly fit the bill, and in my opinion, far surpassed his predecessor in the role.

2) Once Marlena was presumed dead, Drake continued on in the part of Roman. He won the hearts of so many as he played the part of a man grieving his own true love for over a year. During that time, Roman (played by Drake) really fleshed out the character in terms of his family dynamics. We saw his realtionship with his younger brother Bo-- in my opinion, the best brother relationship EVER portrayed on tv. We saw his relationship with his "Ma" and "Pop," and he played it so well, to this day I miss seeing those dynamics. He was awesome as the protective older brother to Kimberly and Kayla, and looking back at his stories from that timeframe, much of what Roman did was play protector. He was a single dad, raising Carrie, Sami and Eric, and no other actor who played Roman won our hearts in that respect. We never saw Wayne Northrup, or Josh Taylor playing Roman this way. My goodness, who couldn't help but fall in love with the Roman played by Drake? Pining away for his lost wife, raising three kids, looking out for his ma, pop, sisters and rebellious brother, and somehow holding it all together! Would WN or JT have played that role for so long and made so many of us care? Ummmm.. negative.

3)Drake NEEDS to play Peter Reckell's brother, and Drake NEEDS to play Ali Sweeney's dad. In spite of the fact that he was supposedly revealed as NOT Roman, Drake, Peter, and Ali all play their characters (despite their dialouge) as if they still think of Drake's John to be really Roman. Watch the subtilties by the actors, ignore the dialouge. Remember when Bo found out John and Hope "did it?" GROSS! Bo punched John, but Drake played it like he was more hurt by the fact that Bo was hurt than the punch. Peter played Bo's reaction as if he was betrayed by his own brother. I LOVED that! The dialouge sucked, but Peter and Drake rocked, and I could see they were considering the Roman/Bo thing.

Ali does it to, in her scenes with Drake. During Marlena's funeral, Drake (as John) opened his arms to hold her, and Sami's words were nasty, but Ali looked at him (Drake) and it was clear she wanted to let him comfort her.

I could go on, but in my mind, Drake will always be Roman, and SOMEDAY, we will get a writer with balls enough to make him Roman again.

By Kathleen:

I was just watching the 1986 wedding and honeymoon and thinking about if John was really Roman would be awesome! It would mean that soulmates truly end up together no matter what comes in the way and it would just make "Roman/John and Marlena's" love for each other just so much stronger, and for their love to even get stronger says something!

By Jules:

I was never a big "I want John to be Roman fan" until last summer when Sami started all her ranting about wanting to see her parents reunited. But now I have seen the light for other reasons:
1. The end of Shelle
2. No more Faux calling Marlena "Duck"
3. Sami eating crow big time
4. It would do nothing but add to the great love story between John and Marlena

The only problem I have is that I still want him to be called John.

By DLP:

I want John to be Roman because he'll finally be a man that doesn't have his history changed on a yearly basis.:>
He will be Roman and that's it. No more looking into his past storylines which always come up with different results. John will now be able to live in the present and future. He'll never feel like he's missing anything because even if he can't remember his childhood, he has a brother, sisters and parents that do remember for him. I know this will make John happy because there will be no more unknowns.
It will not change the relationship or history between John and Marlena because Marlena has loved him no matter what his name is. This time is no different. Everything that happened to them, still happened.
Finally, I want John to be Roman so Sami can eat crow.

By Josephine (kind of)

Jiggs....a VERY good case for John being Roman

Back when I was doing my "Make Drake Roman" Campaign, (long time ago LOL), I asked the same question you did and compiled a bunch of them. I was going through those old files the other day and found this one which was fantastic, IMO. Lots of history, and a few tidbits I didn't even know. This is at least 2 years old, and I don't even know the name of the person who sent it, but here it is:
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I've been watching Days for over 20 years. I really liked Roman the first time and wanted him brought back. I wanted Wayne back and read he wasn't coming back. As soon as I saw Drake a few days, I wanted him to be Roman. Make no mistake, whatever is said now, he was cast to be Roman. He screentested with Deidre, I remember Lynda Hirsch saying in her soap column, at the time, that he was going to be the new Roman. Deidre said at Celebreak 86 that Days cast him to be Roman. I do think that they wanted to gauge audience reaction, that's why he wasn't revealed right away. They dropped hints to see if the audience would accept him. If they didn''t, I do believe they would have changed the story. He was never meant to be a stranger. How many times did Victor or Petrov mention that the pawn had once been famous in Salem? Stefano was a red herring, he was never going to be Stefano.

Here is what Wayne's return in 1991 contradicted. Patch Johnson saw Roman's old face in a Miami hospital in 1985 right before the plastic surgery that now didn't happen. In 1988's story, who was Drew Donovon held captive with? According to him, it was with a guy who had Roman's old face. Roman/John finally remembered being with him. Let me guess, Stefano implanted this memory. Of course, only to be activated 2 1/2 years after he arrived in Salem. Yeah, right LOL. There are several times in that story where Stefano, alone in a room, calls him Roman. Who is he pretending for, there's no one in the room with him? Remember Stockholm in 1986. The story hinged on where Roman had hidden 25 billion dollars in treasury bonds. To give John this memory, Stefano knew where the bonds were. We're supposed to believe Stefano knew
where 25 billion dollars was hidden and didn't take it for himself.

The single most ridiculous premise we are currently supposed to operate under is that Stefano took a man who looked nothing like Roman Brady, with no memory except for a few snippets, and sent him to Salem to impersonate Roman Brady. It's laughable, but why shouldn't it be when the original intent was 180 degrees different, this was Roman and they didn't want anyone to know.

Since 1991, we've had one rewritten history after another for the character. Possibly the most absurd was 1994's no plastic surgery story. Hello!!! we saw Petrov tell a doctor to change this person's appearance entirely. We saw him walk around in bandages for months. Kristin tells him Danielle lied to him. In one of her first shows, Danielle and her assistant were talking. The assistant mentions thay this does not look like the man Danielle knew, he's only recognized because of the ring he's wearing. As if this isn't bad enough, HE WAS A PRIEST IN A TOWN RIGHT OUTSIDE SALEM. Imagine the parishoners surprise
upon going into Salem and seeing that their police commander looks just like one of the parish priests.

1992- was raised by some old guy named Buddy. Was a p.i. in Europe, apparently taken by Stefano then

1994- no plastic surgery, was a priest.

1995- identified as a priest by Satan during Marlena's possession.

1996- apparently taken by Stefano after he heard Rachel's confession

1998- Stefano has had Forrest Alamain since a young age, no specific number was mentioned. He's a fake priest who posed that way to steal valuable art.

2000-2001- he was a docter-mercenary-art thief with more to come, I'm sure.

Like I said, one rewritten history after another since 1991. To be clear, if he's not Roman Brady, I couldn't care less who he is. Since Stefano left, I hardly watch the show. Make John Roman again and not
only will I watch the show again, I'll start taping again. Again, I don't see it happening, but I'll sign any petition asking for it. Rant over, hope I didn't bore you.

By MistyCircle

 Why I want John to be Roman…And Fauxman to be an imposter, not a victim!

Well, I’ll start off by saying that I started watching Days and became a John and Marlena fan after the Possession, so obviously I missed out on the 2 Roman storyline or anything before I started watching. That being said, I always thought Fauxman was a fake. I remember when ‘Secret Room’ aired and they brought his ass "back" I thought: Come on, this is Stefano’s doing. No way this guy is Roman. And it has remained my opinion ever since. If/When this does happen, I do not want Fauxman to be a victim of any kind, I want him exposed as an imposter and as being in on it with Stefano.

I want John to be Roman is because I think the storyline potential would be explosive and I know Dee and Drake would play it to their best. If I had my personal preference, I’d make it Stefano’s doing. It would be his most vile and evil thing ever done to them. To torture them and have them go through so much as J/M and only to have them ome back full circle with John being Roman all along! Then we’d have to get into why Stefano did it, which is something I’m still working on, LOL!

I also want this to happen because of Sami. She has rejected John so many times for ‘daddy’ and has but herself in the mindframe that if she accepts anything from John, she’d be betraying Roman that I would like to see her reaction when she realizes she’s been pushing away her REAL father all this time and embracing an imposter. I think that storyline would rock and I LOVE to see Drake and Ali work together.

 By ghfan_1985

 Out of all the re-casts througout the years. Drake being Roman was one of the most successful and most welcomed by fans! Which is why I am not surprised that today is John is Roman day!!!

When John was first revealed as Roman Brady, I was very excited Drake had made his way from being the Pawn, to Roman!! Great acting portrayed by Drake. He really made me believe he was Roman!! TPTB and writers really ruined this character when they started changing it again...From Roman, to Priest, etc. I am sure you get my drift..But Drake still held on and kept the attention of the audience and his loyal fans.

Not many actors can do this IMO. I have been watching Josh Taylor portray Roman for quite sometime now and being a longtime viewer I just have not been able to get over the fact that Josh Taylor once portrayed Chris Kosicheck at the same time that Drake portrayed Roman???

I am in totally convinced that making John Roman again will not be confusing for me in any way shape or form, his relationship with his children: Sami, Eric and Carrie will be restored as well as his relationship with the entire Brady Family. And we will not have to worry about his relationship with Marlena...Because their love and loyalty towards one another has remained unscathed throughout this nightmare.

I am so happy that today is John is Roman Day!!!

Thank you Jiggs!!!

By danilea

 While I wouldn't call myself a John and Marlena fan, I still wish that they would find out that John is Roman. I enjoyed the storyline years ago when John (Roman) was all wrapped in the bandages etc etc and it finally came out that he was Roman. It makes perfect since that Marlena would have the affair with him 'cause John (Roman) was her 'real' husband. The dynamics that will go along with the realization such as the feelings between john (roman) and sami should be spectacular. For some reason, imo, it would just put everything back in place, in harmony. I would like for john to have a relationship with his brady family again.

By me, Jiggs:

My main reason for wanting John to be Roman is because I think it would make John VERY happy. He knows what it's like to lose everything, to live without a past - I've enjoyed that aspect of John. In fact, it is one of my favorite things about him. It is what fascinated me about the character of John when I first got hooked on J&M during Maison Blanche in 1994. I loved that John was nobody before he saw Marlena and fell in love with her and she gave him a life, a family, and she was everything to him, and the only person to make him whole. That will not change for me if we find out he's really Roman. I also loved RoJohn. In my opinion as long as Drake Hogestyn is playing the part, whether it's John or Roman, it's the same character.

I also think it would make Marlena happy, but I feel Marlena is like me and it doesn't really matter to her. She loves him no matter what his name is. But it would bring them full circle, and it would give John his family back. Give Bo his brother back. Give Kim and Kayla their big brother back. Give Shawn and Caroline their son back. Give Carrie, Eric, Sami their father back. And mostly it would give us some great John and Sami scenes!

What about Josh Taylor's "Roman" you ask? Isn't he Bo's brother? Sami's dad? Uhm, no not to me. He never will be either. The guy Kristen wheeled into the church is not Roman. He's simply another pawn, brainwashed to think he's Roman. Or else make him Chris Kositchek again, I don't care. I have to say thought that he would make a really good villain/imposter.

There are many holes in the story from 1997 when "Roman" came back to Salem. First of all, Kristen said that he called her. Now, why on earth would a sick, dying Roman call Kristen to come get him? Stefano was seen talking to someone on the phone before he showed up, telling them to do whatever had to be done to stop John and Marlena's wedding. When Roman died, Major Dodd came to Salem and told Marlena. He described how Roman died. I assume he SAW the body. The BODY was there in Salem, though nobody thought to look at it to make sure it was Roman, or else they did and that was never mentioned again. Shane Donovan told Marlena and John that Roman did indeed DIE. Roman was killed in the middle east, as described by Major Dodd. He was held hostage then executed. Fake Roman showed up in the Caribbean weeks later. How does that happen? Fake Roman showed up with bandages on his face. Why? He had some kind of virus, not burns. The ISA determined he was Roman from a finger print on a glass. There was no DNA test. Fingerprints can be manufactured.

I want John to be Roman again for several reasons, and one is that I want him back on the police force, working side by side with Abe again. I want him to wear that sexy gun holster again. I want him to have that office at the SPD again, not that slick office at Basic Black. When I think of John as the head of a fashion business I just feel sad. I can't think of anything John would hate doing more. And one way to get him out of there is to let him be Roman again!

My dream is to have an episode of Days begin with Marlena opening the door of her and Roman's old house and finding Roman (formerly John) greeting her, wearing his gun holster and a baseball cap, picking her up and throwing her on the couch and saying, "Welcome home, Mrs. Brady." Then lots of kissing of course!

By StyledSugar:

I want John to be Roman for one reason....Sami! I think the scenes would be fabulous if she found out that John was actually her father! Her dealing with the guilt of treating her real dad that way for so many years and watching them work out their problems and moving forward would be an excellent SL!!

By Dayswatchr:

OMG - so many reasons. Because he won't be a Dimera anymore. Because he will be rightfully restored as father to the children he raised - Sami, Eric and Carrie. I want John to be Roman because it rights a terrible wrong. Because it will end Smelle. Because Brady will be Brady Brady. He could take his rightful place back at the police station. But mostly because then we could have another wedding for him and Marlena - a final wedding where they can have the honeymoon they were robbed of so long ago.

Oh yeah I also want it because then Jo would get her name on the cover of a mag!

By kelmor

Daywatchr you just about summed it up for me. But I'll add that it erases Marlena's fauxlove for the Fauxman. It will kill any connection between Marlena and Fauxman and we won't be subjected to any more chemistryless (new word?) scenes between Marlena and Fauxman. I would also love to see the father/daughter bonding between John and Sami. All will be right in Salem when John is Roman.

By days53:

Because JT's Roman is tucking his Hawaiian shirt into his pleated khakis - He needs to be arrested by the Fashion Police. Where is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy when you need them? (He also wears his pants waaaaay to high!)

Seriously, JT needs to be Chris Kosichek and get together with Kate. They need a good lawyer in Salem since Edward Q. aka Mickey turned HEE HAW country and is getting way to close to Adrienne aka Bonnie.

Finally, I would like John to be Roman because it would make for awesome story for him and Sami! And he doesn't call Doc, "Duck"!

Dee & Drake and their DOOL character's have the makings of
THE GREATEST LOVE STORY OF ALL TIME, if John is Roman it just adds that much more flare.

I was once dead set on John being John, and not Roman. I thought that it would ruin J/M's history as so many fans have pointed out. I respect that opinion, I once shared it. What changed my mind? Well, let's see if I can explain.

Well, it all began with this storyline. When Marlena started blurting out obscenities aka "I love you Roman" I got pissed! I was sick and tired of the whole Roman/John/Marlena triangle. It worked fine during the affair, it was interesting, and emotionally poignant (even though I'm still pissed at Roman for treating Marlena horrifically and abandoning his family). But when Stefano decided to ruin J/M's wedding in 97 by dragging in "Roman" from the far reaches of the earth, I got pissed! WTH? I thought Roman sent letter's to J/M telling them how much he wanted them to get married? Then he shows up with Kritter from out of nowhere, trying to get together again with his precious "duck!" I was pissed! (are we seeing a trend here? Roman=me pissed!)

So now that we have established that I hate Roman, let's move on to more recent times. Well, I was SO HAPPY that Roman moved on with Kate, and although I hated Roman I actually began to like him with Kate. Then Marlena develops a random crush on him again??!!! I was pis... You know what I was.  Anyway, this is when I finally received tapes of RoJohn and Marlena from the 80's!!! Yay! And I was finally able to see the beauty of RoJohn and Marlena. I LOVED John as Roman. I have seen all of the Romans, and I like Drake's portrayal of him the best. So then I rethought things a bit and decided on this:

1) Roman didn't bother me pre-1991, when he returned a much more gruffer and "pity me I lost oh so many years of my life" (join the club bozo) "Roman." Even Wayne's 80's Roman was better than his 90's Roman.

2) It would be kick a$$ cool if John turned out to be Roman, what an awesome storyline would that be? It would explan SO much!!!

3) J/M's history wouldn't change, IMO their history would deepen!

4) I would NEVER have to deal with the Marlena/Roman/John triangle EVER again! Yippee!

5) Drake is an awesome Roman, and I want John to have a family again, it has always broken my heart to know all that he lost! AND I love his relationship with Sami! I want those two to be father and daughter so badly!!!

And finally, Roman would=me happy

I cannot accept the current imposter in that role...because I want Sami to eat crow for all the mean things she's said and done to John over the years...because I want to be able to see flashbacks to the first time he and Marlena met without having to worry about whose face is smack in the middle of the frame...because I want him to be part of a core family in the Bradys...because I loathe the stupidity of John and Tony being half brothers...because I want him to reclaim his old house so he and Marlena can finally move out of the penthouse...because I want him to go back to being a cop and give up the fashion business...because I want him to get back the children he raised in Carrie, Eric and Sami...and...because it would be the end of Smelle. :>

By Merri:

Among my reasons is the pure joy I'd experience at being able to watch Sami when she found out!!! For all the screaming she's done at J&M (more John of late), she deserves to have to eat crow and tell her "real Dad" and her Mom how sorry she is for railing at them so mercilessly ever since she spied on them in the conference room. I've envisioned it many a time and really want it to happen for "real" on my screen. :-)

Posted by JL:

This is admittedly an old post that I saved for such an occasion. LOL Days is so bad that I don't have the energy to form my thoughts anew.

You see. This is what happened.

Roman fell off the cliff. Roman wanted to bring down Stefano to keep his family from being hurt. The ISA gave him plastic surgery against his will.
He looked like this pawn that STefano had. His real name was Forrest Alamain.

Princess Gina had controlled Forrest Alamain AKA John Black all those years ago. There were never in love. RoJohn posed as a priest. He knew a lot about it because Caroline had taken him to church every week.

Stefano got him and stripped him of all his memories. He didn't know that John was Roman. John found his way back to Salem and fell in love with
Marlena AGAIN. She didn't know either. She fell in love with John. She was relieved that John wasn't Stefano.

Marlena dies in the plane crash.

Now Stefano comes back and finds out that his new pawn (theone who looks like his old pawn, the one controlled by Gina) is Roman. He has Marlena. He is trying to gether to fall in love with him. He used her child with Rojohn (the one she was pregnant with in theplane crash) to keep her under control.

Marlena eventually returns. She never fully believes that curly haired roman is the original Roman. John and Marlena eventually reunite. These false memories of mercenary John (controlled by PG and Stefano) are screwing with John's brain.