Abe and Bo sit down, where Abe “orders” Bo to go after the job. Bo is flattered that Abe thinks he’s the man for the job, but says he’s going to have go come up with another candidate.
Roman later summons Bo down to the station, informing him that Mayor Marino is about to announce Abe’s successor. Lexie arrives home just as Bo is leaving. She questions how Abe feels about someone about ready to take over his job. “It depends on who it is,” replies Abe.
Stefano reads to Johnny and Allie at the DiMera mansion. “Whatever happened to The Cat in the Hat?” questions John as he emerges. Stefano affirms that one must always challenge children. “Whatever you say, Grandpa,” remarks John. John summons Mary the housekeeper into the living room and asks her to take the “rugrats” to a less threatening environment. Stefano assumes that John came to provoke him and challenges him to get to it. John picks up a bottle of booze and states that everything Stefano had, he lost. Stefano laughs and notes how amusing John’s wasted arrogance is. John begins to get a little headache and suspects that it must be the company. Stefano offers to get him a few ibuprofens and looks at him with perplexity.
Stefano brings John some pills, but John knows better than to trust anything Stefano gives him. Stefano claims he was only trying to help. John states that there’s nothing left to discuss regarding the DiMera empire. “I win, you lose,” he affirms. Stefano begs to differ. John believes that any judge in the world would agree that everything DiMera belongs to him. Stefano laughs at the thought of John retaining power over all of his assets, referring to it as ridiculous. “What is mine, is mine, and always will be,” asserts Stefano. John reminds Stefano that he’s his half brother, emphasizing that the money to start DiMera Shipping came from Santo’s company. Stefano states that DiMera shipping is nothing compared to what he is worth today. John insists that half of everything Santo owned should’ve come to him, but it didn’t. Stefano warns John that he can still have him sent to prison. John mentions how he’s compelled to mention to the police what Stefano did to him. Stefano admits he’s pleased that John likes his new self better, as it makes him much more interesting. “Nothing like a little mutual blackmail to bring two brothers together,” remarks John, who implores Stefano to give up the empire. Stefano declares that this isn’t a little fight, but a major war. He vows to do whatever it takes to ensure that his family’s assets remain in the hands of the rightful owner.
John offers to have E.J. come in and draw up papers. Stefano says no attorneys, since there’s no agreement between them that can be reached. He questions why John wants to steal everything he has, pointing out that John’s already a wealthy man. John states that he likes fighting for what is rightfully his. Stefano reminds John that he created him, and he can destroy John as well. John gets another headache.
Stefano suggests that John lie down. John vows to take everything, right down to the last candlestick. He urges Stefano to start by signing over the house to him, which only elicits laughter from Stefano. “Any spider can build a new web,” remarks John. Stefano asserts that his grandchildren will live in his house, and one day the house will belong to them. John refers to Stefano as delusional, believing that his grandchildren will grow up to hate him just as much as his kids do now. Stefano predicts that the next generation of DiMeras will show him the respect he deserves. The men continue to argue about the DiMera empire, and John refuses to budge. John asserts that he’s taking everything Stefano possesses. Stefano laughs and sarcastically wishes him luck.
After John exits, Rolf emerges and Stefano insists that there can’t be any loose ends. Rolf alerts Stefano that John is entering a critical phase of his engineering, referring to it as “very precarious.” Rolf states that it’s only a matter of time before John’s data infrastructure will overload irrevocably. “Soon, it will be dead,” he previews.
Back inside the pub, Marlena thanks Anna for understanding. Marlena insists that she has to take care of herself, although she hates seeing John self-destruct. The ladies exchange hugs before Marlena leaves. Anna then phones John and insists that it’s time they had a nice long talk.
At the Carver residence, Abe gets off the phone and informs Lexie that Mayor Marino is announcing his replacement via a live news conference. Back at the police station, Mayor Marino asks Roman if he has any objections to his choice of police commissioner. Roman says not at all. The mayor admits he would’ve preferred Roman had taking the job, but thinks his new candidate will make a fine commissioner. Bo, Hope, and the press are at the station awaiting the mayor’s announcement. The mayor is broadcast on TV as Abe and Lexie watch from home. Abe fumes as the mayor implies that the city needs a commissioner who makes hard decisions in the more complex world, who is willing to fight for justice, and who is tough enough to deal with the criminals. “That’s why I have decided that Abraham Carver’s successor will be Hope Williams Brady,” he announces. Everyone claps as Bo and Hope look astonished. Lexie turns off the TV and assumes that Abe had something to do with this. Abe confirms that he offered it to Roman and Bo, but they didn’t go for it, so he made a call and suggested Hope, but she didn’t know. Lexie says he better pray that Hope accepts the job.
