Days Of Our Lives: Marlena Evans’ 8 Most Ridiculous Storylines

Days of Our Lives (DOOL) character Marlena Evans is undeniably one of the most iconic soap opera roles in recent decades. She entered the world of Salem in 1976, and has become a staple on the show since. Played by the incredibly talented Deidre Hall, Evans has had a roller coaster of a ride over the past four decades. She’s had some good times, bad times, and definitely some crazy times. As such, below are eight ridiculous storylines that involve DOOL’s Marlena Evans.

8. Thought John Black Was Roman Brady

Mistaken identities can be the norm on soap operas, but when fans really stop to think about it, this idea is utterly ridiculous. Marlena’s husband, Roman Brady, was presumed dead in 1984. In 1986 John Black strolled into town and after some time, all arrows pointed towards the idea that he was in fact Roman. Years later the real Roman returned and exposed the fact that the other Roman was really John Black. It is utterly mind-blowing to think that a wife could falsely identify her husband, and spend years living a life and raising a family with another man.

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7. Her Daughter Was Almost Sold On The Black Market

Back in the early 1990s when the real Roman returned, Marlena had conflicting feelings. Did she love Roman? Did she love John? She ended up sticking it out with Roman due to the ordeal he’d been through getting back to her and her prior commitment to him. But passion and feelings got in the way and Marlena had an affair with John while still married to Roman which resulted in a bouncing baby girl named Belle. She was cute, adorable, but also a constant reminder of her mother’s affair for her villainess sister Sami, who quickly tried to sell Belle on the black market. Thankfully, John was able to stop it all in the nick of time.

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6. Came Back From The Dead

Marlena not only had two husbands who miraculously came back from the dead (that being Roman Brady and John Black at one point), she too escaped death back in the late eighties and early nineties. Evans was presumed dead when she boarded an airplane that exploded in the sky. She would come back five years later and return to Salem without skipping a beat!

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5. Surrogate For Genetically-Engineered Babies

While Marlena was considered dead for those few years, turns out she was in a coma. One ridiculous storyline that hits this list is what she did those years while she was held captive by Stefano DiMera. When twins Rex and Cassie hit the Salem scene, they were thought to be the offspring of Tony DiMera and Marlena, conceived during the time she was away. As the storyline wore on, it turned out Marlena was simply the surrogate mother of the twins, with the bio parents being Roman and Kate Roberts. Just crazy!

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4. Hysterical Amnesia

In the mid-2000s, Marlena discovered she was pregnant! Sure, she would’ve been in her mid-50s at that point in time, but that isn’t the most ridiculous part of this storyline, as it is still plausible for these things to happen at that age. Marlena would fall down a flight of stairs and lose the baby, waking up later with a condition known as hysterical amnesia, where she suddenly lost a big chunk of her memories. Who knew a fall of this sorts could cause such a condition?

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3. Another Husband

So, after her amnesia, friend and fellow doctor Lexie Carver reached out to a world-renowned amnesia specialist, Dr. Alex North, who also happened to be Marlena’s first husband. In typical Evans’ style, he was presumed dead all these years, but turned out he was very much alive! This not only meant that Marlena resurrected yet another husband from the dead, but that all of her marriages that had occurred after North (all those years ago) were invalid, including the current one she was in with John.

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2. Serial Killer

Most DOOL fans are familiar with the ridiculous Melaswen Island storyline of the early 2000s, where a huge chunk of the show’s most beloved characters were axed off by a serial killer. Days’ audiences were on the edge of their seats! Who would do such a thing? Turned out it was a brainwashed Marlena Evans killing off her friends and neighbors. In the end, everyone turned out to be alive and living on an island, courtesy of Stefano DiMera. Still not sure what was more ridiculous — Evans as a killer or the fact that DiMera was somehow able to pull off taking presumed dead Salemites onto an island and holding them captive?

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1. Possession

This storyline hits the number one spot and has received a lot of attention over the years. In the mid-90s, Marlena was possessed by the Devil and committed some crazy and heinous acts. Things seemed grim for Evans, but thanks to God and John, who also happened to be a priest in a former life, Marlena’s soul was saved in the end when Black performed an exorcism.