THE SCOOP

“Guess who’s back in the house?” or should we be saying, “Guess who’s waking up?”

Next week on “Days of our Lives” will be a wild one when Vivian Alamain (Linda Dano) appears on the Tuesday, March 30 episode in scenes with Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk), and when Jan Spears wakes up from her months-long coma on Thursday, April 1, which means fans can look forward to seeing Heather Lindell back on the canvas as her character gets ready to stir up another round of drama for Shawn Brady (Brandon Beemer) and Belle Black (Martha Madison), along with John Black (Drake Hogestyn) and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall).

Jan’s return to the land of the alert also means we’ll be hearing from her doctor, played by “All My Children” alum Michael Lowry (ex-Jake Martin), who appears as Dr. Snyder beginning with the Friday, April 2 episode. He’ll appear in scenes with Shawn and Belle as the pair face-off with Jan, according to Soap Opera Digest which first reported Lowry’s casting. Meanwhile, look for Marlena to worry what Jan’s recovery might mean for John who literally had his hands around Jan’s throat before she slipped away to a long-term dream.

In an interview with Soap Opera Digest following her most recent exit last fall, Lindell said to the publication of her character, “Although she’s definitely had a one-track focus — and maybe she’ll continue to have that focus — I think that there are so many layers to her.” She added, “There are so many ways she could be written and so many things she could do and so much trouble she could stir, whether she decides to move on and become obsessed with someone else or whether she focuses her mania on someone else, which we saw her do a lot with Claire — manipulate Claire and start to develop that friendship, which I thought was really unique and interesting that they wrote that. I would love to kind of see where these writers, if they bring her back, decide to go with her because there’s a lot you could do with the character.”

Now that Jan is back, we are also wondering where the writers might go with the character. Hopefully, whatever does happen, we don’t end up with a whodunit considering Jan’s racking up plenty of enemies in the weeks ahead.

In addition to his role as Jake Martin on “AMC,” soap fans will remember Lowry as Les Sweeney on “As The World Turns,” Dr. Hillman on “The Bold and the Beautiful” and Ross Rayburn on “One Life to Live.” He most recently appeared as Jordan Bradford on “Tainted Dreams,” the digital drama series created and executive produced by “DAYS” director Sonia Blangiardo. He also played Kenneth Devine on the fourth season of ABC’s “Nashville.”