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Truth, Be Told: John (Drake Hogestyn, r.) doesn’t appreciate being the last to know what Steve (Stephen Nichols) tells Marlena (Deidre Hall).
Steve comes to a dramatic decision that took a long time coming: He finally decides to ‘fess up and tell Marlena everything about his and John’s past in Greece; specifically, going to Aria on Victor’s orders years ago, which resulted in The Pawn possibly killing a young girl, Konstantin’s daughter, Catharina.
“Since Steve is unsure if John remembers what happened in Greece, he appeals to Marlena,” explains Stephen Nichols (Steve). “[He’s] hoping that she may be able to help John before he does something rash.”
Marlena’s stunned by the revelation. She knows John will never be able to forgive himself if he finds out that he may have killed someone. “Steve carries as much guilt or more concerning Catharina, since he was The Pawn’s handler and responsible for taking John to Greece,” says Nichols. “He wants to know what really happened, and if John really did pull the trigger.”
While Steve is opening up to Marlena, Konstantin is revealing the same horrific story to John — that as The Pawn, John shot and killed Konstantin’s beloved daughter. John is destroyed by the news and, later, returns home to find Steve with Marlena. Upon arriving, John can tell that Marlena knows the truth.
“The moment when John walks in and realizes that Steve knew what happened in Greece and kept it from him is loaded,” reports Nichols. “And even more so when John sees that Steve told Marlena before revealing it to him.”
Nichols admits that Steve’s decision to keep mum about this tragic event for decades weighs heavily on his and John’s trusted friendship. In fact, following this revelation, it may never be the same.
“Steve was walking a tightrope through all of this, vacillating between telling John [about Catharina’s death] and trying to protect him by keeping it a secret from him,” says Nichols, noting that now that John knows the truth, “Steve is aware that this may destroy the friendship.”
In fact, things between the two men start shifting immediately. “John begins to go silent around Steve, which hits Steve hard,” recounts Nichols.
