Days of Our Lives fans will see Emily O’Brien as Theresa Donovan back on the soap next week, and despite some conflicting reports, it looks like she is returning first as Theresa Donovan (Emily O’Brien) and then later this summer as Gwen Rizczech (Emily O’Brien).

We’re going to dive into why Teresa’s back, how long she sticks around, and how she reacts to the huge baby mama drama in her son Tate Black‘s (Leo Howard) life.

Emily O’Brien’s Dual Role: Theresa Donovan’s Explosive Return to Days of Our Lives

So we’ve known since October that Emily O’Brien was coming back to Days. She popped on stage at Day of Days and pulled off her wig to reveal her natural hair color, and that was kind of confusing to fans. The big reveal was she’s back as both characters. If you remember when Emily took over the role of Theresa from outgoing Jen Lilley, they did that funky airport transition.

You know, Gwen left to get on a flight to Europe to go find the Von Leuschners and try and score a big payday off her cheating husband’s family. As she boarded one plane with dark hair, we saw Emily in her blonde wig transitioned into recast Theresa stepping off another plane, and that was it. Fans didn’t like it at all, at least not at first. Some still don’t. I think that she did okay in the role. You know, Emily is a talented soap vet, so that’s not surprising.

Then in August of last year, Theresa Donovan was sentenced to a reduced six-month prison sentence that her brother Andrew Donovan (Colton Little), negotiated for her. She had done fraud and forgery with Konstantin Meleounis (John Kapelos) to steal Xander Kiriakis‘s (Robert Scott Wilson) inheritance.

If you don’t recall, Theresa swapped one Alexander Kiriakis to the other by changing the letter that had been written by Fiona Cook (Serena Scott Thomas) to replace her name with Alex’s mom, Anjelica Devereaux (Judith Chapman). Theresa did it not only so her boyfriend Alex Kiriakis would inherit, her future fiancé, and that way she could help spend the money, but more importantly, Theresa hates Xander and didn’t want him to get his inheritance.

It Can Get Worse on DOOL

To make things worse, on top of the lies and forgery, if you remember, Theresa kidnapped baby Victoria on Konstantin’s orders, didn’t take the baby for long, but still. So there were a lot of criminal charges stacked up, and lucky for her, Konstantin is dead thanks to Xander, so he won’t be coming back for revenge.

It’s been a little more than six months since Theresa was packed off to prison, August of last year, and now she’s out. So we’ll get a glimpse of Theresa on Monday’s episode, March 10th, and also it is definitely Emily O’Brien as Theresa Donovan in the Day of Days promo, which covered action from late in the year all the way through about June of this year.

The other character return for Gwen Rizczech is not set to happen until July, so her presence in the Day of Days promo with the blonde wig seems to confirm that we’re getting Theresa next week despite some confusion and some conflicting reports.

Theresa’s Return: Family Reunions, Remorse, and Baby Mama Drama on Days of Our Lives

With Emily O’Brien back as her recast character, not her original character Gwen, what are we going to see Theresa doing? First and foremost, she’s going to want to see her family now that she’s out of Statesville prison, and second, she probably needs to express some remorse for her past deeds that got her put behind bars and visit some of her victims. So let’s dig into what to expect from Theresa, because things are going to get real really soon.

Number one, the top thing we need is for Tate Black to get a reunion with his mom. He hasn’t seen her in a while, and I do assume there have been off-screen prison visits. I would also assume that Theresa already knows that Tate got Sofia Choi (Rachel Boyd) pregnant, but she’s going to want to meet the girl, and Theresa may also have some things to say to Amy Choi about her road-blocking the teenagers’ effort to find somebody to adopt the baby.

Theresa probably is rooting for the adoption route so that her son Tate can attend college and follow his dreams, which is, you know, that’s what Sofia wants for them both as well. So we may see some Amy versus Theresa showdowns. As uptight as Amy is and how annoyed she was with the EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel), Gabi Hernandez (Cherie Jimenez), and Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu) drama, I’m guessing that her meeting Tate’s ex-drug addict, you know, fresh out of prison mom is going to be one more thing that rubs Amy the wrong way, but she seems to have that face like she’s always sucking on a lemon. She’s playing that role so well.

Rekindling Romance? Theresa’s Toxic History with Brady Black on Days

All right, number two, the next thing. Theresa’s going to spend time with her ex, Brady Black. If you remember, he was hurt when Theresa married Alex. And Tate accused his mom of jerking Brady around. She did care for Brady, but we saw Theresa chasing that big payday with Alex. And Theresa sent Brady deeper off the wagon.

That’s when he met Fiona. And that led to the DUI hit-and-run thing that paralyzed Sarah Horton (Linsey Godfrey). So, you know, Brady doesn’t have good memories of Theresa. He knows 100% they are toxic together. Still, she may try to rekindle something with Brady.

She likely won’t be happy to find out he’s involved with Ava Vitali (Tamara Braun). And she may try and wedge herself in there. You know, Theresa could argue that if Brady’s willing to date a former mob princess, what’s the big deal about her being a recent parolee?

Seeking Forgiveness: Theresa Owes Apologies to Alex, Maggie, Sarah, and Even Xander

Last, in addition to reconnecting with Tate and Brady, we should see Theresa making some apologies to those that she wronged. I think she’s going to be willing to make some apologies to some of the people she wronged. But maybe not all of them.

So, I can definitely see Alex Kiriakis (Robert Scott Wilson) getting a visit from Theresa. I don’t think she wants him back romantically. But she owes Alex a big “I’m sorry”. She lured him into falling for her. She did him dirty. And tried to ruin his relationship with his father, Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth). All very problematic.

Fortunately, he’s got the woman that he wants, Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein), in his arms. But Alex also may be facing an unplanned pregnancy plot just as Theresa’s heading back to Salem.

Let’s be real, when it comes to Theresa, she also owes apologies to Maggie Horton Kiriakis (Suzanne Rogers), to Sarah, and yes, even to Xander Cook. Theresa knew the dirty plans Konstantin was making. And that he was taking advantage of Maggie. Yet she never warned her. And Theresa snatched little Victoria, which terrified Sarah and Xander.

So, you know, even if Theresa is still hanging on to that grudge against Xander, that’s no excuse for running off with their kid. Come on, it’s not like Xander ever locked Theresa in a cage or anything like he did, you know, Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker).

The Future of Theresa: Tate-Centric Storylines and Brady’s Sanity on Days of Our Lives

I’m curious how long Theresa is going to stay. And if the focus of her return is what’s going on with Tate and this teen pregnancy. I feel like that’s probably what it’s going to be. It’ll be very Tate-centric. But hopefully, Brady will just stay well clear of her. Because after dealing with Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) and her obsessive crazy crush on him, the last thing he needs is a dose of Theresa’s crazy.

He should stick with Ava. Which is kind of funny and kind of stunning that she’s the sanest woman around him. But get ready Emily O’Brien is back on Monday as Theresa Donovan.