Chile! Artificial intelligence is moving fast, and social media is struggling to keep up. But not Shaq! A recent courtside moment had timelines buzzing, jokes flying, and plenty of people fooled at first glance. That is until Shaquille O’Neal himself stepped in and reminded everyone that not everything you see online is real.

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Flirty Courtside Photos Spark Buzz—Until Shaq Shuts It Down

A 19-year-old woman set Threads buzzing after posting what appeared to be photos of herself sitting courtside next to Shaquille O’Neal. The images showed the NBA legend smiling beside her in one shot and leaning in close as if whispering something in her ear in another. She paired the post with a flirty caption, writing, “Got the opportunity to sit courtside with Shqq” followed by, “What do you think he was telling me?”

At first glance, plenty of people took the images at face value, speculating about what Shaq could’ve possibly been saying and joking about the unlikely courtside pairing. But the fun didn’t last long. Shaq himself hopped into the comments and immediately clocked the post as fake, responding bluntly: “Uh no u didn’t” and “Shaq has a beard dummy.” That one sentence was enough to send the internet spiraling back through the photos with a magnifying glass.

Fans Call Cap And Clock AI

Over in The Shade Room’s Instagram comment section, fans wasted no time clocking the situation. Some pointed out that the woman technically wrote “Shqq” and not “Shaq,” joking that she left herself a little wiggle room. But, others sounded off on how AI is getting scarily realistic and harder to spot by the day. Meanwhile, plenty applauded Shaq for speaking up and not letting the post slide, saying he shut it down before the internet could run too far with the mess.

One Instagram user @maggiewheeler_ said, “That’s scary 😭”

This Instagram user @gabanact added, “That’s why she said she was with Shqq 😂 read lol“

And Instagram user @sirestodance wrote, “She did exactly what she knew she needed, and it worked😂😂”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @kingali claimed, “That’s Shqq not SHAQ!“

Then Instagram user @_chokhilate said, “😂😂😂😂😭😭 I screamed so loud. He said stop lying rn“

While Instagram user @ shared, “When I get caught cheating im gonna blame its AI because this shi look realistic af 😩”

Finally, Instagram user @that.dee.girl commented, “He said IKYFL😂”

Shaq Stays Busy Debunking Viral Speculation

While the moment was good for laughs, it also highlights a growing issue celebrities are facing as AI technology becomes more advanced. For Shaq, the speculation just adds to a long list of moments he’s had to publicly shut down. Last year, he denied romance rumors after appearing in a photo from OnlyFans model Sophie Rain’s 21st birthday party. When speculation took off, Shaq didn’t mince words. He made it clear he doesn’t date that young and addressed the situation directly in since-deleted comments.

Before that, he also denied being the man in a viral NSFW photo circulating on Instagram and later shared by TMZ. The image showed a woman posing in front of a very large man with his face cropped out, leading many to assume it was Shaq based on his build. He quickly shut that down too, commenting under a repost, “Nope not the kid.”

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By Joshua Tyler
| Updated 25 seconds ago

The 1990s are now, in the minds of many, supplanting the 1950s as humanity’s golden age. The internet was still in its earliest form, the economy was booming, and so was American innovation and culture. 

In 1994, at the very center of that era was one blockbuster movie that the entire world rushed to fawn over. A supposed tale of optimism and high hopes, a recontextualizing of the path America had taken to reach a bright and shining future, as told through the lens of one very stupid man.

Or that’s what the film seemed to be. In reality, it may have been the first big step towards decline. Whether you knew it or not, while watching Forrest Gump, you were being screenwashed. 

Forrest Gump’s Philosophy Of Total Obedience

Forrest Gump begins with a feather floating on the breeze. It has no weight, no impact, and no agency. The feather goes wherever the wind blows it, without complaint, confident that it’ll all work out in the end.

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get out. Life is like a feather floating on the air. There’s no way of knowing which way the wind is blowing; all you can do is let it move you. 

There’s no way of knowing what you’re putting in your mouth, so just keep eating and accept whatever touches your tongue next.  

It’s a philosophy of total obedience and an abandonment of agency, a rejection of responsibility, and it’s something no normal human would ever agree to.  Which is why it’s easy to dismiss Forrest Gump as just a movie. 

To make that kind of insane message stick, you’d need to go far beyond a speech about a box of chocolates into a world of secret, weapons-grade psychological persuasion. So that’s exactly what Forrest Gump did. 

Let’s start this by saying Jenny is at the center of everything, but it’s not because she’s a secret villain, which is the standard edgy Forrest Gump take. She’s not a secret villain at all, she’s an open villain, but a villain made to serve a secret purpose.

Before I explain that, you need to understand the movie itself.

Forrest Gump Triggers Emotional Reactions To Make The Audience Suggestible

Forrest Gump is beautifully made and sold as a feel-good fable about kindness and decency. It’s so good at being emotional and at making the audience feel that it’s almost impossible to see what it’s doing through the tears. And that’s exactly why it works.

While training to be a hypnotist, most of my earliest lessons revolved around how to trigger someone into a suggestive state. One of the best and most effective ways is by creating an emotional reaction. Psychologists sometimes call this emotional priming. Emotional priming takes advantage of the fact that strong emotion impairs critical thinking and increases suggestibility. 

One of the most unique things about Forrest Gump is its structure. It’s not one, continuous narrative. Instead, it’s a series of short vignettes, set at different times in the life of Gump.

Each Vignette starts a story, and then ends with a swelling emotional scene. It’s timed so that as each new segment begins, the audience is in a strong emotional state created by the last one. 

We feel Forrest’s shame as he’s mocked for being dumb. Fear in the jungles of Vietnam. Unbearable grief at the death of his mother. With the audience constantly primed, Forrest Gump then uses that to deliver something insidious: a morality play where obedience is rewarded and independent thought is punished.

All of that is then wrapped in nostalgia and empathy so thick you’re not supposed to notice.

Forrest Gump As A Compliance Exercise

From the start, Forrest Gump is a rule follower, no matter how bad the rules are around him. The movie starts with Forrest relaying things his mother told him and explaining how he followed her instructions. 

The entire movie becomes a compliance exercise for Forrest Gump, a man who never questions anything, and a script that makes that work for the audience by portraying him as a person of limited intelligence. 

Of course, Forrest just complies; he’s not smart enough to do anything else. But why Forrest complies isn’t as important from a persuasion perspective as the fact that he does comply, and the movie gets viewers to cheer for his compliance. 

Forrest succeeds because he does exactly what he’s told. Not metaphorically. Literally.

Run, Forrest. He runs.
Join the army. He joins.
Play ping-pong. He plays.
Invest in shrimp. He invests.

Forrest never questions instructions from anyone. He never resists authority. He never evaluates outcomes. He doesn’t even really choose. He complies, and the universe showers him with rewards. Wealth. Fame. Love. Respect. A charmed life delivered one order at a time.

The film frames this as innocence. But structurally, it’s perfect obedience.

Obedience to his mother and Jenny. Obedience to the state that sends him to die in the jungle and then to play ping pong. Obedience is Forrest Gump’s entire life. He has no agency, and it’s celebrated.

One of the only moments where Forrest shows any agency is in a failed attempt to rescue Jenny, who he sees making out with a boy in a car and mistakenly thinks she’s being harmed. She yells at him, tells him he’s wrong.

So it’s right back to doing what he’s told. In that moment, after he apologizes and returns to compliance, Jenny rewards him by taking off her top.

Forrest Enters A Holding Pattern When There’s No One To Obey

When Forrest’s mother dies, and he runs out of people to obey, Forrest spends his time mowing lawns. Back and forth, back and forth, locked in a holding pattern while he waits for his next command.

When Jenny leaves him, that pattern repeats. Forrest starts running.  Back and forth, back and forth, awaiting his next instructions. Like a feather being blown about by the wind. 

Moral Laundering And Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump’s character is a textbook example of a persuasion technic call Moral Laundering. In Moral Laundering, an unpopular or contested idea is made more acceptable by attaching it to a trusted, heroic, or morally admired figure, allowing the figure’s perceived virtue to transfer onto the message.

Moral laundering alone wouldn’t be enough to screenwash an audience into viewing total compliance as optimal.  So the film provides a contrast to our obedient hero, using our old friend, Poisoning the Well.

Poisoning the Well is a concept we’ve talked a lot about on Screenwashed, and it’s the polar opposite of Moral Laundering.

In Poisoning the Well, you have a villain say something good, to make people think that the good thing is as villainous as the person saying it.

Both Moral Laundering and Poisoning the Well take advantage of moral asymmetry. 

Moral asymmetry is the tendency of humans to judge the same behavior as morally acceptable or unacceptable depending on who commits it, rather than on the behavior itself.

Forrest Gump is used to launder the idea that total obedience is an optimal behavior pattern, while another character poisons the well against thinking for yourself. Who’s the ultimate free thinker in Forrest Gump? Jenny.  

Jenny’s Refusal To Follow Rules Unlocks Forrest Gump’s True Intention

From the moment we meet Jenny, she refuses to obey and follow the crowd. Forrest is getting picked on by the kids around him. Jenny has none of it; she defies the bullies’ authority and befriends him.

Throughout the movie, Jenny questions. Jenny rebels. Jenny does the unexpected. When she faces abuse from an authority figure, she gets away from it. She rejects traditional paths. She challenges authority. She experiments with politics, sex, and culture. 

For that, the movie destroys her. It destroys her narratively by making her life a disaster, but it also destroys her in the eyes of the audience by making her a villain. It does that by having her express her independence through actions and ideas that most of the audience will find intolerable, and then turning her relationship with Forrest into one where she takes advantage of him.

The movie makes Jenny a villain on purpose, not accidentally, as some commentators seem to assume. Every time Jenny exercises agency, the film punishes her with escalating consequences: abuse, addiction, illness, and isolation. Her curiosity is framed as recklessness. Her defiance is reframed as self-harm. Her independence becomes pathology.

This is not subtle storytelling. It’s conditioning.

Jenny’s Suffering Only Ends When She Complies

The movie pretends Jenny’s suffering is the result of “bad choices,” but it carefully rigs the game so every choice outside obedience leads to pain. There is no version of Jenny’s life where thinking for herself works out. The audience is trained, scene by scene, to associate her autonomy with disaster.

Worst of all, Jenny is redeemed only when she stops rebelling.

She returns home. She settles down. She becomes quiet. Sick. Dependent. Her independence is stripped away, and only then is she allowed happiness. Only briefly, before she dies.

The message is unmistakable: a person who thinks for themselves must be broken before they can be accepted.

Forrest, meanwhile, never changes. He doesn’t grow. He doesn’t learn. He is rewarded precisely because he remains unchanged and never exercises any agency. He never thinks for himself. He always obeys.

This isn’t an accident. It’s a narrative machine built to make submission feel virtuous and independence feel dangerous.

Forrest Gump Wants You To Think You Have No Agency

In the movie’s final moments, Forrest tells the audience that there are only two possibilities to life: that everything is destiny or everything is random. Either possibility has the same commonality: you have no agency, you have no say in anything that happens to you. By the time the feather floats away, the audience has been trained to believe those two realities are the only possibilities, and that the best way through life is to follow orders, trust the system, and never ask why. 

Life is a box of chocolates, and Forrest Gump teaches you to sit back and let life put whatever it wants in your mouth. So you cheer for the person who never questions. You mourn the person who does. You walk away thinking that’s just how the world works and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Congratulations, obedient slaves, you’ve been screenwashed.

DDG knows how to keep the timeline talking, whether it’s from his tweets or his content. Earlier this week,  he sparked a new debate on X (formerly Twitter) after comparing this generation’s streamers to traditional celebrities. This led DJ Akademiks and former football star Chad Ochocinco to enter the chat.

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DDG Claims Streamers Are Richer Than Traditional Celebrities

On Monday, DDG took to X and dropped a post comparing streamers to celebrities. His message immediately sent the timeline into a frenzy, with commenters flooding the replies to share their thoughts.

streamers are richer & more influential than your traditional “celebrity”..

— DDG (@PontiacMadeDDG) February 2, 2026

 To top it off, DDG doubled down the next day, ruffling even more feathers when he tweeted, “Streamers make more money than 95% of the NFL.” As the debate continued, Chad Ochocinco reacted with a subtle side-eye. A commenter even shared alleged stats between him and Tom Brady, leading the streamer to respond, “dats ma lul homy.” Amid the noise, DDG also tweeted a picture of himself holding a stack of money with the caption, “my younger self would’ve never guessed..”

my younger self would’ve never guessed.. pic.twitter.com/8cLaFRbCoO

— DDG (@PontiacMadeDDG) February 5, 2026

DJ Akademiks Enters The Chat With His Own Stance

Following DDG’s debate, DJ Akademiks entered the chat with his own perspective. He argued that when people think of streamers, they often picture only the biggest names, even though the average streamer isn’t making nearly as much.

 He wrote, “When ppl think of streamers they think of Kai Cenat, Adin Ross or Speed. The average streamer isn’t them and won’t ever be them. The average streamer still has a job and streams on the side. It’s important to be factual because kids who aspire to b streamers now think it’s easy.”

Akademiks went on to compare average NFL salaries to what most streamers earn, stating, “The average NFL player salary is $3.5 mil. The average streamer salary is below minimum wage. If we talking averages we cannot compare an average streamer income to professional athletes… only .001% streamers do.”

He added that creators like “DDG, YourRAGE, xQc, Adin, Speed, Kai, Jynxzi, and Max are not just top streamers they are “.001% streamers,” far beyond what would be considered average. He closed by emphasizing that most full-time streamers aren’t earning massive incomes, writing, “Most full time streamers make less than a teacher’s salary. I’m telling u this. I know thousands of streamers most don’t make 100k a year.”

Social Media Weighs In On The Debate

Folks gathered under The Shade Room Teens comment section to weigh in on DDG’s messages. Some agreed with DJ Akademiks, noting that while top streamers are rich, they don’t compare financially to traditional celebrities. Others argued that streamers hold more cultural influence.

Instagram user @myakierra wrote, “I agree with Akademics on this one. I do believe streamers bringing in hella money. However, the top streamers definitely rich. don’t think all the streamers are tho lol”

Instagram user @blognae._ wrote, “I don’t like Akademics but this time I agree with him like DDG acting like he started as a streamer no he already had an audience from YouTube so of course he got the easy ride in the streaming world bit he is no where near richer than a lot of these real A List celebrities”

While Instagram user @nikkiallure wrote, “The fact he’s making us agree with Akademics is wild”

Instagram user @spoilme.lulu added, “let’s not act like DDG ain’t been doing ts since he was 14-15 yrs old. y’all some haters”

While Instagram user @paperchase00_ wrote,“DDG stay rage baiting y’all”

Instagram user @lolz.taay wrote, “More than Tom Brady??? Ion even watch sports and THIS is a elasta-girl stretch 😂😂😂😂😂

While Instagram user @freebandtmuney wrote, “DDG just wanted to be the topic today”

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Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Fallout.Fallout Season 2 ends on a high note and with the promise of new locations in its future, as the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) turns his eyes to Colorado. But the finale, “The Strip,” also hints at a famous location from the games in its post-credits scene. As Elder Cleric Quintus (Michael Cristofer) decides to become “the Destroyer” after failing to unite the Brotherhood of Steel, he opens the blueprints for a giant robot called Liberty Prime Alpha. That’s one of the coolest machines in the franchise, but Liberty Prime is located on the other side of the country, where Washington DC once stood. So, could Season 3 be headed to DC, too?

Liberty Prime Is One Of The Brotherhood Of Steel’s Main Weapons In ‘Fallout 3’

Image via Prime Video

While Season 2 was mostly based on Fallout: New Vegas, the finale’s nod to Liberty Prime hints at Fallout 3 probably being one of the main inspirations for a third season. That’s when Liberty Prime first shows up, when the Brotherhood of Steel faces a new faction called the Institute for control over the Capital Wasteland. The giant robot is 40 feet high, heavily armored, and carries one of the deadliest arsenals in the franchise, including nukes, which it throws around like grenades — not exactly the kind of tech you’d want to go up against.

Like many of Fallout‘s most dangerous creatures and machines, Liberty Prime was created before the Great War by the US government. It was supposed to be their main weapon against the Chinese on the Alaskan Front, but it was never deployed, since they could never figure out how to power it, as it required huge amounts of energy. The machine was developed in partnership with many private companies, including RobCo, owned by Robert House (Justin Theroux). Until the time came to use it, Liberty Prime was kept in the Pentagon for 200 years.

It’s important to point out, however, that Quintus’ blueprints are for Liberty Prime Alpha, which has never been mentioned in the Fallout games before the Season 2 finale. If it turns out to be an entirely separate model, then it isn’t unlikely that it remains hidden in DC. Its layout is apparently similar to the original Liberty Prime, but it wouldn’t carry the Alpha suffix for nothing, so it’s safe to assume that it is an improved version. Whether it’s more heavily armed or one with a fixed energy source remains to be seen, but if Quintus wants to put an end to the Brotherhood civil war, deploying such a weapon is definitely the way to go.

Capital Wasteland Is a Unique Location In The ‘Fallout’ Universe

If Quintus decides to take the Knights of San Fernando all the way to Capital Wasteland to search for Liberty Prime Alpha, they should be ready for a completely different environment than the Mojave and California. This territory encompasses parts of what used to be Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and, of course, Washington DC, as well as most of the Potomac Basin, and, shortly before the bombs were dropped, was heavily fortified to resist the blast. Most of it was also automated, so a few structures remain operational even centuries after the war. Ruined, but operational.

Capital Wasteland is also where Fallout 3 takes place, with the player (an individual referred to as the Lone Wanderer) being caught in a conflict between the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave. The main plot revolves around Project Purity, an attempt to purify the waters in the Potomac to provide the region with clean, drinkable water for the first time in centuries. Like in the best Fallout games, the ending is up to the player. There are multiple possibilities, which include choosing one of the factions and deciding whether Project Purity should be started or not. All this takes place 19 years before the beginning of the Fallout series.

The Original Liberty Prime Is Eventually Reassembled In Boston In ‘Fallout 4’

The Brotherhood of Steel civil war revolves around each chapter having more autonomy, or the Commonwealth having a stronger central control over the whole thing. The Commonwealth is the Brotherhood’s “main branch,” located in a territory of the same name in what used to be Massachusetts. This is important, because, if Liberty Prime Alpha is somehow connected to the original Liberty Prime, then that’s where it could be located, as well, since the latter is also featured in Fallout 4, set in the Commonwealth 10 years after Fallout 3, so Season 3 could also be headed to Boston.

Instead of the Enclave, the main antagonists in Fallout 4 are the Institute, a faction based on what remains of MIT that developed synths, androids that could easily pass for humans. They are similar to the Enclave, in the sense that they believe the surface and everyone who lives there is “impure,” hiding underground and using the synths to cleanse humanity and scavenge for them. To fight them, the Brotherhood reassembles the original Liberty Prime. Boston is the giant robot’s last known location, so it could play an important role in the Brotherhood civil war.

With Quintus now hellbent on becoming “the destroyer,” he will have to topple the Commonwealth if he really wants to control the whole Brotherhood, and this will inevitably lead him and the Knights of San Fernando across the country toward the East Coast. The big question now is how Liberty Prime Alpha connects to the original Liberty Prime, determining whether they’re headed to Capital Wasteland, or Boston. Either way, it will be fun to see locations from the games in the series again.

Fallout is available to stream on Prime Video.

If unbothered was a person, it would definitely be GloRilla. The Memphis rap star dropped fresh photos and videos on Instagram right after her sister Victoria Woods TMZ interview hit net.

RELATED: Sibling Smoke! GloRilla’s Sister Claps Back Interview & Appears To Call Cap On Rapper Gifting Their Dad A Car (VIDEO) 

GloRilla Brings Unbothered Energy Courtside As Family Tensions Trend

If you’ve been keeping up, then you already know GloRilla’s sister Victoria Woods aka Scar Face has been popping off online, saying Glo needs to do more for her family. Right in the middle of that, Glo basically popped out with some “feeling good, living better” energy, serving a serious look courtside at a recent basketball game. She dropped the photos on Thursday, Feb. 5, and the internet is eating it up! The pics show her rocking a cream button-down crop top with olive green cargo-style pants and glittery boots. The ‘TGIF’ raptress looked unfazed, smiling from ear to ear in the flicks and even captioning them with a trophy. Peep the photos and video of Glo below.

Social Media Weighs In On Glo’s Courtside Pop-Out

Meanwhile, folks in Glo’s comment section were feeling the vibes. Plenty of fans dropped fire and heart-eye emojis, while a few others chimed in on the family drama saying she’s handling it just fine.

Instagram user @pimpcthalabel wrote, “EXACTLY 🔥👏” 

Instagram user @hitthehoang wrote, “QUEEN OF MEMPHIS 👑🔥” 

While Instagram user @baddboo1 wrote, “My type of carrying on 😂” 

Then Instagram user @ombrebeautyco_society wrote, “STILL HER 🔥🔥🔥🔥” 

Another Instagram user @lmglowkey wrote, “Let’s Glooooo 🔥” 

Instagram user @allhustle_n0luck_ wrote, “Yeaaaaa Put it in her Face GLO 🔥” 

While another Instagram user @msmellymar wrote, “🔥🔥🙌🙌girl keep going you don’t owe no grown persons ish even if fam @glorillapimp.” 

Then another Instagram user @ariellejenkinsjr wrote, “Mind you they screaming at the phone in their living room and you courtside taking pictures enjoying the fruits of your labor I love this for you ❤️❤️🥰” 

Finally, Instagram user @briiii.4 wrote, “Glowing❤️❤️” 

So Where Does Glo & Her Sister Stand Now?

If you’re wondering where GloRilla and her sister stand, it doesn’t look like they patched things up yet. Scar Face recently sat down for TMZ video interview and kept calling out Glo for not helping out their family financially. Scar said the Jaguar Glo supposedly bought for their dad never happened and continued to highlight that their mom is still clocking in at FedEx. While talking to TMZ, Scar kept it real about what would ease her frustrations, she made it real clear that all she needs from Glo is $2500 from her and for each of her siblings.

RELATED: Here’s What GloRilla Has Previously Shared About Her Parents, Siblings, & Upbringing In Memphis (VIDEOS) 

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5.

The Pitt Season 2 may have had a slow start, but it was a purposeful way to show the calm before the storm. Instead, watching characters adjust became the focus, whether it be Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) preparing for his sabbatical, Dr. Baran Al-Hashmi (Sepideh Moafi) getting ready to take over as the new attending, or Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) returning after his stint in rehab. These characters clash, but will they have time to disagree now that things are picking up? In last week’s episode, the ER starts receiving an influx of patients from a nearby hospital that has shut down for a mysterious reason, so what’s in store for “The Pitt” now that Season 2’s shift has reached the fifth hour?

Health Insurance Woes Are Front and Center in ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 5

Episode 5, “11:00 AM,” begins with Debbie Cohen (Mara Klein), who has cellulitis of the foot spreading up her leg, being taken to Robby. It leads to the attending and Langdon being forced to speak to each other, with the former telling him that his patient has gotten worse. Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones) is asked if she wants to join Trauma 2, but she’s still overwhelmed with getting caught up with her charting, which she’s now doing via dictation. That doesn’t last long, as nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) sends her to see a new patient with help from James Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson).

Meanwhile, Orlando Diaz (William Guirola), the patient with diabetes and no health insurance wants to leave, but Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) gets him to stay while she finds case manager Noelle Hastings (Meta Golding) to talk about costs. As this is happening, Al-Hashimi observes the patient with the infection in Trauma 2. When Debbie gets on the phone with her boss, and he threatens to fire her, Robby takes the phone and threatens a lawsuit where he will testify on her behalf. With that, the anxious Debbie smiles and relaxes.

Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and Dr. Al-Hashimi give an update to Jada (Erin Croom), the sister of the unconscious man, Jackson (Zack Morris), who was tased, as Santos and Ogilvie get to work on their patient, a constipated elderly woman. Back in Trauma 2, Robby tries to leave Langdon to help a woman who hit her head, but Al-Hashmi and Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif) have got it handled, so he goes to an inmate who was assaulted, only for Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Mel King (Taylor Dearden) to jump in. Robby’s forced to return to Trauma 2, where the infection is spreading up Debbie’s leg, and the docs look worried. Robby tells Langdon it’s severe sepsis, and the returning doctor wants to know what else he can do, but Robby tells him he’s done enough and won’t even look at him. Langdon then checks on Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.) next, only to discover that Whitaker is already handling the prescription of his meds. When he tries to talk to Robby, he’s quickly rejected.

A Patient’s Infection Is Spreading Fast in ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 5

Santos focuses on her charts while Ogilvie treats a woman with a bad cough. Meanwhile, Cassie is caring for a woman who hit her head after having a seizure. She’s weak from cancer and getting hospice care. Meanwhile, Mr. Diaz is experiencing a different issue, and the best that Noelle can do is offer financial assistance, with the hospital covering 40% — but if his bill is over $100,000, that’s still a lot of money. Joy Kwon (Irene Choi) suggests admitting the man to a different and cheaper department, so Noelle says she’ll look into it. She finds a quick moment to talk to Robbie, telling him he’ll get the itch to return to the hospital in seven weeks, tops. She also tells Dana that she hopes Robby finds the peace he’s looking for.

Santos determines that the old woman with the cough Ogilvie is treating has tuberculosis. That means he’ll need shots and to mask up when he moves her. Langdon moves on to a young man who was purposely branded with dry ice before Al-Hashimi asks how he’s doing. Robby’s not going to be here, and she’s happy he’s back. Al-Hashimi then checks in on Mel and Dennis, who are treating the inmate with the broken jaw and ribs, before putting Mohan in charge. A prison guard is monitoring the man at all times, making sure he’s constantly cuffed, even though the doctors don’t like it. Dennis is worried that he overstepped with Langdon, but Mohan says it’s fine. Meanwhile, Debbie’s infection is getting worse, and her blood pressure and oxygen are dropping. Stepping out, Robby is upset to run into Langdon after telling him to leave, but Dana puts him in his place. Al-Hashimi asks Robby why he’s treating her like a resident by questioning her about patient status. He only wants to know how everyone is, he says, so she asks for the same consideration.

Related

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Gone in the TV world (for now), but never forgotten in our hearts.

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Louie’s Life Is in Danger at the End of ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 5

Image via HBO

A surgeon arrives to see Debbie, who has gone into septic shock. He’s only a med student, though, so Robby demands others come down now. As that situation gets worse, Al-Hashimi watches Dennis and Mel sew up the inmate, whose skin is so weak that the sutures won’t hold. In a quieter moment, Ogilvie asks Santos how she stays so calm. Meanwhile, in another room, Mr. Diaz is allowed to be transferred, although he won’t be getting the IV drip Mohan wants. He’ll be saving some money, but without the level of treatment he needs.

Cassie sets up the cancer patient with a morphine drip, which means she can go home, where an off-duty nurse is helping her with end-of-life care. The old woman with the impacted stool won’t be going home soon, though, and it’s up to Whitaker and to Ogilvie to unblock her rectum. It’s a gross job and nearly too much for the new guy, but someone’s gotta do it, even when the patient loses control of her bowels all over him.

That’s a quick, lighthearted moment before it’s back to Debbie, where Robby is now cutting open her leg to relieve the pressure. Al-Hashimi goes to Santos and suggests she use her AI idea for charting, but Robby disagrees. Saving time with charting only means more patients being seen without a pay increase. As the episode ends, Langdon checks up on Louie, only to find him unconscious and flatlining. He and Robby immediately begin chest compressions. Is the hospital’s most lovable patient going to make it?

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Release Date

January 9, 2025

Network

Max

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Showrunner

R. Scott Gemmill

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Directors

Amanda Marsalis

Writers

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Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa

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• 

  Noah Wyle

  Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch

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  Tracy Ifeachor

  Dr. Heather Collins

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Pros & Cons

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• We’re finally starting to see some interaction between Robby and Langdon.
• Debbie Cohen’s leg infection could be the ER’s scariest case yet.
• The Louie cliffhanger is a heartbreaker.

Days of Our Lives indicates Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash) could be very much alive and well. His mother, Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel), is definitely hiding something with regard to Stefan’s fate.

It seems like Gabi Hernandez’s (Cherie Jimenez) ex-husband could pop back up in Salem at some point.

Is Vivian Alamain Forging Stefan DiMera’s Death Documents on Days of Our Lives?

Vivian recently told Eli Grant (Lamon Archey) and Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) that her son Stefan died when his heart, which was transplanted from his identical twin Jake DiMera gave out late last year. At first, Vivian provided a photo of Stefan’s headstone in Alamainia, but that means nothing.

Vivian then provided a copy of Stefan’s death certificate, but she didn’t even file it until December 2025, two full months after Stefan supposedly died. That seems really fishy. Rafe and Eli think it’s dodgy, too.

Vivian is an expert at forging documents. Look at the mess she caused for Xander Cook (Paul Telfer) when she forged that letter from Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston) stating he wanted Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) to be his heir. That passed muster as well.

Because they were skeptical, while Rafe and Eli were doing their official business in Alamainia, they went ahead and had Stefan’s remains exhumed to get them DNA tested.

Shocking Housekeeper Testimony Reveals Stefan Was Held Captive on DOOL

While Rafe and Eli went to Alamainia to investigate the CCTV feed from the crypt, they are coming back to Salem with a lot more information than they anticipated. This week, they met up with the housekeeper that Vivian fired.

The FBI agents learned that Vivian was holding Stefan against his will up until the point that he supposedly died in captivity, which was a part they didn’t know anything about.

When Rafe and Eli first questioned the woman, they expected to hear that the man held captive in the house was Dimitri von Leuschner DiMera (Peter Porte). Vivian swore up and down that Dmitri had been an unwelcome house guest before she evicted him and sent him back to Salem without his belongings.

Instead, the housekeeper said she has no idea who Dmitri is. She told the agents that the only man she saw in the house being held was Stefan and that he was in good health. He was trying to stay fit in captivity and mentioned missing his wife.

Vivian Alamain’s Devious Plot to Separate Gabi Hernandez and Stefan DiMera on Days

The housekeeper said that was a year ago, roughly eight to ten months before he died. When Rafe and Eli told her that Stefan had passed away, the ex-housekeeper seemed shocked. According to her, Stefan hadn’t seemed sick while she was still working for Vivian.

Now Rafe knows that Stefan didn’t leave Salem willingly and he never wanted to divorce Gabi. He was taken from her and Vivian is the culprit. The audience knows that Stefan wanted to reconcile with Gabi and work on their marriage.

That’s when Vivian’s manservant, Ivan Marais (Ivan G’Vera), knocked Stefan out, stuffed him in the trunk of his car, and hijacked him off to Alamainia. Vivian wanted to control Stefan’s life and never approved of his marriage to Gabi.

Vivian probably wouldn’t accept that any woman was good enough for her son. We even saw Vivian forge Stefan’s signature on the divorce decree that she dropped off to Gabi before she left town.

Will Gabi Hernandez Abandon Philip Kiriakis for Stefan DiMera?

Now, over a year later, Gabi still thinks her ex-husband wanted to leave her and Salem far behind. She is currently grieving his supposed death. I can’t wait until Gabi learns that Stefan was held captive by his mom and actually wanted to be with her.

I do feel bad for Philip, though. He’s been really supportive of Gabi’s feelings about her late husband. Wait until Gabi finds out that she was cheated out of a future with Stefan; that is going to sting.

Gabi and Philip are also about to take a romantic Miami getaway. This news could put some strain on their budding relationship. I think Gabi would drop Philip like a hot rock and take Stefan back if he popped back up in Salem.

The Twin Switch: Could Jake DiMera Be in Stefan DiMera’s Grave?

The way Vivian was pulling faces when Eli and Rafe were questioning her makes me think she is still hiding something. I don’t really think Stefan is dead. I think he may be very much alive, and maybe Vivian shipped him off somewhere to hide him before Rafe and Eli showed up.

It would have been really risky for Vivian to keep Stefan at the estate while the FBI was searching the premises. Rafe and Eli should learn from the FBI lab that the DNA from the exhumed remains is a match for Stefan.

While that makes it look like he’s definitely dead, he had an identical twin brother, Jake, who is also dead and would be a DNA match as well. Vivian could have put Jake’s remains in Stefan’s coffin. I wonder if Rafe and Eli will think to check Jake’s grave, too.

Vivian Alamain and Peter Blake’s Master Plan for the DiMera Estate on Days of Our Lives

If Stefan really did die in October, then Vivian had no motive to work with Peter Blake (Jason Brooks) to orchestrate the DiMera kidnappings. It now seems pretty clear that Vivian was at least a partner in this crime, if not the mastermind.

Without Stefan being alive, Vivian wouldn’t participate because she wouldn’t have a chance to get hold of any of Stefano DiMera’s (Joseph Mascolo) estate. I suspect Vivian lied and said Stefan was dead so she and Peter could discuss divvying up the estate.

Then, Stefan could reappear alive and he and Peter could run the DiMera company together as two of the few DiMeras left if they had killed everyone else in the crypt as planned.

Days of Our Lives Spoilers: The Fallout of Stefan DiMera’s Return

At this point, there are so many red flags that we can say Stefan DiMera is probably alive. I’m going to give it a 98% probability. Plus, people rarely stay dead on Days of Our Lives.

Once Gabi and Philip commit to each other, that’s the perfect time for Stefan to make his escape from wherever Vivian has stashed him. He will likely run from his wicked mom and come back to Salem looking to reunite with Gabi.

If Stefan is alive, there’s going to be a whole lot of fallout. Philip could wind up being collateral damage, which would be ironic because he’s co-CEO of Titan specifically because of Vivian’s chicanery.

I expect a lot more twists and turns very soon because Rafe is pushing for answers. Once he’s back from Alamainia, Rafe is going to confirm to Gabi that Stefan is dead based on the DNA results. But those results could be accurate yet misleading if Jake’s remains were in that grave.