Salem prepared to say goodbye to John Black.

John Black’s family and friends gathered to say goodbye to the grandfather, father, husband, friend, and hero. A nervous Eric will officiate the ceremony. In the Monday, June 9 episode of Days of Our Lives, the memories of John flowed. So did a couple of interesting developments and conversations.

Goodbyes and Arrivals

Shane (Charles Shaughnessy) returned for John’s funeral and he had a touching reunion with Marlena (Deidre Hall). It was great to see him, although it would have been nice to see Kimberly (Patsy Pease), too.

Other than that, there were great photos of John on display, and Steve (Stephen Nichols) brought over some mementos that would help his friends and family feel his presence there. Rachel (Alice Halsey) talked about going to a Cubs game with her grandpa.

Eric (Greg Vaughan) reflected on how important John was to him, especially when he was growing up. With Roman (Josh Taylor), he remembered how John was the only parent there for him for a while. Meanwhile, Abe (James Reynolds) said John helped make him a better man.

There were also flower arrangements from Sami (Alison Sweeney) and Sydney, Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel), and John’s father, Timothy Robicheaux (Dick Van Dyke), who couldn’t be at the service because he had just had hip surgery. Everybody basked in the memories of the joy John brought to their lives.

The Sami Conversation

That is when there weren’t other types of conversations going on. Take Carrie (Christie Clark) and Belle (Martha Madison), who talked about Sami. They both sounded a bit relieved that she won’t be at the funeral. Family dynamics, right? The EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) topic, of course, came up. And while Carrie was glad that Sami got to feel the burn of having a sister involved with her ex, she did wonder if Belle really thought that her thing with EJ could go anywhere.

One of the episode’s biggest developments was Steve’s decision to shut down the Black Patch Detective Agency. Without John, Steve decided to retire as a private investigator. Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) wondered how he’d stay busy, and her husband gave her a few options, including learning how to play the guitar.

We don’t want to think of a Salem world without Black Patch, but Steve will undoubtedly stumble upon a case or two (or more) while retired. He won’t just be playing the harmonica in the park.

Another curious development involved Cat. When she saw Shane at the service, she called him “Director” and kept walking. Is Cat Greene an ISA agent or part of the ISA somehow? Is that the reason for the mysterious call and her whole general cloak of mystery? This all feels very strange. We hope we learn more about the Cat and Shane of it all sooner rather than later.

What do you think about the end of Black Patch? And what in the world is going on with Cat? Let us know your thoughts about this emotional episode in the comments.