So long to the beloved and very unpredictable Victor Kiriakis: John Aniston’s final episode of Days of Our Lives aired today on Peacock.
Before Christmas, DOOL made the announcement that it would pay tribute to Aniston on December 26. Aniston is a veteran soap actor who is best known for his role as the crime boss on the soap for more than 30 years and for his personal life as the father of Jennifer Aniston.
He died on November 11 at age 89.
As was commonly the situation for his character, Aniston’s last scenes as Victor were loaded up with both resentment and lighthearted element. Victor threatened to throw the cute cad out “on your sugar plum ass” while pondering the idea that his nephew Sonny (Zach Tinker) invited his ex-husband Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) into the Kiriakis household for the holidays. After that, he reprimanded Leo for “wearing baby jam jams” throughout the house. They were actually holiday pajamas, but don’t tell Victor that.
In the end, Victor forgives Sonny for inviting the “man who blackmailed you into your marriage” and for selling compromising photos of him to tabloids in addition to drugging him. Victor allowed the baby jam-jam-wearing Leo to remain because he believed Sonny when he said that he and Leo were now friends. Even seasoned criminals can forget and forgive!
DOOL featured a montage of Aniston clips from the past, including scenes from his marriages (boy, were there a lot of them), some of his funniest moments, like a spit take, and a minute where his character thinks about a good life. “Old age has a way of softening you,” his characters says. “At the end of the day it’s family that counts.”
In the final image of the episode, Victor is seen sailing on his yacht with the name (what else?) Victor.
In 1985, Aniston joined Days of Our Lives. At the 2022 Daytime Emmys, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. His daughter Jennifer Aniston, son Alexander, and wife Sherry Rooney are still with him.
