Ali Sweeney’s Time Frame?

will we be subjected to the Susan/EJ SL? ITA, what on earth was the point of this if Sami is no longer involved? If James wasn’t to return in the role, this was just a huge mistake. Unless it gets picked up later on when Ali might come back for another stint. Days has already laid the groundwork that EJ will not look like himself.
My total disappointment is lack of payoff in these SLs.