I totally agree that it’s a mile-stone for the actress, being with the show for 500,000 episodes, it is a huge mile-stone, but that’s for the actress, not the character. So is there a need to go there again, given as to what Johnny had set up on the rooftop of the hospital for his dying grandmother & yet have that happen again all because the actress had put in all of those episodes? It’s like the second possession story, there was no need for it, NONE, PERIOD. The reason why there was no need for it is because with the HELL that Marlena went through the first time around allowed Seth Burns to use it against her & allowed him to be justified in having Kayla to fire Marlena for it.
Then this: You don’t break the fourth wall all because the actress had put in that many episodes & show how long the character had been there, when it was the actress that did that, not the character.