Body and Soul Possessions: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of January 13, 2025

Let's face it. Days of our Lives' parody of a soap has now turned into a parody of this soap. While we know that the Body and Soul connection will be coming to an end soon and more heart and soul stories will begin again, we have to sit through what looks like it will be the series finale of Abe and Kate's favorite daytime drama. And it can't come soon enough.

One soap at a time, please...

Introducing a soap produced in a fictional soap town is not a novel idea, but since it has never worked before, we are not sure why anyone thought it would work now. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, One Life to Live gave us Fraternity Row, complete with its own soap award show known as the Daisies. Toward the end of OLTL's run, Fraternity Row returned, but the plot bombed. More than a decade later, the soap-within-a-soap concept is fairing just as well (meaning, not well) in Salem.

Just the idea that a soap would be produced in this sleepy little town in a loft studio and a real hospital is absurd, never mind the fact that some of the characters look like Salem residents. Watching top cop turned mayor Abe Carver is also painful to see and completely out of character. We understand how Abe became a soap fan, but that still doesn't excuse what we have had to endure for the last half a year.

Leo creates his own soap

Leo might be Body and Soul's top scribe (and apparently, its only scribe), but he went about creating more drama behind the scenes this week than on-screen. At least Marlena was there to talk him down from the ledge, and he didn't even mistake her for Hattie.

However, the cringe moments came when Leo and Marlena laid their trap for Kerry while he leaked a fake plot to the covert Lady Whistleblower. Seeing anyone talk about devil possession like it's your everyday, run-of-the-mill occurrence in middle America is more bizarre than half the characters in Salem being possessed by the devil two years ago. Marlena, the original Satan of Salem, expressed a twinge of embarrassment when Leo brought it up but then allowed him to tell her story like it was an old tale everyone laughs about now.

As soon as Leo saw his possession plot make it into Lady Whistleblower's column, he barged right in to confront Kerry and Javi while they were enjoying a few afterglow moments in bed. Begrudgingly, we have to admit that we look forward to his Monday rant. We understand that Leo might not be everyone's cup of tea, but he keeps this writer in stitches. It's just too bad he is involved with a storyline that has gone over like a lead balloon with fans.

Soaps will sometimes offer bottle episodes that are tongue-in-cheek parodies of the actual soap, but to have an entire umbrella parody plot that lasts for months just turns DAYS into a parody of itself. Thankfully, other stories are heating up as the Body and Soul arc looks like it's going to reach a dramatic conclusion over the next few weeks.

What is Sarah thinking?

Did you not want to scream at Sarah this week? We know we wanted to scream at Sarah. The same way that Sarah screamed at Philip — and then gave in. How could Sarah not tell Xander that his brother has essentially swindled him out of his half of Titan? Knowing that Philip forged that letter from Victor was enough for Stephanie to promptly end her relationship with Philip, but it wasn't enough for Sarah to tell her own husband the truth.

When Sarah walked into the Kiriakis living room, it was clear that Philip's sob story and crocodile tears had gotten to her. When Xander told Sarah that he had made a promise to Maggie to get along with his brother, that should have been the kicker for Sarah, but it had the opposite effect. Rather than letting Xander know he made a promise under false pretenses, she didn't bother telling him what she knew.

We admit we enjoyed seeing Philip and Xander's genuine bonding over a Sweet Bits croissant, but we also know this won't last long. When Xander learns what Philip has done, he will surely come after him with a baseball bat or worse. Maybe that's what Sarah is really afraid of, but wouldn't it be better to get that over with now? The truth is going to come out eventually, so Sarah may as well let the chips fall where they may. It will be all worth it if Vivian makes a return appearance for the fallout from this plot. Maybe she can tell us where Stefan is...

Jada's detective skills are...lacking

Jada had no idea where Rafe was. So, Shawn had to gently point the police commissioner in the right direction. If Rafe is on a case, why not check with his boss, Steve Johnson? "Great idea!" Jada replied. Really, Jada? You could not have thought to do this on your own?

When she barreled into the DiMera mansion to confront EJ and found Fake Rafe (aka Arnold), she didn't find anything strange about his behavior at all. Since when is Rafe so cheerful? Since when does he call her pet names? Does Jada know she's in Salem yet, and doppelgangers are a dime a dozen? Of course not. Perhaps Jada should look for a new line of work.

We like them, we really like them

Few soap men fall in love the way Brady Black falls in love (although The Bold and the Beautiful's Carter Walton comes to mind), which means he has a new love interest every year. Yay for Brady! Retread romances with Chloe and Theresa didn't work out, but somehow Brady has found Ava. Poor Ava thought she had met the man of her dreams, but he had to skedaddle out of Salem and over to Port Charles to become a hitman and find his family again. With Harris gone and Theresa in jail, Brady and Ava were ripe for each other.

What we love about Brady and Ava is they are real. They enjoy bad movies, good takeout, and an evening on the couch. What could be better? They are too lonely people who haven't had much luck with love in the past, but maybe something can work for them this time. Then again, Brady comes with his fair share of baggage and drama, and they live in the DiMera mansion.

A chip off the old bad mama block

Kristen wants to be a good mother. She really does. But she is Kristen DiMera and has spent so many years scheming and manipulating that there was no way her ways weren't going to rub off on her wayward child. Rachel has made it her mission in life to make sure her father is alone because surely he will want her mother again.

Kristen and Brady will spend the week worrying about a child who takes ride-shares to visit her mom in prison. For some reason, we think Runaway Rachel can take care of herself. We are just going to have to hear Kristen shrieking before she figures that out.

The teen scene

So, just how old is Doug III that he is the new love interest of a high school senior? He definitely appears to be over 21, and this is definitely kinda weird. However, we see the chemistry between Holly and Doug that we just don't see with Holly and Tate. Is DAYS about to cut their losses with this pairing and move on to something new?

While Tate is preoccupied with Sophia's pregnancy, Holly is ripe for a new love interest. Maybe Holly will suddenly be in college with no explanation by February, so we don't wonder about the age difference. It's not like soaps haven't done something like this before. If Aaron can graduate high school a semester early, why can't Holly?

The Cat chat

With Aaron no longer in high school, he can stay with his mom in Vancouver and Cat can stay in Salem with her sister in their family home. How odd that Cat has had a family home in Salem all this time, but we never met her before she suddenly had a new face and was impersonating Abigail, someone whose murder we're sure she would have heard about if she was a longtime Salemite.

Can Leo write a better backstory? Oh wait, he's Body and Soul's head writer. Wrong soap. Till next week, DAYS fans.

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock.