Who's your donor?

This past week, Chelsea turned out to be the lucky donor match. The only problem was that she was kicking back cocktails with Captain America rather than answering her cell phone.

It's strange. I sat down to write the article this week and I felt full. You know- achy, a little bloated, and overall tired. I can only deduce that my overstuffed feeling was due to all the filler that I was fed this week on Days. If you missed a show, don't worry. All you need to do is go watch Friday's episode and you'll get the gist of the whole week.

If the writers must string out storylines until the new writing material starts/ figure out where they as a team/ reevaluate decisions made by the interim writers (yep, still hoping Shelle is going to stay put), at least they did it with the great Kristain Alfonso and Peter Reckell. Most of the week centered on Bo and Hope and their respective stubbornness when it came to accepting the severity of Bo's illness.

BO: Lexie and Kayla discover that Dr. Dan has performed a radical new surgery- live donor liver transplant, a little fact that he failed to mention when he first came on board. Ok, I understand that radical transplant surgery is not usually your first move. But, I am puzzled as to why Dr. Dan acted so shocked when everyone jumped on this. It's like when a baseball team drafts the best home run hitter in baseball and then the player wonders why people always expect him to score runs. HELLO, Dr. Dan! You weren't brought to Salem just because you look good.

The other thing that bothered me is that if Bo is so sick, why was Dr Dan sipping cocktails at Chez Rouge last week? Why were Abe and Steve so insistent that Lexie and Kayla leave the hospital to "take a break"? If my best friend or brother was dying, you couldn't drag me away from the hospital until a donor was found.

Anyway, once the transfer cat is out of the bag, everyone starts getting tested. It was unclear who all was tested, but in the "Who's your donor?" game, Bo is a pretty fortunate contestant. Shawn, Chelsea, Roman, Phillip, Stephanie and Kimberly were the obvious blood choices. But then Hope, Steve, Max, Belle, and Marlena were the other ones who volunteered. Turns out that Chelsea is the lucky winner. The only problem is that she's kicking back cocktails with Captain America rather than answering her cell phone. Luckily Dr. Dan swoops in and carries and unconscious Chelsea to the hospital for a rush detox.

I am a big Chelsea defender, always have and always will be. But, this time I can not believe that she decided drinking would be a good idea. Not only was she a potential donor, but the fact that she put herself in the position to not get herself to the hospital at a moments notice is pretty pathetic. I'm also a little upset that Nick wasn't at the hospital with Chelsea, the whole time. Why was she even on her own? Between Stephanie, Nick, Max, or even Kate, someone should have been with Chelsea.

While all in all I felt that this storyline was a little forced (I just couldn't get into this storyline knowing well-and-good that Bo isn't going anywhere), the one part that tugged on my heart strings was when Ciara came to see her dad. It was great to see Ciara again (proof that Bo and Hope do remember the little Brady). Bo hasn't spent much time with Ciara and she represents a whole new chance at being a dad.

JOHN: For the first time, I didn't like nu-John this week. I think that the writers "jumped the shark" on this one. John is full-on DiMera, plotting to take over the Kiriakis shipping line. Granted, the idea of John becoming a DiMera is enticing. And, I know that Days is in a little bit of a desperate situation since the writers strike. BUT Drake is such a talent that I think the writers could have milked the conflict between part Brady and part DiMera a little more. For me, the beauty of John-bot was that he didn't know who he was, so he always took one minute at a time. Now he's plotting and researching to make plans for the future, and it's all on the DiMera side. I didn't like the scene between John and Victor. I thought it was all too forced, completely disrespectful of the Bo storyline, and a little rude towards Isabella (which I'm glad Marlena called him on!). I can accept John as an amnesiac. But, I can not accept John as a heartless jerk.

I did like the scene at the family dinner scene at the DiMera mansion. Marlena finally realized that her best bet would be to ease John back into holy matrimony, rather than shove pictures down his throat. We already saw "memory by force" when we watched Kayla deprogram Steve. In order to be original, the writers need to take a different approach. Plus, I still like the way that nu-John and "Blondie" interact.

STEVE: Steve came clean about Ava to Stephanie. Good for him. I'm actually glad that someone else is in on this secret. Stephanie is a very interesting choice. Considering that she and Ava are almost the same age (sorry, I couldn't resist), it will be interesting to see how they interact when they meet- which you know they will. My bet is that they will meet, but neither will know who the other is since Steph wasn't in Ireland and Ava doesn't even know who Steve's wife is (much less his daughter).

Back at the Vitali compound, George and Eddie try to tell Ava that she is after the wrong Mrs. Patch. They keep insisting that Hope isn't Steve's wife, but "the blonde one" is the real Mrs. Jonson. Ava doesn't believe them. She's still insisting on going after Hope. Good luck with that one, Ava!

We learned a little more about Ava's past. I was surprised when Eddie said that he wanted to help Ava because he felt sorry for her ever since she'd "been messed up in the head" Really? This is a recent revelation? She wasn't born with baked-in crazy? I wonder if the Patch situation made her crazy or if there is more to her sinister side. I hope that there is more because I adore Tamara Braun and would love to extend her stay in Salem.

MAX: I have to give my buddy Tony credit. He picked Max as the "swing and miss" character for last year. Well, it looked like Max was set on defending his title- until this week. I was super annoyed that the writers keep playing Cybil with Max's personality. If I didn't know better I would think that Darrin Brooks is following in Thaao's footsteps by playing two completely different roles- one a smooth ladies man and the other a Mr. psycho-crazy-pants. First, it seems like they are having Max play the "jealous" role with Nick. I don't get it. Strike one. Second, Max tries to explain that he needed a piece of paper to write down a number so he took on from Max's notebook. That just doesn't even make any sense. Strike two.

Finally, the writers take a good swing at a storyline. Max claims that he is having an identity crisis. He went from world renowned racecar driver to community service incest boy. Obviously that would cause any sane person some stress. I love that the writers are giving Max a storyline. Darrin Brooks has "leading man" written all over him and this storyline has potential. I love the idea of a 20-something having a mid-life crisis. The situation happens to so many people: a few years out of college (or in his case racecar driving) and all of a sudden, you're not where you'd thought you'd be, doing the job you thought you'd be doing, or dating the person that you thought you'd be dating. What do you do? Well, you kinda freak out a little bit. In soap land, that means dating your niece, abusing a corpse, and keeping your best bud from getting his research grant. This storyline validates a lot of Max's actions. But for the storyline to succeed, Max needs to have someone that he can talk to and confide in. If that has to be Stephanie, I guess it will be ok. But, I'm hoping that Max will take council with a family member or friend who has been through the same thing. I'm a little excited to see where this storyline goes. We'll see if Maxwell gets smart.

HOT Caroline telling Bo that he WILL go though with the transplant in that tone that only moms can project.

NOT Why wasn't Sami at the hospital? I sure that she couldn't have been a donor since she's (probably) still breast feeding the twins. But, are you telling me that she wouldn't want to be at the hospital? Not to mention that if Bo was in terrible danger, Carrie and Will would want to be tested too and Sami would have been the one to notify them. I get that the actors have schedules, but would it have hurt for Marlena to mention that she "talked to Sami on the phone"? Heck, even Kimberly got mentioned!

Random Thoughts Does anyone else thing that Dr. Dan looks A LOT like Shawn? Brandon Beemer and Shawn Christian look like they could be brothers. Of course, the casting could be on purpose. If Dan and Shawn look alike, could it be because they are both Kiriakis men? Maybe Victor isn't just Dan's godfather.....

I don't like how Max refers to the Bradys in the presence of Steph as "my family" instead of "our family". It was the same way that Steph always referred to big Shawn as "your dad" instead of "my grandpa" when talking to Max. Are the writers hoping that we'll just forget that they are related?

Well, that's it for this week's edition of Two Scoops. I'm off to take some Tums and sit with a heating pad to calm my bloated stomach. But, I'd like to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day and encourage you to raise a pint this week to our favorite Irish family- the Bradys. Cheers!

Happy viewing! Laurisa

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