Salem's lot

Sami found herself being shot at, and ultimately decided to enter the witness protection program. This detour has provided some fantastic, fresh material for Alison Sweeney to work with!

Whereas Halloween is still a few days away, Salem sure had its share of tricks and treats last week! E.J. treated Sami to a second shot at life by saving her from the snipers bullet, while Little Johnny took aim at her belly and blurted out her "big" secret. Melanie came face to face with Trent, the Unfriendly Ghost, was tricked into a confession by Philip, and then found herself in the middle of a horror movie. Philip treated Dr. Dan to a punch in the face! Plus, Kate got some pretty scary news. Let's turn out the lights, turn on Thriller and talk about all the goulash action!

Mayor Marino and Mrs. Hide (Sami & Company)

Awe, cute little Johnny spilled mommy's baby beans - whoops! I can't wait to see how Sami explains this one. Then again, E.J. should totally buy any excuse she gives him because she doesn't look pregnant - at all! It's not like she's a little heavier or has been wearing bulky clothes. Right.

Ok, so Sami found herself being shot at and ultimately decided to enter the witness protection program. I'm all for this storyline detour! If it removes her further from the stale "Ejamicole" nonsense great, fantastic, I'm buying that t-shirt!

This "detour" also provided some fantastic, fresh material for Alison Sweeney to work with! Her goodbye scenes with the twins were heart wrenching - actually all of her scenes were amazingly well acted and moving. It was so nice to see a talented actress get some new dialogue to work with ...yes, that was a not-so-subtle hint to the writers.

In general, I was a little worried last week as I didn't think there'd be enough room in Salem for two whodunits, but I was wrong! I actually found myself more into the mayor's mysterious murder than Trent's! For starters - its utilizing a larger portion of the cast including the veterans! Sure, Bo and Hope have their hand in the Robbins' case, but its basically been a showcase for the twentysomething crowd. They're entertaining in moderation, but I'll take Tony, Stefano, Lexie and the rest of the vets any day!

Speaking of the DiMera Familia, Rene Jones and Joseph Mascolo were also amazing last week! Their scenes together nearly stole the show. When she sarcastically asked Stefano if he'd been hitting the self help books I totally cracked up! These two need to face off more - it was intense, it was funny ... it was downright entertaining! More please!

The outcome to those scenes were Stefano claiming his innocence, yet Lexie still feeling guilty about her request that the Phoenix put an end to the mayor's smear campaign. Oh, it was ended alright! But the questions is - who really put an end to it? Was it the big, bad Phoenix or someone else with a killer political agenda? Hmm ...

Fakenstein (Nicole)

I nearly choked when Dr. Dan described Nicole as "young and healthy!" Young and thin? Yes. Young and pretty? Yes. Young and healthy? That's debatable. Just a few weeks ago she was experiencing the D.T.'s, therefore I'd think her "miracle" pregnancy should be considered a little high risk. Seriously, if you rang out the woman's liver you could make a top shelf martini. Yet, Dr. Dan doesn't seem to concur. Moving on ...

First Ms. Miracle Mama faked some baby concerns to get E.J. to pay attention to her then she actually had some real distress, yet didn't want to tell him about it. Way to take that previously mentioned high road and not use the baby to land E.J., Ms. Walker. Ugh. That made no sense at all. If I were having a "miracle" baby, I'd be at the doctors every five minutes. Well, I guess if I was having a baby it really would be a miracle and I'd end up in the Guinness Book of World Records and probably on Oprah, but you know what I mean - I'd be concerned. Alas, Nicole's main concerns seem to be obsessing over E.J. and Sami bashing. I have a feeling if she has a boy she'll name him "Please Love Me E.J." and if it's a girl - "Damn You Sami." At least that way she'll never forget it's name.

The Grandmummy (Kate, Dr. Dan & Chelsea)

This section was hard to Scoop as I'm not really sure how to juggle the seriousness of a cancer storyline and the messy triangle they've created with Kate, Dr. Dan and Chelsea. Ironically, I'm not sure the writers know how to do that either. I've mentioned before that I had concerns about how Kate's illness would be handled and, after last week, some of those fears were validated. To make it easier, let's break this up into two parts, the stupid and the serious. Let's start with the stupid.

Kate's "adult decision" to sleep with Dr. Dan again seemed pretty immature if you ask me. That excuse was kind of like a kid in trouble grasping at straws ... "But Mom! You said I couldn't play with matches anymore, you never said anything about lighters!" Like playing with fire, sleeping with your granddaughter's ex is sure to burn someone!

Granted, Chelsea does have a few life lessons to learn and doesn't always act maturely either, but having to deal with your grandma sleeping with the man you loved, despite being broken up, would be a hard pill to swallow for anyone. Simply, it's just all shades of ewe. Had Kate been, I don't know, honest with Chelsea before she decided to pursue things with Dr. Feel Good and told her what her intentions were it might have softened the blow a bit and actually been a real mature decision.

Now, for the serious ... sadly, Kate was diagnosed with carcinomas metastasis. Not good. Whereas I have a great deal of sympathy for her, the big red flag for me was the actual reveal of her diagnosis. It seemed more like a plot device for Kate to stick her tongue out at Chelsea and say, "Now don't you feel bad" rather than a life changing revelation. Again, not good. Cancer isn't a subject that should be used so flippantly and I remain worried about where this storyline is going. Also, buy choosing that direction, it took away from the seriousness of her disease and robbed viewers of Kate's reaction - this shouldn't be about Chelsea's guilt, it should be about Kate's health. I hope that the writers remember that before digging an insensitive hole they can't climb out of.

Count Dimpula (Philip)

On a lighter note, Ole' Dimples managed to make his rounds last week. Actually, he fought a round with Dr. Dan! I found a little guilty pleasure in that. Not the good doctor getting a good punch part, necessarily, but the fact the writers gave us credit and realized, yeah, Kate and Dr. Dan's little afternoon delight wasn't so well hidden ... makes sense that they were seen. Yep, it does.

On the down size, Philip's "meddling in people's love lives" Robert's gene is definitely showing again. Aside from cunningness and a strong will, Kate seemed passed that along to her son as well. Yet, how much can you fault a guy for defending his mother's honor against a guy with a track record of dating sick women? Sure he overreacted, but it came from a good place, right? Kinda. Maybe. Anyway ...

Phil then moved his attention to Ms. Mel after being tipped off by Stephanie. Sure he managed to get her to confess about the wallet, yet I'm a little concerned about him making it to first base with minor. I could totally see Mel making a mountain out of a make out and telling Bo that Philip came on to her just to score some sympathy points, cause a little trouble and possibly score some change from the Kiriakis trust fund. I think he's safe, however, as her age hasn't been brought up in a while so, unless the writers are waiting to use that trump card later, he should be in the clear!

The Phantom of the Pub (Mel & Trent's Murder Mystery)

Aside from Philip's ambush, Mel certainly had her hands full last week! The Mean Dean rose from the grave for a creepy chitchat, she signed off as Premiere Party Girl, had a few more rounds with Max and Stephanie, dinner with Nick, and managed to agitate Bo. Yep, she was so busy she didn't have time to figure out if she killed her father or not, but, that's ok as basic soap rules prove the guiltier someone looks, the more innocent they really are. And, besides, someone else knows what she did in the cemetery and that certain someone slid an "I Know What You Did Last Summer" type note under her door!

My first reaction to that - where's E.J.!? He does have a hankering for black gloves and sliding notes under doors, yet I think he was on the island. But, then again, that island does have a magical transportation device that allows people to freely go on and off it. I'm jealous, I sometimes have to wait twenty minuets for a bus, yet that Smith Island Ferry seems to be running all the time!

Back on track - who sent the note? I'm curious about this aspect of things as it's giving this storyline a new spin. Not that I minded seeing Stax break up (more on that later) and I do enjoy Molly Burnett's performances, but the repetitious dialogue was getting to me ... wallet this ... Mel guilty that ... you don't know my sister, blah, blah, blah - we got it.

Right, seriously back on track this time. My second reaction - Stephanie! That thought only lasted a few seconds, though, and was based on the fact she looked a little guilty when the camera panned to her right before it cut to Mel receiving the note. Whereas she does have a motive, Steph's not that vindictive and, based on her other actions, she seems to be a very law abiding citizen.

My final though - it could be one of the "good guys" using it to smoke her out and get her to talk. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Philip enjoyed playing the Hardy Boys and Bo is known to bend the rules at times. Max could also be doing it to take the spotlight off his poor sister that doesn't have anyone else to turn to. Then again, it could be Trent himself! Why not, because who really stays dead in Salem?

Silence of the Stax (Max and Stephanie)

The ax fell on "Stax!" Yep, Stephanie and Max broke up - awe! Wait ... I can't even fake being remotely sad about that! Yet, I'm restraining myself from being too happy as I have a feeling things aren't completely over between them. One can hope though.

Regardless, here's how things went down. Mel admitted to Max that she was at the graveyard with the knife, struggled with her daddy dearest, blacked out and, when she woke up, Trent was a shish kabob. Max then confided in Stephanie then Stephanie confided in everyone. Well, not everyone, just Bo and Hope then Philip and possibly the dry cleaner and paperboy. Yet, I'm shocked to admit, I don't really blame Stephanie for blabbing.

Whereas her good intentions once again caused Mad Max to emerge, Steph sort of had a good reason this time - clearing her grandmother's name as well as keeping Max out of trouble. He's always his own worst enemy and, sure, she broke his confidence, but I'd say the circumstances warranted that as she did the right thing, which isn't always easy to do. I've bashed Stephanie, well, it seems nearly everyone has bashed Stephanie at some point or another, but I really tried to take a step back and when I did I agreed with her - I would have done the same thing to protect a loved one ... sticking it to my arch rival while doing so, well, that just icing on the cake.

With that said, that leaves "Stax" broken up for the moment. Despite Max and Bo's jabs at each other, Detective Brady did play big brother and try to get Max to apologize to Stephanie. But, to be honest, I can't remember if he did or not as I was yelling "No, don't do it!" too loudly to hear the outcome. Whoops.

Hot & Not

Hot: Roman told Chloe to shut up ... that was a bit surprising coming from him yet incredibly funny! You go Ro! I'll be faxing you a list of other people that need that same advice.

Not: Max, Max, Max ... he needs to take a chill pill! I understand that he's stressed, but I was SO annoyed when he said something like the Bradys will do what they always do, stick together, but what about Mel? I'm paraphrasing, but last time I checked, he was a Brady too! I just "love" when adoption is switched on and off for the sake of a storyline. Ugh.

Line of the Week:

"What? Do you want to schedule a more convenient beat down - what's good for you?" Tough Guy Philip on Dr. Dan's resistance to fight him.

Exchange of the Week:

Lexie: "Answer my question, damn it!" Stefano (sarcastically): "You didn't ask a question, damn it. You came in here, declared, yelled, 'Oh you killed the mayor father! I mean how could you? How dare you!'"

Randomness ...

Where oh where has the Patch Man gone? Oh where oh where could he be? Considering he phoned Stephanie nearly every five minutes while she was in France and consistently dots on her, one would think he'd be paying a little more attention to Sweetness Jr. while she's knee deep in a murder mystery. We miss you Steve!

Was I the only person happy that Nick blew off Chelsea's dinner invitation? It's such a positive sign that "Chick" Part Two isn't going to happen anytime soon. Yay! In related news, I heard Mark's still single.

Finally, as the Salmites seem a little to busy to pick out Halloween costumes this year, I decided to give them a helping hand! Check out my soapcentral.com blog to see who I think would be the wickedest wicked witch ever, an awesome Elvis and a perfect Princess Leia!

Parting Thoughts ...

So friends and Days fans, that's "Two Scoops" for the week of October 27th! Laurisa will be back next week with a plastic pumpkin full of treats, but in the meantime I hope everyone has a fun, safe Halloween - "That's a fact!"

As always, thanks for reading! Tony

Need more Two Scoops? Head over to read blogs by Laurisa or Tony for more ranting, raving and all-out randomness