My big fat Greek wedding

When Arianna and Nicole are together, Arianna is smart and quick-witted. When they're not, it's a tad maddening to watch her I.Q. plummet as she starts to obsess over Nicole more than Brady.

If TPTB have the cojones for it, Friday's episode featuring Victor and Vivian's wedding should be the episode submitted for next year's Emmy's. I say that knowing full well that Alice's memorial is right around the corner and that tissue-fest episode will reduce me to a blubbering idiot. And I'm aware that other soaps will boast gritty courtroom confessions and/or rooftop shootouts. I don't care. I want this one.

Our beloved DAYS is the only daytime drama that seems to get what primetime drama counterparts understand. Into every drama, some comedy must fall. (See: Desperate Housewives, Friday Night Lights, Brothers and Sister, House, Bones, etc.) On a day-to-day basis, Days of Our Lives is THE most quick-witted and entertaining soap on the market. This week, DAYS put its best foot forward and delivered the goods.

VICTOR and VIVIAN

Yet, the episode subtly reminded us of all the storylines in that one room -- Bo is with Carly instead of Hope, Chloe's cheated on Daniel, Philip's cheated on Melanie, and Nicole is scheming to snag Brady. The writers did it all while generously throwing out moments of comedic brilliance throughout the thing.

I got those dorky, fanboy chills when Bo Brady, flanked by half the cast, proudly announced that they stayed because they heard there was going to be a wedding.

I'd never tell either of them to their faces, but Kate and Nicole are two of a kind. Their martini-therapy reminded me that they are valuable Kiriakis allies. Kate would never let anything happen to Victor, and Nicole certainly doesn't want to see harm come to Brady.

Maggie, Chloe, Melanie, and Carly bonding and talking about how Vivian is not one to be trusted was wonderful. (I wish Arianna and Adrienne were there too, but whatever) As the show continues the awesome tradition of keeping the "Kiriakis boys" as a package deal, I adore seeing the ladies who care about these men unite over their common bond. It's a funky kind of sisterhood. I couldn't love it more if I tried.

There were drinks at the wedding -- during the ceremony. The JOP had to be reminded of the wife's name. Victor presented Vivian's ring to her with an abrupt, "Here." In lieu of a recessional march down the aisle, Victor announced that he needed a drink. I have a feeling that if Shrek and Cruella De Vil got married, their wedding would be similar.

Finally, I LOVED Nicole's idea to take a picture with Carly, Kate, and Vivian as the past and current Mrs. Kiriakises. I've already put in a request for a copy of the photo for my own study. (Note to self -- Build study.)

SAMI and E.J. I'll give the writers some more credit. They've managed to make the current Ejami storyline come about organically from the baby swap saga. That's good stuff. It's all too common for a new character to introduce a new storyline, or suddenly, one day, current characters start acting differently. But, I've never gotten the "where did that come from?" feeling during Sami and E.J.'s flirtation.

Still, I am getting a bit nervous that the storyline is going to have the predictable outcome where Rafe uncovers the secret, Sami swears off E.J. again, and Rafe can't bring himself to trust Sami.

I hope that the same writers who crafted the twists in the baby swap storylines have something planned. This storyline needs to circle back to what started this whole intricate plot -- Sami. She's the wild-card here. There's just as good a chance that she'll forgive E.J. as there is that she'll plot his demise.

CARLY, DANIEL, and CHLOE I'm not so sure Carly is being a buttinski here. By all accounts, Carly and Daniel are very good friends. Carly introduced him to his first wife, and Carly was the one who called in a miracle surgeon to fix Daniel's double vision. I'm pretty sure that qualifies for a close friendship where you tell your friend if his/her significant other cheated, especially after said significant other admitted to cheating! I'll actually be disappointed in her if she doesn't follow through with her threat to tell Daniel the truth.

Chloe can call out all Carly's mistakes until the cows come home. It still doesn't mean that Chloe isn't a cheating cheater who cheated. I know that Daniel isn't making it easy on Chloe. (The man is even quoting bible verses!) But the longer she waits to tell him the truth, the harder it's going to be. I don't see how this can end well for the Chloemeister.

Normally, I'd be bemoaning how dense Daniel has been and chastising him for finishing Chloe's sentences for her. But Daniel has been a bit preoccupied. In addition to Chloe's hysterical pregnancy and finding out that he has a teenage daughter, the dude is also recovering from brain surgery. Noticing that Chloe's been acting different lately isn't exactly something that should jump out at him since everything in his life is upside-down right now.

RAFE, ANNA, and SHANE If Rafe was the stand-up guy that the writers want me to believe he is, then why didn't he call Carrie when Anna was poisoned? Carrie is Anna's next of kin, and Carrie should be the one making medical decisions for Anna. The fact that the doctor came in and told Rafe that Anna might have irreversible brain damage and all Rafe could do was pout that his investigation stalled is reason numero uno why I'd like to give this bozo a knock on the head.

On the bright side, Charles Shaughnessy is back and still deliciously delightful as ever. I'm glad that his guest spot has a chance to be juicy as we find out what Shane has been up to (political assassin?!?!), why he wasn't by Kimberly's side during her bone marrow transplant, and where he's headed next.

HOPE and ARIANNA This storyline has been all Kristian Alfonso. The woman is basically acting the crap out of an eyebrow and a bumpit. Lesser actresses would make this storyline terribly silly. But she makes it work. I can only hope that Lindsay Hartley is up to the task for her end of this plot.

Arianna was thrown into this mess in sloppy fashion. Juvenile records are supposed to be sealed; the Salem PD apparently takes Nicole as a reliable source; and common sense would tell anyone that Ari didn't commit these crimes. But as Tony so brilliantly pointed out, there are two sides to Arianna -- the dumb side and the savvy side. Here's hoping that the latter comes out soon because it' WAY TOO OBVIOUS that Nicole framed Arianna for even a soap junkie like me to give Ari a pass if she's not going to start connecting the dots ASAP.

STEFANO, MADELINE, and KATE Tick tock, folks. This storyline has been simmering so long I'm starting to lose my appetite. That is, unless the point of this storyline is to see how many different ways the writers can use top-shelf actors to say the same threats over and over again without actually moving the plot further, in which case this storyline is a stellar success.

LOOSE ENDS Nicole defended Arianna on the air and Brady bought every word of it. Either she's working Brady with everything she has or John Jr. might just like having a pretty fiance and a femme fatal longing for him on the side.

Will's math grade plummeted because Rafe is no longer around to tutor him. On the bright side, his psychology grade should sky rocket now that Will and Stefano are besties.

Extra Scoops:

RANDOM THOUGHTS: More info on the DiMera mansion: In addition to the indoor pool, brainwashing chamber, and secret tunnels that lead to Doug's Place, there are 19 rooms on the second floor.

All the references to Ciara or Hope's "treasure box" give me the heebie-jeebies and need to stop right now.

Dumb Sami doesn't entertain me when she's being written that way. But I chuckle when Alison Sweeney plays Sami as "dumb" when trying to avoid confrontation.

HOT: I still think it's too close to Mickey's death for Maggie to be emotionally available to anyone. But, I totally bought her speech to Victor about not wasting his life away. I nodded my head in total agreement when she said that Victor had his health, his boys, and enough money to do anything he wants and then admonished him for playing games with Vivian. The speech means a lot coming from Maggie. She knows better than anyone how life can be taken away from you any second.

NOT: Really, of all people to drag out the lazy and horribly stupid argument that Sami has too many kids, the writers are going to have Kate do it? Kate, the mother of six, is passing judgment on Sami because Sami has four children. That makes no sense at all. Furthermore, do we really need to go over the reason that Sami had to have a paternity test on the twins? Maybe next we can make fun of Ciara for having nightmares or tease Caroline about being single.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Philip: "If people waited to work everything out before they got married, there would be no weddings."

So, who's with me in thinking that this week showcased what DAYS does best? We laughed a little. We gasped a lot. We flirted with danger. And, we even got the chance to do it all with designer duds and martinis. What's not to love? Tony will be back next week to continue the celebration. I'll be sure to let you all know when I get the proofs from Viv and Vic's wedding.

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