Friends and lovers

Alice's death scenes were well worth the wait. Watching Jennifer and Carly catch up, Bill and Kate chitchat, and Carrie and Mike awkwardly wrap things up was great.

If there was a little lesson to be learned by watching DAYS the past two weeks, it's this -- sometimes the payoff is worth the agonizing wait. For instance, the storyline featuring Alice's illness, her subsequent death, and all the returns that went along with it seemed to take forever to start airing. But once they did, they were amazing.

Of course, there were payoffs from that payoff. The Vet-a-palooza was pretty dang awesome! Watching Jennifer and Carly catch up, Bill and Kate chitchat, and Carrie and Mike awkwardly wrap things up was great. And the big payoff to me was a certain sexy Brit and a certain sassy Brady gal reuniting on-screen. Let's discuss!

THE HORTONS and COMPANY Ken Corday really made good on his word to pay homage to Frances Reid and Alice Horton in a special way. The returns, the flashbacks, the small touches, and simply the writing all shined. I'm impressed.

Of course, now that my eyes have been dry for a few days, I have to nitpick just a little. First, why the heck wasn't Roman at the funeral!? He and Alice were particularly close back in the day. In fact, she even risked going to jail for him at one point. And worse, Roman was on earlier that episode! I was so confused.

Next, are you telling me that Carrie came to Salem, but it wasn't even mentioned that John and Marlena sent flowers? Not even one well wish from them or, "They wanted to come, but Marlena was too busy shopping for pink jumpsuits." The same goes for Shawn Douglas, too -- sans the pink jumpsuits. Where was he!? A big rolling "rrright" should do.

I was also a tad disappointed that Bill, Marie, and Mike's airtime wasn't that abundant. Especially Marie's, she got a lot less screen-time than both the guys. Truth be told, I have a soft spot for Marie and really wanted to know what she's been up to. As it turned out, she was thanked for coming to her own mother's funeral and shown the door.

Finally, the biggie -- what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks happened to Tommy Horton!? Not even a "he passed away" or "he's been too ill to travel." Nope, nothing. I guess he's hanging out with Don Craig, Neil Curtis, and Cassie Brady somewhere.

But those are just some of the grumbles of an overly critical, picky Scooper. On the whole, I loved the memorial. It was nearly flawless. I loved seeing the flashbacks, the returns, and simply seeing the Horton house again. It was a great stroll down memory lane and managed to do what a good storyline should -- draw the audience in and create more drama for down the road. In fact, let's talk about one such shockwave this storyline caused...

KIMBERLY and SHANE Holy, Shenanigans, Batman! Kimberly...Shane...on-screen...together! Okay, breathe. Breathe. Please stand by while I count backwards from ten...

Ah, much better. Now, with all due respect to teams "EJami" and "Safe," Kimberly and Shane fans have everyone beat in the anticipation department -- we've been waiting for well over 15 years for them to simply share a scene. So, needless to say, I'm thrilled to see this supercouple of supercouples together again.

Well, sort of together again. Even though they shared said scenes, it seemed that things weren't all hugs and kisses -- they were more like screams and tears. But if the writers are offering us a fight followed by a kiss and make up, I'm fine with that. However, they should be warned not to mess around with our dedicated daytime hearts again.

After all, Kimberly and Shane fans were -- to put it bluntly -- royally, totally, and utterly screwed in regards to how their story apparently ended. They divorced. Things got odd and awkward. And then they left town -- separately. That was not cool, not cool at all.

But now it seems the unexpected has happened -- the audience is getting another chapter to the saga. My fingers are crossed and my anticipation level is off the charts. I love this couple and I just hope this chapter ends with "Happily ever after," and not, "Sorry, I dated your sister."

DR. DAN, CHLOE, and COMPANY Speaking of disappointments, oh, wow -- a "Who's the Daddy?" storyline! Gee. Golly. Wow. Oh, sorry, I said "wow" already. And please note my sarcasm, thankyouverymuch.

I mean, really, are we ready for another seven months of this? I think the last time an audience was truly shocked by a "Who's the Daddy?" is when Who's That Girl? was in theaters. In other words, I'm not sure if this storyline has enough oomph for the long haul. Crazy, kooky Chloe has been fun and all, but now that I'm done being preoccupied by Alice's death, I'm not sure my attention will be fully occupied by this one.

More so, DAYS really needs to scale back on the "Damaged Uterus Brigade." It seems like every woman except Kate and Sami have some sort of reproduction issues. Sure, it's supposed to be dramatic, but after a while, it's a bit redundant (much like Brady and Arianna breaking up -- after a while, who cares?). A shocking pregnancy in Salem would be one in which both parents are known, the baby is hatched nine months later, and everyone goes home the next day. Ah, dare to dream.

LOOSE ENDS Although E.J. dropping the "L bomb" is an EJami milestone, I can't help but think every step they take forward is one closer to their ultimate demise. After all, now that Agent Cocky Douchebag is back, things are bound to get bland again. But I'll be honest, I'm so entirely over Rafe I don't even have the energy to Scoop about him, so let's move on to happier subjects...

Can Melissa Reeves get any more awesome!? She's such a class act, and she brings that to the role of Jennifer. Speaking of Jennifer, I loved the way Jen dealt with Carly, especially the way she thanked her for thinking of Hope's feelings. More so, I'm thrilled the writers penned the scene considering a lot of Carly's first stint in Salem relied heavily on their friendship. Say it with me -- more, please!

On the subject of Jennifer, her goodbye to Alice was so touching. I'm glad the writers realized that the audience loves Jennifer and gave her that time. I just wish she could stick around Salem a little longer because something tells me she could right a lot of wrongs with her sound advice and sunny disposition.

Also sunny is the fact that the Kate/Stefano/Madeline storyline received more than ten minutes of airtime recently. I'm very curious to figure out what her secret is. Is someone else Chad's father? Stefano? Congressman Andrews, perhaps? Maybe Madeline had an affair with Tony DiMera!? If the writers were smart, they'd pay this one a little more attention and scale back on the entire "Who's the Daddy?" stuff. Just a suggestion.

Hope's situation is a bit ironic. When Tom Horton died, she was amnesic and not with Bo. Fast-forward to Alice's passing -- she has an alternative personality that she knows nothing about and she's estranged from Bo. If anything, that proves you can do it yourself, Fancy Face! Just stay away from those sneaky sleeping pills (or else share them).

Finally, let's talk a little Sweetness. I'm glad Kayla is trying to get to the bottom of Stephanie's craziness. However I don't think she knows how far she's going to have to dig as baby girl is hello-out-there. I think Kayla and Aunt Adrienne need to stage an intervention and slap the tomboy and red hair back into Steph.

In related news -- what was up with Kayla going off on Philip? It made sense to a point, yet still felt a little out of left field to me and/or old news at the very least. But at the end of the day, Mary Beth Evans brought her magic back to Salem, and I'll celebrate any reason -- legit or not -- for that!

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT: This one's a tie -- Alice's storyline has been amazing! The flashbacks, the returns, and the storyline itself has made me laugh, cry, and everything in between. Equally as "Hot" -- you guessed it -- Kimberly and Shane on-screen at the same time! After the past few weeks, I'm very proud to be a DAYS fan!

NOT: I'm not tied up in knots that Mia and her bangs are New York bound. Her character's spiral into Annoying Land was about as rapid as Chloe's mood swings. However, I thought her storyline wrap-up was sloppy. In fact, it looked even worse compared to how good some of the other storylines are right now. So, sorry, Higs, you raised the bar and now you have to keep it there.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Alice Horton (as remembered by her family): "There are no endings, only new beginnings."

RANDOMNESS... Does it annoy anyone else that the coffee cup props make a hollow thump every time a character sets one down? The Prop Department could at least fill them with a little water or something.

Theo and Ciara together are like a total cute overload.

I hope that Hope moves into Alice's house! Or perhaps Doug and Julie. Someone needs to be there to carry on the tradition. Although, it would be ironic if it were bulldozed and turned into a Dunkin' Donuts.

Dear Kayla, you named Philip's son Pocket -- I wouldn't have let you keep him either. I kid, I kid.

PARTING THOUGHTS... So, friends and DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of July 5th. Laurisa will be back in action next week to either talk us down from the ledge or give us the happy news that Kimberly and Shane have reunited -- stay tuned! And, "That's a fact."

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

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