Friday, I'm in love

Will and Chad weren't friends before, but now they sort of are, and it's a weird gray area. Since Will is Stefano's golden boy, will that change if Chad turns out to be a DiMera heir?

My ears are still ringing! In fact, they downright hurt from all of the overjoyed hoots and hollers made by DAYS fans last week. It was like Times Square on New Year's Eve. The only difference being, instead of a big disco ball dropping, E.J. dropped to one knee and asked Sami to marry him. Unfortunately, many EJami fans are currently being picked up off the floor after they passed out because they were forced to hold their breath until Monday to hear Sami's response.

But even if you're not an EJami fan, you probably still had a big reason to celebrate. Perhaps a bigger reason! Whereas Camps EJami and Lumi Safe may never see eye to eye -- most DAYS fans can agree on one thing -- casting spoiler ahead -- Melissa Reeves returning full-time is like all of the holidays I can't list in order to remain politically correct and my birthday combined! As my better Scooping half might exclaim, "WOOT!"

Therefore, one can hardly argue that a week that ended with such good news was a bad one. And for the most part, it wasn't. It certainly beat the snooze-fest that was a few weeks ago. For better or worse, most storylines moved. The acting was top-notch (as usual). And Roman was actually present for Brady family drama. So let's discuss those things and everything else that made last week celebration-worthy.

HOPE, BO, CARLY, and COMPANY In last week's Two Scoops, my wonderful partner made a wish. Laurisa hoped that the writers wouldn't blow the end of this storyline. I'm glad to report that so far, so good. Well, as good as a storyline is going to get about a pill-popping, sleeping-walking gal with dual personalities and homicidal tendencies. But I digress.

All things considered, I was impressed by how things played. Sure, I had to chuckle at Bo's quasi-hypnotic, spaced-out look, but, again, I digress. There were plenty of things that I enjoyed and that made me believe Laurisa's wish is coming true.

For starters, Carly got a nice, long break from drama mama-to-be Chloe's my two dads debacle. It was nice to hear Crystal Chappell say something other than, "Chloe," "baby," and/or "your secret." That happened, too, but there was enough overall goodness to balance it out.

Now, one of the things that struck me is that I noticed Hope and Carly are actually a lot alike. I guess that's why Bo loves them both. They're both spoiled gals with a lot of baggage. Oh, and a tendency for homicide when backed into a corner and/or drugged.

In any event, I like where this is going. If it weren't for Bo, Hope and Carly just might be friends. They already have Jennifer -- *squeal!* -- as a common denominator. But before I get ahead of myself, I brought this up because I'm thrilled with what the writers did.

I was glad to see Carly was concerned for Hope. Carly isn't treating her -- as she somewhat justifiably could -- as her boyfriend's crazy ex. Carly actually feels bad for Hope. And I believe her compassion is sincere. She's worried about Hope because Bo still loves her. And whereas I felt pangs of "ouch, that had to hurt," when she had to sit back and watch Bo and Hope's closeness take a front seat, Carly handled it with a ton of class. Cheers to that!

In addition to sticking up for Hope -- warning others to back off -- which earned her another pat on the back, Carly gets yet another one. Dr. Manning pointed out something that even diehard Vivian fans are a bit tired of by telling Auntie Viv to 86 the "Lawrence was a saint" talk. Amen! And I say this as one of the biggest Vivian fans, but Ms. Thang needs more to sink her teeth into these days. A new war with Kate? Taking Chad under her wing to find out Madeline's secret? Just some thoughts. Back to business...

Watching Carly and Hope tag-team Vivian was great. Because of their budding chemistry, this phoned-in love triangle is getting better. It's easy to root for one woman over the other when one is a crazed loon and one is the "good girl." But this time the crazy loon is a good girl as well, and Carly is stepping up to remind us why she was so fun the first time around.

Of course, Bo is still stuck in between them, but even he knows that Hope's sanity is the important thing. He also got to breathe a sigh of relief that Ciara's sanity is intact. Between Lil' Miss Thing and Theo, he's putting all the ducks in a row, which will help him realize Hope is a real quack these days. Should this storyline stay on-course, we should be in for a good finale in the weeks to come.

E.J., SAMI, and RAFE I'll just blatantly admit that E.J.'s proposal was a healthy dose of soap escapism -- a little, lovely bubble of cheesiness and "aws." Charm? Check! Romance? Check! Batting British eyelashes? Oh, yes, big check! Sans the fact he's a criminal with a sinister revenge-fueled mind -- you know, aside from that -- he gives a lovely proposal.

With that said, I have a feeling he's going to have to work a little harder to get Sami to say "I do." She's surely bedazzled by his open and honest confessions, but she's just not there yet. She needs more. More so, she needs to get over Rafe. That's the real obstacle. And for some unknown reason -- which I do know and choose to ignore -- Rafe is still under her skin.

Ironically, the guy's under my skin, too, but for an entirely different reason. My biggest hope for Rafe is that the writers wise up a bit. As an audience, we know he's trying to help Sami. The problem is he's being a complete douchebag while doing so. If he could curb that and be honest with her instead of trying to surprise her with a "look what I did for you" type finale, I might actually side with the guy a bit.

But he's not. His approach stinks. And when I see E.J. -- faults and all -- trying to woo Sami, I can't help but to think I'd rather see her with real love and dark secrets than semi-real love she has to work for and live up to Rafe's one-sided standards to maintain. It's exhausting to pretend and, E.J. might be "the bad guy," but at least she can be herself around him (or at least the "herself" the audience misses).

STEFANO, KATE, WILL, and CHAD It's kind of strange to say, but this storyline is getting a bit better now that Madeline is dead. That seems to be because we're watching the plight of characters we like instead of the one of a character the writers never fully developed. In fact, I felt bad for both Chad and Kate when he tried to get her to fess up. Chad for obvious reasons, but Kate is a constant reminder that you can't escape the past. And if you were a high-class whore in the past, having it constantly present has to be a hard pill to swallow.

One of the other aspects I continue to enjoy is Chandler and Casey's dynamics. They really work well together. They've managed to perfectly pull off Will and Chad's awkwardness -- they weren't friends before, but now they sort of are, and it's a weird gray area. I'm interested to see where things are headed with this. And since Will is Stefano's golden boy, will that change if Chad turns out to be a DiMera heir?

ADRIENNE, STEPHANIE, NATHAN, MELANIE, PHILIP, CHLOE, CARLY, and DR. DAN The only reprieve to this storyline was a nice, healthy welcomed dose of Judi Evans! Other than that, I'm pretty sure most of these knuckleheads had the same conversations last week as they had the week before...and the week before that. Therefore I asked -- to Scoop or not to Two Scoop? I chose to rise above the writers and not repeat myself.

With that said, I do have one nugget to share about this crew. I had a moment -- repeat, moment -- of sympathy for Steph when she found that picture of Nathan and Melanie. No matter how big of a weird-o she has been lately, that still stings. But once that moment was over, I went right back to rolling my eyes at the girl. I think Aunt Adrienne would agree, she deserves more than to be second choice...and the audience deserves more than this stalled-out storyline. Let's move it along, dear writers.

LOOSE ENDS I'm glad to see Rafe is an equal opportunity annoyer. And I'm glad Arianna didn't put up with it. We know E.J. can be a jerk, but, unless I missed something, E.J. is legitimately helping Arianna with no strings attached. She recognizes that. She appreciates that. And I think it serves Rafe right to be wrong about this one.

Speaking of right -- more so, right-on! -- I love Victor and Maggie! They just work. I adore both the actors and the characters. And the icing on the cake is getting to see Caroline a bit more often too. Sure, she's letting her evil, jealous twin do the talking, but Mama B is always a welcomed treat nonetheless.

I'm worried about Dr. Baker's future. John Callahan is just too fun to watch, and I shudder to think he might be headed for another departure. I hope that Dick's 9-1-1 call, which saved Bo, is enough of a bargaining chip to get him off the chopping block and into some community service. Perhaps he could work at the hospital under Maxine's supervision. Something tells me the two of them would be a hoot!

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT: Missy Reeves. Back on DAYS. Permanently. 'Nuff said! But as far as actual storyline stuff goes, I loved watching the Brady boys bond! And I loved watching Carly tease them. Loved it! It was the kind of touching family moment that DAYS does perfectly (when they remember to).

NOT: I know Lindsay Hartley's days are numbered, but she's still a talented actress. She's worth more than rinse and repeat dialogue. Let's hope that her remaining time yields more than what we saw last week. I'm rooting for you, Lindsay!

LINE OF THE WEEK: Vivian (responding to Victor's accusations she tried to kill Bo): "Don't be ridiculous, darling. If I were going to murder someone, I would be much more efficient. And whoever attacked Bo was obviously clumsy and amateurish."

Honorable Mention: Carly (to Vivian, who interrupted her talking to Hope): "Vivian, grownups are talking here."

RANDOMNESS... Abe mentioned him! The writers didn't forget! They brought up Chelsea's ex-co-worker and Theo's buddy/therapist Mark! I always thought he would have been good with Chelsea, but perhaps Carly will need a new man soon...hmm!

While on the topic of random hunks, I think Stephanie should go after DiMera thug Marco. He's handsome, obedient, and, if another girl looks at him, Steph could have him kill her.

The Kiriakis Research Wing? Maybe they could hire Dr. Rolf. With guinea pig John out of town, I hear he's not doing much these days.

I love that Mel blatantly -- and giggle-ly -- admits that she loves being rich. No false modesty there. You go, girl!

Um, right. Did it seem off that Bo keeps a picture of him and his soon-to-be ex-wife on the mantel while living with his new flame? I guess it's "only because" Alice is in the picture. Got it!

Chad's birth certificate said he was born in 1990. That makes him 20. And he just graduated high school because...?

Kristian Alfonso can really rock Farah Fawcett-esque hair.

Stefano vocabulary lesson of the week: Disconsolate. Defined as the way an eccentric, yet cranky mafia boss says Chad was very sad.

I'm pretty sure the kids on DAYS could easily win the gold medal for adorableness.

Want to know if Nicole has been in your house? Check for footprints from the front door to the booze. Love that the gal bee-lines straight for the good stuff.

I wonder if it's Cassie or Rex who babysits for Ali Horton. Either way, Ali might need one of them to explain how it feels to be discussed only when necessary.

PARTING THOUGHTS... So, friends and DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of August 2, 2010. Will Sami say I do? Will EJami fans revolt if she doesn't? What's going to happen to Hope now that she's down to one pill? Will Maggie end up being her sponsor too? Laurisa will be back next week to answer all of those questions and more. 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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