Friends in low places

Last week, Sonny arrived in Salem with a bag of awesome slung over his back. He's a mountain-climbing tri-athlete who makes Abby tolerable and gives his much-neglected parents some screen time.

I often read interviews with soap stars where they lament about not working with certain members of their cast. Certainly, the general rule of participation on soaps is for each actor to stay on his or her predetermined team. But DAYS is starting to buck that tradition by throwing all of the characters into one big plot pot. To make it all the more tasty, DAYS has some simmering side dishes going that are just as promising.

FAFE, SAMI, RAFE, BO, and HOPE Since Fafe wouldn't incriminate the DiMeras on his own, Bo, Hope, Sami, and Rafe had to find another way. Their plan seemed to be for the DiMeras -- more specifically, a pain-pill filled E.J. -- to incriminate the DiMeras in Fay's death. Somehow, I don't see that happening. Mainly because E.J. didn't know that Fafe had killed Fay until later on Friday's show. Bo was wasting his time coming to E.J. on Wednesday.

Anyway, the whole Fay murder plot is a cool idea, but it seems a little overkill. (Sorry, unintentional pun.) Isn't the fact that the DiMeras created a double, sent him to live with Sami for months, and kidnapped the real Rafe enough of a crime? Am I missing something here? Why the desperate need to pin Fay's murder on the DiMeras too? They've got a lot on the DiMeras now!

E.J. After stabilizing E.J., Daniel rushed the dream team out of the free clinic and then took E.J. to Salem U Hospital. Lexie promptly freaked out and ordered everyone to stay away from E.J., which basically opened the door for everyone to come in and talk to him.

Alas, the only one who really mattered was Taylor. (Cue doves cooing and rainbows!!!) Her presence brought E.J. back to the world of the sinners. She dropped the bomb that Fay was murdered and was pretty darn adamant that E.J. come clean with her about anything. Naturally, he declined with the appropriate amount of charm/double talk. But I'm not sure Taylor really bought it. More so, I'm not sure which crime E.J. will work on first -- covering up Fay's murder or finding his own attacker.

BRADY In case you missed it, Brady is not terribly fond of E.J. We can debate the validity of Brady's grudge over Arianna's death and E.J.'s responsibility for it, but it really doesn't matter because removing Arianna from the equation still leaves plenty of reason for Brady to be steamed. Between stealing Nicole and kidnapping Sydney, I think Brady has enough cause to seek revenge on E.J. Add in Brady's constantly elevated blood alcohol content and I can see why Brady would want to spend an enjoyable Saturday evening punching E.J.'s face.

The more I think about, the more genius it is that Brady is the assailant. I love that the audience is in on it from the beginning because we get to watch all of the characters pick a side. Victor, Hope, Bo, Melanie, and Nicole will all scheme to keep Brady's name out of it. Once Sami and Rafe find out, I'm sure they'll be glad to join in on the protective efforts. Daniel, Carly, Dario, and Brady will all take heat before it comes back on Melanie. And, Jennifer and Maggie are too nice to select one category, so they facebooked me and told me that they support Melanie and Brady. Yeah! Everybody wins!

SONNY Sonny came home to Salem with a bag of awesome slung over his back. So far, I adore Justin and Adrienne's kid. He's a mountain-climbing tri-athlete who makes Abigail tolerable and gives his much-neglected parents some screen time. Sure, I picked up on Justin and Adrienne's apprehension over what Victor will say to Sonny, but that seems silly to me. Victor champions his family to the ends of the earth. Anything else would be out of character for Victor.

VIVIAN, QUINN, and KATE This storyline couldn't get any better if it was wrapped in bacon. And, that's saying a lot because bacon is pretty much the culinary trump card of all the foods ever in the world.

I loved Gus recanting all of Quinn's nefarious qualities. Vivian responded to off-shore bank accounts and modeling agents like real mothers would to honor rolls and walk-off homeruns. Realizing that Quinn might be a chip off the old block, Vivian did something that equally shocked and delighted me. She told Quinn that she didn't trust him and she'd find out what he's up to. To make it all the more interesting, Quinn openly welcomed the challenge! Battle lines, drawn!

Oh, oh, wait! I forgot the best part. Flipping Kate saw them together! Talk about an exceptional wild card to throw into the mix! There's certainly no love lost between Kate and Vivian. But, if Quinn keeps hinting that he could stand in the way of Kate getting proof that Chloe is turning tricks, our fair Mrs. DiMera might just opt for crushing Quinn, even if it means passing on an opportunity to hurt Vivian. Oh, Quinn, you're a brave man for stepping into the middle of those two ladies!

WILL and GABI WOOT! Kinsey and T appeared to break up the teen scene monotony. They were enjoyable, as was the fact that someone finally drew the parallel between Sami's teenage pregnancy and Will's relationship decisions. Too bad that mention had to come as a result of Will getting freaked out by Gabi ordering him to make out with her in front of his great-grandma. Yep. I'll wait until the gross sinks in. *shudders*

Even devout spoiler-free me hasn't been able to miss news about Will's upcoming storyline. So I know where the show is headed. I can't make any decisions on that storyline yet because none of it has aired, but so far, the journey is a little wonky.

I'm all for Will getting away from Gabi (though, I will miss out on the extra sleep I've been getting while "watching" them), but it seemed strange for Gabi to say that she's not sure if Will is into her, considering that the guy just brought prom to her in the hospital. Short of sitting on her dining room table and giving her a birthday cake, I don't know what else Will could have done to capture the heart of a teenage girl. Bottom line -- this is a Will storyline, and Chandler Massey is a talented kid. Give him the reigns and skip all this reinvented history via Gabi garbage.

CHAD Chad's scenes were way too short (shocker!) but they drew on some great history. I love that the show remembered that Kate and Madeline were besties back in the day. It gives Kate a believable interest in Chad, outside of Stefano. And, I appreciated that Chad brought up the fact that this whole family thing is a new concept to him. When you stop to think about it, Mia never told him about Grace. And, his dad was a total butthole to him when Madeline died. I can see why the idea of a family that stays together would be appealing.

LOOSE ENDS: Despite her utter failure to do so, I have to say that Melanie gave a good college try to keep other people out of trouble. She called Daniel with a simple request -- tell me the secret code to the locked free clinic in the bad part of town and then forget I asked. What father wouldn't agree to that? Is it Melanie's fault that Daniel had to get all "No, I don't think my daughter should be alone in the place where she almost got stabbed" and rush to be with her? No, I say! Jennifer put the pieces together that Carly was the one stealing drugs from the hospital. Thank goodness. Clue number one was powder residue and a plastic tube on Carly's desk. If Jennifer actually bought Carly's, "It's aspirin!" excuse, I was going to have to make a trip to Salem myself to knock some sense into Jen. Nicole and Maggie were a surprising treat together. When Maggie sat down at that pub table, I expected to be in for another one of Maggie's Lost Girls: A One-Woman Redemption Hour. But, that's not what I got at all. Instead, Nicole kept unapologetically sipping her martini and offering an ear to Maggie. In return, Maggie didn't try to judge or save. She actually matched Nicole's wit and sarcasm in a surprisingly realistic way. I sincerely hope that they have more scenes together. Despite my thorough adoration of both Julie and Melanie, I'd much prefer to see Maggie in a scene with Victor, rather than chatting with a chosen gal pal about Victor. Thank you. Whew! Chloe didn't actually have to bed that loser Rob. Instead, she convinced him that he was a super star between the sheets, and he believed it, despite having zero memory of the encounter. Never underestimate the male ego, ladies.

HOT: She did it! Nicole finally wised up and realized that her love for Sydney was making her do crazy things, so Nicole is giving Sydney up. When Nicole actually told E.J. that she wanted a divorce, I almost fell off my couch. Please don't let that part be a dream. Move forward, Nikki!

NOT: I like Bo and Hope. I voted for them in this contest. They are two of the good guys. And, I really, really dislike it when I have to hate good guys. But, they gave me no choice last week.

Bo arrested Taylor and Nicole -- the latter for a reason he came right out and said he would find later. Hope actually thought that being deputized meant that she had the authority to forbid Taylor from going to see E.J. in the hospital. Bo repeatedly went in to question E.J. after Lexie told him not to. And, it all was made worse by the fact that Bo and Hope never came right out and said this was a personal mission and they were going to break any law necessary to get what they wanted. Instead, they acted entitled and smug. Take responsibility for your schemes, people!

EMMYS: Tony and I took to our blogs to talk about the best and worst fashions and fame at this year's Emmys, but I do have to warn you. We did get a wee bit cranky. Why? Glad you asked.

The Daytime Emmys stunk out loud. And, it had nothing to do with DAYS going zero-for. It had everything to do with the positively atrocious way the broadcast gave a giant middle finger to everything that daytime fans love. The show invented an award for Oprah, and she didn't bother to show up, which seems totally fair, since she doesn't owe daytime audiences anything. Following suit, neither Ellen nor Regis and/or Kelly were there to collect their awards. Gone were the highlight reels of the acting nominees and allotted times for acceptance speeches. In their places were extended commercials for Las Vegas, including something that I swear airs in every Vegas hotel room as the default channel when you turn on the TV and fumble around for five minutes trying to learn how to use the effing remote. And, with all due respect, there was a ridiculously premature tribute to Susan Lucci, who despite all her divaliciousness is not an acceptable placeholder for tributes to AMC and OLTL. Oh, did I mention that the whole thing was hosted by Wayne "My show replaced Guiding Light" Brady?

And... exhale. Thanks. I feel better now.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Stefano (to Bo): "The last time you solved a crime, Bill Clinton was in office." Oh Stefano, always the kidder!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I like how Nicole demanded to know where E.J.'s room is when I'm fairly sure that everyone in the hospital is in the same room -- blue door, just to the right of the nurses' station.

I know from watching her stint as a Brownie leader that Hope can do some amazing things while wearing stilettos. But, even I didn't believe that she moved Fafe into the closet all by herself. How about next time she just goes outside the room if she wants to get away from him?

I'm assuming that Roman is still caught up trying to destroy that ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Otherwise, he certainly would have been given the nod to go question Dario.

Kate vs. Maxine. Good luck, Katie. You're going to need it.

Oof. Abigail said that she and Chad are a good match because they have the same political views. Why can't I picture the two of them discussing foreign policy?

Salem High lines graduates up in order of GPA. Strange, my high school did it alphabetically.

Bo said that he had a file drawer devoted to women who loved E.J. Really? That's TWO women -- Nicole and Sami. Now, granted, their combined crimes could fill a file drawer, but there are still only two of them. Then again, maybe Bo just has a really, really small filing cabinet.

Where can I get one of those blue blazers with the DiMera crest embroidered on the front? I'm always looking for a good gift.

And that's it for this scoop session! A few questions to ponder over the next week: Did you enjoy seeing so many characters share scenes together? Were you super impressed with Carly and Jennifer for thinking to wipe down the room for fingerprints before leaving the clinic? Did anyone notice that Freddie Smith (Sonny) looks a heckuvalot like Casey Deidrick (Chad)? And, do you really think that E.J. has no memory of the beating? He's pulled this stunt in the not-so-distant past. And just in case you forgot, I love reading your thoughts on my column and on the show. So please click here to email your thoughts to me! Happy viewing, Laurisa

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