Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

Will there be anyone who won't have a motive to kill Deimos? Is Tate going to make a good mob prince? What should become of Scooter? Let's discuss it all in this edition of Two Scoops.

I'm still doing a happy dance over the news of Deimos leaving Salem. (Sorry, I'm with Sonny. I also don't know how to sound reasonable when talking about this man.) My problem is, I really, really don't want any character to be saddled with the burden of killing him. We've got good people like Hope and Joey already having to wear the "murderer" banner, even though their targets deserved it just as much as Deimos does. Isn't there just a nice cliff he can fall off or something?

But then I met Scooter. Yup. He'll do. If he kills Deimos and gets sent away to prison for life, I'm good with it. Truth is, the guy is so unstable, he might do it. All Deimos would have to do is show up trying to drag Nicole back by her hair to his cave, and Scooter might shoot him out of protection for his precious Misty Circle. Ugh, this whole storyline makes me furious.

Nicole is not a "porn star." She's a victim of child abuse. Scooter's comment about her "handling the whole team" was praising the gang rape of a child. Let that one sink in. The fact that this grown man now wants to live out his fantasy of sleeping with a child is so beyond abhorrent that I don't even have a word for it.

Nosy as Hillary is, the reveal that she's a cop and "someone" wants her back on a case should have been the way to go with this storyline. Who could that "someone" be? (Raines? Deimos? Vivian?) Or Scooter could have recognized Nicole from the many months she spent as an on-camera talent for Titan TV. The point is that any other path than this would have been preferable. I literally would have accepted Rex and Cassie's spaceship arriving again, abducting Scooter, and then bringing him back with the knowledge of Nicole's true identity.

Quick, I need something happy to talk about. I know -- Tripp! The charismatic mini-don found out more about his loony mama and still isn't speaking to his dad.

I like this storyline because I genuinely understand both sides. Tripp doesn't know Steve from a hole in the wall. The guy shows up and says, "Hey, I'm your dad. And I killed your mom." Tripp is justified in being slightly suspicious. And, to be fair, Steve and everyone else are lying to him.

But Steve has to protect Joey. It's not an easy spot. Steve had to pick between his kids. He picked Joey. We all get why. It's because Joey is Steve's real kid. Kidding! Well, sorta.

Tripp doesn't have the soap street cred yet. The guy's got to contend with a legacy kid who's also a miracle baby. He needed something to tip the scales in his favor.

Enter Angelo! Tripp has Steve's P.I. skills. He tracked down a mob boss pretty darn quick. First, I love that they remembered Ava's cousin! I wouldn't be opposed to him being around a bit more as he is one of the remaining survivors of the Vitali clan. He and Tripp already feel more like a member of "the three families" than Dario and Eddie Hernandez. Second, the mob prince got his official inheritance. That means the non-Joey at least has money and power. And that could make this storyline very interesting.

Kayla could be the real influencing factor here. How she reaches out to Tripp, both as one of Ava's victims and her doctor, could give him the complete perspective on his mom -- something he obviously (and understandably) isn't completely getting from Steve or Angelo. In fact, the only thing frustrating about this storyline is Ava left Salem fine. She'd moved well on from Steve. (Right, John Black DiMera?) We never got a real explanation as to why she retuned crazy. What happened in Italy? Maybe this storyline will fill in that gap.

Plus, the total irony is that the only way for Tripp to realize how far from sane Ava slipped is to tell him the Joey story. But they can't do that without divulging the truth about her death! Good stuff!

Either way, I'm all in. Fun fact for Tripp to learn about the flight his mom sabotaged: his roomie Claire was on that flight. Technically, so was Joey, as big Shawn gave up his oxygen mask to a pregnant Kayla.

LOOSE ENDS: I instantly liked the actor playing Wyatt. Turns out, he's the actor who played Zach in the Very Special Bope episode last year. I liked him then too! Here's hoping Ciara takes Wyatt up on that second date!

Much as I love A Martinez and Lauren Koslow, I just can't get into Kate and Eddie. It's not their fault. It's that Kate has been in this relationship for way too long. He's Ian/Clyde/Deimos all over again. They need to pair Kate with a different archetype so that we at least have a palate cleanser.

Considering what Deimos did to Gabi, I would think that Rafe would be in "by any means necessary" mode by now. I don't mind Rope too much, and I even love them as police partners. But I thought Rafe was past the days of putting his girlfriend's needs in front of his own sister's safety. (RIP Arianna) I guess not?

Eric Martsolf and Arianne Zucker have good chemistry. I love that a nice, sane guy is the one pursuing Nicole for a change. And the fake identity it is a cute set-up -- especially since the only thing they're not lying about is their "love story." I just don't think Nicole's that into him. Poor Brady. Again.

It was kind of sweet to see John again! I hope Drake is recovering well. I'm looking forward to a Jarlena wedding, especially if that means we get another Shelle sighting!

Claire's not wrong. Ciara is way out of line and keeps being inappropriate. That letter was a complete breach of the girl code, though I wish Claire had confronted Ciara about it. Still, I just don't see what Claire sees in Theo -- other than the fact that he's not related to her, which for Claire, is hard to find.

Billy Flynn is charming with both Marci Miller and Camila Banus. But, you know when I saw the spark of Chad back? Chad's scenes with Theo and Sonny! True, I'll never grow tired of Chad/Theo scenes. But these were especially great because, as far as decent family members go, Chad and Theo have an important bond. And Chad and Sonny's sincere friendship is one of the best things on DAYS.

Joey's getting much smarter! Joey giving Theo "the talk" was well founded. And it was very perceptive of Joey to feel like he took both of Tripp's parents away.

I like Kate in this sort of fairy godmother role to both Chad and Gabi. Well, that is if your fairy godmother was into drinking martinis and telling you exactly what to do with your life, whether you wanted her to or not. But other than that, same thing!

I want more of Marlena as wingman to Kate. Their scene was surprisingly fun and upbeat. And yeah, Marlena probably is Kate's best friend. Kate doesn't have many friends. This gives me hope that Gabi and Abigail can resume their friendship in the not-so-distant future.

J.J. and Lani got all bent out of shape when Eli played the "I have jurisdiction" card, which I really never get. If someone came into my office and told me they were taking over a project I'd been working on for a while, I would welcome them with open arms. I'm swamped. I'd probably ask them if they could take six other projects too.

I feel the need to point out that Chad splitting the antidote doesn't mean he loves one more. It means that he isn't an a-hole who wants people to die. Any decent person would have tried to save both women. That whole "test" was stupid.

Gabi and Eli's date was cute until J.J. showed up and was a pompous little jerk hole. He made Gabi cry over the absence of marshmallows (which is a valid concern). I'd take relationship advice from pretty much everyone else before J.J. He's the last person to lecture someone about appropriate partners.

HOT Kate spoke for a lot of us when she gave the eyebrow raise to Paulson looking so cozy. In his defense, he is the only other gay guy in town, but I digress. The point is that Sonny's speech to Kate was sweet, especially when he spoke of Arianna and the fact that Will would want Sonny to be happy (I agree). Lauren Koslow was heartbreakingly good in that scene. And when she finally agreed to love but back off, Sonny did in one scene with Kate what Lucas hasn't managed to do in almost three decades.

Honorable Mention Abigail held her own with Kate! Go on, Marci Miller! Get it!

NOT We only have a little time left with Arianne Zucker, so DAYS needs to do right by her. You know what isn't doing right by her? Having Nicole cower in fear around a kiddie-porn-loving creep. Please, the real Nicole Walker has put worse men in comas before. The real Nicole Walker faced off with true villains and won. The real Nicole Walker wouldn't apologize to some gross peeper who walked in on her topless in her own house!

For the record, she should have told Brady and Hillary that Scooter McSlimebag just hit on her and accused her of being a porn star. Brady could have thrown them out. (Which is a perfectly good reason to kick someone out of your house!) Then, done. You don't have to see them again. But, alas, we have an evaporated puddle of sparkle where one of my favorite characters used to stand. There's a lot that needs to happen before Arianne Zucker leaves. We don't have time to waste with this misogynistic storyline.

LINE OF THE WEEK Maggie (to Deimos): "And what are you going to do? Are you going to poison me? Again?" Yasssss! You know you done messed up when sassy Maggie comes out for you!

Honorable Mention: Sonny: "What happened to your face?" Deimos: "Oh, don't act like you care." Sonny: "Oh, I do care. I want to find the guy who did it and buy him a drink." I love Sonny for finally doing what Brady and Victor never had the guts to do.

RANDOM THOUGHTS Ciara is a Superstore fan, which obviously makes her the best person in Salem.

Do men still carry briefcases?

The bedrooms in the kids' loft look super cute. I want to see how they're decorated!

Lani looked stunning in that jumper.

It may not be bad for Roman to learn a little about dating apps.

Nothing good happens at the Green Mountain Lodge. Why do people keep going there? And how much allowance do these college kids get that they can afford to stay there?

Eddie could ask Rafe for advice on how to get on Kate's good side.

There's no way Ciara is Roman's favorite niece. That's Chelsea, all day. They both have that "back from the dead" thing!

I wonder if Sonny realized he dressed nearly identical to the wait staff at TBD.

Of course Kate has a viper around her purse.

I'm already shipping Tripp and Claire. Let's get this Jade blackmail out of the way so we can get to the legacy characters we care about who need a better storyline.

Couples who make out on a double date are kinda the worst.

I'm pretty sure Brady said that place had been on the market for a year. Cool that it was also fully furnished.

Shocker. Deimos dabbles in homophobia. I never would have guessed it. He seems too intelligent and compassionate.

There's certainly been enough "he's a DiMera" going around that I have to admit it was nice to hear someone using the "she's a Horton" for once. That shoe needed at least a minute on the other foot.

Lani: "We should go back to my place." Me: "Well, J.J. lives with his mom still, so that's probably a good idea."

You know you've reached full crime-family status when your confession is "I've decided to secretly work with the police."

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.