Love and understanding

Last week, Jennifer tried to play Cupid, but Cupid was also playing Jennifer. She and Dr. Dan are getting along quite nicely, which probably means that she and Carly will both fall for him and ruin their friendship.

I'm trying something new this year. I'm attempting not to be "bah humbug" about Valentine's Day. I'm even tying a string around my finger to remind myself not to roll my eyes at every twit carrying an oversized, pink stuffed something-or-other, not to balk at cheap heart-shaped boxes of candy, or giggle at goofballs walking around in red sweaters.

Come to think of it, I might be a little cynical about love. Hmm, if only someone like Dr. Charlotte Taylor were around to talk to about my feelings. But, I digress. I'm trying to be a little more open-minded to all sorts of warm, fuzzy crap. Ironically, DAYS had both last week -- warm, fuzzy moments and crappy ones. So, let's discuss what I loved and what I just didn't understand.

BO and HOPE Nancy Grace would be proud of the writers last week. In what can only be considered swift justice, Bo was cleared of his charges and Hope was set free. End of story, fade to black.

Truth be told, I hate long, drawn-out courtroom scenes. Usually, two days is my limit. Mostly, I find it maddening to watch characters give suspicious looks when asked even the most routine questions. And those questions! Those questions are usually followed by a lengthy pause and a commercial break. No, thank you.

With that out in the open, even I was a little dissatisfied that we didn't see any of Hope's hearing. Things were made worse by the play-by-plays given when Justin walked back into the holding room. It was like when you're starving, but can't eat because of some reason or another and all that the people around you are talking about is how great their lunch was. I'm hungry, writers; I want more!

Heck, I'm not even being greedy here. I would have settled for one sappy Bo testimony, one teary-eyed but brave Carly deposition, or a little lawyer magic from Justin. Okay, I'll be a little greedy. I would have loved a cameo by Judge Harold T. Stone giving a verdict of, "Fifty dollars plus time served." That was pretty much the result anyway.

Ultimately, I'm an unapologetic Bo and Hope fan. I love that they're inching their way back together. However, "inching" is the pivotal word. They need to take it slow. Even in Salem time, just the day before Carly and Bo broke up and, until recently, Hope was acting all shades of crazy. They need to address those issues first and then I'll start to buy their next round of happily ever after.

JENNIFER, DR. DAN, and CARLY Jennifer and Carly are re-bonding, and that makes me happy. Their friendship is a DAYS staple, and it will be interesting to watch them deal with their individual "crossroads" together. I love me some strong, independent soap women, so bring it on, writers!

However the road ahead for them does have its caution signs. That is, I'm worried that Jennifer and Carly will both fall for Dr. Dan and ruin their friendship. It seems like Jennifer already has the notion to play cupid. But it also appeared that cupid was playing Jennifer as she and Dr. Dan seemed to be getting along quite nicely. They talked. They bickered. They exchanged goofy smiles. In other words, they flirted a bit. Then again, Jack will probably return if Jennifer reaches a substantial level of happiness without him, so, really, I'm probably worrying about nothing. Jennifer and Carly will be just fine.

SAMI and FAKE RAFE To start with, I'm christening a new nickname for "Fake-Rafe." I'm calling him "Fafe." That's the "FA" from fake and the "FE" from Rafe. Are you with me? Good!

Here's the thing. I'm not crazy about this storyline. I had to dig deep to find the good parts. And by "good," I mean I couldn't fast-forward because I had to Scoop this week and so I'm jotting down the parts that didn't utterly annoy me.

What I dug up is that Fafe is more amusing than Real Rafe. That's the tarnished silver lining I'm clinging to. That and the fact that you can tell Galen Gering is having fun with the material. It has to be a kick for an actor who's played the same character for years to branch out, and I'm not one to begrudge anyone's amusement.

Another gem I dug up was that Fafe's overactive libido caused me to chuckle. He reminded me of when the character Burt on the sitcom Soap was kidnapped and replaced by an oversexed alien look-alike. If that sounds bizarre, well, it's pretty much on track with DAYS right now.

I do, however, hope that Fafe put down a protective plastic floor mat before he took Sami on her magic carpet ride, if you catch my drift. Okay, first, kind of "ew" all around on that one and sorry to bring up that quote. Second, we already know Sami is the most fertile gal in Salem these days. So, please, dear, writers, don't even think about adding a bouncing number five to Sami's Brady bunch. And, third, well, this next part I'm going to try to put as delicately as I can.

I understand that Stefano hired the best plastic surgeons and voice coaches dirty money can buy. I also bought that he loopholed his way around fingerprints and got a lucky break on blood types. But, okay, here's where I'm trying to tread lightly: some things you just can't fake. And I just can't imagine Sami not realizing she was "sleeping with" someone else.

Sure, sure, she's so into Rafe, and he has the accident as an excuse. She believes he's just temporarily loopy, but, and excuse me in advance for the automobile metaphors, but if you're man normally drives a limousine and all a sudden he's driving one of those tiny European cars (or vice-versa), he may not be the same driver. Stefano either really does have one heck of a plastic surgeon, or he's on the fast track to putting the ExtenZe guy out of business. That's all I'm saying.

E.J., NICOLE, and TAYLOR The biggest problem I have with E.J. and Nicole, Part 2, is the fact that I couldn't understand E.J. and Nicole, Part 1. Flops like that shouldn't be revisited, and that's exactly why you've never seen Howard the Duck, Part 2. The first one sucked, the second isn't going to get better, folks.

And speaking of sucking, good grief! E.J. and Taylor's meeting was so cheesy that I'm going to have digestive issues for a week. Even Domino's knows enough to stop with six cheeses on their pizzas. The writers? Well, they piled on about ten pounds of it with that chance encounter on the pier.

The main issue I have is that the writers are setting things up for a Nicole/E.J./Taylor triangle, it seems. For that to work, I would first have to believe that E.J. and Nicole have something significant to come between. As it stands, they both are kind of using each other and simply knocking boots because they don't have anyone else to knock with at the moment. All in all, not amused.

VICTOR and BRADY Holy hostile corporate takeover, Batman! Brady bested Victor for control of Titan. Smooth move. When the Brady-Man turns to the dark side, he really turns to the dark side. And I like it!

Oddly, Brady's reasons to take control of Titan made some sense, and I can't wait to see this battle unfold. It should be epic in a Luke vs. Darth kind of way. In fact, if DAYS decided to veer away from baby drama and focus on corporate capers for a while, I probably wouldn't mind. And, yes, writers, that was a hint.

LOOSE ENDS I like that Taylor's hanging out with the Carvers. It makes sense. But I will say that her relationship with Theo pales in comparison to his bond with Chelsea. I don't know about anyone else, but I need a Rachel Melvin fix. It's about time Chelsea visits her little BFF and then sarcastically whips everyone else in Salem back into shape.

Ironically, E.J. stalking Allie is probably the most attention she's gotten in months. Hmm, years maybe. Nevertheless, it gives me the creeps that he and Stefano are targeting her. It's probably not the worst thing they've ever done, but it ranks up there. And for purely selfish reasons, I hope we don't see it go any further than threats because DAYS has definitely exceeded their number of kidnapped children over the last few years. Done and done with that.

So, Vivian wants to be Stefano's BFF. I'm glad that she's not orbiting Planet Victor anymore, but I hope the writers give her more to do than kick up dust at the DiMera mansion on occasion. Vivian is a legend and needs something substantial to sink her scheming teeth into.

Perhaps this should be in the "Randomness" section, as Carrie's phone time with Sami was, in fact, random. Sure, it was nice to see Christie Clark again, but I was a little underwhelmed by the Brady sisters' quick chat. I was also a little odded out by the fact that they said "I love you" when they hung up. I'm glad they're besties now, but hearing them exchange those three little words was about as strange as watching the entire Melaswen saga. Note to the writers: we need to ease into this particular sisterly bonding one step at a time.

Finally, I should probably talk about Chloe leaving Parker home alone with a batch of cookies smoldering in the oven. Then again, what's there to say? There's really nothing fun about babies in danger or burnt cookies.

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT: Stefano and Kate are ruined and it feels so good! *Swoon* Just as great -- Joseph Mascolo and Lauren Koslow discussed the "State" relationship on last week's Valentine's edition of Soap Central Live (Click here to listen to the fun!). Joe and Lauren talked with Dan about why Stefano and Kate are attracted to each other, and they also offered some humorous advice on "love at first sight" and why soap couples can't make love without getting pregnant! Heck, if Stefano and Kate can make their relationship work, maybe there is something to this icky Valentine's stuff after all.

NOT: Melanie deciding to team up with Kate to get Parker away from Chloe makes playing with a hairdryer while standing in a bathtub full of water sound like a good idea. This dumb decision isn't doing favors for the character. Mel knows better and I don't believe that her love for Parker is "so strong" that she would turn to Kate, especially after the twenty times she's already kicked Kate out. Listen here, Little Bit, when Maggie and Dr. Dad are your voices of reason and tell you to let it go where Parker is concerned -- let it go. I'll put it in one word so Mel is sure to understand, "letitgo!"

LINE OF THE WEEK: Sami (to Nicole regarding her willingness to do anything to be with Johnny and Sydney): "It doesn't bother you that sounds totally pathetic and sad?" Preach it, sister!

RANDOMNESS... Hope and Ciara's reunion was perfectly awe-inducing. So cute!

Faye lives in Chicago now? Didn't she live in Cleveland just last year? For a woman who's broke, she sure has the money to move around a lot. I guess she and Sami work for the same company.

Nicole taking pictures of Stefano crashing Johnny and Sydney's party was hysterical!

I'm not sure how Sydney's birthday cake made it home in one piece since Fafe was holding it at an angle the entire time. Whoops!

Mel's devotion to Parker is a bit exasperating, but I will give her a point for asking Philip, "Did you stay [with Parker] for two minutes or three?" Um, I think it was less than that, Sweetie.

Jay Ken got his ears lowered. Nice!

A big thank you to Maggie for wearing that awesome outfit last week! And that's exactly why she was my pick for "Best Dressed" during last year's Golden Donut Awards. I feel so vindicated!

If Chad keeps changing his last name, he just might give AMC's Erica Kane a run for her money. The lady's had at least eleven different names via marriage. Come on, Chad -- only eight more to go!

PARTING THOUGHTS... So, friends and DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of February 14th. Laurisa will be back next week to Scoop on all things Sweeps! She'll also fill us in on how DAYS celebrated Valentine's Day and, judging from NBC.com's weekly preview, it looks like things in Salem will be all shades of romantic. And, "That's a fact!"

As always, thanks for reading! Tony

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