Angel on call

With dignity and grace, Lexie passed away in Abe's loving arms. So, turn on the sad songs that say so much as Two Scoops says goodbye to Salem's rose. Plus, we go from tears to cheers with an Emmy celebration.

You know, Charles Dickens knew his stuff. He wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I suspect he wasn't talking about DAYS, but nevertheless, Chuck, it applies to our fair soap. Last week was the best and the worst.

In fact, last week made me feel like I was on a soap. One minute I was happy. The next minute I was sad. And the next I was having steamy banter with a hot doctor. Okay, I can't back up that last part, but I was on an emotional roller coaster going up, down, and sideways while clinging on to my tissues and remote control.

You see, after watching a weeks' worth of episodes, and crying like a baby the entire time, I was down. As I began to write this column, I turned on the Emmys and came back up while cheering as DAYS brought home some gold! And then I went sideways when I remembered the ber depressing casting news about Peter Reckell. Best. Worst. Let's grab some champagne and some tissues, and discuss!

DAYTIME EMMYS Since I'm still fighting the sniffles from Lexie's death, let' start with the good news -- no, great news! DAYS won Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team and our little Chandler Massey nabbed the gold for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series. Finally some tears of joy! And I couldn't be more proud!

Of course, that great news got me wondering, "Do I have to start being nicer to the writers?" I pondered that through a glass of scotch, and the answer become foggily clear. Maybe my jabs encourage the writers to keep going...to prove me wrong. Right? So, sure, I can still be as snarky as I want. Whew! I was worried there for a second.

However I was never worried about Chandler. I knew he would win. That young man has oodles of talent, and it's been such a treat to watch him grow over the years. I don't know if he reads Two Scoops or not, but if he does -- congratulation, Chandler! We love you here, and we're so proud to Scoop your shenanigans as Will.

But as much as I would love to stay in party mode, I have to tackle what happened on DAYS last week. Sure, the show said hello to some Emmys, but we all had to say goodbye to Lexie. And cue the tears in five, four, three, two...

LEXIE and ABE It's been coming for months. We've watched her get sicker and sicker. We've also hoped for the best, but she's gone. Lexie is dead. Please join me for a moment of silence. Read that as, "I'm still blubbering like a baby and don't know what to write." Sorry, the montage put me over the edge.

For starters, I'll miss Rene Jones. She's simply magic. I adore her. During The Golden Donut Awards: The Best of DAYS 2011 I wrote of her:

^{"...one thing rings true every time she randomly pops up. I always think, "Wow! Rene is gorgeous!" She has a classy, timeless beauty that's only enhanced by her innate warm presence and a smile that lights up the screen."}

I still feel the same way. And that doesn't make saying goodbye any easier. But we'll always have flashbacks and YouTube, right?

Lexie spent her last moments in Abe's arms. Prior to that, they spent time reminiscing about their life together. It was tender, touching, bittersweet, and simply heartbreaking. Rene and James Reynolds brought their all to the scenes, and I thank them for creating such moving, memorable moments.

After she was officially gone, Lexie's radiant spirit visited Abe, Theo, and E.J., and then simply disappeared. But I'm taking what Lexie said to heart. She'll remain our "angel on call." Whenever we're down, she'll be there. I only hope for more heavenly visits from Rene.

One thing's for sure, Theo knows Lexie will always be with him. He actually knew when she was gone. Who else lost it when he said, "Mommy just went to heaven"? And then lost it again when he asked Abe, "Daddy, what do we do now?" I'm not sure if it was their special bond, or if he's a little Celeste in the making, but whichever it was, he broke my heart.

And then there was Abe. He broke my heart, too. James managed to bring such real emotions to the scenes. His reactions and interactions with Abe's family and friends were spot-on. His time with Bo and John choked me up. Abe even hugged E.J. in what I would like to call "Tony Cries Number 4,564."

All and all, Lexie is gone. Next week we will say our final farewells, but for the time being, I'm going to live in denial a little while longer. I'm hoping that Abe will open the shower door this week to find Lexie inside where she'll say a chipper, "Good morning," and we'll realize last week was all a dream.

KATE and CARRIE While I was left wishing for a dream scenario with Lexie, Kate became Carrie's worst nightmare. I've been wondering for years why Kate has never ripped into Carrie for her indiscretions, and it finally happened. Sort of. Kate didn't rip, she warned. And, oh, what a warning that was! It even came with an elegantly wrapped dagger.

Although I have an odd soft spot for Carrie and Rafe, God help me, I thought it was great that Carrie got called to the table. Everyone on her side of the family basically encouraged her to cheat, oh, sorry, "follow her heart," but Kate wasn't having it. She saw the glances exchanged between Rafe and Carrie, and then called her out. Good for her! Since Austin doesn't have a clue, perhaps it's good that he has Kate is his corner.

The zinger of zingers had to be when Kate told Carrie she would not let one of her sons be torn apart by the Brady girls again. Ha! Take that, Carrie! You just got lumped together with Sami. So, see, you two loving sisters do have something in common.

The moral of the story is -- don't mess with Kate. Kate buys knives as gifts. Kate bakes poisoned brownies. Kate will turn you into a hooker. So, Care Bear, don't mess with Mama Kate by messing with Rafe. Got that? Good.

WILL and COMPANY With all of his family and friends finding out he's gay, I'm eager to see Kate's reaction. Given the fact she already suspected, I hardly think she'll be surprised, but I'm eager nonetheless. Although I pity the fool that breaks Will's heart. Something tells me she won't take too kindly to that.

The majority of Will's loved ones were kind. I even give Rafe kudos for supporting Will. That was touching. And whereas some people had issues with Roman's reaction, I didn't.

First, Roman was blindsided by the news, thanks to Neil's alibi. In fact, it seemed to take a while -- and some flat-out explaining -- before it sunk it. I don't think he was shocked and appalled; I think he was just shocked.

Plus, Roman himself admitted he's from a different generation. Heck, he probably still uses a VCR to record Bonanza reruns and rereads Louis L'Amour books while lounging on his Davenport. The age gap is a realistic point.

Because of that, I can't blame him for needing a little time to process Will's news. Not everyone is ready to grab a rainbow flag and march in a pride parade the moment a loved one comes out. Sometimes it takes time. But at the end of the day, he loves Will and that's what really matters. Ro Ro will come around. I'm not that worried.

Roman also seemed to view the news from a cop's perspective. Through his job, Ro Ro has seen how horrible people can be to one another. When he spoke to Will about Sonny's coffee shop venture, he told Will to tell him if someone messes with Sonny. That tells me Roman has seen the ugliness of hate crimes before, and that he doesn't want to see Will the victim of one. I get that viewpoint, too.

Of course, Sami encouraged Roman to reach out to Will and shared her mishap when she found out. Sami was the voice of reason. Wow. I can't believe I wrote that. In fact, with Sami firmly on Will's side, I think the young Mr. Horton (portrayed by Emmy Winner Chandler Massey, thankyouverymuch) will be just fine.

Speaking of fine, I sort of fell in love with Sami all over again last week. The amount of pride she showered Will with was amazing. Alison Sweeney nailed the subtly of the scenes as well as the grand declarations. It was sweet to actually see Will smile and accept Sami's love and support.

Also sweet were Sonny and Will's scenes. They're adorable together. Will becomes this grinning fool when he's around Sonny, which is a far cry from the overwhelmed stress ball he normally is. It's refreshing to see him smile and relax. Even if they don't ever end up romantically linked, I hope their friendship lasts. It seems to be a good thing for both of them.

And then there's Will and E.J.'s relationship. James and Chandler floor me each week. They have such great chemistry. It intrigues me that E.J. can be mercilessly manipulative and completely compassionate with Will simultaneously. Will seems just as appalled and enthralled. I say, more, please!

STEFANO'S MURDER INVESTIGATION With Will off the hook (and officially out of the closet), all eyes seemed to be on E.J. last week. Rafe, Billie, Roman, and *swoon* Agent Spencer all believe he's the guilty party. Which means -- drum roll, please -- I believe he's innocent.

It just doesn't jive with me that E.J. killed Stefano. We saw him take a shot, but he didn't strike Stefano when he could. He left in a huff, and I doubt he returned. My guess is that he was with Nicole, begging for another chance. So, I'm not sold. I'm convinced that the real culprit is still at large.

With that said, I'm glad Agent Spencer is back. He's an interesting character with a lot of potential. He seems like a smart, straight shooter. I hope the writers use this case as a way to explore his character as well as give us a little "Rafe the Great" break.

NICOLE and DR. DAN For starters, I loved Victor and Dr. Dan's chat about Nicole. Victor's snarky honesty was spot-on. He explained that he knew there wasn't water in the pool, but willingly dove in anyway. And it appears Dr. Dan is putting on his swimsuit as well. He's smitten with Nicole. And Nicole seems smitten with him, too.

I was actually taken aback by Dr. Dan and Nicole's saucy banter. Ari Zucker and Shawn Christian surprised me. Out of the blue, it was like they switched this intense, dirty chemistry that made me feel a little violated, but intrigued. I'm not sure if I like the idea of "Dancole," or whatever the cyber kids are calling them, but I'm not as opposed to them as I was before. Their "all the cards on the table" approach is refreshing. Time will tell, but for now, their scenes are better than the Nicole/E.J. "baby come back to me" ones. So, there's that.

LOOSE ENDS Okay, John Black. You officially rock. I loved the way he supported Abe and Will. When he said to Will, "You're out, and I'm proud," I wanted to hug him. As Salt-n-Pepa sang, "Whatta man!" Abracadabra! "Magic" has reunited, and I can breathe a sigh of relief. It took Victor and Maggie a little while to work through their problems, but they did, and I'm one happy Scooper. Of course I don't know how happy Victor and Maggie are as Brady and Dr. Dan interrupted their afternoon delight. Whoopsy!

Speaking of Brady, he went to Dr. Dan for a drug test and Maggie for some support. The latter is a good thing, as Madison seems to be keeping her support at arm's length lately. But, really, she's never done anything wrong, so she does have the right to be all judgy.

Now, I'm not judging Abigail, but I am upset she didn't offer me some awesome tickets and backstage passes for a Black Eyed Peas concert. I stuck with her when she was "Crazy Abs," so a little gift of gratitude would have been appreciated. Regardless, she ditched the tickets to hang with Cameron. They're growing on me, so I'll forgive her this time.

Forgiving Gabi just for being Gabi might be a bit harder. She's sort of a tool. Um, I could safely delete the "sort of" part. Anyway, Gabs visited Andrew van Hottie and beamed about Melanie skipping town. That officially means Gabi's only interactions last week were stalking Chad and spending time with her pseudo-stalker. Seems healthy to me.

I'm impressed that Melanie played the "DiMera Boyfriend" and "Kiriakis Step-Grandfather" card with Andrew. Sadly, the dude seems too dumb to get it. Ah, well, you can't have looks and brains. Just ask Austin.

For those keeping track, Melanie only needs to be kidnapped a few more times to reach "Marlena Status." You can do it, Mel!

HOT: I love you, Rene Jones! I know it's your time to move on, just as it was Lexie's, but I'll miss you. So, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my soap loving heart for crafting such a wonderful, complex character that we've grown to love (and love-to-hate from time to time, too). DAYS won't be the same without you, but may the next chapter of your life bring you joy and happiness!

NOT: I know Celeste's mourning, but, holy Psychic Friends Network, Batman, she needs to turn down the bitch dial. She thinks Abigail is bad news, but she's got nothing on Gabi? Not even one "That girl is bat shit crazy" vibe? Nope, nada. I think her abilities need some fine-tuning, and her attitude a little adjusting.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Nicole (to Dr. Dan): "In a showdown between the tramp and the manwhore, who's going to come out on top?"

HONORABLE MENTION: Sonny (to Will): "You're out of the closet and cleared of murder in one amazing day. Smile!"

RANDOM THOUGHTS: HALT! That's "Hungry Angry Lonely Tired." Who knew?

Who knew Salem had such a happening gay scene? There's the nightclub Unicorn Highway (and that name still makes me chuckle), and now we have the Spot.

Did anyone else crack up at the looks on John and Abe's faces when Marlena told them Will was out with a man?

I wonder if John ever looks at Celeste and thinks, "Oh, right. She helped to keep me chained in a dungeon."

The lighting on DAYS lately has been amazing, and I don't usually notice things like that. The DiMera Mansion scenes are especially intense and creepy.

Yeah, Neil! I like that kid.

Did Sonny's outer shirt remind anyone else of a dentist smock?

Spoiler Alert: Ian's still creepy.

PARTING THOUGHTS: So, friends and fellow DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of June 25! As Laurisa will be on her international ISA mission a bit longer (READ: getting drunk with Chelsea and Max), I'll be back next week. Will we shed more tears for Lexie? Will Elton John re-re-write "Candle in the Wind" with the lyrics "Goodbye Salem's rose"? Will E.J. be checked off the suspect list? Will young Will read Alice's letter? Will Gabi fall on a landmine and make all my dreams come true? Only time (and spoilers) will tell, and, "That's a fact!"

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