The course of true love never did run smooth

A bit of a break in the action gives us a chance to talk about why we watch soaps and what type of ending characters deserve. If you've ever rooted for the underdog, this week's Two Scoops is for you.

I know that the common joke is that the same things are always happening on soaps. "You can tune in 20 years later, and they're still doing the same thing! Hahaha!"

The truth is that I watch soaps for the exact opposite reason. I tune in day after day because eventually the person I'm rooting for will get the win. I spent six long years aboard the Ejami boat before the show got over itself and paired them up. Heck, I watched Passions to the bitter end just to see Ethan and Theresa finally end up together.

If you don't give the audience the payoff, then, well, you're just the jerky guy in a bad relationship. The Lifetime Network has ways of dealing with you.

I say all of this as a way to talk about Nicole's beautifully complicated storyline and how really this isn't "typical Nicole." The writers have been on their game for a good while now, and I hope that they'll follow through and not go the predictable route of Jen and Daniel saving the day, Eric dumping Nicole, and Marlena and Sami drinking champagne over her heartbroken corpse.

First, this isn't just some flavor of the moment that she's managed to snag on a technicality and hold onto because his #1 gal isn't around (See: E.J. and Daniel). There isn't anyone else Eric or Nicole would rather be with than each other.

Second, Marlena and Daniel keep acting like Eric hadn't gotten the chance to really decide if he wanted to be a part of the church or be with Nicole. If they were along for that retreat with Brother Lucky Charms, they would have seen that Eric made it very clear this wasn't an either/or choice. There was the very real option that he could leave the church and not end up with Nicole. He made that clear to her as well.

Next, I'm not too mad at Nicole for giving in to Eric's advances and ending up in bed with him. She'd just come from a session with Daniel -- the self-appointed Morality Police: Division of Other People's Business -- who just made her more desperate. I know how long she's waited for Eric. Like he said, they fell in love a lifetime ago. I mean, it's wasn't that long ago because I remember it, and I'm...ahem... clearly not that old.

Finally, yes, Nicole needs to come clean. All of this malarkey about them eloping because Daniel was in love with her was pretty horrible to watch. And it's going to come to a crashing end when Daniel and/or Eric end up with a fist in his respective face. I can see how some people have a hard time feeling for Nicole after that one.

But I just hope Eric isn't one of those people. I want better for my Nicole. I don't want her to be the proxy whipping girl because Kristen never got hers. I don't want all of the good she has done this time to count for nothing. After all, I'm a loyal soap viewer, and I really, really want a win for Nicole. She may not deserve it. But we do!

On the other side of Sweeps is the Nick investigation. I'll get to the Hope aspect of it later, but I find the civilian investigation very entertaining. It's almost like Salem's version of Clue!

Kate was sure that Lucas did the world a favor by getting rid of Nick, even though he insisted that all he did was steal her gun and throw it in the river. When it's not pertaining to his love life, Kate in Mama Bear mode with Lucas is kind of endearing.

But Lucas was actually suspicious of Will, and I'm sure the fact that Will thanked Lucas for doing him a real solid by going to jail for him before didn't help ease Lucas' mind. But Lucas would lie again for his son in a second.

Sonny noticed that Gabi was hella jumpy and even more hair-flippy than normal. How he remains sane in that apartment is a wonder at times.

Sami thought (and was a little proud, no?) that Will would do anything to protect his daughter. Since Sami already faced jail time because she didn't want to divulge Will's secret, there's little doubt that she'd do it again if it meant that Will would be safe. And because the most honest hit man in the history of ever returned E.J.'s money to him for a job not done (because, sure), Sami knows that the killer is still out there.

Abigail went into at least a level eight self-serving Horton rant about how E.J. killed Nick to protect his "DiMera ass." Once she got done shrieking, she finally realized that E.J. was telling the truth. I'll give Abigail a bit of a pass, since she doesn't know many of the horrors Nick did -- including trying to rape Gabi. But it would be nice for her to find out soon. Confident Abigail is much more enjoyable when she has a clue what she's talking about.

LOOSE ENDS Some guy who looked a lot like that John fella appeared at Brady's door with an envelope that contained info on how to track down Kristen. I don't know how John managed to pry that info from @Tony_S_Days, but he did. Sadly, Brady wasn't too thrilled to take a trip. Honestly, I agreed with Brady that it was very insulting for John to lump himself in the same vic tim category with Brady when it comes to the recent Kristen situation. This is not your parade, John.

It doesn't appear that DAYS knows what to do with Theresa's character yet. Sure, she shows up each time Brady is angry like she's some sort of Beetlejuice of destructive decisions. But then they had her gloat about how innocent she is in the Liam situation and proudly proclaim that at least she owned the fact that she's selfish. Um...right. Two things.

One, it needs to come out that she gave Liam the key to Daniel's apartment. She was very aware of what she was doing and how crazy Liam was. Two, Theresa plays the martyr to anyone who will listen about how Jenny the Holy Horton Terror ruined her life. Seriously, those eyelashes should be getting time and a half for their efforts over the last few months. She's as far from owning her selfishness as I am from going on a juice diet. (Note, unless juice diet = all wine all the time, in which case we can talk.)

If Daniel and Jennifer weren't talking to each other about Nicole, they were talking to other people about their involvement with Nicole. Isn't there a non-refundable cruise that Julie can give to these two while she's spending time with Marie and Jessica?

Also, I'm just going to throw this out there -- if Nicole was a hairy dude instead of a leggy blonde lady, I don't think Jen would have such a problem with it.

Aw, Gabi!!! Gabarino! Gabilicious!! Asking that Sonny be part of the custody agreement won you buckets of my adoration! I mean, I didn't buy your malarkey about how that's what you wanted all along, but this is a start! Now, please don't go back to sucking again.

Kate is still taking jewelry from Stefano. I hope there's a dinner coming as well. Also, I love that Sami had some girl talk with Kate because I adore their weird new friendship.

HOT I love that Maggie has no delusions about Nick. It makes her grief for him seem more genuine. I love that she says that the Nick that she wanted to memorialize is someone that not many people ever met. I love that she hinted back to the Lonely Splicer Nick and mentioned that he'd solve all of her crosswords for her when he was a child. But most of all, I love that Maggie has the self-awareness to not expect everyone else to feel the same way. Maggie is made of win.

NOT On the opposite end, there's Hope. First, it's ludicrous that she's even allowed within ten feet of this case. Roman should have handed this over to special consultant Abe Carver (who is busy with exactly nothing right now), leaving Hope to poke around on the corner of Rules Dr. and Gut Instinct St. There, if she wants to raise her eyebrow and get all judge-y, she can be my guest.

Second, the way she treated Lucas was deplorable. That's actually a compliment to Kristian Alfonso's brilliant touch at playing the hard-nosed detective. But the problem emerged when that trait went up against Hope's loyalty to her family and lost. When it comes down to it, Hope always picks her family over anything. This is the same gal who ignored a legal custody agreement and helped Belle and Shawn flee the jurisdiction with Claire. And as inconvenient as it seems to be for a certain gaggle of Horton ladies to remember, Lucas is a Horton.

If you want to get really technical about it, Hope wasn't even doing her job well, since she declared that Lucas was the only one in the square with a record of assault with a deadly weapon - laughable, since I could have sworn we sat through weeks of Sami on trial for shooting a man less than a year ago. And for some reason, she claims that everyone in the square was a suspect, despite the fact that the crime happened in the park, not the square.

The truth is that I've never missed Bo more than I did last week. Detective Hope Brady is too intense of a character not to be paired with a complimenting flavor for a partner. The brief scene where Aiden showed up to distract her from the case was delightful. We got to see Hope be intelligent and compassionate at the same time. I like that Hope so much better.

LINE OF THE WEEK Kate (complete with mom-voice and finger-pointing): "Lucas, I raised you to be a better liar than that!"

RANDOM THOUGHTS Duck voice balloons? Yes, please!

All those nice scenes between E.J. and Allie made me wish the show would give us a few scenes with Lucas and Johnny. I have a feeling that Lucas is equally awesome with him.

I'm assuming that Dario was given the same sort of "right to your niece" addendum that Rafe got in Ari's custody agreement.

I love that Daniel calls Maxine "Max."

I watch the Arm and Hammer commercials just to see blonde Sami.

These soap gals all remind me that I'd really like to add some more dresses to my wardrobe.

I'll give Sami this: her blind hatred toward Nicole is understandable, since their whole rivalry has been heavy on the Nicole side, starting with Nicole marrying Lucas to take Will from Sami to Nicole stealing Sydney from Sami to keep E.J.

I adored the unlikely trio of Marlena, E.J., and Allie.

I like that Theresa's idea of giving Brady "a minute" is just eavesdropping from the door rather than right over his shoulder.

Please, Jen, you do not know Nicole. You judge Nicole. That's not the same thing.

There's already a sect of fans that thinks the show canonizes Daniel on a daily basis. Having Nicole and Eric fight over who gets him as their best man will not help matters. I'm sure of it.

I love that Victor can walk in, see Maggie crying, and give her a hug to make it all better. Victor is kinda the best.

In case you want to see what scenes earned Eileen Davidson, Arianne Zucker, Eric Martsolf, and Chandler Massey an Emmy nom, check them out here!

That's it for now. Tony will be back next week to continue our march through Sweeps, or, as he likes to call it, the preparation for the return of Kristen and Eve. It should be a good time.

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.