If you're going through hell, keep going

There will come a time when Sami goes over the line. But that point didn't happen yet, no matter what Adrienne says. If you're not a Sami fan, well, you got five episodes each week of people telling her how terrible she is. If you are a Sami fan, you've got this week's Two Scoops.

A good chunk of my Sami fandom is rooted in the fact that people constantly hold her up as the black sheep of the family. Even when she's dead right (like right now), she's still wrong. So, I feel like I need to be there for her. She needs a friend, and I'm right there yelling, "Go on, Sami! You can do it!" -- a sentiment I'm sure this imaginary soap character appreciates to no end.

And as a fan, it's such a relief when your faith is rewarded with such an entertaining storyline.

The cherry on top of this sundae of awesome is the Kami alliance. And, yes, I shot Kate some side-eye when she manipulated Sami's emotions back to where Lady MacBeth Kate needed them to be. But it's a small price to pay for getting those delightful scheming breakfast scenes from this power duo.

Seriously, in a matter of weeks, these lethal ladies managed to do what the Salem P.D. and basically the entire Brady family has been trying to do for decades -- remove Stefano from power. If Abigail hadn't put herself in the position to be road kill, Salem would be throwing a parade for Kami.

But alas, despite accomplishing something that no one has ever been able to do before, Sami is still public enemy number one. Just ask Adrienne. Actually, better not ask Adrienne because Mrs. K is probably still reeling from having her rump served up on a silver platter, courtesy of Sami.

Aside from seeing Adrienne put in her place, it was nice to see, although it was only for an instant, that someone got where Sami's coming from. That's been rare. And that's the only tarnish on this otherwise champ of a storyline. There was a huge opportunity here to see what would happen if the Hortons went against the Bradys. Marlena should have gone off on Jennifer. Julie should have come back to have it out with Caroline. A very special guest arc from Carrie would have been hella appropriate.

But alas, everyone is falling over themselves to protect Abigail and shame Sami for being so out of control -- an opinion that I find hilarious given that she didn't have to swap one DNA test or commit treason against the U.S. or anything! I'm sure there will come a point where Sami goes over the legal or some other line, but that point is not here yet.

The question is whether she'll get there before her love for E.J. becomes too much for her to fight back. E.J. has some serious groveling to do. I don't agree at all that Sami somehow caused their affair by kicking E.J. out of her bed. Not only did she have a very good reason (not to mention one that E.J. is still lying to her about to this day -- whoops!), but she was honest with him about her feelings of confusion for months. If he grew impatient, fine. Then he should have taken his ring back and kicked her out, not have an affair with Abigail. He took the coward's way out and should pay for that.

But, huzzah! E.J. has a plan! On the downside, it involves him serving as Salem's drug lord again. But on the upside -- Victor! The two are working together. I welcome any and all things Victor. There may even be a slight chance that they'll be sharing mimosas in their silk robes too. A girl can dream!

As for Abigail, I'm shedding exactly no tears over the fact that she has to find something else to do than be her mother's assistant because it was time for that to be over. So, go on, Abs! Go get that psychic job and rock it! I'm honestly looking forward to whatever gig she gets next. (Note: it should be Nicole's. Abigail as a mini-Lois Lane would be delightful.)

Truth be told, Abigail is fine right now. Aside from everyone in Salem being on her side, she's got Ben giving her kisses and gifts. And when they have a disagreement, they do this thing called "talk about their feelings." I almost didn't recognize this behavior due to its rarity on soaps.

Case in point: the three-alarm Greek tragedy that is Ericole. Man, it was a rough week for these 90s lovebirds.

Unlike some other Salemites, Eric's sense of smugness comes from a genuine place. The teachings that he's spent years living and breathing are now in direct conflict with what his heart (and, ahem, other body parts) want. I can see how that would make a fella a bit moody.

But let's get real here -- there's no way that man was going to remain a priest. There's a limit to the storylines that tall, dark, and blue-eyes can do while wearing a collar -- especially when Greg Vaughan and Ari Zucker are that magical together. Nicole's desperation for forgiveness was palpable.

Perhaps when she gets back to Salem, she can give her old buddy Rafe a lesson.

Wouldn't you know it? Just when Rafe was about to come clean, Jordan found out that he'd slept with Kate. Two things:

One, good on Jordan for not buying any of his "I didn't think I deserved someone as good as you" malarkey. And she was quick to realize that Kate, not Sami, was behind the whole thing. How nave are you, Detective/former FBI agent Hernandez, indeed!

Two, you can tell Rafe isn't wrong very often because he completely sucks at apologizing. For example, he made less than no effort to avoid Kate after making this self-proclaimed "huge mistake" with her. Then, when Jordan confronted him about cheating, he made sure to point out how honest and great his mistress has always been to him. I can't quite put my finger or it, but something (regret?) was missing. Even Rafe's ego can't be that big, can it?

Perhaps Clyde has been on the FBI's Most Wanted List and Rafe has been using the happy coincidence that Jordan was assigned as his physical therapist this whole time as part of an investigation? It makes sense that the easiest way to smoke out Clyde would be to use his kids as bait.

In case you're wondering, Clyde, who clearly is not hurting for any of the money Jordan and Ben stole from him, met with one of the Duck Dynasty Mafia to find out how Jesse was doing. Finally! We're going to find out what Jesse has been up to since suffering those burns! I've been so worried about him! And BethAnne? Gawd, you know it hasn't been easy being pregnant and taking care of their three kids! What ever will happen? I care so much about these people!

LOOSE ENDS I'm cool with the fact that Will works for some low-moral gossip magazine that doesn't care if he secretly tapes his subjects and writes pieces solely for retaliation. It's actually a pretty juicy soap job. But, I'm starting to cringe a bit at the return of Will "my mother must earn my love by ways that I dictate" Horton. For previous examples, please reference any Will not played by Chandler Massey.

Also, I'm not sure how Will is going to manage to write this piece and not drag his precious cousin's name through the mud too. Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh. I'm sure they're close from all that time he spent in Switzerland at ski camp and she spent in Salem hanging out with Chelsea and Nick.

How much do I love the fact that Eve's case is going forward? Let me count the ways! One, we get more Aiden, which is always a good thing. I think Jennifer would agree. And hey, you know what they say. Nothing makes you face the reality that your husband isn't coming back more than seeing your cousin take an interest in your crush. (I swear, I've seen that on a mug or something somewhere.)

Two, the only way to verify that document is to call witnesses who knew Eve and Jack way back when! Who would you like to see on that witness list?

Three, I completely believe the strong bond that both of these women have with their respective kids. I really do adore the way Jennifer is with J.J. Likewise, my heart went out to Eve a little when she told Paige, "You've gone so far past me." For both of these ladies, being a mom puts them in their best light.

Funny, I could have sworn Sami and Rafe forgave each other for their individual affairs, got back together, but then clashed and split for good over Will and Gabi's decision to let Nick raise Arianna. But, yeah, it's probably best to just go ahead and rewrite everything so that it's all Sami's fault. Consistency is always the best practice. Accuracy? Devil's magic.

HOT Get Victor one of those advice booths that Lucy from Peanuts had. He completely nailed the Wilson situation when he asked Sonny, "Did you marry this man or adopt him?" I liked that Victor appreciated that Sonny came to Victor out of a place of care because Sonny was absolutely concerned for Will. But Sonny ever-so-delicately needed to be told that he can't play the Uncle Vic Trump Card every time he doesn't like a choice that Will makes. #truth

NOT Adrienne is that girl who likes to claim that she's not into drama, when, in fact, she is absolutely, 100% drama-filled and has no sense of self-awareness. Why else would she take it upon herself to call up Will and complain to him about Sami? On top of being inappropriate, she was rather selective with her details. That hospital policy was in place well before Abigail climbed into E.J.'s shower. Adrienne conveniently left that part out when describing Sami's "extortion."

LINE OF THE WEEK: Sami (regarding J.J.): "Thanks for throwing me in the kiddie pool, E.J." First, ha! Second, Sami promptly put J.J. in his place for his lack of paying for any of his crimes. Third, I would very much like to see Casey Moss get to hang around with more of the acting big dogs. The kid is a stud.

SUMMER LOVIN' Before the next installment of the Summer Lovin' series hits the web next week, be sure to check out the second one, Love is lovelier the second (or third, or fourth) time around.

RANDOM THOUGHTS I'm pretty sure Sister Mary Clarence designed Nicole's pearl-collared black and white dress.

I don't blame Eric for not giving up his seat on the plane. Ten feet of legroom on an international flight is worth sitting next to the devil himself.

It made complete sense that Sami wanted Rafe back. He's never cheated on her with someone she thought was close to her.

For the record, I actually think that Sami showed restraint by letting Abigail resign rather than just giving the pictures to Anne and having the whole goat rodeo dragged before the board.

Is it bad that I'm more upset that Theresa is lying to Brady than I am that she hit John?

I'd like to see Ben and J.J. develop that cool bromance kind of thing that Steve and Bo had. You know, minus the whole loss of an eye part.

I'm going out on a limb here and saying that it's probably not a great idea to fall asleep when you're guarding a DiMera that you've just taken hostage.

There's part of me that wants Thrady to stay together. Specifically, the idea of Theresa as Marlena's pseudo daughter-in-law makes my inner smirkerella do a happy dance.

That's it for now! I'll be back next week to hopefully see what happens when Daniel gets Kristen back to Salem. I mean, I know everyone will tell Brady to just get over it since he should have known better than to trust a DiMera and all. But still, fingers crossed!

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