The pen is mightier than the sword

Salem deals with the fallout of Will's article. They think it exposed Abigail, E.J., and Sami. But it might just have done the best job of exposing the new Will. Take a deeper look in this week's Two Scoops.

Believe it or not, Kristen's drama took a backseat for a week. Sure, the grand jury indicted her on a list of charges so long that it probably sets a new DiMera record. But the real drama came from Will's article. That old saying? "Sticks and stones," my foot. Those words hurt.

Take a look for yourself. DAYS posted Will's article here. I love that they took an extra step to interact with fans. Soaps get so little money to do fun things like marketing, and I do appreciate the extra effort that went in here.

As for the article itself...sure, it contains a lot of true statements. But there's a funny little thing about truths. Position them in a certain way -- and of course leave out some others -- and all of a sudden, you've got a highly editorialized, biased tale, motivated solely by your own agenda.

But that's exactly the point. This isn't a factual report of what happened. It's Will's point of view.

Will comes right out and says he had a purpose to writing the article, and we learned last week that it wasn't all about protecting Abigail. I was downright floored when he pouted to Marlena that no one had congratulated him on making the cover. I think she was, too, as she left her once-prized grandchild sitting on his couch without so much as a "my dear boy." It was then that I realized that we're in the era of a new Will. And forgive me, but I'm slightly nervous. Help me through this, fans.

You see, I really miss Chandler Massey's Will. Guy Wilson isn't doing anything short of a bang-up job. What I mean is that Massey's Will was written to have a bit more fire. That kid blackmailed E.J. DiMera. He helped E.J. and Sami escape the police when he believed E.J. had been framed. He fought against, with, and finally for his love for Sonny.

Maybe it's because we saw the whole coming-out storyline and really started to root for him, but there was something genuine about that Will that's been missing from this Will. Granted, the shake-ups of Nick (a truly believable nemesis) leaving, Gabi going to prison, and Abigail entering as his insta-BFF has kind of reset the character. But there are a lot of characters lining up to remind Will of the past. And I really hope new Will listens.

Sami was right. No one else but Will could have written that article. Neither Kate, Sami, nor E.J. would have spilled those details to a reporter. But unfortunately, Will actually believes his own drivel about another journalist doing the same thing.

E.J. was right too. Sure, it was hard not to choke on the hypocrisy of E.J. lecturing Will about ethics. But I can't say that anything E.J. said to Will was incorrect. I loved that E.J. pointed out that Lucas went to prison, and Sami almost did, too, in order to keep Will out of jail and with his daughter. Alas, that was a whole Will ago.

Also, I'm a little confused as to why Will is shocked that Sami lashed out when she was cheated on. Sonny merely yelled at Will, and Will got so upset that he went and made a baby with his straight ex-girlfriend. Homeboy really has no room to judge how other people deal with crisis in their own relationships.

But regardless of his motivations, the article came out, and now a good chunk of Salem has to deal with it. I love how this storyline involves characters from all four main families. Seriously, that type of thing makes me want to hug the writers.

I hope that they have something good planned for who leaked Abigail's name. That's a huge plot point to just take for granted. Just imagine how much the story would change if it was Ben, Stefano, or Victor who leaked the name.

Right now, we don't know for sure who leaked it. But Will's not one to let something like the truth get in the way of his own opinion, so he told E.J. that Sami did it and sent E.J. home to seethe. For that, I say, "Thank you, William!" I like it much better when my Ejami is a little mad!

People keep saying Sami and E.J. deserve each other like that's a bad thing. Sure, EJ and Sami have their good moments. But they're never winning the Daniel Jonas Merit Badge of Kindness. And you know what? That's okay! That's exactly the whole point of why I love them together.

Sami giving E.J. the silent treatment is the worst thing this couple can do. After the board read the article, she was forced to ask E.J. for help. I love this. Look, E.J. needs to crawl and suffer a bit. And he can't really do that with Sami keeping him at arm's distance. So, if these two have to make more than a few public appearances to show that they're happy and together, well, it kind of brings them back to their first scheme together when they had to fool that Immigration official.

Come to think of it, what if E.J. was the one who leaked Abigail's name, knowing that this would set off a chain of events forcing Sami to have to put on a show for the board? That sly guy!

As a side note, can we talk about the DiMera board for a second? First, I find it utterly impossible to believe that these chaps have a problem with their CEO lying to them and/or breaking the law to do so. Do you know who has been head of this company for decades? Please don't make me try to believe that this particular group cares about the crimes or misdeeds of its fearless leader.

Second, while I fully support Sami and E.J. having to play nice, I don't see why Sami isn't good enough for the position unless she's happily married to E.J. It smells a wee bit like sexism. And that doesn't make me happy. If Sami is making the board money, that should be the only distinguishing factor for them. That's clearly all it was with Stefano in the position.

LOOSE ENDS Just like that, Eve's lawsuit was settled. She got a Victor-size payout and a small portion of the profits from the book. In return, she can't talk about Jack in public. I kinda think that Eve should take the win here. But that doesn't mean that I won't watch Kassie DePaiva throw a tantrum any day. (Yes, that is a compliment!)

Theresa and Eve still have an uneasy alliance based on their mutual hatred of Jennifer and fondness of blackmail. I love Jen Lilly and Kassie DePaiva together, so I'll take any crumbs I can get. I'd like for Eve's plans to use Theresa to break up J.J. and Paige to start moving right away if not sooner -- especially if that means I won't have to watch another mea culpa from J.J. Sheesh, Nicole didn't confess that much to Eric when he was a priest.

I had to do a double take to make sure that Jordan wasn't Sheryl. Her wardrobe has come a long way since the scrubs and glasses days. Surely I'm not the only one who noticed, right, Lucas? Something tells me that Lucas and Jordan could have a lot to talk about in the shady father/stepfather department.

I'm sort of ready for Nicole and Daniel to break up as friends. I don't like that she's searching for salvation from Daniel. More so, I'm not thrilled that the show keeps putting him in a position to doll it out -- to Chloe, Jennifer, Nicole, J.J., etc. He's like the Blarney Stone of Salem. Kiss up to him enough, and good fortune will come your way.

Speaking of odd things going on with Nicole, I didn't have a problem with her confronting Kristen for letting Eric think that Nicole was the one who raped him. I just wish that instead of ranting, Nicole had taken Kristen on in the calm, calculating way that Nicole used to be so great at. Nicole acted a little too much like Jennifer and not enough like Nicole.

I couldn't help but notice that Hope went all "Mr. Jennings" on her dance partner. But, of course, she has this all under control. She does not freak out over just a dance nor the idea that Mr. Jennings may or may not be dating Jennifer. She's got her emotions totally under control. Yup. Totally.

Unless I'm wrong -- which I would so very much love to be -- I noticed a bit of a sparkle in Paige's eyes when she was talking to Daniel.

HOT I absolutely applauded how the Deveraux family dealt with the article's release! Abigail continued to handle herself well, from telling E.J. that she didn't need to be protected to giving Ben an out. She wasn't trying to hide from the truth as much as she was worried that those around her will suffer for her mistakes. She's kind of been a rock star through this whole thing, and I like her for it.

J.J. (who's been the family MVP for a while now) marched his spiky hair right over to cousin Will's place and gave him a much-deserved earful about turning on his mom. J.J. also dropped the truth bomb about Will's poor job of disguising Abigail's identity. Preach, J.J.! The next time someone needs to protect Will's identity, they should just describe him as, "The gay father whose wardrobe suggests that he might be mistaken for a Sesame Street character that sings about rubber duckies."

Finally, I liked seeing Jennifer jumping to action -- PR style. And I didn't even mind Jennifer saying that Abigail didn't have anything to be sorry for. I mean, sure she does, but Jennifer's motherly support was totally in the right place. I'm not mad at her at all.

NOT Dang it, Sonny! Why didn't you believe Will? There's no reason your should have assumed that the man who sold out his mother, grandmother, and step-father, and ensured that his siblings will be teased at school, would dare sell out his cousin. Good grief, you act like Will is the type of lad who has poor judgment! I mean, it's not like he ever shot a man in the back or anything. Will was totally and completely in the right to yell at you. Get your head together, mister!

LINE OF THE WEEK Kate (to Sami about E.J.'s warning): "Oh don't worry about that. He just means that he thinks Stefano is going to have someone kill us."

SUMMER LOVIN' It's here! In honor of the back-to-school season, the third installment of the Summer Lovin' series pays tribute to the Super kids from supercouples.

RANDOM THOUGHTS Have Ben and Abigail gone on that real date yet? If not, I'd like them to do so.

Whew! I'm so glad Aiden wasn't Kristen's attorney.

Okay, Anne's happy dance was kind of adorable.

I need one of those fabulous robes that Kate and Sami were sporting.

Marybeth has to be Anne's daughter, right?

Suzanne Rogers gets +1000 points for pulling off a hot pink jacket with her beautiful red hair.

I was a bit obsessed with Kristen's dress.

In case you can't keep track, dream-sequence Nicole wears super long earrings.

I wonder if Parker still holds a grudge about the whole train table scandal.

"According to Rory" is probably not the best support for any point you want to make.

It was odd to hear him called "Mr. Brady" and not "Father Eric."

Did Daniel have to testify at the grand jury? He has more evidence than Nicole and Eric do.

My head spun around when Paige told J.J. that he'd make a good father. Tell me that was weird and that I'm not just old.

They sure seemed to make a point to mention that Brady and Theresa's annulment isn't official yet.

Sure, Brady and Kristen will reunite next week, but let's be honest. We're really more interested in seeing what happens during the Salem reconnection of @Tony_S_Days and Kristen. You won't want to miss it.

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