My funny Valentine

DAYS is a little, well, odd right now. Is there something on the horizon to make it better? Are there a few changes to be made to restore the grand ol' gal? Let's discuss it in this week's Two Scoops.

The behind-the-scenes news broke last week that DAYS is getting a new (ish) team of head-writers. In this case, the "new" is Josh Griffith, a talented writer who comes off a successful stint on The Young and the Restless. The "ish" is Dena Higley, who served as head writer from 2008-2011 -- or, roughly, the vendetta through the E.J/Taylor romance. *Gulp*

Yes, we can all agree that some of those storylines were rough. But in an honest moment, if I look around at DAYS right now, I have to admit that there's not a whole heck of a lot on-screen that's better. It's a hard out there for my beloved soap right now. So I'm up for the change. And, really, anything is up for grabs.

That is, of course, except for Paul. I don't care what he told Adrienne. I don't want Paul going anywhere. And depending on how in-depth Will's article ends up being, Paul really should stay in town to warn Sonny that some media attention might be coming his way.

Well, that and because Sonny is going to need a shoulder to cry on when he remembers what Will did. Sonny woke up and was horrified to see Will. (I have the same reaction, my man.) But he didn't actually remember what he learned before he was stabbed. Considering that Derek probably isn't going to visit Sonny's hospital room soon, it will come down to either Will's conscience getting the better of him or to Will cheating again. It's a tossup as to what will happen first.

Will made the ever-breakable promise that nothing will come between them again. Unlike when, say, Sami made those promises, I don't even believe that Will wants to keep them. He had no reason whatsoever to cheat on Sonny in the first place. Even Will couldn't come up with something more than, "It shouldn't have happened." So what are we to think Will will do if he's actually in some dire situation where Sonny isn't the World's Best Dude.

Meanwhile, in the woods, the trip to Aiden's lake house left us with more answers than questions. First, Daniel Cosgrove is doing a fantastic job of keeping the audience guessing. Should they decide that Aiden is an evil mastermind, Daniel would play it well. And the stakes are getting even higher now. Forget killing his wife. Aiden is now accused of tampering with delicious wine -- a crime punishable by death in my book.

Second, after seeing that mad twinkle in Meredith's eye when she waved that gun around, I think it's actually Meredith who was the total nutter. I recognized that look right away. It's the same one that Huck from Scandal has anytime someone tells him that he gets to use a drill. Or the one my dog gets anytime someone opens the deli drawer in the fridge.

Additionally, if Hope was in real danger, storyline would dictate that someone back in Salem would be en route to save her. But as far as I know, Hope's on her own. John's still working on that top case in Chicago (insert eye roll here). Maybe the show will surprise us and have Shawn and Belle show up to save her? Hope was on her way to see them when she got stranded.

But in the meantime, I don't think that Aiden is a bad guy. My mom offered a good suggestion. Maybe Aiden's panic is all about protecting Chase from learning his mother was unstable. After all, the "evidence" is pretty circumstantial. Of course a cabin in the woods with a fireplace has an axe and a shovel. And, if Aiden's as controlling as she said, wouldn't he have found that recording? He's a lawyer. He knows better than to leave evidence around.

And that Bree seemed all shades of shady. I'm 1000 percent sure that when you give your neighbor a key to your house, it's for emergencies, not for that neighbor to watch until you leave and then let herself in to snoop around.

The only thing I couldn't figure out was if Aiden accepted an offer to sell the house, wouldn't he have cleaned it out? At least dump out the junk drawer into a box that sits in storage for months like the rest of us.

In other news and heartbreaks, I didn't mind at all that Paige jumped to conclusions about Daphne. That text was pretty incriminating. And Paige is really just trying to make heads or tails out of her life right now. Plus, the closer Paige gets to snapping, the more interesting this storyline gets. At least, that's the only movement in this storyline.

That is, unless you want to count J.J. and Eve's progression in the "Who the Worst?" competition. Hey, you two, next time you want me to believe it when you talk about how much you don't want to hurt Paige, try having the conversation with your clothes on. Mmkay?

Seriously, I need the show to do something better with the fabulous Kassie DePaiva. Is there a moratorium on Eve interacting with anyone within a decade of her own age? For a grown woman, she's way too concerned with a couple of teenagers. I get that she loves her daughter, but her outrage that Paige would dare want to move into the dorms was pathetic. Can't this woman go have a cocktail with Nicole? Spoiler alert -- the answer is yes. Yes, she could!

Nicole could use one. Honestly, I need Nicole to leave Serena and Eric to self-destruct and shuffle on over to get herself a drink. And where should she get that drink? Glad you asked. It should be at Rafe's bar. While there, her ol' buddy Rafe can ask her to help him out with Clyde.

You see, Nicole is in the unique position not to underestimate Clyde (like Kate has) but still has the back-road cred' to go toe-to-toe with him. She and Rafe could make a great around-the-law team.

Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Clyde's back. Tell me I wasn't the only one who hoped that Victor was seeing things. Victor had been up for a long time. He's sleep-deprived. And probably a little drunk. But, nope, there Clyde was -- happy as a bug in a bullet-proof vest.

He threatened a ton of Kiriakis family members and then basically said that Victor shouldn't lie in a house of God. I'm pretty sure God hates child molesters, too, there Clyde, but I don't want to speak for the big fella. The point is that Clyde is proving to be more than a nuisance. While I absolutely adore that Victor is getting so much screen time, it's time for Victor to bring on an ally, preferably someone on the inside. And that's either Kate or Ben.

I've yet to be convinced that Clyde actually cares about his son. However, if that is the case, then Ben is Clyde's weakness. And now that Ben's officially working for Victor, it wouldn't be a hard transition for Ben to feed Victor information. (Side bonus: Ben would actually have a real purpose on the show!)

If not, Kate is available. I'm always a fan of a Victor/Kate alliance. And now that Clyde went and ordered a hit on Will's husband, Kate might be a little more motivated to open her eyes when it comes to her clumsy bed partner.

Speaking of clumsy bed partners, Brady and Melanie are "I love you" serious in the span of one week. Oh, sweet ghosts of storylines moving too fast, why do they tend to this with Brady? I'm getting the Madison James vibe all over again, complete with everyone in town giving the pair their blessing. (Et tu, Nicole?)

I'm going to take a hard pass on these two. On top of the horrid pacing, I get a very Lolita vibe from them. It could be all the giggling. Or, it could be that she didn't want to stay the full night with him because she didn't want her daddy to worry about her.

Also, I don't know about you guys, but never, ever have I been on a date where I talk about how easy it is to talk to a guy. You know why? Because when on dates with said fellow, I was too busy talking about actual things than talking about how easy it is to talk to him.

I've been wanting Lucas to have a love interest for a long time. But Adrienne just isn't doing it for me. One, she's Adrienne, and she's kind of a huge, massive drag. Two, and more importantly, I will have a very hard time believing that Lucas would be okay with snuggling up to another man's wife, considering how much he still hates Daniel for what happened with Chloe.

Let's back something up a minute. It's the morning after her nephew was randomly stabbed in the town square. Jen sees that J.J.'s bed hadn't been slept in and his phone was found on the ground outside the house. Yet, Jen thinks it's best to just discuss J.J.'s potential bedmates with Abigail rather than call the police. Come on, Jenny.

Considering the hell that Clyde is raining down on Salem, it seems odd that his children are involved in a storyline surrounding the sophomoric statement that Zach said to Slater about Kelly and Jessie. Sorry, I mean what Chad said to Ben about Abigail and Jordan.

You know how they say it takes more energy to hate someone than to love them? Well, Eric must be the most tired man in all of Salem because he puts a lot of effort into Nicole. He went to Daniel's apartment to talk about her. He talked about her to Serena in his own apartment. Everywhere he goes, he swears that if she were on fire, he wouldn't so much as spit in her general direction. Sure, dude. We got it. Everyone here believes you.

Eve told Theresa that she shouldn't be dating Clint. I agree. He's cutting way into our Theresa/Anne happy hour time. Truth is, he's around to keep Kristen's storyline alive as we await her return. (Please hurry, Kristen!!) Between Clint and the adoption agency that thinks Brady should adopt a little girl, there's a lot going on to remind us that the Thrady baby is still out there. Any chance we can SORAS an unborn kid so that she (I'm guessing) and her birth mama show up sooner rather than later?

HOT

Hey, look at that -- an actual Friday cliffhanger! I remember those! We should really do more of them in the future.

NOT At one point this week, Nicole went over to apologize to Brady and Melanie for something that they had no involvement in, nor were they affected by it in any way, whatsoever. But since they have a good chance of being in Daniel's proximity in the near future, Nicole needed to make sure they got to see a performance of her Apology Tour 2015. And I about lost my flipping mind.

The complete assassination of Nicole's character is flat-out inexcusable at this point. Sure, her desperation to be loved gets in her way and makes her do despicable things. But Nicole's always had a good heart and a deep, fierce loyalty to those few she loves. So the need for Nicole to constantly prostrate herself on the altar of St. Daniel or Mother Serena is horrid and disgusting, and it needs to stop before I throw something at my TV. It's a very nice TV, and I'd like to keep it in working order.

LINE OF THE WEEK Chad: "If you want me to turn into someone else, I can't. That is never going to happen." Considering what's going on with Nicole right now, I completely respect Chad for saying this.

Understatement of the Year Award: Brady: "The only thing I'm sure of now is that my judgment can really, really suck."

Of course Theresa has fur-covered handcuffs.

Can anyone pay attention to anything else in a scene when Kayla has those disco Harry Potter glasses on?

Between Clyde, Clint, and Cole, I had a hard time keeping track of the D-list C-named villains.

For a second, I seriously thought Clyde was checking out his own chest hair in the mirror.

Not to sound old, Mel, but it's freezing outside. Put on some pants with that sweater tunic.

I really like Kate Mansi with dark hair.

Remember Cameron? He's back on TV! So is the incredibly likeable Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie)!

I desperately want a full-length silk robe in a fun print, like Eve has.

Clint is a bad guy. You can tell because he wears a leather jacket with stonewashed jeans, as opposed to Brady, who wears a leather jacket with dark-washed jeans.

Wait? Did Clyde kill Damon? Grr. As if I needed another reason not to like that schmuck...

I love that Victor texts.

I could use more Will and J.J. scenes. Those two have a lot in common, especially in the dealing-with-stress area. Neither of them reacts exactly well.

Ready for some fun Valentine's Day reading? Check out what your favorite soap stars have to say about their favorite couples -- real and fictional.

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