We all had our doubts, but it's workin' out (sorta)

DAYS dished out some delightful drama for the third week of Sweeps. It wasn't all delicious, but like burnt brownies, there was still something tasty there if you scraped away the crispy edges. Find out what was delish and what left a bitter taste in our mouths in the week's Two Scoops!

Hold the flipping phone! I'm shocked. I mean, speechless. Well, nearly speechless. In a week rocked by bombshells such as the revelation of Meredith's real murderer and Will's affair, the writers dropped a third one on us, too. Sit down in case you missed it because it was big. I'll wait.

That's right, Mama Hernandez was sick again. I know, I know. They should really spread out drama like that. For a minute, I was like, why doesn't Rafe take his ever-sick mama to Dr. Dan!? He can cure anything and everything. Then I realized Rafe probably doesn't want Dr. Dan sleeping with her. True dat. Though the thought of Dr. Dan being Rafe's stepfather is kind of funny, but I digress.

After all this time, we finally know the real story surrounding Meredith Jennings' death. Aiden didn't kill anyone, ya'll. It was Chase. Sort of. A four-year-old Chase found Meredith's gun and was playing with it. When she discovered this, she struggled with (yet somehow couldn't overpower) Chase for the gun. It went bang. She went thud. And Aiden went all cover-up.

I'm fine with the way this storyline worked out. Daniel Cosgrove played the "Is he or isn't he?" shadiness to perfection. It was also a good ending on several levels. Aiden remains the good guy. Heck, he became a more good -- gooder(?) -- guy by fighting so fiercely to protect his son. Hope saw this, too, and vowed that they would protect Chase together. Aww! I'm in. And I'm glad Aiden forgave Hope for thinking he murdered his wife. Oh, that? We'll laugh about that later. Cocoa, anyone?

This could also be a great storyline again in the future. That is, when Chase is a teen and struggles to cope when he finds out what he did, because you know secrets like that aren't staying in the closet beside the axe forever. If and when it does come out, I bet Ciara is the one who breaks the news. She just seems like the type that would revel in that type of destruction. Bonus, if he goes off the deep end, Ciara might finally meet her match. A karate kid on a mental breakdown is sure to get a little ugly.

Speaking of things getting a little ugly, Justin came home. Yay! And some chick named Elsa is texting him. Boo! Adrienne saw some sentimental texts between the two of them and fled Victor's club in tears. She believes Elsa is getting into Justin's legal briefs. I refuse to believe this just yet. He assured Adrienne that they're just coworkers with an inside joke. In all fairness, I've had a work spouse before. Then again, I've never had a real spouse, so what do I know about that type of etiquette? Point is, Justin's acting shady around Adrienne and basically admitted Sonny is the reason he came home, but -- nope, that's all I got. He's being shady.

Still, Adrienne is being a little lot shady, too. I fully support Lucas sticking up for his friend. What he said to Justin was spot-on (as was what Sonny said to him about not having a dad around), but playing kissy face with a man's wife is crossing the line, and '80s DAYS Lovin' Me would beat up Present Day DAYS Lovin' Me if I didn't root for Justin and Adrienne to work things out. Sorry, Lucas. I still love you, just not with Adrienne.

With that, I'm holding out for two things here. One, that Justin isn't guilty of anything shady. I mean, come on, writers! I need one of my beloved '80s leading men to still be an upstanding husband. Unless they're planning to resurrect Jack and have him, Justin, Bo, and Steve form a barbershop quartet called The Bastardized Bunch, I'm really not into seeing Justin fall from grace. Nope. I'll pass. We've been there too many times before. #DontruinJustinK

Two, and I mean this will all due respect to Adrienne, whom I refuse to completely give up on even though she's reached a Julie Williams levels of buttinsky in the past several years -- right! My point. I love Adrienne even when she makes it hard to love her, but I will love every second of her having egg on her face if her affair(?)/flirtation with Lucas is revealed after she verbally beats down Will. That wasn't me defending Will. At all. That's just me rooting for karma to visit Adrienne. Besides, Will doesn't really need to be destroyed by someone else; he does a good enough job of that himself.

Yep, it's time to talk about that sleazy little bastard. I meant Will, in case you were wondering. The article's out (which you can read by clicking here -- later, of course), and so is the truth about Will's affair. You know, I actually liked the way it all trickled out. It was good drama with a lot of pieces coming together to form the larger, nastier picture for several characters including Will himself, Paul, Sonny, and even Marlena.

Yep, sorry, Doc, your "My Dear Boy" is more like "Dirty Boy" now. He's gone and had an affair, just like you! I think it's time Mar Mar, Sami, and Will get matching sweatshirts with scarlet A's bedazzled on them in Will, mommy, and grandma size. And more good news? Unlike Marlena's affair with John, no poor housecleaner had to Pledge buttprints off Titan's conference room table. There's that. There's only that.

Will himself couldn't come up with a good excuse for his affair when Sonny cornered him. His exhausting excuses ranged from the weak "it didn't mean anything/it was only once" to the weaker "we were fighting/the south side club tanked/you used our money" to "we drifted apart" to the weakest "you've been with other guys," which Sonny kiboshed by stating that was before they were married. Truth, brother.

Also true, Will was the one who pulled away from Sonny. Yep, he's the one that lost contact and never retuned his hubby's calls. Sonny was the neglected one, not Will. So, really, any excuse Will coughs up doesn't negate that he's a cheater and did so for no reason at all other than to scratch an itch. I'd respect Will a smidge if he manned up to that, but I'm sure the writers will whitewash things a bit. I can't wait for that.

Where does that leave Sonny in all of this? And Paul, for that matter? Well, Sonny was furious, emotionally destroyed, and still a bit sore from being stabbed in the back (you know, from the actual knife, not just the metaphorical one Will stuck there). In fact, he worked himself up so much that he had to be sedated. At least he didn't faint from a case of the vapors. More so, Sonny's generally so sweet, I'm sure all that yelling was foreign for him, and he exhausted himself. I get that. I just hope Sonny gets back to yelling at Will because I've been yelling at Will for months, and Sonny needs to catch up.

As for Paul, I'm torn. Largely, I feel bad for him. He didn't know Will was married to the love of both their lives, no doubt, when they did the deed. That was on Will. And Will going wild on Paul (I meant last week, not the affair) was a little weak on Will's part. Will's the one who stuck his, um, nose where it didn't belong; that wasn't on Paul. That was just Will lashing out because he couldn't accept his misdeeds (Sami, Jr., anyone?).

However, what is on Paul is his passion for reuniting with Sonny. He was going to him to plead for one more chance, even though Sonny turned him down because he's married. The gesture is sweet, and I like that Paul is a leather jacket and a motorcycle away from riding in to save Sonny from being with the wrong person, but rationally speaking, he's not respecting Sonny, either. So, really, when it boils down to it, Sonny has become Salem's resident Rodney Dangerfield because he gets no respect. Poor guy.

As much as I like someone asking for a favor that begins with, "You're very sneaky and underhanded," I'm a little nervous about Melanie and Nicole possibly teaming up. The good part is Melanie and Nicole teaming up. Molly Burnette and Arianne Zucker seem like they'd have fun working together, which would surely be entertaining for us.

The bad, well, it could be frustratingly bad. That is, things could easily turn into a Dr. Dan forgives Nicole because she helped his daughter and they get back together catastrophe, or Dr. Dan scolds Nicole again for doing something shady and endangering his daughter in the process. Those potentially "bad" aspects have me a little nervous about where this one's going.

Also, I'm still nervous about the Brady and Melanie pairing. John's in on Salem's latest hot gossip now, too. Kind of like Lucas and Adrienne, I love both characters, just not together.

In other "breaking news," Eric and Serena had some sex, and then she looked for the elephant statue. Yep. That about sums it up. This elephant storyline smells a lot like Melanie's card-counting saga. That is, a little weak.

I kind of liked the Marlena and Paul show. They both gave as good as they got. More so, it's nice to see Marlena working. Her stronger yet compassionate side is one of Doc's best looks (and she was looking marvelous in that burgundy suit, too).

Is it just me, or are there way too many characters older than a teen involved in J.J. and Paige's teenage drama? I'm looking at you, Jennifer and Eve. Let it go, Jennifer. And Eve, please let go of it, and by "it," I mean J.J.

To get things back on track, Eve needs to Harry and the Henderson J.J. and send him back to the woods to play with his kind, that being teenagers. She tried. Sort of. Okay, not really. She said it's "not smart," "wrong," and, "don't come back." He took it as "see you soon," which I don't think she'd mind. Then again, what do I know? These two could have longevity, especially if J.J. likes thumbing through AARP magazines and Eve enjoys red Solo cups, Ramen noodles, and the smell of Axe body spray.

HOT

Reveals, returns, and remarkable performances, oh my! Between the truth about Meredith's murder and Will's affair, last week was pretty spectacular in the truth bomb department. Of course, just as spectacular was the return of Wally Kurth as Justin! Granted, his return isn't under the best circumstances, but I'm overjoyed to see Wally nonetheless. And finally, good on you, Daniel Cosgrove! He crushed every last one of his scenes last week and then some. My hat officially tips to you, Sir Cosgrove! NOT Having a Clydeless Salem for a few weeks has only made his resurrection all the more miserable. He just doesn't fit. It's pretty obvious. And having Victor wave the white flag for that chump hurts my heart. I'm hoping Victor is faking him out. I hope he has a plan. I hope he teams up with Stefano, and they destroy him once and for all. But I'm hoping more than Nicole apologizes, and neither seems to be working out well. LINE OF THE WEEK Theresa: "Jennifer, I was just wondering, how does it feel to know that J.J. just can't keep it in his pants, especially after Abigail couldn't keep hers on. Do you think you maybe forgot to give them the talk?"

For a second there, I thought Sarah Silverman was playing the part of Marlena's assistant, Sharon. That would have been great.

Serena might need animal flashcards. She seemed to hold onto that giraffe statue a bit too long before realizing it wasn't an elephant.

Marlena and Kate snarking on one another? Hilarious! Roman calling them out on it? Even better!

Kate is also getting worse at being sneaky. Did you see her lame attempt to pump info out of Marlena? Weak. I blame Clyde.

Um, Eric, pal, old buddy -- do you really need to open a cupboard with a glass door to see what's inside? That's sort of the point of the entire glass door thingy so you can see what's inside. Just saying.

With all due respect to Julie Tolivar, Jennie Garth should have been cast as Meredith Jennings. After all, Jennie and Daniel Cosgrove know a little something about drama at a beach house.

I enjoyed the nod to One Life to Live between Eve and Serena. "She was a bitch, too." Ha!

Of course Kate has a snazzy silver tablet case. Love it!

T really should be a DJ at Victor's new club.

Clyde asked Lucas to go clubbing with him and Kate. Do the kids still use the term "clubbing"? More so, would Lucas really want a front row, third wheel seat to that show? I don't think so.

When Sonny was yelling at Will, I screamed, "Burn that ugly shirt, Sonny!"

Something strange is happening to me, and I don't like it. I was actually happy to see Rafe.

Hope's hair holds up well under pressure. You go, Fancy Face.

Theory! Could Hattie Adams be Jordan and Ben's mother? Hattie was a blue-collar gal and a real, um, character. That could also explain why Clyde insists on being around Marlena, who Hattie had plastic surgery to emulate. Hmm!

Attagirl, Theresa! Why use a glass when you can chug from the bottle.

Filing under "Too Cute," you can tell the babies who play Arianna Grace like Guy Wilson. Then again, they could just be hypnotized by the patterns on Will's shirts.

Speaking of Will and fashion, Will is to cardigans as Melanie is to sweater dresses. In both cases, they might want to head over to Baron's next annual warehouse sale.

Really, Derek? You were into Paul? No one noticed at all. #weallknew

On topic, as much as we knew Derek was into Paul, I also thought Derek was into Will, Sonny, and just about every other guy who walked past.

Oh, oh! Derek should meet Eve. I think they'd be a hoot together. I could see them going out together -- drinking and making everything about them. They also both get hot for any man with a pulse, so they already have bonding material.

Marlena told Paul, "I thought you'd never want to see me again." Oh, Mar Mar. No one ever thinks that about you. Never!

PARTING THOUGHTS So, friends and fellow DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of February 23! Laurisa will be back next week with either a shepherd's staff or a tamer's whip to let us know if March is coming in like a lamb or a lion. And "That's a fact!"

As always, thanks for reading! Tony

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