Every now and then I fall apart

Hope loses it when Aiden returns, but did he just save the show? Elsewhere, Salem deals with a viral breakout, and Chad and Ciara get way too close for comfort. Check it all out in Two Scoops!

Sometimes time is the best medicine. If I were to have tweeted Monday's episode live, it would have looked something like this:

• Oh, goodie! We get to see Hope's awesome nightgown again! • Hope really needs some better security. Was Andre in her house the whole time? • They sure are using the snot out of that warehouse where Yo Ling set up shop and Chase got tied up. • That bird is gross. • Never mind, Aiden's wig is worse. • This %$#& is bananas. But at least we don't have to endure months of this like with Bo. • That chicken dinner looked good! • Tell me he didn't leave that dead bird on top of a condom machine and just leave.

Now, pushing the ridiculatta of Monday's episode aside and focusing on the storyline it ushered in, I have to say that I'm pretty darn impressed. With this move, DAYS managed to do right by Hope, Bo, Aiden -- heck, even Rafe!

Peter Reckell's exit from DAYS was a total crap show -- mishandled all around. When he opted to return for the 50th, the writers were in quite the predicament. Hope was in a believable romance with a new guy. But, come on. It's Bo.

He belongs with Hope!

Yet, Peter's return wasn't permanent. So, they had to figure out a way to be respectful to Bo and Hope and give Bo the send-off he deserved years before. They delivered on both of those accounts. Bo and Hope's reunion was full of all the greatness that makes them one of DAYS's best supercouples ever. (By the way, I wouldn't be sad if you showed up at that tree every once in a while, Hope!)

But Aiden had to be collateral damage. And as a fan of coherent storytelling, I didn't like feeling that I'd wasted two years of my time watching a storyline that was undone in a matter of days.

But now, that's changed. Like Rafe and Hope, I completely buy the DiMera double trick. So, what we're left with is Hope in a believable triangle with Rafe and Aiden, without any of it tarnishing on Bope's memory. (Bo even endorsed one of the fellas in this race!) When you think about it, it's very well done! Game on. Let's see what happens next! Okay, you know with all that praise, I have to balance out the snark and talk about something I really don't want to, but I have to. Chad and Ciara are probably, most definitely, going to happen. And well....ugh. Just, ugh.

Too many moves had to be made for this pair to meet. For starters, Hope and Ciara have this utterly awesome "us against the world" thing going for them. Hope has repeatedly proven that she's far from a helicopter parent when she let Ciara have multiple unsupervised parties. Yet suddenly they have this feud so bad that Ciara has to move out of her home. It makes no sense.

Next, they sent Billy Flynn to Casey Moss's hairstylist and got rid of the swoop (not a fan! #TeamSwoop) in what I'm assuming is an attempt to make him look younger -- a styled de-SORASing, if you will. It's not fooling me. Finally, they moved Ciara on suuuuuper quick from a brutal rape to a flirtation with Theo, in order to have that serve as a catalyst for her decision that she wants something better and badder than her childhood bestie. I repeat, ugh.

Having said all of that, I totally get why Ciara would fall for Chad. Two seconds after she says that she wants a bad boy with a good heart, she's plopped into the DiMera living room with the heir to a crime family...who is ever-lovin' scrapbooking! He tells her that he went through therapy (oohh, more bad!); she sees how much he can love his wife (see, huge heart!); and he asks her about her life (yup, that'll do!)

As long as Billy is at the Chad control, I have no doubt he'll make this Chara thing fly. But as a fan of both him and Chad, I want to see a pairing where Chad doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting. I want to watch him and root for him because he's with an equal. And nothing about eighteen-year-old Ciara seems equal to Chad DiMera.

LOOSE ENDS We need more tequila shots on the patio with Rafe and Dario! I love that these two got to have an honest moment together. I can completely see how Dario feels a bit insecure from his career change from Titan project manager to surf shack bartender. (Speaking of, what exactly is he doing to earn money now?)

Caroline sure did jump off the Steve train fast! I guess her shipping went the way of her visions. I'm not too upset about either. And while I can't side with her on the Fynn/Kayla pairing, I do support the following two statements. 1. People should taste their food before salting it. 2. Good tippers are good souls. Preach on, Care-bear!

If they're looking for a storyline to drop, they could always go with Jen's pill addiction. I know there are highly functioning drug addicts. That's what makes this disease so very dangerous. But I flat out forget that Jen is supposed to have a pill problem until someone brings it up. And it hasn't affected any real aspect of her life, save for a one-night stand with Eric -- which we could blame on "having eyes" as much as "popping pills."

With all the deaths that have plagued Salem since last September, now this?! Somehow we have to muster up the courage to say goodbye to that model? He/she had that great storyline where that one thing happened! You know, the thing! And to top it all off, the photographer was taken from us too! How ever will we manage without him/her? What about our souls?

Jade and Joey arrived at a drum circle that Jade's aunt sponsors. I hope the two paid close attention in high school English class. Lord of the Flies is about to come in handy.

HOT:

Abe and Theo are just about the classiest father/son duo ever. They both handled the argument beautifully. Neither was really wrong. Theo has a history of being hyper focused on certain people, so Abe has grounds to ask Theo to back away from Ciara. Theo, to his credit, pointed out that Ciara didn't bring him into her scheme, and if he'd known about it, he would have stopped all of them. I fully believe that they went home later and had dinner together, like the civilized gentlemen they are!

Of course, who knows how long it will last? But for this moment, the two were great. Congratulations, men!

NOT: This "I can't be around Thomas because I make him cry" is quite possibly the weakest and most self-centered version of Abigail yet. I'd like to chalk it up to the mental health issues, but she's had too many similar instances like the "I have to marry my baby daddy, else my mom won't approve" phase and the "I'm totally cool being a mistress" era.

I'm going to echo a sentiment my mom has repeated at least every other time I talk to her: Abigail's last scene should have been when she left the DiMera mansion with Chad to get help. The glorious acting from Kate Mansi during the fire scene was fresh in our minds. Abigail made the brave decision on her own. And she got that grand sweeping shot where she looked back from the doorway onto the faces of those she loves. You know you're golden when you get that shot!

But, you know, bailing on your own baby is entertaining and entirely necessary, since there is still some confusion as to Abigail's mental state. (Spoiler: No there isn't.) I worry that this is all happening so that Chad can be divorced just in time for his relationship with Ciara. Boo all around on this one.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Hope : "You have the right to remain silent; and I suggest you do so before I lose it!" This is why we need holograms in our everyday life. I would dispense hologram Hope to deliver this line during at least three of my weekly work meetings.

RANDOM THOUGHTS More dialogue from my living room: Husband (about Aiden): "Why's he in a turtleneck?" Me: "Because he dressed like a cat burglar to kill Hope; but then he got swapped out for an evil twin and thrown in this holding cell, still in his cat burglar clothes." Husband: "Yup, that's exactly what I thought."

Perhaps I don't quite understand how hazmat suits are supposed to work. I thought you were to keep the mask on at all times. I also didn't know that, while wearing one, you could feel another person on the forehead through their hazmat suit and diagnose their fever. I have so much to learn.

Kate's blue streak is even bluer these days.

Yes! The Johnny and Eddie bromance is back on!

Wait, Mary's back?! Hey girl, hey!

Um, did Roman just lecture someone else about fixing it so their loved ones get away with crimes?

You're telling me the health food store balked at delivering to a quarantine unit at a hospital? I'm shocked.

Gabi used the Hernandez family recipe poultice a decade ago, and it still makes her immune to Yo Ling's ber Flu. It's a shame Mama H didn't think to use it on herself. Then maybe she could have made the drive in from west Salem for a Christmas dinner or family funeral once over the last seven years.

I loved that John mentioned Tori, Belle, and Brady when talking to Paul!

Hey, writers, see how easy it was to bring someone back from the dead? I'd just like to point out that we still think Will, E.J., Kristin, and Jack are dead-dead.

Eddie really should go easier on J.J. They have so much in common. Right, Eve?

Excuse me, Steve, I think what you meant to say was, "I called Shane, and I'm on my way out to meet him in L.A.," not "I hope to have some leads in L.A. soon."

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