All I want for Christmas is you

Sami made her farewell tour around Salem, but did she leave too soon? Is J.J. on the brink of a mental breakdown? And are Sonny and Will walking into a house full of Uncle Victor trouble? Let's discuss it all in this edition of Two Scoops!

My gal Sami made her way out of Salem this week. I know some people can't stand her. But even her detractors have to admit that not many characters can drive storyline like she can. Thanks to her pattern of, um, passionate behavior in the past, she can get away with pulling schemes out of the blue. We don't really have to wait for her to descend into madness, if you will. She changes Salem. And I will miss the snot out of that gal.

Plus, she's legitimately connected to so many people in Salem that some of our favorite vets got great scenes last week!

Atop that list is her longest-running storyline partner, Lucas. I kind of live for Lumi scenes. There's so much love and history within this friendship. It ranks right up there with Bo/Steve as one of my favorites on DAYS. I adored her tough-love speech to him. Lord knows he's given his fair share of those back to her. The fact that these two can get that real with each other is a testament to the storytelling and the chemistry between Alison Sweeney and Bryan Dattilo.

Next up was Kate. I liked Sami sticking up for Kate with Abe. Sami's wrong about it all, but as the saying goes, sisters before getting the actual facts in an open police investigation. Truth be told, if one of my friends was accused of something I didn't think she did, I'd step right up for them, too.

John and Marlena were heartwarming, as well. Marlena and Sami's relationship has taken seventy-three turns for the better this time around. I hope it continues. The Sami/John hug was everything. I'm not sure he's always been on her side, but she did name her kid after him. So I'm glad they've made up.

Finally, there's Roman and Eric. Sami's goodbyes to them were delightful. Greg Vaughan and Ali have fantastic sibling chemistry. And I broke down a bit when Sami told each of them, "I trust you to look out for my boy." Sniff! Sniff!

Eric and Roman might want to get on the job right away because things are getting messy over in Wilson/Paulson land. I feel like this storyline is smothering the characters a bit. Sonny definitely took Paul for granted for a while. I don't think it was malicious, but it was definitely careless. And now Sonny's outright accusing Paul of intentionally kissing Will? Oof. Have a seat, Sonny. I've got Gabi's time-out chair in the front of the church all ready for you.

For one brief, shining moment, I had hope. Will said he wanted to be single for a while and explore his options. Granted, those "options" in Salem appear to be slim pickings, but whatever. That was the right instinct. That could have fixed the one fatal flaw with the Wilson pairing. That could have led to a pretty beautiful love story where Sonny and Will reconnect slowly.

But, nope, Will's moving in with Sonny, as well as Uncle Vic -- who kinda hates the dude. That should be a low-pressure sitch. Good thinking, Sonny boy. I might have gone with asking Will out to dinner, but this should work too.

Another relationship headed for some turbulence is Rope. Let me say this: what Rafe did was crazy tacky. Any woman would be right to feel like their relationship didn't matter with the lightning speed that he ended up in another woman's bed. He didn't do anything "wrong." But he definitely did something gross.

However, thinking of Hope's reaction already exhausts me. Maybe it's because I wasn't a big Rope fan. Maybe it's because Hope's been known to get a little too comfy with the moral high ground in the past. Or maybe it's because she definitely gave his ring and his heart back that night. But I'm so not looking forward to watching this fallout.

I would love to see DAYS take the "the best revenge is success" mantra and move Hope on to someone fabulous. I want to see her happy. I don't want to see her hurt and judgmental. Put Rafe on the relationship sidelines a bit as his punishment before he moves on again. Maybe he can bar-back for Roman and learn from the master.

Or, he could throw himself into work, since the Salem P.D. is headed for more controversy, no matter what the Internal Affairs report recommends.

First, Abe is too close to this situation to act as the head of the police department here. Even with all of his years as a respected public servant, expecting him to be objective is ludicrous. I completely understand why he's adamant his son was the innocent victim. He's wrong of course, but I'm not mad at him for not being able to see it. Still, there should be protocol for this case to be turned over to some other city official or deputy mayor to help Abe out. He downright abused his power to bully his way into Rafe's office. And asking Eli questions put Eli in a tough spot.

But the beauty of this storyline is in the nuances, and Eli's answer was a great illustration of that touch. Abe asked if J.J. was in the right or wrong. Eli said J.J. could have handled the situation differently, which isn't technically committing one way or another. There's absolutely more than one "right way" to handle a situation.

But that's not what Gabi heard, and she tore into Eli for it. Unlike Abe, Gabi is removed enough from this situation that she should show a little more objectivity. She's had little to do with J.J. for months, so it feels a tad forced for her to be running around wearing her "Team J.J." button and getting into arguments over J.J. with Eli -- the guy who she's dating/recently saved her life/stepped in for Sonny when he missed daddy day with Ari/etc. Her response to Eli was purely emotional. She hasn't seen the evidence Eli has. She's not an expert marksman. (But she knows better than anyone that Eli is!) She was being a little Rafe-ish when she told Eli that he wasn't allowed to have a different opinion from her. Sorry, Gabbers. I'm with the big fella on this one. He gets to have his own opinions.

The Casey Moss tour of excellence continued. J.J.'s felt bad before, but this time, Casey's added a gravity to J.J.'s every move. It's impressive. J.J. is in a rough place. He kinda blew off God. Not a great thing to do right before Christmas, but J.J. isn't known for his spectacular timing. Even a visit from Eric -- literally the perfect person for him to talk to -- couldn't bring him out of his funk.

I give this storyline so much credit for trying to realistically represent so many sides at once. These shootings destroy multiple lives, and DAYS is doing a great service to those good officers who are often put in tough situations. The lack of mental health care available to responders involved in these (or any, really) cases is yet another scary aspect to these shootings.

And J.J. was in a tough situation here because Theo was breaking the law. There's starting to be too loud of a drumbeat for Theo the Pure. Yes, Kate asked Theo to go break the law. However, she didn't say, "And whatever you do, make sure you run from the police and don't get caught." Making her solely responsible for Theo's condition lets Theo off the hook a bit too much for my comfort level. I'm not saying she's blameless. And I'm certainly not saying he deserved to be shot. I'm just saying there's a lot of blame to go around here.

Plus, Kate's rope is already unraveling, thanks to Steve and Kayla! I adored seeing Kayla march in that room and tell Kate off. I loved her fighting to protect Tripp right back. Atta girl, Kayla! Tony warned you about this, Katie. You poked the mama bear.

Then, I downright cheered when Steve outsmarted Kate and got her to admit what she did to Tripp and Theo with Chad listening! Steve is so smart. Chad knowing what Kate did is going to be 1000 times worse than the police knowing. Chad is Kate's heart. And Kate's at her best/worst when backed into a corner. This breakup is going to be ugly.

LOOSE ENDS: Eli's not wrong that Gabi tends to have close "friendships" with exes while they're dating.

Ohhh! That Eve is smart! Making Brady doubt Victor's confidence is a genius way to break Brady down. It's not implausible, either, as the days of Victor being family first are a bit of a memory (hi, Xander!) and Brady is pretty paranoid about people stabbing him in the back (still #TeamEricole, but yeah, they did wrong by Brady).

Much as I appreciate the friendship between Kate and Gabi, I really want Gabi to go work with Eve. One, Kassie particularly shines when she gets to play a mama bear/mentor role, and I would love to see Eve have a sort of second-chance daughter relationship, just like the second chance Kate got with Chad.

Two, speaking of Chad, I'd be glad if Gabi is nowhere near the DiMeras. Her days of being sacrificed on the Chabby altar need to be over. Everyone wants that storyline to move on -- including Chad, Abigail, and Gabi themselves!

Three, I like the idea of Sonny and Gabi working together. Their friendship is another great one on DAYS. Sonny could use a friend right now inside Titan.

Eli mentioned that the building Theo was trying to break into was owned by CFR Partners. Something tells me we need to remember that name.

I don't buy for a second that Will actually remembered what that ring looked like. I guess since he only has two years' worth of memories up there, he has room for things that normal people (not to mention men) would never notice?

Like I mentioned, Abe is too close to this case to be involved in every detail. You know who else is too close? Jennifer. Telling the DiMera PR head that her statement isn't good enough sure doesn't sound like she's made herself take a step back.

I can defend Abe a bit when it comes to Theo, but I can't quite get behind his treatment of Lani. For argument's sake, let's assume J.J. acted recklessly. Too bad Abe doesn't know what it's like to love someone who ever dabbled in dangerous behavior.

HOT: The scenes between Sami and Will were beautiful. We know both Chandler Massey and Alison Sweeney are masters at over-the-top anger scenes. But in this case, they both had to show restraint and subtlety for their characters to work. It was an absolute master class.

Sami's gift to Will was perfect. The best guide to his memory is Will himself -- not the sanitized version Marlena is trying to micromanage, and not the glorified version Sonny and Sami want to force upon him. Will needs to remember himself, warts and all. He can go at his own pace with a diary. And I love the touch of Sami saying there's a lot of room left in there for him to write more.

When Will finally hugged Sami, I got the tears. All down m'face. I'm not at all defending the Ben-anigans Sami pulled, but the motivation was solid. No parent on the planet would ever want to think "what if" when it came to saving their kid. Every parent needs to feel like they've exhausted all options. Granted, most parents don't ever consider stupid crazy illegal options, but you get the point. As a mom, I was rooting for that hug. I'm glad Sami and Will ended up in a good place.

NOT: Oh, good. If there's one thing Ciara really needed, it was to feel a sense of empowerment. I'm so glad she knows Rafe slept with Sami and that Tripp has feelings for Claire. I'm sure she'll use that information in a purely responsible way that won't serve her own interest at all.

I know we're supposed to feel sorry for Ciara because she's been through a lot -- and she absolutely has. But in order to put up with the bad, I need something good in her to hold onto. Right now, she's a tornado of suck, lashing out at people and revising history to suit her needs at any given time. I imagine if given the wrong food at the drive-through, she'd throw it back in the window and scream, "How dare you stand there next to that sign that says 'Have a Nice Day'! You clearly don't know the first thing about being nice! Claire probably put you up to this, huh?"

LINE OF THE WEEK: Kate (about Lucas): "Is he okay?" Sami: "Yeah, yeah. He's just an idiot." One of the best things DAYS did was bury the hatchet between these two.

Burn of the week: Sonny (to Brady): "Given how many women have been 'not that into you,' maybe you shouldn't be so quick to throw snide comments about other people's relationships." I'm not a fan of the Brady vs. Sonny storyline in general. But that line was remarkable, Mr. Jackson, if you're nasty.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I'm kind of obsessed with the double doors on hotel rooms in Salem.

Really, Andre? You're calling someone else a "bastard son"? Have you seen your family tree?

Someone (John? Will, maybe?) is still going to uncover proof that E.J. is alive and let Sami and the kids know, right?

I forgot how physically well cast Chandler Massey is as Alison Sweeney's son.

Love the Christmas decorations up all over Salem! I'm still the crazy one who sets up fifteen trees. Yes, fifteen. Yes, in my house.

I forgot Eli is the landlord at the Martin house.

Now is the time to commit a crime in Salem. Hope and J.J. are off the job. Lani's by Theo's side. Rafe has taken a managerial position. Eli is the only one working, and Brady's taking up his time with bogus kidnapping calls!

Another miracle of soaps -- when I say, "I'll go shower," it means I need forty-five minutes to shower, dry my hair, attempt to style it, get dressed, and put enough makeup on so that I don't scare children on the street. Somehow, soap people are out the door in ten minutes, looking magazine ready!

It still sucks Hope was fired. But having the weeks before Christmas off hardly sounds like a terrible deal. My to-do list is killing me right now!

They sure did whip up Rafe's desk nameplate in a snap.

Gee, Jen, I don't know what could have motivated Sami. I wonder what could have motivated Laura to keep Abigail from you. Sometimes desperate people rationalize bad decisions.

Ha! Chelsea and Blair something from Pennsylvania. Love that Eve's aliases were Kassie's roles from other soaps!

How does one go about grounding a 19-year-old who doesn't live at home?

Specialist: "Theo may not wake up the same." Me: "Don't make promises you can't keep, doc."

DAYS went to the trouble of reshooting the Wilson wedding photo with Chandler, which is even funnier if you remember the Emmys mistakenly played a clip of the wedding (with Guy Wilson in the role) when Chandler won his third consecutive Emmy for his performance as Will.

I want Shawn to stay around, too. Hope gets to relax around him. She doesn't get to do that with too many people.

There is a terrible sense of panic when a ring is stuck. I always think a trip to the ER and the mini-jaws-of-life* are in my future.

*Probably not a real thing.

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