Undercover women

Should the Salem P.D. just hire Sami? Is it important to get behind Gabi? And how will Nicole react to seeing Eric again? Let's discuss all the secrets in this week's Two Scoops.

Last week on DAYS was a new installment of the famous game show "Name That Lady!" It's a fun little activity where faces or names from the past pop up, leaving us to scramble to the Internet (or in my case, my cell phone to text Tony) to get a quick reminder of why/when/how we know these gals.

First up was Hattie Adams. Of course, we are all familiar with her, but this week, the Salemites caught on, too. It took Sami all of about seven seconds to realize Hattie wasn't Marlena. That alone is enough reason to keep Sami on a regular rotation through Salem. If not for her, I'd still be yelling at ding-dong Belle to smarten up.

And that point is a bit of my problem with Ron's doppelgnger storylines. Traditionally smart characters have to surrender at least two-thirds of their brain cells to support the plot points. One example was Belle being clueless.

The other example was John marrying Hattie. Excuse me, but this is the fellow who -- just a mere three weeks ago -- orchestrated this whole double swap, which included breaking a prisoner out of jail. But he couldn't figure out a way not to officially marry Hattie? It just seems odd.

Anyway, it all became suuuuuuper awkward when Marlena woke up from her coma and realized her boo was married to her look-alike. Ugh, I hate it when that happens! On the upside, you know what that means? This year offers buy-one-get-one-free Jarlena weddings!

Sami might get an invitation to this one because Marlena remembers seeing a second shooter! Well, lookie there. Sami's been telling the truth all along. The line to apologize to Sami is going to start somewhere behind Hope and Belle, in case you're wondering.

So, who's the shooter? The show made one of those quick edit cuts to suggest Dr. Laura could have done it. That is, maybe Grandma Laura's Two-Week Therapy Cleanse didn't work as well for Abs this time. Either way, I'm interested to see who shot our Doc.

Speaking of revealing identities, we learned that Secret Lady Mimi was the real baby Bonnie mama. For those of you who don't know Mimi, (I'd be remiss if I didn't offer a "Bless you! Save yourselves!" on behalf of @Tony_S_Days) allow me to give you the low highlights.

Mimi's the same age as Chloe, Shawn, Belle, and Philip. She's been painted a villain, but much like Chloe a few years ago, she did only a couple nasty things. It was more her weakness that made her dangerous. I wouldn't call her a villain. I would call her an idiot.

Still, she's played by proud soap vet Farah Fath. For that alone, I'm willing to see what else is in store. Mimi was responsible for Bonnie and (*shudders*) Conner. But she also brought Patrick. So, there's always a chance for this to turn out well.

Next, Ciara told Ben he needed to leave because he's a threat to Tripp's masculinity. Ciara's not wrong here. And I think she's trying to deny her feelings.

That brings me to my final mystery lady, Ciara...have you met you? At least, the "you" who was in that cabin with Ben? That chick was interesting. And, that chick was totally into Ben.

Finally, Maggie told Eric that Nicole was staying in Sarah's old apartment in Nashville.

Sarah is Maggie's daughter, who we haven't seen on-screen in nearly thirty years. But before there was a Daniel or a (gulp) Summer, Maggie had two daughters -- Sarah and Melissa. We'll see Sarah again soon.

But for now, we got Nicole back. I'm so glad no one on soaps has peepholes or Ring video doorbells because then we wouldn't have gotten that grand moment when Nicole swung the door open to find the love of her life standing there. What a way to leave us on a Friday! Here's to hoping this year-long secret finally has a good payoff.

LOOSE ENDS: Thankfully, Shawn is around to do some actual police work and found the fingerprints were planted. That, spliced in with scenes of Ciara asking Tripp to seal the deal with her, makes me positive Tripp is the guilty fella. Shoot. Though, just because he planted the evidence, doesn't mean he started the fire.

I really, really hope that Ciara is okay. Last time she and Tripp were this close, she left town because she hadn't dealt with Chase's rape enough to connect with someone else. I'm guessing she did some therapy off-screen. But I worry that if Tripp is lying to her, she's going to feel victimized all over again. I shouldn't worry, though. It will still end up being all Claire's fault. (Shoot, Laurisa! You almost made it a whole paragraph being serious!)

There was a gem of a scene between Will and Sami where she told him to follow his heart and go back to Sonny, even if Paul will hate him. He should listen to her because she's an expert at living with people hating her. (I mean that as a compliment.) She's also an expert at being in the Paul spot. Austin stayed with Sami a long time because he thought she had a medical condition. Granted, Sami manufactured that situation and Paul isn't manipulating anyone here. But the point is she knows what it's like to be in an unbalanced relationship.

Gabi, Chad, and Abigail all continue to kind of suck at life in their respective roles. Chad has the mental malleability of a kid watching a candy commercial. Gabi's obsessed way too much with revenge on Abigail and not enough with revenge on Stefan. And Abigail -- while correct on the fact Chad shouldn't go through her stuff (even if they were living together) -- still can't keep herself from divulging personal medical information to Stefan.

I'll continue to root for Gabi in this whole mess simply because the other two are leaving the show. Giving her a strong redemption arc potential is one thing. But that's not the same as making the audience root for her to pay, go directly to jail, and do not pass "Go." I worry Gabi will slip so far down, we won't want to watch her get another chance.

Roman and Kate shared a scene so loaded, they might as well have carried signs saying, "NEW STORYLINES AHEAD!!"

First, they mentioned Rex and Cassie, which is so out of the blue. DAYS has made a national pastime of forgetting those two. This makes Rex a leader in my "Who's the baby Bonnie dad?" contest.

Second, Roman confronted Kate about what Kayla told him and offered to help get Kate out of Stefan's control. Kate didn't come clean with Roman at first, but eventually, she agreed. For a quick cheat sheet:

• Stefan -- Owned the bionic eye technology
• Kayla -- Traded info about Kate paying off Leo for the bionic eye for Steve
• Stefan -- Used the info about Kate to blackmail her into giving him info on Titan. This included making Ted disappear because he also knew about Leo, and we can't have more than one blackmailer per secret, now, can we?
• Kayla -- When Steve got arrested, she told Roman the whole deal
• Roman -- Went to Kate to offer her help getting out from under Stefan's thumb (and in turn help Kayla). The saving grace here is that due to lack of storylines for the past...a lot of years...Roman's a bit blackmail-challenged.

Kristen went over to Brady's apartment (hotel room?) to try to get a piece of that sweet Brady beefcake. She told him she knew about Nicole and tried to play the "we're both messed up" card with him. Okay, Brady's been a jerk at times, but he's J.V compared to Kristen. Also, the entire Kiriakis side will forgive him. But I am interested to learn how Kristen knows this info...

HOT: Sure, there was a time when Sami legitimately hated John. But all of that ended right around the time she named her son after the man. Thus, any hinting about Sami not liking John in recent years rang hollow to me. So, I was overjoyed to see the scene where not only did they play nice, but Sami was downright proud of John for what he did to save Marlena. See, people can change! There's hope for the world!

NOT: Things that need to S.T.O.P.: 1. I shouldn't be surprised that the sexually harassing rapist is also a gross chauvinist. But Stefan hit another low when he patronized Chief of Staff Kayla Johnson by declaring she has a "You-go-girl feisty side." That's Dr. You-Go-Girl to you, putz! This guy's an enemy to decency. 2. Oh, lord. Now the narrative is that Eric stoppedthe shooting?? What kind of trumped-up logic is that? 3. Why is Brady still harboring this false narrative that Theresa walked out on him? She didn't. We've always known she didn't. He now knows she didn't. So, lumping her into the bad girlfriend category with Nicole is a misrepresentation of what really happened. It would be like Brady claiming his mom abandoned him. You know, since she so rudely died. Sorry, sorry...I shouldn't give Brady any ideas. 3 a. Does every woman really need to lust after Brady that much? Do I need to warn Victor to keep an eye on Maggie? Seriously. It's like the second this guy is single, some sort of bat signal goes up. 4. Sami looking for E.J. as a plot point is getting annoying. You can only cry wolf so many times before you need to deliver James Scott, DAYS.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Stefan: "...considering I may never have a chance to meet my father." The tense in this sentence was not lost on me. We know we'll never be blessed with a scene from Joe Mascolo again. But it's nice his on-screen persona won't ever die. It makes my soap heart smile.

LINE OF THE WEAK: Abigail: "I told him I have a doctor's appointment, but that was a lie. I'm going to see a psychiatrist." Abigail knows a psychiatrist is a doctor, right?

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I usually chuckle anytime someone suggest leaving investigating to the cops. But I nearly roared when Will said it to Sami. Boy, you know the reason you're standing in Salem at the moment? That's right. Mama Sami. Law enforcement tried to shut her down numerous times. But she didn't give up. And, you're welcome.

I guess you can, but are you supposed to be drinking booze so soon after waking up from a coma?

You know Will and Paul were watching the Cubs game on Tuesday when Will said, "Lot on the line...tied up in the ninth"...I wonder if the writers could see the future!

Deidre Hall's dancing was everything. Every. Thing.

Anyone else realize that now that Marlena is awake, Paul is getting a lot more visitors?

Shouldn't the warden be wondering where Hattie is?

Really, Roman? Really? You can't tell the cops that Marlena is there? You can't tell Hope "I break any rule I want" Brady that Marlena is there?

Not that Eve deserves much sympathy, but I feel for her each time tone-deaf Brady says, "I lost my son!" No, Brady. You could get in one of the many private jets available to you and go visit your still-alive son any time. Eve actually lost a child.

I did enjoy Sami vs. Stefan. Sami's more a DiMera than Stefan is, and I do mean that as a compliment.

Ben came home, and neither Ciara nor Tripp bothered to put on pants. I get it's their house...but seriously, you two. Pants.

I wish Paul was staying around and he and Brady could get a place together.

The Salem P.D. knows re-arresting innocent people isn't the same thing as actually arresting criminals, right?

I had to laugh at Sami rolling her eyes, shuffling Eli over to the elevator, and pushing the button with her elbow. Oh, Det. Grant. Sami would eat you for lunch.

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