Face off face-off

The masks come off and things get heated in Salem. Did you pick the right mystery solver? What will happen to Kristen next? Is Nicole still alive? And does Hope have horrible party etiquette? Let's discuss it all in this week's Two Scoops.

Lookie there, DAYS fans! It's not even sweeps month, and we still got a soaptastic reveal! Sure, John and Marlena's party has a minor hostage situation. But John shouldn't feel too bad. Whoever had John Black in the pool gets to collect the whole pot! He's the one who, with a fortuitous assist from Sarah and some fact-checking from Hope, figured out that Nicole was really Kristen this whole time.

I'll be honest, John wasn't in the running for me.

My smart money was on Kate. (Most good bets are.) One or two scenes with her old buddy Gabi, and they could have cracked the case. I also thought Eric would have been the one to figure out Nicole was really Kristen. He did, after all, stare right into her eyes and felt nothing. But DAYS realized he was starting to go multiple days without moping, so they had to put him back in his place.

Alas, John confronted Kristen right out in the open and snatched that wig right off her head! Between Nicole's wig here and Susan's teeth at the wedding, Kristen has a hard time holding onto her disguise props when John's around. Tough break, gal. Accessories mean a lot to me too!

Friday's show was really the highlight of the whole week. I love that there weren't any other storylines, just the fallout from the reveal. Fans earned this episode. We've watched this mask-erade too long for Kristen to go quietly into the night. We needed to see some people have at her. I was glad Kate especially got her moment to speak her peace.

So, what will happen to her next?

I couldn't help but notice that throughout the past few months, Kirsten kept her hands fairly clean. She didn't actually pull the trigger that killed Ted, nor did she initially abduct Kate and Ted. She did a ton of other things -- accessory to kidnapping and rape, the biggest two. But something tells me that since she didn't actually kill Ted or Holly, she'll walk on charges.

Plus, she has three aces still up her sleeve.

First, is Holly. Kristen didn't rip into Eric one more time simply because she's mean, mean, mean. She wanted to make sure that people still hadn't moved on from Holly's death. The rawer the emotions that are attached to it, the more leverage she'll have if she dangles that carrot.

Second and third are Stefan and Gabi. I'm not sure how many people would care about Stefan. But Gabi is another story. Rafe, Will, and Sonny would all demand Gabi's safe return and be willing to negotiate for it. That could work out in Kristen's favor.

Sure, I was ready for the mask storyline to end just as much as the next guy. But it wasn't until Roman had Nicole's face in a bag that I realized -- oh no! -- have we seen the last of Arianne Zucker? I don't read spoilers, so I'm not sure. But I hope not!

Aside from my utter preference toward the gal guiding my denial of Nicole's mortality, all of the "Eric's true love" mentions makes me think that we still may see the real Nicole. It's hard to believe that everyone made it out of that explosion except her.

LOOSE ENDS: I love that Xander got full immunity. Salem (and Sarah) are going to need Xander around. Plus, can anyone really be that mad at him? Kristen fooled them all. They shouldn't really come down on him for being her pawn, either. A handsomely paid pawn, sure, but a pawn nonetheless. (Kidding! They'll totally come after him with pitchforks.)

Kristen's the bad guy, but Gabi and Stefan have to take some responsibility for ending up in that wine cellar. Who turns their back to a crazy lady? You guys don't have Siri? Run away and have her call 9-1-1! Don't stand still and fumble with your phone, trying to dial.

Tripp, J.J., and Haley are still on the show.

I'm not going to give her my "Not" this week because she was super helpful in solving the mystery. But, srsly, Hope? The man's wife is giving a speech about her great love for him. Shhh! Let her finish before you go talk to him. So. Rude.

Sarah...I just don't know what to do with her. I had my foam finger waving in the air when she told off Brady for the "his brother's woman" line as if she had no say in the matter. Yasssss, girl! I agree! But then she turns around and says, "I ended my marriage for you." No, girl. You called out the wrong fella's name, and he left you. Also, to be fair, Eric never asked you to end your marriage. He literally performed your ceremony.

HOT: Sonny Forest-Gumped his way through some pretty amazing feats this week. It's hard not to tip your hat to this guy! First, he got his hands on Xander's treasure trove briefcase that contained a bazillion dollars worth of diamonds and secrets -- just because he happened to be walking in Xander's messy room and pulled it out of the pile of dirty laundry and Mexican wresting masks. Then, he just so happened to have a guy who could trace untraceable bank account numbers and provide him with the owner of the account paying Xander for the last several years. Finally, he showed up at the DiMansion while Kristen was in mid-crime, picked up Gabi's cell phone from the floor, and confronted a psychopath about the evidence he had just found, yet he waltzed out of there in time to get ready for the party. I sincerely hope Sonny bought a lottery ticket last week.

NOT: Brady going to talk to Eric "out of respect" made me really uncomfortable. I'm sure that's what Brady told himself. He might have even believed it. But Brady didn't go over to that apartment with any sort of noble intentions toward Eric. He went over there to clear his own conscience. He knows that what he's doing would hurt Eric, and he didn't want to deal with the guilt.

Also, I don't buy the argument that Eric should be okay with Brady and Nicole now that Eric is with Sarah. It doesn't matter who Eric is or isn't with. It's still not cool for his brother to be dating the woman who constantly accuses him of baby murder. That's going to make for an awkward Thanksgiving. No one wants that.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Kristen: "Who hit me?" Lani: "Karma." Ha! Look at Lani sampling the sarcasm tea. I like it!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Party fashion roundup: Anna's sparkly jacket was lovely. Marlena's white pantsuit was elegant. Kate's green silk maxi was spectacular. But Sara looked like a walking Kathrine Hepburn movie. Stunning.

Eric Martsolf does a pretty dang good Susan Banks impression!

It was really hard to take anything Sarah said seriously while she was wearing that weird hairdo earlier in the week.

Tony's expression after the de-wigging was incredible. But seriously, someone should question him about how much he knows. Like, soon.

Saying Susan "puts up with the Elvis thing" is like saying I "put up with eating chocolate."

I appreciated Kristen kicking off her shoes before dragging Stefan and Gabi's bodies down to the wine cellar. Finally! Some realism on this show!

I'm not sure there's anything more futile than telling Anna, "We need to talk about boundaries." The woman carried someone's ashes around in her purse for years.

I laughed when Will said to Kate, "Grandma, are we going to have to have that talk about personal space again?"

Lest you think anyone is immune to the power of delicious lemon bars, Kristen did admit she felt bad about hurting Maggie. So, there's that.

Kristen's hair looked fabulous right after Gabi pulled off that mask. Is that secret in Dr. Rolf's book? I want in on that one.

My favorite Jarlena wedding was the one in Italy when Marlena wore the blue dress. How about you?

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.