Who will save your soul?

Secrets and lies seem to be coming to an explosive head, but where will that leave our favorite Salemites? Will Rafe, Kayla, Julie, and Abe help Hope? Can Ciara save Will from life in the slammer? Is there a miracle in store for Baby Mickey? And will Hattie ever get matching ''Team Awesome!'' T-shirts for her, Roman, and Kate? Let's get some answers in this week's DAYS Two Scoops!

Some weeks in Salem leave me wowed. Those kinds make me want to grab the nearest person -- even if they don't watch the show -- and exclaim, "Did you see what happened on DAYS!?" while trying to force them to jump around in a circle OMG-ing. Other weeks are like a giant tease. They make me want to sit in a caf, maybe or maybe not while wearing a Norm de Plume-esque beret and go back and forth with another fan trying to figure out what will happen next.

Last week was the latter of the two. A giant tease! Things are strategically moving into place like a game of chess, but we're still lacking answers as the audience. Fortunately, some characters are starting to gain insight. Like Ciara. She was floored by Victor and Xander's secret. She even threw in an "Oh, my God!" "I can't believe this," and a "This is awful." Yep. That's major. It's confirmed that Will is an innocent man, but the "how" part is still a mystery. I want in, Ciara -- please, oh, please tell me, too.

Also fortunate is that Ciara isn't staying silent, despite Victor's pleas and Xander's intimidation. Good on you, C! She visited Will in jail and told him that he's innocent. Aaannnddd cliffhang. Damn it. Though I did find it humorous that Ciara had to explain to Will that she was really there to see him this time. I think he was still in shock over that when she dropped the big bombshell on him.

Of course, Ciara's visit came after Sonny and Will signed the divorce papers. Gulp. Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey brought the heartache. Their comfortableness with one another makes their scenes entirely more layered and gut-wrenching. Will's stance of "It's not what I want, it's what needs to be done" was rough. From his perspective at the time, he's not wrong to think that. I tend to look on the bright side of this all. Wilson can have a "Third Time's the Charm" theme at their next wedding.

Still, we don't know how Will is innocent, how Adrienne died, or who killed Jordan, amongst other burning questions. That last one leaves Ben lingering on death row with the clock ticking. I mean, Clyde's a total creep, but Ben might want to rethink that prison break Papa Weston proposed. Just saying. Though if I had to place my bet on the person who killed Jordan, I'd say it was -- oh, hi, Evan. Didn't see you there drinking that glass of Shady Delight.

On the topic of shadiness, Salemites are lining up to gossip about Hope's peculiar behavior. Rafe has been the ringleader here, as he's had suspicions for a while. He looped Abe in and had conversations with others. Julie and Kayla had their own chitchat, as did Jules and the mayor. Though, really, Julie? She was upset because Hope was rude to Kayla. That was the tipping point? Okay. Sure. Anything to get this ball rolling, and, admittedly, I enjoyed the random character interaction of it all.

In the end, Rafe phoned a friend! I love it when he does that. Just who will this buddy be!? I hope it's either Shawn-Douglas or Shane. Chelsea would be awesome, too. In any event, I'm glad the people in Hope's life are waking up, but, still, it leads me to a thought...

Stefano's point to Kristen was valid. If Kristen could return as Nicole, why couldn't he come back as Steve? *Hat tip* you evil bastard. And my aforementioned thought is this: If the "good guys" would ask more questions like that, maybe they wouldn't look so dopey right now. Everyone remembers Stefano's obsession with Marlena, but nobody seems to recall what great lengths he's gone to to dupe the people of Salem. Rafe had a doppelgnger. John's memories were on a flipping disc, and he's also been brainwashed to be Stefano's pawn. Princess Gina existed before. Why doesn't anyone remember this? There's a fine line between suspension of disbelief and exasperating. Which side do you fall on?

LOOSE ENDS: Break out the bubbly! Eli popped the question to Gabi. She said, "Yes." Methinks this wedding will be thoroughly blown apart before "I do's" are exchanged. February Sweeps, anyone? Or will we have to wait until May? Either way, did someone pop the Champagne? I'm thirsty. Oh, I meant we should celebrate Eli and Gabi's engagement because... "This union is sure to last," said nobody. Cheers!

Kristen, Lani, and J.J. are an odd trio. Kristen has the best chance of taking down Gabi if she doesn't get too distracted by Brady, so that rules her out. Lani's pretty much like Alf hiding in the Tanner's laundry room. I'm still kind of waiting for her to do something aside from ghost Abe then call him when she's bored. That leaves J.J. to do the legwork. He's zeroing in on the app, but the guy does not have a great poker face when cornered. I suspect they're stringing out this storyline while others play out, but I also feel like Gabi could get away with some crimes, as her enemies don't seem to be well coordinated.

Also, I love Eli's old/J.J.'s current place, but the recent Eli/J.J. closeness is weird to me. I know they're family, sure. We've learned that Eli considers them close enough to make J.J. his second choice for best man. I guess it's an honor to be nominated by the cousin who once slept with your girlfriend and conspired to keep you in the dark about a baby, but I'm tangent-ing. I just don't get why these two are close other than that they have similar taste in women and hang namesake bulbs on the same Christmas tree. It seems like they should be more "See you at the reunion" than "Friendship bracelet, cuz? I got these from Jennifer for you and me. She was going to throw them out." It just seems kind of contrived.

Kristen officially knows about the Fauxnix! Stacy Haiduk mic dropped those scenes with her baller performances. Kristen went from utter disbelief to overjoyed to realizing the complexity of her relationship with her father. Oh, and that game of cat and mouse Kristen played with Stefano while Abigail was around was brilliant. I enjoyed that Kristen flexed her strength. She'd held up the fort while he was incapacitated. He should be impressed.

On the flip side, Kristen's still after Brady. I'd have less of a problem with this if she had added "sexually assaulting Brady" to her "Things to Ponder While at the Convent" checklist. That's one thing she doesn't seem sorry for at all. A hearty scene where Kristen apologized and meant it would go a long way. Nope. She's sticking to her stance that "Brady knew it was her deep down in his soul." Sure, Kristen. Sure. And because Brady was wearing a short dress, he was asking for it, right? Ugh. That kind of character direction sets me off and is partially ruining a character who's rather fascinating. There's a big difference between a captivating villain and Canada's greatest pedophile and underage porn connoisseur, Scooter. Be better than Scooter, Special K. That shouldn't be hard. That bar is low...very, very low.

Alas, Brady and Nicole aren't making things comfortable, either. They decided to stage a make-out session on the Basic Black boardroom table. Wait! Question. Do the Black men have a thing for boardroom tables? Anyway. It was super awkward. I know Nicole is trying to keep Brady from going back to Kristen -- I think that's the goal -- but it's coming off as a plot from an episode of a Saved by the Bell-like show. "Gee! I'll make her jealous by pretending to go out with you until she realizes how much she likes me!" I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of what they want. Maybe Nicole should just get him one of those cones you put on animals so they don't lick themselves or get him a shock collar.

Eric and Sarah are back in Salem with cute Little Mickey. She's not responding to the chemo and needs a bone marrow transplant. One, that's super sad, and I'm with Victor, who keeps saying, "Mackenzie will be fine. She has to be." Two, oh, yeah. This smells like the setup to a paternity surprise. I can't confirm anything, but if you placed money on a "Baby Swap" storyline, it's probably safe to start thinking about what to do with your potential earnings.

I lost it when Hattie said, "So, let me ask you something, team..." She's adorable and just wants to belong. Though it begs the question: Does Hattie know more than she acts like? She did give a suspicious look to Roman and Kate. Maybe it was jealousy, but I wouldn't count her out. I also wouldn't count out another Hattie and Mar switcheroo. Doc might get more answers posing as an unsuspecting Ms. Adams. Hmm.

Chad and Abigail being on the same page continues to delight me, but I'm beginning to think Chad needs to participate more in his own storyline. He's kind of just waiting for a guy to text him back. Okay, that guy's his father, but, point is, he really doesn't have a game plan without those shares. At this point, I'd like to see him join Abigail on an investigation into her hunch that Ben is innocent. Chad has a history with Ben and Jordan. This would also lead him to interact more with Will at the prison and Sonny, who's hanging around Evan these days. See where I'm going with this? Bonus, that all leads to more Billy Flynn screentime, and that's always welcomed!

It's confirmed! Kate has Andre's shares of DiMera Enterprise. I thought this might be the case, but now we know. Unless we did before and I totally blanked. Either way, Katie is still in the game, but was she ever really out of it? Play on, player. Play on.

Another mystery solved is that Stefano was officially the "SD" initials on one of those doors in Kristen and Dr. Rolf's Evil Laboratory, Storage, and Day Spa in Nashville. I think most of those have been divulged by now, but I'm still curious about the "AV." Is that Ava Vitali? I repeat, "Hmm."

HOT As I was watching DAYS last week, it hit me -- Ron Carlivati might surpass Rihanna as the best thing to happen to umbrellas. This Time Jump storyline might not be everyone's cup of Kate's whiskey, but the six degrees of Salem separation is down to one or two now. The intermixing of characters and storylines is staggering, and my new favorite game is to pick two random Salemites and see how they intersect now. Try it. It's fun!

NOT Eli mentioned that he and Lani were in love but that Baby David's death only made that love deeper. Umm. Didn't they have a kneejerk reaction to assuming their partners cheated on them and have a one-night stand followed by a lot of lying and covering things up like, you know, the baby? I'm sure I remember Lani wanting to stay with J.J. (he even bought the kid a bike) and Eli promising never to lie to Gabi again (which he did and never bought her an apology bike). So, really, were they in love pre-David's death? It's a nice notion, but not exactly fact.

LINE OF THE WEEK Stefano (to Princess Gina): "And how many glasses of your glorious wine had you consumed when you decided that?"

EXCHANGE(S) OF THE WEEK Roman: "How do you know this guy's a hustler?" Kate: "Because Sonny attracts them, okay." Me (to my TV): "Preach, Katie. Preach!"

Abigail (regarding Stefano): "I'm not afraid of him." Stefano: "I can see that." Me (to my TV): "Abby -- you go, girl!"

RANDOM THOUGHTS I think Stefano stating, "You have a cruel streak, Kristen," might just be the understatement of the decade, and we're only a month in. Well. A year and a month in Salem. Still, like, yeah, your baby girl can be mean, mean, mean, Steffie.

Rafe and Gabi heart-to-heart scenes give me the warm fuzzies.

Ha! Of course, Kate pours herself a shot at work. I mean, some people need coffee, some need liquor. That's fair.

Something tells me that Princess Gina is going to go rogue and harm Marlena. If that happens, this storyline will have a quick ending, as Stefano will smack the royalty right out of Hope. Nobody messes with his Queen of the Night, except, well, him.

Eric and Nicole had a nice moment! Yep. That feast is a scrap, but I'll take it.

Lil' Ari's picture to Will was cute! Maybe she and Princess Gina can collaborate on a mural or something. They both like tiaras. That's a start.

It absolutely looks like Deidre Hall and Lauren Koslow are having a blast working together as Hattie and Kate. I love it!

Kate called Evan an "interloper." She's hardly wrong. I'll give Paul's number to Evan so they can text.

Hattie calling Stefano "Count Chocula" will never not be funny.

I might have missed a giant beat, but how did Hope's house flood? Did we get an answer? I can't remember, and it's definitely not because Kate and I were doing shots at the Brady Pub while we worked. Nope. Not at all.

I would love to watch Kate watch Frozen with Arianna. I can see Ms. Roberts' hands going up in the air at least a few times in exasperation and then suggesting something like, "A poison snow cone would have been much more effective."

Does anyone else suspect (or fear) that once Hope and Steve's hijacked brains are freed, they'll bond a bit, leading to a Hope/Steve/Kayla/Justin-type scenario?

I could get used to Jack in glasses.

Speaking of accessories, Kristen doesn't really seem like the "charm bracelet" type to me. Though I didn't get a good look at all the ornaments. If there are tiny gold teeth, a wine bottle, and little pills with Mr. Yuck faces on them, then I get it. Totally.

PARTING THOUGHTS So, friends and fellow DAYS fans, that's it for the January 20 edition of Two Scoops! It's promised that this week we're going to head back to 2020 and learn about some of that missing time. Are you ready to find out what happened that fateful night? I know I am! Laurisa is, too, and she'll be back next week to cover it all. As always, thank you for reading! And, "That's a fact."

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