Guess who's back? Back again!

With one return, did DAYS jump into overdrive? Did you even miss the possession storyline? Or were you completely enthralled with two new whodunits? Let's discuss it all in this week's Two Scoops!

Thank goodness, Sami is back! Love her or hate her, she drives so much storyline and has the ability to bring in a lot of characters.

Take, for example, the number of people Allie absolutely should have called to tell them Sami was kidnapped. I could maybe see her not calling E.J., especially if the two aren't that close. But the fact that Allie didn't call Will, Johnny, or Sydney was puzzling. If not them, she didn't bother to call the police? Her cousins Eli and Shawn are on the force! Heck, Tripp's dad, Steve, has been known to be valuable in missing persons cases, too! Come on, Allie. This weaksauce reason about not being able to dial a phone because Marlena is possessed was just silly.

Sami decided to tell people -- ahem -- in the flesh, and boy did she! Walking in on E.J. and Nicole in bed was a classic soap move. It reminded me of when Lucas walked in on Sami and E.J. in possibly that very same bedroom! (I don't know how Gabi handed out lodging assignments.) A great thing about this scene is that everyone was sort of right.

Sami's life-threatening situation did cause her to have an epiphany about what's important to her. However, E.J. did not. As far as he knows, she left and didn't bother to look back. Plus, Sami getting kidnapped didn't mean that she didn't sleep with Lucas.

Sami's right, too, that E.J. was only sleeping with Nicole to get over Sami. However, Nicole knew that. In fact, the whole thing was her idea. It doesn't make the whole encounter anything to build a relationship on, and I really don't love Nicole deciding to sleep with another man in order to get over Rafe -- but Nicole and E.J. are two consenting adults.

The one part where this situation will completely fall down is E.J. proclaiming that Nicole is his future. Listen, Eej, I know you're somewhat new here, but you tried this exact thing before. With Nicole. You even claimed that a relationship with her would be "so much easier." Let me tell you how that turned out.

The mystery about who kidnapped Sami is still out there. Though I find this the least interesting part of the story right now, which may mean its reveal could link to a completely different storyline down the line. I like that!

From one whodunit to another, someone is doing a bang-up job of framing Brady for hurting Philip, and I am here for all of it! Victor back on the scene? Yes! Shawn and Belle in full super-duo swing? Wahoo! A truly emotional scene between Chloe and Brady? I'll take two! Belle putting Trask in her place? Praise hands! Philip finally living up to his scheming mastermind genes?

Well...I'm not completely sold on that one. I wouldn't be upset if he was working alone, mainly because it would set him up to be a great villain. But something about this doesn't seem like something he could pull off on his own. It's way too thought-out for the dude who flew off the handle and ripped a tree out of the ground.

Vivian makes a lot of sense. She'd do anything to help Philip. But I worry it could also be Kristen. On one hand, she's the only other person who wants Chloe and Brady apart as much as Philip does. On the other hand, if she's truly ticked at Brady, sending him to jail for murder seems on brand for her revenge.

Loose Ends

Gwen -- Salem's own Eeyore -- got a pep talk from Ava about how to truly fulfill her plot point. Err... I mean a pep talk about not regretting the bad things you do. These are two great actresses, so I don't mind them sharing scenes. But it seems like a huge miss not to have Gwen and Ava talk about anything they actually had in common -- the deaths of their mothers, growing up with abuse, or the fact that Gwen knew and (arguably encouraged!) Charlie's bad side. This whole "don't hate the player, hate the game" line seemed really superficial for these gals.

I didn't notice Johnny and Chanel were off-screen the whole week until Abigail made a comment about how his movie is on hold because they're still in Italy. It was nice to have the break.

Let's recap Gabi and Jake's pitch. They have been CEOs before. They know where the break room is. And Sonny/Justin/Xander don't want the job. Makes perfect sense! Additionally, they offer Gabi Chic and DiMera Enterprises to Victor. He ends the whole thing by saying, "The next CEO won't have Kiriakis blood in his veins." Yikes.

You guys, our man Roman should start giving out lessons in how to be smooth. The exact level of cheese he managed to pull off (with Kate, no less!) and still come across genuine was impressive. I found this pair completely charming the first time around, and I'm loving the sequel, too! Unlike most of the men Kate's dated, Roman isn't intimidated by an alpha female.

E.J. showed up and confronted Ava. He knows she helped Kristen. He also knows Rafe and Nicole slept together. He knows a lot. He says nothing happens in this town without him knowing, which makes the whole mystery about who took Sami seem a little less mysterious.

HOT Paulina and Kate's talk at the hospital was fantastic. In complete contrast to the Ava/Gwen conversation, this one felt completely earned, and it played upon real history each character had. Their similar pasts were brilliantly used here to show Paulina what might have happened if she hadn't hidden her pregnancy. Add in their mutual adoration of Abe, and these two make a lot of sense as friends.

NOT: Rafe is just an incredible weenie. He has no backbone or shame whatsoever. If he can't forget about sleeping with Nicole, he needs to break up with Ava! Keeping Ava around as some sort of consolation prize to himself is absolutely weenie behavior. Now, he's gone and brought a Christmas tree and decorations into the whole thing, thus giving Ava the impression their relationship is special. Ugh. This fella.

Dishonorable Mention I'm throwing the flag every time I see it. The "Misty Circle" insult is out of bounds, even for Sami. It's gross to see a rape survivor make fun of another woman's sexual assault.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Roman (to Kate): "You make me want to be just a little bit better."

Lesson number one, right there, fellas. Take notes.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

You've got to be kidding me, E.J. Kristen would wither away in jail? Really? Have you met Kristen? She'd run that place.

Speaking of phone calls Allie needs to make, has anyone called Johnny to tell him Marlena actually is possessed? Furthermore, now that Paulina knows Marlena was possessed by the devil, shouldn't Paulina be a little more concerned with Chanel's "something compelled me to do it" statement? That's it. I'm starting a group text for these kids.

Kate telling an overjoyed Lucas about Nicole and E.J. was hilarious.

I don't understand why Gabi hates Ava so much. If anything, you'd think she'd be anti-Nicole, since Gabi is Team Sami.

Between Gwen playing him for months to Kristen pulling one over on him way too easily, Chad may need to just start wearing a T-shirt that says "sucker."

Was anyone else screaming, "OMG, Sami and Lucas, run and get out of there!"? Why were they staying around for small talk? Run through that open door and leave the rest to the cops!

Kyle Lowder and Josh Taylor have similar voices.

I am here for lobster in the chowder.

That's it for this week and this year! Tony and I are hard at work on our end-of-year columns. We hope you'll enjoy them over the next two weeks. We'll see you all in the new year. Happy holidays!

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.