The games people play

Do we have a serial killer on the loose? If so, are they hiding in plain sight? Have our villains in Salem become that brave? Let's try to catch some bad guys in this edition of Two Scoops!

Orpheus has been a villain for a while, but he found an all-time torture low. He ate a cheeseburger in front of hangry captives! What a total monster.

I actually enjoyed the escape room-type clues. I got super excited when Kate was kidnapped because she always makes a hostage situation a lot more fun. And I had to cast a huge side-eye when -- with Roman's girlfriend in the room, too -- Marlena declared, "Don't worry. John and Steve will save us!" Does this woman ever stop with the Roman burns?

Outside of that, this Orpheus storyline is dragging a bit for me. I have to wonder if they're keeping him around so that he and possibly Evan Christian can take the fall for the stabbings happening in Salem.

Sonny became victim number two, because DAYS didn't think Chad had had enough grief. Nope, sorry your wife died -- but we're going to stab your best friend, too, and let you discover the body! This was a bad week for Marlena to miss her appointment with Chadsworth.

Are we supposed to connect the two crimes? I guess so. It just seems odd because outside of Leo and Chad, there aren't a lot of threads between Abigail and Sonny. Could we be looking at two different crimes here? Could Sonny have interrupted a Titan adversary in the middle of a crime and gotten stabbed for it? Could Leo be jumping to assumptions that it was the same knife? It did look to be a kitchen steak knife, and I'd bet good money that the DiMeras have more than one, perhaps even a set of them.

Speaking of things that are plentiful, Sonny assures Stephanie that Alex won't be a problem because he moves on to another girl every five minutes. Sonny, my man, that's a lowkey burn at Stephanie! Stephanie agrees to take the job, and Alex shows up with flowers immediately and follows it up with a text about a hot tub date.

Stepahnie says that Alex isn't a predator, but that's a concrete example of outdated thinking women have become accustomed to, which gives a lot of shady fellas an unearned sense of privilege. She's said no. Sonny reminded him she said no. Justin reminded him she said no. The only one cheering Alex on at this point is Bonnie "wait until they're too drunk to consent" Lockhart, and I think we all can agree she's not the best authority here!

The wrong Kiriakises are advising Alex. Move out of the way, Justin and Sonny. This is literally the job Brady has been training for his whole life. His cousin just decided that a woman he met for four seconds is the love of his life. Tag Brady in on this storyline yesterday. Let him talk to Alex about having your pick of women and how to properly pace yourself, else you might end up with a baby mama who should be in Bayview.

Belle and Shawn are back together again, but only because Brady and Chloe, respectively, talked some sense into them again. If Chloe and Brady ever break up, I worry what will happen to Shelle. They might just walk in circles around their apartment because no one is there to tell them that you turn that round knob on the big rectangle in the wall to get out.

Kristen sued for full custody because Brady wouldn't let her say goodbye to Rachel during the last visit. This seems like a completely rational reaction. I know. I know. I need to stop expecting Kristen to be rational. I'm not surprised that Rachel is a bit of a handful (those Kiriakis and DiMera genes have to be a tough mix), but I'm not here for her giving Kristen another unearned advantage. The woman can wear other people's faces and gets to pick which siblings come back from the dead. Can we not add "child's happiness depends on her" to her column, as well?

Kristen's still going forward with her plan to have Dr. Rolf brainwash Stefan into forgetting about Gabi and heightening his feelings for Chloe. When Rolf made the realistic point (never thought I'd use those words about Rolf) that it doesn't mean Chloe will love Stefan back, Kristen's response was, "Well, do the procedure on Chloe!" Call me crazy, but not being a looney tune seems like a much easier path than brainwashing two people -- one of whom has been dead for the past four years.

Stephanie's ghosting ex is getting more screen time than Maggie these days. He has to show up in Salem soon. With all the DiMera musical chairs, a Stephen Hawk appearance would be interesting. In Salem, "ghosted" could also mean brainwashed and kidnapped. See: Johnson, Steve.

HOT Chloe and Nicole's scene was a delight. Their friendship really has become one of the better parts of the show. I loved Chloe telling Nicole -- with no ounce of judgment -- that she needs to butt out of Eric and Jada's business and decide if she wants to stay in her own marriage at all. Also, I loved Nicole wanting a background check on Jada. Sure, it came from a completely misplaced jealousy. But Jada is hiding something, and this moves this plot point right along. Good things happen when Nicole and Chloe get together for chats.

NOT: The DiMeras have me all sorts of confused. Rapid fire time --

I like Li. I loved Wendy. But I'm going to need an explanation as to why the Shins have so much power at DiMera Enterprises.

Johnny behaves a bit like a spoiled child around E.J. He pulled this same, "I'll move out and not love you!" stunt when E.J. didn't bankroll Johnny's life-long dream to be a film director. Now he's mad that E.J. was rude to Ava, so he threatened to take his love ball and go home again. Part of me wants to see E.J. let this baby Phoenix see if he can fly on his own.

Mr. Shin proceeded to utterly berate Gabi because she hasn't kept her job because of merit. Really? I thought DiMera was doing well. Even E.J.'s vote to remove Gabi came as him trying to find a bylaws loophole, not challenging Gabi's actual performance as CEO.

E.J. made a motion to remove Ava because she's a mentally unstable woman. He said this with Kristen three feet away.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Allie: "Stephanie? She's my cousin!" Chanel: "Her, too? It seems like everyone in this town is your cousin."

I want Chanel to have a running commentary about everything she observes in Salem. Can we give her a pop-up-video type recap show once a week?

I like how Sonny referenced the Kiriaikis room as the study instead of the living room, since it severely shrank in size.

Man, I really miss Kayla's stylish house.

Gabi's hot pink heels were amazing.

E.J. got to break a glass against the fireplace. He's leveled up in the soap world!

Martha Madison looked stunning.

It was a throw-away line, but I loved the mention of the Toscano Foundation.

Have Sonny and Allie interacted? It is strange that he hasn't see his brother-in-law or sister-in-law since...he's been back in town?

What in the name of Cruella de Vil was Ava wearing?

I still can't believe how many members of Sami's family who treat her like an outcast when she's around get furious with Kate for playing a role in Sami's kidnapping.

I don't know why, but it cracks me up when one hostage screams, "wake up!" to the other.

Belle and Shawn have a landline?!

I'm sorry, is there a caretaker at the crypt? Since when? Where was this person when everyone was held hostage there?

Kayla's hair looks amazing for being kidnapped.

Poor Abe. All he wanted to do was throw Roman a birthday celebration, and people kept popping out at his party. Next time, invite Tony and me! We'll be there for you!

That's it for this week! Tony will be back next week to cover the last broadcast week on DAYS. Hopefully you've all signed up for Peacock! There's a deal right now where you can get a whole year for $20, so hopefully that will help keep our family together. I'm excited to see what the next step in this DAYS journey is. We really are all growing up together!

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