Everyone says, "I love you"

Is there a new drug on the market? If so, who is behind it? If it stays, will it be used for good or bad? Let's grab a snack and discuss it all in this week's Two Scoops.

It's been well speculated -- if not outright confirmed -- that the Bo/Hope/Kayla/Steve/etc. drama was to be the plot of the next Beyond Salem installment. They've got special guest stars, and the story is pretty isolated. But, with its installment, DAYS has gone global. So, let's travel across the world and back to discuss it!

Over in Greece, Grumpy Bo locked Kayla in a wine cellar, leaving her nothing to do but obviously read the old love letters written to her mother. I found this extremely creepy, and not just because of Kayla's glasses. It felt like a violation of Caroline's privacy. She rejected the letter because she didn't want to read it. I get we had to read it because it's going to teach Grumpy Bo down the line that love always wins. But still, Kayla, ewww. On the bright side, at least DAYS is getting its money's worth out of wine cellar props!

The reunion between Bo and Steve was sweet at first. But it took Steve way too long to realize that Bo was brainwashed. Also, I need people to start asking, "How's this possible this time?" when encountering a resurrected loved one. This is commonplace now. The only novelty is the method.

Steve and Kayla's reunion was sweet, too. I'd like to get some bubble wrap around Steph and Tripp, though, because with Steve and Kayla captured and Joey in a car accident, the bench is getting shorter for Team Johnson.

Yup, Tripp had to head to Seattle to be with Joey. It was a good thing, too, because all sorts of shenanigans broke out in Salem when Talia spiked a batch of her own biscuits with some sort of truth serum-meets-club-drug that had everyone racing to say "I love you"...or some version of that.

There's a lot to unpack there, so let's start with the villain first. As soon as I saw the scene where the person sneaked back into the bakery, I knew it was Talia. No one else would know where the dough was, when it was going to be used, how to get in, and what to put in it so it wouldn't make the biscuits take like poison. I'm not sure why she thought she needed to wear gloves, since her fingerprints were justifiably all over the crime scene, but maybe she's just super diligent about reducing germ spreading. That actually does sound like a doctor.

So, with the biscuits poisoned with a love drug (but not RSV), we got down to the business of seeing a bunch of awkward couple encounters.

First, Johnny and Chanel. These two have chemistry for days. A quick walk down memory lane brought them back to the fountains of Rome, through an engagement, and ended up with a shoulder shrug. When Chanel kind of declined to continue their engagement like most people turn down another helping of soup, I just smiled. Sober or high, these two are a delight together.

Next up -- Melinda and Stefan. I'm so glad Stefan's drug wore off before they did the deed. I mean, I clearly wouldn't want someone to be taken advantage of in an altered state, even if they were acting like they wanted the act. That would be devastating, huh, Stefan? Anyway, I'm calling this a wash here because, for his time, he got to see Melinda be absolutely savage with him when she realized he was rejecting her. You invite a viper into your bed, Stefan...

In a less humorous pairing, Gabi came home to Li and hallucinated that he was Stefan. I was relieved when Li didn't rape Gabi -- which is kind of the lowest of all low bars for a character. Li earned more points for taking her to the hospital and not just leaving her because she hurt his pride. Now that everyone knows who everyone else wants to be with, I'm hoping we can find a better use for Li.

Gabi's brother fared a little better than Li, but that's only because he and Jada had a quite endearing talk earlier in the week about their feelings. Jada knew right away that something was off with Rafe. I didn't like him forcing a kiss on Jada. But him seeing Sloan as a comically oversized cartoon creature was the most spot-on thing of the week.

Finally, we got Eric and Nicole -- the only other pair besides Johnny and Chanel who actually hallucinated each other. The initial farce, where Nicole was adamant they needed to dry clean and return his collar before someone called the Pope made me chuckle. I don't know how those two got through the banana camera scene without laughing hysterically. And when -- still pretty high-- they had to explain to Sloan what happened, I started the slow clap.

This is all to wonder why Talia did this. She had no way of knowing who would eat the biscuits. Unless she has a split personality, that girl has ice water running through her veins to be able to watch any and every random person eat poison. So, either:

She used the blanket tactic in hopes of getting one specific person to eat them.

She wants Chanel's business to crumble -- which seems like the more direct route. She did go to the trouble of getting hired by and close to Chanel in a hurry.

Or, she's working for Megan Hathaway and has invented a drug that does make people fall in love instantly. She knows it won't kill people because she's a trained doctor and is confident the side effects will be mild. This whole love biscuit experiment was a massive test.

Loose Ends

Oh, goodness. I love what you tried to do with Johnny, Chanel. But he's right. Tripp has more to offer. And it's not even that he's a doctor. It's that he's employed and can pay rent.

Maybe Talia has an evil twin. But whatever twin was talking to Gabi, I liked. I loved these two talking about how silly their siblings are. I also liked the show not automatically pitting women against each other.

Excuse me, Eric. Sloan's obsession with Chanel/Paulina is just now taking over her life? She's been playing that song on blast since she got to town. Where have you been? Still, bringing over Sweet Bits was a little tone deaf, my guy. Plus, she's told you she likes pancakes. Listen.

I like Eric. But I certainly cheered when Jada declared, "Dude. I'm over you." Not that it's a competition, but Jada clearly won this breakup.

Speaking of prizes, Gwen needs to pack it up and take the win. She may have lost Xander, but she's got a friends-with-benefits who looks like Robert Scott Wilson, and she's running a major company. She looked super silly confronting Xander at the pub.

HOT: I'm not shipping Xander and Chloe. But I adored:

Chloe getting to actually have fun for a minute. I get that she loves Brady, but that Rachel drama is painful to watch. This woman is due for a beer and some high-fives.

When Xander did step out of line, Chloe put him right back in. I loved her calling him right out on consent. Good for her, and good for putting that tired trope back in the past where it belongs.

NOT There are some things we say to ourselves, but when we really think about it, we realize that those thoughts shouldn't be something we say out loud to other people. Alex making Kayla's resurrection about himself -- absolving himself of any wrongdoing with Stephanie -- should have been one of those moments. I'm sorry, is he giving himself points back because he didn't violate Stephanie's trust to the exact degree he thought before?

LINE OF THE WEEK: Nicole: "Hey, Sloaney baloney! How's tricks?"

The leg kick when she did this was *chef's kiss* perfect! I guffawed.

Honorable Mention: Rafe: "You're marshing my mallow"

Drugged Rafe was actually a nice departure to see. He never plays the butt of the joke, and Galen did a hilarious job. It was like seeing Jennifer on pot brownies, greeting the police officer with, "Thank you, first responder!"

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Abe works out four days a week. That checks out.

I wonder if the car accident was caused when Joey's chip malfunctioned.

There's really no note Greg Vaughan and Arianne Zucker can't hit.

My heart sank when Wendy said, "Your sister warned me about you!" I really thought Wendy was smart.

It's still extremely creepy that E.J. took that picture.

I had to chuckle when E.J. and Nicole tried to fill Johnny in on all of the Stefan saga, and Johnny couldn't have cared less.

They're trolling us with this bear at this point, right?

Drugged Nicole saying that all E.J. wants to do is plot against his brother was telling. Nicole being the supporting schemer seems out of place.

You knew something big was going down when we actually saw the inside of Sweet Bits.

Will, Chad, Brady....Marlena has quite the collection of "my dear boy"s. I wouldn't have it any other way! It's very charming.

That's it for this week! Tony will be back next week to find out who actually is taking care of all of these patients at the hospital. Kayla, Sarah, and Tripp are all out of town. Is Marlena's all-powerful MD the only degree in town? We'll have to tune in to find out. Laurisa

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