Faces from the past

Will Eli's return mean Abe's rescue? If so, will Theo be around to see it? And which Theo will be happier? Let's discuss all the returning faces in this week's Two Scoops.

The search for Abe took up most of the week, punctuated with welcome returns and a Juneteenth celebration with, well, Julie.

Let's talk good news first. Theo, Olivia, and Eli came back to visit! Jacke Harry plays joy like no one else. I loved seeing Paulina greet this trio. It looks like Theo and Eli may be staying around a bit longer, which is great news, too. Eli managed to find the first break in Abe's case in weeks, and he was in the office for about seven minutes. Well done, Agent Grant.

It seems odd for Theo to leave town before Abe is home, too, so I hope they find something good to do with him. And that list starts and ends with the DiMeras. I loved Chad and Theo's scene and want to see more of Theo interacting with this branch of his family tree. He's got one very valuable asset -- a vote. So, he should use that wisely.

As for Abe, he's graduated to actual pajamas and finally got to remove the head bandage. He showed glimpses of remembering Paulina and confronted Nurse Whitley with the conviction of a man who can stand on his own and make his way willingly out the door! She threw some photoshopped photos and paid actors at him, and he seems to be sitting tight...for now.

With Eli closing in on Nurse Whitley, she decides she has no choice but to kill Abe. Um...sure? I don't know about anyone else, but when a character who has "past due" notices around their apartment kidnapped the husband of one of the wealthiest women in town, I thought for sure we'd be headed for a ransom plot.

Speaking of plots, Dimitri fast-tracked his by proposing to Gwen during their second interaction. Yup. Literally the second time he saw her, he asked her to marry him. Holy jumping the gun. Did Megan put a non-refundable deposit down on Chez Rouge for a specific date?

Leo (Leo!) was the voice of reason here who at least interrupted the happy couple and then marched over to Megan to give her a piece of his mind. Of course, per Leo's brand, that piece was wrong and misguided. However, it's at least appreciated that someone is calling shenanigans on this whole thing.

Finally, the miseducation of Maggie Kiriakis took a bad turn this week. And by that, I mean the show went and made me agree with Alex. And not just a little bit. Like, one hundred percent agree with him.

Maggie marched into Basic Black (Can the CEO of the competition just walk into an office like that?) and tried to shame Alex for signing a deal with Yuri. Perhaps if Alex really had intentionally tanked that deal, or if perhaps we didn't see that Yuri was a complete moron, I'd have more sympathy for Maggie. But that's not what happened.

Look, I love strong Maggie. But Maggie's a measured person, and that grace was completely absent here. She can't come down on Alex for working for the competition after she fired him any more than she can demand family loyalty when it works in her favor. Her low moment of the week came when Maggie rubbed it in Alex's face that she offered his old job to Chad and that Chad and Stephanie are moving in together. I know Maggie was wearing pink on Wednesday, but she doesn't need to become a high school mean girl. She's better than that.

She finished up the week making a pitch to Chad to take the job, like he wasn't her third choice. I don't know about this for Chad. The show had an interesting angle going for him. Billy Flynn is masterly playing Chad differently with Stephanie -- kind of klutzy and not as smooth as he's been before. That's not only because Chad is different, more cautious with love after loss, but because Stephanie is different. She's an independent woman, the breadwinner, and his boss. I'm just not sure about moving Chad into a role where he'd go head to head with his family and become Stephanie's client.

I had no problem with Sarah leaving town without telling Xander about the pregnancy. Sarah's head was spinning, and she deserved a minute to figure out what she was going to do going forward. But now, it's been a minute. Since she's decided to carry the pregnancy, she's wrong for not telling Xander about the baby. Furthermore, she's denying her kid an entire side of the family, which includes good people like Sonny, Justin, Brady, and Shawn. Plus, I'm pretty sure Maggie can do math, so unless there's a time jump planned, Maggie's going to realize Sarah got pregnant in Salem.

Chloe and Xander decide to take it slow again. At least these two are charming in their stalled storyline. I officially want to tag along on all their dates. Beer and darts? Sure. Wine and classic moves? You bet! If they spend an afternoon drinking Starbucks green tea while strolling through Target, I'll officially ship them to the end of time.

I'll always love Belle and Brady scenes. This one didn't disappoint, either. From going on and on about her friend dating Xander to Brady offering to talk to Shawn, this scene was great for Tink and the Braster. Brady talking to Shawn is exactly what needs to happen, too. Something tells me he'll open up to Brady about his demons a lot more than to his mother-in-law.

DAYS is really testing the limit of the karma bank by pairing Bonnie with Justin. I have zero time for the nutcase in Susan's old wardrobe suddenly a) not being able to keep a secret and b) feeling any sort of guilt about it. But then Justin comes in with his logical self and explains that he can't condone what Sarah is doing because of what Angelica did with him. He also made the very good point that Sarah, of all people, should know what pain baby secrets can cause. It's like Justin spent time as a litigator or something.

You know that cool friend you go to when you want to feel good about bad decisions? Kate might as well set up a booth in Horton Town Square to be that friend. From telling Eric to have a baby with Sloan to telling Jada to have a secret affair with Rafe, I'm starting to think there's no life-changing consequence Kate won't hand-wave off. Let's just hope Bonnie doesn't ask Kate for wardrobe approval.

HOT Part 1: Holy casting Easter egg! That is Terrell Ransom Jr., who played child Theo from 2008 through 2015, as Jerry, a.k.a. Nurse Whitley's hired con man. The second I saw his face, I headed right to Google. His Theo was the one who was first diagnosed with autism and obsessed with his physical therapist, Chelsea Brady. I'm sure Terrell Ransom and James Reynolds had a fabulous time working together again. This was such a fun treat for the fans!

HOT Part 2: For as bombastic and a lot as Melinda can be, Tina Huang sure can deliver a moving, tender monologue when asked. I adored Melinda softening when hearing about Talia's emotional abuse. (I'd throw in physical, since Colin grabbed her by the broken arm and held her at gunpoint, but your mileage may vary.) From the second we saw Colin and Talia's relationship, it was clear that he'd been preying on someone not as romantically experienced as he and heavily influencing her mental state. Melinda is Talia with more life experience under her belt. She's proof of what can become with distance and self-confidence. I hope Talia noticed.

NOT: Oh, good. We got to revisit the Julie/Gabi feud. I'd been missing that so much. Yes, please, let Julie talk more about how women shouldn't humiliate other women.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Chloe: "How about an action/adventure with a creepy villain who gets what's coming to him in the end?" Xander: "That kind of hits a little too close to home for me."

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Of course, Whitney has a stuffed cat named "Catty LaBelle."

OMG yesss to Chloe's pink leopard dress.

Not to be outdone, Martha Madison looks gorgeous in that shade of blue. I see you, Last Blast ladies. Way to represent!

There's something extremely decadent about getting an entire pizza all to yourself.

Bonnie looked like an utter lunatic. But I had to chuckle at the full circle moment of a soap character being sick on the couch during the day. How many of us actually loved being sick at home because it meant we got to watch soaps on the couch?

I chuckled when Chanel said she gave the cab driver an extra $20 to make sure he got a tip besides Bible verses.

Is that really what you wear to go meet with the D.A., Talia?

I can't think of a better use of amnesia than to forget you're a Cubs fan.

Truth time -- I completely forgot Chad and the kids lived at the Horton house and that Julie and Doug were the only other residents there. I hope Chad moving out doesn't mean we'll see less of this classic set.

I'm sure there's nothing in that DiMera contract that Alex will regret signing.

It's not that I would want Theo to act this way, but I would think that someone close to Abe might be giving some side-eye to all the danger Abe's been in because of Paulina. I mean, Abe was married to a DiMera for decades, and I don't remember this much physical harm coming to him. Perhaps they're holding Brandon's return for this point.

I really like the Brady/Alex pairing for both of them. Brady can impart some wisdom on Alex when it comes to conducting oneself like a gentleman. And Alex can possibly help Brady realize that not every woman needs to be the love of your life.

That's it for this week! Tony will be back next to see if Brady decides that Kristen is acting weirder than normal. Until then, have a happy start to summer!

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