Homeward bound

From the Hortons to baby Jude, Salem homecomings are happening, but Julie promised there would be more! Plus, Everett's actions are hitting home, and Marlena made a diagnosis. Let's go home in this May Sweeps edition of DAYS Two Scoops!

Doug (DOUG!) summed up my feelings for DAYS perfectly. He said, "Home. It feels like home." It truly does. It's a place filled with familiar faces, warm fuzzies, and occasional craziness.

Okay. Maybe more than the "occasional craziness" when it comes to life in Salem. That place is a hotbed of hot messes with just the right amounts of heartwarming moments, like when we hear Macdonald Carey state, "Like sands through the hourglass..." or see Bill Hayes light up our screens.

Of course, a home is, or should be, our safe space and a place where we can be our authentic selves, even if our "authentic self" is a horrible person. Oh, hi, Sloany Bologny. I didn't see you standing there. What's new?

While we could easily start with a scathing review of Sloan's sinful acts, she did make some strides to redemption. Roman lit up a little after learning she likes the Brady Pub's pumpkin pie. There's that. Considering the clam chowder catastrophe, that's something to grow on, right? We can work from pie and then toward forgiveness...maybe?

I kid. I kid. There's no going back from Sloan's savagery. She broke Eric. He's one of those previously mentioned hot messes at the moment. And I am utterly shocked.

No, no. I need a better, bigger word. Astonished. Astounded. Flabbergasted! That's it. I'm utterly flabbergasted. I'm sobbing alongside Eric, as Greg Vaughan is breaking my heart with his performance, and then Eric pulls Jude out of his baby holder thingy. No! "Eric pulls Jude out." Like, I literally exclaimed to my screen, "Wait! Oh, my God! Jude's a baby!" A real, cute, cuddly child, not just a bundle of blankets. So, yep. That's the baby bombshell reveal everyone's talking about, right?

So. The other Jude-sized secret has finally, partially spilled. Eric believes he's not the father and the baby belongs to Nicole and E.J. This is like the Energizer Bunny of "Baby Swaps." It keeps going and going and going...

That said, the cast has been on fire all week (and always, really). We'll talk more about Greg later, but Jessica Serfaty deserves a thunderous round of applause! I enjoyed her full commitment to the role. While the writers changed Sloan, Jessica managed to keep her feet firmly in her alter ego's scheming stilettos and roll with all the punches. I especially loved how she expressed Sloan's sheer exhaustion from all the lies and treachery. Yes, Sloan, duplicity is hard work (but Jessica made it look flawlessly easy)!

While I'm not sure where Sloan could possibly go from here (E.J. suggested Milan, where she might meet a billionaire [love!]), Elvis J. is now in the driver's seat of this secret. It's all on him. Sloan's been snuffed out. Leo's dirty deeds have been outed. Elvis doesn't know about Melinda helping out (yet). That leaves him with the most to lose, but that's putting the next baby bombshell before the coverup. Before E.J. can be outed himself eventually, Nicole still needs to process what's happening and what happened, and if she happens to scream at Sloan in the process, I can't wait! The fallout next week is sure to be explosive.

Plus, Nicole not only got the baby back, but she also got a teen back, too. Well. Holly apologized. She didn't write it down in a thoughtful note as Marlena suggested, but she sent a text. It hit the mark. It made Nicole happy, and I'm happy for her. Now, if someone can just send her a text that E.J.'s lying to her, and we can put this baby swap to bed...well. That would be splendid!

Yes, Julie. Full stop, "Yes!" Yes to everything related to a massive Horton family reunion. Get a pad and pen, and let's plan this.

Also, yes, please! Can we please, pretty please, get Kate back to being a bit more of a badass? She threatened Ho-Hum Harris. She warned Ava. She's admitted she's part of a good family now, but she's not afraid of removing her earrings. While I love Roman having peace and harmony, Kate destroying boring old Ho-Hum would be a public service, really.

I'll never not love a Steve versus Ava scene simply because of the rapport between Stephen Nichols and Tamara Braun. They can get so ugly and raw. It's amazing.

Chad going to Steve was a smart move. I'd like to see more of this -- Chad building his investigative skills by going to the pros. Nearly everyone in Salem loves him. He has the means and support to get things done. And, of course, Steve loved Abigail, so this case is a great one for them to start.

Chad and E.J.'s scenes were also great! The brilliant Billy Flynn seems to have seamless chemistry with nearly all his castmates, but he and Dan Feuerriegel have an especially deep dynamic. Both talented gents understand where their characters come from and the connection between them, from bad blood to brotherly bonding.

Julie and Maggie's goodbyes gut-punched me just as much as Chad and Julie's happy dance about going home warmed my heart. These kind of character connections give the show so much heart. And of course, my heart filled with such happiness seeing Bill Hayes on-screen as Doug. Each of his scenes is now an even bigger blessing than before.

I feel like Maggie often starts at a "ten" with Alex, but I also get it. Totally. He's exasperating. If she doesn't come in swinging with logic and some sass, he's likely to keep looking at his reflection in the closest shiny object.

Also, who wants to break it to Alex that he's not the head of the family? I don't think most of them even think of him as more than a flashy fly buzzing around their good times. I hate what Theresa did to everyone except for him. I can't wait for him to be swatted.

Can Brady and Theresa just be best friends forever and not get romantically entangled again? I loved their candor with one another. It felt genuine. Just like Brady and Nicole, romance needs to be sidelined for a better version of the characters together.

Conversely, can Brady still stay Jude's godfather, since he and Nicole are pals?

Marlena believes that Everett, well, technically Bobby, I think, has DID. As long as he doesn't don a wig, he should be safe from Stefan, but the guy has a lot of drama to unpack, nonetheless. I still feel there's a chance he's going to end up Nick Fallon's long-lost twin and that he inherited DID from his mother, Jessica.

Chanel has decided to keep the baby! I'm happy about this. And it's set to be a Christmas baby. That's DAYS elite status. I hope now that Johnny and Chanel are close to Julie, Baby N gets the middle name Douglas or Julie.

I know Chanel's ready to love him, her, or they either way, but Johnny doesn't look as convinced, which is weird because he's been a super doting husband and father-to-be for weeks now. He's been respectful toward her choice, too. So, I'm confused by his hesitation. Though I'm sure he's just scared. I know how fidgety I got around my first smart phone. I'm sure a baby, even under the best circumstances, is a BIT more nerve-racking.

Meanwhile on 21 Jump Street, Spudward told his friend Aaron Green that he's secretly dating Holly. I must give it to Aaron -- his reaction was hilarious. I also like that he's being fleshed out as a character. He seems like a loyal friend and a great big brother to Felicity, who is all shades of sassy and adorable.

More so, Tater Tot, listen to Aaron! He's a good enough friend to tell you the truth. It seems he'll respect the spud's relationship, but I respect that Aaron was smart enough to read all the warnings on the label aloud for Tate. If Mr. Green wants to be a bit like Leo and reference SNL, he needs to show his Spuddy the "Red Flag" skit. Yikes.

HOTThis "HOT" only needs two words: "Greg Vaughan!" Wow. Just, "Wow!" What a heartbreaking, pitch-perfect performance.

NOTThis isn't the "NOTTIEST" of "NOTS." It's more like a slap on the wrist after I did a few palm slaps to my own forehead out of frustration. Okay, Mr. Dupree wins points for keeping oyster crackers on hand for queasiness. Great job, Johnny. Hand me some of them because you're making me want to stress eat.

Now. Johnny learned this trick from his mother, Sami. Are you with me Jo-Ro? Sami's parents are Marlena and Roman. Okay, Johnny. That would make Roman your...no! Not uncle. That would make Roman your...your...your...? NO! Not "great uncle." Your grandfather. Granddad. Pappy. Whatever, but not your "Uncle."

More so, unemployed since he stepped into Salem. Johnny stunned me when he said that he "finally" put his rsum online. What in the name of what!? Sure, he was quick to get an offer, but wow. This hurt my head.

LINE OF THE WEEK

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." Doug

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I hope that Julie had a new lockbox filled with secrets and sentimental scribblings installed in the chimney for the next generation of Hortons to someday find.

A sloshed Sloan's response to Eric was slick. She said, "What part of 'no' don't you understand? It's one syllable and a whole damn sentence." Jessica Serfaty's delivery was superb, and I'm filing that line under "Sassy Comebacks" for when I need to use it.

I love it that Nicole can so easily call E.J. out on his E.J.-ness. Most fear him. She does not. This bodes well for her.

Brady's joke about, "This is Salem. [Telekinetic kids] are probably everywhere," cracked me up -- and is probably a bit true. Then again, he might be getting Salem confused with Harmony, where they were everywhere.

C'mon! Eric and Nicole MUST know that E.J. saw them kissing, right!? Eric was sober, and E.J. was not being as subtle as he thinks he was.

I loved that Julie embraced change and declared, "No. I'll order online!" instead of phoning the grocery store. My mother -- whose age I will not divulge out of fear of retaliation -- has kept current with technology, and I'm so proud of her for that. Sometimes she'll just text, "Watching DAYS," with a wine glass emoji. It's hilarious.

Marlena exclaiming, "Take off your glasses!" was fierce. A mother knows when something's off.

I really want one of these "relaxing, healing days" Eej was going on about. Can I borrow Harold for, like, a week of days like these, please and thank you?

Melinda's suit was very chic. At least she'll look good when she's finally hauled off in handcuffs.

I do love that Leo has a deep pool of pop culture references to pull zingers from. I nearly got a little verklempt myself when he brought up SNL's "Coffee Talk." In a perfect soap world, Leo would meet Sunset Beach's Annie Douglas, and the two of them could have some fabulous fantasy sequences.

E.J.'s sweater was amazing.

PARTING THOUGHTS

So, friends and fellow fans, that's it for May 27. Which Sweepsy storyline surprised you the most this month (so far)!? Laurisa will be back next week to wrap up May. As always, thank you for reading, and "That's a fact."

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