Double the Trouble: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of December 30, 2024

The week started off with a fun time watching Rafe’s doppelganger, Arnold, make EJ jump through hoops. The real Rafe tracked the mysterious texts Ava received to the DiMera mansion and showed up there. Poor EJ was shaking in his boots that the whole Arnold issue would be found out, so it was brown trousers time for him. Sure, the lookalike thing is an old soap trope, but we get nervous every time he talks to Jada, so it’s working.

Holly caught Tate and Sophia leaving together. Uh oh! Annoyed by Tate dancing around the truth, Sophia finally blurted out that they were going to get an abortion (“Not going to Disneyland,” as she put it). This story has become a hot mess, and who really cares?

Belle considered taking the DA job if Jada convinced Paulina to cut him loose. Again. Belle has finally become interesting again, and now that she and Shawn are divorced, we don’t have to watch them throw endless pity parties. I think the two together are not worth it, and on their own they have much more to offer the show.

Jada tried convincing Paulina that Belle would be a better DA and told the mayor that because DiMeras have connections to organized crime, EJ must have an ulterior motive. You think? He’s got an ulterior motive when he chooses his breakfast cereal. He used his position for his own personal gain for long enough.

We got to meet Sophia’s mother, Amy Choi (played by newcomer Shi Ne Nielson), who interrogated Ava about her daughter. It was clear Ava realized that Sophia lied about having a shift, and she nicely covered for her, but she slipped up, and Amy realized her daughter had been, GASP, with a boy!! (*covers mouth in embarrassment*).

Later, Arnold was using a glass to listen in on Rafe and EJ’s conversation through the door, and he accidentally dropped it because he was busy eating a croissant at the same time. You can tell Gering is truly having a blast cutting loose as good old Arnie, and it’s going to be hard once the real Rafe comes back all serious and stuff.

Sophia’s mom was so zealous and overbearing to the point of obnoxiousness. She kind of reminded me of Natalia from General Hospital in her early days. So now we’re going to have to suffer through the story arc of Amy learning that it’s okay for teens to have sex, get pregnant, and drive to another state where they don’t need parental consent for an abortion. Oh, wait…

So it seems like New Doug really did need the money because Leo supposedly fenced the necklace for him, but it wasn’t as much as he thought it would be. Little Dougie was on the phone explaining profusely to someone that he’d get the rest of the dough. I have a feeling Leo didn’t really sell the necklace and paid New Doug with his own money.

Sophia’s mother was absolutely livid when she found out what went down, and insisted that Tate and her daughter were going to get married because her religion dictated that they don’t “live in sin.” Brady’s going to have to enlist Kristen to help get rid of Amy.

Chanel and Johnny threw a New Year’s Eve party at the DiMera mansion despite EJ’s worry that Real Rafe would be found in the secret cellar. With Stephanie and Phillip, Alex and Joy, Arnold (as Rafe) and Jada, and Belle (who just took EJ’s job), in attendance, you’d think it would have been a huge disaster. It was surprisingly low-key although (of course!) Joy mentioned sleeping with Johnny OUT LOUD and Chanel heard it, confronting the two. Couldn’t the writers have come up with a more clever way of Chanel finding out? Or hey, how about this: let the secret stay a secret.

But we finally got to see the flashback of what exactly happened, and were reminded of what an idiot Johnny was at the time. He tried telling Chanel that they only kissed, and the two got undressed, but he chickened out. At first I didn’t believe his story, but Joy told the same one to Alex, so maybe they really didn’t dance between the sheets.

Ultimately, Chanel believed Johnny but told him she would never forgive him. It’s too bad. It looks like it’s splitsville for the couple, and it’s all Johnny’s fault for being an idiot.

EJ finally did a good thing, though, by concocting a story as to why “Rafe” couldn’t go home with Jada after midnight on New Year’s Eve. He explained that the former commissioner got a call from Steve and had to do an emergency job for Black Patch. EJ was worried that what happened between Arnold and Sami before would happen again with Jada. There was an interesting conversation EJ previously had with Arnold, explaining to him that he’d evolved and times had changed, and he couldn’t allow Arnold to have sex with Jada when she thought he was Rafe. That’s a big no-no and it was nice to see EJ be a good guy for once. He doesn’t need to go to the Wizard because he already has a heart!

But EJ got a slap in the face when, at the end of the evening, Belle finally had a chance to tell him she was his replacement. She’d been trying all night, but they kept getting interrupted.

Meanwhile, Chanel stayed at Paulina’s and told her what a cad Johnny was. Johnny went straight to Abe and told him the whole story, which was the smart thing to do. Finally! He does something intelligent!

Hilariously, Paulina didn’t think Chanel needed to be so upset because in the end, nothing happened between Johnny and Joy. If they got together, what would their squish name be? Joyny? Johnjoy?

LOOSE ENDS

Now that EJ’s fired yet again, is he going to revive his ‘concerned citizens’ brigade to try to have Paulina removed from office again? I hope not. He already did that, and it worked, but it's time for him to come up with a better scheme.

Belle and Shawn working together will only bring them closer. Isn’t that well dry already? The show keeps pushing them together, so if they’re insistent on pairing these two, for cryin’ out loud, they need to have a good story for them!

Holly and New Doug started to get closer, so it looks like they might be a couple in the making. But he’s 26, and isn’t she 16?? However, Leo Howard’s 25…so they’ll probably end up pairing these two. And then we’ll be down the road of “Are Holly and Tate going to get back together.” Ugh. Much like Belle and Shawn, the two could be very interesting individually and perhaps paired with other people, but together, they’re a snorefest. I think if Tate and Sofia are forced into a shotgun wedding, it will be far more interesting to watch them grow closer as they try to raise the baby.

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT

JJ and Gabi were getting hotter. They’re so cute as they gaze into each other’s eyes. But they had a nice kiss on New Year’s Eve which led to her taking him to bed. The sexual tension between them was super thick, and it was good that the show decided not to drag it out any longer. Writing gods, please let these two have at least six months of bliss before driving a wedge between them. While Camila Banus was a fun Gabi, Cherie Jimenez has done an admirable job of ratcheting Gabi’s obnoxiousness down quite a bit. She’s much more enjoyable as a character when she’s not all ADHD all over the place.

Joy and Alex also seem to have chemistry and the two initially kissed. It’s nice that he’s been genuinely concerned for her with the whole Johnny mess. They ended up having a roll in the hay, and that tension has been building for a while, so it’ll be interesting to see where this relationship leads. Considering they had a long conversation in bed about how he’s still hung up on Stephanie, the Alex and Joy pairing will only go so far.

NOT

Philip and Stephanie. The two slept together, but their romance nearly fizzled out when she woke up the next day after a steamy dream about Alex. It wasn’t hard for Philip to put two-and-two together, but she finally confessed that she had dreamed about her former beau. But she managed to convince Philip not to leave. I don’t think these two will last, especially since he’ll leave town once his scam is uncovered.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

Paulina was surprised that Jada wanted her to fire EJ and replace him with Belle. The mayor then asked, “So you think another defense attorney would be better at the job than a man whose only Christmas wish is the blood of his enemies?” Well said, Paulina.

Rafe was filling EJ in on the Hattie investigation and mentioned that it was connected because Johnny is the director of Body & Soul. EJ then quipped, “Yes, and while I’m happy for my son and his burgeoning television career, I must admit, I don’t really care for soap operas myself.” Another meta point for Body & Soul which, despite how others feel, I really love the concept and its originality of being a soap-within-the-soap.

Rafe says to EJ, “Your demeanor is making my Spidey Senses tingle,” to which the DA replied, “Huh. I didn’t know you had any senses, let alone any ‘Spidey-tingling’ ones.”

RANDOM THOUGHTS

What was cool about Rafe now working for Black Patch is that he’s not bound by the rules of police procedure and can investigate however he sees fit. Of course, skulking around the DiMera mansion grounds landed him as a prisoner in the “secret” basement. It’ll be nice to get things back to usual once Arnold’s gone. Rafe and Jada clashing as PI and Commissioner was starting to get interesting. She’s not stupid. She’ll eventually figure out that Rafe isn’t really Rafe.

I thought it was a hilarious moment when Arnold asked Jada if she had taken EJ’s picture when he got fired. She wondered why he would say such a thing, but come on, you know people think that in real life. “If only I was a fly on the wall when that happened,” or, “I wish I could have seen his face!” I love that Gering is having the time of his life letting loose with Arnold, who even seems to have a bit of a New York accent.

Arnold, as Rafe, told Jada he loved her and was about to kiss her when EJ burst into a cough, hilariously preventing it.

There was also a funny moment where, after Gabi and JJ woke up the next day, they heard a crash in the kitchen, and JJ went running to check it out in his skivvies with a tennis racket as a weapon. Turned out, Javi accidentally dropped a mixing bowl.

And they should install a revolving door on the DA’s office.

PARTING THOUGHTS

It’ll be interesting to see how things unfold in the new year. Johnny's got a lot of thinking and groveling ahead of him, and I don't envy the guy.

I often get irritated when I hear about something they shot early last year that won’t air until next year, but the time just flew by and here it is 2025! As long as everyone involved in Days of Our Lives is having fun doing what they’re doing, and continually being creative, we’ll continue to be along for the ride.

Have a happy New Year, DOOL-ers!

You can watch new and repeat episodes of Days of Our Lives on Peacock.