It's utterly fantastic that the current storytelling doesn't hinge on whether or not Abigail wakes up. Think back a few months to the (sorry for this) baby-Holly-saves-Brady-with-her-magic moment. That whole clunker of a plot was meant to leave the audience wringing their hands over Brady's battle with death.
The problem was, we all knew Brady would be fine. Casting changes are announced months ahead of when we see the storyline air. Eric Martsolf was staying put. There was no suspense.
The same can be said of Abigail. Marci Miller's already tweeting about upcoming scripts. Plus, Abigail is the younger lead of the show. There was never a moment I felt Abigail wouldn't wake up. (Though we always have to wonder in cases like these if amnesia or DID is a possibility.)
Yet today, Ron's brilliant twist is to have more drama going on around Abigail's accident and care than around Abigail's health. Thus, we're not bored watching days of people talking about her "condition."
For starters, Rafe and Hope are on the case of finding the driver. Major hat-tip to Raines for telling those two they couldn't just up and leave work in the middle of their shift! (Gah! It's no wonder that police department never gets anything done!) I agree with him. The best way for Rope to help right now is to find the driver...and the big boss!
Second, there was the drama of who is comforting whom. J.J. and Lani seem to be back on track, as she showed up to stand by her man. It's sweet of Lani. But these two still bore me.
Eric showed up to comfort Jennifer, which I downright hated. He needed to stay in that black tank top, making smoldering eyes at Nicole, thankyouverymuch. And I wanted more Lucas and Jennifer scenes. I'm a sucker for that brother-sister combo, and I really wanted to see Lucas be an understanding ear for J.J. about having a sister you love to pieces.
Finally, Andre and Gabi showed up for Chad. I'm utterly impressed that Andre came clean with the news of the photo -- both to Chad and to Gabi! Sure, he wants something out of it from Gabi, but it was still a pretty selfless act. Knowledge is power on soaps. I'm still a little shocked Andre didn't keep a copy of the photo for himself to get control of DiMera Enterprises! Good on you, Andre!
As for Gabi, I'm constantly impressed by the amount of care DAYS is showing her. She's the "other woman" in the show's chosen couple right now. The last time she wanted Chad away from a gal, Melanie ended up held prisoner by a crazy man in the tunnels under Salem. This time, she dropped to her knees and prayed for Abigail. Prayed. On an altar. I've never seen a soap character so well behaved in this situation.
Gabi's realizing that she's lost Chad to Abigail. We'd all argue that she never really had him to begin with, but you certainly can't blame Gabi for thinking otherwise. Chad repeatedly told her he's into her, let her take care of his son, and brought her out in public with him.
Also, Kate did Gabi no favors by telling her Chad left Abigail and picked Gabi. Um, not at all. Abigail left Chad a crying mess, and Gabi was the three A's -- agreeable, approachable, and available. Kate's did Gabi no service by feeding her a line of crap-ola about how Chad picked her. Kate has to know that.
While we're at it, I appreciate Kate sticking up for her gal pals, but she gave out a lot of whack advice this week. Marlena would never cut and run on John, not to mention her life in Salem. At least tell him Eric or Belle would know where she is! Kate can't possibly believe half of what she told John.
Moving on, there was Abigail's care. Kayla was the doc for the job, and we're all glad she got reinstated. The scene where Kayla told Jennifer she'd consent to the surgery if it were Stephanie was especially poignant. Reinstating Kayla also nicely tied into a non-Abigail storyline, making the show feel more cohesive and less siloed.
I'm so glad Steve and Joey put it together that Tripp thinks Kayla killed Ava. I was starting to worry about Steve's P.I. skills for a minute, as he spent most of the week passive-aggressively shaming Tripp for misbehaving toward his stepmother without bothering to think of what Tripp's motive would be.
Running parallel scenes between Angleo/Tripp and Steve/Joey was a nice bit of editing. In one case, you've got a hardened criminal feeding into the anger of kid who's already had a rough life. In the other, there's an untraditional hero trying to soothe the guilt of a privileged kid who snapped and killed a woman. And yes, I consider both Joey and Tripp "kids" even though they're probably 19 and 21.
I'm having dueling conflicts here. First, it's hard to buy into Tripp's sudden attachment to the Vitali family. It's totally understandable for him to be curious and sad about his mother. But he seems to have an allegiance to her that hasn't been earned and, worse, hasn't even been afforded to Steve. There's a little "Hulk Smash!" to Tripp right now.
Second, I can't totally fault Tripp for thinking Steve lied to him because, well, Steve, Joey, and Kayla totally lied to him. Kayla once again asserted that Steve was the one who killed Ava -- not her. Sorry, Sweetness. That line's a little sour, and you kinda know it. Plus, Steve and Kayla continued to double down on this controversial decision. I'm not sure "you shouldn't be so hard on yourself" is the right advice to give Joey. "It was an awful situation, and we'll do what we can to get you help" would have been preferable.
Much like I said with Abigail earlier, there are very good reasons why Steve and Kayla are doing what they're doing. However, that doesn't make other people around them immune to the consequences of their decisions. And when people get hurt or scared, they don't always do the logical thing. They should know that after what happened with Joey and Ava, not to mention Stephanie and Ford Decker's body.
LOOSE ENDS:
I loved Chad's "Excuse you?" reply to Scrappy Doo...err...J.J. throwing ridiculous accusations at Chad about being responsible for Abigail's accident. That boy needs to hush it.
Saying Abigail "ran away" before is certainly going to draw battle lines in the fan bases. If they're strictly referring to when she ran away from the mental house, then that's dirty pool. Abigail was sick and not getting proper treatment. No one should put that on her.
However, everything that happened before and after that -- including when she came home, cured by Granny Laura, and still stayed dead -- yeah, that's on Abigail. There may be very good reasons why she did those things. But that doesn't save people from getting hurt. Just like Jack did, Abigail makes unilateral decisions that affect those around her in very painful ways. I actually appreciate the show keeping this thread going through generations. It rings true for the character.
It was annoying to see Chad apologize for making Abigail feel like she wasn't wanted. Yeah, like when he renewed his vows with her. Talk about insulting! Oh, and how about when he rented out the entire town square to try to convince her to come back to him. Can you say creep?
Of all the things Chad said at that bedside confession, none was truer than, "If you had just told me about the picture, you wouldn't be lying here." I couldn't agree more.
I've fully prepared myself to be frustrated with the doubles storyline, but darn it if Morgan Fairchild and Deidre Hall aren't hilarious together. I got a kick out of Anjelica's annoyance at Hattie calling her "Ani." I do need to know what kidnapping Marlena has to do with Anjelica getting Justin back. But I like that Ron's storytelling isn't so one-dimensional. Anjelica is working with a boss/partner, too, and I find myself drawn to this storyline because of this mystery, as well.
Thank you, Chad, for having the first instinct to go exonerate Sonny!
HOT:
First Sami, then Eve, then Kristen, and now Auntie Viv?! I can't wait for fall!
NOT:
This is one of the stupidest things Nicole has ever lied over. She can't tell Brady that she's forgiven Eric -- something Brady's been campaigning for -- because he will obviously think that means she wants to cheat on Brady. Instead, she'll just sneak out of the house and around town without telling him. Okay. Sure.
LINE OF THE WEEK:
Sonny: "Your moderation -- it's what I like best about you, Uncle Vic."
Victor and Sonny's relationships is one of my favorites on the show. That's why I'm not at all feeling this direction of Victor being behind Deimos' murder. I get it from the Deimos angle. But I don't get why Victor let Sonny sit in jail for a second over it. This is the man who dragged Brady out of his house in the middle of the night to get him to rehab. Victor makes things happen for his boys.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
The little Easter eggs of history were delightful. It shows Ron and his team are paying attention to the show. Highlights were:
1. Just when fans were starting to scream about why Kate and Gabi are even close, Kate brought up Nick, and we all remembered that these two killed together.
2. Of course Hope was extra concerned about Jennifer because of what Hope went through losing Zach.
3. Just when I thought it was a traditional Nicole/Victor exchange of unpleasantries, Nicole brought up the bullet she took for Victor that left her unable to carry a child to term.
I think it's kind of shocking that in all his appearances, Daniel hasn't visited Maggie. Why don't you ever say hi to your mother, Ghost Egg Baby?
I wasn't digging Gabi's lipstick and mascara wand dress.
It was really nice of Hattie to dress a passed-out Marlena while she was hustling, trying to get her out of the building before John saw her.
Adrienne's tan suede jacket was glorious.
When Belle comes back, can she reopen Mickey's law firm? She's a Horton-in-law, or at least will be when she and Shawn remarry.
I adored Raines calling Abigail "one of our own." He's always had a soft spot for her. It's quite delightful.
Just once when a character starts a sentence with, "I remember this one time..." I want it to end with a scene we actually saw play out.
I get the Abigail angle surrounding Dario, but I really hope Chad isn't too hard on Gabi for still loving a brother known to do terrible things.
My mom would appreciate that Hattie is Team Rarlena.
Oh, the boys get the chambray shirts in jail too! Neat-o!
LOL! Hattie to Marlena: "You're beautiful!"
I secretly loved Kate's annoyance with the strawberries and whipped cream.
My first instinct was Philip. But, the news about Vivian's return makes me wonder if Tyler Christopher's arrival at DAYS means we'll be seeing Quinn again. I'm sure Tyler could play something other than a brooding, tortured heir. But isn't that like going to McDonald's and ordering a salad?
What are your thoughts on Days of our Lives? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
