Yep, that's you & Philly doing the deed! (Soaps.com)
What a great week on the show! Before we get to that, I wanted to congratulate the Emmy winners, because yes, shockingly enough, DOOL brought home a few Emmys this year! Darin Brooks (ex-Max) and Tamara Braun (ex-Ava) both no longer on the show, won Emmys this past Sunday for their work last year on the show. The Emmy show itself was a huge disappointment to me but I congratulate all those who won! I was a little disappointed they didn't win any technical awards, but the Emmys are over, so let's get on with the blog!
Nicole/Dr. Baker/Stefano/EJ:
The week started off with a shocker. Stefano’s henchmen killed Dr. Baker. (We knew this was coming for monthsandmonthsandmonths.) The funny doc, Dick, is dearly departed, which is sad, because he was loads of fun. I’d love to see him haunt Nicole. I loved how Stefano went off on Nicole this week for "forgetting" to tell him about Dr. Baker’s letter and for being so selfish! She doesn’t mind that Stefano’s risking his son in his life because of her stupidity and lies. If I were Stefano, I’d just have Nicole put down the way he did Baker. For somebody who has come this far with all of her lies and schemes, it was a lame move on her part to "forget" about the letter. Great writing and great scene! Is it me or do they need to show EJ way more often than they do? The show lulls without his presence. Of course, then my ears ring when he is on because he’s always yelling at his lovely bride.
The character of Nicole hasn’t interested me in a while, but I'll admit to something rather silly. I love her scenes with Sami. Part of me wants them to be friends, even though it’s impossible. Sami’s trust of Nicole is killing me but needed for the big conclusion to this storyline, I gather. (I hope it’s a doozy.) I noticed a teensy blooper! Nicole locked the door behind Sami when she went out to get her new pal a coffee, but when the mailman arrived with Sami’s registered letter, Nicole didn’t unlock the door. Made me chuckle!
We aren’t privy to what goes on in Salem most of the time. Has it been bothering you? You’ll see that we suddenly have Stefano in a hospital room but have no idea why. (Unless I missed something, which is possible. After all, I haven’t written most of the updates this week!) We learn his blood sugar levels are high even when he hasn’t eaten. He tells Stefano he’ll soon hand the reins of the company over once he ties up a few loose ends.
Lucas:
Poor Lucas. Here’s another one yelling at his bride, but he’s not getting any feedback, which has to be a tad irksome. He’s once again spiraling downward. He hasn’t had much to do except for wallow in self-pity, and this would chew away at anyone. Add a recovering addict to the mix and you can all guess where this is going. Lucas is a funny drunk so I expect to see some interesting scenes, but it does bother me a little that our dear Lucas always gets the uh… ‘brown’ end of the stick. I didn’t really understand the need for Dr. Craig Wesley’s cameo except maybe to boost the ratings for a few days. Shouldn’t Lucas have given his rights away to Craig? I thought that was why Craig came to Salem, but of course not, because it wouldn’t follow the predictability of what’s to come next. Even though I love Craig, the fact that he showed up and not Nancy leaves viewers wondering what it was all for and why she’d stay home. That’s not our Nancy! Then to top it off, he left his daughter in the care of a spurned husband’s betrayed hands. *shaking my head* Also a little confused about where Brady’s scene with Craig went to? Cutting room floor? Brady was headed to Chloe’s room to talk to Craig about how he hurt his daughter, but the scene never happened? Why bother wasting three minutes of a reel only to cut the scene altogether?
Kate/Daniel:
Kate tried helping Lucas to end Chloe’s life all week, though it hasn’t been long since she has been in the coma. Daniel broke into Kate’s room to steal her gardening gloves, but why? They were taken illegally and it’s not as though they can be used to trace the poisoning back to her, now! He should find work on the Salem PD. He’s about as good of an investigator as they are on the force.
No cigarette after sex for Steph. (Soaps.com)
Safe:
Sami used up her air miles to get to the Dominican, to follow ex-boyfriend Rafe, for reasons unbeknownst to any of us, except that this is something Sami would do! They’ve got her character down to a tee again. Of course, it’s not laughable at all that she knew exactly how to find Baker’s hotel room – caller identification? – and she got there moments after Rafe found Baker’s dead body. (Dead? Did you see his finger twitch?) And, she rocked her purple outfit, while doing it! Matt (one of my amazing writers) pointed out to me that her purple dress matched Doc Baker’s purple strangulation marks! *grin* Back to Safe. For a couple who are broken up, they sure can’t get out of each other’s lives. I really didn’t get the point of all of this gallivanting but noticed that I seem to be enjoying Rafe more without Sami so maybe it’s really pouty Sami that I can’t stand. Maybe we can put Rafe with somebody else and Sami in the secret room, indefinitely. That’s not going to happen, but the two seemed to long for each other and I thought it was good timing that Sami’s phone rang when Rafe saw her home. Kissing when broken up is confusing. Their relationship is confusing as it is and they need to sort out their lives before they consider a reunion.
Nu-Ari vs Old Ari… and Victor:
I polled everyone about their thoughts all week on the Nu-Ari vs Original Ari and 49% of you said you thought the recast was perfect. Still, 33% don’t find Ari and Brady have chemistry, while 18% of you are still on the fence, with me. I think the real problem lies not with the actress but the part itself, which hasn’t really done much for me. The character itself is flat and boring. None of us are certain whether or not Arianna is good or bad and she’s been in Salem for months! It’s time for the back story on her and to find out who she is. My first thoughts of nu-Ari and Brady? I saw Ethan kissing Theresa and felt nothing for the romance scene but that could change. She seems perkier, which is easier to take. I like Hartley. I was glad for the scenes where she started playing with the ancient vase in the Kiriakis manse. I was embarrassed for her and have to assume she was brought up in an orphanage, but was she? We need more back story for me to care about her.
Victor’s scenes with Bradianna annoyed me. I’m not sure if they’re supposed to. Brady, a grown man, who resides at the Kiriakis compound, was caught by a gruff Victor making out with Arianna by the pool and it screamed of a teenager being caught, instead of a grown man. Time to move out? It’s not like he’s hurting for money. As far as Victor goes, the old man needs to get some bedroom action. Bradianna were caught making out at the park and Victor asked, "Is that all you two know how to do?" Brady wondered, "Did it ever occur to you to just keep on walking?" I laughed out loud. It didn’t matter to me that he apologized later, knowing that he didn’t mean it and is suddenly interested in her because she’s the pusher. More about Vic…
Victor:
Years ago, for those who don’t know, Victor was a drug lord in Salem. Those days are long past, but recently, when Chloe returned to Salem, he was one of those who blamed her for "getting his son into drugs with her druggie friends," yet now he’s back into the drug scene? It was a shocker. One of my Facebook pals reminded me that Philly was able to get drugs to plant on John Black’s shipment last year. Just where did he get them from? Could it be that Philly was in on this as well? Is that why he’s so against being in the family business? It would make more sense to me, considering I never thought that the Kiriakis business was really all that bad. I really like this, yet it seems to me as though the writers want to re-create the past in order to gain past viewers. I guess I can’t blame them, considering the show is akin to a sinking ship, much like Daytime is.
Stephilip:
They got back together, had sex, and the only thing that sticks out this week for me is that whiny Steph asked for a Popsicle and Philly went to get her one. It was all very painful to witness but it’s going to be more painful when Steph hears about …er watches Melanie and Philly’s romp at the Valentine Motel.
Mia/Chad/Will/Kinsey:
The truth is closer to coming out about Mia giving birth, just as Mia and Will have gone exclusive with their relationship, but there’s something else of interest to me, aside from Chad and Kinsey’s scheme to get Mia’s diary from her. Mia’s mother. We’re back to wondering who she is and why she’s such a deadbeat that she can’t offer her daughter support. I wonder who this ‘mother’ is.
Bope:
Bo and Hope are sleeping in separate beds already, after their disagreement on how Bo handled the kidnapping. Hope’s a stubborn woman and likes to hang on to her anger, so I don’t see her forgiving, forgetting and moving on very quickly. I’m not a fan of this storyline because it’s too forced. Obviously they’re going to separate and gee, Carly’s coming back to Salem, (if you want to know why, check the spoilers.) Justin is conveniently there for Hope, but Bo doesn’t seem to have Steve to hash this out with. Things should get back to a little normalcy when Dean is out of the picture, and I’m not sure what to think about that.
What I am sure about is that I'm going to have a spectacular weekend doing something wonderfully non-soapy! Happy Friday to all! If you're not already tweeting daily with us on Twitter, we'd love you to follow us on Twitter @soapoperafan!!
- Christine Fix
