I could have sworn that after Vargas' last stand, I told Sonny and Chad to get better security at the club. I also believe I suggested the ever-delightful T to fill the job, which would have been awesome, since he doesn't miss a beat to call out the obvious. I'm thinking he could have handled yelling out, "Crazy broad with a gun!" and avoided a whole heap of trouble.
But since he didn't get the job, Marge got into the club and start shooting at any ol' tall DiMera that she could find. It turned out to be Chad. And people were livid. Well, except for me. I loved it! I mean, those two bullets in the gut were probably a real drag for Chad, but once he watches those scenes back, I'm sure he'll agree with me that they were worth it!
I loved E.J. walking right into the gun and screaming at Marge to shoot him. E.J.'s anger often gets (perhaps is?) the best of him. But he'll be angry on behalf of people that he loves, like his brother, and has no fear about it. It's what makes E.J. such an interesting character.
Sami tried to comfort E.J., but that was to little avail. So she turned her energy toward Stefano and Kristen. And then things got real, my friends. Kristen and Sami had it out. And Sami certainly wasn't scared to say things right to Stefano's face. That's true progress, as she used to be a more behind-your-back type of gal.
Still, as much as I love Sami, I always get nervous anytime the blame train starts a-chuggin' through Salem. When it comes to the Bernardi situation, it's way too easy to find someone else on the guilt chain.
Check it: Stefano isn't to blame because Bernardi wouldn't even be in their lives if Will hadn't shot E.J. and needed evidence destroyed. But Will isn't to blame because if homophobic Nick hadn't blackmailed Will, Sami never would have gone to Stefano for a favor. But Nick isn't to blame because if Lucas had kept quiet in a public place about going to jail for Will, Nick never would have found out.
See what I mean? It just gets too crazy. And that's sort of the beauty of this storyline. No one is totally innocent. But some definitely have a bigger chunk of guilt.
And that's where I positively fall off the cliff with Large Marge in Charge.
I'd have more sympathy for this scene-chewer if she hadn't made the conscious decision to send her son to live with her parents, research E.J. and Sami's whereabouts, and then admit that she wanted to shoot E.J. so Sami would experience loss. People who snap don't have the benefit of forethought, nor am I sure if they have time to whip up a fabulous gown and fancy up-do. That last one will definitely qualify your actions as premeditated, Margie, but darn it if you didn't look like a dime while trashing your life! And really, isn't that what living on a soap is all about?
Still, her unsettling rationalization of her actions coupled with Hope's statement about Chad's trauma teaching Stefano a lesson got me wondering about whether Stefano pays for his crimes or not.
True, Stefano sees the inside of a jail cell about as much as I see the bottom of my laundry hamper. But as I've mentioned before, we all know that soaps and real life follow different guidelines. We can't just go throwing every criminal in jail, lest we want the show to turn into Days of Maggie and Maybe Sydney's Lives. Of course not. And for the record, I don't believe for a second that Stefano can't be as dangerous from jail.
While watching Joseph Mascolo brilliantly play out Stefano's literal come-to-Jesus moment about Chad, it was hard not to remember that Stefano's selfish behavior already cost him children. Maybe it's just me, but jail time seems like a walk in the park compared to that kind of loss. So maybe it's not that Stefano doesn't pay for his mistakes, but that he doesn't learn from his mistakes. His pride is just too big.
This is the primary difference between E.J. and Stefano. E.J.'s pride doesn't surpass his love. In fact, it's downright gotten in the way of him carrying out some of his own schemes. So while I understand a father wanting to protect his daughter, I think Roman lost sight of this and a few other things when he begged Sami not to marry E.J.
I understand that the DiMeras are dangerous. But let's get some perspective here. Sami spent the better part of two decades getting herself in danger long before E.J. ever tangoed into her life. To think that Sami will stay safe by not marrying E.J. is like thinking that taking the bacon off the cheeseburger will make it healthy.
Furthermore, unless they rewrite history and give Johnny and Sydney a different father, Sami will always be important to E.J. You'd think that Roman would be sensitive to this issue, since the dude still jumps when Marlena snaps.
I take that back. He doesn't always jump, which is how Marlena ended up working with Nicole on Operation Take Back Brady. Sure, Mar Mar was a little irritated when Nicole went for the Hail Mary pass and told Brady that Kristen lied about sleeping with someone else. But I think that will plant the seed of doubt in Brady's head just enough to make Kristen nervous.
It has to. We don't have that much time left with Kristen. *group hug*
There're a lot of reasons why Kristen's looming exit stinks. (@Tony_S_Days has a nice flyer about it if anyone is interested.) But one of the biggest reasons is that it kills the suspense of wondering if she'll get caught and what will happen to her after she does. The constant passing of the flash drive was a bit maddening. We know where this is going.
So it was super smart to have Eric question if Nicole was involved. One, it sets up a great Nicole/Kristen rivalry that would bring new life to both characters. And yes, I'm holding Kristen's spot for her until she comes back.
But more importantly, it will finally force Eric and Nicole to acknowledge their feelings for each other. I don't know what the net result will be, but I know that it is a conversation that I want to see.
Eric was basically the first person Nicole met in Salem and, from what we know about her now, the first guy who truly loved and respected her. I could make an argument that he knows her better than anyone else. Can he truly believe that she could do something like that to him?
And by "that," I specifically mean the worst part of this whole mess -- the rape. We've known for months that Eric was raped. But it hasn't come up on-screen because no one suspects anything other than poisoning happened. So how will Eric navigate that as a person? A victim? A man? A priest?
It has the potential to be a very good storyline. Having Arianne Zucker and Greg Vaughn at the helm won't hurt either. Their very specific chemistry has been on point for months, and I can't wait to see what they do with it next.
LOOSE ENDS
More truth bombs from Sami: Stefano had no business being jealous of Rafe when Stefano was the one who dumped Kate! You are correct, Samantha!
In who-really-cares news, E.J. admitted to Cameron that Chad had been lying about the brain tumor. I'm going to roll right past the fact that a Salem U doctor was Googling a medicine before going into emergency surgery and focus on the main problem: Cameron's ticked over losing a relationship that wasn't going to work.
If Abigail really wanted Cameron, Chad wouldn't have been able to catch Abigail's eye in the first place. And Cameron didn't back down so much as he politely decided to stop giving Abigail the space that she wanted to determine who she wanted to date. Good gravy, I bored myself just typing that sentence.
Considering the safety concerns around Rafe, I have a hard time believing that Kate didn't do an in-depth background check on Jordan when she hired her. But, okay, that's what we're going with. At least now we might learn something about Jordan. After all, Kate can't be the only fully formed character in this triangle, or it might really begin to look like Kate is better than this storyline.
In perfect form, Justin was having none of J.J.'s stank attitude. Have I mentioned how much I love this man? Anyway, J.J. was released to his mom's care, and everyone in the family had to pinky swear that they wouldn't talk to any witnesses. So that means that J.J. has to move back home and Jen can't go near Daniel. Well played, J.J. You did it, after all!
(Paraphrasing) "We were waiting until you were old enough to handle it," explained Jennifer. "Oh, really! Well, I bet you told Abigail before she was eighteen! I could handle it now," screamed J.J. from his jail cell.
HOT
This was Sonny's best week yet, and I'm not just saying that because he made everyone delicious sandwiches. I say it because he finally had his well-deserved breakdown. Freddie Smith's frantic delivery of the line, "I know how everyone likes their coffee" beautifully showed just how hard Sonny was trying -- and failing -- to hold it all together. Additionally, I found it refreshing to watch Will take care of Sonny. In fact, this may be the first time I really felt like their relationship was an actual partnership.
NOT
Theresa and Anne's mean-girl quest to ruin Jennifer's life seemed incredibly petty last week -- especially since Jennifer was dealing with some genuine misery because of J.J. If fans are starting to turn on Jennifer, then the solution is to fix Jennifer, not bring on characters to insult her, pull her hair at recess, and sit next to the boy she likes.
LINE OF THE WEEK
Hope (to Marge): "Joe was responsible for what happened to Joe. He was a grown man who made his own decisions." High-five, Hope! Right here! Don't leave me hangin'!
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Nicole's gold jacket was amazeballs.
Has anyone told J.J. about his grandpa Duke yet? You might want to tie down the chairs first.
Cameron and Nurse Bad News spent way too much time questioning Daniel during Chad's surgery.
As much as Marge made me want to throw things, I did like Elizabeth Roberts. The way Marge was able to reconcile her crime showed total bad-guy potential. It would have been tremendous if she'd been working with Stefano all along.
Bonus points to Abigail for reminding Chad that he doesn't have any room to talk when it comes to criticizing guys for dating her friends.
I wish Maggie would come out and be honest about how she feels about Dannifer.
I love how much Ciara likes Kristen, mainly for the tremendous job Kristian Alfonso does when delivering Hope's sarcastic, "Oh, that's nice, sweetie" looks.
Sami's going to need to get used to having tough conversations with Johnny. "Why did that lady shoot uncle Chad?" is nothing compared to, "Where did I come from?"
I will say this, J.J.'s jacket choices have matured since his time in jail!
I've heard a lot of Daniel worship, but saying that he has great taste in jewelry is probably the most egregious offense of them all.
Not that I'm in favor of Sami postponing the wedding, but one of the fake reasons she gave was a Halloween party in the DiMera mansion. I'd be all for that one.
There was a surprisingly nice big sister/little brother vibe between Hope and Daniel.
I really do like how Kristen and Brady genuinely want to marry each other. That's actually quite rare for a soap wedding.
J.J. is eighteen now. I wonder if that matters to Theresa.
How are Kayla and Daniel going to work together without speaking to each other? Probably interpretive dance.
That's it for now! Since Tony's headed to personally talk to T about taking the bouncer job, I'll be back next week with my rolled-up newspaper incase Marge tries to shoot anyone again. Don't worry. She can't hurt us anymore.
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