Days of Our Lives Two Scoops: The People vs. Johnny DiMera Begins—Courtroom Chaos & Salem Secrets Unleashed

Overall, it was kind of a lackluster week on Days of Our Lives. The trial of Johnny DiMera began, and Belle gave it 100%. I have to say, because I like Johnny as a character, her working hard to prosecute him irritated me. But I realized she was just doing her job. EJ realized the same thing. He pulled strings to get her to be the prosecutor because he knew she would be fair, but I think he secretly hoped that she would go easy on Johnny. EJ was surprised at how determined she was in her prosecution, and she had to remind him that it was her job and he was the one who put her in that position.

It was brilliant of EJ to tell the jury not to judge Johnny for the sins of his father. He was able to insinuate that people don’t like him for some of his misdeeds, and that was a great way of planting the seeds of doubt in their minds. It was also cool to see EJ and Belle spar in the courtroom. But he’s doing a great job, and hopefully he’ll be able to cast enough reasonable doubt on the case.

Amy was super mean to Sophia. Is the young woman’s drastic decision to give the baby to the fire department anonymously and pretend she gave it up for adoption something that people will debate about? Sure. But Amy’s words were uncalled for. Sophia finally let her have it and explained her point of view in a truly touching scene. Rachel Boyd should be praised for her excellent performance as Sophia this week. She gave an impressive and powerful speech.

And the big news of the week was Susan Banks sensing Stefano’s presence. Heck, even Rita sensed it when she walked into the living room. Susan was all over the room trying to hone in on what she was sensing, which leads me to believe that whatever vessel is containing Stefano’s consciousness is most likely below the living room in one of the (not so) secret chambers.

And Sarah and Xander admitted that they still loved each other! But they can’t figure out how to get past their issues. Xander needs to suck it up and go to anger management classes. However, he’s got Gwen in his ear like a tiny devil on his shoulder, telling him to be a bad boy again. That can only lead to disaster, so Xander better stay on the straight and narrow.

LOOSE ENDS

Sarah brought up something that I thought was a loose end. She asked why Sophia would fly somewhere so close to her due date. I always thought pregnant women shouldn’t fly if they’re nearing the end of their term because of the pressure. I looked it up, and it turns out that as long as the woman is healthy, cabin pressure or radiation exposure from flying doesn’t harm them. However, airlines chose to put that rule up for pregnant women because if they’re late in their term, the chances of going into labor while in the air increase exponentially. This would create a lot of risk for the woman, the baby, and the crew.

I still don’t understand why Sophia claimed the baby was a girl when everyone knew it was gonna be a boy. But did everyone know? Sarah knew. She figured it out, and was suspicious because Sophia supposedly gave birth two days before her examination, but her uterus was contracted as if she had given birth over two days ago, which she did. I just don’t get Sophia’s reasoning.

Rafe told Cat that both the ISA and FBI think EJ is up to something nefarious. It was obvious that he wanted to make money from the Versavix, but clearly, there’s something more at play here. But what could he be up to? Rafe hilariously said that perhaps EJ bought the hospital so he could shake loose change out of its couches. We should probably have a section here where we take bets on what EJ could be up to. Just kidding.

EXTRA SCOOPS

REFERENCES

Kayla was telling Steve about EJ’s budget cuts at the hospital, noting that there are no longer fresh fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria. A shocked Steve asked, “So what are they serving instead, deep-fried gruel?” Gruel is a kind of cereal that’s historically been common among peasants and in workhouses in England; it was this bare-minimum kind of meal. It has become famous because of Charles Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist, gruel is a symbol of neglect and poverty, and when Oliver dared to ask for more, it became an iconic moment of desperation. After that, the meal became a symbol of deprivation and social injustice.

Tony was questioning why Dimitri hadn’t divorced Gwen and taken back his fortune by now. Then he stated, “Well, I guess you don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.” She said she never understood that phrase, but he felt she knew full well what it meant. The phrase means you shouldn’t criticize a gift, even if you don’t like it. It came about from the practice of figuring out a horse’s age by looking at its teeth. If someone gives you a horse as a gift, it’s kind of rude and unnecessary to check for that. It’s been traced back to St. Jerome, in the 4th century and was later popularized in English proverbs.

Julie asked Foster to recommend a book on grief for her that she wanted to buy for Marlena. He said, “Well, it sounds like she might respond to a memoir. IsaBellee Allende’s The Sum of Our Days or Joan Didion’s A Year of Magical Thinking.” Allende’s book chronicles how she dealt with the tragic death of her daughter, while Didion’s book is an adaptation of her play about how she dealt with the deaths of her husband and daughter.

SHOT OF THE WEEK

This week is actually a ‘motion sequence of the week’ more than it is one shot, as Susan Banks was reaching out with her powers to sense Stefano in the DiMera living room. Chad felt awkward as he tried talking to EJ. Susan was all over the place, even sliding across the back of the couch and finally ending up on the table lamp. Pretty hilarious.

TONY’S OUTFIT OF THE WEEK

This week, Tony is wearing a bold mustard yellow suede jacket. It looks as if it has a soft, matte texture typically used on suede, with lapels that are notched, a chest pocket, and on both sides are flap pockets. The yellow creates a very stark contrast with his dark shirt. It’s got a very dramatic vibe, and because Tony’s outfits have been so sharp lately, it stays in line with my theory that he’s really his evil twin, Andre.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

Julie shows up in Horton Square and bumps into Gwen and says, “Hello, Gwen!” Gwen was astonished to see her wearing the necklace, so Julie continued, “Really, it does look better on me than on you, don’t you think?“

Julie warned Gwen that if she went after her family, she’d finally get what she deserved. Gwen hilariously retorted in a cockney accent, “Oh, no! And what’s that? I won’t be able to hang a little special ornament on the Horton family tree while we all stuff doughnuts down our gullets?”

Unexpectedly, the local bookstore owner, Foster, came around the corner and yelled at Gwen: “Oh, put a sock in it!” Gwen was shocked, saying, “Excuse me?” Foster continued, “You’re standing near my bookstore, and I’ve been listening to you caterwaul for the last 10 minutes! Now, why don’t you give us all a break and hit the bricks?” She asks, “Hit the bricks?” and he clarifies, “Get the hell out of here!”

Kayla was talking to Steve and complained that her office was so hot, she could pour water on coals in it. Steve replied, “Sweetness, you know that any room you’re in is hotter than a sauna.”

Gwen walked into the mansion, and Tony offered her a drink. “Yes, that one will do,” she said and yanked the one out of his hand that he’d just poured for himself. He replied, “Oh, well, at your service.”

Julie asked Foster what was going to happen to the store, and stated, “Well, you know this could be turned into a chicken wing franchise, or a pot shop. They’re springing up like weeds!” She caught herself, realizing she’d punned, and groaned. “I remember you telling me about a particularly adventurous book club meeting you had when someone broke into the pot donuts,” he hilariously replied.

Chanel asked Johnny how the court went, and he replied, “Well, let’s see. Um, my father raked my grandpa Roman over the coals. My aunt Belle eviscerated me in her opening statement, but other than that, yeah, smooth sailing.”

“Between your ordeal and the trial, I’m surprised Dateline hasn’t done a whole season on Salem,” is what Chanel said to Holly and Tate.

Susan Banks walked into the living room and saw EJ pouring himself a drink. She said, “Oh, a little early to be tippling, wouldn’t you say?” I had no idea what ‘tippling’ meant, so I looked it up. To tipple is to imbibe in hard liquor, sometimes in excess. Interesting.

Cat and Rafe were talking about Stefano, and she asked, “He’s had a long history of dodging the Grim Reaper. Are we actually sure he’s dead?”

Later, Susan Banks said to Chad and EJ, “Stefano DiMera Lives, and that’s very, very bad.”

Gwen said to EJ, about Susan, “I didn’t realize speaking with the dead was part of her skill set as a medium.”

REACTION OF THE WEEK

There were two reactions that were worth noting here this week. The first was Susan feeling Stefano’s presence strongly. She looked totally freaked out, and before that was a nice shot of her and EJ looking at Stefano’s portrait.

The second one was also with Susan Banks, but was EJ’s reaction to her antics. After Chad left, while Susan Banks was doing her psychic sweep of the living room, EJ just had a hilarious look on his face, like he just didn’t know what to do with her.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I think they might be trying to pair Julie up with the bookstore owner, Foster. He says he’s selling it so he can go live with his family, but they did have some chemistry. I think that she might end up buying the shop from him and running it herself. That could make for a cool new setting where you could have wacky customers coming in all the time. Veteran British actor Miles Anderson plays Foster.

I love how Marlena was totally open to the fact that Susan Banks has psychic powers. It validates her abilities, and it’s not much of a stretch considering Marlena’s been possessed by the devil a couple of times. I could watch a whole show with Susan Banks as the main character. That could be hilarious!

Speaking of which, I think it’s funny that whenever someone refers to her, they use her full name: Susan Banks. It’s like Charlie Brown. Except for the times that Peppermint Patty called him ‘Chuck,’ everyone else uses his full name. I guess those kinds of names roll off the tongue easily. Plus, alone, ‘Susan’ is kind of boring, but ‘Susan Banks’ has a nice ring to it.

Stephanie admitted that some of the steamy scenes in her book were drawn from real life. As such, she worried that an old boyfriend might recognize one of those scenes. She was literally panicking over it. If it was that concerning, she shouldn’t have put it in there. Or, she should have altered it enough that it was unrecognizable.

PARTING THOUGHTS

It’s highly possible Tony is really his evil twin Andre, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Julie and Foster getting together might be really sweet. She needs some happiness since Doug died.

I want to see Susan Banks solve EJ’s shooting with her powers. That would be super cool.

And with these Marlena flashbacks of the Queen of the Night, when are they going to get past the same ones? They keep replaying the same clip over and over. You would think that each time it played, it would get further into the story. Unless it’s some kind of psychic connection between Marlena and Stefano, and as he nears rebirth, their connection gets stronger. I’m excited to find out where this goes!

OUTRO

Thanks for joining me this week, DOOL-ers! Come back next time as we figure out how to build a time machine before anyone else to prove that the early bird gets the wormhole.