Gwen’s back, and she brought the necklace with her! But she refused to hand it over to Julie, claiming she paid a small fortune for it. She was being a real jerk about it. But this version of Gwen is much more refined. She now touts herself as Mrs. Von Leuschner and managed to snag a chunk of Dimitri’s fortune with the intent of taking it all. This version of Gwen is very confident, albeit conceited, but Emily O’Brien’s acting is so good, you can see the undertones of her not being truly happy. I’m looking forward to watching her story unfold, and you’ll notice later that she’s got a lot of memorable and hilarious quotes in just this week so far.
Gwen and Xander almost slept together, but he thought better of it, even in his drunken state. I have high hopes that he and Sarah will reunite.
Sophia continued her phony pregnancy charade with Melinda’s help, so we’ll see how that potential disaster turns out.
And while Xander and Philip begrudgingly tried to get along, the big news this week was Alex professing his love for Stephanie! And she returned the sentiment. They seem like they have supercouple potential and I’d like to see a younger couple withstand the test of time like Marlena and John or Steve and Kayla, or even Doug and Julie. We need more of those.
LOOSE ENDS
It was nice that Xander finally apologized to Felicity. He’s really got to work hard to treat people better, or he’s going to get written out of the show!
Paulina insisted that she and Chanel air their dirty laundry…right in the middle of Horton Square! Fortunately, they didn’t say anything too bad and no one overheard them, but come on, people! Secrets and open air conversations don’t mix well!
EXTRA SCOOPS
REFERENCES
When Julie invited Chad to Salem’s 4th of July Pops Concert, he turned her down and admitted he didn’t like classical music very much. Shocked and disappointed, she says to him, “Oh, honey, you’re missing out on the great treasure of civilization.” She offered to introduce him to some greats, and he reluctantly agreed. She told him they would start with Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, “The Pathetique. Very, very popular,” she said. Then she wanted to move on to Chopin with Chopin’s Ballade in G Minor, Opus 23. Chad was impressed by her knowledge of classical music and hoped that it would rub off on his kids. He would later, hilariously, tell Cat that he really can’t stand classical, which is too bad because he’s missing out.
Tate asked Holly what her astrological reading for that day was, and he was surprised that she actually knew it when she said, “You mean, like, with Neptune being in retrograde?” Basically, that means that from Earth’s vantage point, Neptune seems to be moving backwards through the zodiac, which is simply an optical illusion because of its relative position and movements. Astrologers often interpret it as a time of reflection, clarity, and reality checks.
Leo was explaining to Javi that he regretted how he had treated Gwen in the past. “She was my BFF, my ride or die. And I adored her. I mean, she’s witty, and she’s worldly. And don’t take this the wrong way, you are a great dancer, but she’s like Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. That film, of course, was a phenomenal hit in 1977 at the height of disco’s popularity. It made a star out of John Travolta, who had become well-known from playing Vinnie Barbarino on the hit sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. The movie is excellent and is easily in my top 20. It’s one of those that you forget exactly how ‘Rated R’ it is until you watch it again, which I highly recommend.
When Doug II was being cryptic about why he had kicked Arianna out of the Brady Pub previously, she asked, “Who are you? James Bond?” If I have to explain who James Bond is, you’re probably not from this planet.
Xander and Gwen referred to their old landlady as the Incredible Hulk. A Marvel character who is probably just as popular as James Bond, so I don’t think I need to elaborate further.
At one point, Tony and EJ are talking about their amazing executive assistant Rita. Tony refers to her as “Our Girlfriend, Friday.” That’s a term that refers to a competent, loyal, and often underappreciated (yet extremely essential) female assistant. It originated in Daniel Defoe's 1719 book Robinson Crusoe, in which the title character gains a friend in a native man named Friday, and he would later call him his “man, Friday,” which meant that he was an invaluable helper. “Girl Friday” is the female equivalent and became popular after the hit 1940 screwball comedy, His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
By the way, Tony was looking super snazzy in his blue suit accented with a red tie and pocket handkerchief. The colors were popping in that scene, and looked amazing.
SHOT OF THE WEEK
The shot of the week this week is a cool one of the bad guy, who’s shaking Doug down for dough, creeping up behind an unsuspecting Arianna. She was too busy looking at her phone to notice, and ultimately, someone showed up and he got scared off. But I foresee a kidnapping in the near future…
LINE(S) OF THE WEEK
Julie was on the phone with Hope who promised that her necklace would be coming back to Salem soon. Julie got frustrated at the lack of details, and told her, “You know I’ve never been a very patient woman,” and added, “Okay, as actors always say, uh, all will be revealed in the second act.” There is no specific origin for the phrase that’s been documented, but it refers to the fact that most stories are told in three acts, going back to Ancient Greece with Aristotle’s Poetics.
Xander had a stuffed dog he was going to give to Victoria, but learned she was afraid of dogs. So, walking through Horton Square, he spotted Felicity and Cat. He offered the dog to Felicity as a gesture of apology for mistreating her after Sarah had an allergic reaction to a Sweet Bits treat. He started to say, “I was just…” and Felicity finished his sentence with, “An ableist jerk?” I had to look that one up! The phrase means, “A person who behaves like a jerk by saying or doing things that are discriminatory, or disrespectful toward people with disabilities.”
Xander would later tell Sarah that he apologized to Felicity, and Sarah finished his sentence with, “For being an ass?” That was a laugh-out-loud moment.
Leo was having trouble getting the baby to stop crying, so Gabi had to yell, “You should put him in the swing!” He replied, “You think I should sing?” She responded, “Only if you want him to cry louder.” He then said, over the crying, “I’m pretty sure you just insulted me, but honestly I’m too exhausted to even care.” Arianna walked in, blocking her ears and asked Leo, “Oh my God! What are you doing, torturing him?”
When Leo saw that Gwen was back in town, he approached her and said, “So I take it you didn’t come back here to try and work things out with me because you missed my sense of humor and overall adorableness?” She looked at him with scorn and stated, “I miss neither, actually.”
Gwen then informed Leo, “I hate you, Matty Cooper. With every fiber of my being, I hate you. And I’m gonna make you very, very, very sorry for what you’ve done.” I suggest we, as the audience, duck for cover soon!
Alex was trying to come up with a pseudonym for Stephanie to use for her steamy novel, and he said, “You could combine the name of your first pet with the name of the street you grew up on.” Smiling, Stephanie asked, “Isn’t that how they come up with stripper names?”
Later, he told her that if they ever had kids, she wouldn’t get to name them because she admitted she once owned a turtle named ‘Broccoli.’
Philip asked what sort of trouble Xander got into the previous evening, and Xander replied, “You know, you are revoltingly cloying when you’re pretending to be nice to me, Philip.” ‘Revoltingly cloying’ means that someone is so sickeningly sweet, sentimental, or fake that it’s actually cringy or unbearable.
After Jada questioned Chanel, she said, “Oh my God, it’s getting to be like Groundhog Day around here. How many more times am I going to be accused of a crime I didn’t commit?” That’s a reference to the 1993 comedy film in which Bill Murray stars as “A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.”
REACTION OF THE WEEK
The Reaction of the Week goes to Javi and Leo. Gwen and Xander got drunk, and she convinced him to go up to her room. Javi and Leo were witnesses to this, and the shocked look on their faces was priceless.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
In Monday’s Days of Our Lives episode, someone was watching Chad through binoculars, and we know that because they used the "binocular double-circle" view. In reality, when you look through binoculars, your brain merges the two circular images from each eyepiece into a single, seamless image. You do not see two overlapping black circles like the above screenshot implies. Julie was later a target of the mysterious binocular viewer.
Although this erroneous view is meant to imply that someone’s using binoculars, it's anatomically incorrect - no one actually sees this way through binoculars. Modern camera lenses and editing software could easily simulate a more realistic effect, yet the industry continues to rely on this outdated and inaccurate visual. When I see this used, it breaks my immersion in the show or film and just seems like a mistake.
Chad told Cat that she loves jumping out of planes, and she laughs in the face of creepy clowns. He has absolutely no idea that she’s a spy! That’s why she’s not afraid of those things, and I wonder if he’s going to start noticing more things about her that may end up exposing her dual identity to him. Later, when Cat was putting a glowstick bracelet on Chad, he noticed a message pop up on her phone that told her to meet someone the next day. He’s definitely going to start putting the pieces together, but may think she’s just seeing someone and not talking about it.
I love little details in shows, like when Sophia was reading the online version of The Spectator, we saw the article for a couple of seconds, and it read like this:
“SALEM SPECTATOR Online - NEWBORN LEFT IN FIREHOUSE SAFE BOX -
Salem Firehouse was host to a surprise visitor last night – namely an unidentified newborn baby left in the Safe Haven box at the station. Upon discovering the child, the Salem Fire Department notified the necessary authorities.
As anonymously documented – which involves the infant being left in the Safe Haven container and no identifying paperwork – the state was unable to identify the child if the mother returns to claim him or her.
There is a 30-day grace period given in all Safe Haven situations. The baby was properly entered in the Safe Haven system. The child was given a full physical and deemed in perfect health, with no sign of neglect or abuse.”
PARTING THOUGHTS
Even though they keep taking two steps forward and one step backward when they converse, I really feel that ultimately, Xander and Sarah will end up back together. But he’s got a lot of self-improvement to do. Maggie had some good words of wisdom because her relationship with Victor was similar. Guys always need a good woman to rein them in!
OUTRO
Thanks once again for joining me, DOOL-ers. I will be off next week because I’m going to attempt to determine if early birds do, in fact, get the worms, or if someone or something else does.
-1745592570-q80.webp "Andy Cohen loses it live on air over comment from his son Benjamin, six")
