Can't stop messin' with the danger zone

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the town square, sinister forces in Salem rise again! Find out what devilish Andre and the fiendish not-so-dead Orpheus are up to in this week's dangerous DAYS Two Scoops!

Talk about dirty, sexy, and money! DAYS went from date nights to corporate intrigue to a full-blown four-alarm Friday cliffhanger...err...cliffhangers (plural)! And that's just the setup for November Sweeps. I'm in. I'm ready. I have the edge of my seat reserved. Let's start with cliffhanger one...

I expected a certain amount of drama at an event co-hosted by Andre. Heck, the last time Andre took center stage at a big event, he was covered in blood and mauled by a tiger. Nope. He doesn't do things half-hourglassed, though this time he was the tiger, and Hope, well, she's got a lot of 'splainin' to do, but before we get into that, let's talk Aiden.

Despite holding all the cards, Aiden's gone -- as N'Sync would croon -- bye, bye, bye. I have to admit it was a classier end to his character than I expected. Heck, we even got a glimpse of the dimplicious Aiden that Hope shared that waltz with. No, not that creepy, forced waltz in his room. The original recipe version. Still, it was time to call it. Not even a Magic Eraser can scrub off the bus tire tracks that ran across Aiden since his return. That's not to say I won't miss Daniel Cosgrove's talents, as he did amazing things with the material provided, but, yeah, I offered to help Aiden pack.

So, during the artist couple formerly known as Haiden's date from hell -- I've personally come close to being on worse, but that's any story for another day -- Hope hit her limits, and I totally cheered. Sure, she's done some, um, questionable things, but Hope was Aiden's victim in this mess. He was doing nothing to future justice. He was using Hope's crimes to his advantage. I guess two wrongs don't make a right, after all, but let's get back to that "cheering" part.

I did. When Hope finally stated, "It's not happening," I wanted to shout, "Welcome back, Fancy Face!" Her entire "There is no love in this" speech was fantastic. It was perfectly delivered by Kristian Alfonso, for one. And for twos, it was a nice twist to the story. Instead of a fancy shootout or explosion (which have their time and place, don't get me wrong), it was just a punch-to-the-gut conversation between two characters with a long history. She basically held a mirror to his face, and he saw how crazy he had become. See, it was kind of classy at the end. And then he decided to give Hope all the copies of the recording and head to Portland to join Crazy Jr. Bye, Aiden!

Of course, that's not the end. Hope celebrated, and so did Andre. He has a copy, too! Whoops. As soon as I knew Andre had the recording, I suspected he would do something epic with it ,and he did not disappoint. Thaao Penghlis's dastardly magic was working overtime. Andre played the recording on loop during Hope's First Responders Award acceptance speech and cut to black. No! Now, we have to wait until Monday for the fallout. Okay, DAYS, you win. You got us good.

Across town, another cliffhanger was brewing. At the hospital, Halloween was celebrated with a magic show! In the lobby. By the nurses' station. So much happens there. Anyways...

I'm still kind of stumped about a few things. One, how did it take the hospital staff so long to identify the missing body in the morgue? Methinks some medical examiner could benefit from a label maker, perhaps. Not only that, but riddle me this...

How many doctors and private investigators with arm-length ISA rsums does it take to identify an archenemy? Apparently more than four. How did John, Steve, Marlena, and Kayla not identify Orpheus? Sure, I get that they probably weren't even thinking that a dead guy might be starring in a magic show, but it was a little silly none of them had a grand "Wait a minute!" moment and pulled the plug. But it was a great twist, so I'll roll with the punch, just as Marlena and Kayla rolled into those magic boxes and, poof! They disappeared. The Friday cliffhanger strikes again, and I couldn't be more excited to watch Monday.

LOOSE ENDS: Hello, Valerie Grant! It might be premature, but I'm a fan already. Vanessa A. Williams brings a certain class and warmth to the role. Theo, he's not so much of a fan. I think part of it is that he's scared. I mean, yes, having your only living parent nearly die will do that, for sure. And realizing that Andre is one of the few kin you have left would also be traumatic.

As for Abe, he's certainly happy to see Valerie. Sure, sure, he's grateful for the saving his life thingy, but there was a little twinkle in Abe's eyes when he reminisced and offered to make Salem feel like home for her again. It was cute. I like it. And I like that Abe is getting a storyline with potential. More, please.

Speaking of "More, please," I could get use to Jen and Chad's warm relationship. Within the last few months, the writers have done an amazing job at fixing Jennifer, bringing her back to the character longtime fans have grown to love. Jennifer was always compassionate, kind, and smart. And she is again. Now if we can just get her back to being a spunky reporter, that would be icing on the cake. But it makes me wonder, if the writers can fix a character who really circled the drain, why can't they do that for others? Say...

Nicole. Nicole, Nicole, Nicole, Nicole...Nicole. *exasperated sigh* That's all I got. Nope. One more thing. And Maggie, don't encourage her. Please.

It's official...again! Victor is retiring from Titan. This time to spend more time making magic with Maggie. While I support someone smothering her with tender love and care, I'm not a fan of Victor choosing Deimos to run Titan. I don't think I'm the only one, based on reaction, but the Kiriakis men have decided to give it the old college try. True, they're an interesting group to watch bicker, but I'm a little worried this will get old after a while.

Which leads me to say, "Really, Victor!?" Philip has had to jump through hoops and change his hairstyle every five minutes until he found one Victor liked, but he's barely forgiven, yet Vic gave Deimos the keys to the empire!? The dude was responsible (in part) for Bo's death! Yet that's okay because Deimos didn't know he was working for such a madman. Um, so, one, he gets a free pass for his part in Bo's death, and, two, he's not smart enough to know who he's working for. Yep. That should work out well for Titan.

I'm also sort of seething that the Kiriakis Boys Club is so exclusive. This would have been an amazing time for Chelsea to return and put her hat in the ring to run things at Titan. Victor adored her, so why is she being left out of the loop? Right. She doesn't have a peen. And the Soap Gods know that only Kiriakis men make the best decisions.

Side tangent: it's sort of a missed opportunity that Belle is working for DiMera Enterprises and Shawn-Douglas could have been handed a piece of the Titan puzzle, no?

I suspect that Claire and Ciara recently watched Mean Girls. They were throwing some pretty hard shade at one another. I get it, ladies, Theo is adorable, but let's go back to being besties and maybe pick on Jade instead. Agreed?

Aww, Dario and Blanca are dating. That's super special. I hope she likes huffiness and whining. #shecoulddobetter

Now THAT'S the Steve and Kayla I remember and adore. Yes, please. I'm glad they worked past their issues. So glad. To be honest, I'm not even sure what their issues were at times, but all is good. They're moving on. We're moving on. Early 2016 didn't happen. I'm fine with that. Godspeed, One-Eyed Tomcat and Sweetness.

I guess since a new suspicious creeper hasn't moved to Salem lately, it made sense that Kate considered recycling Eduardo. She turned him and his breakfast burrito down. Thankfully. Sadly, I don't think it's the end of that conversation. Unthankfully...

Eddie's big plan to draw Kate in was to, one, smother her with a verbal onslaught of cooking metaphors and first-two-minutes of porn-esque dialogue-worthy pickup lines. And, two, offer her a job at his shady but yet-to-be revealed business. Sounds promising, Eddie. That "keep 'em guessing and waiting" approach doesn't make you sound like a grade-A d-bag at all. At all, sir.

Then again, a guy who stuffed so much cheese into a burrito without there being any dairy in it isn't exactly a man with a master vision. Good luck with that, Easy E. And let's remember, Eddie, Kate claimed, "I'm capable of handing you your head on a platter." Yes. Yes she is. Strong women can do that.

Oh, and by the way, Eddie. How is Adrianna? It's nice to see how far he's going to protect her by attempting to reconcile with Kate while she's out of town, helping an ailing relative. Smooth.

HOT

And boom! THAT'S the way to do a Friday cliffhanger to start November Sweeps. Well done, DAYS. Well. Done.

NOT Can Eddie, Dario, and Deimos be Orpheus' next volunteers to get into those magic boxes? LINE OF THE WEEK: Kate (to Andre): "Every time Clyde was talking to me, he always ended up waving a gun around. I think he had issues with me."

RANDOM THOUGHTS A "HOT" contender was certainly Roman and Rafe wanting to help Hope as she attempted to protect them. Yes, she did the crime, but they love her and would do anything for her. Even if they're wrong (which they are), it was sweet.

Paging Nurse Maxine! Please report. Stat! While I love Maxine and Abe individually, I can't say I loved Maxine and Abe's short-lived attempt at dating, but this would be an interesting time to have her back on the canvas. I could see her and Valerie trying to one-up each other as they dote on Abe, maybe fighting over fluffing his pillows or feeding him hospital Jell-O.

Rafe's park camping was cute and all, but doesn't he have a big back yard where he and Blanca once danced and drank beers? Just wondering.

Chad and Gabi's chitchat about Harold was priceless. The Chadster cracks me up. Now it makes sense why Harold is always drawing a bath for Chad. He swiped right.

Brady earned some street cred by telling Deimos, "I've buried people alive." Sadly, that was a career highlight for Brady.

From John and Steve to Andre and Kate, I got a chuckle that day-drinking is back now that the town is post-siege.

Roman and Rafe's banter, especially over his Halloween costume, was hilarious.

Speaking of, Rafe said he doesn't wear costumes. Yes, Rafe-a-Roni and Cheese, about that. Carrie Brady would disagree with you, seeing you were her blueberry muffin prince charming once upon a time ago.

Just putting this out there, but if Ciara doesn't want her millions, I mean, I guess I could take them off her hands.

First thought upon hearing John and Steve need a secretary for Black Patch -- pick Anne! Please, oh, please pick Anne. She needs a job, and she would be hysterical interacting with them.

I hope that at some point Valerie states she spent some time in West Hollywood living at this wacky apartment complex. #IstillmissMelrose

Nicole should have talked to Paul instead of Maggie. He surely wouldn't think it's odd at all to talk about relationships at someone's gravesite.

Hey, random deputy mayor! What's your story?

John sure got his money back quickly! I totally want him on my side the next time I need a refund.

I thought Julie was a little more self-aware than to be shocked that someone isn't exactly thrilled to see her. You can come sit by me, Valerie!

PARTING THOUGHTS So, friends and fellow DAYS fans, that's Two Scoops for the week of October 31. Laurisa will be back next week to usher in an explosive first week of November Sweeps! And, "That's a fact!"

As always, thanks for reading! Tony

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