Arnold’s going down: Days of our Lives Two Scoops for the week of February 3, 2025

This was a rather lackluster week on DAYS. After Stephanie gave Alex a cupcake with a candle and arrow-shaped cufflinks for his birthday (to remind him of his time on Body & Soul), Roman basically told him not to hurt his niece. It was cool to see Roman step up and look out for Steph.

Cat returned to work with Marlena, who informed her that they might both be out of a job because the hospital was going to go under. Saving the hospital looks like a major storyline push that’s developing.

Meanwhile, Leo asked Chad if he could have a job at the paper, and Chad denied him. Leo just wanted to be a reporter, not Lady Whistleblower anymore, and Chad was surprised to find out that Leo had fans hilariously called ‘Little Whistles.’

When Stephanie confronted Fake Rafe, not only did he deny being Arnold, he grabbed her head and kissed her. Hilariously, she kneed him in the groin, and I cheered.

Of course, Shawn and Jada started making out and ended up dancing between the sheets. You know where this is headed, of course.

Thankfully, Stephanie figured out that Arnold must somehow be back from the dead and impersonating Rafe. She told Alex, which finally started the ball rolling on figuring out what was going on with Rafe once and for all.

Cat’s been working for Marlena and had an idea that a fundraiser might be the best way to attract people with deep pockets to help save the hospital. Marlena loved the idea and tasked her and Chad to come up with fundraising ideas. Now that they’re working together, and Cat has openly admitted she has feelings for Chad, this is fueling my past theory. If you missed it, I speculated that once Chad and Cat start a relationship for real, and Chad falls for her, the real Abigail will finally return and throw a monkey wrench into things.

Savannah showed up again, and this time, Gabi saw her and was horrified. It really put the fire under Gabi to find out what’s going on with Rafe. She even yanked a couple of hairs out of his head to get a DNA test done to prove he’s not Rafe. That was hilarious, and apparently, Galen Gerring’s reaction was genuine because she accidentally pulled his hair out for real.

Last week ended with EJ attempting to inject the memory-reasing serum CRS-17 into Rafe. But Rafe got free, and the two were locked in mortal combat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Wednesday that we got the resolution to that, and their conflict finished off-screen. Very disappointing. But, EJ was the victor and had Real Rafe at the DiMera mansion with Rita looking over him. I love her! I may have written this before, but she is totally like Alfred from Batman. The highly skilled servant who helps their boss with dirty work, unflinching and without question.

After Rita zapped Arnold with her taser, she told him she was going to “Need to borrow those clothes.” As I expected, the real Rafe woke up at his kitchen table in those clothes, and in walked Jada and Shawn. But, Rafe has no memories, not even of who he is! Naturally, they didn’t believe him.

Kristen reminded Brady that if there was another “incident,” child services could take Rachel away from them. In turn, he told Ava the same thing and that they shouldn’t press charges against EJ if they want Rachel to stay out of juvie. But EJ’s pretty much losing Belle because she realized he had knowledge of Ava’s kidnapping but didn’t say anything. Hopefully, the hots they have for each other will supersede his misdeeds, and they’ll get back together.

Chanel had those pesky extra cells from her miscarriage removed and Paulina happened to find her in the hospital. She wasn’t happy that Chanel kept this from her and worried it was cancer. Chanel calmed her down, telling her it wasn't, and the whole scene seemed kind of pointless. But in the end, there was a reason because Chanel told her mom about possibly adopting Tate and Sophia’s baby. Paulina recalled what had happened with Lani and how she had felt bad about giving her up for adoption.

Julie told New Doug about her brother Steve Olson, who wrote her a snail mail letter reiterating that he didn’t steal her necklace and swearing on their grandfather’s life that he was innocent. Julie believed his words, and New Doug felt worse about his misdeed. Julie kept talking about Steve, so hopefully that means he’ll return soon, or perhaps for the show’s 60th anniversary in November.

In a hilarious scene, Sophia told Mrs. Choi that Johnny and Chanel were active in their own church and Chanel even led bible studies. Amy was please by this, while Tate turned over and gave Sophia a surprised look but kept mum. They all agreed to set up a meeting with Johnny and Chanel. It’s going to be fun watching Johnny and Chanel pretend to be religious fanatics.

And…the week ended with Doug bumping into Holly again. Where that’s going, you can probably guess.

LOOSE ENDS:

Cat needs to stop with the self-deprecation. She’s just constantly doing it around Chad, and it’s become super annoying. I wonder if that’s just a way of keeping Chad at bay to prolong their inevitable coupling?

Having the Rafe and EJ fight that began on Friday finish off-screen was a major letdown. They could have easily cut out Cat’s pity party for a couple of minutes of cool hand-to-hand combat. That was extremely disappointing, and I hate when soaps do that.

It would be nice to hear some follow up about what happened to Kerry, just to finaly put that once and for all to rest.

I know the tribute to Drake Hogestyn is coming up in June, but I wish they would give a more plausible explanation as to why John is away.

Rafe having complete amnesia, rather than just missing the last few days, puts a huge crimp in his reunion with Jada. It’s going to prolong the whole story more than it needs to be. They may have to call in Dr. Rolf to help get his memories back.

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT

There weren’t a lot of hot things going on this week. However, the teaming up of Alex and Stephanie to figure out if Arnold was alive and impersonating Rafe set them on a cool path to being a couple that can work well together. So, they’re the only ones making the Hot List this week by a slim margin.

NOT

Jada and Shawn. They don’t seem to have much chemistry, and he’s been kissing every woman in town. Knowing that the Rafe thing will eventually be sorted out tells me this couple is going nowhere.

LINE(S) OF THE WEEK

This week was chock full of great dialogue! Leo and Chad’s exchange was particularly funny.

When Leo was trying to convince Chad to hire him as a reporter, he said, “Chadwick, I’ve always considered myself to be very versatile. Something of a renaissance man. Sort of like The Talented Mr. Ripley, minus the murder and sadism, but keeping in Jude Law and the luscious Italian scenery.” That, of course, is a reference to the 1999 film of the same name starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jude Law.

Chad asked Leo if he had any experience being a real reporter. Leo said, “Uhm, as a matter of fact, I do. Aside from my brief internship at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, where I was fired because the editor thought that the obits I was writing were and I quote ‘a bit too whimsical.’ ” He then reminded Chad about the nice article he wrote last year about Tom and Alice Horton.

When Chad dismissed it as a ‘one off,’ Leo retorted, “Would you tell Emily Brontë that Wuthering Heights was a ‘one off’?” Brontë wrote that classic novel in 1847.

After Chad agreed to hire Leo as a ‘real’ reporter, the writer started trying to come up with article ideas. “Oh, maybe, maybe I can go undercover at that hot yoga studio to see if that gorgeous Greek statue of an owner really is running a hush-hush members-only sex club in the basement.” Chad inquired, “Where’d you hear that?” Leo responded, “From my friend Denise.” He then reflected for a moment and added, “She also thinks the moon landing was fake, and sometimes she puts tinfoil over the window to keep out 5G.” Chad’s testy response was, “Leo, get some better sources.”

Leo then came up with another idea: “Maybe I can finally, finally take down Phyllis. She’s that fascist slumlord who runs the Salem Inn. Do you know that every time I go to see her in her office, she is watching the same episode of How I Met Your Mother? I’m starting to think that in addition to being a terrible person, she’s completely mashugana.”

Mashugana is a Yiddish word that means crazy, silly, or nonsensical, and can also describe a person who is irrational or foolish. I think his mention of Phyllis was a reference to Phyllis from The Young and the Restless, played by Michelle Stafford. Phyllis had previously been in a relationship with Greg Rikaart’s Y&R character, Kevin.

Javi found a blonde wig in Gabby‘s office and put it on, asking Leo if it worked on him. Leo said, “No, it’s giving me dollar tree Heather Locklear.” Locklear famously appeared on such classic TV shows as T.J. Hooker, Dynasty, and Melrose Place among several others and was married to rock stars Tommy Lee and Richie Sambora.

After learning that Rafe was upstairs in the DiMera mansion, Kristen said, “It sounds like something out of a Stephen King novel. You know, the one with the peculiar woman who is tending to the bedridden writer?” EJ replied, “You’re thinking of Misery. And I assure you it’s nothing like that.”

Brady told Kristen that the only reason little Rachel was able to keep Ava at the Blake house, “Was with the help of your kooky-ass mom, and you.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term “kooky-ass,” and will have to add it to my vernacular.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

When Leo told Chad his followers were called ‘Little Whistles,’ all I could picture were a bunch of little kid bodies with Leo’s head on each one, and they’re wearing whistles around their necks. They stand around all talking over each other like Leo in an insane cacophony of rapid-fire quips, references, and inside jokes.

Gabi told Javi that Rafe had cheated on women in the past and Javi wondered if maybe they didn’t realize that Rafe was a slimeball all along. I’m sorry, but Arnold’s behavior while impersonating Rafe goes way beyond something they would never have noticed. If he swiped a pack of gum from a store, that would be out of character, and maybe no one knew he was a closet kleptomaniac. But his whole demeanor and even manner of speaking has been screaming, “I am NOT Rafe!”

At one point, Fake Rafe referred to Gabi as, “My Karen of a sister.” Karen is a derogatory slang word that means an upper middle-class woman who believes themselves to be entitled, and are often demanding, and enjoy belittling people.

While planning a fundraiser for the hospital, Chad told Kat about Marlena being possessed by the devil. I really love the fact that in the world of DAYS, God and the Devil do exist and people know it from firsthand experience. The show should really expand it’s supernatural storytelling because there are so many cool myths and even paranormal things and creatures from the Bible that they could pull into the Salem mythology. Perhaps, like the 1995 Christopher Walken film The Prophecy, an angel comes down to Salem to start a new war in Heaven.

I thought it was a cool reference when Gabi was yammering at Arnold and he said he was gonna take his sandwich and go watch a little Yellowstone rather than talk with her.

Another fun reference was when Arnold told Rita that if EJ double-crossed him, he would sing like a canary at the police station, and they would call the interrogation room The Tonight Show with Arnold Feniger. A great spoof of the legendary The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (which is now hosted by Jimmy Fallon).

Rita was awesome because she started pulling things out of her purse like a passport and other stuff she pretended was going to help Arnold flee the country. As I anticipated, the last thing she pulled out was her hand dandy taser and she zapped him with it. We won’t see Arnold again for another 10 years.

Stephanie, Gabi, and Jada did a great job uncovering what was going on with Rafe. They should start their own detective agency or work for Black Patch.

PARTING THOUGHTS

It’s fun watching the Arnold/Rafe story wind down. Arnold was taken away off-screen, and we’ll never see him again until the story warrants it. But now the big thing is going to be to see how Jada and the real Rafe can overcome this latest obstacle.

And let’s praise Rita for being the unsung hero in this episode as she has no problem taking big guys down with her taser. She fools her victims by seeming innocuous, and then ZAP! they’re down for the count.

Thanks for joining me this week! Until next time, DOOL-ers!