Cowboy, take me away

Salem bid a fond farewell to Beauregard Aurelius Brady as he took Caroline away for her treatment. How will we survive without our favorite go-to hero? Find out in this week's Two Scoops.

We all knew this day was coming. But that didn't make it any easier. Yup, eventually Kate was bound to go blonde. Oh, sweet brunette locks with that awesome blue streak, how I miss you!

I kid, of course. Well, not about the hair. I really do miss the brown and blue combo. But, I'm referring to seeing our beloved Beauregard Aurelius Brady drive off into the sunset. Let's take a look at Bo's goodbye and the pile of crazy he's walking away from.

BO The Bo Brady "farewell tour" made its final lap last week. You'll notice my use of air quotes because I'm still not totally sure that Peter Reckell is gone for good. Maybe it's my own sense of denial, developed over the last decade of being a St. Louis Rams fan. But, an essence of finality to his exit was missing. Maybe that's the point/hope.

I do applaud the writers for trying something different with Bo. It's a refreshing change from the coma/death route. And this storyline did give Bo a chance to leave somewhat on his own terms and say proper goodbyes to people like Victor, Maggie, Billie, John, Marlena, Roman, Kayla, Ciara, and Hope. There was even the nod to his ongoing investigation into Stefano, which I absolutely loved!

But, it's the Hope goodbye that felt off to me. No doubt, Peter Reckell and Kristen Alfonso have developed such superb chemistry together that Bope is basically the comfort food of all daytime supercouples. But Bo's exit leaves Hope still very much married to and in love with her partner for life. And the mythical land of California is hardly out of the realm of travel and Skype possibilities. I have a very bad feeling that Hope has a troubling phone call coming her way in a few months, followed by the news that Kimberly (you know, the sibling who already lives in California) will be taking care of Caroline.

Either that, or Bo will be walking though the Brady Pub door again someday soon! *Fingers crossed*

LUCAS, WILL, SONNY, and KATE For starters, I had zero problems with Lucas pounding the door and yelling to get hold of Will. There was a family emergency. Will needed to hear the news in person before he read something like, "Local Business Owner Leaves Town" on his Facebook feed. (You know the Brady Pub has a page!)

But, on a very serious note, with Caroline moving across the country and the unpredictability of Alzheimer's progression, it's more likely than not that this was Will's last chance to talk to Caroline again in a way that is truly meaningful. Because of Lucas' persistence, Will got one last glorious memory with his great-grandma where she expressed love and happiness. I would have given anything for that opportunity with my own Grandma. Those who have experienced the heartbreakingly brutal reality of this disease know exactly what I'm talking about.

But it was the behavior after Will left that seemed to cause a stir. Frankly, this wasn't the finest hour for either Lucas or Sonny.

Lucas had the makings of a strong case. Any parent of a 19-year-old would come unhinged if they caught their child in bed with a significant other. And yes, Sonny, I do think that Lucas would have had just as much of a problem if Will was about to get in the sack with a girl. Lucas spoke up when he thought that Will was moving too fast with Mia. And, I certainly don't think that Lucas "teen father" Horton would be high-fiving the decision.

However, the fact that Lucas has already teetered on the bigot edge makes me less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well, that and the fact that Sonny is about as dangerous as a baby panda makes Lucas' suspicions seem like delusional paranoia.

As for Sonny, I do think that he was coming from a good place. Sonny was being protective of Will, and possibly acting out of the embarrassment of being caught in a very personal moment. Both points are totally understandable. However, it's never an advisable move to put yourself in conflict with your boyfriend's family. But since he came clean with Will afterwards and didn't take advantage of Will when Will was hurt, I can cut Sonny some slack.

The real showdown was between Lucas and Will. I'm #TeamWill all the way. Lucas is having a hard time right now knowing how to parent a gay son. He's not using slurs and punching people like T was, but he's hurting Will just the same, possibly even more. I really feel like Lucas should talk to Marlena or (can't believe I'm going to type this) Kate rather than make up bogus stories about Sonny or berate Will.

Case in point -- the juxtaposition between the Will/Lucas and Sonny/Kate conversations was quite well done. Kate and Lucas actually had the same point: Will is less experienced that Sonny, and they are worried about Will. However, where Lucas took the short-tempered blockhead approach, Kate took the honest and calm approach. (Wow! Those are two words I never thought I'd use to describe Kate.)

NICK You know that part in an action movie when the hero opens the briefcase and finds a bomb with approximately 34 different colored wires, and it's up to him to select the one wire that won't kill everyone in the building? That's how I feel watching this storyline. It has tons of ways to fail, but there is still one possibility that it will turn out well.

Nick's position on gays is based on his own struggle with his faith and what the Bible says. He's not focusing his emotions onto Sonny and Will the way that T or even Lucas did. I think this is a much more realistic and valid reflection of today's society. For that reason, I'm glad that the show is including this plot.

Add in the fact that I have infinite faith (no pun intended) in Blake Berris as an actor, and I think that this storyline has some promise. I don't doubt that prison changed Nick. If he turned to the Bible for help, good on him. There are much worse things (Hello, pills!) to which Nick could have looked for comfort.

But, TPTB need to be very, very, very careful bringing a literal interpretation of a few Bible verses into soaps because doing so opens up a free-for-all hypocrisy fair. We're talking about a show where every character is Catholic; divorced several times; repeatedly has sex and children out of wedlock; has succeeded or attempted to murder, rape, or kidnap someone; lies to pretty much everyone they know; and rarely shows up on Sundays, if you know what I mean. But this storyline hasn't played all the way out yet, so I'm still forming my opinion on it.

The only thing that I do have an immediate objection to is Nick saying that being gay is a choice. His scientific background makes him an odd candidate to take such an emotional position. Perhaps there is something more to his stance than just religious objections. Hmmm...

GABI First she became so obsessed with Chad that she orchestrated a crime to get his attention. Then, when he understandably told her off, she was so upset that she slept with her gay friend, Will. Now, when her new boyfriend, who is recently out of prison and even more recently expressed some deeply fundamental differences in life views, she sleeps with him too.

I'm reaching the point where I was with Chloe just before Chloe left. Gabi is a good person, but she's piling up the dumb decisions a little too fast! I say it's time to dig Arianna out of witness protection and bring her back to Salem. Gabi needs some guidance right away, if not sooner.

Also, I sincerely hope that Gabi keeps a stash of condoms in her nightstand. Otherwise, I fear that the writing is already on the wall for what comes next. All we're missing is someone in need of blackmailing Gabi. Oh wait, hello there, Chad.

MARLENA To be honest, I feel like watching Marlena squirm is a form of soap justice for all of her questionable advice during the whole Carrie/Rafe situation. She got away with throwing her own daughter under the bus, and I didn't like that. All she had to do was mention, "You know, this is your sister's husband that we're talking about" once. But she didn't. So for now, I'm okay with Kristen toying with Marlena.

And there's no question in my mind that's exactly what Kristen is doing. With the amount of info that Kristen spouts off about E.J.'s life, it's unlikely that Kristen just happened to pick the same therapist as Marlena. Although, I don't think that Kristen paid a child actress to fall in the Town Square. I mean, come on.

But, Kristen is on all the time. She's aware, alert, and ready to capitalize on any opportunity that comes across her plate. And it's in this area that Marlena needs to step it up. Or at least stop just reacting to everything by flailing her hands and gasping for the smelling salts. Marlena is an intelligent woman. It's not that she hasn't been right. It's that she hasn't been smart. But she's certainly capable of figuring this out, so I'm looking forward to every minute of Marlena vs. Kristen.

SAMI and RAFE Sami and Rafe had a run-in that furthered my hypothesis that Rafe is the worst apologizer since Lucy from the Peanuts cartoons. His apology consisted of calling Sami self-absorbed and complaining that the two days (max) he's spent "groveling" was really starting to harsh his mellow. He topped it off with a very mature "You're stupid!" to which I'm actually surprised Sami didn't counter with, "I know you are, but what am I?" Doesn't everyone know that's the standard response?

I'm so ready for this pair to be over. But, that includes Sami getting over Rafe's lie. She needs to forgive him. He has done a lot for her (See: Sydney) and he didn't set out to maliciously hurt her in this situation.

However, that doesn't mean that they should get back together. He doesn't trust her. And whether or not he's justified in that mistrust is beside the point. Rafe wants Sami to be something to him that he isn't comfortable being to her.

KRISTEN and E.J. These two are positively delicious together. Their banter is great, and the sibling chemistry is perfectly in place. But my favorite part is that Kristen really doesn't care that E.J. doesn't trust her at all. She just keeps moving on about her mission and waits for that silly little brother of hers to catch up.

She clearly has an agenda greater than saving E.J.'s day. And the truth probably is that as long as it doesn't harm E.J., he won't have a problem accepting her...um...help. Yep, that's the word I'm going with. Kristen is all about help. She's such a giver.

NICOLE Last week, I just sat back and marveled at Nicole's ability to manipulate people. She's so committed to her interpretation of the truth that it's nearly impossible not to believe her. How else can you explain normally smart guys like Brady and Rafe just brushing aside Nicole's sudden travel plans to Hawaii? Those umbrella drinks are extremely awesome, but they're not magical. It's not like they're chocolate or anything.

But since Nicole has yet to turn her charm on me (and I'm not saying that it wouldn't work -- especially if she allowed me access to her accessory closet), I can still see through her.

Nicole certainly does not feel bad about Jennifer facing charges. As Maggie so rightly pointed out, Nicole didn't tell the truth until she got something that she wanted in return. And, technically, Nicole didn't tell the truth. She just reversed her own lie. The truth would be that the baby was no longer alive at the time of the confrontation with Jennifer.

And I started to steam a little when Nicole told E.J. that she didn't owe him anything. Girl, you kept his child from him because you were ticked at him. The least you can do is let him know what happened to his son. Of course, to come clean now would mean that Nicole would lose Daniel, and she can't have that. So, as much as I want to defend my gal, she's still using her child to get what she wants.

I'm expecting her fall from grace to be spectacular. Arianne Zucker is incapable of playing it any other way. And for my money, there's nothing better than watching Nicole claw her way back up after hitting rock bottom. So, let's get this show on the road!

DANIEL Maybe I'm a sucker for Shawn Christian in those passionate screaming sessions, but I really liked Daniel last week. He's been getting a lot of hate recently, and I'm not so sure it's warranted. Sure, he's an easy target because of his Dr. Feelgood past. But, to be fair, it's been quite a while since those days, and credit needs to be given where it's due.

I don't have a problem believing that Daniel is still in love with Jennifer. He left her because it was the right thing to do, not because his feelings changed. And he gets major gentlemen points this week for mocking the absurdity of him ever saying something to Jennifer, considering that Jack just died. (Um, did Daniel really need to spell that out for you, Jennifer?) Likewise, I love that he corrected Maggie that Nicole clearly didn't get "everything she wanted." Daniel has actually been pretty selfless here while trying to do the right thing.

It will be interesting if he ends up putting together the clues about the baby clothes. Not only will it rock his world when he learns that Nicole's been lying to him, but my whole life will be turned upside down if it's proven that a man can pair up two matching pieces of laundry. Mind. Blown.

BRADY and KRISTEN I'm not sold on the use of Brady in this storyline. Mainly, I'm not sold on a recovering addict who's friends with Nicole spouting off about how people can't change. But something seemed to distract me from my anger when Eric Martsolf and Eileen Davidson shared their was-it-really-supposed-to-be-that-way scene.

Let me back up. Brady arrived at Kristen's hotel room to tell her to leave his father alone. She was, of course, wearing only a towel because that's how one always dresses for confrontation. And he had to take off his jacket because it's very warm in the hotel room and not at all because of that fitted blue dress shirt that paid equal respect to his eye color and bicep size. So, the question is, was I supposed to see chemistry between this pair? Is this Kristen's grand plan? Bedding Brady and befriending Sami would certainly be a creative way to stick it to John and Marlena, and I wouldn't put it past Kristen at all.

LOOSE ENDS: Billie hand-delivered a job offer from Mad World to Nick. Gabi asked Nick if she should be jealous of Billie. No, girl! It's Chelsea that you need to worry about! But the Billie thing is a funny story.

Kristen presented Sami with a very special assignment: take down Kate. Kristen threw in a pay increase and access to all the cool corporate things that I hear rich people have access to, but I have no first-hand knowledge of. There's no way Sami should turn down this job. She's been working to take down Kate for years; she might as well get paid for it now! Besides, in this assignment, there won't even be a whisper about her qualifications. No one has more experience going up against Kate than Sami.

Jennifer was bound and determined to be as unlikable as possible last week. I'm so glad that Hope was around to reality check Jennifer out of confessing to a crime that she didn't commit. Oh, and Jennifer's "crusade to save" attitude would be more believable if it wasn't just exclusive to Daniel.

E.J.'s "You don't have to change just so you can measure up. I like you for who you are" is pretty much the anthem that Ejami fans have been chanting for years. For good measure, E.J. threw in that he's tired of hearing Rafe tell her what's wrong with her. So, it's clear that the writers know what's appealing about this pair. I hope they actually go somewhere with this knowledge and not just dangle it for fun's sake.

For the record, it took Sami all of about 17 seconds to accuse Nicole of setting this whole thing up out of a vendetta against Jennifer. Nicole should thank her lucky stars that Sami is too busy worrying about Kristen right now to bother with bringing Nicole down. Whatdayaknow? Yet another reason why it's great to have Kristen back!

EXTRA SCOOPS

HOT: We bid a fond farewell to Peter Reckell this week. It's terribly difficult to play the good guys on soaps because, quite frankly, they're rarely as interesting as the bad guys. But the talented Mr. Reckell always managed to infuse enough rebel into Bo to keep us all interested. And in doing so, he brought a sincerely touching dynamic to Bo's closest relationships. The Bo/Victor and Bo/Chelsea relationships are still some of my favorites of all time.

And as I mentioned before, his chemistry with leading lady Kristian Alfonso was nothing short of spectacular -- mastering not only romantic chemistry, but professional chemistry as well. The Detectives Brady were often as much fun as Bope.

I wish him well in his future projects. I hold out hope that he'll be back to DAYS. And, I'm nothing short of grateful for his contribution to my favorite soap.

NOT: Jennifer asking Maggie to play the mother card was crazy inappropriate. Setting aside that Jennifer literally did the grown-up version of tattling, Jennifer has no right to hurt Maggie like that! Jennifer should have enough respect for Maggie's feelings and still new, fragile relationship with Daniel to keep Maggie out of harm's way. Instead, she dragged Maggie along into Jennifer's quest for justice and got Maggie good and yelled at. Not cool, Jen. Not cool.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Maggie (to Daniel): "Things were so much easier when I thought you were a predatory jerk." Indeed, Maggie. I completely agree with you.

Honorable mention: Sami (to Rafe): "Are you serious right now? You were stupid and mean." Glad to see you're still around, Real Sami!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: LOVE that there were Halloween decorations up all over town. Slightly disappointed that we didn't get a cool party like last year. Good thing Tony and I picked out costumes for everyone!

I always figured Kristen for a red wine gal.

Do you know any hotel room doors that can be opened from the outside without a key?

Many fans credit Rafe with being the one who changed Sami. However, it's worth pointing out that the successful part of Safe's relationship happened without Marlena or Carrie around. Coincidence? Discuss.

Nicole's daydreams are back in full force, and Daniel got increasingly less fashionable as they progressed. However, I loved that Nicole's daydream involved an adoption storyline. This is the storyline that I've been wanting Nicole to play for a long time. She would absolutely deliver on it! Happy dancing begins 5-6-7-8!

I really dig the under-cabinet lighting in Sonny's apartment.

I kind of wanted Sami to remark, "Wow, I like what Daniel's done with the place!" when she came over to talk to Nicole.

Hold the phone. Did Kate just have a conversation with someone who's dating one of her offspring and not use any sort of threat?

Thursday, November 8th, marks DAYS' 47th anniversary! To celebrate the event, Tony and I will be releasing the top 47 reasons to watch DAYS. Stay tuned to our blogs, or follow us on Twitter to read the list! (@LaurisaDays and @ Tony_S_DAYS)!

And with that, I'm off to get stuff together for Eric Brady's return party. Yup, the next time we meet, Sami's twin will be back in our fair Salem. I can hardly wait! Until then, let me know what you thought about last week's episodes. And tease your brain with these few questions: Just what is Abe's job these days? Is Rafe really the best friend Nicole has ever had? And am I the only one who's never heard an outfit referred to as a "twosie"? Click here to let me know!

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