My Baby's Got a Secret: DOOL

After months of waiting and wondering how and when it would happen, finally the truth is out about Chloe's fling and Parker's paternity! Now Nathan is the only one still left in the dark. As far as big soapy reveals go, yesterday's shocker was just okay. Maybe my expectations were too high after so many false alarms where it seemed that the truth was going to come out but it didn't. This is my main complaint with Days, they tease their audience too much so that by the time the event that they have been teasing us with finally happens it's anti-climactic. I think this particular reveal should have happened shortly after Melanie and Nathan left quarantine because I never really understood how they could come so close to death, say their "I love you's" then go back to their respective mates as if nothing ever happened. Typically the "near death" storylines are put in place to bring a couple together, not bring them almost together then have them say "eh, we should just be friends, right?" At least that storyline allowed Melanie and Carly to make up, if only temporarily. Quite frankly I'm a little sick of Melanie always being so mad at Carly. And I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around why she is so mad at her this time since Carly is the only one who did not knowingly betray her. In fact Carly did less to Melanie than Melanie did to Daniel in not telling him that Chloe slept with someone else!







I like that everyone learned the whole truth about Chloe's fling in the middle of a crowded room. It had all the makings of great soap opera drama. I did feel sorry for Maggie though, being the only one asked to leave instead of getting to stay and watch the show. The woman spent weeks inside a sarcophagus and the minute something exciting happens she gets put on baby duty!







I loved how Philip tried to pretend that Caroline was senile because quite frankly I've had my doubts about her sanity lately anyway. I didn't, however, like that this whole thing ended with her having a stroke. I'm not sure which is worse though, the fact that she had a stroke or the fact that she was in a room with three doctors and a nurse who didn't recognize the warning signs when she started complaining about her head and feeling dizzy. Kayla's only assessment was "this has been very hard on her." Yes, Kayla I'm sure all the manipulative and deceitful behavior has been hard on her, maybe you want to get her to sit down for a minute before she, I don't know, has a stroke?





Of course Caroline's stroke will inevitably make me feel sorry for her and by extension Stephanie, which I hate because it is also going to prevent Nathan and Melanie from being appropriately mad at Stephanie for keeping the truth hidden for so long. Caroline may have talked her into keeping Parker's paternity a secret, but she didn't exactly have to twist her arm. After all, Stephanie spent weeks trying to keep the truth hidden before she knew Caroline was involved. And Kayla's warnings to tell the truth merely succeeded in giving her slight pause before she ultimately did what she wanted to do all along; but somehow I doubt that she will have to atone for any of that behavior.

Much Ado About...well, Nothing: GH

Ever since Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo's highly anticipated return to GH, viewers have been hearing about this mysterious Balkan character who was out to hurt Brenda. For a while I assumed the Balkan was Franco because of the scene below where he is on a plane looking at Brenda's photo and talking to someone on the phone about wanting to work with her.


[no copyright infringement intended]


Of course that assumption was proven wrong once it was revealed that the Balkan was out to get Brenda for killing his son. And even with all the inconsistencies on GH I'm assuming they know that even their viewers can't suspend the reality of disbelief enough to buy that Franco could have a son old enough to date Brenda.


The reveal that Theo Hoffman is actually the Balkan should come as no surprise, at least it didn't to me for a couple of reasons. First of all my expectations were already low going into this storyline because of the huge disappointment that was CO77X. I had high hopes for Franco's ambiguous graffiti tag and when it turned out to be nothing more than a booking number I felt my time in watching this show had been wasted. So right away I knew that the Balkan reveal wasn't going to be quite as earth shattering as the show would have everyone believe. This coupled with the fact that Theo's first scenes occurred at the hospital where Alexander's body was and that he told Robin he had lost someone important in the prime of their life made for some convincing clues.





I was actually more shocked that the Balkan showed up to work alongside Diane and Alexis. I really hope I am pleasantly surprised by this storyline and it turns out to be interesting, intriguing, and entertaining; but I suspect that the most entertaining thing that will come out of all of this is the conversation Carly and Brenda had about the Balkan:



 Carly: Why is Jerry after you?

Brenda: I killed Balkan's son and Dante knew about it.

Carly: You and Dante killed the Balkan's son?[Gotta love Jason's face here. He's thinking "uh oh Carly's about to flip out."]

Brenda: No, no. Dante didn't kill Alexander. I killed Alexander and Dante disposed of the body to cover for me.

Carly: So why was the Balkan after you?

Um, she just told you Carly - the Balkan was after her BECAUSE SHE KILLED HIS SON.


I guess Carly was too focused on the Dante portion of the conversation to pay much attention to anything else, which begs the question, why was it necessary for Brenda to bring Dante's name into it at that particular time anyway? Apparently she really does love drama.

Eye of the Storm: DOOL

I've been hoping that something would happen on Days to put a stop to the Sami/EJ/Sydney/Nicole baby swap roller coaster extravaganza because quite frankly, haven't we all had enough? There has to be something else that can be done with these characters that doesn't all stem from Nicole switching Sami's baby out. Nicole tried to make EJ think Sydney was their child. EJ found out what she did and kicked her out of the house. EJ then made Sami think Sydney was dead because she tried to keep her from him. Then he fell back in love with Sami, then she found out what he did so she shot him in the head. Then EJ found out that Sami shot him so he took her kids away from her and is milking the pain for all it's worth. Did I leave anything out? Here is what I was hoping would happen to resolve this mess:


(1) It's almost Christmas so let EJ realize he is hurting his kids and that they are better off with Sami. EJ will seem more redeemable this way and Sami's heart will melt, 'cause let's face it despite all the dysfunction those two will get back together eventually.

...or option #2

(2) Have Brady talk Sami into letting Nicole be a part of Sydney's life if she uses her privileges at the Dimera mansion to find and destroy all evidence against Sami. Then Sami could have her kids back and Nicole could have Brady and Sydney both in her life.


Of course it looks like instead of either one of these options I am going to be stuck with secret option #3, the one that includes Johnny being ill. That's right, apparently something's wrong with Johnny's left eye. My guess is his eye isn't actually the problem, just a symptom of a much more serious problem that will have Sami thinking she is being punished for shooting EJ in the head. Of course Johnny's illness will undoubtedly serve as a vehicle to bridge the gap between Sami and EJ even if things don't turn romantic right away. It's all well and good if Days wants to facilitate a way to bring an end to the Sami and EJ feud, but I would really rather they not use child illnesses or injuries to do that. I see that enough on GH with Sonny's kids and it never turns out well.