The Not-So-Young and the Snarkless

This morning I found myself in the very awkward position of being snarkless yet still wanting to blog. I liked yesterday's episode. Like, I really liked yesterday's episode.

There were so many reasons I enjoyed it. There was the perfect balance between legacy characters and newer characters. It was soapy, but not outlandishly so. It was an episode I could actually have a discussion with someone about because there were no heroes or villains today, no heavy-handed "this is the couple/character you should be rooting for". During their confrontation, I agreed with Marlena on some points, and with Adrienne on others. Even though I was hoping beyond hope that Justin would take on Sami's case (like there was ever any doubt), my heart broke a little for Adrienne when he did. I even liked Jennifer, which hasn't happened for a long time.

Let's break this down like the shit is in a blender, shall we? I'll try to be brief.

ADRIENNE AND SONNY

While I've got nothing against love, children and marriage, I have the same concerns Adrienne does when it comes to Sonny's recent life choices. Sonny is young and in love, and love is beautiful, blah-blah-blah, but the boy has saddled himself with a husband, a baby, and a whiny sociopath in one fell swoop. Speaking of - can you imagine what Adrienne would do to Gabi if she found out she was behind the explosion that killed Jack? Dammit, Days! Come on! There's a HUGE storyline there that remains untouched!

Adrienne points out that George Bailey-Kiriakis once wanted to "go on adventures", and now he's all caught up in Will and Sami's respective dramas. I totally get that. The moment Sonny told Will he rented an apartment with two bedrooms, my heart sank. No honeymoon period for my boys? Sonny, of course, told Adrienne he doesn't really feel like he's sacrificing anything. He loves Will and he loves the baby. I can relate to both his frustration with his mum and Adrienne's frustration with Sonny. While I didn't agree with Adrienne's desperate plea that Sonny dump Will, I do think the boy needs to take a teensy step back. I don't want my boy to turn into Caroline before he has a chance to be Carrie.

So I loved watching Sonny's part in all of this finally having its boobs squeezed. The drama over the past couple of weeks has been mainly orbiting Nick, Will, Gabi and Rafe. Sonny's feelings haven't really come into play beyond "I love Will and I want him to be happy." Today we were allowed a little more insight into this pretty damn huge decision, even if I found it to be an incredibly naive one.

JUSTIN AND EJ

First thing's first: I LOVE getting to see Wally Kurth regularly now. He's an incredibly talented, charismatic actor and Days could always use more of those. Having Justin around is like a breath of fresh air. He's funny, clever, handsome, and has an incredibly rich history, both familial and personal, to draw from. And, of course, he's also Sonny's adoring, uber-supportive dad, and is married to Adrienne - one of my favourite Salem ladies. He has a not-so-nice past, and a not-so-nice uncle with an even worse past. Days fans need to re-familiarize themselves with Justin.

There's a real bromance a-brewin' here, guys. I don't know about you, but I was a puddle of goo watching Justin and EJ having their little tete-a-tete. If ever there was the perfect mentor for EJ DiMera in a Tony-less Salem, it's Justin Kiriakis. Father, husband, well-respected lawyer, and a man who had to live in the shadow of his infamous uncle for a long, long time. He also seems to recognize irony when it pops up, which is often in this town. Of course one of the best things about their scenes today was that Justin didn't talk down to EJ, not once. Because of this, EJ didn't have cause to get haughty or defensive, which lead to a very good, real, mature conversation between the two. More, please. 

NICOLE AND BRADY

KABOOM!

Nicole and Brady are doing the friends-with-benefits thing up right. I honestly think they're the only couple who can pull this sort of thing off, which is another reason why I love them so much together and why, since Eric Martsolf first made the scene, I've found Brady and Nicole to be such a good match. They're both extremely sexual, self-saboteurs, and, more often than not, make really bad judgment calls (like Nicole's Liquid Paper/blue food-colouring nail polish combo). That sex scene looked positively cathartic, man! Wow!  With Eric being thrown into the mix, this may be one triangle I can finally get invested in. Two brothers - one, a former drug addict, and the other, a priest - fall in love with Mary Magdalene? Somebody cue Michael Buffer, because there's gonna be a rumble up in here (up in here)!

JENNIFER AND KRISTEN

I have to say, I kind of loved Jennifer yesterday. I sort of saw glimpses of the girl Jack and I fell in love with when she was telling Kristen she deserved happiness as much as anybody else. It kind of threw me for a loop because after her little chat with a far less likeable Marlena, I thought Jennifer would turn on my girl. Instead, she ran off to check on Kristen. For once I didn't mind her shirking off work. It was for an admirable cause. Jen was a good friend today. She was such a good friend, in fact, that I called her "Jen". You know, like we're kinda-sorta friends again, too. I really hope Jen is in it for the long haul this time.

MARLENA AND ADRIENNE

I tend to make the same face when Marlena starts talking, too, Adrienne.

Gosh, Marlena was quite the little sparkplug today, wasn't she?  I loved that she jumped in on Sonny's conversation with Adrienne to defend Will (even if she was defending Will against the accusation that he's "as bad as his mother"), but I think I loved that Adrienne lumped Marlena in with Sami even more. Kind of tastes a little like chicken, doesn't it, Marlena? 

Mmmm...

I'd like to believe that Marlena is going to think to herself, "Hm. So this is what a protective parent on overdrive who can't keep her nose out of her kid's love life looks like. Is that what I look like? Maybe I should back off my own kids, seeing as though most of them are twice Sonny's age." That more than likely ain't going to happen, though. But I can dream between now and the next episode, can't I?

EJAMI AND THE SPD

EJ, Sami and her lovely little prison tank 'n' cardi combo.

EJ is still being a damn good sport about this whole shooting thing. Probably because he hasn't seen the flashbacks of Sami just standing there in the doorway staring at Bernardi for over a minute before shooting him, as oppose to, say, calling out for help or telling the guy to stop what he's doing while pointing the gun at him. It's the only real sticking point with me. Okay, that's a huge lie. It's one of the real sticking points for me. There are many others. For instance, today I was annoyed once again by the SPD and their continued ineptitude. The cameras were disabled? The rooms are wired? EJ had to request that it be "shut off" so he could talk to his client in private? How many illegally-obtained recordings of suspects and their lawyers have the SPD collected over the years this way? This is getting a little too Saved By The Bell for me. You can't just keep making shit up as you go along, guys. Either Jessie Spano has a brother, or she doesn't.

 CHAD

Do I even want to know why Chad hid in some bushes to record Sami fighting with Bernardi?

IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, let's watch and see what happens when someone tells Adrienne to stay away from the man she loves, shall we?