Salem Shenanigans from July 20 – 24:

It was a slow week with a lot of filler and little progression. The blog is really ranty this week, but hang in there with me. September is right around the corner along with the hope for change.

Timing is everything.
Daniel changed his entire appearance to ask Nicole to marry him and immediately after she said yes, she ran off to buy out bridal magazines and he went back to work. How romantic. Then to top it off, Dr. Dan’s bestie, the ex-priest, poached on his territory and burdened Nicole with his feelings of love. Eric, the priest, should know better than anyone that sometimes it’s better to keep your feelings to yourself. Nicole simply needs to tell Daniel. I’m sure he’d understand if she explained the circumstances and if not, screw him. It’d be nice to see her do the right thing even if it costs her. It’d be easier to root for her.

Where are the straight shooters?
Serena can’t leave town fast enough. In last week’s Deconstructing DOOL Matt called Nicole and Serena’s fights ‘blandly choreographed and repetitive’. This week wasn’t any different. Nicole told Eric that he played right into Serena’s hands by suggesting to the redhead that they had something to hide and then made a special visit to Serena to do the same thing. Serena’s not only a woman scorned, but she has nothing to lose. It’s likely she’ll out Ericole with that recording she made of his confession. He told her he can’t forgive her for her past transgressions? Wait until this happens!

Dropped story?
Hayley is or was one nasty, unprofessional nanny. Theresa didn’t need to scheme to get rid of her. She was crap but it looks like she’s also fired. It seems they may have dropped this story. I’m not complaining.

Doulie.
It’s always nice to see Doug and Julie but their scene with John and Marlena felt shoved into the scenes that otherwise flowed together seamlessly. The point of course was to tell us that John and Marlena are working towards a reconciliation but we all prefer if we could see it for ourselves, without the whipped cream.

Instead of giving her his ring, John gave Marlena his tool belt so she could pair it with that long sleeved black boyfriend Oxford shirt. In the middle of July. During a heat wave.

From sizzling to fizzling.
Hope and Aiden’s romance has been petering out for a while and they’re still hanging out in hotels which are great for romps but not so much for love. It’d have been nice to see them together at the lake, canoodling under an umbrella and not discussing Clyde but instead, Rafe was there. Rafe, who so randomly told her that he’s crazier about her than Aiden is. When did this happen? By Friday there was still no continuation to that story. I like Hope and Rafe’s easygoing relationship and am not opposed to seeing them together but this came out of left field and feels awkward.