Have you seen this child? No? (Soaps.com)

These are the “Days” of my week for January 11-15:

This week had its ups and downs. I’ve seen better. The dialogue writing was nothing new, but the acting was well done. The focus was on death, the end of a marriage, and revenge. If you were looking for romance, you were watching the wrong show this week. Let’s break it down.

Monday, Mickey Horton died in an extremely Twilight Zone-esque episode. I felt as though I was watching another show altogether, Monday, and it was a little unnerving. Monday’s episode showed photos of John Clarke, who hasn’t even played the part of Mickey since 2004, yet we were to immediately forget that Kevin Dobson’s and John Ingle’s portrayal (which is the one I was used to) ever existed. It wasn’t easy for me to suspend disbelief, so learning Mickey died didn’t move me until Wednesday when the family grieved together. The surprise that the funeral was offscreen didn’t bother me much, knowing they couldn’t have a funeral and the scene at Maggie’s place, which, in my opinion, is much more uplifting. The actors moved me, not the storyline so much. It’s not as though they got rid of a vet, because the part wasn’t used for ages. The story seemed to be told in order for the show to pass the matriarch title over to Maggie Horton, now that Alice Horton isn’t seen onscreen anymore.

Melissa’s return meant very little to me. This was the first time I have been introduced to her and I wasn’t impressed with the little attention paid to her hair, makeup and clothing. It might sound frivolous but those things make the character. She was a frump. She was very motherly toward Nathan and learned her good little boy was arrested twice and that the arrests had something to do with Melanie Layton. She expressed disapproval of Mel, which doesn’t really matter, because as Nathan pointed out, Melanie’s marrying Philly. Or is she? Was the dialogue meant to give us a hint that there may be no Phelanie wedding?

Whenever a character is delegated to being the supporting actor, we become a little worried or ponderous that they’re on their way out. Fans are still wondering why Stephanie Johnson is around, considering her character has been on the back burner for so long. She’s what Lucas became to Sami and Rafe, which is a supporting character. Considering Lucas’ portrayer, Bryan Dattilo was fired, does this mean they’ll let Shelly Hennig go after they’ve furthered Nathan, Philly and Melanie’s love triangle?

Bope vs Barly:

The Horton family’s grief was put on hold when Hope aired her dirty laundry for the family when Carly showed up at Maggie’s place to give her condolences. Carly didn’t realize Hope would be there and did have a right to give sympathy, though perhaps she could have made a call, first. It was a case of bad timing. I’m not wild about Carly, and though I’ve liked Bope as the last successful supercouple, I can see where this is headed. It doesn’t look good for Bope. Here’s the way I saw things go down that led to Bo’s ‘indiscretion’: Carly and Bo were once in love. Carly opened up to Bo when she admitted she’s falling in love with him. Again. Bo, who hasn’t had sex in a few months, bedded the doctor, who tried to put a stop to things when she started to feel guilty over having sex with another woman’s husband. Let’s back up. While Bo and Hope are still married, Hope has made it clear several times that she didn’t want him and refused to move back into their home, until Carly showed up, and then, it was only to deter him from falling for Carly again. Hope’s focus on Carly’s secret pushed him into Carly’s arms, not to mention her choice to harp on the ancient history that we all thought they got over long ago with the Patrick Lockhart ‘thing’ and with Zach’s death. Bo wanted his wife back but apparently not enough to set Carly up in a safe house – something Salemites are accustomed to- and instead moved her in. Both Bo and Hope have put up shields in their marriage instead of working on them, and when Bo came face to face with a past love who offered herself to him, what was he to do? He fell into her bed. In fact, he seduced her. Carly was the only one who felt guilty about it. Bo seemed gung ho. His testosterone overtook him and he had sex with Carly. It’s not really cheating is it? It doesn’t make it hurt any less for Hope, but what did she expect? Doesn’t she know that if a man doesn’t have sex he can die? This storyline screams of the past ones we’ve seen with Bo and Billie.

I wasn’t aware Carly knew Hope that well until she called her out on playing the victim and acting very sanctimonious. Basically, Hope is spoiled. She’s aware of this at least and took half the blame for Bo’s ‘thing’ with Carly, but it’s a case of too little, too late, and she feels as though it’s over. One could argue that it was a wakeup call, but it seems to me their marriage is over. We’re not privy to what Bo feels because his friend Steve is no longer in Salem, and he has nobody else to talk to. I can only make assumptions. Since he hasn’t spouted words of love to Carly, perhaps he simply needed sex. After all, it’s been months and can’t be easy on him, but then if it’s just sex, why is he still hanging around Carly? Are we about to see a Barly reunion? I’ll place bets on Bo’s feelings returning for Carly. Sorry Hope.