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Richard filled in for me in last week’s column with, among other things, some brilliant commentary on Days of Our Lives‘ Body and Soul problem. Unsurprisingly, we got even more of those issues this week. But sprinkled in, we also got some fun moments as Sarah, EJ and even Tate all clearly got in over their heads! 

Oversharing

You know when you’re talking to someone you don’t really know all that well, and they just launch into personal details and problems they’re having? Maybe they fill you in on some intimate medical issue they’ve got, or the nasty fight they’re having with a co-worker who you also don’t know. Well, that’s how I’m starting to feel about the Body and Soul/Lady Whistleblower stuff.

Richard got into it brilliantly last week as he talked about how the whole story’s just become a vehicle to air grievances. And that’s making it feel a little too awkwardly TMI for me. Getting into the tension between writers and producers as Abe tells Leo his idea for writing Chanel off is “lazy” (but Leo doesn’t care, he’s doing it anyway), making Kerry vindictive and wanting to tear down Leo personally, along with Body and Soul because it’s been ruined (even though his critiques may, as Richard pointed out last week, actually be valid) — it just feels… uncomfortably personal.

And no, I’m not unaware that I fall under the “media” who Leo’s upset with umbrella, and who also writes an online soap opera column. At least this part of the Body and Soul stuff should be over by next week now that Kerry’s outed.

Lessons Not Learned

Oh, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. This will not end well. It can’t end well. Too many people know about the forged letter, and she should know the truth will come out — especially with how many times she’s seen Xander’s lies and secrets get exposed!

I guess if this was the long plan, it could be why we’ve been seeing a more unbalanced Xander again. The only reason Philip isn’t dead is because of a lack of bullets, not a lack of trying on Xander’s part. And that would set up Sarah’s worry over her husband’s behavior. So while I get Sarah being concerned about her hubby going all murdery again, that lack of trust is hardly the hallmark of a healthy relationship.

Also, she’s treating this like Xander never ran Titan before and now that he’s got unchecked power, he’s going to destroy everything. She expects him and Philip to keep each other in check? Xander did just fine as CEO before — in fact, the last time he and Philip shared the job, he quit because Philip was the one who did something horrible and underhanded and Xander was ticked at Victor just brushing it aside!

Thinking Longterm

I really hope the Tate/Sophia story ends in adoption. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t want a miscarriage or the baby to die after birth. Those end up being the go-to escapes too often in daytime and they shouldn’t be just cavalier, “Get out of baby free” cards to pass around.

But an adoption would free up Sophia and Tate, allow Amy her uncompromising morals, still lead to plenty of drama during the pregnancy, and give us a potential legacy character down the line someday when the adopted kid comes back to town grown up looking to connect with Tate.

Honestly, at this point, I think I’d like that better than a reveal that Sophia’s pregnant with someone else’s (*cough*Aaron) baby and has just been manipulating everyone. I can do without breaking out the scheming, baby hungry woman trope.

Disturbing Behavior

Rachel is a tough kid to like, but I’ve noticed fans either love her scheming precociousness or hate her for being a brat. There’s virtually no in between. But now she’s taking an even more extreme turn and Brady’s talking (jokingly, yes) about how she’s probably headed for world-domination. And honestly? If Rachel ended up growing up to take her Nonno’s place as supervillain, I could be OK with that.

But I’m not sure if they’re going that way. I have a feeling they’ve pushed her as far as they want to and this storyline (wherever she ends up) will be a turning point as she’s sent off to get some serious therapy and behavioral adjustment, only to come back recast and a lot less mini-supervillain.

A Man With a Plan?

If I’m being honest, Arnold’s not that good of a liar or at pulling off impersonating Rafe’s seriousness. But I guess I can understand Jada buying it. After all, who would immediately jump to, “Oh, my loved one’s acting weird so he must have been replaced by an identical double?” Well, besides half of Salem. But Jada wasn’t around for any of the other replacements! Except for Jake and Stefan. And Hattie and Marlena. And — OK, never mind.

Ultimately, though, as frequent commenter Tango noted on Wednesday’s recap… I’ve got no idea what EJ’s plan is either. I know what I suggested the other week, in that the only way out of this is EJ’s shooting, but how is he thinking he’ll get out of it? OK, he’ll use Arnold to get revenge on Paulina and Jada (I’m guessing for Jada, he’ll have “Rafe” dump her at the altar) but Rafe is still tied up in the basement.

• Deidre Hall is great at comedy. I still hate the show bringing up the devil all the time, but Marlena’s eyes popping out as she tried to take a sip of her drink just as Leo told Javi and Kerry about her double possession was fun.