Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (4), Peacock screenshot

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Most of the week was devoted to Valentine’s Day continuing on from last Friday. Steve and Kayla, Alex and Stephanie, Leo and Javi… You get the drift. But once we finally got to February 15th, things moved fast — though they’re far from wrapped up!

I don’t see any world in which Mrs. Choi will be remotely OK with Johnny and Chanel adopting her grandchild. Heck, I got into that inevitable mess last week! And even if she somehow was, as they pointed out, they’re family, they live right in town and Amy is going to make life for them hell by constantly butting in. They jumped from “may not be able to have a baby” to “let’s take my cousin’s” way too fast, and I think it’s time to step back and just… think about it for a bit.

I can understand Sarah being upset at Philip moving in. They’re going to be talking about the letter left and right out in the open now, and there’s only a good dozen times Xander can almost overhear them before he starts catching on. And that’s about the only way I can see this coming out. Philip is spot on that the longer Sarah keeps this quiet, the less likely it’ll be she’ll talk. “You knew for a year and never said anything” is so much worse than “You knew for a week and didn’t tell me??”

Mind Eraser

Earlier this week, I got into why Ava will, inevitably, not press charges about what happened to her, and her overly empathetic response to Kristen leaving her there (“She was doing it for her daughter.”) convinced me even further that she’ll keep her mouth shut about what happened to the authorities. Rafe, though, is a wrinkle I wasn’t expecting.

With Kristen bursting onto the scene at the end, I’m going to guess she ends up injected with the super memory erasing serum. Next week’s spoilers are vague enough with Kristen needing help with a problem, that she could very well be the one who gets stuck. Except we’ll find out it’s too strong and it wipes all of her memory. EJ, meanwhile, will re-subdue Rafe (again), then get Kristen home and play dumb about why she’s a blank slate.

After that, I’d say little Rachel’s going to find out what happened, blame Uncle EJ for her losing her mommy and shoot him. (If not, we’ve got a handy list of potential suspects we’re going to keep updating and adding to until the shooting plays out.) Maybe with EJ and Kristen out of commission, that’ll be what brings Tony and Peter Blake back to Salem. Yes, I’m convinced Peter’s coming back.

Stray Thoughts…

• The snowy suburb shot of Salem was lovely — but it was right before Leo and Javi’s scene in the Salem Inn, which is in the middle of what other outdoor shots establish as being a bustling metropolis. Then Javi walked out in just a light, open jacket, no snow in sight. I’m so confused… You know what? Don’t overthink it. Sometimes incongruous or not, I have been happy to have the establishing shots.

• Since when was Anjelica involved in Alex’s life? She had him, Adrienne adopted him and raised him with Justin, Anjelica broke off contact, then came back to Salem decades later and died. Fine, maybe he spent a summer with her in Paris learning wines or something. One summer.
• I’m ready for Doug and Holly. (Sorry, Tate. Especially since you two finally slept together.) The show’s clearly setting them up to be the next Doug and Julie, but time will tell if they stick the same way.
• Don’t set up Shawn and Jada. Don’t set up Shawn and Jada. Don’t — darn it, they’re going to.
• So, no one thought to check through the rest of the Blake house after finding one kidnap victim and one kooky formerly dead kidnapper? Steve, you’re slipping.
  I’m sorry, “Shelle” fans, but I really don’t love them together. EJ’s totally wrong for Belle and she’s way too ready to ignore every red flag he’s openly waving in her face, and Shawn and Jada are going nowhere — but that doesn’t mean I want the former couple back together. Everyone thought Roman and Marlena were endgame until John came along, so I think Shawn and Belle can bounce back the same way.