All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Soaps.com may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Days of Our Lives delivered some heartfelt scenes as the show picked up speed for a solid week. Part of that could be because we got nearly no mention of the soap within a soap that shall not be named. Brady did what Brady does, we learned more about “Abigail,” and Gabi dove headfirst into hate sex.

The End Is Near

Connie’s going full Annie Wilkes at this point, trying to spoon-feed Melinda in bed. I was half expecting a “cockadoody” to come out of her mouth while she went off on Melinda — who just now figured out Connie killed Li! As our own Lori Wilson said, “What did she think was going on?!” Oh, that Kooky Connie.

But yeah, the walls are closing in on Li’s killer. Ava and Stefan are questioning what Connie’s up to and what happened to Melinda. Leo just tipped Stephanie off to Connie’s visit to Everett. Connie, though, made it clear that Melinda’s life is balanced on a razor’s edge right now, and Ava’s digging around so much, Connie may go after her next. The storyline has to be racing towards a conclusion soon, but that could still be relative, seeing as how there’s nothing in spoilers next week about Connie, Melinda, Ava or anyone who’s a part of this story. Bizarre pacing strikes again. (Which is one of the things I hope the new writers fix.)

Heartbreak Hotel

Suzanne Rogers and Linsey Godfrey were amazing this week. Maggie recounting the accident that paralyzed her and took her parents from her as a teen wasn’t just a great nod to history, it was genuinely heartbreaking. I know I’ve never heard Maggie talk about the accident like that since I’ve been watching.

And saddling Holly with guilt over the cabin keys is a nice touch. I know the grownups insisted what happened wasn’t her fault, but I’d be into Sarah feeling some anger and resentment towards Holly. It’s fascinating how now that Nicole’s gone, the show suddenly remembers who Holly’s related to!

We all knew Brady would do the right thing and turn himself in, but I’m really glad Justin pointed out that he doesn’t know he actually hit Sarah. Circumstantial evidence! That’s all they’ve got! And this, folks, is why it’s so shaky to rely on it for a conviction.

With that said, Jada’s doing a better job as a commissioner than Rafe, overwhelmed or not. (Do I smell some new characters on the horizon for the SPD? Or at least returning ones?) She got the wrong guy, but she got him fast! And she got him by doing the work, putting the inconsistencies together and being persistent! I’m starting to worry about Rafe, though. We’re just getting people talking to a bed and a hand instead of him. There’s zero indication that Galen Gering’s going anywhere, so it’s probably just a hiatus, but it’s still odd.

Wait, What?

I’m confused. We got the teens talking this week about how Mark raised Aaron and Felicity after their parents died. But back on the 4th, Aaron went to a barbecue his mom was having at her place. We can’t even blame that on the strike, because that was written