HOLLYWOOD─Claire has returned to Salem, Sarah is out for blood and Gabi is still MIA. It’s just another week on the NBC soap “Days of Our Lives.” It does seem like Claire has ulterior motives when it comes to mending relationships with those she wronged, notably her aunt. Can you believe that Claire thinks Ciara will allow her to be part of her big wedding day with all the chaos that she caused?

Yeah, when Ciara pumped the brakes on the notion of her niece being her Maid of Honor, it was apparent that Claire was ready to strike or put her plan into action to ruin Ciara’s big wedding day. Ciara is indeed scared of Claire, and she gave valid points, she is mentally unstable, but Ben is a murderer. For reasons I cannot fathom, people still will not acknowledge those things. I mean heck, Will is about to be the Best Man for the guy who ‘killed’ him. Only in Salem can such craziness happen and people act as if it’s no big deal.

Ben and Jake’s hope of just locating Gabi without involving the police took a turn as Lani and Eli started to place pieces of the puzzle together. However, the duo is way off on WHAT they think happened and WHAT actually happened. Gabi is not dead, she is being held captive by goons who want a book, known as ‘Crime and Punishment’ that Jake’s ex Gwen has in her possession. The book contains important names and numbers, and it seems that book has a tie to a big time name in Salem: Victor Kiriakis, who also has a book of a similar title that Ciara found. Now this is intriguing America, how does Victor tie into this and is Gwen a long lost face from the Kiriakis bloodline people?

Speaking of Gwen she made her presence known in Salem, much to Jake’s chagrin. Was he surprised to see her? Yes, but it only further makes the eyebrows raise as to rather Jake Lambert is who he claims to be or is it Stefan in disguise people? Same with Claire who found herself trying to prove her loyalty to Ciara by disclosing she knows Gwen, who has been hiding out in the loony bin (those are Jake’s words people).

Another hot tale of the hour is Xander’s never-ending quest to win Sarah back. Sarah is not interested in Xander’s attempt to win her love back. Sarah and Brady are totally intensifying there game to burn a hole in Xander’s heart for his past transgressions. The duo decided to sleep together, but things did not go as planned for Brady and Sarah, notably on Brady’s end. To say things were embarrassing is an understatement America. This only adds to the tension Brady is experiencing as his longing for Kristen is taken over his actions.

Do I see Sarah and Brady becoming an item? Not quite, but I would be lying if I said it wouldn’t be interesting to see how things play out. With that said, Rafe was dealt a devastating blow after losing custody of David to Zoe of all people. The character came and went, and didn’t really have much impact in Salem if you’re asking me. The hot topic was the bomb Allie dropped on Nicole and Eric when she revealed that she was pregnant.

Both were speechless, but it led to Nicole asking the question everyone wants to know: who is the father? Yeah, if Eric, Lucas and Nicole think they can keep this information from Sami and she not lose her marbles, they have another thing coming people. On a side note, can we please stop shoving Julie Williams down our throats? I know the character is a staple on “DOOL,” but her higher than thou attitude drives me nuts. I don’t know why every soap opera has one of these characters America; it’s just too much. You’re not perfect Julie, and this notion of you officiating your granddaughter’s wedding seems to be a sign that something bad is headed your way yet again.