HOLLYWOOD—Summer is over, fall is here and the explosion of storytelling on “Days of Our Lives” is riveting right now. I mean Nicole and Eric reunited (blah), Gabi and Stefan are a hot item, Julie’s life hangs in the balance, Rolf is alive, Vivian is alive and portrayed by “One Life to Live” alum Robin Strasser, and wait for it: Sarah Horton is pregnant! Yes, that last tidbit might be the juiciest bomb of them all.

I thought Sarah was about to take another backseat with Nicole and Eric reuniting, but this changes everything. How so? It is almost a given that Eric is the father, which means Eric, who has yet to become a father, is about to have his world turned upside down. It totally will challenge his relationship with Nicole, who has always been on the fence about being with Eric. One minute she wants to be with him, the next minute she can’t stand the sight of him.

To be honest, I would be much happier seeing Brady and Nicole together, than Eric and Nicole. I think many fans including myself love the bond between Sarah and Eric; it just works. Nicole is worried, Eric is not, but once he learns that Sarah is carrying his child that changes all. So expect some worlds to be rocked. Sticking with things in the Kiriakis household, Victor put his foot down regarding his granddaughter Ciara being entangled in a relationship with a serial killer. I totally forgot that Bo was Victor’s son, making Ciara his granddaughter.

He utilized Xander to deliver a bit of justice to Ben using a necktie of all things. Brady interrupted the situation which left Ben peeved. Ben you killed several people. I don’t know why in the world he expects everyone to forget his past. Murder is something that is difficult to forget Ben, and considering that you terrorized the lives of many other Salemites don’t expect people to be so forgiving. Trust if Ciara’s dad was still alive, Ben Weston would be nowhere close to his daughter’s orbit.

Ciara needs to pump the brakes on being all high and mighty about Gabi leaving Julie to nearly croak. I mean Julie has been horrible to Gabi, and considering the back and forth between these two ladies in recent years, can anyone hold it against Gabi for thinking Julie might be faking it? Gabi has become the town pariah yet again, and she feels horrible about Julie’s predicament, but its far worse than people expect.

Why? Julie’s heart is failing and she needs a transplant like ASAP, so that means someone in Salem I expect is going to have a date with Death in the near future. This soap has no problem knocking off a character for storyline purposes. Speaking of the dead, Vivian returned to Salem and she wanted blood. Stefan is helping his mother keep her return from the dead on the down low.

Vivian had revenge on her mind, and confronted Kate Roberts who begged for her life. Vivian shot her in cold blood and then buried her alive. Wow, Vivian loves to bury people alive, anyone remember Carly nearly dying courtesy of Vivian and her antics? Vivian assured Stefan that Kate was dead, but little did they know as Kate dug herself out of that grave to seek medical attention. Kate clawed her way out and now is sitting in a hospital bed yet again, with her family praying for her to make a full recovery. Hmm, Vivian, if you’re going to kill someone you want to make sure they’re actually dead because it looks like this can come back to haunt you.