I hope you don't mind this column being a little late. I really want to watch the ultimate Sami/Nicole smackdown, which airs Monday, and then let the inevitable gushing commence. By the way, I hope you all enjoyed my recaps of the Day of Days events - I still have one more to send in. It's the afternoon session of the pressroom interviews and that should be up pretty soon. I have been more or less chasing my tail since I returned from the left coast so please bear with me. In other news, I just received an email from Kevin Spirtas (ex-Craig), who is making his off-Broadway debut in "Loaded." The play runs through the end of January at the Lion Theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan.

It took a lot for Rafe to convince Sami that Nicole switched Grace and Sydney and that Sydney is actually her child. Both Sami and Rafe were quick to point out that just because Sydney is Sami's daughter, it doesn't dismiss the very real love they felt and still feel for Grace. She is still their daughter too and always will be, in their hearts. That was very nice to see because frankly, I was a little concerned about how the show would address that. I hope Sami and Rafe always feel that way. I hope they talk about their daughter Grace and always think of her. I hope to see a real bonding moment with Grace's four parents when the enormity of Nicole's lies are realized because that will undoubtedly be a painful and emotional time for all of them.

I'm so glad I watched the Monday episode because it was worth every single moment. Even when being faced with a very angry Sami and knowing that she knew the truth, Nicole was still trying to find a way out. "I can practically hear the wheels spinning in your head," Sami tells her before screaming out the truth that she has learned. I must say that this entire sequence had me glued to the television and both Ali Sweeney and Ari Zucker were kicking some acting ass in spades! Wow, actually! For a moment there (actually several moments) I really felt the wrath of Sami and saw her literally restraining herself from killing Nicole right then and there. Nicole tried to justify her actions and some of them actually made sense, but the bottom line is that she stole Sami's baby and led Sami and EJ to believe that their baby had died. Nicole also caused pain for Grace's birth parents, Mia and Chad, who will now never know their child. When it's put like that, you almost have to agree that what Nicole did was pretty bad. All in all, this was once of the best scenes I've seen on Days in a long time. This, my kittens, is pure, delicious, sudsy soap!

Another scene caught my attention and that's when Vivian suddenly appeared in front of Mia as she was cleaning up a dish she broke. Who didn't feel that jolt of electricity? I'm also curious about the something that Carly told Bo she was in Salem to do and I have a feeling that it has something to do with Mia. Hoping that Mia will lead her to Carly, Vivian has befriended the girl and... come on. Vivian can easily and quickly surmise that there is no real connection between Carly and Mia so why is she wasting her time hoping to interrogate the poor girl? It has to be because Mia and Carly are connected somehow and either all parties are unaware of it or the show has yet to play that hand. Otherwise it just seems really random.... or is it?