Having the Eric/Marlena scenes in the same episodes as the Hope/Rafe/Judge Fitzpatrick scenes really highlights how vulgar the murderer and her accomplice are. Eric accidentally killed someone, served his time in prison without complaining- even if it was short -, but still shows remorse and deep pain over what he's done. Meanwhile, Hope intentionally kills a man, tries to cover it up, whines about going to prison when caught, has half of Salem trying to get her released, (inadvertently) escapes from prison, hides out, blackmails Andre into not doing anything to jeopardize her freedom, is cleared of all charges and shows absolutely no guilt over what she's done.