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Lauren dated Ridge and Eric in the 1990s. (The relationships didn't overlap; I believe she was briefly involved with James Warwick in between.)

The show got 14 Emmy noms in: Daytime Drama series Lead Actress (JMW as Steffy) Lead Actor (TK as Ridge) Supporting Actress (KA as Taylor) Younger Performer (HJS as Douglas) Guest Performance (Cassandra Creech as Grace) Writing Directing Music Direction and Composition Original Song ("Everyone Dances") Lighting Direction Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Costume Design/Styling Hairstyling and Makeup

A lot of people know. Taylor told Bill and Steffy. I don't remember if it was Bill or Steffy who told Liam, but someone told Liam. Liam told Hope; Hope told Brooke; Steffy told Ridge.

The cancellation is weird and I hope more scoop is revealed as to why it's not moving forward? This was set to begin filming next Wednesday. As you'd expect from a show set to start filming five days from now, it was deep into preproduction. Since the show's not moving forward I'm gonna spoil what I know about the season, as I understand it from watching various audition tapes for the season online:

Last week Days of Our Lives celebrated the 40th anniversary of two actors joining the show. This week, B&B is apparently celebrating a different kind of anniversary, because it was 20 years ago this week that Brooke and Deacon started their affair (and conceived Hope!).

Marc Cherry discussed season 2 (and a possible season 3) with the AV Club. Today, ViacomCBS reported its earnings for last quarter (April-June), and they reported Why Women Kill as one of the top drivers of sign-ups.

This episode's title came from the 1945 film noir starring Barbara Slater, Hugh Beaumont, and Mary Beth Hughes. It's about a woman who, 7 years after being presumed dead, returns to inform her husband's new fiancee that she's alive. So Alma told Scooter about Dee's pregnancy and marriage. What a way for the two to finally meet! I had given up on the idea of Scooter ever learning about the pregnancy. On many shows, Scooter learning about Dee's pregnancy (after she married Vern) would be one of the finale's big events, but here Dee's like, "Yeah, we'll be fine, you go to NYC, I have other issues." "I don't regret what I've become. No, I regret what I was. A timid little nobody. Too afraid to ask for attention or power or anything else worth having. But that woman is dead. Now, when I want something, I take it. When I have a problem, I fix it by myself, without help from you or anyone else. And let me tell you . . . it feels damn good." I didn't expect another scene between Grace and Rita but it proved to be illuminating for Rita. "Here's what I've come to learn about Alma Fillcot: she's a sweet-talking vampire, and if she'd fought for the Nazis, we'd all be speaking German." I think Alma was at her most demented when Dee confronted her over all she knew and suspected, and all Alma could say was, "You haven't said a thing about the way I look. . . . All of the work that I've put in on my hair and my nails. My clothes. It's all come together. Surely, you must have noticed." I clapped when the bloody stole exposed Alma as a killer! But I think my biggest laugh of the episode came when Alma said, "We don't have to do this" a second after Bertram injected himself (and then he said "What?"). This was a really great season. It was especially well plotted.

This episode is titled after the 1956 film noir starring Esther Williams, George Nader, and Edward Andrews. It's about a high school teacher who suspects the star football player is a killer. But the film noir this episode brought to mind is the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. That movie's male lead is a failed screenwriter who becomes a gigolo for a rich older woman who lives in an L.A. mansion with a devoted Austrian butler. When the rich older woman realizes her gigolo's leaving her (he's fallen for another woman and is also writing a movie for Paramount), she pulls out a gun and kills him. I was going to question if Scooter and Catherine were heading in that movie's direction, and then the end of the episode answered that question for me! Dee and Vern are married! (Keeping secrets from each other is no way to start a marriage, though hey're still the most functional couple on the show, because neither of them is even thinking about killing someone.) But Carlo and Rita were never legally married, so Rita inherits nothing! Alma feels like she's in a bubble of her own. Her daughter avoided her for weeks and her husband's a drunken mess, but Alma's only concerned with her damn garden club. And Grace has been so kind to Alma, but Alma didn't even stop to think about her before she used Grace's affair for her own purposes. With one episode left, I can't help but wonder how the show wraps up next week. I felt I had a generally good idea as to who would die in the first season finale, because we were promised someone would die in each time period. But here, I'm less certain, at least in part because we've already seen so many people kick the bucket. Are we done with women killing people or are there more dead bodies to come? In the premiere the narrator said that Alma would go from "inconsequential to infamous", so she's presumably going to become infamous for something next week, but there are multiple options as to what that could mean: she could be outed for her crimes; or someone could kill Alma and make Alma an infamous victim; or Alma could put the blame on dead Bertram for their crimes and she'd be infamous as his wife.

This episode's title comes from the 1944 film noir starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. It was the first film to feature PI Philip Marlowe, who appeared in 7 novels written by Raymond Chandler. (In 6 of the 7, the killer turns out to be a woman.) Putting Mrs. Yost's body in the garden was a stupid idea, wasn't it? The body should've gone away with her car, perhaps moved to the driver's seat before the car was pushed into the lake. That wouldn't have been a foolproof plan, but at least there wouldn't be a dead body in the front garden! Dee has put things together (and even found Mrs. Yost's body), and I love it! In the season premiere, Dee told Vern, "Oh, I love a good murder. The bloodier the better! You see, violence doesn't bother me." But now we see that (thankfully) isn't true at all. . Catherine knows about Scooter! And it wasn't because he said something stupid. Does Catherine really believe that Scooter has feelings for her? He seems to, but also he does like that she's rich. I think Bertram and Alma's marriage is as dead as poor Isabel. He called his wife horrible even before she killed Isabel; the spittle coming out of Isabel's mouth was a disgusting touch. My favorite line of the episode: "Bertram, for someone who's murdered dozens of people, you can be a real stick in the mud."

I loved seeing Isabel take a drink after seeing the syringe in Rita's purse! This was an all around great episode for Isabel. When she was set to leave town I knew something would have to happen, because leaving town wouldn't have been nearly a dramatic enough exit for her; and then she looked closer at the photo... I'm surprised that Scooter hasn't said something to Catherine to out his secret. (I've written something similar before and it will remain true til Catherine finds out Scooter's secret.) He came very close to saying the wrong thing. Alma is a real piece of work who went the extra mile to frame Rita. But now Bertram sees the truth about her! Alma was largely able to look past Bertram's crimes but I'm not sure that Bertram's going to be able to do the same for his wife. On Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry featured many memorable scenes involving people sitting down for dinner, and this episode's meal involving Alma, Bertam, Dee, and Vern reminded me of some of the best DH dinners. After the reveals about Vern, Rita, and Alma, I didn't know if they'd get around to Dee's pregnancy, but they got there!

The end of Donna and Eric's marriage was thanks to his devotion to Stephanie. Eric kept taking Stephanie's side over Donna's in one thing after another: he wouldn't fire Pam for scheming against Donna; he took Stephanie as his date to Taylor's wedding; he had Stephanie move into the guesthouse over Donna's objections; he took Stephanie's side when Donna blamed her for Donna's mom's death. Oh, and Eric and Stephanie kissed several times and he repeatedly told Stephanie he loved her. When Donna informed Eric their marriage was over, she went outside, and Pam tricked her into getting trapped inside an exterminator's truck, where Donna found herself surrounded by cages of rats and possums as the truck drove away. A minute or two later Stephanie and Eric reunited with a kiss.

This episode is titled after the 1945 film noir starring Veda Ann Borg and Charles Arnt. It's about a woman who, after being accidentally hit by a car, recovers at the home of the driver, who may be a murderer. It's delightful that just as Bertram's decided to give up his ways, Alma's ready for him to dispose of Carlo. And then she managed to get him to agree by convincing him that Carlo beat up Rita. She even went so far as to draw him a map! Dee slapping Rita was in the trailer, but I still enjoyed seeing it happen in the moment. Rita and Isabel have killed someone before! And they're cousins?! That they're cousins surprised me more than the murder. For a severely dressed, seemingly repressed spinster, Catherine sure did seem to get into sex with Scooter! And Alma and Bertram having sex after killing Carlo was also something of a shock. I guess Alma and Bertram are having fun thinking of themselves as Bonnie and Clyde (but with cookies), but they do not seem to be considering what happened to Bonnie and Clyde in the end. In certain corners of the Internet there are people disappointed that there aren't three timelines this season, but I really like how the characters and storylines present this season are connecting with each other.

This episode's title comes from a 1946 film noir starring Robert Lowery, Barbara Britton, and Lola Lane. Other similarly dramatic titles from the same era include They Made Me a Criminal and They Made Me a Fugitive. So Bertram learned how to kill people because his mother taught him how to kill her, with the music playing and everything. That's twisted! I enjoyed seeing Devious Maids' Rebecca Wisocky as Bertram's mom. How long can Scooter keep up his lies around Catherine? He's bound to say something stupid that will out him. I sensed that Dee was going to get some medical surprise, and my first fear was that she was dying and would eventually tell her dad, so I was happily surprised when she learned she was pregnant. With this episode, the season is half over, and ending the first half of the season on Alma deciding to have Bertram murder Rita is a great way to move into the season's second half.

This episode is titled after the 1949 film noir starring Van Johnson and Gloria DeHaven. It's about a cop who investigates the death of his former partner. The role of Rita was created with Eva Longoria in mind, but because she was preparing to direct a movie, she couldn't do it and suggested Lana Parrilla instead; but it was nice to see this episode was directed by Eva Longoria. Alma borrowing Mrs. Yost's stuff to make her house look good was a great idea! (Against the law, sure, but one of Alma and Bertram's lesser crimes.) But Alma's changing, and not all for the better. It's funny that Alma's largely been able to look past Bertram's serial murders but he's so upset about the changes she's making in her life. Though Bertram's on the way back to murder... Vern and Dee are a sweet couple. I wondered what the threatening husband was about and then it was just a dramatic way to go about having Dee see his leg. I enjoyed seeing Alma and Rita bond in the kitchen...though I could see it was all gonna fall apart when Rita realized Dee was Alma's daughter! My understanding is that they largely chose to avoid casting roles via race, though they also set out to cast multiple actors with diverse backgrounds (and of the 7 series regulars, they've got 2 Latinas and 1 black guy). You can see two white guys who auditioned for Vern here.

According to Deadline, ""the mystery could return with a new story with the same characters and actors or using the same storytelling device featuring a whole new cast of characters."