Best Story: The Death of John. This story brought the show out of the doldrums almost immediately. The entire week surrounding John's death, the funeral and the aftermath was rich with expertly directed scenes, fine performances by the actors and the heartbreaking realization that the show really meant it this time: John was really dead. We may not have agreed with killing off this character but everyone did agree that the portrayal of his exit was some of the show's finest work in the past few years.

Worst Story, Part One: Touch the Sky. This story was bad from take-off. One badly written character (Stephanie), one badly introduced character (Jeremy) and the premise that a bunch of young adults were not only going to fly the friendly skies, but fly the plane as well, and we have the makings of awfulness. Once the pain started setting in, we watched in disappointment as Stephanie was reduced to a ditsy, lovesick bimbo, and in horror as Jeremy, the son of Salem royalty, was portrayed as an abusive and controlling slime bucket. As for Chelsea, we can't figure out how the newly-sensible character even got drawn into this mess, let alone agreed to it. Let's just say we cheered when this story mercifully crashed and burned.

Worst Story, Part Two: Belle and Shawn On the Run. After learning that Phillip wanted custody of Claire, you would think that Shawn and Belle would do the sensible thing and let their lawyers fight it out. But believing that they were no match for the Kiriakis empire, Shawn and Belle went on the run, with Claire in tow, first to the "lower provinces of Canada," (yep, that's what the show said) and then to yet another God-forsaken island called Tinda Lao. Oh they tried to make it dramatic but it only ended up being pathetic: "If we don't jump (off the side of this ship down to the lifeboat while holding a baby, and hope we don't break our legs in the process) then Phillip will get custody!" Huh? On second thought, never mind. High drama? Not even close.

Worst Story, Part Three: The Brady/Dimera Feud. The reveal of what caused the war between these two families had the potential to literally rock Salem. We waited in eager anticipation to find out how Stefano could possibly hold a grudge for so long. We were on pins and needles hoping to learn just who John really was, what happened to Susan Banks (EJ's mother), how was Chelsea resurrected, what was the purpose of turning Hope into Princess Gina and all kinds of other goodies just waiting to be uncovered. So what did we get? Sami and EJ. That's it. The characters pertinent to the story (read: the ones that were actually affected by the wrath of the Dimera clan) were reduced to reading love letters between Shawn Sr.'s sister Colleen, and Stefano's father, Santo, that revealed a great romance that ended in tragedy. Sounded intriguing but in the end, we still don't really know what started the feud and guess what? Now we're starting not to care.

Best Single Scene: Marlena in the Bedroom After John's Funeral. Home alone after burying her beloved husband, Marlena entered the bedroom they shared and was visibly flooded with his memories: A cup of tea, a book he'd been reading, his coat laying across a chair. No dialogue was needed as Marlena gingerly moved around the room, touching or looking at each reminder, her heartbreak and grief so real that it made us cry. That's the way to bring the audience closer to a character, even one that we've been watching for years. Well done.

Biggest Waste of Talent: Julie Pinson. Aside from hovering over Chelsea, advising her brothers and the occasional ill-advised romance, the character of Billie has basically been wandering aimlessly around the canvas. Since she seems to have shaken off that thing she had for Bo, it's time to introduce a new man for her - and we're still waiting to see it happen. At this point, we're happy just to see Pinson on screen, which is not anywhere near enough.

Most Startling Return: New/Old Phillip. After Kyle Brandt departed, the show had the ingenious idea of putting a new twist on a previous portrayer by bringing back Jay Kenneth Johnson as Phillip. Explaining his new face as a result of replacement surgery (which has since been swept under the rug), Phillip returned an angry and changed man. Feeling cheated out of being a father to Claire, he went toe to toe with her parents, Shawn and Belle, and proved to be just as conniving as his grandfather Victor. What emerged was a Phillip we had never seen before even on his worst day: A man who was not above issuing seething threats, throwing around his wealth and resorting to physical violence to get his way. Even more startling than Johnson's return was the extreme change in his character. We were too taken aback by his too overt anger to care who was playing him but thankfully the show has started to turn him around to the Phillip we know.

Best Breath of Fresh Air: Kristen Renton as Morgan. We admit it. When we first heard about the sorority story and the batch of newbies that was forthcoming, we rolled our eyes. But thankfully, we appeared to have spoke too soon as the show introduced us to Southern belle Morgan. Far more than the superficial stereotype she could've ended up being, Morgan has shown that she is a true friend to her sorority sisters. On top of that, Renton makes us smile whenever she is on screen. The show struck gold with this actress and this character.

Most Welcome Return: Leann Hunley as Anna. Not too many characters can return to Days and have us staring at the screen in flabbergasted awe but Hunley managed to do just that. From "she's coming back," we were complete goners, and her first scenes had us begging for more. Gone for many years, Hunley slipped back into the role of Anna with ease and is still as stunning as she was the first time around. She also sizzled in her first scenes with Thaao Penghlis and his Tony - and they were only speaking on the phone! Now if we could only see more of that magic that obviously neither actor has ever lost.

Most Overused Character: Tie - Sami and EJ. The episode counts for these two have got to be ridiculously high - they appeared in the lion's share of episodes throughout the year, almost to the point where most of the audience grew tired of seeing their never-ending merry go round of a story day in and week out. Too much of a good thing is a true statement but too much of a good thing and having them playing the same old tunes over and over is a travesty. Don't make the mistake that other shows have made by making one or two people your centerpiece - it drives the fans of the other characters away.

Best Villain: Willow. Sure, she was obnoxious, mouthy and a real bitch. That's why we found her so entertaining. Only Willow could not be bothered to mince words around Hope and call her on her habit of looking down on other people. Only Willow could rake Shawn over the coals (and rightfully so) for not taking responsibility for his unborn child. But Willow also proved that, for those she loved, she would do anything; The fact that she took to the streets in order to pay for her brother's college education, for example. Willow made a huge sacrifice and could not fathom why others would not do the same. In the end, Willow was accidentally killed, along with her unborn baby - a convenient way to get her and the kid out of the way and out of Shawn's life. Oh, what could've been...

Worst Villain: Andre. The horse he kept in his living room was a dead giveaway that this man was not running on all six cylinders. But Andre went above and beyond any villainy that his dysfunctional clan could ever dream up by committing one horrid act of violence after another, including hacking up Benjy for his liver. At that point, Andre crossed the line from evil to insane, then from insane to laughable cartoon. Now locked up, may he forever be out of our misery.

Most Shocking Scene: Benjy in the Casket. Racing against time to unearth who they believed was a barely alive Roman, Steve and Abe lifted the lid of the casket they had dug up, only to be greeted with a shocking surprise. The person in the casket was Steve's surrogate son Benjy. Not only were they stunned, so were we, since we were sure that the person they would find would be Roman. But the horror really started kicking in when we realized once and for all that the Dimera's hold nothing sacred, not family and least of all, not even a gentle, loving man like Benjy.

Most Entertaining Wedding: Lucas and Sami. These nuptials were determined by fate to crumble like all other attempts before them, so imagine our surprise when Sami and Lucas actually said "I do." Imagine our even bigger surprise when Sami's secrets were all revealed in front of Lucas and her entire family (okay, we were expecting that). Marriage over before it has even started? Hardly. The best surprise was Lucas being completely supportive and understanding of Sami, despite all that he had just heard, and later on revealing the real reason he was so quick to forgive her: He felt, because of past trust issues, that Sami could not come to him for help and he took his share of responsibility for what had transpired. A Lumi wedding with the drama is always must see, but a Lumi wedding with drama and a huge pay-off was definitely can't-miss.

And that's it. Agree? Disagree? Is there something I should've made mention of that you want to tell me about? Let me know here at Soaptown.