No matter how fast you run or how far you go, sooner or later, the past catches up with you.
That’s doubly true in Salem, where secrets come out at the worst possible time, and people end up getting hurt because someone lacked the courage to be honest.
On Days of Our Lives during the week of 12-05-22, Nicole and Eric learned that they couldn’t recreate what they once had, while some others set themselves up for a hard fall.
The Eric/Nicole story was equal parts tragic and irritating.
Nicole and Eric have been down this road so many times. They always feel this magnetic pull toward each other, only for it to fall apart when Nicole does something Eric disapproves of.
Nicole finally wised up, admitting that she and Eric had gotten so swept away in their feelings for each other that they forgot all the reasons they didn’t work as a couple. Better late than never, but will she remember the next time she and Eric feel drawn to each other?
Nicole: Are you saying you’re breaking up with me?
Eric: For us to break up, we would have had to have been together.
Nicole: So this is how we’re doing this? Bitter and spiteful?
Eric: It’s probably for the best. Otherwise, we’d make the same mistake.
Nicole: Fine.
Eric: Good.
Nicole: This is really happening, isn’t it?
Eric: Unless you can find another way through. I can’t.
Nicole: Maybe our mistake was trying to recapture what we once had, forgetting all the things that made us wrong for each other.
Both of them were crying, but Eric quickly moved on with Sloan after he spent a night in jail for drunkenly punching EJ and shoving Shawn.
This entire storyline is frustrating for multiple reasons. The biggest problem is that it again paints Eric as a self-righteous jerk. Although Rafe and Jada were being unnecessarily catty, Rafe was right when he said that Eric wasn’t all that great a guy.
As teenagers, Eric and Sami fit the trope of one twin being the golden child and the other the bad seed. But now, Eric seems like he’s Sami in a male body! He’s impulsive, moody, selfish, judgmental of anyone who gets in his way, and attracted to problematic people.
He also seems to have turned into Brady, drinking away his heartbreak, acting like an idiot because of it, and then switching from alcohol to being addicted to relationships with people with no conscience.
Ever since Eric and Nicole reconnected after Eric left the priesthood for the first time, their story has always been about Eric becoming judgmental as soon as Nicole fails to be perfect. That pattern has ruined a once-promising couple, and this latest iteration hit a new low.
Eric continually accuses Nicole of “murdering” his baby. As a former priest, I suppose it’s understandable he sees abortion as murder, but that contradicts his recent pro-choice stance.
It’s also obnoxious and unfair. Nicole might have been happy there was no longer a baby complicating things, but she didn’t go to Jada and order her to get an abortion.
As Jada pointed out, it was HER decision, not Nicole’s, and if she’d been sold on carrying to term, she wouldn’t have cared what Nicole said.
Eric is angry and needs someone to blame, and whenever he gets like this, Nicole is a convenient punching bag — he often does it with the entire town’s blessing.
And now Nicole has lost both Eric and Rafe because she finally understands that what she thought she had with Eric was illusory, regardless of how many people told her she had to feel this way about him. If she wasn’t going to stay with Eric for more than five seconds, why did the writers blow up Nicole/Rafe?
They could have been a solid couple, but they were only a plot point on the way to the latest story about everyone hating Nicole, supposedly with good reason.
Eric supposedly only visited Sloan to pay her for her services, but we know Sloan is into kinky, no-strings-attached sex. So Eric will likely do what he accused Nicole of and jump into bed with the worst possible person.
Sloan probably wants to manipulate the ex-priest into hurting his friends as part of her idiotic revenge scheme.
There’s only one way this is likely to go: Nicole uncovering the depths of Sloan’s bad behavior, exposing her, and saving Eric from a fate worse than death. Afterward, Eric will forgive Nicole, and they can try again to make this untenable relationship work.
Meanwhile, EJ and Nicole have shown surprising restraint, but maybe they will stay in the friend zone. Nicole and Daniel had a platonic soulmate relationship for a long time before going in a different direction, so why not recreate that with Nicole and EJ?
Nicole and EJ are fine as friends, but EJ has historically become a controlling ass whenever he’s in a relationship.
Nicole was so scared of him that she tried to hide a pregnancy from him, and there’s no evidence he’s changed. He’s already trying to override her judgment to get her to move in when she doesn’t want to. That’s not a good sign.
But since Nicole is moving into the mansion, EJ would be wise to stop whispering in the living room about Johnny needing to keep his secret. He should know better — it wasn’t that long ago that he stumbled upon Ava and Gwen whispering in the same place!
And Nicole has a gift for walking in on conversations about secrets. 95% of the time, she’s the first person to learn something everyone wants to keep to themselves, and this time may be no different.
Unlike Johnny and Wendy, Nicole has enough street smarts to be unaffected by EJ’s manipulations if she finds out the secret. It’s 50-50 if she would keep it.
And EJ has already had at least one panicked conversation with Johnny about it in the mansion since inviting Nicole to move in, so this setup is asking for trouble.
It would be even worse for EJ if Sister Mary Moira overheard!
My sister’s beloved son has now managed to fail her in death as well as in life. Shame on you, Elvis Dimera. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Sister Mary Moira
His “Aunt Sister” already dislikes him and thinks he’s disrespecting Susan’s memory. She’d be furious if she found out what EJ was up to!
Johnny and Wendy keep whispering in the Dimera halls and other public areas. Allie already walked in on one phone call, and anyone could be lurking around, especially if they insist on talking about it in the Square or the hallways outside Li’s office.
Who Do You Think Will Find Out Next?
If the wrong person finds out, it opens the door to blackmail, a favorite Salem pastime. Johnny and Wendy might have to ally themselves with a more experienced schemer like Nicole to get out from under someone’s thumb.
Meanwhile, could EJ please invest in a lock on those French doors?
Three uninvited guests entered the mansion on the night Abigail was killed; she’d still be alive if those doors were bolted shut. And now, Ava’s sneaked in the same way so she could spy on EJ and put the next step of her plan into motion.
It’s ridiculous for uber-wealthy people whose businesses sometimes involve illegal activity to leave a door unlocked, especially after a murder on the premises. It’s not like EJ can’t afford a lock on the mansion’s back door!
The Xander-as-kidnapper story took several turns toward the absurd. This ‘secret’ is a huge mess now that Justin insists on suing the “evil boss” on Xander’s behalf.
Xander has finally found acceptance in the family, at least from Justin. Understandably, he doesn’t want to ruin that by admitting he tormented Justin’s wife while wearing a clown mask.
But Justin cannot go to court to sue a non-existent company, and Gwen’s plan to create a fake contract for him to peruse will end in disaster.
Of course, it might not get that far now that Bonnie overheard Xander talking to himself in the park.
Everyone needs to get out of the habit of talking about secrets in public places! Even if they think they’re talking to themselves, someone always overhears.
Bonnie will have a hard time convincing anyone. She thought Roman was the evil clown come to mess with her, so why would anyone think this was the real deal?
While it’s admirable that Days of Our Lives wants to link Bonnie’s kidnapping to PTSD, the writers don’t have their facts right.
Sarah said it was common for people with PTSD to hallucinate, but that’s not true. PTSD is not a disorder that generally involves hallucinations; the writers are thinking of flashbacks, which involve the triggered person reacting as if the traumatic event is happening again in the present.
Bonnie’s symptoms are similar to the made-up mental illness Sarah and Abigail suffered from due to Rolf’s drugs. She wasn’t re-experiencing being kidnapped; she was seeing the kidnapper instead of the people in front of her.
This again makes light of mental health issues; a PTSD storyline would be moving if it resembled the actual disorder, but this silly story helps no one.
Because of Sloan’s nonsense, Paulina and Chanel continued to be in a pickle. Paulina was right; Sloan’s father had used his position to coerce Chanel into having an affair, and he had probably done it to other students too.
As a fellow survivor, Eric should never have taken Sloan’s side over Chanel’s, especially after telling her that he knows Chanel would not purposely hurt anyone. The ONLY reason he should be interacting with Sloan is to get dirt on her for Paulina.
Instead, he’s helping Sloan to use the legal system to re-victimize Chanel. Ugh.
Paulina also shouldn’t have been so quick to resign.
Abe had planned to leave his position to be the state’s First Man in a couple of weeks anyway.
Paulina should have made a statement that she was confident she would be exonerated when this played out and that the people should not approve of someone undermining democracy by using the courts to try to force the duly elected governor to step down.
And why does Chanel think she has no recourse against Sloan putting graffiti on her bakery window? Vandalism is illegal!
Chanel should have reported the vandalism to Rafe and let him know that Sloan had the motive to do it.
Maybe if Sloan finds herself on the receiving end of a police investigation, even for something minor, it’ll help put a stop to her shenanigans.
Unfortunately, this annoying Sloan story opens the door for more Alex/Stephanie/Chad nonsense. This is similar to the annoying story we just sat through with Rafe, Eric, and Nicole.
The whole world insists that Chad and Stephanie belong together while Stephanie is with Alex.
Stephanie also needs to hire more staff to deal with PR emergencies. She went to all the trouble of cooking dinner for Alex, only to break their date because of Paulina’s decision to step down.
Technically, Paulina didn’t need a PR person anymore since she was no longer in politics, so this wasn’t an emergency. And it gave Stephanie and Chad an excuse to be together — and to eat the food meant for Alex.
Sonny also needs to avoid Leo, especially if he’s vulnerable because Will isn’t coming home for Christmas.
Maybe he should ask Nicole about that since that led to the last time she and Eric imploded.
What did you think of Eric’s downward spiral and the other big developments in Salem this week? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
Don’t forget to check back on Sunday for the latest Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.
Days of Our Lives streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes drop on weekdays at 6 AM EST / 3 AM PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
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