When he’s sober, Eric’s family treats him like a saint even though he’s nothing but. The former priest is constantly brooding and often lashes out at Nicole and others who get in his way.
Alcohol makes him even worse.
The last time he got drunk, he got behind the wheel, killed Daniel, and seriously injured Brady and Jennifer. And Days of Our Lives spoilers for the week of 12-05-22 suggest he’s headed for a relapse.
Eric’s latest spiral into self-destructive behavior began when a customer in the bar mentioned needing a drink after a rough day.
The Eric we know and (sometimes) love would have asked the man what happened that was driving him to drink. But instead, the self-destructive version of Eric came to the surface and stared longingly at a bottle of Jack Daniels.
It’s not difficult to figure out what will happen next. Eric left the Brady Pub after taking a drink, only to run into EJ and Nicole laughing together. All three have been drinking, so there’s no way this ends well.
According to spoilers, Eric punches EJ and is arrested for assault. While that’s the right call, it seems ridiculous when everyone in Salem hits their rivals, usually without consequence.
Eric ends up in a cell next to Paulina, and a clip in the spoiler video shows Paulina flirting with him!
This comic relief is short-lived; the real story is that Eric will hire duplicitous Sloan as his attorney.
That won’t go anywhere good, especially since spoilers say Eric and Sloan will get to know each other. Let’s hope this isn’t the beginning of a new romance!
It makes zero sense for Eric to go from being a stand-up guy who wanted to be there for his baby and baby’s mother to dating someone like Sloan. And if he puts up with Sloan’s nonsense after how judgmental he always is toward Nicole when she does something impulsive, that’ll be another slap in the face for Nicole.
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Eric goes on a downward spiral.
As discussed above, Eric will end up in jail after punching EJ.
For many alcoholics and addicts, getting arrested leads to re-evaluating their choices and deciding to do something about their problem.
Eric seems to be at the stage where he doesn’t even acknowledge he’s an alcoholic, which is odd considering that he sobered up after killing his best friend in a drunken driving accident.
Let’s hope he at least realizes he has a problem after spending a night behind bars.
Leo stirs up drama for Sonny and Will.
Here we go.
Leo and Sonny have decided to try to be friends despite Leo’s previous bad behavior. Leo, much like his bestie Gwen, doesn’t let anything get in the way of pursuing what (or who!) he wants.
This time, his interference might not be deliberate. According to the spoiler video, Will refuses to come home for Christmas, leaving Sonny vulnerable. Sonny needs to chat with Nicole about that since she blew up her marriage to Eric for the same reason.
Alex misreads a situation between Stephanie and Chad.
No soap couple escapes this during the early stages. Someone else always looks like they’re making a move on an already committed person.
Let’s hope that Alex and Stephanie talk this out. If they’re going to be together, we don’t need any insecurity or jealousy.
And for the love of all that is holy, can the rest of Salem mind their own business for once? The whole town conspiring to force Nicole and Eric together was bad enough; we don’t need a repeat.
Chanel makes an unpleasant discovery at Sweet Bits.
Why isn’t Sloan in jail yet?
She tried to buy her silence from Paulina. When that failed, she weaponized the legal system against Chanel and Paulina. And now, someone will graffiti the word “murderer” on Sweet Bits — and only one person in Salem thinks Chanel deliberately killed anyone.
Sloan should be the Salem PD’s top suspect. The fact that she’s still free while Paulina is in jail and Chanel is only out because of an emergency bail hearing proves that Trask selectively prosecutes those she doesn’t like.
Eric and Paulina end up in jail together.
This could be a silver lining to the whole Eric self-destructing story.
If Eric and Paulina forge a friendship, Eric’s interest in Sloan may not be what it seems. He could be trying to get the goods on her.
Of course, the cops should already have the goods on her since she blackmailed Paulina. Still, this would be a more compelling story than where Eric/Sloan seems to be going.
Abe is pressured to step down as mayor.
Abe already stepped down on Election Day, but everyone seems to have forgotten.
At this point, he shouldn’t give in to pressure. His wife and stepdaughter were both arrested because of two vindictive officers of the court who are not doing their jobs correctly.
Furthermore, neither Paulina nor Chanel works for the mayor’s office, so their legal troubles are irrelevant as to whether he should remain mayor.
If Abe hadn’t already been planning to quit his job, I’d think Trask and Sloan’s ultimate goal was to overturn the election by forcing Abe to step down via illegitimate arrests of his family members.
EJ receives an unexpected visitor.
It would be awesome if a still-alive Susan showed up at the mansion.
But it’s more likely Ava, either in a Susan mask or as herself.
Ava’s not done seeking revenge, and she’d love for everyone to think EJ has gone crazy. She’s probably planning several “random” visits when no one else is around.
Alex and Stephanie get romantic.
Alex and Stephanie must work through Alex’s confusion since they’re set for another date.
Of course, Alex might lay it on super thick to best his perceived competition.
These two had a rather skeevy start. If Stephanie had to choose, I wish she’d choose Chad.
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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.