It seems like moving forward with your relationship is lethal in Salem.
Abigail was murdered right after she and Chad decided to try for a third baby, and Days of Our Lives spoilers for the week of 7-25-22 suggest that a mugger will kill Jake immediately after proposing to Ava.
Too much happiness can kill a soap, but does that mean the writers need to kill every happy character instead?
According to a clip in the spoiler video, Jake walks in on someone trying to mug Nicole and gets shot in the stomach.
This unnecessary death comes right on the heels of Abigail’s murder. And to add insult to injury, it doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the gang of violent felons who are wandering the streets of Salem, thanks to a coerced series of pardons.
Of course, in Salem, death isn’t always permanent. Wilhelm Rolf, the inventor of the magical resurrection drug, must have been released for a reason. Could that reason be to undo the newest Dimera’s death?
There are also persistent rumors that Brandon Barash has not left Days of Our Lives and that he will be returning soon as Stefan.
That doesn’t make much sense — Stefan’s heart was donated – but stranger things have happened in Salem. And Jake was initially brought on because fans were so disappointed that Lani killed Stefan, so undoing that mistake altogether isn’t out of the question.
However, this is the second time Eric has tried to save Nicole from a random mugging in the park, and Jake’s apparent death isn’t much different than Stefan’s. Some originality would be nice!
Furthermore, Jake’s death leaves viewers with little chance to catch their breath before diving back into heavy, grief-filled scenes. Chad is still mourning Abigail. Do we need another Dimera death in the mix?
It’ll give Ava another opportunity to enact some out-of-control revenge scheme. Or, if Rafe quickly catches Jake’s killer, she may realize he’s not such a horrible guy after all. But still, audiences are starting to be burned out on death and destruction, so can we not?
The greater tragedy here is that Jake’s death overshadows more exciting news: Robert Scott Wilson re-enters the canvas as Alex Kiriakis, Sonny’s often-mentioned but never-seen older brother.
This return might be fun, especially since fans are evenly divided about whether giving Wilson a new role so soon after Ben left is a workable idea.
For all the scoop on Alex’s return, Jake’s death, and all other spoilers for Days of Our Lives during the week of 7-25-22, please scroll down.
Ava and Jake have a heart-to-heart about their future.
These two are going to decide to get married a few short weeks after finally giving in to their more-than-friendship feelings.
This is rushed, even by Salem standards!
And unfortunately, as discussed above, the couple’s happiness will soon be destroyed when Jake is shot during a mugging.
Nicole winds up in a dangerous situation.
Nicole is mugged in the park, leaving Eric to save her.
This happened once before, leading to a reconciliation between Eric and Nicole. Let’s not do it again.
This looks like a random mugger, too, but could Kristen be behind it? The newly-freed Dimera villainess hates Nicole with a passion and wouldn’t be above hiring someone to mug her.
Sonny runs into a familiar face.
According to spoilers, Sonny is excited about his brother’s sudden move to Salem. But will audiences be as thrilled?
According to Robert Scott Wilson, Alex is a different enough character from Ben to minimize confusion on viewers’ parts and is a bit of a playboy to boot.
Fans are already debating who Alex will ultimately be paired with, though it remains to be seen which genders he is attracted to.
Eric tries to save Nicole.
As discussed above, this is a repeated beat. Eric stopped a purse snatcher from messing with Nicole in the park once before.
This time, though, it will end in tragedy.
Will Nicole blame herself for Jake’s death even though she didn’t ask to be mugged?
Kristen gets the upper hand with Brady and Chloe.
That’s not surprising. Belle made a point of warning Marlena about Orpheus, but Brady learned Kristen was free by watching television.
He and Chloe have been wrapped up in other people’s relationships, putting their nose into who Nancy should date and what Belle and Shawn should do without giving Kristen a second thought.
There was no way Kristen finagled her release without a solid plan for trying to remove Chloe from Brady’s life and force Brady to bring Rachel home.
Salem is rocked by a surprising death.
If we weren’t already grieving Abigail’s murder, this might be a more compelling story.
Jake’s death is one of those random events that can be scary because it’s both unpredictable and plausible. He gets shot by a stressed-out mugger who is trying to rob someone else at gunpoint.
But viewers want to watch Days of Our Lives, not the Random Death Show. We already have one unsolved murder. We don’t need another death right now.
Paulina helps Chanel choose between Allie and Johnny.
Paulina’s advice last time around was for Chanel to forget the “demon twins” and find someone new.
That seems more and more like the best option, with the twins ignoring Chanel’s need for space and trying to force her to choose one of them.
But Chanel seems to want to know which one to choose, so will Paulina continue to push for none of the above, or will she give her some generic advice about following her heart?
Chanel reveals her choice to Allie and Johnny.
It would be hilarious if her choice were neither of them, but that doesn’t seem likely.
No matter which one she chooses, the other isn’t going to accept it. The twins have already shown a total lack of respect for Chanel and her boundaries; why should her desires matter to them?
They both see her as a prize to be won, and the loser will likely continue to pressure her to change her mind. Ugh.
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Want to chat about already-aired episodes of Days of Our Lives? Check out the latest Days of Our Lives reviews and Days of Our Lives Round Table discussions.
Days of Our Lives airs on NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes or watch on Peacock TV on weeknights after 8 PM EST / 5 PM 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.