This week’s Salem opens with a shock that leaves everyone stunned: Alex receives a seemingly ordinary envelope, but upon opening it, white powder spills out, terrifying both Alex and Stephanie.

This isn’t a cliché prank, but a chilling message from someone trying to intimidate or instill collective fear in the entire city.

Stephanie’s panic is perfectly understandable, as even a momentary lapse of judgment regarding the potential danger of the powder is enough to make her heart race, not to mention her already heightened sensitivity to being watched and targeted.

Alex, meanwhile, is both angry and worried, understanding that this isn’t just his problem anymore, but a threat that could spread to anyone who comes into contact with it, from friends to colleagues.

And when the situation escalated beyond self-defense, Jada immediately switched to full police mode: raising the alarm, cordoning off the area, calling in necessary forces, and bringing the entire department into emergency response. Salem already had a high crime rate, but this kind of “psychological terrorism” delivered through an envelope played on modern fears, making everyone wonder if they were being targeted.

While everyone was still reeling from the chaos, Steve appeared as a anchor: he saw this not just as an incident, but as a clue, and he had to make a big move to track down the mastermind. That decision could be reopening an old line of investigation, or setting a trap to force the culprit to reveal themselves—playing it big instead of waiting for disaster to strike a second time. But the danger of “playing big” is that it drags more people into danger, and Steve understood that better than anyone.