Salem kicks off the new week with a spine-chilling shock typical of Days: DiMera’s family is “collected” like merchandise, and the ending is… crypt.

Not a fancy prison cell, not a secret mansion, but a dark, damp, cold catacomb—the kind where the sound of the iron door closing tells you you’re about to lose your right to be a normal person.

EJ disappears and reappears in the crypt as if delivered right to their door, making all of Salem sense someone is up to a big scheme.

Before anyone could figure out what was happening, Kristen went berserk.

Kristen isn’t the type to sit calmly and think things through; she’s the type who explodes at the first sign of hurt pride. As soon as she saw EJ, she lunged at her, questioning and suspecting her, unleashing all the bitterness of her past days of helplessness on the first person she encountered. And true to the “Days” style: DiMera’s drama doesn’t need gunfire; a slap and the question, “What are you hiding from me?” are enough to leave the audience breathless. Chad has to intervene to separate the two, because otherwise, the crypt would no longer be a prison, it would become a fighting arena.

While the adults are yelling at each other, the most vulnerable are Chad and Theo. Trapped, they’re both panicked and trying to remain calm to avoid a mental breakdown. And the terrifying thing about the crypt isn’t just the lack of light, but the feeling that time is being swallowed up. You don’t know how long you’re there, who’s controlling it, or if the door will open for you. Theo tries to stay calm, but his self-reassurance is even more unsettling than the sound of the wind.