Ken Corday wasn’t kidding when he promised this wouldn’t be “your mother’s Days of Our Lives.”
Spoilers for fall in Salem are here as the Peacock era of the series begins, and if the show is as good as the video, you won’t want to miss a minute.
Days of Our Lives spoilers for the week of 9-12-22 and beyond promise some exciting returns, some romance and intrigue, and some heartbreaking tragedy.
Streaming may be the way of the future, but Days of Our Lives appears to resemble the golden years of the 1980s more now that it’s moved to Peacock.
Everything seems bigger. More romance, more over-the-top drama, and more supervillains wreaking havoc.
Although it’s not the most significant part of the video, one of the most exciting bits of news is that Mike Horton is returning to Salem! Mike has been sorely missed for years, especially when his and Jennifer’s work settling Laura’s estate was shuffled off-screen.
He also would have made an interesting addition to Craig’s brief bid for Chief of Staff since the two fought over that position years ago, and Craig’s tactics weren’t exactly aboveboard then.
But better late than never, and now a clip shows Mike touching the plaque of Tom and Alice and saying he’s glad to be back.
We’re glad to have him too!
Let’s hope Mike’s return isn’t for a funeral, though. The final scene of the spoiler video shows Jennifer getting into a fiery crash with EJ, Ava, and Susan. Someone’s car goes over a cliff and explodes — please tell us it’s not hers!
History may be repeating itself, as Jennifer initially became addicted to pain pills when she got them to help treat her back pain after a drunk Eric killed Daniel and seriously injured Jennifer and Brady in a similar accident. Since Jennifer is back on the pills, could she be driving while under the influence?
Jennifer’s not the only one whose life is in danger, as Orpheus poisons Marlena, Kate, and Kayla. While Marlena struggles to breathe, Kayla goes to heaven.
Usually, when characters are seen in heaven while lying “dead” in a hospital bed, they resolve something with a loved one and then return to this world. Let’s hope that’s the case this time and that Kayla doesn’t have to deal with Angela, the annoying angel from Beyond Salem 2.
There’s plenty more going on in Salem during the fall of 2022. We have ten spoilers for you; please scroll down to check them out.
Gabi tries to get Stefan to remember their love.
The last-ever NBC moment involved Gabi coming face-to-face with a very much alive Stefan in the Dimera Crypt, but their reunion can’t be that easy.
Stefan has been brainwashed and doesn’t remember his love story with Gabi, and she will have to work to break his programming.
We’ve been down this road before; when Gabi met Jake, she thought he was a brainwashed Stefan and pulled out all the stops to make him remember. Undoubtedly, she’ll do that again this time.
Let’s hope this also puts an end to EJ’s claims that Ava is crazy. That story needs to go ASAP.
Stefan woos Chloe…but something goes wrong.
Brainwashed Stefan thinks he’s in love with Chloe, but Chloe is already committed to Brady and likely won’t cooperate.
For some reason, Kristen seems angry at Rolf that his brainwashing worked, so something must go horribly wrong. Could Stefan’s unwanted attention push Chloe closer to Brady instead of driving them apart?
Chloe may also be suspicious of Kristen’s involvement in this since Kristen was acting strangely and won’t stop harassing her.
Abigail’s killer is revealed.
We’re finally going to get the truth about the night Abigail died and a ghostly visit too!
Unfortunately, Chad’s response to the news is going to be to grab a gun and try to get revenge.
There’s more than enough gun violence in Salem, thanks. Let’s not go here.
Still, it’ll be a relief to learn who really killed Abigail and whether they’re the same person who stabbed Sonny and framed Leo.
A huge scandal erupts as Paulina’s campaign heats up.
Sloan warns Paulina that it would be “a shame” if something happened involving Chanel, and then someone paints the word “murderer” on Sweet Bits’ storefront.
It’s not likely that Chanel killed Abigail or stabbed Sonny. Either something happened in the past, or there’s a misunderstanding that Sloan is exploiting to manipulate the potential new governor into doing her bidding.
Paulina may not get to be governor if this erupts, though. Maybe they should have stuck to their original plan and allowed Abe to run.
Johnny meets someone new.
Johnny appears to be smitten by Wendy Shin!
Wendy added excitement to Beyond Salem 2 and was far more interesting than her seemingly straight-laced brother. And as a bonus, this potential relationship is far more age-appropriate than Johnny and Ava.
Welcome to Salem, Wendy! Let’s see if you can make Johnny forget about trying to wrest Chanel from Allie.
Wendy’s potential involvement in discovering Li’s attempt to keep Stefan and Gabi apart may also be compelling, depending on what she does with it. Let’s go!
Who will Stephanie choose?
According to the spoiler video, Stephanie shares kisses with Alex and Chad.
Please let her choose Chad. It may be weird for her to fall for her late cousin’s husband, but at least Chad isn’t borderline stalking her.
Alex’s behavior isn’t cute. It’s creepy, and Stephanie should stick to her guns about wanting him to leave her alone.
Eric and Nicole give in to temptation.
Ugh. We all knew this was coming, but Eric and Nicole have had so many chances, and it always falls apart.
Nicole and Rafe’s relationship was pushed mostly off-screen, and now Nicole will cheat on Rafe.
Worse, Jada will see it and then faint in Rafe’s arms.
It was almost a given that Nicole and Jada would switch partners, but couldn’t the writers have found a less awful way to do it?
A fan favorite returns!
Welcome home, Mike!
Hopefully, he has lots of stories about his world travels and news about his wayward son, Jeremy.
Mike has been sorely missed. Jennifer needs her brother, and the hospital needs more doctors, especially if Kayla is out of commission.
We need JJ back too, but Mike’s return is great news.
Orpheus uses a deadly toxin against his enemies.
According to spoilers, Orpheus poisoned the women with something that gives them fevers and respiratory symptoms.
While deadly toxin stories always offer life-and-death stakes and high drama, this one may feel too similar to the COVID pandemic for some viewers’ taste.
Most likely, everyone will be okay in the end, and Orpheus will end up in jail again. But the pain may be challenging to watch before we get there, especially since Kayla appears to visit the afterlife.
An explosive ending to Jennifer’s pill addiction story.
It’s hard to believe that anyone will survive the fiery car crash shown at the end of the spoiler video, but this is Salem, so anything is possible.
Salem doesn’t need any more death and destruction, and this set-up is too similar to Daniel’s death in 2016.
Hopefully, Jennifer survives. Living with her guilt without turning to pills would be a better resolution of her addiction story than killing herself with them.
Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts and theories about these Fall 2022 spoilers.
Eager 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 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.