In an explosive and can’t miss episode of Days of our Lives, all roads lead to a warehouse that appears to be filled with presumed dead bodies of former Salemites!  Behind the experiments and illegal activities going on in this creepy place are Xander (Paul Telfer) and Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk)!  This takes us to the action where Nicole (Arianne Zucker), who has been forced under Xander’s thumb, knocks him out and takes the recording of her confession to murdering Deimos, as she desperately tries to find Eric (Greg Vaughan), who has been tied up to a chair in another part of the warehouse thanks to Kristen!

Nicole is traumatized with baby Holly in tow as she comes upon a confusing maze of locked door with the initials VA, AD, AV, SD, ED, JD, and WR on them.  Had you figured out who they all stand for???   Brady (Eric Martsolf) hears Nicole calling out for Eric and is now locked in the E.D. marked room thanks to Sami (Alison Sweeney), who is searching for EJ!  Brady asks Nicole to let him out, she says “no” and not until she finds Eric!

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Kristen, who has Eric hostage, tells him that she and Xander need to move precious cargo in the warehouse and the building has been compromised! Sami finds her brother with Kristen! She demands to know where EJ is and attacks Kristen.  Cut to another shocker! Dr. Rolf (William Utay) is alive and prepares a large syringe for his mystery patient.  He explains to the man that the formula was far from perfected back then when they tried to use it, so he understands how apprehensive the patient would be trying it again. After injecting the patient, who we believe could be EJ, Rolf tells him Samantha Brady is here in the warehouse!  The man jumps up on the hearing of Sami’s name and grabs Rolf, but then a Bunsen burner is knocked over by accident and Rolf yells, “Fire!”  Then, the burner explodes in the man’s face like a fireball!

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Elsewhere, Xander comes in and finds the Sami/Eric/Kristen situation as sounds of explosions rock the warehouse and everyone starts screaming. Xander and Kristen run out, Sami frees Eric, then rushes out to mind the man she believes is EJ.  But then, rubble falls upon Nicole and she is separated from Eric and Brady.  She fits Holly fits through a hole and Brady runs out of the building with the little girl leaving star-crossed loves Eric and Nicole holding hands through the rubble.

Kristen finds Brady outside with Holly and begs him to come with her.  She wants him back and he tells her no way, and she tells him he will be sorry for this! She runs back inside the burning building.  Sami goes into the lab and calls EJ’s name, but she sees Dr. Rolf and he runs out.  Sami gets the burned man out of the blazing inferno!

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Back inside, Nicole begs Eric to watch over Holly, as she is not going to make it out of the fire.  Brady runs back in to save his brother, and hits him with a crowbar, when he won’t leave Nicole and could die himself. A gut-wrenched Nicole knows she is left to die with no way out!  Outside the warehouse, Eric comes to and loses it when he realizes Brady saved him and left Nicole inside!  Next, the warehouse door explodes!  Brady and Eric can’t get back in to save Nicole.

Inside, as the warehouse burns around her, Kristen says she is not afraid, and turns and reveals the Phoenix tattoo on her back! Looks like she is burning herself in the fire only to rise again!

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

But that’s not all! Rex has returned to Salem in the form of Kyle Lowder making his debut as Kate and Roman’s son. You remember the Gemini Twins???  During Lowder’s first scenes back in Salem (he previously played Brady Black), Ron Carlivati and the DAYS writing team took the opportunity to give us some quickie Rex history including that: sister Cassie was stuck in a piñata and left for dead once, and how he and Cassie fell out of the sky!  Now in present day, Rex tells Roman (Josh Taylor) he is engaged and before he can tell his dad her name, Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) walks in with Baby Bonnie.  Rex holds the baby, not knowing that elsewhere Mimi Lockhart (Farah Fath) is confessing to Belle (Martha Madison) that Rex is the true bio-dad of Baby Bonnie!

What did you think of DAYS’ jam-packed, pivotal episode? Share your thoughts via the comment section below, and let us know what was your favorite moment in it?