Days of Our Lives Spoilers 8-17: EJ DiMera Blindsided by the Memory Drug He Used on Rafe

EJ DIMERA IS HOLDING THE SAME MEMORY PILL HE FORCED ON RAFE

TL;DR: On the August 14 episode of Days of Our Lives, Rita wiped Devlin’s memory, sealed him in a cryogenic pod, then handed a flu ridden EJ DiMera a pill from a bottle of CRS-17. That is the exact drug EJ used to erase Rafe’s memory in 2025, and nobody in Salem knows it yet.

The Flu Medicine That Came From the Wrong Bottle

The latest Days of Our Lives spoilers put EJ DiMera at the center of the cruelest twist Salem has served up all year. On Friday, August 14, his devoted fixer Rita wiped the memory of water inspector Devlin, sealed the man inside a cryogenic pod beneath the DiMera property, then walked upstairs and handed her flu stricken boss a little pill. She told him it was flu medicine. The bottle in her hand was labeled CRS-17.

Devlin, played for three gleefully unhinged episodes by late night host John Oliver, spent last week squeezing EJ over the contaminated water scandal. He knew far too much about the cover up, and even after the drug erased his last 24 hours, he overheard something about Lexie that sealed his fate. Rita could not bring herself to kill her unlikely crush. So she chose the freezer over the grave.

She kissed him on the lips, told him to keep faith that he would return one day, and shut the pod. Anyone who follows the wilder corners of daytime spoiler coverage knows Salem never freezes a body it does not intend to thaw. Devlin is not dead. He is inventory.

Got a tip or a memory drug prediction of your own? Write to the editor at amber@soapoperamagazine.com and tell us what Rita is really playing at.

The 2025 Crime Nobody Ever Answered For

Here is the buried history that makes this pill so poisonous. Back in February 2025, EJ DiMera held the real Rafe Hernandez captive and injected him with CRS-17 so Rafe could never testify to what had been done to him. It worked exactly as intended.

Rafe’s long term memories crawled back that March, but the stolen days never did, and the kidnapping case evaporated with them. EJ never spent a single night in a cell for it. Kristen DiMera, the sister who supplied the vial from Dr. Rolf’s lab in the first place, walked away just as clean.

Eighteen months later the same formula is back in play, and this time EJ DiMera is the one on the receiving end. Reading between the lines, Rita did not grab that bottle by accident. She needed her boss to forget what she did with Devlin, and she reached for the exact weapon EJ taught Salem to fear.

What Did Rita Give EJ on Days of Our Lives?

Rita handed EJ a pill taken straight from a bottle of CRS-17, the DiMera memory drug cooked up in Dr. Rolf’s lab, while calling it flu medicine. To be clear, the episode ended before anyone saw him swallow it. What no other coverage has connected is the poetic justice underneath the scene: the man who dosed Rafe to erase a kidnapping may now lose his own memory to the identical formula, served up by his most trusted employee. And here is the kicker, EJ has survived this drug once before, recovering through hypnosis, which may be the escape hatch the writers are leaving themselves.

Monday, August 17 Spoilers Point Straight at the Fallout

The spoilers for Monday, August 17 show Rafe pressing Gwen Rizczech to cooperate against the DiMera empire, with a federal immunity deal on the table. Every piece of that case assumes EJ remembers his own sins. Later in the week, on Thursday, August 20, Jada questions EJ directly, and if a memory gap has opened by then, that interrogation could go sideways in ways nobody in Salem can predict.

Don’t be surprised if the drug becomes the defense. A blank EJ DiMera cannot confess to a cover up he no longer remembers, and Rafe’s entire pursuit suddenly hinges on a target with a hole where the guilt used to be. My gut tells me Rita walks out of this mess holding more power than any assistant in DiMera history, because she alone knows where the bodies are frozen. The woman keeps receipts, and now she keeps the only working memory in the mansion too.

Where do you land on Rita, loyal soldier or loose cannon? The comments section on this page is open and we read every single take.

Hungry for every twist coming to Salem? Browse our full archive of Salem spoiler coverage for the stories everyone will be talking about next week.

Salem’s Puppet Master Just Became the Puppet

For years EJ treated other people’s minds like filing cabinets he could empty at will. Rafe lost weeks of his life and never got a shred of justice for it. Watching that same little pill land in EJ’s open palm is the most satisfying full circle moment this show has produced in ages, and we are not the least bit sorry about it.

The only question that matters now is whether Rita is protecting her boss or quietly replacing him. Pick your side and bring receipts, because this fight is already raging on our Facebook page.

FAQ: The CRS-17 Fallout in Salem

Is Devlin St. John dead on Days of Our Lives?

No. After Rita wiped his recent memory with CRS-17, she could not bring herself to kill him. She sealed Devlin St. John inside a cryogenic pod hidden beneath the DiMera property and told him to keep faith that he will return one day. The door for a comeback is wide open.

Did EJ use CRS-17 on Rafe Hernandez?

Yes. In February 2025, EJ injected a captive Rafe Hernandez with CRS-17 to bury his own kidnapping scheme. Rafe recovered his long term memory that March, but the stolen days that would have incriminated EJ never came back, and EJ was never charged for any of it.

Will EJ lose his memory on Days of Our Lives?

Nothing is confirmed yet. Rita handed EJ the pill and sent him upstairs, but the show has not aired him swallowing it or waking up blank. Circulating spoiler chatter expects a memory gap around the Devlin encounter, so watch the week of August 17 closely.