Doug and Julie will always hold a special place in my heart.

Julie is the longest-running character in DAYS history -- in fact, she's the only one left from the 1965 pilot, even if a different actress has played her since 1968!

And Julie and Doug are a stable couple who still have more than a little chemistry after all these years, making them the best candidate to succeed Tom and Alice.

But spoilers for Days of Our Lives during the week of 9-6-21 suggest that Doug may be in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's or another type of cognitive decline. If so, this is going to be one of the most heartbreaking stories Days of Our Lives has had in a while!

According to a clip in the spoiler video, Julie is shaken when her beloved husband locks her in the freezer at Julie's Place.

Could it have been a simple error, or is Doug's cognitive health failing?

If the latter, this will likely serve as an exit story for Doug.

Doug is rarely seen on-screen these days, and if this IS an exit story, it is a befitting tribute to this beloved character... even if it is heartbreaking.

Of course, the long-running couple has dealt with health challenges before, most recently Julie's heart attack in 2019, which has led to tearjerker scenes but resulted in a full recovery.

Whichever way this goes, it hopefully will be handled realistically. Julie's heart attack opened the door for a silly story about Gabi controlling Julie's pacemaker with her phone -- let's not have a rerun of that, please.

Julie and Doug's dilemma are far from the only thing happening on Days of Our Lives during the week of 9-6-21. Other clips in the spoiler video include Ben's reaction to Ciara wanting to have children, Bonnie and Calista fighting over a gun, and Abe bringing up marriage to Paulina.

Please scroll down to check out all the Days of Our Lives spoiler photos for the week of 9-6-21.

Julie has a harrowing experience.

According to the spoiler video, Doug locks Julie in the freezer.

If this is Doug's exit, one last moving storyline about his mental decline may be the best way to pay homage to Doug and Julie's relationship.

But this will be almost as heartbreaking as Tom and Alice's deaths anyway.

Ben is hesitant when Ciara suggests they have a baby.

That's not surprising.

Ciara went about this the entirely wrong way, and unilaterally deciding they should have a baby while on their honeymoon doesn't bode well for the future.

Plus, Ben may be worried about passing down mental illness to their child... or about Clyde wanting to be involved in the baby's life.

Bonnie and Calista have a heated confrontation.

I hope this doesn't take up an entire hour.

These two are over-the-top and are mostly a waste of screen time, which is sad because I love Judi Evans.

But with the spoiler video suggesting Bonnie shoots Calista, could we finally be rid of at least one of these ridiculous characters for good?

Roman grows concerned about Doug's mental state.

Yep, they're going for a dementia storyline.

If anyone can see the signs, it's Roman. After all, he went through this with Caroline.

Hopefully, Doug won't be given a miracle cure from the Dimeras instead of this being handled realistically.

Xander crashes Bonnie and Justin’s wedding.

What does Xander do these days besides crash weddings?

Most likely, he wants the money back that Bonnie stole from him before he could return it to EJ.

I wish EJ would do his own dirty work for once, though. And let's find something more worthwhile for Xander to do.

Gabi and Jake spy on Philip.

The joke may be on them. Philip is supposed to confront Gabi about her manipulations on September 9, so clearly, he is onto this nonsense.

Of course, Gabi will wriggle out of this. There's no point to a story that only goes on for a couple of weeks.

She should never have started this nonsense in the first place, especially after Philip was one of the only people to give her a chance.

Brady urges Chloe to move in with him.

Slow your roll, dude!

Chloe spent all night on the hotel floor to make a point after Brady's last attempt to manipulate her away from Philip.

And unless something's changed, she's STILL with Philip and seems to be doing fine living wherever it is she's living right now. Brady needs to stop being ridiculous.

Ava reveals Rafe's feelings to Nicole.

WHYYYYY?

Rafe told Ava he wanted to be with her, he and Nicole are keeping their distance, and it seems like things are moving forward in the way Ava wants them to.

So why in the world would Ava potentially sabotage everything by telling Nicole that Nicole's feelings for Rafe aren't as one-sided as she thinks?

EJ advises Chad to fight for Abigail.

EJ needs to stop giving romantic advice!

His marriage is a mess, and he wishes death upon his soon-to-be ex.

Maybe he should work on himself instead of telling everyone else what they should do.

Gwen prepares to come clean with Jack.

Prepares?

Gwen was halfway there the last time she spoke with him, and the scene ended with him asking her what Snyder was holding over her head.

There is no time to prepare and no reason to. How about she gets this over with so we can all move on?

Allie tries to smooth things over with Chanel.

I'm unsurprised but still disappointed that it appears that the bakery's grand opening will be outdoors instead of inside the storefront that Chanel wanted so badly.

Anyway, Allie will have to smooth things over if she and Chanel are going to work together.

If I were Chanel, I wouldn't be so forgiving, but Chanel will probably decide to forget about Allie's bad behavior in the interest of moving this story forward.

Your turn, Days of Our Lives fanatics! Are you looking forward to this dementia storyline? Do you want Ben and Ciara to have a baby? What else excites you about Days of Our Lives during the week of 9-6-21?

Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you think!

Looking 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 NBC on weekday afternoons. Check your local listings for airtimes.

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.