Chris B

Wow! Natalie Minardi Slater is a huge get! That is who Kay Aldenw as grooming as her successor had things not gone the way they did. Happy to see her at BTG!

The Susan/Liza thing is incredibly odd because as @Khan said, they did have a relationship. Two parts of the interview made me think of it: first was the chapter about being a working mother but only mentioning Andreas and then when she mentioned a friend who didn't go to Helmut's funeral, knowing Liza wasn't invited. It must be something huge to have caused such a huge rift.

I just started watching again and one of the few highlights are Carson and Raven! Wow!

Today's episode was excellent and you could really see the growth in the production overall. I don't want to hear any nonsense about who wrote the breakdown, this entire episode was a success and I give credit to everybody involved! We got a good variety of scenes starting with Dani/Nicole bonding which is always going to be a highlight. I also enjoyed Kat, Chelsea and Naomi. Naomi's unraveling did wonders to helping us understand why she sometimes reacts to things the way she does. I also am enjoying Kat taking accountability and trying to be there for her family. The Ted/Andre scenes were great and I loved seeing Andre encourage him to repair his relationship with Carlton. The Ashley/Naomi scenes were fantastic! These two have great chemistry and Ashley works so well outside of Derek. I hope they get it right with this new love interest they were teasing. I thought we were in for standard office scenes at Bill's office but I loved the shock of Tomas overhearing Hayley's scheming. I wonder where this is going to go: Is he going to investigate Hayley? Confront her? The highlight of the episode were the Bill/Dani/Andre scenes towards the end. Karla Mosley has insane chemistry with both actors and they seem to have fallen into a very nice triangle. I hope they play this for all it's worth this year! I still don't know which couple I want. The slight changes they made to the writing staff definitely have improved things. The pacing is great and the show feels so settled in. I'm getting excited to see what's to come! This was an excellent start to the week.

This is how I felt. I also hope they're misleading us when it comes to Max. I don't want another year of him being the same mess he was before. I hope that we get to see him actively trying to be a better person before getting drawn into whatever they were teasing. This is exactly how I feel. I stick around for those individual scenes and the relationships. I just need one story I can latch on to.

I don't know any spoilers or have insider knowledge but I don't think Derek is going to disappear. It's so hard to say since the show has so many heavily recurring actors. Based on that my assumption is that he'll probably linger in the background but I do think we'll still see him here and there. I noticed the show posted an interview with him on Instagram talking about his favorite moments of season one. That and the fact they seem so hesitant to write anybody off.

I wasn't impressed with the New Years fast-forward either. I'm not going to drop the show but definitely they need to win me back. I'm hoping the next couple month see some improvement.

It was so beneath her. It really disappointed me. They could've had anyone play that role and they gave it to her? Now that I think about it, I think she could've been a better Claudia. I feel like she could've provided the kind of balance that Donna Mills brought to Abby. I never bought Kathleen Noone when she tried to show the softer sides of Claudia. She felt very one-dimensional and evil.

I enjoyed Robin Strasser and Jane Elliot the most. I feel like the worst used daytime actors were Jamie Lyn Bauer and Rosemary Prinz just because I know how good both are and think it's a shame they got such throwaway roles.

I've enjoyed the Anita storyline but I do wonder how it'll play long term. If this were another soap with multiple families it would be a different story, but here we only have the Duprees so it makes me wonder how they will develop other major storylines when realistically Anita should be the family's main focus. I feel like the only options are really Ashley or Vanessa for counter-programming that isn't centered on the Duprees. Bringing on Deanna/Donnell in a regular capacity could allow them to build something there. With Ashley, we've all speculated about the Joey/Dad angle and that could be something that could really tie them all together. I'm just hopeful they're mindful of how heavy this can get and can balance it out.

They tried to get her to appear in the 1997 miniseries in a lead role but she turned them down. Ultimately, they were able to negotiate for her to film one scene once production had wrapped.

I'm so thankful she turned down the reunion movie. Was it perfect? No but can you imagine had she been there?

Thank you! I do looooove Xander and Sarah. I did tune in for their most recent breakup and I thought those scenes were really powerful. Johnny/Chanel are cute. I forgot about them but definitely will keep my eye on them. Hopefully Dimitri's return can bring some spark to Leo and Javi.

I wanted to pick up another soap since Neighbours was cancelled and decided to try Days since the Bell soaps are just not an option in their current state. I stopped watching like a year into it's Peacock run but I've kept up on what's been going on. After a full week I feel like I can stick with it although I can't say anything popped at me. I was hoping to come in here and see it was just a slow week but it sounds like the new regime isn't great. I'm still going to try to keep going in hopes things improve. My biggest struggles were how sluggish the pacing was and none of the stories popped for me. Most of my enjoyment came from seeing certain characters I enjoy like Susan, EJ, Philip and I know it's unpopular here, but Leo. Disappointed to see Gwen again. That character has been dead to me since she killed Laura. For those who have been watching, are there are storylines/couples/highlights I should keep my eye on?

One thing I've longed hope for is that they drop season one on Netflix. So many shows have found a new audience that way and I could see the same happening for BTG.

I was irritated to find season one gone but thankfully my YouTubeTV picked up episode 200. I know seasons are just a formality but I thought both Thursday and Friday felt so comfortable and lived in. It's probably more just the natural progression of growth but it made me excited for whats to come. With Anita's storyline, this is the perfect thing to kick off season two and something I wondered if BTG could do. So far they're doing a great job with the story. The way it's unraveled and the way it's impacting the entire canvas has been brilliantly done. They were also smart to save this story for now when we know Anita and the Duprees and can feel the impact of it. I know she will make it but even knowing that, they're building so much tension that I still worry for Anita and the family. Another thing I've enjoyed is that they've pretty much just let this story breathe. We've had some stuff on the side like Ted/Shanice but even that is still connected to the main storyline.

I'm pretty sure this was all her. Back in the day I had bought mst of 97-00 on DVD (which I foolishly lost at some point) and the transition between Bell/Alden was very obvious, despite their similarities. Jill and Katherine were firmly on the backburner in 1997 and one of Alden's big pushes was to bring them back to the forefront. I didn't know they were airing a new classic from 1998 and even then, I expected the attic catfight episode. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a new classic. I've missed Y&R and it was nice to see the show in such good shape. I miss the lush sets and set decorations, the glamour and that signature directing style which is gone. Y&R always seemed so unique and I hate that we lost pretty much all of it. Was also nice to see so many characters I love. In addition to Jill and Katherine, it was so nice to see Nina featured. She is one of my all-time favorites and should be a frontburner character today. Tricia Cast can do so much with so little. Her final years on the show were brilliant. When I watched this originally, I believe this was before what we saw today but Nina was very depressed over Ryan cheating on her. Jill came over, much as she did today and she could tell something was off and told Nina that she had let herself go and she got her set up with a gym membership. It's so awful but also very Jill. What further complicated things is that you could tell she was genuine and trying to help Nina. I loved their interactions in the later years and the "peace" they found.

Gary's arc on nuDallas was one of the few things I enjoyed. I hated that Val only appeared for one episode. It made no sense and felt so rushed. They could've gotten an entire season out of Gary and Val. I don't understand why they didn't play it more. Honestly, Gary should've never left, especially with JR gone. He always loved the ranch and as others have mentioned, it made perfect sense that Gary and Val would've broken up again.

This is just me manifesting! I agree that a longer pick-up would be nice.

I was curious how they would celebrate the holidays and they did a really good job. American soaps are all about celebration and keeping things warm during the holidays and they succeeded at that. The backdrop of Anita's cancer diagnosis was well done and a good teaser for season two. I thought New Years was more successful than Christmas because they were able to use all of their locations to maximum effect. I loved the different New Years parties and how full each one felt. We also got to see a good number of the cast which was nice. I know soaps don't really have seasons but I get the vibe that we are about to witness a season two glow-up. I've enjoyed the first season and have seen many improvements but I just feel like they're going to explore in season two. So many things that have been teased interest me. I look forward to the one year anniversary and hopefully an added comfort now that they know they're here to stay.

I have been a Ben Wadey apologist but I am officially over him after seeing how the plots came together on Christmas. One thing I enjoyed is the same thing most people hated: the Zoe story and the focus it got. I felt like with Clenshaw, he was throwing so much at the wall that most stories didn't get properly developed. Especially when it came to social issues, it seemed like every other week there was a new one and it was just too much going on and not enough character moments for me. I've loved seeing the Slaters, who had been underused, on the forefront and getting to see Zoe re-integrate into their lives. Another part that I enjoyed was having Anthony return so Patrick had his son and that family also got some time to shine. I feel like killing him off was a cheap stunt that makes no sense. They ruined his character by introducing these out of nowhere villain aspects, they didn't play the issues with his wife and kids and now he won't get to reconcile with Zoe and wont get to meet his twins. How is this satisfying? It's a pointless murder mystery for a character that didn't need to die. I hope this isn't a sign to come because this is literally the worst they could've done to resolve this story. Makes me wonder how they'll pull off NYE which will involve extensive planning.

@Khan As a Diana stan, I loved seeing her return but I agree that it was disappointing to see them not really explore the past beyond that. Your suggestion of seeing Lilimae again would be amazing. I hate we didn't at least get her for the reunion. Another easy solution for season 14 would've been to finally bring Lucy on full-time. I think she could've easily filled the role of Vanessa and had the show gone on longer, that would give Gary more reason to stick around since JVA didn't plan to return.

I feel like there was a time, I think season 10 or 11 where they had built up a strong younger generation but it went nowhere. For a short while you had Paige, Harold, Linda, Michael, Olivia and a couple others. I thought the chemistry was strong within the group as well. They could've easily done a Melrose Place style spin-off.

The final episode of season 12 was such a tonal shift that I feel like the new showrunner had to have had some say in it. Not just the shift to the Steve story but Karen the vigilante was so strange.

I'm not someone who typically cares about the quality but I watched the first two episodes of Dallas and it looks STUNNING in HD. It really elevates the whole project. Now I'm starting to understand why these transfers are so important.