Soaplovers

I think the Santos family would have worked better as a first, or second, generation immigrant family trying to balance their dual identities (of being Americans and their country of origin). I could have seen Mick being the bad seed son where his death would have bought on good son Danny to find out what happened to his brother... focusing on Michelle and the two develop feelings for one another with the conflict being that Michelle believes she's the cause of his brother's death. Meanwhile.. his mother Carmen has managed to make a business a success while distressed over her son Mick's wayward ways and she depends on Danny to be the man of the house/head of the family after the death of her husband. Carmen would naturally be resentful of Michelle for being the new woman in Danny's life and also being conflicted over Michelle's role in her son Mick's death understanding it was in self defense.. but still having a hard time forgiving Michelle. The Santos family could have worked without the mobster element.. but that would have required the writers to think outside the box.

I remember in the premiere episode that I sense some underlying tension/hostility between Dani and Nicole... and I noticed Anita's face change to one of judgement/resentment when Vernon was doting on Dani. And I thought to myself 'I need the backstory for this'... .and was kind of disappointed that Nicole/Dani were being close sisters after that initial first episode and Anita not displaying a dismissive tone when it came to Dani. Now I'm noticing that we're getting a revisit to those initial first scenes in the premiere episode... and I wonder if Anita/Nicole/Dani is the 2020s answer to Y & R's Lillie Bell/Olivia/Dru with Lillie Bell favoring Olivia and resenting Dru because she wasn't planned. It could explain why Dani is so extra and so prone to emotional outbursts.. because Nicole was the favored child that got all the accolades/attention of Anita with Vernon being extra doting/enabling of Dani because deep down he knew that Anita favored Nicole (my guess is that Dani was an unplanned pregnancy). And I think Nicole's letting repressed anger/resentment come to the surface.. and I wonder if eventually some of that anger/resentment will be directed to her parents.

So if I understand correctly... Andre is kind of pressuring Dani to go public with their 'relationship'/'no strings attached' arrangement... yet is also keeping quiet about this once Ashley starts to indicate she might be interested in Andre. I guess this is the show attempting to show that Andre still has a bit of player in him. The show is still figuring out the story focus rotation... but MVJ seems to love shoe horning Dani into scenes... even if other characters might benefit from focus/development. Hopefully the show in the fall will reign in Dani a bit to where she's humbled a bit.. but still has a backbone. @dragonfliesJoey/Vanessa/Doug and the casino set seems more Guza oriented with Joey's criminal vibe, Vanessa's obsession with the dark side, and Doug being the outsider watching his wife and the man he owes money to undressing one another with their eyes. Ashley seems more like a Brad Bell esque character

That's how Billy and Nadine started interacting... because he was interested in trying again with Vanessa and he felt Ross a threat so he flirted with Nadine and she eventually agreed to help him keep Vanessa and Ross apart. This was in the fall of 1989... but eventually the show decided to make Ross/Holly a thing... and the show decided to do a Vanessa/Billy/Nadine triangle.. but I'm sure when the show decided to go in that direction. I do remember a scene where Ross and Nadine end up at a function at either the Spaulding mansion, or the country club... and Vanessa and Nadine meet.. and it was dislike at first sight. I think it might have been before the 'soft reboot' of Nadine, or right after she came back from that brief absence.

Given the Ashley/Dani tension... I would be open to a Ashley/Dani/Andre triangle down the road since the Bill/Hayley/Dani triangle seems kind of played out (and we've only seen them for 81 episodes... not a good sign). I agree with everyone that Hayley hasn't been given a POV whatsoever. Most of her actions and interactions have been in regards to proving herself to Bill (i.e. trying to get the female employees to drop the lawsuit, going off on Ted for using Bill as his clean up man, etc) with little to no focus on what she really is thinking and feeling. Other then the 1 on 1 scene with Caroline in week 1, we've not gotten to hear her POV nor what she's truly feeling... and that will make the audience either confused over what they're supposed to think of the character.. or they don't care. When Ashley and Derek (token white couple) have gotten more of a POV and decent 1:1's with other characters... that is a problem. Maybe early Ridge/Brooke circa 1987 to 1989/1990 should be what writers should model a relationship after.

I hope Ashley does steal Andre away from Dani. Women like Dani deserves to drink themselves into misery and lonlinessl

I remember when Reva returned in 1995, that there were a lot of viewers that actually were team Annie and not team Reva. It was pretty evenly split until Annie was made crazy. The one thing I noticed about late 90s Guiding Light was that the show seem intent on not writing compelling triangles.. instead having a couple with a third wheel as spoiler. We had Hart/Cassie/Dinah, Beth/Phillip/Harley, and Reva/Josh/Annie that took up the 1996 to 1999 era... and it always involved ruining a character to prop up the main couple. Annie became psycho, Beth became an emotional unhinged mess, and Dinah ended up accidently killing Hart when he stepped in front of her intended target Cassie. Who knew once 2000 rolled around that those badly constructed triangles became a high point once we got into Santos/San Cristobel overload.

One fall out that I haven't seen anyone discuss yet in regards to Martin's secret being revealed to all... will be what Nicole's reaction will be to this news. Not only will she feel a certain way about her own son not coming to her... but to find out that both her husband and father knows about this secret and kept it from her will certainly be a sight to behold!

I remember Alex and Gretchen were filming confessionals.. and how excited they were being all glammed out in front of the green screen so I had assumed Caroline had to have at least filmed a few confessionals.. and I wonder if the questions being asked of her in the confessional made her feel weird/regretful over whatever had happened.. and she kickstarted the lawsuit to stop the show from being shown. It's a shame.. since everyone was excited to have Alex come back... and to see how she would interact with the other women since she had been away from that world for years... and she was always a bit off beat.

I think the original plan in 1989 was to have Roger/Sonni/Holly once she and Ed broke up... with Billy/Ross/Vanessa/Nadine as a quad. However, once Michelle Forbes opted to quit the show in the fall of 1989.. Sonni quickly broke things off with Roger before leaving town for a new start... while Roger/Holly/Ross/Alexandra/Fletcher/Mindy became the new plan in 1990 and Billy/Nadine/Vanessa became the main focus. 1989 was the last time the show attempted to try Vanessa/Ross... other then in 1993 when Blake felt insecure over Ross/Vanessa's close bond.

Maybe Martin/Smitty had marital issues.. and Martin went on the apps or found a male escort/hustler from Joey's business. However, the escort/hustler was perhaps straight and/or in denial for being gay.. and decided to rob Martin or perhaps tried to assault Martin and Martin fought back and killed them. However.. Martin thinking of the potential scandal derailing his future political goals called in his grand-dad and there was an agreement made between Martin/Bill/Elon/Marcel/Ted/Joey to keep it quiet.. an unholy alliance of sorts. And perhaps Kenneth was the brother of this escort and was paid off to not cause trouble.. but money ran out and is now back for revenge/bigger pay out. I recall one scene between Martin/Chelsea where he made it clear that he and Smitty weren't in an open relationship... but it didn't mean he didn't perhaps try to find someone on the down low for release... and Smitty perhaps was either too emeshed with the kids and/or kept his distance from Martin because of continually being shut out from the past.

The only thing I didn't like about the finale was reuniting Josh and Reva when the show had taken great pains over the last few years to show that they loved one another... but were no longer in love with one another. I always like to think that Jeffery ends up returning from the dead and throwing Josh/Reva's newfound coupledom out of the window.

Goutman didn't cry... he was viewed as an A-hole. Had he cried, people especially would have painted him as "less than". If the EP of a show is crying, that means they aren't right for the job. Wheeler was recruited most likely because she had directed scenes and episodes that showed she had the ability to direct.. and perhaps P & G hit two birds with one stone by elevating her as an EP as both an effective way to get someone for cheap and as a reward for being a loyal P & G employee. However... being a good/decent director doesn't mean you'll be a good Executive Producer. Directors are creative in a sense because they have to have a vision/imagination and the viewer sees that vision when watching the episode they're directing (I tend to think when watching an episode that I'm seeing the episode from the POV of the director). Executive Producers have to deal with budgets, performers gripes, and the production company/owners of the show they're running.

Me thinks Martin/Smitty have had problems in their marriage for awhile now.. and perhaps Martin did utilize some male company and things got a bit too rough/violent.. and Martin defended himself and the person ended up hurt/killed... or maybe Kenneth was that escort? It could explain the sexual undertone to his scenes with Martin. And maybe one of the reasons Martin didn't want Smitty to go back to work was because he knew Smitty would probably end up digging and finding out the secret. Just a theory.

Both Dani and Haley lack self worth

It's weird that I was ready for Kenneth and Martin to make out, but I know that isn't what I'm supposed to be feeling. Only proves you can't manufacture chemistry.. and a shame the actor wasn't cast as Derek. I hope the nugget revealed that Bill's mother passed isn't the show saying that Bill is a toxic masculine men because his mom passed...because if so.. so predictable. Especially since we've already witnessed that Naomi, and to a lesser extent Chelsea, have thrived because of his parenting to offset Dani's domineering tendency (inherited from mama Anita). I hope Nicole/Eva aren't revealed as mother/daughter because I think the complexity of their relationship is richer and having them slowly rebuild their former closer relationship and the success of that slow rebuilt will be richer if they aren't mother/daughter... but alas the show will probably pull out the soap opera trope that they're mother/daughter... same with Leslie/Kat.... when both pairings have created such interesting and strong scenes with the parent/child relationships already believed to be fact (Nicole/Kat and Leslie/Eva). Dani only has changed feelings toward Bill since the stroke only because she views herself as physically stronger/dominate over him. I doubt Dani is capable of actual unselfish love... due to the fact that she probably didn't get true parental love from at least Anita (who probably sees herself in Dani).

What weird uppercrust Transatlantic accent is she using today?

I think OC could do that and it would work.. because it's the OG so it would be going back to their roots. On the OC, I remember Gina and Heather going back to the East Coast since both were from there... and Gina's parents were warm and sweet while Heather's mom was.... well... you understood why Heather was the way she was LOL

I think P & G are only using BTG as a way to advertise their products... but aren't super involved in the day to day decisions of story/cast. Perhaps had P & G agreed to co-produce their soaps with another company and/or network.. maybe the budgets wouldn't have been cut as drastically and the quality would have been maintained a little longer.

In regards to the Chelsea/Madison story and people saying that the two are moving too fast, there is a stereotype within the LGBTQ+ community where when two cisgender females start to date.. that date #2 or date #3 will involve a Uhaul. In other words, F/F couplings tend to move at a lightening speed so I'm not at all surprised that the two have quickly moved into girlfriend territory... and Dani isn't helping that at all with her OTT fawning over the two. What would be an interesting element to take with the Chelsea/Madison story is to really lean in on the statistics that I've heard in regards to F/F couplings... which are that divorce rates are higher for F/F marriages and that domestic abuse is higher in F/F relationships then in M/F and M/M relationships. So I hope that the vibe I'm getting about Madison being 'too good to be true' does come to pass, but I have a feeling the show might not want to go there because there's little to no representation of LGBTQ couplings on daytime tv. And so far, the soap seems to be playing too safe, but it's also a brand new soap so I can understand them wanting to play it safe until they get more momentum. And also, Kat wanting to wait before sleeping with Tomas is actually more the norm for Gen Z women in 2025 so I do applaud the show for reflecting that reality... and having Eva basically indicate interest in Tomas will hopefully result in something happening with the triangle in the coming weeks/months.

If what she wrote about Ellen was true about crying, I don't blame Kim for being annoyed with that. You're the boss... you need to keep it together.. or else you need to resign so someone competent and in control of their emotions can take over as EP. And Kim's statement about preferring a male EP is more typical then not for women. I know that in the tech world, females younger then me will switch jobs in order to work for a male boss.

Housewives back in the day would sometimes only feature one, or two, housewives on a vacation without the other women. I think I recall on RHOBH, Camille in season 1 would be in Hawaii with all of her friends.. and she was so fascinating that it worked. I remember on RHOC in season 4... Tamra would go on trips with her hubby to see family, Gretchen went to a college reunion in Texas solo, and Vicki/Jeana would go on trips to Mexico with the kids.... and it was a lot of fun. So if Miami wants to feature Lisa/Larsa having a girls trip to Milan.... I say I'm all for it. Isn't there a rumor that they had a falling out during the season? If so, it's nice to see the fun times before the drama hits the fan LOL Poor Julia.... she is such a newbie when it comes to reading and/or stirring the pot. As Cynthia once said on Atlanta 'You gotta make sure the reads hit the people that need the reads... not all over the place.'.... Julia is aiming at the wrong person.

Locher has the knack for interjecting his cringe comments during odd terms of the interviews... especially when the person being interviewed is in the middle of telling a story, etc. And usually what he says hijacks the momentum of the interviews. The best interviews are the ones where the guests are interesting and/or conversational. One of my fav interviews was the one with the actresses that played Lesley and OG Morgan.. where the two hadn't worked with one another.. but were both very interesting and quirky. The most recent one he with the four performers from BTG was just so awkward and I had to exit watching the interview a few minutes into it. I thought to myself 'Alan... please find a different because a Youtube is not your forte.

It was about time the show gave Clifton Davis something to do beyond being a purse holder for Anita or giving speeches about the Duprees and family pride. Insecure people tend to talk about empires and kingdoms. Power corrupts and we all know that Vernon and Anita probably did some stuff that wasn't good in order to get that power. As the old saying goes 'Hate the game, not the people playing the game'.

I think the Dani/Bill/Hayley/Naomi/Chelsea situation has potential.. but it isn't giving 100 % because we're seeing the aftereffects of the story without seeing the build up nor climax. Going back to old school B & B, it would be like the show debuting right before Brooke/Eric were about to walk down the aisle without seeing the almost 4 years of backstory that lead to this moment. Just based on the few flashbacks we've gotten... Bill/Dani seemed to have a good rapport... Bill had a close relationship with Chelsea, etc. What we haven't gotten in flashback form is Bill/Hayley nor Hayley/Naomi. Contrast that with the Nicole/Ted/Eva/Kat/Silk Press Sheila story. While there was a lot of backstory/history to it... the show started the story off in the right place with Silk Press Sheila catching sight of Ted and start to form her plan in the first week of the show. The problem with the story has been the recasting of Ted.. which happened what after the anniversary party so we never saw NuTed and Nicole in a happy relationship in order to root for them to get back together. I view it as observing what happened to her aunt Dani.. and now what she's seeing her mother going through that has made her even more caution/fearful.