Soaplovers

I think that last thirty to thirty five episodes looked to have been written after the show had debuted and also I think Guza was shifting the story threads he was in charge of to a certain place for Tracy T to pick up. Guza's last episode credited (150) ended with a bang with the reveal of Randy/Hayley's connection and her true feelings for her loving hubby.. and Tract T's first episode involved the explanation for Hayley's about face. It was probably the best way to hand off the reigns of their tales to their replacement. I'm not sure how MVJ and her co-head-writer handle the duties of being co head-writers. I'm sure it varies based on the duo and their relationship to one another. To me, I think Guza was responsible for the Joey/Vanessa/Doug story, and possibly had the idea to tie Hayley to Randy.. and maybe came up with the idea of the men covering up the Vernon/Martin attack and murder. Those elements seem very Guza coded, and I'll be interested to see how his replacement will pick up those threads going forward. With that said, I still don't get the whole Naomi/Jacob pregnancy scare.. except to show that the two are polar opposites and that maybe opposites don't attract long term. I also wonder if Andre/Ashley are truly done. I'm thinking it's back burnered for the forseeable future since the Andre/Dani surprise marriage has a lot of mileage.. plus whatever backstory he has that involves him not wanting to have his photo taken (which could help explain why he was drawn to vanilla Ashley since she doesn't seem to be a social media person).

My guess is that he's hiding from someone/something that happened before he came to town though if he was that bashful about not having his picture being taken... he probably shouldn't be drinking to the point where he gets married in a chapel to someone well known and having that splashed on social media. Andre is what my late mom would describe as 'cute, but dumb'. I also laugh at the lack of planning Randy and Hayley are doing... . I hope the texting is being done on a burner phone and that the bartender is in on their plot. This is why you never deviate from what worked in the past. This sudden last minute shift in her usual plan is what will be Hayley's undoing. Also, Randy could have said he was using the name Sammy because he was in hiding from Joey. Vanessa would have backed up that story since she knew he was laying and would have made Dani more likely to believe him. Lastly.... I still think Pamela puts on that accent and persona as a cover for the real her. Back in the Edge of Night era, there was a female character that came on in the early 80s that appeared to be a high pitched voice and appeared to be a bimbo.. but turned out that she was the brains behind an organization and had a lower pitched voice. Perhaps Pamela goes back to her place, takes off the wig and reveals her real voice. Would be a nice twist down the line.

I think because she didn't have much of it, I don't think any significant harm will come to her... but I have a feeling that the blood sample that was drawn might come into play down the line.

On the one hand, i can view Nicole's decision partly based on how she watched her sister Dani continually accept being cheated on and ultimately dumped by her husband for a younger woman. So when Ted's infidelity came out, she was more upset with being lied to than anything else... but then when he slept with her again, she said 'Yeah... I'm not going to be my sister and be a doormat'. However, all that is thrown out the window with the way she was advising her daughter Kat... whose boyfriend cheated on her with her half-sister. I do think Nicole is an interesting character that seems to hold herself up to a higher standard of conduct/behavior.. yet encourages her daughter to give the boyfriend that cheated on her a second chance.

If Ted and Nicole had that push/pull type of connection then it wouldn't any different than the whole Bill/Dani dynamic. Having Ted/Nicole end their marriage, which seemed built on a flimsy house of cards, is probably best and seeing how the two function post divorce. Nicole had her interactions with Carlton and perhaps another future male character while Ted has had a few nice interactions with June that could grow into a nice friendship/casual dating situationship. I remember back when B & B started that there were instances where Stephanie Forrester was taking calls.. and viewers were led to believe that she was doing something romantic behind Eric's back and it eventually was revealed that she was nursing their long believed dead daughter Angela (which turned out to be an imposter).... so I'm assuming that whomever Vernon was talking to today isn't an affair.. but perhaps something else that is non romantic based (he has been shown taking calls and leaving suddenly so I have a feeling more will be revealed). I think the main reason why the last thirty to forty episodes seemed to be cooking was because the writers were starting to gear up for the end of the initial 200 episode pick up.. and I'm sure there was a plan in place if they didn't get an additional pick up. Also, I think Guza was nearing the end of his initial contract with BTG and he decided to move some plots to the next stage so that his replacement Tracy T would be able to pick up the threads and help plan the next stages of the story. I truly think that she'll handle the more detailed planning of the story with MVJ giving final approval. Mona bible thumping is another point against her.. and considering she's not married, not in a relationship, nor has a child... Nicole nor any other married/divorce person shouldn't listen to her.

I think the Articulate story was meant to give some backstory/focus on Anita.. to show that she wasn't the influential person she made herself out to be, and also to provide a sort of karma to Anita by way of SPS. And I think the Martin/Smitty situation was too quickly resolved with the two getting back together without solving any of the issues that put them in the situations they were in. Although it is realistic that people break up/reunite.. rinse/lather/repeat (ala Brittani and Jared on RHOSLC), but it can get annoying after awhile. Also I was venturing onto Threads/Instragram.. and peeps were wondering/gossiping about Hayley and debating on what is coming next and how excited they were. Most were also anti-Naomi and thought Jacob is a saint to put up with her LOL Power of social media

I think they should have Izaiah be an actual ladies man and just test him out with all the women... with it up in the air who his end game is.

I wonder if the blood test Ashley is going to have run for Naomi might pick up on that substance (if Hayley in fact did something to the cupcake), or if the pregnancy test generally doesn't pick up on things like that?

Hayley was working from a place of emotion... emotion makes one stupid. Even her cuz was saying that she shouldn't deviate from the plan.

I remember seeing her as a supporting character in the gothic classis Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman.. and later as the other woman in State of the Union starring Hepburn/Tracy. It was a shock to my system seeing sweet Mrs Fletcher playing such different characters and then seeing her in the epic mini series Lace and the heartwarming The Gift of love: A Christmas Story... and it just sealed in my mind that she could play any character and play them well.

I actually thought Cady had modulated her voice and performance today and was acting more like a normal human instead of a caricature. Ah, but you forget that Hayley is pressed because Dani is not exiting stage left so she's become annoyed and anxious. Haste makes waste after all.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DP4QQROAKae/ Just look at him on mute and that's all I will say

If she and Jacob truly didn't want to be parents.. then either she or Jacob needed to ensure that a baby couldn't be conceived (i.e. tubes tied and/or vasectomy). To be honest, both of them have far too much baggage to be good parents.

With everyone questioning the timeline for Hayley making inroads into the Dupree family and how they assumed she had known the family for a long time. I think we just assumed that, but Derek had previously mentioned that he/Ashley were just getting to know her when the whole affair with Bill went down. And it has been stated that Ashley had known Naomi for a long time and that Derek/Jacob had been friends for a long time... so had Hayley been in the picture a long time, Derek/Ashley would have known her better. Also, did we all forget how quickly Naomi helped June out? It was a mere few months and now June is making friends with the other Duprees so I can buy Hayley being quickly welcomed with open arms into the Dupree family. Also, remember that Nicole hired Eva as her personal assistant and quickly treated her like part of the family all because of a good reference from Mona. And let's remember that Mona had only known SPS and Eva for at least a year or so. I think the Duprees are to blame for all these grifters and cons being pulled on them because they're too trusting. You'd think they would be a little more leery of June considering what Hayley/Ted/Eva all have pulled on them LOL

I was tipped off awhile back that something seemed off with the timeline of when Hayley entered the orbit of Bill and the Duprees.. and it was during that random scene between Hayley and Derek. Hayley was doing her song and dance about missing the friendship she had with Derek/Ashley/Naomi/Jacob, being on group chats, etc... and I remember Derek saying 'Well Ashley and I were just getting to know you when everything happened.' before he gave her advice on finding new friends/people to hang out with and that it would make her happier if she did.... and I saw Hayley regroup and later thanked Derek for the advice. At the time, I wondered if maybe a small part of her felt something for all of her marks... and Derek's small dose of reality knocked her back to the reality that she had a job/con to do. Also, @Veeearlier mentioned how islanded Derek/Ashley are.. and I have to agree. It seems as though the show keeps wanting to keep them on an island when there have been opportunities to connect them to others. To me, the best scenes Ashley (Jen Jacobs) has had were between Ashley and Hayley during their sit down conversation, and Ashley knowing something was off with Hayley not having a sonogram... and the slight cat and mouse between the two dancing when they interacted. Unpopular opinion, but Ashley should have been more involved in the Hayley stuff, the Doug stuff, and the SPS/Laura situation since she does work at the hospital and interacted with those characters. Instead she's shackled to Andre/Derek instead of being involved in other stories. Lastly... I also recall Bill wanting Hayley to quit her job and stay home.. and she refused. She was wanting to be where the action is (the law firm).. and wanting to keep her side hustle (receptionist/paralegal) while she waited for pay out. And now the lawsuit from the three women claiming Hayley was given special treatment and got the job one of the women applied for now makes more sense. Hayley probably scheduled to get that promotion as part of her plans for Bill.

Rewatching the episode now that I'm done with work and my ears perked up when Hayley stated that she should have gone for Joey Armstrong as her mark instead of Bill. Doubt he would have been any easier than Bill... but more to blackmail him on if things got dicey. And did we know in the past that Hayley knew about what happened to the busboy that went after Martin and Vernon... or was that another reveal today?

I think Zaslow being escorted out really threw a wrench into whatever plans the writers had in place in 1997 for Roger/Holly/Fletcher/Amanda. There was a few months where the recast was with Amanda, making eyes at Holly, while Holly/Fletcher had tensions because she kept letting Roger back into their lives. I even remember during the Annie Dutton trail where Holly and Roger were arguing about Blake and her role in the whole mess.. and he quickly kissed her leaving Holly visibly shocked/shaken before he left. I have a feeling that the writers at the time were still writing Roger with the belief that eventually Zaslow might return.. or that the recast would be accept. At the time, I also remember that the Vicky story was being talked about in 1997 before Vicky was introduced.. and it looked as though Roger/Amanda was going to play a part in it. In fact, I did enjoy the Amanda vs Annie scenes that did end up airing... but most of 1997 for those characters seemed like it was just scenes with no follow through.

The story is kind of murky, but I do believe that Hayley has been around the family for only a few years. She also played the poor little orphan card, which endeared her to Dani/Bill and to savior Naomi. I remember Derek mentioning to Hayley during their one interaction that he and Ashley were just starting to get to know Hayley so that tells me that perhaps it hasn't been more than two or three years that Hayley has focusing her energy on her mark. I also remember one scene earlier in the show's run during the wrongful termination lawsuit that Hayley knew instantly who to go to of the three and she was working her magic on her. Had Naomi not walked in, I think Hayley would have succeeded in getting at least one of the three plantiff's to drop her portion of the lawsuit. There have been moments that Hayley has shown that she's smarter than she's let on, and since Randy is her cousin... I'm guessing she might have some idea about what is going on with the whole Martin situation... and perhaps other situations with Joey/Vanessa, etc. And even though she would leave the room whenever anyone came to talk to Bill, I have a feeling she was listening and/or made sure that she could hear everything she needed to hear. Lastly, this episode highlighted the big difference between SPS and Hayley. SPS is delusional and her plots usually like cohesive planning and are known to be impulsive (Eva has mentioned this a few time) while Hayley looks to have been playing the long game.

They would need to start at the beginning of 1989 in order to get to the good stuff in the 2nd half of 1989. So what if Don Stewart was a bit egotistical, what performer isn't? Mckinsey was certainly a bit egotistical herself.. same as Zimmer. Floyd/Katie were a good sibling team and I'm surprised Marland didn't really explore the sibling relationship/backstory of the two. I know he came in during the last months of the Dobson era so who knows what they would have done with him had they stayed on beyond December 1979.

The character of Hayley has always kind of fascinated me because she has been a case of contradictions... and today we found out why that is With that said, the actress playing Hayley has managed to accomplish something that impresses me.... she manages to have scene chemistry with everyone she shares scenes, but the two main people in her story (Dani and Bill).

Hayley showing some backbone... about time. I did think the sweet act was all an act, but I'm hoping she has an axe to grind against Bill and not the Duprees. Bill is a lawyer, one that isn't known for being ethical and winning at all costs... perhaps one of his cases caused the death of Hayley's parents. And it does put into context that brief scene between Hayley and SPS where Hayley was putting on the sweet act with SPS knowing that Hayley wasn't being authentic and knew they were in the same boat.

https://www.instagram.com/donovan.yaqo/

Problem is that they're styled younger and act younger/immature vs how people acted like the 80s/90s. Some of the styling was a lot better in the 80s and 90s.

In the Riley Sager fandom... Home Before Dark and Lock Every Door usually compete for most favorite. I liked it just fine.

Riley Sager always knows how to write a mystery... even it's horrible and/or over the top... his books are very readable. I would describe him as a Ron C of mystery thrillers.