DynamiteKiddo

This really made me lol 🤣

Damn, I feel bad for MM. No one will be treated as unceremoniously as Matt Ashford, but she’s getting up there. I think it’s time to cut our loses with Gwen, even though EO’B is fab. But I’m so disappointed about Belle—they need to figure it out with her… and I thought she had a great 2022 between Jan, EJ, and all the Shelle drama.

And tried to light her other cousin (the show’s premiere young heroine) on fire after stealing her baby after killing the midwife. (But RC doesn’t talk about that lol.) But she really thinks Eve is a f-ing b for not getting over him killing her daughter. The treatment of this couple was such a reckless, arrogant miscalculation of RC’s.

I’m so glad Kristen filmed during the pickups. She was a true psycho and the fallout of Jax/Kristen in s3 was the show at its absolute best… but even though she was truly out of her mind and drunk (& probably high) all the time and chose to rebound with JAMES, I always felt sorry for her… she was humiliated by Tom & Arianna and she was held accountable by Stassi and Katie (and everyone else + the audience) in ways that Jax NEVER was. Seeing her support Arianna will be surreal but probably one of the more poignant full-circle moments on Bravo.

Raquel is probably more cunning than we ever thought, but I do think she is hilariously stupid. She misspeaks as much as RHoNY’s Ramona lolol. I agree about Tom & Arianna. In the beginning, I wasn’t rooting for them as much I was rooting against Kristen (though she is an absolute treasure for this show lol). But somewhere along the way, I accepted that they seemed to settle into what felt like a very practical commitment (I always wondered if it was, in fact, an open relationship). Arianna’s vibe was always off for the show, but I guess I delighted in how crazy she made Kristen, Stassi, and Katie… I guess this is the kind of guilty pleasure show that I used to love in its heyday, but I pretty much always thought the cast were horrible, unlikeable people. Arianna made everyone sweat, which I appreciated. LaLa brings the fire but she's as much of a trash person as Jax and James. lolol about being with James being one hell of a sacrifice 🤣🤣🤣

I think it was in episode 2 when Raquel was being messy with/about Peter & Tom Schwartz, warning Allie (I think it’s Allie?? lol) about James, finding out about James/LaLa, crying to LVP about being in love with James still, etc… and I was all like oh $h!t, when did she become the legit main character of this show?!? Biggest cast member turnaround ever. And now with Scandoval, she’s legendary lol. But we’ll see if they try to ice her out. She & Tom Sandoval can be on an island next year, but that can only work for so long. But they did blow up the show, for better and perhaps worse if everyone short-sightedly alienates them. They can’t afford to lose this momentum after the show being on the fritz for years. Perhaps rebuilding the show around Raquel (and James) would be wise. Re.: Ariana… she can be boring, but in the beginning, I loved how her chill vibe contrasted the witches (and she SO got under their skin!) and Scheana really needed a girlfriend. They’re an unlikely pair and their friendship has ebbed and flowed over the years, but they’ve remained loyal to each other. Arianna’s biggest problem is that she’s always thought she’s better than everyone… and that hubris is likely making her feel even more stupid rn. Scandoval gives her a built-in storyline, and I think she’ll take it and do much more with it than, like, Katie, or even LaLa, is now. This will likely re-energize everyone. I also loved that Ariana, during the early TomTom planning stages, REALLY wanted to say that LVP and Ken had no right to be on their high horse and make so many demands of the Toms when they were cashing in on their name and that they (the VPR cast) catapulted the restaurants into the tourist destinations they became. But I don’t think you could break the fourth wall like that back then like Jax did in that one finale (his power play to LVP obviously was much ado about nothing with the Faith scandal shortly following). It’s wild how LVP & Ken still thought (think??) the “kids” were lackeys after being the biggest thing on Bravo. And @Cheap21, I totally agree that Raquel working at SUR (real or not) really keeps the original premise alive and makes the ambiance of the restaurant make sense and feel fresh again. I don’t know if this was a happy accident, but if producers knew ahead of the season to position as her the main character, they’re geniuses.

Even without Scandoval, this has been a real renaissance season for VPR… and Raquel is easily the breakout star. She was lifelessly vapid for years, but she has beyond come into her own and has the (seemingly) genuine messiness of the earlier seasons. She’s getting paid the least, but should be getting the most. However, with Scandoval, she’s totally morally bankrupt… and Jax weathered that, but it nearly destroyed Kristen’s place on the show. We’ll see if everyone understands that they need the Bravo check and that this has catapulted the show back to prime pop culture relevance and play with Rachel & TomSan, or if they get iced out by the cast next year… And even though this is humiliating and may wreck her financially, this is obviously the best thing that could have happened to Arianna, who’s always been my fav., but probably wishes she were more humble (about her relationship with Tom) over the years.

I’ve rewatched this recently and I was blown away by the whole thing… the dialogue was fire during the Sheffer era (though the stories were not lol) and coupled with Ed Scott’s production—in retrospect it’s like a golden era lolol.

I don’t think what we’re seeing right now was written for Peacock… these eppys are produced for Peacock. I haven’t been watching so I can’t comment on the change in production or if the show is being staged “sexier.” Once the eppys that were written and produced for Peacock, I think we can expect real changes and many tiresome in-jokes in the dialogue about the changes.

She probably did bring it up lol. This time, Brandi should have, if that’s what happened. These women think they can go back into the fire and not get burned?!? Like how did Phaedra and Vicky get out of addressing how they left their shows in disgrace, etc. on Ex-Wives s1?!? Lolol However, Brandi is a tricky subject. She is sooo desperate to be on Bravo that she will truly bring it… she’ll keep everything moving, but she takes it way too far and alienates herself from everyone. And then no one will film with her. And she also obviously can’t drink—she’s simply just not in control of herself, and this isn’t the environment for that because of all the triggers. Like I’m sure she can get wasted around her real friends, like NY’s Kristen, and just be fun and crazy… but around these other Housewives where there is legit sabotage and paranoia happening, she just loses it.

So sad about AW—she was so standout on GH, and that summer ‘07 when she was banging Sonny was the only time I remember thinking almost all of Guza’s GH was good.

Yikes! Lol! Ty for posting

I think both families were very successfully integrated into the show. On the flip side, the next iteration of the Johnson prototype was the Walker family… who didn’t take off. However, we never could’ve known then that Nicole would, many years later, become one of the show’s more successful female leads.

This really feels like the Between Heaven and Hell arc before the ABC OLTL finale, which I loved… this will not live up to the original lolol.

Ty!

Is he a series regular? “Days” screwed the pooch so bad here. He should be leading the new produced and written-for Peacock eppys with the other younger characters. Anyway, very happy for his success! But very sad for myself that his Sonny is no longer locked on contract!

Even though I understand the recent episodes have been thoughtfully constructed, I still have no desire to watch. But is Nicole going to have sex with EJ after inadvertently being drugged by Stefan?!? This is another example of RC taking $h!t way too far and, no, this is not a clever example of a domino effect connecting disparate storylines. Speaking of (esp. piggybacking off the Leo discussion upthread), how counter is it to RC’s desperate agenda to have (shamelessly whitewashed) STEFAN give someone a form of the date rape drug?!? Is he trolling or stupid?? From what I understand, Eric/Nicole are still getting really thoughtful character writing with just enough plot weaved in (but holy hell, I didn’t forget 2009-12—Nicole should be nowhere EJ!!!). I could care less about this dying/notHeaven/devil crap. And I’m very confused why we’re revisiting Johnny/Chanel… I don’t know what to say about RC’s agenda for Allie or speculate on his potential biases against bi people… but after being a great shot in the arm in her initial story revealing her pregnancy with Nicole, Allie has been a total disaster… she has absolutely no discernible or consistent character traits and it’s a shame because I like LA and really appreciate the Chanel/Allie relationship. But, seriously, this character has only served as a checklist ranging from pregnant by rape to first soap bisexual 3sum to DEMONIC POSSESSION… and hella other crap in between. It’s crazy.

So honestly, I’ve only watched like a handful of eppys since Clyde was revealed as Abby’s murderer… nothing has interested me since. But I’ve popped in for things like the Rafe/Nicole/Eric/Jada climax (it’s amazing how much EJ has elevated this story) and Christmas. This orchid story and the Alex/Stephanie/Chad (Abigail Klein is actually fab and she’s being beyond wasted here) triangle are beyond DOA for me… buuuT, and please don’t mistake this for any personal enjoyment on my part lol, the cellphone shenanigans is one of the better mixups this show has done. It’s not really all that convoluted (I acknowledge it’s weird this responsibility was put on Chad lol) and is such high stakes with serious consequences. And they completely bulldozed through it. LOL And wtf Kate’s urn?!? Did Arianna and Henry bedazzle that or was it Roman…? I’m not even curious how they’re gonna undo this $h!t. ITA with everything!!! But I don’t for a second think Kate’s dead. But she may die when she sees her urn!

This is heartbreaking. RIP.

JA’s Eric was such a nondescript younger hero… his self-destructive pull to Nicole was probably the most complex thing about him, lol. I so fondly recall Lucas/Nicole/Eric/Greta because that was climaxing when I started watching. So I think with GV’s Eric—in the beginning, he was really just a foil for Nicole . . . and the forbidden priest. It was all about her, never him. Then after the rapetape at the Brady/Kristen wedding, there was a real opportunity to do a much meatier, longer crisis of faith and downward spiral. But I honestly don’t remember much until the $h!t with Serena & Xander, which eventually involved Daniel because the show idiotically accommodated AZ & SC’s wishes for art to imitate life (seriously this was insane for TomSell as they had spent their entire tenure with Daniel/Jennifer and Eric/Nicole front burner). Then Eric was backburner’d being a goofy drunk until he killed Daniel. So what I loved about the post-Daniel stuff was that we got 2 holier than thou, very controlled characters start to recklessly unravel and lie and just be so messy. I loved that iteration of Eric/Jenn. But it was very backburner and very dark during maybe the show’s darkest period. And even though I hated losing GV, Eric leaving for Statesville on the “on location” bus with the shaky cam was sooo poignant, esp. contrasted with how he returned as a wide-eyed priest a few years earlier. Since his 2017 return, apart from his relationships with Jenn (which I thought was lovely, but not like Major obvs.) and Sarah (which was not lovely lolol), his whole story has been “will they or won’t they??” with Nicole. And it hasn’t had to be… he should be wrestling with all his betrayals and his hero complex should be actually examined, rather than just being a source of Nicole’s insecurity and frustration. And I appreciate having him go dark rn… but RC is majorly screwing it up! I know we hated Daniel, but Eric and The Town, for God knows WHAT reasons, LOVED Daniel Jonas… having him flippantly, drunk or not, talk about driving drunk was a LOT and Nicole should have been feeling some kind of way! Also trashing Belle and doubling down on it was a weird choice, obviously just to get him with Sloan lol. This is as subtle as a brick so far and it’s unfortunate. I’m also really disturbed that the show is legitimately blaming Nicole for Jada choosing to have an abortion for like really sound reasons . . . But there was talk upthread about Eric’s family relations, or lack thereof. Ya, you guys, I don’t really feel it. He has nice moments with his parents, but it’s not a connection I really feel. His scenes with his sisters are fine. I do like him opposite other family members, like Allie, Kayla, Steph, Theresa, etc. The one family relation that I do think is REALLY earned and good is with Brady . . . probably because there is sooo much history, hurt, and love there. The show has invested so much in this relationship and it’s really paid off.

It sucks. The story obviously has a lot more meat with Sami around, but even when she’s off-screen, her specter always looms large enough that she’d still be a factor. They could have got Belle real dirty and put her in the thick of everything at DiMansion (they seemed to forget this in 2022, but she and Chad are really close friends and even though she finds time to represent everyone, she’s supposed to be one of DE’s top lawyers) . . . it would have caused sooo much conflict with J&M, Sami’s kids, etc. And all the while she’d be making angsty flirty eyes with Shawn, who should still be believing he’s the father of Jan’s baby (the only king-term consequences from The Possession 2.0). And Shawn could have moved on with Jada or something—someone who he has more in common with who would put him first. The only problem is that this kind of repeat behavior would make Shawn literally crazy and stupid to take Belle back AGAIN. But who am I kidding, if this story actually progressed RC would have tortured us all by making Shawn & JAN a legit couple! Ahhhhh lolol.

ITA about Eric & Nicole. So I’ll admit that I’ve honestly never been a real fan (I prefer Nicole with Brady), but objectively, they have some of the best “big” moments of any couples since GV assumed the role 10 years ago. But their stories seem to really drag, but when they climax, they REALLY climax lol. I also think Ari Zuker is easily one of the best actresses on this show ever and GV is one of my favorite soaphunks. I do accept that Eric & Nicole are obviously endgame, so I hope they figure out how to keep them fresh. (Eric & Nicole taking Ali in was really promising before GV left.) Re.: Jada… While I acknowledge that the baby would’ve provided a lot of long-term story (assuming AZ and GV stick around, which has been Eric & Nicole’s real problem since RC’s premiere in 2017) . . . I hope this isn’t a fake out. This is an important story beat that should be told and I appreciate that it’s not being made into an event. I thought Lulu’s abortion on GH was very poignant, but that was 16 years ago. This is a very different moment and I hope we don’t spend too much time ruminating on this… I know this is a polarizing issue, but I think it would be really commendable if this were not treated as teachable or regrettable. Remember when JER punished Mimi for getting an abortion with infertility?!? (Which RC undid.) Anyway, piggybacking off my comment about AZ & GV’s revolving contract status… it really sucked that GV left in 2020, even after they begged him to stay because this Rafe situation is horrible. I understand the show is like really committed to Ari Zuker and they gave Galen another shot… I get all the reasons they paired them, but the triangle with Ava was horrible and the quad with Eric & Jada was equally painful. I’m thrilled Nicole is free of boring, goofy a$$ Rafe, but Rafe was really good to her since he pretended to be her baby’s father and this all just doesn’t feel good. And not in like a good, complicated, soapy way… like in a Nicole sucks kinda way; Eric, too. And it’s all because of casting issues. Their reunion scenes a couple weeks ago were awesome and the confrontation over Jada was as good, but they need to transition to a new story that isn’t SOOO muddled. On Shawn & Belle… yeah tptb obviously don’t care, which is crazy because they were the A couple until they got fired the first time. I actually think they’re used well in this limited capacity, but I’d love to see their roles expanded. Unfortunately their brief front burner stint with Jan and EJ (HOW did that end so soon?!?), while so soapy good, just reinforced that Belle is a forever fickle cheater who just can’t/won’t commit all the way to Shawn. Which is the most interesting part of her character, but it doesn’t do anything for S&B’s supposed true love (which I do think they have). Shawn is the one who really suffers from a lack of investment and characterization since the 2015 return. As you mentioned, his absence in BS2 SCREAMED of utter neglect by tptb.

Rest In Peace. This one really hurts, he’s someone who I feel I’ve really grown up with.

Nnnoooooooooo!

I agree. @victoria foxton, I haven’t seen today’s eppy yet, but from the picture, I’m thinking Sloane’s place is the set they use for Basic Black, which also used to be Eli & Lani/JJ’s apartment and Stevano & Gina’s liar.