I co-sign on THIS. Perfect analysis of the situation. (in my opinion)
Even though I'm couple of episodes back... I'm pretty much on the same page as you. My main issue is that the show is very inconsistent episode to episode. I'm starting to dread the periods after their "culminations", because they don't know what to do and they flatline every time. A lot of the characters are under-developed. Ashley is the least of their problems. They have no freaking idea who she is. The bigger issue is that... the caricatures have taken over. Dani is like a pit of soap opera cliches... and Dana is just... fading away into joke territory. She's not menacing at all. I said that was my biggest fear months ago and people told me I shouldn't worry. TMG is still awesome, I can say that.
I'm still not ready to forget about BTG... but I'm praying for improvement. One thing I can say though... even in their most dull, they are better than Bold. But so are commercials for diapers and Ozempic on CBS, so that's not a real compliment. Don't hate me, y'all. I'm trying to see the positive. 😂