I thought today was a good episode. But in the grand scheme of RC breakdowns, I liked his second one more. Things that stood out as RCisms was the thankfully very brief mention of the cat story that people didn't even like from his first breakdown, Dani's little jump excitement as she ran up the stairs which made me think of moments from his other shows, and we know I love Nosy Nurse and she saved all of it due to the actress playing her so please don't stone me, but how she was in the episode echoed (slightly thank God) OldRecipe Brad on GH and what I know of Leo on DAYS. But again...the character has already been established as Nosy Nurse and the actress has the best ability of elevating everything she's in. In fact, if it was those aforementioned characters, it would have been sillier. Nosy Nurse can be that way, too, but the actress perfectly grounded it in reality. THAT is a skill.
I think what I liked about this episode is the fact that everything was moving nicely. It does seem like this week is going to be about the lawsuit and its dynamics among the Duprees and Andre's drama though. I like the former, but I know there are going to be problems with the latter.
I love that we are getting to see more of Naomi. I realized today that I guess I haven't gotten quite a feel on her outside of the other third generation Duprees. But seeing her in work mode, I really enjoy her and what it reveals about her character. She was giving a bit of Olivia Pope with some Christine Blair today, and I didn't mind it. I'm really looking forward to Father vs Daughter. They feel evenly matched. Meanwhile, the subplot with her man and the corrupt cop(?) continue. And them having individual stories is really allowing for them to be rootable as the first together couple we saw in the first episode.
Chelesa vs Hayley was great, too. Chelesa got all the good licks in on her. And I honestly like seeing Hayley get out of the bubble she's been in with only Bill and Dani by interacting with others. First Naomi which was long overdue and now Chels. Go on. Will she be able to repair any rift between Bill and Chelesa/Naomi? Time will tell. And then Chelesa having to have a firm hand with Mommy Dearest. Watch that girl grow.
Dani, Dani, Dani. So much one step forward, two steps back with her. I honestly felt like she really wanted to help Chelesa. And it seem like Chelesa got through to her why she can't. And then she was tempted by the drink. And then she got that call from Bill. And then I rolled my eyes cuz I knew she was going to take that the wrong way. And not helped by how easily her and Bill go into their old roles as husband/wife. And the fact that Bill can when he is newly married is soooo telling. And God, Timon and Karla have great chemistry. And don't think I didn't notice how they were sat at the beginning of the reminiscing. Cuz by the end, their legs were touching. And I gasped and shook my head when Dani kissed him.
I'm sure I'll feel differently later, but I felt today was the first time I was annoyed with Ashley. I think for me, while the start of Andre/Ashley has been nicely paced. Now...it felt very paint-by-numbers. I did like that Derek verbalize his jealousy to Jacob. But, like I said earlier, the show flowed smoothly without them so having them back...at the moment...felt like a clunker storyline. Not even Nosy Nurse could save it. And she was the best part of their storyline.
Ooooo cool!