GLATWT88

Well babes, I am living for this comment...gave me a good chuckle.

I have grown to like Hayley so much more since her true intentions were finally revealed. I crack up every time she gets annoyed, even more so with the goody two-shoes like Naomi and Ashley. Something so satisfying about seeing her disgust and their sympathy or concern. Like mind your business. I don't want your performative acts of pity.

I am holding onto faith that this cotillion storyline will be explosive and will actually be the convergence of several storylines with a big climax. Here's hoping @Taoboi theory about May is correct and we get what we have been waiting for, otherwise these stories seem to be spinning their wheels - lots of exposition but not actually going anywhere. @DramatistDreamer I get what you are saying about not seeing all those scenes leading up to the cotillion and that would have been lovely to see because it is something this soap is severely lacking - showing not telling. However, budgets are not what they once were so I am being hopeful they may be saving their pennies to really make this cotillion eventful for viewers by pulling all the stops. I just don't want to get too hopeful and be let down like Winterfest which was a total bust.

That would be good soap. Doug confronting her ass at the cotillion and making it known to all of high society what trash she really is. Then Vanessa would have to claw her way back into the gates - might have to make good with Hayley and Leslie otherwise.

Vanessa playing Joey seems unlikely from everything that went down. I only did think it was possible around the time Doug died, because I, at the time, didn't think Doug was dead. I assumed he had been tipped off by Randy and either he or Doug told Vanessa. Then, Vanessa had to keep up the act while Doug plotted revenge. However, as already mentioned as more time has gone on, it does seem less likely that Doug is plotting some comeback to bring down Joey.

I have held onto the idea that Doug isn't dead from the beginning. There was no body and everything around it seemed rushed from the accident to the funeral. My assumption was that either Doug was tipped off by Randy and is plotting to get revenge. I also at one point thought Doug and Vanessa might be in on it together to take down Joey, but the way Nasty 'Nessa has been acting it would be hard to believe.

Does she? Maybe I am biased, but I feel like Kat is usually initiating the bad blood between them. Well aside from Eva sleeping with her man.. oop

I am so glad that Kat got someone new to Nancy Drew, because I actually enjoyed the character and totally understood her POV, but she became a little less likable to me when she kept going after Eva every chance she got when Eva was essentially ignoring her. I am all for Kat not liking Eva and feeling hurt that the rest of her family seems to have forgotten everything she did so quickly, but the petty and incessant jabs is giving obsessed and Kat shouldn't be that girl. Wasn't his mother addicted to plastic surgery and that's what essentially did her in - bad surgery? I agree with @ranger1rg and I see a few other members posted the same sentiments as well. As I was watching it, I did feel uneasy about the way that Eva was essentially painting Joey as this savior. We don't have the full picture yet as to why there is so much resentment between Izaiah and his dad or why Joey of all people would be so invested in his well being. However, it makes little sense that Joey of all people was the only one invested in him. As was already mentioned, it seemed like Izaiah struggled to fit in with his family's ideals and his dad's expectations so he rebelled. Yet, he had a mother and brothers who seemed to care for him. My hope is that Joey isn't as innocent as they are painting him and the only reason he invested in Izaiah was because he allowed him some sort of connection to Elon. I hate to say this but it is giving artist to close to art again. I feel like someone may be too fond of Jon and they writing is going somewhere that is problematic. Not because a white man helped a young black kid get his life together, but because it is painting his black family members as unwilling, incompetent, or even absent when that is not the case.

Yes! I was like come on Kat let's see you dig up that dirt on Lynette and Hayley. It was fun.

I'm glad Kat has something to do besides hate on Eva and be jealous of Chelsea. She was becoming insufferable as someone who is miserable in her own life so has to be mad and petty at others. Also, the romance with Tomas just isn't there. Tomas just needs to be her monotone gay best friend that works at her uncle's firm - I'm over his ass. Now, Kat can go on and do her little Nancy Drew-ing and put two and two together on Hayley since Bill can't seem to figure it out. Naomi is just dumb. I get she misses her man, but do you want him killed? The fact you are getting a response on a burner should suffice. Martin (Lawrence) and (Will) Smitty are supposed to be giving relationship drama, but I really don't care. Maybe that can blow up at the cotillion too.

I can't really speak to that as I personally don't know any TV writers, soap or otherwise. However, from the creative output that continues to come out and flourish in other mediums, I would say that creativity is still pretty high. Soaps seem to have stagnated long ago for a number of reasons I am not going to outline here now. I want to preface this next part by saying that I thank MVJ for putting a new soap on our screens, in particular on network TV in this century. If you had ask me even a few years ago, before the announcement of BTG, I would have told you with certainty that a new soap would never see the light of day on network TV ever nor would a soap in a traditional format ever see life on streaming either. She has done something unprecedented in many ways. Furthermore, I do not think MVJ should be kicked off her show or be let go of or whatever the conversation was in previous pages. I honestly don't even know what that whole conversation was about since I am usually catching up these days and tend to skim many comments so don't always get the full picture. Now, I do think MVJ is an artist that may be too close to her art. Hence, why we have characters that probably should have been let go for lack of craft (AA), other characters that seem to have gone "safe" when they were originally presented with more of an edge, and then others that seem to face no consequence at all. I think AA is self-explanatory. As for character being safe, Bill is one that comes to mind. At first, Bill was painted a lot more ruthless. He was actually quite vicious with making Dani and the Duprees attend his wedding - even the way he went about it was vindicative and dark. Now, he is a whole big teddy bear who is easily duped by his barbie wife. We hardly seen him question her off behavior and while I do think we are headed that way, it would have been nice to see it build over time. Then, we have characters like Leslie who roam around interacting with everyone like they don't already believe she tried to kill Laura. Leslie should have gone away for some time by now and this coming from one who thinks TMG is brilliant, but her having no redemption yet and just going around town acting crazy is wearing thin. She is also all over the place. One day she seems like a vindictive lunatic and the next she is running around begging people for favors. I can see how venturing on this new and exciting thing can make everyone feel like family. These people have all created a bond, but its business not personal and sometimes you have to let people go and wish them the best elsewhere...looking at AA.

I can respect that, but it is no longer the 60s or 70s. Viewers are more conditioned to watching TV, we know what to expect and can "read the room" more quickly. It is part of the reason that scenes in film and TV have also shortened and well attention span plays a role as well. I feel like pacing is a big issue as was mentioned above and some stories are played out in a way that by the time they peak, I don't care as much or at all anymore.

Just finished Friday's episode and one thing that confuses me about Leslie's shouse remodel is how tacky and garrish it all sounds. This is a gated community we are talking about. Surely there are stricter rules around construction and the appearance of homes. How did she even get any of it approved?

Some thoughts of the past couple episodes. I have to agree with everyone commending Anita's storyline as it's really well done. When I initially read the comments praising the Anita and Bill scene, I was skeptical because I have read praise on here for other things that turned out IMO to be a dud. However, this was not the case. The Anita scenes with Bill/Vernon/Monica/her daughters have all just been wonderful. It is a bit heavy at times and I wish there was something to counter this storyline. I am hoping they add another family. It would balance things out a bit more - especially on an hourlong soap. Jacob really is the dumbest cop. First, he tells Smitty he can call him Jacob instead of Rashad. This man doesn't even want to live at home in fear that he will be followed, but he is okay with dropping the act right where he crosses paths with plasma ring guys? You would think a undercover cop would be smarter than letting his guard down in such a vulnerable spot. Then, in another scene he blurts out or makes reference to being a cop. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Also, couldn't they have chosen another place for Smitty and Jacob to have their lovers quarrel. They're having their spat in the most suspicious of places. They both look ridiculous. I was living for Lynette and Hayley being amused over Randy going to church. Hayley desperately needed a friend and as I've mentioned I do like Lynette. I hope whatever she has cooking doesn't make her irreparable and she can stay on canvas.

Speaking about the onset, will anything come out of this review board at Bill's firm? I assumed this would have been the first sweeps story on BTG and the ball was seriously dropped. It was such a miss when there was no trial putting Bill and his daughter Naomi face to face. I totally get that budget limitations didn't allow for a courtroom set, but to develop this story and end on a whimper with a boring settlement was such a missed opportunity. Especially when there was a lot drama to mine here and they gave us very little of it There was still so much tension between Bill and his daughter's at this point and ideally his stroke should have happened during the trial. It would have been perfect soap. So, no budget - no courtroom. Fine. However, the show introduces us to three diverse women who could have been fierce and fun characters, but they are all gone. There is a review board created as part of the settlement. Bill has Tomas snoop or sit in or maybe be part of said board. I don't remember the exact details. It is brought up in conversation a few times. Yet we never see Tomas doing said snooping or sitting in on these meetings. Was this board stuff supposed to go somewhere, was it dropped, or will it come up later? On the side note, what is going on with this poisoning? Our girl Hayley is poisoning Bill but then she's not. She doesn't want to have a baby with Bill and freaks out and goes to Randy about it. They go to St. Barts for one day and she now wants a baby. At least that's what she tells Bill although a few episodes before she was crying and saying she wasn't ready. Like I need to know what Hayley is thinking. It is obvious she doesn't want Bill's baby but what is her motivation for now telling him yes. Where is she going with all this?