janea4old

yeah I spoke too soon. Smitty understands about the past two years ago and the cover-up and the nightmares and the plastic surgery and ALL of that. But Smitty is now upset because ---- Martin didn't warn Smitty and the kids after Martin realized Kenny the busboy was the guy from that night and has been in town for weeks.

Martin told Smitty everything! Smitty understands, as I knew he would!

In my opinion there was no need for p*rn or escort services as a "twist" to make the storyline "exciting". This was about a hate crime and that shouldn't be diluted with sensationalism.

Okay Martin is finally telling Smitty everything! And ... commercial. Glad I'm watching live but. Will watch again later on Pplus without commercials so I can see it straight through.

Martin knows this is all to convenient/suspicious. The only thing that makes sense is that the situation was engineered. He's not falling for Bill/Marcel/Vernon manipulation anymore. I don't like anything about Joey Armstrong. That character needs to leave the show.

I agree with some of your points. Martin should have told Smitty and the kids first, obviously. But I get why he didn't bring his staff or a "crisis management team" to the press conference. Vernon, Bill, and others have been "managing" this crisis for the past two years, and did it poorly. I can see why Martin now doesn't trust anyone to handle things except himself. Martin has no sense because ultimately Vernon has not appropriately trained Martin to handle crises effectively. Vernon's "solutions" have been to *throw money at it* and to suppress the truth. Vernon is a strong, fierce, and suave character, but not as savvy as he wants everyone to believe.

There was an interesting parallel going on. Samantha/Tyrell/Smitty conversation: they have a pact in their family (including Martin) that they always tell each other everything, which makes it harder for them since Martin hasn't been telling them. Naomi/Jacob: we always tell each other everything, and Jacob admits that he almost considered not telling Naomi about Martin, because he didn't want to cause her worry, but he told her anyhow. (implying that he is honoring their trust by telling her.) Meanwhile Nicole is going to be so enraged that Vernon, Anita, and Ted wanted to hide the Martin mess.

Yesterday Tuesday July 15: I loved Naomi & Jacob's entire conversation. Naomi to Jacob: "You know, growing up, the Richardsons were always the secure, stable branch of the family. But now it's looking like they were just better at hiding their drama, while us Hamiltons let our freak flags fly."

I'm ready for today Tuesday. I think something will be revealed today, and then the fallout will begin as ramifications start to happen over several episodes. (Not a spoiler, just guessing). Today's the day?! hopefully Today is Episode #91. Looking forward to Episode #100 which airs Tues. July 29. My *speculation* is that there will either be a new layer of the Martin storyline, or a new reveal of a completely different storyline? Months ago, Police Chief Elon Hawthorne asked Anita to work on the police benefit event. I think the police event will be just a local event; but maybe Marcel Malone and Chief Hawthorne will be exposed for their connection to Joey and/or Martin? Or maybe Episode #100 could be the Articulettes reunion concert, but I don't think that's happening quite yet? Not sure. I really hope that the Articulettes are doing something separate from the police event, LOL -- The Articulettes reunion is intended to relaunch the individual careers of Tracy and Sharon, and a local police benefit event wouldn't do that. Episode #100 is nine episodes from now. Maybe it's just something fun? Whatever it is, I'm looking forward.

For the theory that June might be connected to Sharon or Tracy -- especially Tracy: At the start of the phonecall to the number on June's photo, Naomi identified herself as "Naomi Richardson Hawthorne". Would Sharon or Tracy recognize that name as being Anita's granddaughter? Maybe not at that moment of the phonecall. Perhaps later on after hanging up, the mystery woman might realize who Naomi is? Another poster upthread wondered if perhaps the mystery woman answering the phone call is a new person that is sister to both Hayley and June. Hmmmm.

Okay so who is June's sister? The woman who answered the phone number from June's photo clearly wasn't Hayley.

same promo in higher def Anita to Nicole: "What I'm about to tell you will demand not only your attention, but your willingness to confront the aftermath in all its ugliness." https://www.instagram.com/p/DMJLidARW6w/ Beyond the gates, truth isn’t just revealed. 👀 #beyondthegates #cbs #paramountplus

I have found missed beats to be rare with this show, which is why I noted this one with Smitty meeting Kenny with no explanation. A very very rare missed beat for BTG. I find that BTG covers most of the beats and nuances.

I agree, it's a bad take. They think it's "soapy" but it's insulting to modern families.

The big mess will be when Nicole learns that everyone has kept this hidden from her for two years. She will be wrecked and furious.

All they had to do was put in one line of dialogue or one second of visual, showing Smitty using his reporter skills to find Kenny's picture on Tyrell's phone, and then Smitty dashing off to the park to find him.

The character Juliet was part Asian. That was a feature of the role. Juliet was Brash&Sassy's person in Japan. The original actress Laur Allen is half Chinese. Juliet died giving birth to Cane's son Sam. (I mean they've already recast Cane without an Australian accent, so they could pull an OLTL Blair recast thing, but I hope not.)

Did I miss a scene in some earlier episode setting up a Smitty/Kenny meeting? That seemed to come out of nowhere (to me). How did Smitty know what Kenny looks like or how to find him in the park?

Vernon had been telling Martin for two years that Martin that he couldn't tell Smitty. Obviously, Martin should have told Smitty himself anyhow, of course. But still. The Dupree family dynamic is that you do what Vernon and Anita say, and you keep up appearances, and you don't admit any weaknesses. It's pretty twisted. Martin did as he was told. I'm glad he's finally breaking free. Yes of course Martin should have given Smitty, Samantha, and Tyrell before the press conference! Egads! But I think Martin was afraid he'd lose his nerve if he waited another second, so he called the press conference. Not great, but I understand it. Vernon had been telling Martin for two years that Martin that he couldn't tell Smitty. Obviously, Martin should have told Smitty himself anyhow, of course. But still. The Dupree family dynamic is that you do what Vernon and Anita say, and you keep up appearances, and you don't admit any weaknesses. It's pretty twisted. Martin did as he was told. I'm glad he's finally breaking free. Yes of course Martin should have given Smitty, Samantha, and Tyrell a heads up before the press conference! Egads! But I think Martin was afraid he's lose his nerve if he waited another second, so he called the press conference. Not great but I understand it.

I hold Vernon responsible for much of this! He was micromanaging the entire situation starting two years ago, constantly telling Martin the equivalent of "There, there, don't worry your poor little mind about it". It infantilizes Martin, instead of encouraging Martin to face it. Vernon (and Anita!) suppressed the whole thing. I know they were "worried about appearances", public perception, political ramifications, etc. And maybe even (justifiably) worried that there might be very real unwarranted criminal charges against Martin due to the societal perception of Black men. But Vernon and Anita seriously damaged Martin's psyche by trying to make him "forget" it happened. They should have gotten Martin counseling. Oh but they thought they could "take care of it" themselves and leave Martin out of his own process. That's patronizing and disrespectful of Martin. With all the money Vernon used to pay off Kenny/Bill/Marcel, etc. -- that money could have been used to hire a discreet psychologist.

The BTG camera did show that Kenny had arrived just outside of Orphey Genes -- Kenny could be seen through the Orphey Gene's window blinds with a gun pointed at him -- it was onscreen for only a second, but it was shown. Assuming the person holding the gun was Marcel or someone working for Marcel, who caught Kenny as he arrived. So did Marcel kill Kenny or just fake the death? I would think Marcel would want Kenny dead so as to keep Marcel's involvement secret -- so that Marcel can retire with full pension. But I don't know.

Interesting. I didn't think of that, but it makes sense. Bill did say he had a plan and was stalling to give it time to happen. Maybe that's the plan -- did Marcel text a faked photo to Bill so that Bill could show it to Martin, to stop the press conference? hmmmmm.

I was pondering Martin's situation and missed some of that phonecall! Will rewatch later, I want to see/hear the phonecall.

When Bill approached Martin in the diner and offered to be his attorney, I thought it was Bill's idea. I'll have to rewatch later to see if Vernon suggested it. This is all so layered, sometimes I miss aspects on the first watch.

Same