Darn

I had to stop watching early last week because I could not tolerate another interminable scene of Genie Francis valiantly attempting to keep pace opposite a disillusioned and confused Maurice Benard. Nevermind that the scenes largely consisted of Laura kissing the ring for some godforsaken reason, how is his performance acceptable? He’s painful to watch.

Some country club revelation thoughts from a casual watcher no one asked for. The Great: Daphnee Duplaix gave the best performance we've seen yet. Nicole's dialogue was also well thought out and felt character specific. TJ Maxx Ted was also pretty good. Trisha Mann-Grant steals every scene she's in. Often without even trying. Carrying multiple episodes worth of exposition heavy soap dialogue with starts and stops and recapping and drama and humor is no small feat and she nailed. Vernon telling Lesliana to STFU. The Bad: So much of the dialogue for the rest of the cast was overly written. Martin said "You are a vile human being with a hole in your heart!". Marty, what are we doing? It's SO dramatic and sounds so silly coming from this grown man. Do Bill and Hayley do anything but talk about the Duprees? And the nerve of her to get so excited to find out Ted is a cheater when she and her husband are too. There should be a hint of shame mixed in with your glee, ma'am. The Questionable: Coffee and a rendition of Amazing Grace after finding out Nicole was betrayed by her husband. The Duprees are an odd bunch. The stinger of one segment had Anita prepared to lambast Lesliana, when we came back someone else was talking. When Anita eventually said something to Wig, it was a lukewarm at best. And then of course she thought singing a song about something that should absolutely not be extended to her son-in-law. The entire family allowing this deranged woman to speech at them in their own was...nuts. I know she said something about what would the neighbors say but my GOD. Is she just going to be allowed to trespass whenever she feels like it now? The focus on Leslie and her wig usage as an oddity is...odd. I think Chelsea said something like "and she wears wigs!" (while wearing a buss down middle part). Okay? It's just not that odd for a black woman to change up her hair. It's the different names that's the problem. I know it's meant to be humorous, in a throwback soap kind of way, but it fell flat for me. I'm sorry I find the whole family to be WEIRD. It's like they want us to see them as ruthless yet benevolent, open yet furtive, snobbish yet tooth achingly sweet all at the same time. I cannot get a lock on the family dynamics. Everyone is just there. I'm gonna cry if this show doesn't start giving us ages (or close to it!) for these characters. Because if Eva is 21-22 then Martin was being given crayons, a soda pop and blinders when he was 15-17 years old. Martin had to have been under 8 for me to buy this story, which would make Eva and Kat late 20s (Martin is at least 35 since he wants to run for president), which I don't think they're meant to be. It's honestly minor but it bothers me. I've mentioned this to @Vee but I think the optics on opening the show with both sisters discovering their husbands of over 30 years are cheaters should've been considered. I doubt there was any intention behind it, no one's rubbing their hands together as they scheme to say the married black men can't stay loyal but how does it look? Maybe it's just me. Honestly it's probably just me!

MJ always gave 90s NBC daytime to me so no great loss. He certainly wasn't impressing me much in those scenes with Daphnee where they both finally got something to do.

Nina and Portia are generally presented as entirely too savvy to not think this ketamine (don't even GET me started on that) nonsense wouldn't immediately blow up in their face. Drew, the ex-navy seal and congressman, wouldn't get a drug test immediately after acting wildly out of character? Portia allowed this to so easily be traced back to her by roping in Brad, a man who can't stand her? Nina didn't think Willow would Stand By Her Man? Girl, PAY ATTENTION! I also find it disturbing how BOTH of them are gaslighting Willow. It feels gross. They should have presented Gio as anything other than a responsible, genial and affable guy if they wanted us to buy any of Dante's ranting about him. You've known this kid since he was a baby and suddenly you're yelling at him like he's the devil incarnate? It was so forced. Every one of them, including Dante, know that they all would have done the same thing in Gio's shoes. Teen gets drunk, friends cover for them. Gio's only 5 years older than him, barely allowed to legally drink himself. How was he to know the kid had alcohol poisoning? Alexa Havins crying every day over keeping a baby secret. Ahh memories. Molly and Kristina are just the worst to their mom and Alexis allows it. Kristina does need to be committed, she's a danger to herself and others. I wish Alexis would just tell her that she knows. I can't wait until Molly finds out about her almost getting Ric and Liz killed. I need her to body slam Kristina. Sasha thinks she knows EVERYTHING. She's always giving advice and painted as right no matter what. And so holier than thou while carrying a married man's baby.

Minus all the nonsense with Portia, Curtis and Trina acting like Drew paying for Kai's surgery is akin to signing a deal with the devil and Joss and Ken Doll secret agent guy, Friday was excellent. Diane laid it all out for Alexis: Your daughter is insane and you are an enabler. So stop that. Carly was infuriating in the best way. She shines when her hateful hypocrisy is called out, as it was immediately by Willow and Drew, as opposed to the Earth Mother role they've shoehorned her into the past few years. She herself is an adoptee, as is her brother and so is her son yet without hesitation she told Willow that Wiley isn't her son. That was so nasty, my god. I love what they're doing with Emma. The specificity is so rare in daytime. And they're building her as a legacy character taking after a fan favorite without making her a carbon copy. Hmm what else? Trina's top was really cute. I kind of wish they would've made Gio and Emma boyfriend and girlfriend by now, they spend all of their time together anyway, just make 'em a couple. Anyone notice that as soon as Jason and Sasha started heading toward coupledom that she exclusively wears all black everything? Btw I can't believe I'm saying this because I've found her useless for so long and Jason is mostly a test pattern to me when he appears but I'm enjoying their rapport. They look good together and somehow make the other more tolerable.

What an offensively stupid story. And it took 9 months to tell? Brooke's been involved in some doozy but this is...yikes. And the child isn't even a factor in either of their lives. How utterly bizarre. Edit: And I just looked him up. This scrambled egg of a baby is almost 18 years old in real time and apparently entirely raised by Nick. Brooke and Taylor? Do not care. What a mess lmao

Didn't they have a kid? A little boy that Taylor carried I think, I'm having a vague recollection of Hunter Tylo screaming in a hospital bed when she found out it was Brooke's? How soon before he's back too to push that Nick and Brooke are meant to be or whatever?

I actually think that the last few hires have been fairly impressive so I'm curious as to who they cast and hope it's not a known soap commodity.

Agreed on both points. Ava and Ric are so delicious together and they figured this out incredibly quickly so I just knew another turn was bound to happen. Kristina might be one of the most despicable characters I've ever seen lmao and NOT because she nearly got two people killed. But the way she weaponizes Molly and TJ's daughter's and Sam's deaths to manipulate people. With her and Lucky it was "my baby" and "Adela" but notice how the baby suddenly becomes hers and Molly's later on? Ugh I hate her.

Emma's activism is such a refreshing change from the generic good/bad, studious/ballsy, etc. we've been served when it comes to younger characters. It's specific and doesn't go against what we know of her upbringing or her family. It's sad that they really do not care.

Oh boy I just realize that was a Friday episode. Yikes! There was very little to entice someone to tune in next week but watching and commenting here made the episode go by faster. I feel crazy watching anything at the hospital. It's all so weightless and unessential. Badly written. Embarrassing really. The fact that they're talking about Ashley and that damn baby almost 2 months later is insane. It wasn't exciting when it happened, do they think having several characters recant it will make it pop? Okay good, not just me! Woof.

Jesus Christ, they're still talking about the elevator baby? Does anything else happen in that hospital? Tomorrow they'll have Derek rhapsodize about the cat.

Mmmhmm and you'd never find the opposite on majority white soaps, all the white women with black best friends. Hell, they struggle to give one black woman anything to do. It's a great idea but the location is so distracting. I feel like almost any other set would've made more sense lol

My dad loves his daytime court shows, I gotta ask if he's seen it. Even if the show isn't great, everyone always LOOKS damn good. Everyone reads as rich. This two shot of Nicole and Vanessa is blurry as hell, anyone else notice that? Leave her tacky ahh alone! I love it!

I'm mad all of my excellent notes got pushed to the previous page. 😭 Oh my god I haven't watched commercials in so long, is that Vivica Fox and Ice-T selling...I think road side service? Andre is blocking traffic to conduct these interviews...they couldn't at least put up a hospital room set for this? It looks silly. There's no privacy and they're in the middle of the hallway.

I think of the three the actress who plays Ashley is the strongest and with a character that had some real thought put behind her she could excel. Derek from conception to casting makes no sense. I say this only because it's true but he looks both terrified and terrifying. He has one singular expression. He's constantly wide-eyed like Frankenstein's monster hit by his first bolt of lightning. I have no clue how he was cast on this show unless they ultimately intend to reveal that Derek is a serial killer. If so, they're showing their hands a little early! Other thoughts: The women by and large are so well cast. Eva and Kat are STARS, both are stunningly beautiful and incredibly talented. I know they're both young and green but they don't feel like actors finding their footing, they really embody their characters. If I Were Running Things I would hitch my wagon to their rivalry (and at the same time let's pace it out a bit, show some layers, there's no need for Kat to be so abrasive all the time). I'd also get them a MUCH more interesting man to fight over. Tomas is not it. Dani's merry-go-round of self-destruction should not be this repetitive two months into the show. She should make mistakes, a lot of them but not the same one over and over this close together. On top of that you have her and Andre's semi-weekly trysts that feel empty and played out already. The bones of a captivating show are THERE, the cast is mostly solid, the sets are lovely despite the department store lighting...sometimes I feel like it's operating like a show that's been on for years who we're desperately hoping gets it's mojo back and not a show that should be hitting the ground running. By the WAY, bougie girls like Kat? Are not cooking for a man on a first date, even fake cooking. No, she would expect him to 1) ask her what type of cuisine she prefers 2) make the reservation and 3) order her a rideshare to and from the restaurant (in the past she'd ask that he pick her up and take her home but it's 2025, she is not getting in a car alone with a stranger). She'd also let him know as soon as they sat down that there would be no hanky panky. And she most certainly would not have told him that she was a virgin on the first date. Come on!

I will be completely honest with you, I kind of…forgot that that happened. Which is partially my fault but also the show’s lol it seems like Port Charles has accepted that Cyrus is dead despite the lack of a body. Or really any indication that he’s dead at all, right? Because the WSB scrubbed the crime scene (speaking of which, what happened with Drew lying about Jason’s alibi?). The investigation hasn’t been referenced in weeks as far as I know, his siblings have moved on, there’s no fear that he’s still out there from anyone…unless I missed something it’s been handled very oddly considering he was the local bogeyman for years. And Joss wrestled with what she did for about a week. You have a very privileged, very young woman who murdered the monster that killed her boyfriend. That’s HEAVY story. Instead of delving into that we get the daytime version of Feds.

You go a little overboard with the Joss hate but in this instance I can’t say I disagree.

Oof if the first couple of weeks were stronger than the past week... The show has many issues but I cannot get past Derek/Ashley/Andre. What a bizarre non-triangle. Literally everything about this story makes me go "huh???". First the pregnant lady in the elevator, which was cliche and flat and did nothing of note. Okay fine, a hiccup but then we have Derek, the firefighter saving a CAT from a burning building? Who is coming up with this stuff? There is no way that they think viewers in 2025 are tuning in for this. How did either of those plot points pass the idea stage? Whoever came up with them should've been immediately dismissed I'm sorry.

I wonder if Joss remembers that her boyfriend died 3 months ago. I mean, I barely do but of course I wasn't fcking him. Whatever they're doing with her is bizarre. Is Eden on some sort of break? They could have easily filmed all of her scenes since Joss went on her school research trip (I think that's what it was) in a week. I refuse to believe that Carly would be okay with her being gone for so long after her boyfriend died. Carly? Just fine with her daughter spending 2 months on Easter Island after a traumatic event? Jason can't pass gas without her wanting a sniff. And her trainer. Perfectly attractive, not a bad actor but absolutely no presence and looks too mature for her. EM still looks like a kid and Joss is not written maturely whatsoever. The actress who plays Emma is a real find. She's very good and has been since the day she started if we're being honest and I see her only getting better. I find her so watchable even when Emma is obnoxious. I think the show's been kind of knocking it out of the park with new hires. I am finding Lucas and Marco very refreshing. I'm not used to gay stories on soaps that don't either offend me or make me want to curl up into a ball and die. I found the way they met to be cute and relatable. Van has grown on me a LOT and we finally have a Lucas that, to me, reads as the little boy we saw grow up in the 90s and the product of Bobbie and Tony's parenting. Marco is also very attractive, the only downside to him is parents. Speaking of...so the crime boss who 6 short months ago was terrorizing AfRIca is going to fully back the AIDS research fundraiser? You gotta love it. Optics!

Haven't there been rumblings about this for a while? IIRC Christian Le Blanc and Kate Linder were the two most speculated.

Can't lie, KW getting choked up over JJY's return got to me. I love them. And I have always loved Mac. I think the show underestimates the importance of his steadfast presence on the canvas. Mac simply doesn't get enough credit for being the only reason why Robin, Maxie and Georgie were able to grow up onscreen and become so popular. I can't believe Jason has only been back for a year. Feels like 2 at least. Always love to hear Genie talk about JJ, the love there is so real.

Hey so I saw a clip from the Heather Tom episode and excuse me, Ridge left Brooke for Taylor? They broke up again? And she’s still on this destiny kick? This show is demented. 40 years of this. I thought they’d finally gotten Brooke and Ridge to a degree of normality. Brooke looks absolutely bonkers at her big age of 60+ saying to her adult daughter “no one understands what Ridge and me have.” Yeah, we do, some sort of codependent psychosis! Couple of weirdos! And back to the life model decoy playing Taylor now formerly known as Rebecca Budig! You gotta wonder who is Brad writing this show for. He certainly can’t enjoy this.

Yes! I noticed the same thing this week, especially in the scenes involving Ava or Kristina. The music was ramped up to 11. And I can’t lie, it helped keep me engaged. It made me feel like something actually shocking was on the horizon (didn’t happen). Frankly, at times I find it a little concerning that they air some of MB’s scenes. He struggles to remember his lines, often puts inflections on the wrong words (probably due to not being able to remember his lines) and rarely looks engaged with his scene partners. There was a Carly and Sonny scene saying a few weeks ago where he completely flubbed his line, he just spat out gibberish and somehow it aired! I know Sonny often looks like a vampire with his shoe polish black dye job but he is not Barnabas Collins and this is not airing live in 1968.

Unemployment and restless thumbs. Nevah!