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Leslie/Dana is still the best part of the show for me. Eva is also turning into one of my favorites. However, yesterday was the first episode that I didn't finish. I got busy with dinner, and later that night, realized I never finished the show that day. But, I didn't go back to it. I knew nothing really interesting would happen, and there would be no story movement at all. I just don't think that's good for a show that's trying to bring in new viewers, including ones new to a daily soap. It just feels like everything has been in a holding pattern for weeks.

I totally feel like Liam is played out a million times over, but I don't trust BB to really pull the plug on him. After him, my next wish would be for Ridge to die. He's grown to be such an insufferable a-hole.

ITA. The show is missing that star-crossed couple that meets and is kept apart. There is definitely a lack of new romance. Ashley/Derek could completely disappear off the canvas, and I wouldn't even wonder what happened to them. I'm still not sure why I should care about Doug and his gambling debts. We REALLLLLLLY need to know what Joey's plan is at this point which I think gets back to another point. We've seemed to be in a holding pattern with stories for weeks now with no real twists or "a-ha!" moments. We need more dramatic story beats to keep a new audience entertained. The show can't afford to be like Y&R which seems to AVOID conflict much of the time. I'm still watching every day, and I want this show to succeed so badly! But, I notice that my attention is drifting away more and more with each episode. It feels like nothing may happen until Ted and Nicole's party for May sweeps. I understand wanting to save that for then, but, again, we need entertaining story beats to keep us hanging in until that time. Chelsea could find Andre in Dani's bed, for instance. It wouldn't wrap up that story but give it a twist with some fallout. Bill should have had at least a mini heat attack OR a bigger scare with Naomi in his office. Dani could have rushed to his side and beefed up the feud between her and Hayley and give Naomi a bigger excuse to drop out of the case. Hayley should definitely have found out she was pregnant with that news spreading across the neighborhood.

He definitely seemed obsessed with the Dimeras. The amount of characters in that family exploded, and I was always of the belief that the Dimeras worked in small doses, Chad being an exception for me.

LOL...you do bring up a great point! All the new writers do tend to say that. Curious what others think...what keeps the writing teams from beefing up and maintaining the Horton clan? There seems to be an endless supply of Dimeras, for instance. I feel like the family was actually expanded again in 2010s (Sarah, Eli, Nathan, JJ, Abby, Allie, the MANY returns of Lucas, Will and Shawn, and even extended Horton family members such as Ciara and Claire). Out of ALL those characters only Sarah and JJ are currently around on any regular basis. We also lost Jennifer and Hope full-time. Now all that's currently left of Tom and Alice's descendants are Julie (finally back on contract), Shawn, Sarah (Mickey's legal daughter), JJ (currently recurring). Of course, we still have Maggie considered a part of the family.

I'm glad they want to put more focus on the Hortons. I feel like they we almost wiped out by RC towards the end of his run with all the focus on the Dimeras.

ITA, sometimes the credits start, and I'm like, "THAT was the end of the episode?!"

With the current casting, I always thought that having it turn out the Johnny was actually Lucas's son all along would be a great twist. Johnny WAAAAAY more physically looks as if he could be Lucas's child versus EJ. EJ could find out that Stefano manipulated the DNA testing so that EJ could be connected to Sami. Then, EJ, who doesn't want the truth to come out because he loves Johnny, tries to keep the secret.

I enjoyed much of the week, but Friday fell flat for me and felt a bit boring overall. It felt like a Tuesday show if that makes sense. Again, for me, there was no exciting Friday cliffhanger. Doug's gambling addiction has taken up soooo much time. At this point, I need some insight as to why I should care about Doug/Vanessa/Joey. I was kind of bummed to see that Bill and Naomi weren't going to fight it out in court. I think that could have been some great drama. This week, I enjoyed the Martin/Smitty family stuff. Eva/Dana continue to be the real highlight.

I've actually grown to like JPL as Phillip. His first go round fell flat, I thought. But, he's settled into the role this time. I'm hoping they keep him around.

And...where is Luna living and off of what money? Is Bill supporting her? None of it makes sense.

The obsession with Leo when he seems to irk the majority of the audience is such a head scratcher. Why can't we have Will (even with a recast), Paul, or Andrew full-time versus Leo?

Speaking of the new writing team, what do you HOPE to see a few months in once their work has really taken over? I'm hoping there's a renewed interest in the Horton family and that it's expanded again. There's hardly anyone left, and only Sarah bears the last name. I hope we FINALLY get a break from the constant Dimeras and any "sci-fi" type stories. Just a return to more relatable drama, romance, and twists and turns. I'm kind of over the constant bringing back of bad villains, like Vivian. The show needs to work on developing the NEXT generation of true troublemakers.

Sami was never my favorite character by a long shot, but it just "feels like" classic DAYS when she pops up. I know AS has other things going on, but I wish they could keep her full-time or for a much longer arc.

ITA. If you would have asked me a few weeks ago, I would have said no way. But, I'm finding the Martin/Smitty family scenes to be some of my favorites now.

Interestingly enough, this wouldn't be the craziest SORAS'ing we've seen. Arianna was born in 2013. At least they cast a Latina actress and not a blonde hair blue eyed actor like they did when the character before. They did that one WAAAAAY too fast. It's prevented them from bringing the characters back because it would just look ridiculous. I think they even mentioned Maddie being in GRAD SCHOOL!

You bring up a good point! There has been quite a lack of shirtless eye candy on BTG. I wonder why.

Imagine...B&B in the year 2028. How much you want to bet we'll hear this line of dialogue? "Ridge, you have to pick between me and Taylor."

ITA. It could have been that he has two dads, that one of his dads is congressman, or that he's seen as a spoiled rich kid. I am starting to like their family dynamic more though. ALL OF THIS. Trisha Mann-Grant is a real delight, and I enjoy every episode she's in. I just hope they don't write her into a corner but find a way to keep her long-term.

I feel like today's episode should have been Friday's episode if that makes sense. It was good from start to finish and had a cliffhanger. The best episode they've done in a couple of weeks! I'm warming up to Martin as the actor is getting better, and I'm feeling him and Smitty as more of a couple finally. I keep noticing that Martin's got some junk in the trunk, too, as they say. Maybe we need some scenes with him in jeans versus suits all the time! They need to get the actress that plays Samantha on contract STAT before she goes and gets another job. She's good and very much a natural, much more so than Chelsea, for instance, although she's improving a bit. It was nice to have a break too from Dani, Bill, Haley, Joey, and Doug....not to mention...cough cough...Ashley and Derek. I'm not sure what the solution is for those two characters. They're just dullsville. Derek has ZERO personality except for saving cats. He's like a walking robot himbo and acts like one. There's nothing going on upstairs but the occasional wide-eyed surprised look he gives when Andre looks at Ashley. Those tight pants will only get him so far. Ashley is "too perfect" and doesn't feel real. Who was she before she became the World's Best Nurse?! How did she and Derek meet? How long have they been together? Why does she like him beyond "generic hot fireman?" We really don't know anything about their relationship besides the fact that they're "perfect." They're not three dimensional at all more just "character sketches." I REALLLLLY wonder if those two characters were quick add-ons requested by the network to have a romantic white couple on the show. I can't help it, but I practically groan out loud whenever they pop up! I just REALLLY hope the show can pick up and keep momentum with stories. The only way the genre is going to survive is by attracting new and younger viewers in certain audience demographics. All of us who have been watching soaps since the 80s (or before), including me, are not the ones who will keep the genre going for another 10, 20, or more years in the future. The younger viewers (30 and less) are not going to stick around for a slow moving 1970s type soap with five episodes a week...not with their TikTok brains and shows that have only 6 episodes on streaming. You need to have memorable moments in every episode. That includes good, witty dialogue that can be made into memes. That's just where we are now. As a writer, you can keep plots entertaining by hitting ALL the possible story beats so that it feels like things are progressing even if they take a while to get to the story finish line. It doesn't mean you have to have explosions and murders every episode, but a nice flow with good, unexpected twists and turns along the way. Just my two cents.

Another work around could have been if Martin had been adopted by Ted and Nicole when he was ten years old, for example. That could explain PART of the reason why he's obsessed with making his family proud and doing well. It could also tie into his own decision to adopt.

You're so right! KKL has WAAAAY more chemistry with DD. TK is a great actor, but he is just not Ridge. Not to mention the character has just become insufferable.

I think Martin would have worked much better as Vernon and Anita's son, too. The ages for Martin and his children would have worked much, much better. Didn't Ted and Nicole talk about difficulty having their daughter and her being their "miracle child" or something of the sorts. Then, Martin could have been adopted, too. Although with Bill and Ted both cheating on their wives, I don't know if I want Vernon to have cheated on Antia as well. I think a good twist would be to find out that Anita had another child while she was pursuing her singing career.

The past couple of weeks I've started to get a bit...and I hate to say it...bored with the show. It feels like NOTHING is happening just repeating, repeating, repeating dialogue. I've found myself FF'ing through scenes, and that's bad this early into the show. We're not getting cliffhangers...even on Fridays! The whole week should be building to a big moment on Fridays, but we get Vanessa and Joey to end the week??? That's it? When it looked like Bill might have a heart attack on Thursday, I was like..FINALLY...something is happening that would cause drama for many, many characters!!! Then, the next day, "My hand feel asleep." Really? Sure, he might have a heart attack later, but it needs to happen NOW. We need movement in the plot. The nurse documentary...I don't even know what that's about nor do I care. Ashley and Derek take boring to new heights, and I have no idea why Andre would be attracted to her. The one story I find interesting...Bill and Naomi pitted against each other isn't enough to sustain my interest. I would really like to see Vernon and Anita have their own storyline, something about their past. Something. Anything. DRAMA PLEASE! Ted has never interacted with Martin. I think Nicole did once. And, they both have never interacted with their grandchildren. It feels odd this far into the show. The first two weeks were so good, but then it was as if there was a mandate for nothing to happen after that. I REALLLLLY want this show to succeed, but it needs to be firing on all cylinders right now if it wants to retain an audience and get them hooked. It doesn't have the luxury of time, like Y&R and B&B, to have nothing really happening for weeks at a time.

Even as a long-time soap fan, I've found the past two weeks a bit of a bore and a chore at times. I'm still watching every day, but if someone wasn't a big soap fan to begin with, I could see them tuning out. It doesn't mean stories have to move at a lightning pace, but I feel like I could have missed all of last week and not missed a thing story-wise. It today's world of 6, 10, and 13 episode seasons, you have to pick up the pace and/or have more twists along the way.