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-- Portia came off as completely unhinged today. She screamed at Curtis about having a drink with Jordan, but we just watched her have Doctor Office Sex with Isaiah! She's nuts. -- I didn't expect these Monica episodes to be wall-to-wall Monica, which would probably be too much. However, the mix of stuff they're including just feels off in a way I can't explain. It feels random and out of place to me. -- From those previews, my guess is that Nathan has amnesia. I don't think he recognizes Nina. Seriously, does anyone want to see that???

How exciting it will be if we get a ballad version of "Rock On"!

The wedding is set for November. YAWN.

-- All of it was laughable and bad. Traci called it off with Cane? 😂 Yeah, you go with that, Josh. -- This is another example of how Josh Griffith uses "history." He takes something that happened years ago and changes what happened. -- What is up with the eyeliner and fake lashes on Traci? I don't think her therapy is working.

That's his best acting, actually.

I agree. They've gotten so much more conservative in the last couple decades. -- And then there's Batsh#t Crazy Sheila, who thinks Luna pulled a power move in screwing Will and getting pregnant.

-- Andre doesn't come off as drunk at all. Sean Freeman is playing it like a sober guy pretending he's hammered -- and failing at it. -- As I said before, this comes off like a really bad Friends retread of "Ross and Rachel get drunk in Vegas and decide to marry." -- I appreciate what they tried to do, but it didn't really work for me. If you laughed a lot, good for you. -- So Anita tells Nicole she was wrong for thinking of giving Ted "a second chance"? I guess sanctimonious Anita thinks only THE DUPREES deserve second chances. -- Others see that Doug and Vanessa scene as one showing them getting closer? To that, I say "HUH???" Doug is a big league cuck who knows his wife is screwing Golden Corral Mob Boss Joey on the reg. I wish he'd divorce Vanessa. -- Good scenes with Martin and Eva, but the writers are working the "You're my sister" thing a bit too hard. -- Kat should just dump Tomas if she isn't feeling it. Blaming Tomas for this lack of sexual spark says more about her than about Tomas. -- Then we have Tomas being so stupid he tells Eva about his sexual adventures with the half-sister she hates.

To be fair, this is done all over prime time. Do these productions simply hate giving "free publicity" to a platform or product?

Britt is awful. I'm also rolling my eyes at Rocco's investment in her. I think it's over-the-top and ridiculous and not believable. And why do we have Rocco referencing "MyFace"? It takes me right out of any scene when these fake names are given to social media platforms or anything else. Just call it Instagram, for God's sake. BTG references pop culture all the time, and there's no reason the other soaps avoid it. It's not a story, and I don't get it either. I do have to laugh that Outback never looks at anyone on screen😂

Gotta agree. B&B is awful, but I can't turn away from the complete over-the-topness of Luna. It's as if the writers threw away any and every attempt at realism and just decided to go nuts. Will and Electra are a laughable Romeo & Juliet couple who are so bad I want Luna to make them miserable.😂 Electra is completely disposable as a character. She's useful only for those "Insert a scene where she talks about how perfect Will is and how she trusts him completely and how their love is eternal and forever and infinity." Crew Morrow is cute af, but there's no missing that he cannot play emotion. At all. His facial expressions and looks when he has no dialogue are so bad it's ridiculous. I blame direction and I blame production. I don't think Morrow is getting ANY notes on his performance and it's hard to believe he watches his scenes and thinks he's doing good work.

-- I enjoyed the Nicole and Ted scenes. Everything else? Not so much. -- Doug seems to be hurtling towards death, but I hate that they're writing him as this stupid and careless. I mean, what is his plan? Go to Orphey Gene's and hear Randy LOUDLY bark "I might know somebody"? -- Why is Randy acting like this? -- Bill knows how dangerous Joey is. So why throw Doug under the bus in that way? -- I DO NOT want to watch Joey and Vanessa in bed. I DO NOT want to see them screw. Please get Joey off my screen. -- I'm all for Vanessa having a piece of the action, but as a realtor selling homes worth millions, isn't she already wealthy? -- I want Eva to tell her mother something other than "Oh, maw-ma!" It's a constant enabling that's already tired. -- I absolutely hated the Anita/Leslie scenes. The acting was fine. That's not the problem, which is that Anita should not be kind to Leslie -- not with the sh_it Leslie has pulled on her and on the family. Leslie wrecked her daughter's marriage, purchased the mansion across the street, and bought her way into Fairmont Crest. Anita should HATE her for all of that. -- And no, Anita, Barbara did not come up with "Articulettes Strong." GMAFB. -- Are Andre and Dani going to get drunk and get married in Vegas, a la Ross and Rachel in Friends? -- Those previews don't do much for me. -- Yes, BTG is 100x better than Y&R. But that's really a low bar. We all know Y&R is beyond horrible. I want GATES to be better than this, and I don't think this was a good week.

Tracking sets for the month of September. Here's the set usage for this week: Mon., 9/15: Crimson Lights / Society / Train / Park -- 3 sets Tues., 9/16: Crimson Lights / Society / Billy's place / Adam's office -- 4 sets Wed., 9/17: The Abbotts / Cane's Train / Park -- 3 sets Thurs., 9/18: Crimson Lights / Society / The Abbotts / Billy's place / Park -- 5 sets Fri., 9/19: Society / Cane's Train / Society / Billy's / Photo Studio -- 5 sets For the week: 4 days -- Crimson Lights / Society 3 days -- Chancellor Park / Billy's place / Cane's Train 2 days -- The Abbotts 1 day -- Adam's office / Photo Studio In THREE FULL WEEKS, only 1o total sets have been used. TEN. Only 8 were used this week. Here's the running total for 3 weeks: 12 days -- Crimson Lights / Society 9 days -- Park 7 days -- The Abbotts / Billy's place 5 days -- Cane's Train 3 days -- Victor's office / Adam's office 2 days -- The Newmans 1 day -- Photo studio

-- Steve Burton was again really good today. So were Jane Elliott and Rory Gibson. -- The Monica dialogue and discussions have been very strong. I trust we'll get more flashbacks at the memorial. -- So much going on today....I really think I would have held the Gio/Emma kiss for next week. It just didn't fit with anything else. -- Outback is a cute dog, but I hope they're done with characters having conversations with that beagle. Josh Kelly did good work in his, but that pup was clearly looking at his trainer the entire time. -- The Ryan Paevey reveal at the end? Uh...I don't know. If I hadn't read all the casting news and speculation, I'm not sure I would have had any idea who was on that gurney wearing the oxygen mask.

Yeah, I don't want his style to change either. Show up at the hospital in your leather to see Basic, Andre! Seriously, count me in on him doing wilder stuff on canvas. This show longs for that. Make him a real fcukboi.

-- I have to LOL when I see Randy. Here's a guy who says he wants to stay away from Joey's radar -- so he goes to the very public Orphey Gene's, sits in a booth, and broods loudly. -- I'm still not feeling Vanessa and Joey at all. They've written her as a slut, and I don't know how anyone can argue with that and just call it "open marriage." Diego, I can see. Joey, I can't. And spare me the idea that no woman can resist Joey's peen. -- Sue me, but I like Andre's outfit. I don't think he's always properly styled for the scenes he's in, but the fits are fittin'. -- Andre and Dani scenes are fine, but we need to move on from having Ashley and Bill up all the time. Get this couple moving or end it. -- I usually like Kat, but she was a complete bitch to Tomas. I've stated dozens of times that I think he's ridiculous, but I can't blame ANY of that or what's been happening on him. She's the one who's been lying from the jump. -- Telling Tomas that maybe he's the one who isn't good in bed after misinterpreting everything he said was hard to watch. What a complete bitch.

The baby story is OK, but for me the Leo/Javi stuff is a complete miss. We never see a real baby or even a baby doll. It's that constant camera angle behind the stroller, and I don't know how we're supposed to believe those guys are attached to Tesaro. Likewise for Javi's completely off-camera baby story. None of it works.

-- I co-sign all the positive comments about Steve Burton's acting and @Vee's analysis of Jason and his role with Tracy and the Quartermaines. -- SB and JE were wonderful today. Without them, we wouldn't feel the loss of Monica (or Leslie Charleson) the way we do. Great flashbacks, too. -- Britt is so unlikable. Why does this show insist on actor returns that paint their characters as hard to take? Alexa Havins nails her Lulu role, but she's been so difficult to put up with at times. Are we going to hate Nathan (if that's who Ryan Paevey portrays) when he returns tomorrow?

At this time, AA's portrayal of Tomas is the worst acting on all of daytime. There's no one worse on BTG or anywhere else.

"Annoying self-entitled bitch" can also be applied to Eva. She does have her good moments -- as does Kat -- but Eva can also be an awful mean girl who enables her criminal mother while knowing her mother is ruining other people's lives. But also, Tomas is a POS, so maYbe he does deserve Eva.

-- Not a good episode. -- Lying Derek should've been out of that hospital a week ago. These nurses spend all their time with him and it's absurd. -- Ashley really called Andre to the hospital to tell him she's engaged? And then had him go in to see Derek? In real life, Andre would have read her for filth. I'm sick of these characters acting like fools. -- Do I care that Ashley ends up with Derek? No. Why should I long for her getting with Andre when there's NOTHING between them? The entire storyline is a mess. -- Alex Alegria proved again how bad he is in that scene where Kat apologized to him at Orphey Gene's. He cannot make anything come off as authentic. -- Why should we care about Kat being with Tomas? -- BTG has this habit of having characters go back-and-forth on an issue, changing their minds every 2 minutes. They did it today -- again -- with Chelsea. One minute she's afraid. The next minute she's not. Then she's walking away from social media. Then she's not. Then she's not ready to sell her purses. Then she is. Then the press won't be invited to the launch. Then they'll stream it all so the press can see it. I am exhausted by the whiplash writing. -- And yes, where is the fallout from Doug catching Vanessa and Joey at the Golden Corrall casino backroom?

Set debacle of the day: Jack, Nikki, and Victor all at the park. Jesus.

Who thought it was good writing to have Britt hanging around Bobbie's for an hour wearing a bath towel and head wrap after a shower? And arguing with Carly the whole time?

nuTheo works for me. I wasn't sure on his Day One, but these scenes with Chad were really strong. Maybe it was Billy Flynn making him feel comfortable, but he seemed very natural and authentic.

Complete bullshit. More Sonny propping that makes no sense and makes Gio look like an idiot. It really was. Both actresses were very good, but Cynthia Watros was sensational.

-- The pacing for June Works At Orphey Gene's is absurd. She starts work one day -- with no supervision and no one watching her -- followed by her getting fired on Day One by a boss who appears out of nowhere. Then she gets her job back because a customer vouched for her. Why rush all of this? -- I had to laugh when Jacob said Orphey Gene's is "high volume" and that table turnover was crucial. We do see extras at OG's that make it seem like a real place, but I don't see this high volume they're talking about. -- Samantha wants to know when June had her first period? OK then. -- Once again, we're led to believe Leslie has unlimited resources. Now she's going to dedicate and build at the country club? Are you kidding me with this? We'd better hear that Leslie doesn't have anywhere NEAR the amount of money she's spending. -- Leslie's plans are all at warp speed, too. Terrible pacing.