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The Dupree Sisters sure are violent. Dani slapped Hayley hard and now Nicole has choked Leslie. Granted, Leslie deliberately pushed buttons and asked for it. Ashley throwing that tablet at Shanice was unacceptable. Shanice needs to get her written up.

The age could be overlooked if the casting was right. There are plenty of older actors who could pull this off, but Lindstrom doesn't add the sexy or dangerous vibes needed for the character. That is no disrespect to the actor at all, but it is what it is. I don't think it really has anything to do with who worked for what. Yesterday, Ashley was throwing shade at Shanice and Shanice has definitely worked harder than her. That said, Ashley definitely didn't read the situation because anyone with sense would have gotten up and left when another woman came in arguing with their date.

Had B&B gotten a nomination for best series it really would have been a participation nomination. With so few choices for that category some show is bound to be a participation nomination at some point.

In the era of direct deposits and electronic transfers the writers are probably secure in writing big cash deposits as being suspicious. Cops and public workers of any kind receiving that much cash is a red flag. Andre was giving player energy all the time but that got lost in him being helpful to Dani.

Andre was the one worthy of a slap (Ashley might get there at some point). He knew Dani was not in a great place and could have left her alone from the start. Nicole was right to be concerned, but she was so judgmental about it that she didn't land a valid point about Andre being too much of a player for Dani to be with.

Andre is just a Mandingo to Ashley. Maybe the writers aren't going for that, but that's the vibe I get. The whole shoe size line yesterday gave me that idea because that plays on old stereotypes. It shouldn't have been funny, but Martin asleep holding that baseball bat was hilarious. Randy's plan to run off made no sense. He knows exactly who Joey is so it was beyond idiotic for him to do that. Plus, $10k is pocket change for go to a resort destination.

There is potential for Ashley to spiral. Her reaction to Derek being messy seemed a little unstable at one point. And she did show signs of having a nasty side today (yesterday for the central/eastern crowd). Trying to mess with Shanice on the job would be classic soap and very entertaining. The noble act does not work for Ashley and I think the actress would excel more playing adversarial.

Tyrell is too old to bring a stranger to the house and think it's ok. Ashley made an idiot of herself and her immature personality was on display.

Lots to unpack here. I think CBS might have wanted to hold back these episodes from airing during a holiday week because it already seems like there will be a lot going on that needs maximum viewer attention. Allison is definitely going to be unhinged and start stalking Chelsea. Her whole demeanor was giving a few steps from unstable. Martin hallucinating would certainly be a good way to add more repercussions to this story. Vernon wouldn't have ordered a hit, but it's clear that Joey plays by his own rules. Or maybe Vernon is more dangerous than we thought and they are on the same page.

7 pages with a single July episode aired.

Within the writing there does seem to be intent to give an aged feel to the show which explains some of the family structure. It is the newest soap, but the writers don't want it to feel like that and would rather give the illusion of being well established.

Because her story overcame odds and made it to screen when it was thought there would never be another new daytime soap. And anecdotally, Black creators are going to be more cautious with their approach because it often takes twice the work necessary to achieve. That caution in my opinion was evident in how much exposition there was at the start of the show. Bell and Valentini don't care as much because they didn't create anything from scratch (in Bell's case he inherited his father's work). Also, the character development so far has been better than most soaps have had in recent memory. Granted that development messes with the pacing and that is something that should be tweaked.

Correct. The grace period is contingent on the filming schedule and adjustments won't be seen until later this year. MVJ pays attention to what viewers are saying and has been in soaps long enough to see what works and doesn't so I think she is open to tweaks.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that there is political reasoning at hand here. Maybe CBS got calls from Karens complaining that a White racist was being shown on screen and panicked about it.

At the Essence Fest, Sheila Ducksworth was doing damage control by saying they wanted people to be able to "catch up" and "relive the magic". That's obviously not true since it was CBS' decision, but sometimes you have to give the viewers excuses. I saw this on the show's IG story and was not at the Festival for full disclosure.

There are tons of people on YouTube that speculate about TV shows like they have inside information and they are just doing it for views. As already mentioned the taping schedule is way too far ahead for a week of repeats to be called "re-tooling".

Smitty has started giving Nancy Karr vibes when he puts on his glasses and starts asking questions. He has the potential to be one of the wholesome characters that actually has something to do.

Oops, I forgot about him.

Glad that Beyond The Gates kept it's spot and didn't get shifted. It's just one market, but it's always good for a new show to not get moved around even in a single place.

It would be really quick to write Leslie out considering she is still under investigation and there are still story elements not revealed. Unlike Sheila, Leslie has been ostracized and has no friends.

I've said it before, but I think Ashley and Derek are there to diversify the cast and have some White representation on the show to quell certain demographics. CBS did settle an idiotic lawsuit with that dummy over Kamala Harris' 60 Minutes interview so they seem to be the skittish type of network. Ashley and Derek are non-offensive, bland types. Vanessa and Kenny are the only other White characters who have had any real active storyline. With Vanessa cheating on her Black doctor husband with a criminal White man and Kenny being an outright racist blackmailer CBS was going to have some harmless White characters on the front burner.

Some tinkering wouldn't hurt, but for a new show the initial wrinkles have not been overwhelming. The start was the Dani show, then it transitioned into being more about Leslie and Eva plotting then when that revelation dropped the direction shifted towards slowly processing that fallout. Now we are seeing other plots step up as I we should be getting Martin's revelation very soon which will entangle with the other Richardson drama which may possibly include paternity shakeups later on. There is also the potential stalker story for Chelsea (Allison is giving creepy vibes, IMO) and Hayley/Leslie appearing to team up.

What the show is doing is giving most of the characters a rotation on the front burner and that can slow down the pacing a bit. Repercussions have also been set up which is often a neglected device on soaps anymore and that can play a role in building suspense.

Outdoor shoots should be done sparingly and reserved for climatic purposes. Guiding Light and to a far lesser extent As The World Turns used outdoor shoots and they looked terrible. Outdoor shoots are best left to primetime.