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The show seems to be embracing the old "Love In The Afternoon" approach.

Kat ignored Eva, but she managed to be nasty to someone who has done nothing to her. That attitude she gave June was uncalled for. Ted just blurting out that Vernon is having an affair when he doesn't have reliable information was reckless. Not at all a bad Christmas themed episode.

Mike Manning out here in a harness and see through shirt (covered with a blazer for a little modesty).

It's also worth noting that CBS allowed an extremists right-winger to take over its news division after the acquisition so who knows what else Skydance is trying to shift in other directions.

Being able to have fun on set in between takes is a really good thing because like with any other job the better you feel about being in the environment the more productive you are. Maurice Johnson wearing a pink suit while complaining about masculinity and homosexuality. He probably wasn't thrilled about playing a role where a gay character shoved him down because it goes against his idea how gay men behave.

As the saying goes, "You never miss the water until it's gone". And Bill was fine as long as Dani was a disaster and pining for him, but her having a younger husband has him unsettled.

"I swear if you're trying to get out of St. Bart's!" was when I really understood the Kristen DiMera comparison. That's definitely how Kristen would snap at somebody.

The setup is most likely for Vanessa to end up in deep with Joey and then find out the truth. In regards to Doug her whole need for excitement was sort of mentioned at one point when it was referenced that she used to sneak him behind the gates when he was still in the hood. After the novelty of messing around with Black guy from the hood wore off so did "being in love" with Doug.

Not a big Tomas fan, but he was right about not giving up his position at the firm to struggle trying to make it from the ground up. It is easy for Kat to tell him to do that because she has had every advantage.

Martin was wearing a DC Flag pin last week. But the writers are likely being deliberately ambiguous about the district to not reference real politics. "Scandal" would have the political landscape extremely different than real life.

Hayley/Roberta/Val got really agitated when Bill mentioned Joey asking him to run for Congress. Guess that would be a little too much publicity for a scammer to be adjacent to.

Erika Kirk, oops, I mean Hayley Hamilton looked so rattled at the client that was in Bill's office. Could be someone who was in on a scam with her at one time or maybe a relative of one of her victims.

Ashley, Derek and Tomas really give recurring character energy and today that was abundantly clear.

Anita slapped Leslie.

A hockey stick as a crutch. Derek is certainly desperate for attention. Bill is really stupid for someone who is a schemer, but then again men can be conned by women fairly easily so it's not such a stretch. Shanice trying to stir up the whole Ashley/Andre situation was annoying. She really oversteps at times.

Winterfest felt like an episode that should have been done in a lull after a big storyline climax. not an event that was hyped and a source of tension for some of the characters. The show very much likes the sense of togetherness, family and community, but sometimes overwhelms the more dramatic elements.

Criticism comes with every show but I feel like some people have a lot of bias rooted in other things. There were a couple of people rooting for the show to fail before it got started. It's not hard to tell who is giving constructive criticism and who is just heckling.

Hayley put too much poison because it wasn't supposed to act that fast. How is she could to maneuver out of this? Lol. Anita putting Bill on notice was a good scene. She didn't like Bill from the start so she's going to keep her foot on his neck this time to make sure he won't hurt Dani. Vanessa is a complete wreck and made a fool out of herself two episodes in a row. Anastacia is a good antagonist and had Doug survived she would have been a great person for him to get involved with because it would have really irritated Vanessa.

Vanessa getting drunk and making herself look stupid over Joey of all people was pathetic. Leslie treating Mona and Laura like that help was so disrespectful, but totally on brand. Ashley was super pressed and that "You ARE NOT Hayley" comment from Dani was such a dig. Kat can be annoying, but she is the one dodging a bullet by not moving in with Tomas. He is trying to build his social/personal rep for moving up in the firm and he's using Kat to do that.

The show went through so much heavy storyline this year that they set themselves up for a lull at the end of the year.

Doctors Ted and Carlton are about to be looking pissed like "well damn, she's really not checking for either of us".

I made the edit that it was 10 episodes. I was looking at multiple series and mixed up episode counts.

Jennifer Lopez had a moderate success with "Shades of Blue" which had three seasons, but that was over 20 years after a triple play of flops within the span of less than a year. There was a drama called "Second Chances" that lasted 10 episodes and what is crazy is that she went on to play the same character in a spinoff called "Hotel Malibu" which last 6 episodes. Between that she recurred on "South Central" which was actually a good series, but I don't think audiences were ready for a show about how rough that neighborhood was back then even if there was comedy included.

Chelsea is seriously annoying and way out of line. Willow is clearly insane and for Chelsea to co-sign her lunacy was absurd. Madison implying she is stupid was well deserved. Melba is such an uncommon name that I have to wonder if it's usage was inspired by Melba Moore who Clifton Davis dated in the 70s. Kat flies off the handle too easily.

No spoilers, but the October 18th, 1984 episode knocked me down for the count. That was some strong material and acting.