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One of the finer details of the episode I noticed is Leslie and Eva's dresses are representative of what a lower income person who had a windfall would buy for an event and consider to be glamorous. I worked in Nordstrom and there was a lot of this sort of aesthetic on the racks in the evening wear section. Definitely not cheap, but not couture either.

The payoff so far is very good.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJE-VV9u6oe/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

It could have been creepier, but I think part of the schtick of the character is that she isn't all crazy, but is also nasty and condescending. She was making fun of them more than anything else. Where she was kind of a little scary was when she got in Eva's face last week. But I do understand your point about the storytelling. Not all of the stories are developed equally and some balance still has yet to be achieved.

Every show has issues the first year, not just soaps. There are some really good sitcoms and dramas that have some awkward material at the start. Not everything is perfect, but so far the show has been more character driven which is what most of the current soaps are criticized for not being. We know most of the characters traits. Ashley and Derek could be fixed like this: Have Ashley get caught up in Leslie's antics tampering with Laura's recovery at the hospital and have her struggle to not lose her dream of being a nurse. Derek can become friends with Hayley and because Hayley is a homewrecker have some tension arise between Ashley and Derek about the friendship even though it is just a friendship. We do lack good platonic male/female relationships on soaps.

Chelsea is headed for trouble trying to see this woman outside of the arrangement. Her husband is not going to take this well. The diner scene with Leslie faking being a fan of the Dupree Family was crazy funny. Leslie is definitely getting more insane.

So my mom turned on CBS for Beyond The Gates before B&B was gone and I had to give her a cliff notes version of B&B. It was so campy that she was asking questions, lol.

Bill is once again totally delusional. Why would Martin still treat him like family after how he humiliated his aunt? That was the best preview for a coming week the show has had so far. It looks like things are going to blow up big next week.

I want to see Doug beat Joey down B&B style. Joey needs to be put in his place. And I forgot to comment on Bill's hand shaking when he was carrying Hayley. If he has a heart attack while in bed with her it will be mildly amusing.

The party is probably next week if the invitation that was briefly shown last week or the week before lines up with the actual calendar. The invitation said April 29th or April 30th.

I feel like Chelsea is going to end up in a situation where one of the people in these threesomes is going to get jealous and go off on her. Leslie's anger toward Eva today showed how dangerous she really is. We already know she's not too sane, but that ending showed she is willing to go off on Eva too.

I was thinking that some scenes may have been pulled and re-filmed post debut. It seems like Ashley was more front burner, but has suddenly become quite a bit more supporting in the past couple of weeks.

At the start there were complaints that the pacing was too fast but now things are apparently too slow. As much as some people complain it's not traditional enough some of the pacing is on par with how old soaps used to do storylines. To get a pay off for most of these stories we need to know the characters well enough and I think we are getting to the point where payoff is close. Plus I think there was some tinkering based on audience response. Ashley and Derek seem to have been dialed back.

That Andre and Dani was scene was very B&B. That agent gives scam vibes. It's good that Anita is being given story and not locked into being just the advice giver/listener. Leslie got that country club manager fired lol. I knew she would not let it go and get him back. I think she is starting to notice that Eva is becoming attached to Nicole and at some point that is going to set her off. Kat was so petty for showing Hayley that video.

I was talking about how many events/parties the show has had in comparison to other soaps and the overall comparisons to the other soaps. The parties and events are a cultural element that are going to be a theme. The biggest difference between this and the other soaps for me is that the characters seem to have more vitality. At the same time I think it emulates traditional soap story telling in how the character conversations are more than filler and contribute to overall development.

It was stated before the show even debuted that this show is "not your grandmother's soap opera". There have been a number of events but they do give the opportunity for more character relationships and interactions to develop.

I noticed the same thing. It wasn't bad but it was giving the same height and shape as last week.

Before New Jack Swing had a name and Teddy Riley claimed it there were songs that were sort of in that style, like Outstanding - The Gap Band (1983) and Somebody Else's Guy - Jocelyn Brown (1984). I think that MVJ or someone else on staff just likes New Jack Swing and that's why the song ended up in that genre.

The red flags are obvious but Dani is way too caught up in her own mess to be a good friend to talk to.

Nicole and Vanessa as friends equals a balance. Sometimes friends are vastly different people and Nicole is not a judgmental character so far. Dani is so all over the place at this stage that she wouldn't be able to be the level head that could point out the obvious red flags that Vanessa is missing with Joey.

Don't say Carrie. Ron might read this board and send MVJ a memo to put Tyrell in a white tuxedo at prom.

I thought the same thing. The way she just showed up after Martin's visit to school got out was suspect.

Shanice seems to care a lot about Doug. Vanessa might have some trouble from her at some point. Vanessa has affairs but she clearly doesn't want to lose Doug. Dani starting a modeling agency is the right path for her. Pamela might be the only person able to get her on the right track but time will tell.

That final scene last night was gutting.