ReddFoxx

As someone who isn't a fan of flashback episodes that are standalone I really didn't mind this one or find it boring.

Seems like this episode was a lead up for Jacob to get hurt. It would actually be a waste to put the effort into a flashback episode if there wasn't something heavy coming. Mrs. Hawthorne was going on and on about not being from money, but her whole tone was very elitist sounding and superior. You don't have to have money to be a snob because there is such a thing as feeling like you are better because you are middle or working class.

A lot of the cost with sets involves labor union rules and redressing sets would require extra additional hours that might not be budget friendly. Labor often costs more than props and material.

So what kind of chicanery are the writers going to have their characters engaged in?

That's the issue I have too. Then again it does make for a good plot because it's reversing the typical story of a man being a player and toying with women.

Nicole did live a rather proper existence and married young. People like that tend to go a little wild if they get divorced. Not everyone has a ho phase but it's an option that could manifest itself later if you don't live it in your 20s or 30s. 50s are considered more vibrant these days, but on the flip side I look back at how "The Golden Girls" was written and the girls were portrayed as being very liberal when it came to sex so this idea has been around for quite a long time.

Jacob thinks he is smart, but he's really reckless. Changing the drop off location is asking for trouble. Nicole playing games with Carlton and Kial is so immature and petty. She knew that Carlton to would see her there with Kial. At this point they should both leave her alone because she's just being a player.

Texas Battle was pretty awful on B&B and I'm convinced he was cast because someone saw his schlong on a fake reality show.

Hayley might add Lynette to her kill list next. Vanessa continues to be needy and pathetic. Being ok with a man talking to your best friend sideways is the ultimate in pick me behavior.

Some of the dialogue is clunky even if it has a point. What is most problematic is that a White man is written as having given a Black man a chance while the Black father has written his son off.

Deanna has Vanessa's number and keeps calling it. Donnell seems to know that Vanessa is a liar, but just doesn't want to accept it. Naomi threatening Hayley was one of her best moments. Kat having to intervene every time Eva is having a conversation with someone is very annoying. Eva has pretty much left her alone but apparently that's not enough. Carlton has his faults, but Joey's attacks were totally uncalled for and I was here for Nicole intervening. That said, it's time for Joey to have a day of reckoning because he's doing too much and it's getting old.

Set design could revolve around what was needed for particular storylines with sets coming and going as needed. Some sets would be useful, but not all the time. EON would rotate sets in and then out based out based specifically on need and they most certainly on a budget in their later years.

Lynette spending over $15,000 on Hayley's credit card was beyond ratchet, but Hayley is ratchet too so she should have known that was coming. And I was glad that Tomas pushed back a little bit against Hayley's antagonizing. Shanice comes off as much better than Nicole. For one, Nicole was very nasty to Ted when he showed concern for Anita and second, she's quite self-centered at times whereas. Deanna is not letting up off of Vanessa and I am here for it. Vanessa's passive aggressive blocking Deanna into the booth was enough for Deanna to go in even more than she did.

Hayley's enormous lie was a classic villain move. At the same time I would have liked to have seen Tomas been a bit stronger in defending himself.

That is an overly cautious approach of the writers. They feel the need to explain everything to the viewer much like movie musicals once tried to explain why the characters were singing. The writers don't trust the viewers enough to understand writing subtlies and to have enough patience to get to know the characters.

I think that increased production values and expanded running times were a factor too.

Seems like the writers wanted to move Eva forward while keeping Kat as being unable to let go. That aside, Alegria's acting is so weak that he was being carried by Michelle and Nixon in that storyline which long term is not sustainable. Mainly because one plot is the central theme and over an hour and a half to two hours with just one or two sets it means that you get more focus on the character's psyche.

I agree that times are different. Aspects of the traditional soap work, but not in whole and need to be applied sparingly.

So much of last year was spent on character development and while character development is important so is moving story along. MVJ clearly wants this not to be like the other soaps on the air, but that caution is slowing things down too much. Beyond The Gates gives very much 60-70s soap at times.

Now that's a case of getting along a little too well.

Beverlee McKinsey stated in an interview that she and Michael Zaslow didn't get along. Jerry Douglas allegedly said that he did not like Brenda Dickson. If I recall there were rumors of Crystal Hunt having issues with people while she was on OLTL. She cut up a woman's face in a bar fight so I can believe that she may be problematicynasty: John once alluded that this was caused by Joan's ego. She assumed that any man that wasn't attracted to her was gay and didn't appreciate straight men who weren't into her. It's not that she was actually after him, it was I think she would have liked a crush to boost her ego.

OLTL had a storyline about Henry Mackler (Jonathan Groff) bringing a gun to school, but they dropped it because of the Virginia Tech shooting.

Darlene was extolling the virtues of her law abiding family. If only she knew what her husband was up to.

Jasmine Burke is on "Beauty and Black" and is playing a part far different than June. [spoiler] Putting it in spoiler tags in case anyone watches that show. She plays a character that is a lackey for a bookie that Olivia (Debbi Morgan) owes money too and she broke Olivia's leg with a sledgehammer. Despite being short she does do a good job at playing scary.[/spoiler] Jacob could have shaved to be less recognizable but I'm guessing that was no from Jibre Hordges. Men are very attached to their facial hair.

Not sure what research the writers have done for this storyline, but it does seem like blood plasma is connected to cancer treatment enough for the show to build a storyline on. Anita's life saving treatment will definitely involve the blood plasma plot.