Aback

Re: breakdowns. I have to agree with @Liberty City that Giddens’ breakdowns leave a lot to be desired. His scenes end abruptly (maybe the directing doesn’t help), they do not flow one into the other because he tends to jump from one story to the next. It seems to me he’s trying to give primetime maybe? Obviously failing at it. On the other hand I disagree that the dialogue is good. On the contrary it’s often clunky and the exposition is just too much. I also have issues with the format of the show: with the show featuring one big prominent family you get multiple scenes where family members are informed for the first time of the very same thing. Take Eva and all the scenes with Nicole, Anita and Vernon, Bill… We don’t need EVERYONE’s reaction to this. Sometimes things are just shared in the family group chat.

Leslie in a uniform is giving 'Nurse Shelley' vibes. I wish Shanice would address that. Also, how cool would it be if Laura was a match for Eva? I love the story with Kat, at least she's creating something we can talk about. Funny how Tomas is MIA. TPTB are fully aware he's incapable, wonder how long before they'll get rid of him altogether. Izaiah is a philosophy teacher, he loves philosophizing (Jacob's words) but he believes in God and he prays. I'm not saying the two things can't coexist but the character was supposedly also a hot-head in the past and he's learned how to cook from a random mobster who was his mentor (in what?), not from his mother who makes a delicious chocolate cake. It's a mess. Sorry but I'm not here for AJ's sultry Heather. The character is already too cartoonish and I was getting weird incest vibes with her brother Joey. It doesn't help that she and Vanessa are both blondies. AJ should have died her hair brown again, since Joey is salt and pepper but still dark. The blonde has never suited her. That was John F. Smith. I've concluded that once it was decided that the show would be one hour long they had to come up with extra characters and that's why we've been saddled with Chelsea and a bunch of other non-entities. As for Kat, ITA with you and I also think it was just by mistake that she became the best written character. I think they just poured a bunch of flaws into her to prop Eva but the audience wants precisely flaws and Colby made it work wonderfully. Eva started really strong but once the anniversary reveal happened, they did not know what to do with her to salvage her as a heroine (!). Plus working so closely with TMG affected Ambyr's acting as she began picking up new tics... I have to be honest, I don't see what's so Bill Bell about Hayley. She's such a sloppy, after-thought character. They're visibly making up her backstory as they go, as they don't know what makes her thick or what her vulnerability is. She's too two-dimensional to be a BB character IMHO

I do think her fling with Kyle will come back to bite her or at least they’re writing it that way.

Casey's promotion also did something I think!

Random thoughts on the latest episodes: I’m not a fan of disaster events on soaps. I’m not particularly interested in watching two characters get trapped together in a closet or some random room. That said, I am interested in the aftermath - provided the consequences actually stick around for a while. The fact that nobody died already bothers me. These writers seem way too attached to their characters. The production values were excellent. I really liked the green-screen work for Victor’s arrival. Did anyone else notice the reflection of the helicopter on Vernon’s black van? Episode 104 (if I’m remembering correctly)- the one where the residents of Fairmont Crest were socializing with the Genoa City crowd at the Country Club - didn’t really work for me. It felt like a nonstop Y&R trivia session. There was no real emotional build-up or sense of a crescendo. I don’t like Dani and Bill together, but characters should drive us a little crazy. That’s part of the fun. I’ll take that over the usual eatery roundabout any day. Am I imagining things, or does Madame Vanessa seem a lot more committed to monogamy in this relationship? She was so modern and free-spirited when she was with Doug… And as always, Naomi remains the worst-dressed character on the show and you can always count on her to have the worst wig 😅

Sorry that’s an unfair (and slightly paranoid) reaction. Two people have expressed doubts regarding her overall skills and I responded not minimizing their opinions but trying to find common ground. As far as I’m concerned, Kat and Colby are literally the only reason I’m watching.

I get the same impression you do - ie soap directors not directing actors any more, not giving notes or reining them in when necessary (cough//Stafford). However for what it’s worth, listening to Owen’s interview on Soapy (can’t remember his family name, he’s a director at Y&R and God only knows he’s worked with Budig on AMC lol) he did mention challenging actors and implied giving notes… who knows. I am pretty sure Ed Scott used to give notes at Y&R and possibly at every show he was at but he was the executive producer. So confusing.

Vernon mentioned he wanted to take a moment with Victor before introducing him officially and have a private toast with him. Also, while Victor did land at the Country Club, it's possible he was not at a walking distance from the entrance. He might have just landed at the airport with his jet and then boarded a helicopter to get to the CC. I think they're setting the stage for KYLE to come back on BTG and maybe testify he kissed Hayley or something, to discredit her. Is every handsome Black photographer going to be tied to Malcolm Winters? Sorry but the problem isn't just Joey being a cartoonish mobster. The problem is he's depicted as infallible and always one step ahead of the rest of the community - which also happens to be mostly Black. Also: anyone who's dabbled in writing and/or producing just knows that the writers are enamoured with the Joey character and they're doing a disservice to everyone else just to pimp him. The mafia is mostly white collar today, embroiled in financial schemes. But then again 'mafia' as in a group of people resorting to crime and violence to gain power and money is such a broad concept. For example lobbyists and oligarchs are also mafia, in my view :) You've been saying that nonstop since Feb '25 and I wanted to believe you but in the meantime the character's been upgraded to contract and he's gained a central role in every story and a family member... It doesn't bode well for us. Also, mark my words: Joey hasn't killed Doug. He's faked Doug's death to send him off somewhere to cure his addiction and pay his debt forever. I'm calling it. Cringe and lame. Come to think of it, every actor should've been allowed to pick characters from any gender. Hetero-normative content. I agree to an extent... too much Y&R trivia. Oh right! I forgot about that! Such a shame JL wasn't cast as Jack. We would have been spared both Aunt Jack and maybe Joey Armstrong too. BTW I love you daily commentary. Would you consider adding the episode number in the initial credits paragraph? He's expensive and also old. I can't picture him being able to move around a tornado-hit country club. You guys may be right that Colby is still somewhat green but to her defense: the dialogue is clunky, it doesn't roll of the tongue most of the times and it is far from Bill Bell's Y&R; Colby is acting opposite Tomas, Jacob, Ted and Nicole - and those actors are not exactly Eric Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott to say the least; these days actors have no time to rehearse. So I'm hoping she improves and wins you over BTW I love the Martin/impotence idea...

BTW the notifications are having huge issue. Ever since the massive logout, whenever I see the red dot, I click on it and if I’m browsing on my laptop it results in an error message. Then I refresh the page and it shows the notifications list correctly. Secondly, even if I have viewed and opened a notification, the next time I open the website (be it on my laptop or phone) I see the red dot again, and it refers to the notification I have already seen. This has been happening for a while, long before the massive logout. Can you solve these issues?

That’s unfortunate and it also means all the more JOEY

Yeah we’ll see. Personally the only thing I like so far is the reaction button. Long overdue. If possible you should also continue discouraging low effort posts. Posting “ICAM” or a simple GIF may be funny once but sometimes it gets overkill. Also getting multiple consecutive posts from the same poster gets overwhelming, they should be combined.

Funny how KK's husband reprises his role on B&B and a few weeks later she lands a soap for the first time in decades. KK was also briefly on B&B in the 2010s, playing Forrester's PR person in a couple of location shoots (she was obviously there to join her husband on his trip). I thought she was definitely better than her days as MacKenzie.

BTW if I were the producers I would be mad at said actor. Not only did she do nothing to hide her joining the show but she also spoiled her first airdate potentially giving away a major spoiler.

Listening to an interview with the B&B casting director, they're over the moon with TK. I'm sure he's a nice guy but he's no Ridge. I'm sad to say I wish RM came back. (as well as HT)

I agree. Kat is the most layered, well-written character on that show. In fact, she's the only reason I watch these days. And the funny thing is I don't even think she's the writers' favorite character to write for. I think it was just by chance they conveyed all their most genuine stories into her, the actress is solid and voila, you have a great character. Very well said.