Yeah, I felt out of all the B plots introduced on this show in its first year, Doug/Vanessa/Joey was not only the best and most organic, but also the best paced. Solid enough to be a main story...which it showed the week of Doug's death or any week where it was the main story. It was just so well done to me, allowing for the characters to develop individually before the stories converged into something bigger. I loved Doug was over here dealing with a gambling addiction, but yet we saw a capable doctor who was loved by all his co-workers...some of my favorite scenes were him with Shanice, Ashley, random doctor at the nurse stand. Then you had Vanessa over there playing sex games with different men (hey, Diego, hey!), but you also saw her being a town gossip while being BFFs to Dani and saw she was a shark in her real estate business. Just the different sides to both characters. Then you had Joey in the background which made the fact that he was pulling the strings behind both of their vices just genius. And a cat and mouse game insured...right up until Doug's death. You said it perfectly...Vanessa currently would not bother me currently if she still had her cunning edge that had been established over the first 150 episodes, but she's little more than a weepy heroine and it does not ring true. The only thing saving her is the actress playing her putting in layers sometimes and that is stretching thin.
Yeah, the build to the Hayley reveal and how it made some of the odd things that came before it make sense was superb in hindsight. I'm still enjoying her channeling Kristen Dimera circa late 90s DAYS myself, but she's not coming across as being cunning right now either.
By
Taoboi ·
