I was more upset by Derek’s death than I expected to be. His character had actually improved a lot lately. He had finally become the one real thorn in Leslie’s side, and I also thought he had an interesting dynamic with Eva. So yeah, I’m genuinely sorry to see him go. He brought good vibes to the show. Now let’s hope Tomas is next.
As for Ashley mourning Derek… those scenes went on forever. They were way too long, and more importantly, they exposed the actress’s limitations. She was just whining and crying with the same mannerisms and tics over and over again. It wasn’t moving at all.
That said, I did notice something interesting in Ashley’s dialogue. The way she talked about Derek almost felt like a mea culpa from the writers themselves—as if they’d heard the audience feedback and folded it into her lines. It was like Ashley was suddenly aware of all the selfish, nonsensical, and ungrateful things she’d done. Or rather, the writers were aware of all the ridiculous choices they’d made her do.
As for the rest, I’m still fast-forwarding through Joey’s scenes.
And regarding Doug: I really hope he’s actually dead. I hate back-from-the-dead stories in soaps. Long-term, I genuinely think that trope has damaged the genre. So no, I’m not particularly eager to see him return—even though I would still choose Douglas over Joey a thousand times over.
The cotillion scenes were fun. Honestly, this entire week felt must-watch to me. I also liked Friday’s episode. It had a kind of punch and weight to it that the show had been lacking for a while, so hopefully that means something has changed behind the scenes.
As for the plasma storyline, it was objectively a failure. It felt completely inconsequentialfor Naomi and Jacob, who somehow come across as more annoying than ever. And I honestly don’t understand why we’re supposed to care about Lia’s future. We’ve had scenes between Marcel and Lia, but… why? Who even is she to us as viewers?
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