The massage table set is a great idea! You would have the option to have characters who don’t usually interact with each other, getting massages in the same room. And yeah, how expensive would it be to build a small set with two tables and some candles and curtains? Sometimes I feel like the show should be trying just a little harder than it is.
And yep, the treading water problem is getting worse. Last year, I felt a lull after Chelsea’s kidnapping. I thought maybe things were quiet because we were gearing up for some big Winterfest spectacle but then Winterfest came and went without so much as a raised eyebrow. Since the new year, we have the plasma ring story (which, sadly, has been horribly executed) and Anita’s cancer story as the main plot elements. Hayley poisoning Bill is still going on, half a year later with no real forward progression. All the other “storylines” are barely storylines at all, like “Madison gets sued” or “The Duprees are worried about Joey even though Joey has done nothing (but the Duprees still talk about Joey’s favor non-stop).
I don’t know why the writers are stuck in a holding pattern. My litmus test on whether this show will last is how they end the Hayley/Bill storyline. This is currently the “soapiest”, most high-stakes story the show is doing. They’ve been building it for a long time. If they bungle the climax and ending of this story, I may stop watching the show. I love spending time with the characters but I want to watch a show where at least OCCASIONALLY something happens that makes me EXCITED for the next episode. Right now, I’m not excited. I enjoy it while I’m watching it but I don’t think about the show when I’m not watching it (compare this to how I felt watching Lauren and Sheila battle it out in the 90s when I couldn’t wait to get home from school and watch the resistors I’d videotaped).
I know there’s apparently a “big” event that is coming up next month so we’ll see what happens. Although I think the show is missing a HUGE opportunity to do something like an “Explosion at the Cotillion” storyline. If you saw an advertisement showing teen girls running around in fancy dresses while bombs go off, wouldn’t you HAVE to tune in? Haha.
By
Romalotti ·