BTG: February 2025 Discussion Thread

[titan1978]

Finally had uninterrupted time to watch the premiere. Like others have said, I left wanting more, and being interested in more, so that is a win!

I loved that the show started with Nicole. The calm in the storm, the “stable” soap character. I also thought she was so well styled for our first meeting!

I love the divas and the shady soap characters, but soaps have truly kind of left behind the normal, decent person going through struggles, either heightened or natural. I already know I am going to root for her, and Daphnee.

Karla Mosley was exactly like the previews and I hope she eventually finds a groove that gives the edge Dani needs with a little nuance. Although I do think she showed she can get there in the scenes with her father.

Also as others have said, Tamara Tunie had to carry a lot of exposition, and I can’t wait to see more of her when she isn’t being used to set the show in motion, in her own story groove.

Those two white people really need something to bring life to their scenes. Both were close to Hallmark bland. I have hopes they will be fleshed out though.

My only real complaints are technical ones- the lighting is incredibly bright and very flat.  It is a subtle thing but it’s noticeable when you go from different locations and they all featured almost the same lighting, clearly from above. That poor white guy was looking up at his nurse girlfriend in his lap and blinking so rapidly. Their tiny apartment shouldn’t resemble the lighting of the country club. I also think there is still mileage in the long soap look when transitioning scenes, and there was very little of that, if any. Doesn’t have to be every scene or that dramatic all the time, but this show feels like it would work well here.

I cannot wait to see them dig in and flesh these people out more, and to see more stories form besides the Dani marriage collapse and the beginning of her daughter’s brand, which felt like the only actual stories we saw highlighted in the first ep.

As far as pilots go, it felt pretty good to me. And I have only seen a handful of pilots I consider pretty near perfect ever- Twin Peaks, Gilmore Girls, Arrested Development, and maybe Mad Men. This was in line with most of the decent ones- lots of promise, a couple of characters I am already vested in, and some kinks that need ironed out, including maybe 1 or 2 recasts down the road depending on how things develop. I hope the audience embraces this project!

I loved that whole family scene too! It felt really special for soaps today considering how budgets have all but eliminated just normal family gatherings with lots of characters. I hope they are able to continue them.

Edited February 25 by titan1978

[ReddFoxx]

I got Raven Whitney (EON) vibes from Dani in that she is very impulsive and self-confident. 

[Chris B]

Dani's life is falling apart so naturally there was a lot of focus on her but I am so intruiged by Nicole's life. Nobody is as perfect as she presents herself to be. I'm very curious to see her with her husband and see what's really going on in her mind and her household. 

[Contessa Donatella]

On Twi/x I just saw Dani favorably compared to not only Erica but also to Rachel Cory & Dorian Kramer!!! She's a soap every vixen! Vixen? H*ll, what is she?!

Edited February 25 by Contessa Donatella

[BetterForgotten]

Dani is defined by her ex-husband’s affair(s) right now. I’m waiting for that to settle to see what type of character she really is. 

KM is not the most subtle actor (she wasn’t in any of her previous roles either). She can be very surface level and I am going to need to see her play more layers eventually. 

[Contessa Donatella]

KaMo has very expressive eyes & face & vocal variety. I'm remembering on GL when Chritina just learned that they were not married & the look she gave him ... well, it was a look that could kill.

[BetterForgotten]

I often get a very “theatre kid” in high school vibe from her. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she can be very showy as an actress. 

[Vee]

I was not a fan of KM's work on GL and I thought what little I saw of her on B&B was mid, but I haven't seen much. I was pleased with her yesterday, but it's too soon to know. Dani is a very outsize character so far. I don't think she's incapable of showing nuance.

[adrnyc]

Rewatched the episode this morning. 

I'm glad I did because I was able to pick up some of the exposition that I lost on first viewing because I was still trying to process the exposition I'd just heard. 

It will take me a while to learn character names. (In my head, I'm seeing Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis. No idea what their character names are but I'll get there as I watch the show.) 

I've got Nicole and Dani's names down. Nicole was by far my favorite. Her acting was so natural - luckily, she didn't get too much exposition. That fell to poor Tamara - and I immediately have a sense of her character. As others have said, I think there's probably more under the surface of her "perfect marriage." (Or, she could be a part of the one couple that is stable. Every soap needs one of those.)

I'm enjoying KM as Dani. It's a different role for her from what I've seen and I trust her as an actress to find the character more over time.

The two white characters. Still don't mind watching that boy shirtless in an apron. On second viewing, I didn't think his acting was awful. I think he's green; he's never done a soap and was probably nervous. (Dani's daughter who doesn't want to be a model...I swear I could see the fear in her eyes of "Just get the line out so they don't have to yell 'CUT!' or I might get fired." I hope that changes with time.) The white woman I found, on second viewing, to be better than I'd thought.

I also really enjoyed the actor playing Bill. Looking forward to seeing more from him. His fiancee/the ex-best friend/whore...not sure I loved her acting. But again, people green to soaps have a huge learning curve ahead of them.

I just recently watched the first 3 years of Bold and the Beautiful on YouTube and they went through so many different characters AND recasts in those 3 years. It makes me wonder if we'll see something similar with this show. Time will tell. 

Looking forward to Episode 2 in 2 hours!

[Cheap21]

Karla is a very campy actress and I dont mind that bc she can be comedic relief.  I sometimes dont mind overacting. I dont want everyone to play everything so serious

[BoldRestless]

I prefer reading all the posts in a thread before I comment, so I feel like I'm always going to play catchup.

Please register in order to view this content

 

The good: Strong solid acting from Vernon, Anita, Nicole and Bill. Good script. Lots of little threads to pick up on. I didn't mind the exposition. I'm glad the show is rooted in normal storylines like affairs and class differences and shady dealings, and there weren't any big out of the blue moments meant to "shock." There was buildup to the slap and it made sense. It's just very old-fashioned classic soap.

The bad: The directing. It's very clunky. There was a lot of "now I come out and say my line and then I look at the camera." Most of the newer actors are unnatural. And I have to include Mosley in that. On that late night show last week she was showing her soap opera tag face, and I couldn't help but notice her doing it a lot. "Ohh, look, this is a soap, and I just said something dramatic! Now I pause and give you a moment to gasp!" I loved the use of pop music in the opening, but the show could have used more background music to add some of the nuance and emotion to the dialogue that the newer actors aren't showing yet.

[Joseph]

That's actually great! As I love all 3 characters a lot! 

[Sapounopera]

I loved it, it would be very difficult for me to hate a new soap's first episode.

The show looks amazing. It looks fresh without losing the soapiness.

Andre and Jacob look like twins.

I don't get the purpose of the white couple in the premiere (well, I kind of do). Unless one of them dies the first week and the family is somehow involved.

The Hayley actress seemed a lot more charismatic in the opening than in the actual episode. I know that she is new to soaps and it means nothing though.

Kat felt like an extra.

I liked Chelsea.

Vernon is so charming and Bill is HOT.

Loved the grandfather/grandson vibe and Dani's switch when Vernon showed up.

The idea of a casual family gathering was a great idea for the premiere.

Wishing BTG the best and I hope that the other soaps wake up. 

[YRfan23]

That’s one thing I noticed.  as handsome as the men are, some of them do look a little too similar and besides the ones that stand out more because of them being older like Vernon, Bill and I guess Nicole’s husband who we haven’t met yet, the younger ones including Martin kind of have a similar look to them. 

Edited February 25 by YRfan23

[BetterForgotten]

I won’t be able to watch live today, so looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!