1 minute ago, Jonathan said:

I'm confused. So Ted knows Leslie? Didn't they pass each other in the hospital hallway like two weeks ago and he didn't acknowledge her? I'll have to go back and rewatch.

She saw him but he didn't see her 

2 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

The only disappointing thing is a bit of lazy writing.  So now both Dupree daughters are married to cheaters, and both are revealed in the first three-weeks of the show. 

I think we too often fail to make the distinction between 'lazy writing' and 'writing I don't like'.

Would I have made both husbands cheaters? Maybe not. But Ted having had a fling with Dana years ago isn't quite the same thing as Bill dogging Dani out with Hayley very recently. And the Richardson marriage being far from the perfect life it appears to be was baked into the show from the beginning, per casting notices. So if it wasn't Dana it would've been something else. Honestly based on the casting description I had expected Dr. Ted to be a full-on psycho.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by Vee

18 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

I'm confused. So Ted knows Leslie? Didn't they pass each other in the hospital hallway like two weeks ago and he didn't acknowledge her? I'll have to go back and rewatch.

No, Ted never saw her. He was getting out of the elevator and was on his phone the entire time. He looked up twice and made eye contact wtih Eva and Ashley's mother but Leslie was off to the side and he never noticed her

Edited March 11Mar 11 by Cheap21

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think we too often fail to make the distinction between 'lazy writing' and 'writing I don't like'.

Understood.  But if TPTB wanted to have both Dupree daughters in troubled marriages, why not make one a cheating husband, and the other a cheating wife???  Two cheating husbands in the first three-weeks of the show does seem a bit lazy -- or at least unimaginative. Without getting political -- it sort of makes black wives seem like victims and black husbands incapable of monogamy.  Neither are good messages to send to an audience in 2025, in my opinion.     

 

21 minutes ago, Rmodelboy said:

She saw him but he didn't see her 

 

5 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

No, Ted never saw her. He was getting out of the elevator and was on his phone the entire time. He looked up twice and made eye contact wtih Eva and Ashley's mother but Leslie was off to the side and he never noticed her

Got it. Thanks for finding and sharing this clip.

2 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Understood.  But if TPTB wanted to have both Dupree daughters in troubled marriages, why not make one a cheating husband, and the other a cheating wife???  Two cheating husbands in the first three-weeks of the show does seem a bit lazy -- or at least unimaginative. Without getting political -- it sort of makes black wives seem like victims and black husbands incapable of monogamy.  Neither are good messages to send to an audience in 2025, in my opinion.     

Nicole being a cheater would've been ingenious. She's the calm and collected one. No one would've initially suspected her. Or if Nicole and Ted had an open marriage like Vanessa and her man. 

3 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Understood.  But if TPTB wanted to have both Dupree daughters in troubled marriages, why not make one a cheating husband, and the other a cheating wife???  Two cheating husbands in the first three-weeks of the show does seem a bit lazy -- or at least unimaginative. Without getting political -- it sort of makes black wives seem like victims and black husbands incapable of monogamy.  Neither are good messages to send to an audience in 2025, in my opinion.     

It’s a soap. And we want the black characters to be treated the same as their white counterparts on other shows. Name a white lead that hasn’t cheated on their spouse. I don’t think it says anything about black people and monogamy and I say that as a black man.

1 minute ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Without getting political -- it sort of makes black wives seem like victims and black husbands incapable of monogamy.  Neither are good messages to send to an audience in 2025, in my opinion.     

I get that. Per the topic I'm not going to invoke a certain poster with not one but three active forum accounts who insists this show is some sort of trashy anti-Black conspiracy pill, but I do think you have a fair point. I also have to think Ducksworth and the NAACP would be cognizant of that. So I expect the Ted/Dana saga to have considerably more twists and turns.

Based on the casting notice I truly expected Dr. Ted to turn out to be a Salem Stalker/Carnation Killer type tbh (and it still wouldn't shock me), which would be a shame because he is unbelievably fine. So cheating is a bit old hat to me. Their marriage can take the blow, unless Ted gets in much deeper or has even more to hide.

4 minutes ago, CrazySexyQ said:

Nicole being a cheater would've been ingenious. She's the calm and collected one. No one would've initially suspected her. 

I do think Nicole turning out to be a cheater (on top of Ted and Dana's mess) or secret fetishist/nymphomaniac or danger addict would be brilliant.

37 minutes ago, Vee said:

Hahaha, I was waiting for the mugshot photo shoot.

I have a higher tolerance for Dani's antics, she's great (and delusional) to me. She (and Dana) get the show attention and keep people engaged and talking, and that's desperately needed in this ratings environment.

I agree; Dani gets people talking, and her mugshot photo shoot moment was great.

28 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think we too often fail to make the distinction between 'lazy writing' and 'writing I don't like'.

I agree; nothing about the writing, to me on this soap, has felt lazy in the slightest.

Now...that I'm done touching grass...

Dani really foreshadowed Ted and Nicole in this first ep.

5 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

I agree; nothing about the writing, to me on this soap, has felt lazy in the slightest.

Oh, I think the Ashley storyline is beyond boring and the jury is out on the saga of Gamblin' Doug tbh. I get that Dani is divisive to some here but that's exactly what they're going for; half the audience loves her, half is exasperated.

I do think Jacob could die and a recast, less stiff Naomi could meet a more interesting man with dreadlocks, which could trigger another emergency midnight press conference from the Duprees about the one man in Fairmont Crest with a different hairstyle. I think Martin is a cyborg sent from the future who must be destroyed, and I think him and Smitty having near-adult children is still comical and they should be sent to the Bobby Martin Daycare and come back toddlers. But these are pretty minor criticisms at this point. I think the show definitely isn't perfect and we'll see more things ironed out, but it's coming together pretty well in short order.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by Vee

12 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

It’s a soap. And we want the black characters to be treated the same as their white counterparts on other shows. Name a white lead that hasn’t cheated on their spouse. I don’t think it says anything about black people and monogamy and I say that as a black man.

Yeah, but both within three-weeks? That's my biggest issue with it.  

And, "It's a soap" is pretty close to saying, "It's just a soap."  

Edited March 11Mar 11 by Mona Kane Croft

Bill used the Live to arrest Dani? lol

1 minute ago, Vee said:

Oh, I think the Ashley storyline is beyond boring and the jury is out on the saga of Gamblin' Doug tbh. I get that Dani is divisive to some here but that's exactly what they're going for; half the audience loves her, half is exasperated.

I do enjoy Ashley away from Derek more than I do her with him. But I am also a bit biased toward Jen Jacob, whom I adore. And Dani is definitely an audience-splitting character, which I think soaps do need, and Michele Val Jean and her team have done well, in the writing, to allow that to happen. Plus, the work of Karla Mosley gives into that as well.