BTG: April 2025 Discussion Thread

[1974mdp]

I feel like today's episode should have been Friday's episode if that makes sense. It was good from start to finish and had a cliffhanger. The best episode they've done in a couple of weeks!

I'm warming up to Martin as the actor is getting better, and I'm feeling him and Smitty as more of a couple finally. I keep noticing that Martin's got some junk in the trunk, too, as they say. Maybe we need some scenes with him in jeans versus suits all the time!

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They need to get the actress that plays Samantha on contract STAT before she goes and gets another job. She's good and very much a natural, much more so than Chelsea, for instance, although she's improving a bit.

It was nice to have a break too from Dani, Bill, Haley, Joey, and Doug....not to mention...cough cough...Ashley and Derek.  I'm not sure what the solution is for those two characters. They're just dullsville. Derek has ZERO personality except for saving cats. He's like a walking robot himbo and acts like one. There's nothing going on upstairs but the occasional wide-eyed surprised look he gives when Andre looks at Ashley. Those tight pants will only get him so far.

Ashley is "too perfect" and doesn't feel real. Who was she before she became the World's Best Nurse?! How did she and Derek meet? How long have they been together? Why does she like him beyond "generic hot fireman?" We really don't know anything about their relationship besides the fact that they're "perfect." They're not three dimensional at all more just "character sketches." I REALLLLLY wonder if those two characters were quick add-ons requested by the network to have a romantic white couple on the show. I can't help it, but I practically groan out loud whenever they pop up!

I just REALLLY hope the show can pick up and keep momentum with stories. The only way the genre is going to survive is by attracting new and younger viewers in certain audience demographics. All of us who have been watching soaps since the 80s (or before), including me, are not the ones who will keep the genre going for another 10, 20, or more years in the future. The younger viewers (30 and less) are not going to stick around for a slow moving 1970s type soap with five episodes a week...not with their TikTok brains and shows that have only 6 episodes on streaming. You need to have memorable moments in every episode. That includes good, witty dialogue that can be made into memes. That's just where we are now.

As a writer, you can keep plots entertaining by hitting ALL the possible story beats so that it feels like things are progressing even if they take a while to get to the story finish line. It doesn't mean you have to have explosions and murders every episode, but a nice flow with good, unexpected twists and turns along the way.

Just my two cents.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 12:31 AM by 1974mdp

[Vanguardian53]

ALL OF THIS!

[Taoboi]

First of all, from what I've glanced (since we know how I feel about spoilers), last Friday had a cliffhanger. Joey and Vanessa getting closer as Diego (hey Diego of the Bubble hey) looked on with his stalker self. Moreso since Vanessa already gave him a warning in the episode...not to mention Nicole running to her with the quickness to reveal Joey's lie. If anything, it was the only thing in the episode with a cliffhanger that was Dupree-adjacent. But that might be what the problem is I suspect. For a month, our Friday cliffhangers have been for the most part centered on either Dani or Nicole. And given the promo for this week...I am sure we are going to get one that will center on one of them or (speculating) Vernon and/or Anita given the only major storyline not being developed (and by major I said the main plots since Week 1 has been Dani/Bill/Hayley, Nicole/Ted/SilkPress, and Martin's secret) and needs some more development time for it pre-May Sweeps IS Martin's secret. So...fingers crossed.

 

That said...I can't be too hard on the show. It's clear the writers not MVJ are still trying to find a rhythm that works for them. NOW come end of May Sweeps, I will probably sing a different tone since that will be 3 months in and I fully expected some climaxes and if not those...new turns in plots AND new plots. But that is just me. 

 

That also said...I can see that the stories have slooowed the last few weeks to a bit of a crawl. And that's an uh oh. I did agree the week before last was much better without the presence of the Derek/Ashley/Andre storyline and this past week was not helped by having it back...outside of seeing Nosy Nurse! lol. And I liked when who (Darn?) said what I said about it. I actually like all of them (And Derek is serving good himbo which I don't mind even though he's not my fave hottie(s)*cough*DiegoJacob*cough), but the story has become very paint-by-numbers to me. And I just feel like it will be on the verge of maybe being refreshing. Then suddenly, it takes steps back. In the most recent episode...I guess I keep missing all the elevator baby mentions because I feel like they stopped after Week 2. And right now...all they talk about is that darn cat. But seeing who did Friday's episode...well...not surprised. *sips* 

 

I did want to take the time to say that I loved the Derek/Hayley scenes. They are two characters that definitely needed to branch out out of their main storylines. And given some of the discussion in the thread about Hayley's history with some of the Duprees, I hope people were happy that that was happening. So...Hayley DOES know Ashley/Derek due to how close she was to Naomi. Something to be develop. Also Derek and Jacob seem pretty close outside of their respective girlfriends so perhaps more 'man' time for them so both characters can have POVs as well? In any case, I would not mind seeing the Derek/Hayley dynamic developed given all the characters involved do have other options, too. It could be an atypical bad girl/good guy dynamic. Well...if Derek doesn't go crazy when/if Ashley/Andre happens. And yes, I DID like Derek in those pants, too. 

 

I thought the biggest storyline last week was the lawsuit storyline and I was here for all of it. Cuz Bill vs Naomi has been great to watch. Teacher vs student. And both actor and actress (especially Timon) have been finding the layers in their confrontations and maneuverings. And then Hayley keeps trying to butt in...allowing for the audience to see the relationship between Bill and his kids. And I thought Timon did great with the heart attack scenes. But...will that be an interesting subplot since Naomi never called 911?

 

And yay for Chelesa being smart enough to use the fashion show to promote her line. THAT is smart. And I love Dani being there for her while trying to not be tooooooooo hands-on so Chelesa can do it herself. 

 

Vanessa and Doug's storyline was the clear B plot. And I loved that we got to get Vanessa to get serious (and get some long overdue BFF scenes with Nicole...sidenote God, I love DD) to show her POV. And oooo when she said she and Doug had an arrangement. And how she feels about that. I found it nicely paced around a character that the audience like (or close to someone the audience like because I like the twist of Nicole finding out from Ted about the mother last Thursday), but I want to know more. Like what Joey's endgame is. Not to mention Diego (hey, Diego, hey! hehe) is giving obsessed when he's not giving hot. And that's just Vanessa's part of the plot. Doug's gambling and Joey slowly tightening the leash is an uh oh. And could it tie into Jacob's storyline?

 

That's what came out of the last two episodes I watched. I'm looking forward to a build to the next event which appears to be Dani's fashion show. And fingers crossed...we will get to the anniversary party for Nicole in exactly two weeks. 

Amen.

 

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  But that said...I do agree that compared to the other men, he IS bland. But he is not at all unattractive. But as we know...beauty is subjective.

Not that Friday didn't have one.  

 

But seriously...well...we did have that ONE preemption. So in another timeline...perhaps this was Friday's cliffhanger?

[Vanguardian53]

They also need to explain Ted and Leslie also. 

When and where did they meet?

Was she a call girl back in the day and met him on an extended business trip?

 

[Antoyne]

Just realized the gay actor that met with Dani about the fashion show, was serving shots at the bar I was at Friday. He also made me feel old when he said he was born in 98

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[Taoboi]

Well you might be getting that sooner rather than later.

[ranger1rg]

-- Good show today. Better than anything we saw last week.

-- Brandon C is definitely improving. I would like to see him and Smitty speed up their dialogue in their scenes. I think that would make it all much more natural. Brandon's acting tics (that don't work) are magnified when he speaks too slowly.

-- I wish they'd given Tyrell something more "serious" to be bullied over. Chess underwear? Really? I can see kids ragging on that, but only for a very limited time. I don't see it becoming a thing.

[janea4old]

Please don't put spoiler pics/videos/stills on the main thread.
There's a link to the pics on the April spoiler thread.
 

[Soapsuds]

What a difference a story or stories does for an episode.

No boring drama in today's episode.

[Alan]

It was actually "As the Country Club Turns." On rewatch I realized the ATWT reference is even deeper: Jan mentions a "Mrs. Eldridge" being three sheets to the wind before noon and complaining about her husband's viagra not working. Eldridge was one of the married names of Lisa, a long-running iconic ATWT character. The way Jan describes her is pretty much what I expect the character to be doing these days. Lisa leaving Oakdale and retiring to Fairmont Crest is now canon, at least in my mind.

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[Soapsuds]

I was genuinely surprised and loved it too.

[DemetriKane]

Okay, so I just rewatched today's episode, and Brandon Claybon was great today. He's still finding his way, but I enjoy his performance. I wish he leaned back a little more during his massage lol but he definitely improving. 

Martin's storyline is my number one, I see the most potential with his story, a tree with many branches if you will. 

I font have much to say about about Tyrell I thought it was going in another director. 

[MontyB]

I saw this on Facebook. Made me laugh out loud.

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[Taoboi]

Oh, lord...NOT THE JERRYCURL!!! LOL.

 

I was sooooo happy it was a Jazmen episode. And he did not at all disappoint. And speaking of excited, I see someone got quite excited themselves today. Oops.

 

There was so much good going on. And I loved how even stories/characters not on today were mentioned. That's right...keep them storylines alive!!! It was just so nicely done and old school soap for me.

 

The highlight for sure was after people mentioned it all last week...there's Laura, Mona, and our Have-Nots!!! But today continued to prove how well-paced the SilkPress Sheila storyline has been. Just when everyone thinks she's been too calm or parts of her plot (Lauren, terrorizing Ted) are just simmering to the point of falling off the backburner, she acts! And movement in the storyline starts again. And I really loved that we are starting to see more of Ted's personality outside of being hottie for Nicole. And how cunning of him to follow SilkPress Sheila home. And we saw anger and regret with Ted while SilkPress Sheila was playing soooo many layers, but there was a genuine moment when she lashed out at Ted before Eva walked in that was perfection at seeing Leslie as a human being vs just a psycho. But another thing I loved and that shows how well-paced this plot is...the near-misses with Eva walking in on the argument...not to mention Ted almost seeing that picture frame. The fact this has all been going on under Nicole's nose, and I don't for one minute think Nicole is stupid or that DD is playing her as dumbed down is a testament.

 

And so (fingers crossed) it begins. A week (or two) ago, we got Martin getting images as he dreamt versus just sounds. Now we got sounds, images, AND A CROWBAR!!!??? Ooooo that was good. Of the 3 main plots, Martin's secret has been definitely on the backburner, but I hope this is a sign that it is about to start getting its time in the sun. And him going over to Anita and Vernon's was something else. Though I did wonder if Martin actually killed someone or just THINKS he killed someone? Hmmm.

 

And it goes without saying that I enjoyed the plot within the plot. Smitty trying to get through to Martin while continuing his storyline of finding a job. Mike Manning was something else today...and I see why some of you all have a crush on him. Cuz those eyes...mmmm. And yes to seeing you all seeing that Brandon is definitely improving. I think there was only one moment where I felt meh about with him. He was good throughout the episode. And I liked the soft hand Smitty tried to have with Martin to try to get him to open up by comparing him to his son. Speaking of...poor Ty. But I do feel invested in the bullying storyline. And it was nice to see Vernon and Anita with their great grandkids.

 

Oooooo Vernon and Anita. I loved them this episode. Vernon waxing the poetic. Them reminiscing. Anita mentioning the Harlem Renaissance. Her helping him with his speech. They are just magic together. And I was really feeling Clifton today.

 

I was just thinking myself that we haven't seen our Have-Nots together in a good minute. So that was very well-timed.

 

And that ending...oooooo. The wig. The music. The directing. Love. 

 

Hahahaha!!! FACTS!!!

 

Also FACTS. 

 

Nope. You even got a surprise. Or is that @AbcNbc247? 

I look forward to his scripts all the time so I feel that. He's really good.

 

Same.

[kalbir]

That's some Tyler Perry s--- right there.

Hahaha, love this!