BTG: April 2025 Discussion Thread

[Vee]

Not a chance that any of this is true. Jon Lindstrom is a dear friend of MVJ since GH, she personally wrote most of his defining material at that show and I believe he's said she sought him out for this part she wrote and created for him. Cady is also very close to her ex (Lindstrom) and ABC Daytime royalty.

I do think Cady's role was a later addition and has rejiggered the positioning of the Vanessa character, but I don't think Pamela is a problem, just a character in search of a story. The problem white characters are Derek and Ashley, who do feel like a network requirement. While the gambling plot is silly and tedious to me, using JL is clearly a personal thing for MVJ. And the dumpy casino set is cheesy because it's just cheesy, not because it was thrown together last minute.

Edited April 19 by Vee

[AbcNbc247]

Nah

Ron would only pitch something like that if it was a female character that was getting humiliated

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[1974mdp]

I enjoyed much of the week, but Friday fell flat for me and felt a bit boring overall. It felt like a Tuesday show if that makes sense. Again, for me, there was no exciting Friday cliffhanger.

Doug's gambling addiction has taken up soooo much time. At this point, I need some insight as to why I should care about Doug/Vanessa/Joey.

I was kind of bummed to see that Bill and Naomi weren't going to fight it out in court. I think that could have been some great drama.

This week, I enjoyed the Martin/Smitty family stuff. Eva/Dana continue to be the real highlight.

 

[Maxim]

We just came back from a vacation... and Looord I've missed THE E-N-T-I-R-E WEEK! I'm gonna have to binge watch ASAP! Tell me it was GOOD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Edited April 19 by Maxim

[Contessa Donatella]

One day there is no Dani, Anita or Vernon!

Another day Dani is just a puddle that Andre chooses to deal with but no Anita or Vernon. 

Now, I don't intend to spoil, so that's all I'll say. Except for WELCOME BACK!!!! 

[Melroser]

I had similar thoughts, but then I wonder if the preemptions last month for NCAA (because the show planned an earlier debut) and then all the news breaks have thrown off the timing for the show. Hopefully it gets back on track because I was loving the cliffhanger Friday aspect. 

I do feel like there are too many stories going on at the same time right now. This leads to episodes being all over the place. I'd like to see them scale it back a bit and give fewer stories more focus. 

I'm loving Eva and the Ted/Nicole drama.

Is Hayley "trapping" Bill with a baby and possible first son? Hayley is intriguing to me because I can't figure her out. 

I still want to know what Martin's "secret" is...but could pass on the teen storyline. 

The Doug/Vanessa/Joey story has been better. I thought for sure Joey wanted Doug in debt so he'd steal drugs from the hospital for Joey to sell/distribute. 

I do wish there would be a large umbrella story. A character is rushed to the hospital in need of emergency surgery where Doug is distracted/too tired from his addiction and is deemed responsible for the character's death. Maybe Diego? Shanice/Ashley try to stick up for Doug. Vanessa realizes Joey is partly to blame so Vanessa vs Joey. Jacob and Marcel "investigate" with Marcel trying to cover up Joey's connection to Doug and Naomi upset Jacob would believe Ashley might try to protect Doug. Involve characters other than the Duprees. 

 

Edited April 19 by Melroser

[Soaplovers]

1) I have a feeling the two day preemption threw the episode schedule off, since I think this episode is technically a mid-week episode.  Still, if the pacing wasn't still being worked on... we could have had a mini cliffhanger on one of the stories.

2) The way you feel about Doug's gambling addiction story is how I'm feeling about Dani's whole arc and character.  I think having Dani as a character at the start of the show was a misfire.  She should have been off screen and anticipation should have been building for her arrival.  Except, Karla M isn't exactly an actress worth anticipating so the show would have had to cast someone more appealing with range for that to work.

3) I think Bill and Naomi will eventually face each other in court, but cases such as the one brought forward by the three women usually are settled out of court.  Perhaps whatever the Martin secret is might get the two either working together or against one another... especially if the secret involves a murder.

 

I also wanted to echo other people stating that there needs to be a 2nd family introduced that serves as a contrast to the Duprees.  Perhaps Caroline, Tomas, or even Shanice could be from a more working class/middle class family that serves as a contrast to the wealthy world outside the gates.   

I wouldn't mind seeing more Asian or Latino characters on the show.

[Tisy-Lish]

I think Hayley needs a talk-to character.  Someone who is at least reasonably on her side.  Maybe her mother should have been cast. The mother could we a working class positive influence, sort of like Ada Davis or Mona Kane.   I'd much rather see Hayley's mother than Ashley's mother, because they seldom use Ashley's mother anyway.  

[te.]

I said it when it happened, but I think Derek could function in that role. Hayley doesn't feel like a girl's girl and Derek's far enough removed from the drama to function as a talk-to. But maybe that's just me. 

[Tisy-Lish]

Is Derek the firefighter?  If so, I could agree with you.  Because the firefighter also needs a talk-to character.  We need to know what makes that guy tick.  And we need the same with Hayley.  So they could work that way for one another, as friends.  While we are on the subject, we also need a lot more exposition about Ashley.  She's another character that we know almost nothing about -- and it's difficult to care about characters until we are given a reason to empathize with them.  

[DemetriKane]

The week didn't bother me too much. There were some lovely scenes this week. Most of the actors seem to be improving in their performance. Still don't find the main storylines all that exciting.

Nicole/Ted/Dana is providing the best entertainment.

Martin’s secret has real potential to save the show, IMO. Could be the secret weapon that flips the show on its head.

Regarding that rival family, I believe they missed the boat on the Hawthorne clan. Having Naomi marry against the family's wishes would have given her some edge, and added a nice forbidden element to her relationship with Jacob. 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes. Derek of Derek & Ashley. 

[janea4old]

This scene was everything.    This clip is low-definition but it doesn't matter.  It's what she says and *how* she says it.   Tamara Tunie *is* Anita.  It feels so real to me.  I keep watching this scene over and over and over on cbs.com/Pplus.  

Seriously, I keep crying, It feels to me during the scene that Anita is real person and not a character.  That's the power of Tamara Tunie.  

I also think this is Tamara tuning into her own personal memories of performing.  And I know there was a scriptwriter, but this scene feels like perhaps MVJ writing about her own past as a singer.  Altogether so moving.  I can't stop watching and crying!

(the second video within this tweet)

 

Edited April 19 by janea4old

[Taoboi]

Yeah, I am going to disagree. Doug being cornered by Joey is a good cliffhanger. Now as good as the cliffhangers of the first two weeks of the show? Nope. But for me, it is good because anyone who has watched GH knows how dangerous an evil character played by Jon Lindstorm can be. And we already know Joey ain't a good character. Of course, that does play on if you have a history with GH (and I don't recall if his version of Craig on ATWT was written as evil). I know JL can bring the menace so seeing him was an uh oh for me. It was a play on perspective which I don't mind.

 

If the A story of this week was supposed to be the gambling tale...well...I didn't mind. We got Doug's POV and Vanessa's POV. And I do feel the writing did a good job of getting me at least somewhat invested. So the cliffhanger works.

 

That said...I do wish they had stronger A stories for each week like they had in their beginning weeks. But...I understand. We would all be tired (and some already are) if the focus was kept on Dani/Bill/Hayley (A Story 1). It is clear that Nicole/Ted/SilkPress Sheila is being set to climax/turn at May Sweeps (A Story 2). And then Martin's secret (A Story 3) has been a VERY slow burn that it is literally about to fall off the backburner...which is disappointing. But the why might be that it will be THE story that will start to develop once Nicole/Ted/SilkPressSheila (which IMO has been well paced out and layered-pun unintended hehe) climaxs/turns.

 

I think it's clear that I like the B and C plots and the characters as well. We have gotten the time to get to know characters which is great. But I kinda wish that while we were getting all of these developments that they had kept a central focus on one of the above 3 A stories within all the weeks to hold intrigue and interest. The fact that we have a great rivalry between Kat and Eva...which is an offshoot of the Nicole/Ted/SilkPress story...showed how well done that story is and it's not even the main story in that plot.

 

But outside of a story for Anita (and I love slow burns), I can be patient. I know they are still finding their rhythm. Now I might change my tone by the end of May Sweeps and eat crow, but that's just how I feel and where the direction of the stories appear to be going from interviews and comments. And I will be shocked if their May Sweeps is not a great one. 

I agree. My favorite scenes from yesterday. I have been enjoying all the Anita/Naomi scenes. And like I just said...I can't wait for her story to start.

I like that idea.

Hahaha. Oh, you.

[DemetriKane]

Same.

There's still time, they could turn the smuggling of drugs into the Umbrella. Marcel could be smuggling them into the jailhouse, and Dani’s models, maybe Dani could grab the wrong pill bottle herself!

 

Right! I don't see any long-term story with Anita's singing career. Even reuniting with the group doesn't excite me. We’ll probably learn of a secret love child or Anita betraying one of them, and I am not sure I wanna see that.

So excited to watch whatever Guza has planned for sweeps.

I agree. The friendship makes sense to me. I foresee some conflicted scenes from them both once Ted’s old affair is revealed.

Edited April 19 by DemetriKane