BTG: August 2025 Discussion Thread 

5 hours ago, janea4old said:

I think many of the comments are *mostly* because we are invested.  There are currently 50 pages on this BTG August discussion thread and we are only halfway through the month.
 

Based on some of the most trifling comments I've seen I don't dare imagine what they are NOT invested in.....LOL!

On that note, there are very good comments too. The character driven comments. 

Edited August 16Aug 16 by MontyB

4 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

So, basically what’s been going in nearly every single daily/weekly/monthly discussion thread on SON since I first got here as a wee eighth grader 20+ years ago lol 

True! I joined years ago, but stayed away for a long while. 

Anyway, I was just pointing it out because I sitting reading and going what the hell. 

48 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

We are in agreement.  

And regarding MVJ run out on a rail, Hell no!!  MVJ is brilliant, strong, and dedicated. She is the closest thing we have to Agnes Nixon or Bill Bell in 2025.  At least she loves the genre and uses her talents to support and sustain it. Who else is dong that these days??  In a year or two, I'll be ready for the premiere of MVJ's second soap opera.  

We should continue to critique BTG.  Is it perfect?  Of course not.  And some of the issues seem so easily correctable. But since the premiere, I have missed only two episodes. So obviously, I am hooked.  

While I don't think MVJ should be run out on a rail... she is nowhere close to Agnes Nixon nor Bill Bell.  

She needs a strong co-head writer that is an outsider and can be objective.  She's too emotionally invested in the show and can't be objective (most creators have that very issue) about things that aren't working.  Guza was only there short term to help her launch it, and I don't think his replacement is a strong enough creative to give her a dose of reality when something isn't working.

 

As for the show, here were my thoughts on today's episode:

 

- The one thing the show has managed to do is provide throwaway lines that might be foreshadowing.  Case in point with Silk Press Sheila mentioning how she lost her virginity to The Articulettes.. and now she's revealed to be Barbara's daughter.   So I have a sinking feeling that Anita and Dani's elitist comment to Eva about never being a Dupree could foreshadow Vernon being Silk Press Sheila's biological dad.

If that happens, it makes all the male characters the bad guys (even though I don't blame Bill for cheating then dumping Dani)... and it continues to add only female Duprees when male Duprees are needed more.

I’m not gonna sit here and say that Vernon is definitely Leslie’s father, but it was foreshadowed multiple times today: Vernon wanting to blame himself for Nicole and the Mosley character having crap taste in husbands, Nicole saying that Anita isn’t exactly like her, Vanessa, and the Mosley character because she has the perfect marriage, and the “playful” banter between Vernon and Sharon broken up by Anita “playfully” reminding her that Vernon belongs to her. I fully acknowledge that I can be wrong about it, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if that’s where it goes.

Leslie as Barbara’s daughter makes a ton of sense, but as someone else said, if they had opened with that angle for the character instead of her already being far off the deep end from the beginning, it would have served her better. TMG did a great job softening her today, but it’s hard to forget all of the cartoonish antics we’ve already seen.

30 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

TMG did a great job softening her today, but it’s hard to forget all of the cartoonish antics we’ve already seen.

not to mention that she twice tried to murder laura — not because she had a personal conflict with laura — but because laura stood in the way of her plan.

sounds like a sociopath to me, which is, at least for me, hard to forget.  

Dear God in Heaven!  Please don't make Vernon Leslie's father.  That would be over-kill and completely unnecessary.  Worst of all, that would mean nearly all the adult men on BTG are losers.  Bill and Ted are cheaters, Andre is a womanizer, Martin keeps secrets from his husband, Tomas will soon be screwing two sisters, Joey is a mobster, Elon is a bad cop, and Doug is a willing cuckold.  If Vernon is Leslie's father, that leaves only Jacob as a decent male human being on this show. And that is not a good look!!  I love BTG, but please let us have at least a few good and sincere men.  Pretty please...

I'm surprised Ole Jan didn't just strip nekkid, run on into the Emergency Room, and mount Triathlon Derek while he was stretched out on his back.  She's been acting like she wants to, ever since her dull daughter dumped him.  

1 hour ago, DemetriKane said:

It's unpopular to say, but Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon had their share of stinkers, too. Anytime I watch AMC clips, it always upsets me that Aggie never invested in giving Cliff Warner's family, especially with Palmer spending their whole romance torching him. He deserved more than some short-term sister.

I loved Cliff's sister Linda. I loved the way she terrorized Nina when Heather Stanford played the part. 

1 hour ago, DemetriKane said:

I still firmly disagree with having Leslie come between Nicole and Ted. Leslie and Eva have the same story; it should have been one or the other.  The story has damaged Ted's character so badly that I wouldn't pair him with either Leslie or Nicole. Nicole's writing since the affair reveal has been off the wall for me. I was too through when she left Anita's event to confront Leslie at the diner. 

I agree. It's all messier than it had to be, and not in a good way. How many "Who's the Daddy?" plots are we going to get? Maybe they can throw in Jacob's father as Samantha and Tyrell's bio dad.

-- So many anvils dropped that Vernon has to be Leslie's father. Short term, that provides explosive story, but I'm not sure it's a wise decision in the long run. Too many people in this cast are related to the Duprees, and there's definitely a shortage of men.

-- I'm looking forward to an extended period without illegitimate babies and kids being given up for adoption and discoveries about who the real parents are.

-- Good to see Ted and Andre scenes, although I wish they'd give Ted more with his own kids, and not just Eva.

-- I do not buy Andre's pining about Ashley. Nothing about their dates made them seem like a real couple.

-- Derek has now been wheeled into the ER on a gurney twice in 6 months. Really, BTG??? And implying that he's mentally in a bad space over Ashley?

-- Poor Derek has no family. None.

-- That ER room was so basic it looks like the hospital can't afford equipment. Maybe Madison would come off more like a real doctor if they gave her some real props. Oh, and decent lines.

Edited August 16Aug 16 by ranger1rg

I'd rather Dante be Leslie's dad than Vernon. 

Firstly I dont think Vernon would sleep with Barbara and other ladies not know about it.

Secondly this sets up the perfect opportunity for Dante to appear. They've kinda been foreshadowing his appearance for a while now. 

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I think they clearly have Dante Green waiting in the wings.

I nominate Darnell Hubbard 

I agree Vernon being Leslie's father would've been perfect if almost every man on the show wasn't a cheater lol. I would keep it to just Barbara.

I like how they explained the Barbara reveal. It was handled in a way that makes sense.

I want Peaches to live! She really humanized Leslie and gave her some much needed layers. I liked hearing their backstory

I knew Derek was gonna inure himself and then need to be nursed back to health. Ashley can go F herself. she's emotionally selfish, misleading and plays with men's hearts. She's gonna dump Derek again with her wishy washy self

Ted says Nicole is mad about something that was done ago. No, the cheating was years ago. The lies were present day

I really like how the Articulettes go peace. Sharon is likeable now that she's pleasant and no longer bitter. Great scenes today

Hold up, ya'll think Vernon is Lsl

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

- The one thing the show has managed to do is provide throwaway lines that might be foreshadowing.  Case in point with Silk Press Sheila mentioning how she lost her virginity to The Articulettes.. and now she's revealed to be Barbara's daughter.   So I have a sinking feeling that Anita and Dani's elitist comment to Eva about never being a Dupree could foreshadow Vernon being Silk Press Sheila's biological dad.

If that happens, it makes all the male characters the bad guys (even though I don't blame Bill for cheating then dumping Dani)... and it continues to add only female Duprees when male Duprees are needed more.

 

1 hour ago, All My Shadows said:

I’m not gonna sit here and say that Vernon is definitely Leslie’s father, but it was foreshadowed multiple times today: Vernon wanting to blame himself for Nicole and the Mosley character having crap taste in husbands, Nicole saying that Anita isn’t exactly like her, Vanessa, and the Mosley character because she has the perfect marriage, and the “playful” banter between Vernon and Sharon broken up by Anita “playfully” reminding her that Vernon belongs to her. I fully acknowledge that I can be wrong about it, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if that’s where it goes.

Vernon is not Leslie's father. He didnt even know about Barbara let alone that she was a founding member of the group. Anita and Vernon have talked about when they first met and that was years after she and the group had already had gone famous which would have been years after Barbera got pregnant.

Lets say Vernon is Leslie's father, that wouldnt make him a cheater bc he wasnt with or even know Anita when she was concieved. Based on what we know, the most logical thing is Dante is the father and that prompted him to kick her out of the group. I read theories that he raped her which really caused her mental issues which eventually led to her suicide and thats a pain Anita has carried not realizing it went deeper than her

Sooner or later they are casting Dante Green and he will likely be the show's first big bad. I can't wait tbh.