43 minutes ago, janea4old said:

That's what Randy thought Doug meant, at first.  Because Doug at first said "Murder".
But Doug clarified, No I don't want you to murder Joey.

What Doug wants Randy to do is to tell the police that Joey ordered a hit on on someone (the hit on Kenny but Doug doesn't know Kenny's name) -- Doug wants Randy to tell the police "Joey ordered me to kill someone, but I didn't go through with it." .... And Doug's idea is...
"if you Randy didn't kill the person, then Joey must have hired someone else to be the hitman instead, and if you Randy tell the police this, then hopefully the police will put that together with any investigation of any corpse of a person who recently died in suspicious circumstances...  And then Joey will be eventually caught and arrested for ordering the murder."

So Doug doesn't want Randy to murder Joey.  Doug wants Randy to implicate Joey as a murderer.

Of course, Doug's idea is still unlikely to go well for either Randy or Doug.

Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting that. Because I saw those scenes again on my rewatch and went 'see? DOUG is probably going to be how Kenny's murder winds up coming out.' 

 

Which added to what I said earlier would affect any custody battle between Martin/Smitty and June.

You know what? Starting this week of episodes and I can't with that Andre/Dani talk. Dani is being really mature and calling a spade a spade while Andre is really trying to make that narrative different with a hint of STILL trying to string Dani along. Boy, bye. And of course I hollered at Shanice telling Ashley with the quickness about the concert kiss that I KNEW she saw. And now Ashley letting Andre down (as well as getting back to the Ashley I recognize from Episode 1) is making me laugh. 

1 hour ago, Taoboi said:

I do like Kenny's murder is still in the background. For now. But Honorable Mention as this show likes to do. And I LOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEE Martin and Smitty have been giving us the longing to be together sparks that the best soap couples give. Who would have thought it? And with June in the background...assuming she is Ty/Sam's mother...that will be some juicy drama to keep them frontburner. What if June finds out about the murder?

 

54 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

DOUG is probably going to be how Kenny's murder winds up coming out.' 

Which added to what I said earlier would affect any custody battle between Martin/Smitty and June.

Yeah it makes an umbrella story tying Randy/Hayley/Bill, to  Randy/Doug/Joey/Vanessa, to Joey/Elon/Jacob, to Jacob/Naomi/June, to Elon/Bill/Joey, to Joey/Martin/June!

Edited August 13Aug 13 by janea4old

6 minutes ago, janea4old said:

 

Yeah it makes an umbrella story tying Randy/Hayley/Bill, to  Randy/Doug/Joey/Vanessa, to Joey/Elon/Jacob, to Jacob/Naomi/June, to Elon/Bill/Joey, to Joey/Martin/June!

I like the fact that a story as small as June has the potential to affect such a big story as Martin's Secret. 

 

But I really love that Randy is connected to a B AND A story. And I really can't wait to find out how him and Hayley are connected. 

On 8/11/2025 at 6:35 PM, ranger1rg said:

Yep -- Anita Dupree did not win an Oscar for producing Best Animated Short.

She's clearly written as someone who won an acting Oscar. I've said it before -- it's a stretch to make these people so famous and so laden with the top awards. I didn't need her to be an EGOT to believe she acted in movies.

 

LOL That would be kinda great if she did get her Oscar for an animated short...

And I agree--we get it, she's incredible, has had an incredible career--I think it actually creates too many problems (improbabilities) when they feel the need to be so specific about these awards.

I agree with the majority, today wasn't it. This June storyline has holes and isn't even that interesting bc there wasn't any mystery or suspense, it just... was.

I am all for whatever they have to do to keep TMG on board (and I do mean TMG bc she is more valuable than the character at this point), but Eva really ran around town for half the episode agonizing over a letter that easily could have been junk mail? It’s the little things. This leg in their story could have started with the phone call.

And now Leslie, rightfully, is frustrated bc these people are asking for her SSN and other info over the phone, and Eva is still rolling her eyes and stomping her feet and how have we made it 100+ episodes in without her uttering a Kim Parker “Daaaang, Mama!”

Oop, there’s a “But, Mama!”

Leslie, please slap ts outta this girl, she is an IDIOT. First, she wants her Leslie to open a letter that, on the surface, is junk mail. Then, she wants her to give these strangers her SSN over the phone. Now, she's mad because Leslie won't answer an unknown caller? MY GOD. It's extremely obvious where this is going.

Over the course of two episodes, we went from no one at all knowing that Samantha and Tyrell are June's kids to Samantha and Tyrell having to weight the pros and cons of meeting her? In LESS than two episodes, really!

Naomi and Martin are such close cousins, and Naomi knows how much time, money, and energy went into Martin and Smitty securing a closed adoption, but now she wants them to throw all of that away bc the kids' mom just so happens to be her current rich girl project? Naomi really sucks!! She is only thinking about herself and her ego, absolutely no regard to how anyone else might feel.

Martin. "I'm not completely against the idea." Please STFU!!!! Now all of a sudden, Martin is self-conscious about being "just the other dad."

THEY WANT TO SEE THEIR MOTHER!?!!?!? THEY'VE DECIDED THIS ALREADY!?!?!!??

PLEASE call me negative, a complainer, "can't please some people." I don't care - the way this "story" played out over two episodes is utter shyte.

Edited August 14Aug 14 by All My Shadows

I would have much rather Naomi decided to keep it a secret and used the fact that it was a closed adoption to soothe her feelings of telling June and Regina she would help them, but changing her mind when she realizes it involved her cousin.

Then eventually it can all blow up in Naomi's face when June and Regina figure it out or catch Naomi in her lie.

This is the third time I have said this about BTG, but... where 👏 is 👏 the 👏 drama 👏 

This episode...just no.

-- The adoption story is junk. Naomi comes off like a total idiot and she annoys me like hell. I said it before -- spend some time getting June straightened out before presenting her kids to her. Is Naomi's entire character life going to be involvement in other people's lives?

-- Are we now going to see June "straightened out" after a day of living with Regina? She dumped her kids when she was a full-fledged drug addict. Are we going to hear what a nightmare life Samantha and Tyrell had with her? Or are they going to romanticize everything and tell us all the good June did by giving them up?

-- I am going to lose it if June is now portrayed as clear-minded and mentally well. She's been living on the streets and we've seen her behave like someone who needs intense therapy and rehab.

-- And yes, this story would work better if the kids were younger. At their age? Not so much.

-- The Smitty/Martin marriage already had enough turmoil. I don't understand giving them this problem, too.

-- Smitty and Martin warmed up and were more of a team in the 2nd half of the episode. Earlier? I understand Smitty not wanting to move too quickly to forgive Martin, but he came across as pissy and small. Martin did not ask to return home. He did not ask Smitty for sex. All he did was bring pizza and play cards with the fam.

 

-- So did Uptown close for the night so that ONE couple could meet with a salsa teacher? Did I miss something as to why no one else was there?

-- Are all salsa teachers rude when they see someone not dancing well? BTG usually does well in casting, but that guy wasn't hot enough.

-- People here and on Reddit are guessing that Kat is asexual. Yes, I know asexual people exist, but I do not want to see that on a soap. I don't care how real it is or that it's not been played before. Using Kat that way would be ridiculous.

 

-- Allison is so over-the-top as a stalker that it's cartoonish. I wish there was a little more subtlety in the writing for her.

 

Edited August 14Aug 14 by ranger1rg

36 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- The Smitty/Martin marriage already had enough turmoil. I don't understand giving them this problem, too.

If June wants custody of Tyrell and Samantha, I’m guessing the two storylines will tie together and it will be revealed that Martin killed the man on the country road.

There probably is some intent to tie the stories together. June is not likely to seek custody, but I can see Regina making waves. That said, the children are old enough to decide where they want to be so a custody case would be a hard sell. 

It would not shock me if they're trying to write out these overly old kids, lol.

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

-- People here and on Reddit are guessing that Kat is asexual. Yes, I know asexual people exist, but I do not want to see that on a soap. I don't care how real it is or that it's not been played before. Using Kat that way would be ridiculous.

I think it's good that BTG is reflecting a variety of families and sexualities.  

Naomi said recently she never wants children, and the conversation was something about her saying she still feels that way, so perhaps it was said before.

Mona said the first week she never wanted children. She was fine as a mentor for Laura and that is enough for her.

Anita and Dani gave up their careers to raise their children.  Anita doesn't regret it, but enjoyed doing the reunion concert.  Dani is conflicted about it all.

Bill said this week that he was too driven by his career, so much that he neglected his daughters, and had hoped for a "do-over" with the child he thought was happening with Hayley.

Chelsea throws herself into her feelings and passions. She is bisexual and was in a threesome; and is now with a woman.

Martin and Smitty are an interracial gay couple with adopted teens.

Doug and Vanessa -- a married couple with adult offscreen children, who care deeply about one another but lead separate lives. At first it was Vanessa being "sex-positive" and having sex with whatever hot guy.  Now it has deteriorated into her fixation on the old mobster.

Nicole: a working mother with a professional career. Her children are adults now. There's never been any reference to Nicole ever stopping work when Martin and Kat were young, so maybe she always worked, with a flexible schedule?

Kat was a virgin, who has now had sex twice and didn't enjoy it.  Is it because she doesn't love him, or is she asexual?   What I *hope* is that this is presented as just another thing human beings experience, and not anything "wrong" with her.

To sum this up.  I *greatly* appreciate that we don't have all the conventional 1950s parents with two children, everyone expected to be that way, and all having babies -- as is sometimes thought of as the ideal on soaps.    *Some* characters are like that, but not ALL the characters.

Sure there are the soap tropes of Ted cheating with Leslie and the reveal of Eva, and Hayley faking a pregnancy.  But both of those are done in a new way.

Edited August 14Aug 14 by janea4old

Representation aside, it would be a tremendous error to make Kat asexual when she's one of the most/few? charismatic young leads on the show. So I highly doubt that is happening.

25 minutes ago, janea4old said:

I think it's good that BTG is reflecting a variety of families and sexualities.  

Naomi said recently she never wants children, and the conversation was something about her saying she still feels that way, so perhaps it was said before.

Mona said the first week she never wanted children. She was fine as a mentor for Laura and that is enough for her.

Anita and Dani gave up their careers to raise their children.  Anita doesn't regret it, but enjoyed doing the reunion concert.  Dani is conflicted about it all.

Bill said this week that he was too driven by his career, so much that he neglected his daughters, and had hoped for a "do-over" with the child he thought was happening with Hayley.

Chelsea throws herself into her feelings and passions. She is bisexual and was in a threesome; and is now with a woman.

Martin and Smitty are an interracial gay couple with adopted teens.

Doug and Vanessa -- a married couple with adult offscreen children, who care deeply about one another but lead separate lives. At first it was Vanessa being "sex-positive" and having sex with whatever hot guy.  Now it has deteriorated into her fixation on the old mobster.

Nicole: a working mother with a professional career. Her children are adults now. There's never been any reference to Nicole ever stopping work when Martin and Kat were young, so maybe she always worked, with a flexible schedule?

Kat was a virgin, who has now had sex twice and didn't enjoy it.  Is it because she doesn't love him, or is she asexual?   What I *hope* is that this is presented as just another thing human beings experience, and not anything "wrong" with her.

To sum this up.  I *greatly* appreciate that we don't have all the conventional 1950s parents with two children, everyone expected to be that way, and all having babies -- as is sometimes thought of as the ideal on soaps.    *Some* characters are like that, but not ALL the characters.

Sure there are the soap tropes of Ted cheating with Leslie and the reveal of Eva, and Hayley faking a pregnancy.  But both of those are done in a new way.

Agree. I do like the different kind of people.