Leslie’s not going anywhere folks, in spite of the belief that she should. See, again, it's all about the writing or lack thereof. She's a firecracker of a character or at least she can be. PROPER AND EFFECTIVE WRITING. Furthermore, if she's to be punished then who's going to punish old man Vernon and his crew? I'd love to see that.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by Vanguardian53

4 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- I wish I thought the actress could play that effectively.

I don't.

 

-- I'm also concerned about how many times I'm hearing on this board that various storylines have "stalled." Stalling can be an effective story-telling device, but I think the show has to be careful about using it too often, to the point where it feels as if it's all the time.

I am curious to see how JJ would play that. If she is going to be Mary Sue/Carrie Bradshaw-Lite, yeah, I don't think I will be here for it at all. But there has been time she has played the role with more petty sass or sarcasm. If she goes that way, that MIGHT work. Or how she was in the scenes with Ashley/Hayley at Orpheny Gene's. That MIGHT work.

 

I agree. When they were doing the aftermath of the anniversary party, I felt the writers were being very logically slow on exploring most (not all) of the fallout. And Jacob and Kat teaming up to get the goods on SilkPress was slow, but did not feel it. But some time in the last month, it really just...stopped. That I don't like. The writers were already stalling the Martin's Secret storyline, so they really have to be careful about doing it so often. Just let it flow naturally. 

 

Like for example, what is going on Hayley's baby lie. That worked because the writers were building up Dani and Bill separately while Hayley had very little to do but obsess over making a family with Bill. So it was not unusual or odd to see her talking about a baby constantly. Then their various stories converged at the hospital with Bill's hand issues. And the whole time Hayley had been a good little wife, making it more surprising when the baby lie reveal happen. And we STILL haven't played too much with Ashley's suspicions yet, but I don't feel like it has stalled at all. And I know I'm the one who said how much I don't like the Dani/Bill/Hayley A storyline and going back to it too soon after the show's first two/three weeks. That said...the baby twist just flowed naturally and has me looking at Hayley going about her day in a Love-to-Hate kinda of way. And that...making me go from feeling indifferent to her for the most part to love-to-hate...I have to give props to. 

17 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

+1

I don't care how well the story pieces were set up for it...NO ONE wants that. Hopefully, when we get to the episodes that were filmed/written after the show started to take in the audience/critics feedback, that's the first story to go. 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I don't care how well the story pieces were set up for it...NO ONE wants that. Hopefully, when we get to the episodes that were filmed/written after the show started to take in the audience/critics feedback, that's the first story to go. 

 

 

I'm almost offended that we're supposed to believe anyone would choose boring bland Ashley over fire cracker Dani

3 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

I'm almost offended that we're supposed to believe anyone would choose boring bland Ashley over fire cracker Dani

I only buy it because Andre had a crush on Ashley from the start but she was with Derek for the last two years. The Ashley who was excited for getting to start her dream job at the start...I could see that. But after how Carrie Bradshaw-Lite she has been for months on end...NO. I don't get it either. Meanwhile, you have Dani over here doing impromptu photoshoots and honest ADULT talk and not hesitating on sexy time with a sexy man vs Ms. Hm-Ha-Oh-Gose.

 

I don't even see why Derek would try to go back after being around Shanice.

1 hour ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Well said.  I may be missing some plot details (I had to rush through some of the past few weeks) but I don't even get why Leslie is sticking around now.  Does she honestly think she has a chance with Ted?  Does she think she can get more money?  Does she just spend her time watching her stories and talking back to them, talking in the mirror, looking fabulous, and then going out to places she knows people who hate her will be just to rub it in their faces?  She got her revenge, and I think it's true that if we took a realistic approach to this story the revenge would not be satisfying, but...  Wouldn't it make more sense to at least for a while cut her loses (has she run through all her money?) and lay low somewhere else while people try to get evidence to arrest her....

I agree. And I personally think they went overboard with Leslie too quickly. (I said this was my fear in one of the first weeks and people told me it's not gonna happen) One of the things they like to do on this show is make the characters appear like they have already ran their course. I don't know how to explain it. We are often presented with results instead of seeing a process. That's what I mean with jumping from culmination to culmination. Dana was initially menacing and interesting, batshit crazy next month, cartoon not long after that. Now she just makes me laugh and that's it. And that's a big mistake. Because TMG is amazing and she can deliver creepy and evil as much as she can deliver camp. It's just the balance is not right. Again... If they continue presenting us with results and past scandals and secrets, this is not gonna change. At times the show feels like it's in season 14 and not season 1 and that is not a good thing for me.

Still I don't want to sound like I'm a negative person when I've been enjoying the show the past two weeks. I see the light coming. It's either that or I've gotten used to this Bold 2 type of writing style.

30 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I am curious to see how JJ would play that. If she is going to be Mary Sue/Carrie Bradshaw-Lite, yeah, I don't think I will be here for it at all. But there has been time she has played the role with more petty sass or sarcasm. If she goes that way, that MIGHT work. Or how she was in the scenes with Ashley/Hayley at Orpheny Gene's. That MIGHT work.

I hear you, but in one paragraph, you mentioned THREE versions of Ashley that we've seen. That is a problem.

Either the writers don't know who they want Ashley to be, the actress doesn't know how to play what's written, or a combination of both.

1 minute ago, ranger1rg said:

I hear you, but in one paragraph, you mentioned THREE versions of Ashley that we've seen. That is a problem.

Either the writers don't know who they want Ashley to be, the actress doesn't know how to play what's written, or a combination of both.

Amen. This is the true problem with Ashley. She's just a mess and somehow it's an incredibly boring mess. Which should not be possible.

33 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

not hesitating on sexy time with a sexy man

Hahaha, yes!

I will forever be team Andre/Dani.

Who are these June and Regina characters? I know they’re new cause they weren’t on when I started watching earlier this year. I’m intrigued.

 

Love love love that they’ve decided to expand the cast and showcase different storylines. This is going to keep me watching 

18 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

I hear you, but in one paragraph, you mentioned THREE versions of Ashley that we've seen. That is a problem.

Either the writers don't know who they want Ashley to be, the actress doesn't know how to play what's written, or a combination of both.

When you say it like that, I get it. It makes me think of the insta video JJ did where she was trying to explain her thought processes over the writing that she knew the audience was not digging at it. She is an actress trying to figure out how to work what the writers write, but she was having a hard time. 

 

So I would go with both.  lol. I can get her point of view given my theater background, but she needs to make stronger choices. The writers might write to that, they might not. On the other hand, if the writers aren't sure of how Ashley should be, that's a BIG problem. It is also why people are over Ashley being propped like she has to date. But that goes back to what I said when the show started, they were better off giving Ashley an establishing story about her, NOT her relationship. Her struggles at her dream job. SilkPress sabotaging her since she was Laura's chief nurse. One of those foine doctors accusing her of doing wrong. Her doubting herself with NO propping. It might have gone a long way to making her relatable and/or likable. Especially some of the rumors floating around. 

 

13 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Hahaha, yes!

I will forever be team Andre/Dani.

Well, Dani is a WOMAN, not a little girl like Ash. My issues aside, at least she went for it versus Ms. HemHawing Nurse Girl.

Just now, Taoboi said:

Well, Dani is a WOMAN, not a little girl like Ash. My issues aside, at least she went for it versus Ms. HemHawing Nurse Girl.

So true. Dani even told Andre "why be with a girl when a woman can rock your world". You go Dani, get your man.

Dani killed me when she described Ashley as "so basic she makes vanilla look spicy".

4 minutes ago, kalbir said:

So true. Dani even told Andre "why be with a girl when a woman can rock your world". You go Dani, get your man.

Dani killed me when she described Ashley as "so basic she makes vanilla look spicy".

She suuuure did.

 

And that was a holler for sure.

8 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

When you say it like that, I get it. It makes me think of the insta video JJ did where she was trying to explain her thought processes over the writing that she knew the audience was not digging at it. She is an actress trying to figure out how to work what the writers write, but she was having a hard time. 

 

So I would go with both.  lol. I can get her point of view given my theater background, but she needs to make stronger choices. The writers might write to that, they might not. On the other hand, if the writers aren't sure of how Ashley should be, that's a BIG problem. It is also why people are over Ashley being propped like she has to date. But that goes back to what I said when the show started, they were better off giving Ashley an establishing story about her, NOT her relationship. Her struggles at her dream job. SilkPress sabotaging her since she was Laura's chief nurse. One of those foine doctors accusing her of doing wrong. Her doubting herself with NO propping. It might have gone a long way to making her relatable and/or likable. Especially some of the rumors floating around. 

 

Absolutely. If they had done the work (the writers) and shown us the process instead of the result... In other words if they had let us reach our own conclusions of what kind of person she is instead of constantly telling us what she is... It would have worked. They shoved her in our throats without any substance. For what? To be the antipode of Dani?

I fear you may be close to the truth with wondering if they even know who she is. 

Also, did not realize Ashley and the fireman broke up. This date with her and Andre is rather boring. Is Derek still even on the show, anyways?

 

Ooooh I see a triangle brewing here between Kat and Eva or this Tomas guy. I definitely see potential here with continuing to build that rivalry between them. 
 

Still. I wish everything wasn’t millennial grey. Sigh. So many of the sets look too similar. Some color would be nice!