22 hours ago, kalbir said:

Whether it was planned or not, Andre/Dani were off the charts heat generating from the first week.

Since Chelesa's diva hair toss.

On 12/11/2025 at 11:34 AM, Cheap21 said:

I love how Kat clocks people

That tickled me to no end. I don't think they could ever make me hate Kat.

On 12/11/2025 at 11:40 AM, Maxim said:

She looks stunning. That hat is such a vibe. I need it!

THIS.

On 12/11/2025 at 11:50 AM, Cheap21 said:

I usually hate her makeup but its flawless today too

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And THIS is why she is just as guilty as her mama. She enables her and is an accomplice

Same. I watched that episode and just rolled my eyes so hard.

16 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Since Chelesa's diva hair toss.

You love a good diva hair toss.

I wonder at what point characters that aren't clicking will be finally written out.

I think the actress that plays Ashley is actually a good actress, but the writing for the character just isn't there. My brain also dies anytime Derek appears.

3 minutes ago, 1974mdp said:

I wonder at what point characters that aren't clicking will be finally written out.

I think the actress that plays Ashley is actually a good actress, but the writing for the character just isn't there. My brain also dies anytime Derek appears.

I think the Ashley character can be salvaged, but it seems as though MVJ and co don't want to take the time to refocus the character. She works in the hospital scenes when interacting with Shanice and the other characters.. and could be used effectively in medical stories... but the Mary Sue persona is what needs to go.

With Dani/Andre taking off, I think the writers are trying to figure out what to do with Ashley.. and perhaps maybe keeping her in a supporting role or focus more on her family background would help.

On 12/12/2025 at 12:55 AM, Chris B said:

I saw an interview with Jen Jacob on Instagram and she mentioned how the story is developed and it seems like this mess they have going was planned from the beginning for Ashley/Derek. It amazes me that even with the reaction to those characters they still haven't pivoted. I've given up hope on recasts but at least change it up. The story just doesn't work.

Now with Tomas, I do think the story is fine but the actor is just dreadful.

Wasn't it said they had a 6 month plan and weren't going to deviate from it? IMO it's been a bit detrimental to the show. They need to deviate and listen to feedback

57 minutes ago, kalbir said:

You love a good diva hair toss.

I suuuuuure do!!! :)

22 minutes ago, 1974mdp said:

I wonder at what point characters that aren't clicking will be finally written out.

I think the actress that plays Ashley is actually a good actress, but the writing for the character just isn't there. My brain also dies anytime Derek appears.

I admit that I've wondered that as well. And I truly believe this story of Tomas trying to make Kat his wife for status is going to wind up being his exit storyline because Kat (and Eva) both have history and chemistry now in the actor playing Izaiah.

I feel that as well. Ashley was an early fave of mine when the show started. And I liked the actress. But the writing did her NO favors.

10 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Wasn't it said they had a 6 month plan and weren't going to deviate from it? IMO it's been a bit detrimental to the show. They need to deviate and listen to feedback

But that's the thing. Thanks to Chris mentioning Karla's comments, we know that the show has finally made it beyond the filming point where the show has hit the online/audience feedback. And they have and/or are making adjustments like the soaps used to do BITD.

I was happy to hear that the other day because I've been saying for months that MVJ seems so focused on Bill/Dani and Andre/Ashley as endgame when the real fire was Dani/Andre so no need for his feelings for Ashley and Bill with his chemistry and drama with Dani makes a classic soap triangle. Moreso (Bill/Dani as endgame) since the show went out of its way to give Dani and Bill separate storylines so we get to see their character development instead of Hayley who got no development until recently. Meanwhile, Ashley works best in supporting vs the lead the writers were making her out as. And they can do so much better with her in that department by growing Ashley up through her 'dream' job as she called it.

She works in the hospital scenes when interacting with Shanice and the other characters.. and could be used effectively in medical stories... but the Mary Sue persona is what needs to go.

With Dani/Andre taking off, I think the writers are trying to figure out what to do with Ashley.. and perhaps maybe keeping her in a supporting role or focus more on her family background would help.

Great minds.

2 hours ago, Taoboi said:

She works in the hospital scenes when interacting with Shanice and the other characters.. and could be used effectively in medical stories... but the Mary Sue persona is what needs to go.

With Dani/Andre taking off, I think the writers are trying to figure out what to do with Ashley.. and perhaps maybe keeping her in a supporting role or focus more on her family background would help.

Great minds.

Agree that great minds can think alike :)

In terms of Derek, I see the show doing one of two things based on the most recent episodes that featured him.

1) They do the gradual fade-out of the character until he stops appearing and is occasionally mentioned by Jacob (i.e. still living and existing in town, just not being seen). We saw some evidence with him having a group of co workers he's friends with, plus a female co worker interested in him... so possibly we see him regain his walking and go back to his life with the Fire crew and eventually we stop seeing them on air.

2) His mentioning to Jacob that he hopes to win Ashley back signals that perhaps the dark side we saw glimpses of has been hidden and will rear itself if she appears to be moving on with a new guy.

In terms of Ashley, the show seems committed to keeping her character on the show especially since she was shown in the Thanksgiving episode having a quiet day with Jan and Mona as they discuss Black Friday shopping, food, and other day to day matters... so I think delving into her backstory in terms of who her father is would be a good place for the show to go while keeping her as a good friend to Naomi, Shanice, and a good nurse during medical stories.

Perhaps one of the children of the handsome new doctor could be her love interest down the line.

4 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Agree that great minds can think alike :)

In terms of Ashley, the show seems committed to keeping her character on the show especially since she was shown in the Thanksgiving episode having a quiet day with Jan and Mona as they discuss Black Friday shopping, food, and other day to day matters... so I think delving into her backstory in terms of who her father is would be a good place for the show to go while keeping her as a good friend to Naomi, Shanice, and a good nurse during medical stories.

Perhaps one of the children of the handsome new doctor could be her love interest down the line.

This is exactly how you rehab a character coming out of a failed romance. Lean into her as a supporting character where she can shine and they need to go ahead and make Joey her father somehow. That way their fave still has a story but it isn't a romantic storyline. Like you suggested, they need to bring on a new character for her and start fresh. Andre and Derek are just not it. Even if Dani and Andre were to break up, the viewers don't want Ashley with him.

Her chemistry is scorching hot with Shanice and Naomi so lean into that for now.

I always felt if they wanted a lead story for Ashley, all they need to do was lean into her job. There's been a few times when she had potential. When SPS tried to kill Laura at the hospital and Ashley was the nurse. It could have been a frameup and she had to prove she was not in the wrong, forcing her to deal with her feelings about what she called the dream job. Especially since there was that one male doctor that was picking on her that Shanice stood up to.

Another time was her realizing Hayley didn't have the ultrasound done. What if she had done more.

And there have been some fine male doctors on the show if they want to put her in a romance down the road.

Interesting to read the different takes on Winter Fest. I enjoyed much of the wardrobe and it was nice to see all the characters interacting in one space. I don't think it's a death knell for BTG that there wasn't more drama at the event. I do think WF exemplifies some of the ongoing issues with dialogue - for months, so many characters have been talking nonstop, often in extremely forced, unnatural ways, about the most minute details of past WFs. Nothing could live up to that hype.

On 12/9/2025 at 7:18 PM, ranger1rg said:

Let me also point out that one reason I have a huge problem with Joey and Vanessa is that they are white people running roughshod over Blacks and POC -- blackmailing, controlling the police department, working over a sitting Congressman, operating the escort service that so many POC in the area apparently need.

I know that everything isn't about race, but I expected this show to be more sensitive to the optics. I'm white, but I hate the optics to so much of this. You cannot throw in historical references and talk about Black legacy and then follow through with white people in control.

I'm also a white viewer grappling with the racial politics of this show, and truly hope I don't express this wrong and cause offense to anyone. I tend to think it's intentional on the writers' part that even the Duprees, as aspirational and powerful as they are supposed to be, are clearly not safe from white supremacy. And that career criminals who happen to be white are probably more likely to get away with everything than characters like Bill and Martin when they've crossed legal lines. I think it's valid (not that MVJ and her team need me to validate any of this!) to incorporate that tension into the fabric of the show.

For me, Joey's characterization takes this concept too far because it's not just that he's an omnipotent criminal who gets away with it, but he's also supposed to be charming and brilliant and irresistible (at least to Vanessa). White privilege can get a two-bit thug pretty far, in DC no less, but I think we've seen in recent years that it doesn't make anyone genuinely want to be around them. Also the way Doug was written out makes it all too gross.

On 12/11/2025 at 1:58 PM, Melroser said:

This Hayley "kill Bill" story makes me laugh. I was so excited when it started because it was a great twist and made Hayley far more interesting. Now it seems to be played for comedy. If she's such a successful con artist who has gotten away with this several times in the past, how can she be so stupid at times? I guess she and Randy haven't been that successful and that's why they have to try and pull off another one. lol

10 hours ago, Aback said:

Honestly it's been campy from the get-go. If one enjoys it, they should make peace with the fact it's pure camp.

I would say up until now there was humor in Hayley's dialogue, etc., but I thought after the revelation that she had been conning Bill the whole time, the show tried and mostly pulled off presenting her as formidable and savvy: the way she pegged how their relationship likely would have turned out the second she got a little older, that flash of anger at the thought of Bill going back to Dani before Hayley gets what she's worked for, etc. I was genuinely impressed with that character turn.

This week did get too cartoonish for me: Hayley increasing the dosage with clearly no understanding of how the poison even works, and then calling Randy before 911 (and before checking Bill's vital signs, and then proceeding to give away the game when he could have come to at any moment). I can chalk these few episodes up to some bad scripts and breakdowns if the rest of the trajectory makes some sense. Bill is too integral to the show (and the core character have too much grudging respect for him) to have been so completely taken in by someone as incompetent as Hayley has acted this week.

On 12/10/2025 at 3:27 PM, Broderick said:

Miss Nicole is perfect ... You nailed it; she's distant and kinda cold, but she's so pretty and so engaging that you can't help being drawn in.

Awww I don't if I would put it quite that way, but I guess to an extent that's also true of the upper-crust main characters of other soaps. And for me Nicole has already made an indelible mark in that category. I'm not sure what to make of this latest turn in her love life, but I hope we get to see a daytime soap focus on a mature, intelligent heroine navigating relationship(s) for a while.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by DeliaIrisFan

Not a spoiler. Just a * very * enthusiastic interview from Greg Vaughan from Dec. 7.
Worth watching. He is so joyful and appreciative to be on BTG.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3Uku2YoAM

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by janea4old