-- Only 20 minutes in, but I'm rolling my eyes a bit at the dialogue.

-- Danielle Page needs to stop jamming in names of sports stars (LeBron James, Simone Biles), sites like The Shade Room, and famous authors and books. There has to be a medium between never mentioning real life (as other soaps do) and forcing it in every conversation.

-- And Dani reminding us what a great mother Vanessa is? Uh...show, don't tell. I haven't seen it, and I don't know why I should believe this woman lived her life for her children.

-- Just hearing Vanessa talk about "moving on" and "moving forward" with her life so soon after Doug's death says everything about her. I also do not buy for a minute that Donnel would have given her the go-ahead.

-- Am I the only one who isn't crazy about Eva and Izaiah as a couple? I've been waiting to feel something, but it's not coming. I think the cliched writing is a problem, but I'm also not sure these actors are a good fit.

25 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- Only 20 minutes in, but I'm rolling my eyes a bit at the dialogue.

-- Danielle Page needs to stop jamming in names of sports stars (LeBron James, Simone Biles), sites like The Shade Room, and famous authors and books. There has to be a medium between never mentioning real life (as other soaps do) and forcing it in every conversation.

-- And Dani reminding us what a great mother Vanessa is? Uh...show, don't tell. I haven't seen it, and I don't know why I should believe this woman lived her life for her children.

-- Just hearing Vanessa talk about "moving on" and "moving forward" with her life so soon after Doug's death says everything about her. I also do not buy for a minute that Donnel would have given her the go-ahead.

-- Am I the only one who isn't crazy about Eva and Izaiah as a couple? I've been waiting to feel something, but it's not coming. I think the cliched writing is a problem, but I'm also not sure these actors are a good fit.

I'm probably showing my age, but is the Shade Room actually a thing?

30 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- Only 20 minutes in, but I'm rolling my eyes a bit at the dialogue.

-- Danielle Page needs to stop jamming in names of sports stars (LeBron James, Simone Biles), sites like The Shade Room, and famous authors and books. There has to be a medium between never mentioning real life (as other soaps do) and forcing it in every conversation.

-- And Dani reminding us what a great mother Vanessa is? Uh...show, don't tell. I haven't seen it, and I don't know why I should believe this woman lived her life for her children.

-- Just hearing Vanessa talk about "moving on" and "moving forward" with her life so soon after Doug's death says everything about her. I also do not buy for a minute that Donnel would have given her the go-ahead.

-- Am I the only one who isn't crazy about Eva and Izaiah as a couple? I've been waiting to feel something, but it's not coming. I think the cliched writing is a problem, but I'm also not sure these actors are a good fit.

Judging by the comments, I can skip this episode. The Dani/Vanessa stuff about making a bet on who can pimp out a guy. But I would like to see the Anita clips about her breast cancer story.

I do wish they'd tone down the cultural references. They really date the show. Some of my favorite movies and shows create a timeless effect by not boxing themselves in. It feels like the writers want cool points by name-dropping.

My friend told me that Izaiah and Eva were the young couple that I should root for, but I think both characters are underdeveloped. The writers bypassed Eva's underdog arc by having her accepted by almost everyone other than Kat (even Nicole is an apologist), and Izaiah feels like a laid-back Jacob. But I may have missed something in his development since I don't watch regularly.

Chuckling at the "Gatekeepers", they really dislike Carlton.

59 minutes ago, MissPhoenixGirl92 said:

I'm probably showing my age, but is the Shade Room actually a thing?

It is. It has 29 million followers on Instagram, so it's relevant.

One of my favorite YouTubers always reads gossip from that site.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by MontyB

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

-- Danielle Page needs to stop jamming in names of sports stars (LeBron James, Simone Biles), sites like The Shade Room, and famous authors and books. There has to be a medium between never mentioning real life (as other soaps do) and forcing it in every conversation.

The references are for the culture, ie, Black folks.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by MontyB

7 minutes ago, MontyB said:

The references are for the culture, ie, Black folks.

Not my point. I specifically mentioned that there has to be something between no cultural references and a half dozen in one conversation.

6 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

Not my point. I specifically mentioned that there has to be something between no cultural references and a half dozen in one conversation.

Personally, I don't see a real issue with it. I think it's done purposely for a target audience. I will agree to disagree.

I think there's occasionally a few too many references per day, but I don't have a problem with them being current. Same with the sometimes-cringe contemporary dialogue. Even when BTG does too much it's way more than the other shows are doing in terms of grounding in the times.

Samantha's dialog was irritating, but they seemed to have toned it down. Seems......it subject to change.

A lot of 1:1 scenes in the episode today.

It's nice that there are mentions of Donnell and Deanna, but I'd like to at least see Deanna and see how she and Vanessa interact with one another as mother/daughter. I think not having Donnell or Deanna on in a recurring basis is doing Vanessa a disservice because that would be a great way to add some layers back to the character again.

SPS/Leslie and Joey do have a nice rapport and they could be an unholy alliance.. but I can't lie when I say that I like her vibe with Marcel. If these extra layers and interactions are a result of the new co-headwriter.. then my hats off because it is moving her character beyond being hung up on her Teddy Bear.

Nicole/Carleton seem like they could be more friends with benefits.

Eva/Izaiah... I see potential with them.. but I also want to see the conflict and stakes raise a bit. I think Jacob/Naomi not being keen on Eva is a good start.. but I'd like to see what Papa and Mama Hawthorne think about Eva.

Edited 43 minutes ago43 min by Soaplovers

1 hour ago, MontyB said:

The references are for the culture, ie, Black folks.

It absolutely is.