original release date: Thursday, February 5, 2026 | writers: Jamey Giddens, Danielle Paige | director: Michael V. Pomarico

Thoughts:

• Anita is working her new 'do at the country club while handling Cotillion business with Jessica and Samantha! Yes, Queen! Work!

• Hot mama, Nicole! And with Kial? Oh, she is absolutely playing the field without shame and I love this for her. She deserves this.

• Next steps indeed, with Joey inviting Vanessa into his home. And what a home it is. Very moody and I love it.

• Jan and Mona as the gossipers at Orphey Gene's make me so giddy. And I love that nothing appears to be off-topic.

• Once again, Shanice and Ted are at a place where Nicole is on a date, albeit not with Carlton this time. And she is looking HOT HOT HOT!

• Is that a bit of spark in Jessica hearing Anita's background with Cotillions and her feelings about them?

• Anastasia has a granddaughter? Francesca? Hmm... interesting. Anastasia vs. Anita could be one kick-ass showdown, and I would be here for it.

• The spitfire in Nicole is so hot. I love that she shot down Ted's enquiry and was not allowing him to suss things out as if he has a right to know about it.

• Oh shït. Anita shut Anastasia down with her EGOT status and even spelt it out for her.

• Anastasia's attitude is disgusting but I also expect nothing less from someone who holds their nose so high that they cannot even tell when their own shït stinks.

• I am sorry... move in? Oh, Vanessa is absolutely asserting herself to take every single [legal] thing that Joey owns. The takedown is going to be delicious.

• I feel like Vernon is getting that appetite for the political race and is looking at it through Martin's own campaign.

• Anita going toe-to-toe with Anastasia is delicious, and she certainly put her in her place, right where she belongs. And everyone in the country club just witnessed royalty. Brilliant.

• Oh, Anastasia scurried right off when Anita lifted her hand to fix her 'do. She is shaken to her inner core. Brilliant.

• Kial keeps mentioning how good Nicole's kissing is, but he looks like quite the professor at it as well. Now, let me try him out, Nikki!

• That is right, Shanice. Stand your ground and stand up for yourself. Amazing. And not the damn panties that Dana planted in Ted's hotel room making their way into Shanice's hands. No bueno.

Notes:

• One of writer²'s better breakdowns, but there is still a lot of ground to cover. The weakest link in the bunch.

• Not the Felicity mention regarding Keri Russell cutting her hair off. But Tamara Tunie (Anita) is rocking her new look. It is refined and sleek, yet modern and fashionable.

• That middle-parted hairdo on Daphnée Duplaix (Nicole) is stunning, and I hope she keeps it! And the dress? As beautiful as the previous outfit she wore during her date at Uptown.

• The second-year set budget is working! First we got Nicole's bedroom and now we have Joey's [penthouse] apartment, and it looks outstanding. Rich with dynamic atmosphere. Cannot wait to see what else is about to come!

• The continued history lessons where Cotillion is concerned are refreshing as someone who is unfamiliar with it, and the few run-ins within television and media did not do as good of a job as this soap has done at explaining it.

• Damn. Lauren Buglioli (Vanessa) is too good in her role. Plus, her chemistry with Jon Lindstrom (Joey) is electrifying. They work exceptionally well together.

• Introducing this [new] rivalry of Anastasia vs Anita is juicy and reeks of classic soap opera feuds. Timeca Seretti (Anastasia) plays her role exceptionally well.

• Duplaix and Greg Vaughan (Kial) do have some insane chemistry, but I still think her best lies with Robert Christopher Riley (Carlton).

53 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

Mona need to watch it bc she is being very judgemental. She's two seconds away from calling Nicole a hoe

Nicole is a gardening tool? 🤔

52 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

or repurposing old sets. Looks like Joey lives in Andre's old building

It's definitely a different construction; it possibly took Andre's set and changed some walls and their colours. But size-wise, it feels like a new construction.

Anita Vs Anastasia did not disappoint at all.

This is the rivalry Anita needed all along. I also loved that Anastasia gave as good as she got. Makes the rivalry that much better.

Kinda surprised Joey now has a house AND an office, while Vanessa (a Realtor) has neither.

So with Joey getting a new set, it looks as though he'll be on the canvas for awhile longer. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop in regards to Vanessa and why she's been so gaga over Joey.

Based on Jan's comments, I guess the show has officially confirmed that Joey isn't Ashley father.

Mona/Randy... hmmm.. interesting interaction and I'm wondering if it was a one time interaction or if the show might be testing them out.

Anita marrying into the Duprees is a very important fact that I'm glad the writers haven't forgotten. It also explains why she kind of has a soft spot for Eva because she also started out outside the gates.

Shanice/Ted - Trouble in paradise

Kial/Nicole - I like the interplay between them.

2 hours ago, Rmodelboy said:

Anita Vs Anastasia did not disappoint at all.

This is the rivalry Anita needed all along. I also loved that Anastasia gave as good as she got. Makes the rivalry that much better.

I'm here for it chileee

The thought occurred to me today that the person who's most likely to be placed in danger at the climax of the plasma storyline is Nicole, and the person who's most likely to save her Beautiful Ass is Ted.

-- So Nicole will sleep with Carlton but not with Kial?

-- Good to see Shanice put Ted in his place, but I really didn't like her jumping to conclusions about the panties on the couch.

-- Anastasia is real housewives mess, but she's needed. We need more clawing than Eva and Kat at each others' throats, repeating the same thing.

-- Glad to see a new set, but Joey's place looks like a Wayfair display. Nothing about it is impressive. I'd rather see an office for Joey or Vanessa, or a home for Vanessa....or a decent coffee shop.

See? Now THAT'S how you use a redressed set. Let's do that for some other folks. I hope people aren't too mad it's for Joey.

I was NOT expecting a verbal knockdown drag-out fight between Anastacia and Anita, but middle of the episode....YES PLEASE. I was talking about someone who was more Anita's speed as a rival and that works perfectly. Again showing the Cotillion plot is giving dividends. Please keep giving it all these different angles.

YES, NICOLE, YES!!!!!! YOU....BETTA...READ Ted's ass.

4 hours ago, Rmodelboy said:

Anita Vs Anastasia did not disappoint at all.

This is the rivalry Anita needed all along. I also loved that Anastasia gave as good as she got. Makes the rivalry that much better.

1 hour ago, Maxim said:

I'm here for it chileee

Same. I was not expecting that and it was positively delicious. It completely hit my GOSSIP GIRL spot.

More please.

5 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

BISH have you looked in the mirror? I didnt care about this cotillion storyline but this woke me all the way up!

Oh, God, yes. There have been a few teen shows that do not play when it comes to a cotillion so I'm happy to see BTG will be following the tradition as well as leading it. And by that I mean catty bitchery and delicious drama.

Is this show going to keep telling us, or are they going to show us? This plasma story is not off to a good start. The informant and Jacob were sitting at Uptown and talking about things that we should have been seeing play out in real time (things that bitd, we would've seen play out in real time). And I cannot bring myself to care about any of it, at the moment. Finding that man, unconscious at the doors of the hospital was a dramatic moment that should have played out onscreen, even if we didn't have enough information to piece together the connection at the time it happened. Hearing Shanice and Ashley casually chat about it over cocktails really diminishes the impact that it could have had in this story.

Today's episode was about Anita and Mona for me. Anastacia is obnoxious but at least the actress is good at portraying snippy and obnoxious and her back and forth with Tamara's Anita kept today's episode interesting. Mona's exchange with Randy was interesting. Mona was definitely flirting with Randy. With the way Mona was batting her eyelashes, I thought Randy was going to catch a cool breeze. I thought Randy had a girlfriend but perhaps he was just referring to the mother of his child? I'm intrigued as to where this could go. I wish Mona had a house because I have a feeling we'd see more of her with Jan and possibly Laura and who knows...Randy?

The rest of it for me was...meh.

46 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Is this show going to keep telling us, or are they going to show us? This plasma story is not off to a good start. The informant and Jacob were sitting at Uptown and talking about things that we should have been seeing play out in real time (things that bitd, we would've seen play out in real time). And I cannot bring myself to care about any of it, at the moment. Finding that man, unconscious at the doors of the hospital was a dramatic moment that should have played out onscreen, even if we didn't have enough information to piece together the connection at the time it happened. Hearing Shanice and Ashley casually chat about it over cocktails really diminishes the impact that it could have had in this story.

I think a few more sets would seriously help with this issue on BTG. Did Joey really need a home even if it was just Andre's apartment redressed?

The debutante feud stuff was great today, even if I've always found Anastasia a ropey actress. If they actually commit to this being a real event unlike WinterFest (which I increasingly suspect was fumbled due to rewrites around the renewal) that will be a very smart move.

I am of two minds re: the Impaler material. On the one hand yes, they definitely could've shown the guy getting dropped off; on the other I've recently watched similar stories in classic '80s ATWT, EON, etc. where they did still have some of that background crime stuff offscreen to spur main events. I prefer it when it's always seen myself, and we should've at least seen the guy dropped at the hospital. No need for a bunch of random scenes with snitches and criminals who we don't know alone together.

I do still think Kial is a red herring; Carlton, the established romantic interest, will be the Impaler. I hope the same holds for Grayson, who I really like and who is somehow making me tolerate Ashley. I am here for the storyline, provided more of it starts happening in front of us.