original release date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 | writers: Sara A. Bibel, Judy Tate | director: Steven Williford

Thoughts:

• Saltwater taffy? I am not a taffy fan in the slightest, but good on Anita for liking what she likes and for Vernon continuing to uphold tradition.

• Va-va-zoom! Dommy mommy Vanessa is very demanding and is red-hot in the red 'fit with her dark wig! Yes, ma'am! I will put that on immediately!

• Good for Nicole for denying the double date idea; both Bradley and Martin deserve to have their own Valentine's Day date night, especially since last year was such a difficult one for them.

• Ms Anita? That voice is divine and what a beautiful present but to show the love she has for Vernon by way of song.

• I admire Dana for trying to lure Marcel into a date night with her... but she is also delusional.

• Ted and Shanice preplanning for a 2027 Valentine's date night is admirable, and I hope they do get to that point within their relationship.

• Bradley, you can pause your story for a trip to Costa Rica with your husband for some romantic time in the sun.

• Joey does not like being in control, but control sure as Hell fits Vanessa like a damn glove!

• Wow. Bill did get the house. I am shocked he was able to secure it.

• Dani and Shanice teaming up? Against Dana? Oh, this is going to be juicier than a freshly squeezed citrus.

• I am howling at Marcel turning down Dana for her invitation at Uptown. And here she comes trying to one-up Shanice with her nastiness.

• Witch of a thousand names? Dani continues to be an excellent wordsmith. And I hope she never loses that spitfire spirit she has.

• That last scene was... chilling. It does not look like Ms Dana likes being denied the things she wants.

Notes:

• Bibel and Tate did an exceptional job with today's script. Held some promise of the past and a glimmer of the future. And Williford's eye was very clear with the direction, especially with the final scene with Trisha Mann-Grant (Dana).

• Lauren Buglioli (Vanessa) was HOT HOT HOT in today's episode. You can tell she was having a lot of fun working with Jon Lindstrom (Joey) in today's episode. Plus, brunette works exceptionally well on her! Giving me Britney Spears' "Womanizer" in that wig. And their scenes were some of the steamiest I have seen on American daytime. I love that we are getting these kinds of scenes. Reminds me of the "Get it On" promos from the 1990s/2000s that CBS Daytime employed.

• Lami (Izaiah) is still bobble-headed and it's nauseating at this point. Good actor but unwatchable.

• The continued weaving of characters into cross-storylines is very exciting, and I hope it continues to happen. It sets this soap up in brilliant, classic ways.

Oh that ending was good!

Really great Valentine's Day episode... had romance, eroticism, family, disappointment, flirtation... great stuff!

Yessssss lets wake Leslie UP !!!!!

1 minute ago, alwaysAMC said:

Oh that ending was good!

Really great Valentine's Day episode... had romance, eroticism, family, disappointment, flirtation... great stuff!

Agreed on all points. Their themed episodes have been so great.

21 minutes ago, Rmodelboy said:

Yessssss lets wake Leslie UP !!!!!

She's been watered down. She's become annoying instead of a true villain.

Ted's red suit🔥🔥🔥🔥

1 hour ago, Planet Soap said:

Ted's red suit🔥🔥🔥🔥

Hes so fine my goodness

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

She's been watered down. She's become annoying instead of a true villain.

I have to agree. It's time to shake some [!@#$%^&*] up in FC. It looks like Leslie, Lynette and COS Lia will be the ones to do it.

What a great episode. The women looked beautiful and the men are fine.

I especially loved Vernon and Anita. Very sentimental.

As for Leslie. I wonder what this means. Self-reflection leading to redemption or pure revenge.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by MontyB

-- Good Valentine's Day episode overall.

-- Best-dressed in the episode: Ted in that red suit.

-- Nicole made me laugh when she told Kat that it's great women can talk about skincare but men can't. Really? Gay guys who don't care about skincare?

-- The white couple dancing at Uptown were hilarious. I guess the script said "Dance like white people who can't dance."

-- I didn't feel sorry at all for Leslie at the end of the show. She not only spent VD without a man, she had a verbal beatdown by Dani and Shanice. Telling them to "choke on 1000 candy hearts" did not measure up to what they threw at her.

-- Like others here, I need Leslie to amp it up.

-- Vanessa looked like Elvira. That whole thing was cringe, and I didn't buy it that Joey would be so upset to be in the handcuffs, worrying about his enemies.

-- Vanessa continues to show us what a ho she is. She's now wearing a c0ck ring around her neck. Maybe she should have tried some of this before the Golden Corral Casino Mobster killed her husband.

-- All these hot and beautiful people on this show and we get frickin Joey who's The sub to a dominatrix???

-- That fireplace in Joey's place will always be a smh moment to me. That's trying way too hard. You know what isn't? The lighting on the shrubs outside the windows at Vernon and Anita's. That looked really good.

Loved Dani getting all up in Silk Press Sheila's grill.

Andre 🤤🥰

Vanessa and Joey, I did not need to see that freakiness. Vanessa is a nasty ho and Joey is just nasty period. Also knowing that Jon Lindstrom is 30 years older than Lauren Buglioli and the age difference is apparent just adds a whole other level of ick.