original release date: Thursday, March 12, 2026 | writers: Natalie Minardi Slater, Judy Tate | director: Anthony Pascarelli

Thoughts:

• Dana, it is tacky going after someone Nicole is interested in. Your tactics resemble those of a naive, exhausted, and absurd individual.

• Oh no, Vanessa! Deanna is making direct eye contact with you while kissing Joey. You could not even walk away from the entrance of Uptown?

• Good on Nicole for noticing Deanna's body language. She is fully aware that things are likely not solid for her following Douglas' death.

• And I am gagging at Deanna. Whew. Yup. She is Vanessa's daughter, without a doubt!

• The earth-shattering look on Vanessa's face, the absolute disgust on Deanna's, and the hurt on Donnell's are all just... whew. I am overcome with emotion.

• Deanna blaming Vanessa for Douglas' death feels quite real, and it is humanly understandable.

• I love that Donnell is spitting some hard truths to Deanna, and they are truths that she needs to hear.

• I love seeing Kial and Nicole open up to each other. There is a genuine connection that is slowly burning between them.

• That is my girl, Vanessa; get some new information out of Joey. Find out what you need to know. Do it!

Notes:

• Slater's influence was throughout this episode. The pacing felt like a classic soap opera in 2026, and I love seeing that continue to happen. The best breakdown writer that could have been hired at this soap. Condensing a lot of the stories into one set (Uptown) is excellent. So many moving parts without having to leave the scene. That is classic.

• Pascarelli's eye was very apparent in today's direction. I liked it a lot.

• While I am disappointed we are not seeing the clinic just yet, I am hoping that it becomes a fixture at some point.

• Resounding round of applause to Lauren Buglioli (Vanessa), Alex Cheeks (Donnell), and Angela Fairley (Deanna) for their outstanding work today. That was incredible.

Donnell tried REALLY hard not to break when Deanna read Vanessa for filth and told her (about Joey) "Clearly you're serving it up."

Whew baby. Deanna gave her momma the business and deservedly so.

Deanna is definitely Doug's daughter and I mean that as a compliment. The only individual that might potentially have an effect on Vanessa and her misguided ways is her daughter. Think of it as the 2020s answer to Olivia/Abby.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Soaplovers

Vernon looked super smart in the cream shirt style jacket-yes you can be 80 and fashionable. But no to Bill in the all white beach ensemble and Joey's shiny velour outfit.

Looks like Timon has a no shirtless clause in his contract.

Kat talking about moving into one of the wings of the house when we have only seen one room. Her talk of assisting Anita brought up the fact that Anita doesn't have one. Supposedly she has so much going on and does it all by herself.

Disappointed that Mona has gone all judgey. Originally she looked like she was going to be the wise, caring talk to.

And unless we see the clinic and Leslie's mansion, I'm not interested. All this business going down in cafes is giving me Y&R vibes.

I kinda like Randy-he's clueless but there's a puppy dog vibe that appeals. I don't mind the religious aspect. We've seen that IRL where crims are quite brazen in that way. And dum dum Randy is trying to hedge his bets.

Deanna calling out Vanessa was great and deserved. I do wish Vanessa wasn't given emotional scenes though. They don't work for me.

I really like Donnell, and he and Deanna work well together so far.

The clinic should definitely be onscreen! With all the drama around it from the interactions of Leslie, Eva, Derek, Vanessa, and even Joey. Then mix in the doctors volunteering. I suppose it is a bit of a duplicate to the hospital, but still. So much has been offscreen it's hard to know what's going on. How did the clinic go from being such a sorry state to suddenly opening today?

I just don't understand Kat. I really don't. The writing isn't helping when it has her all over the place. I totally agree with Tomas when he was pointing that out. The writers need to ground her more or something. (This doesn't meant I don't understand why Kat hates Eva. That I can understand.)

-- I agree that Timon has a no shirtless clause. He looks much better in suits.

-- Anita should have an assistant, and I don't mean Kat. These people are wealthy. If she can get a private room for chemo, she should have an assistant.

-- Religion on soaps is fine, but what they're doing to Mona is a complete reset of the character.

-- Fully agree about seeing the clinic and Leslie's shouse. Not seeing the dedication for the clinic was a miss. There was drama to be played there.

The Dupree mansion is supposed to be enormous, right? Kat is getting her own wing. Yet Leslie's place is being built in what sounds like the Dupree back yard.

-- I'm no Tomas fan, but he's exactly right that just should have talked to him about moving to Vernon and Anita's.

-- I'm ok with Tomas calling Kat "mi amor," but twice in one episode?

-- Deanna's takedown of Vanessa was great, and so deserved.

-- Vanessa worked so hard to hide her relationship with Joey from Deanna, so she kisses him in plain sight? Uh....ok.

-- Nicole had words of wisdom for Vanessa about how Deanna would learn and grow and come around. I wish she had some words of wisdom for her friend who's screwing the town mobster.

-- Yes, Donnell all grieve differently. We all don't take up with the biggest criminal in town while running an escort service, though.

-- Vanessa is so upset, yet she can't shed a single tear over any of this.

-- Lauren Buglioli needs to pull back on using that hitch in her voice during every emotional line of dialogue.

-- No Samantha at Uptown was a big miss. So was no Derek.

Yeah, there is no excuse for Phoenix Street and Leslie's mansion to not be onscreen after all the hype and build-up. I have to believe we'll see at least one of them soon. If not, don't do the story.

29 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

No Samantha at Uptown was a big miss. So was no Derek

budget constraints, i’m sure. at least they accounted for their absence, though it was deep in the episode before the mentioned samantha.

The introduction of Deanna was better than I could've ever imagined. They really struck gold with both Deanna and Donnell and I really hope the show takes notice and makes them a real family. Vanessa is overdue for a home set (which they should've build instead of giving Joey a home) so the family has a place to ground their scenes. I find them more interesting than Chelsea, Madison or Martin and Smitty's kids. Vanessa gets decent screentime but I do think the show would benefit from expanding her role more which Deanna and Donnell give her the opportunity to do.

I didn't love them having the ceremony at Uptown but with the budget constraints I'm not surprised. It kinda worked but it makes me wonder if a clinic was even a good idea if it isn't something we'll get to see. Plus, do we really need a hospital and a clinic set?

55 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- No Samantha at Uptown was a big miss. So was no Derek.

I aint gonna lie, I didn't really care that Samantha was missing but I did miss Derek. I can't believe it but he's really come around on me in recent months. Dare I say it but I feel like he has stronger chemistry with Leslie and Eva than any love interest either has had thus far. I feel like Ashley and Derek both have so much potential and likability now that they're apart.

Another thing I wanted to say is that I am starting to become sick of this cotillion story. Is it just me or have they been talking about this forever? For a teen centered event on a show where the teens are recurring, it's taking up too much screentime. This should've happened by now but they keep talking about it with no end in sight.