Elon has been harsh with Jacob at times for not falling exactly into line with him so it's not hard to see that he would have issues with Izaiah who totally went into another direction.

11 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

Have they? It seems pretty obvious to me. Izaiah is a contrariarian and rebels to be different. Elon is a very strict by the book parent that had a vision for his sons, which the older two fell in line with but thats not Izaiah's ministry so he lashed out against that. This dynamic is very common and I dont think there's anything deeper than clashing personalities and two individuals that are hard headed and suck at communicating

I hear you, but I need more than "clashing personalities," especially because we've been told that white man Joey saved Izaiah.

"They just don't get along" is not enough for me.

11 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

I hear you, but I need more than "clashing personalities," especially because we've been told that white man Joey saved Izaiah.

"They just don't get along" is not enough for me.

I dont know what to tell you or what you expect then. I dont think there was a big moment that caused them to fall out. From we can tell they've always been at odds at least going back to his teen years

as for Joey, he didnt control or pass judgement on Izaiah. He gave him the autonomy to explore things for himself. He saw something in him and when he realized he could be the cause of ruining his life by using him in his business, he encouraged him to take a different path which is something Elon was not doing. He wanted him in some aspect of law enforcement and looked down upon him bc he was wasting his life getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, being a criminal which directly putting them in opposition as a family of law enforcements. Elon likely also resented the shame he'd put him in as the Chief of Police to have a hoodlum son that could easily end up in jail and knowing his personality, he said things that cant easily be taken back

I finished up with this week's episodes and I must say, it was a really strong week. The scenes with June and Samantha, Lynette upping the ante with her blackmail towards Hayley, Leslie vs. Darlene, love in the afternoon with Martin & Smitty and my favorite, the argument between Nicole and Vanessa.

Of course the Scooby Doo gang (Jacob/Smitty/Grayson) is laughable but I still find it entertaining.

I hope we get a renewal announcement this week regarding the shows future (multi-year renewal 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾).

Monday's episode was interesting, at least the concept more so than the on-screen drama. I applaud the ambition, and I agree with others that the execution didn't land, in part because Jacob and Naomi are not a strong enough couple to carry a standalone episode at this time.

It also reminded me of something that's occurred to me a few times over the past year: I think Jacob and Naomi should have met on-screen in the first week(s) of the show, instead of being happily married from the outset. Jacob could have debuted as the arresting officer when Dani shot up the wedding on his first day as detective, with Naomi jumping in to defend her mother. The two could have butted heads and slowly fallen for each other in the process (instead of having a C-story married-couple-fight about the whole incident and quickly making up). Most of the "flashbacks" they recreated this week could have easily fit into the drama of the show in real time.

I find both characters likeable, for the most part, and I don't think the actors are bad per se, but they are among the less experienced cast members. Maybe having some sort of arc to play in the beginning would have helped them find their footing. And Jacob being introduced as an outsider learning about the Duprees' drama would have allowed for more natural exposition as he questioned witnesses about the history between Bill, Dani, Hayley, etc., which would have helped the show overall. Relatedly, this actor has at times struggled more so than some of the seasoned veterans with those extended scenes of the characters reminding each other in detail of backstory they all supposedly experienced in real time (also with the "Rashad" scenes, but that's another story).

While I'm on the subject of Jacob, I think one of the biggest holes in the dynamics of his family that they're attempting to build up is the fact that we've already established the father is running an inherently corrupt department. As far as class conflict, whatever the chief of police's official salary might be (and I agree they've definitely kept the jurisdiction ambiguous), he has to be making even more under the table. Does Darlene know this? Did she think he was really in danger from criminals he was trying to bring to justice all those times when he was allegedly doing undercover work that she keeps talking about, or did she know he was probably off collecting bags or whatever? Is she actually supposed to have the moral high ground?

And if the foreshadowing about Jacob in danger leads somewhere, it will be a real letdown for me if it's because of this stupid plasma story, instead of something they've laid the groundwork for from the beginning: Jacob getting too close to the truth about his father. I commented a few weeks ago that the plasma story is a poor substitute for the earned climax of the Hayley/Bill poisoning story, but I should have added that Joey hiring a corrupt cop to murder Doug is also much more worthy fodder for Jacob to be investigating.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by DeliaIrisFan

On 4/11/2026 at 5:13 AM, DramatistDreamer said:

I've said from Day 1 that the Plasma ring story was shallow without much logic or depth but some posters thought it would land somewhere.

I guess you’re referring to @Broderick who theorized the Plasma story was a long-term arc to put Nicole in danger and eventually reunite her with Ted. Not sure if you’re caught up with the show, but so far everything points towards Broderick being right again (he was right about Nicole having the BRCA gene). Nobody has ever implied that the Plasma angle itself would have been logical or profound…

As for this week’s shows, I was shocked at Dana and Marcel’s conversation. 5 minutes after introducing Darlene, the writers were already discussing another character whom we’ve never seen (Sheila). I swear they spent 5 minutes discussing Sheila and Darlene’s relationship, how they get along and all. Who cares?!? Will these writers ever be able to tell stories with the characters they already have on canvas? Not to mention that this week another invisible character resurfaced: Madison’s mother is driving story lol. It’s embarrassing.

About the only other thing I can say about this week is that I agree Friday was the strongest episode. I felt badly for both June and Samantha, and that scene was earned. I also felt for Nicole earlier in the week, but that was more because Vanessa is a terrible friend and completely delusional than it was due to any real character development. As others have said, Vanessa and Joey's scenes feel like I've accidentally changed the channel to GH, and that is not a good thing.

Hopefully some of the new plot twists will lead to something more compelling next week, although probably not the "will Smitty be caught breaking into his beloved mother-in-law's computer to see an org chart" cliffhanger (there's a joke in there somewhere about how many detectives and investigative reporters it takes to change a lightbulb). It would at least been semi fun if the cliffhanger had been that Ashley discovered Jacob and Smitty in the stairwell, and suspected they were having a clandestine affair.

Along the lines of what I said earlier about Jacob and Naomi's trajectory, Martin and Smitty are another couple who might have benefited from having their love story play out on screen in real time. The conversations that would have led to given their respective professions would have also helped with the exposition problem (and, in particular, the problem with actors who are earlier in their careers not being well served with pages and pages of exposition that the characters have no reason to be explaining to each other).

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by DeliaIrisFan

52 minutes ago, Aback said:

As for this week’s shows, I was shocked at Dana and Marcel’s conversation. 5 minutes after introducing Darlene, the writers were already discussing another character whom we’ve never seen (Sheila). I swear they spent 5 minutes discussing Sheila and Darlene’s relationship, how they get along and all. Who cares?!? Will these writers ever be able to tell stories with the characters they already have on canvas? Not to mention that this week another invisible character resurfaced: Madison’s mother is driving story lol. It’s embarrassing.

Agree with this completely. Adding extra characters without resolving any current storylines/situations is not good.

1 minute ago, ranger1rg said:

  56 minutes ago, Aback said:

As for this week’s shows, I was shocked at Dana and Marcel’s conversation. 5 minutes after introducing Darlene, the writers were already discussing another character whom we’ve never seen (Sheila). I swear they spent 5 minutes discussing Sheila and Darlene’s relationship, how they get along and all. Who cares?!? Will these writers ever be able to tell stories with the characters they already have on canvas? Not to mention that this week another invisible character resurfaced: Madison’s mother is driving story lol. It’s embarrassing.

previously mentioned: “sheila” is marcel’s boat.

and ita re madison’s mother — too much telling, not enough showing has been a problem since the beginning.

On 4/10/2026 at 5:51 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

Especially since Laura lost her mom, she would be particularly vulnerable where having a possible mother figure re-entering her life is concerned. Not that Darlene would be consciously exploiting that and perhaps she really does genuinely become close to Laura. Soaps used to have these types of relationships where people weren't related by blood but there was a pseduo familial or a multi-generational relationship between two characters.

Sorry for double post/quoting - I forgot to mention that this reminded me BTG has that kind of dynamic with Nicole, Anita and that other recurring character (the sanctimonious woman) who act like mother figures to Laura (those 5 times a year we see her).

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

Agree with this completely. Adding extra characters without resolving any current storylines/situations is not good.

2 hours ago, Aback said:

As for this week’s shows, I was shocked at Dana and Marcel’s conversation. 5 minutes after introducing Darlene, the writers were already discussing another character whom we’ve never seen (Sheila). I swear they spent 5 minutes discussing Sheila and Darlene’s relationship, how they get along and all. Who cares?!? Will these writers ever be able to tell stories with the characters they already have on canvas? Not to mention that this week another invisible character resurfaced: Madison’s mother is driving story lol. It’s embarrassing.

They've been talking about Marcel's wife for as long as we've known him so they arent adding extra characters into the mix. I like the convo bc it provided much needed context as to why Darlene hates Leslie. It extends beyond what she did to Nicole, whom she isnt close to. Leslie is sleeping with the husband of her good friend which and knowing this makes me look at their interactions a bit differently bc its personal for her. She sees history repeating itself again. Leslie could have redeemed herself and tried to do better but she's not and thats what Darlene has going through her head. And of course she's projecting and putting that onto Eva as she feels she hasnt changed either

2 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

previously mentioned: “sheila” is marcel’s boat.

Oh wow. I'm behind on the storylines and had wondered who posters were referring to. A boat!

4 hours ago, DeliaIrisFan said:

I think Jacob and Naomi should have met on-screen in the first week(s) of the show, instead of being happily married from the outset.

Agree on this as well as Martin and Smitty being married.

The writers immediately boxed themselves in by choosing this. Had we and Naomi first met Jacob at the start we can follow the romance and get to know the characters . Then have the obstacles introduced along the way. eg Naomi meeting Jacob's folks, clashing careers, a third party on either side, pregnancy scare etc. Classic soap storytelling.

I am finally caught up on last week's episodes. I will say I preferred the second half of the week over the first. The episodes IMO were a bit more entertaining.

I think Darlene is a great addition, but I can say that for all the new additions like Lynette. Even Izaiah has grown on me a bit more.

35 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Agree on this as well as Martin and Smitty being married.

The writers immediately boxed themselves in by choosing this. Had we and Naomi first met Jacob at the start we can follow the romance and get to know the characters . Then have the obstacles introduced along the way. eg Naomi meeting Jacob's folks, clashing careers, a third party on either side, pregnancy scare etc. Classic soap storytelling.

I'm ok with Naomi and Jacob's situation, but I totally get what you are saying. However, look at what we got from Chelsea and Madison as well as Tomas and Kat. I do wish Martin and Smitty were dating instead of married with children. It would have opened them to a lot more story wise that maybe writers on a daytime soap don't want to touch being they are a "safe" representation of gay relationships - monogamous, faithful, family men.

4-6

Well it was...different.

Overall though I liked it.

When BTG started, I said that I liked Naomi and Jacob. Every soap needs that good guy/good girl couple. The policeman and the lawyer. Both of whom could be useful to plot for sure. And they had started so well with Naomi's issues with Bill and the potential lawsuit that never was to give us a glance into what makes Naomi tick. Then we got Jacob and his hero worship of his father Elon who was the CoP...a family full of law enforcement (sidenote...I can't wait to meet Luke down the road). Which made it more delicious that Elon was dirty and in cahoots with the neighborhood gangster. And it was clear that Naomi and Jacob loved each other since they go at it regularly. Both are loyal to their families, too...to a fault. So there is the makings of good drama IMHO.

That said...and as much as I like them. I just don't like the plasma ring storyline. It feels disjointed. And no amount of love for Jacob hides that from me. Perhaps the writers thought it was a good idea to pair up Smitty/Jacob who (like Jacob/Kat) made a good snooping team last year. But last year their snooping had to do with a story that involved a good amount of the canvas. This...not so much. I mentioned that I do look forward to the fallout from it because the story at least is good at setting it up. But the story...a drag. I would rather focus on the more traditional soap story of Naomi keeping the secret she has the gene from everyone BUT Ashley because there is potential for soapy drama there.

That said...this episode was good at filling in the blanks for the love story of Jacob and Naomi. And I would like to think that it continued to show what makes them tic. It even showed the Izaiah/Elon wedding fight that we heard so much about. Which I liked seeing Lami being a different (and honestly slightly more interesting) version of Izaiah. I did expect the fight to be...well...a fight. But it was interesting to me all the same. And to have Darlene there...you all know I was living. There have been discussion all the time about there being a second family. I always felt given how it was set up over the last year that the second family was going to be the Hawthornes. And well...here we are. This episode also showed a hint of Darlene being...well...bougie...funny for someone who is upper middle class. But if there is going to be a second family, there needs to be conflict with the first family. And I see the potential is there. Though I wonder how this would fit in with the narrative that Anita and Darlene get along, but I guess we will see. Add on the Bellclaires for true bougieness and another rival family if the Bellclaires cannot cut it, and I think the show would be a show.

I also loved how the flashback showed some things in a different light for me. Like so much can be said for how Ashley looked then versus now. It put a whole new light on how she was in Episode 1 and happy to have her dream job. Cuz she dressed so much like her mother and still was idealistic about Paris. I am curious if JT is going to pop up. It was great to see Bill and Dani in their old ways. The wigs!!!

I guess my only concern was that I see the point of the episode. To show the love between Naomi and Jacob. And it was cute. And I did like it. BUT...well...lord...they suuuuuure are clingy. lol. I get the fears of the undercover cop. And GH has already done time and time again a story about a wife always concerned for her husband being in a state of danger due to being a policeman. But I guess given who her father is, I expected Naomi to be more...stoic? And for Jacob...while it's been established that Naomi made him a better man and how he idolized Elon...Jacob has come across a little too whiny in missing his wife. It's been only weeks. I would expect that over MONTHS. Timeline wise that is.