14 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

I genuinely wish I had any interest at all or saw even an ounce of rooting value for Vanessa and Joey given how they’re on CONSTANTLY.

Same. I give my all not to fast forward their scenes honestly.

There was movement today and we can actually look forward to finding out what happens tomorrow.

We should be getting the start of bigger movement considering that the actress that plays Chief Whitmore said that late May is going have action.

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

-- The reason I'm against a storyline of Martin running for the Senate is because they will not address any elephant in the room, so it won't be at all realistic. Already we're hearing "the Party" because they won't say he's a Democrat. They won't name the state. I assume it's Maryland, which is solid blue, so claiming Martin needs to run to hold the seat is ludicrous. It's also WAY too late when primaries are already in process.

I was a little confused by his potential Senate campaign, too -- but he specified Wednesday, in his conversation with Miss Beautiful, that it would be the 2028 Senate race. I've always presumed Martin is a fairly moderate Democrat, based on his grandfather's civil rights background and the (few) issues Martin has discussed on the show. IRONICALLY, I watched Brandon Clabon's interview with Kevin Fisher from Y&R the other day, and Kevin Fisher flat-out asked Brandon which party he believed Martin represented. Clabon said, "I play him as a moderate Democrat." lol.

1 hour ago, Antoyne said:

I genuinely wish I had any interest at all or saw even an ounce of rooting value for Vanessa and Joey given how they’re on CONSTANTLY.

Jacob’s fake street accent is so bad, I can’t believe these people even buy his act.

You're right -- there's not a single thing about Vanessa and Joey to root for, and I'm starting to resent all the attention this show gives them.

Jacob's street accent is soooooo bad it's laughable. And why is this Ren dude going all rogue and deciding who has to pay for mistakes and how?

53 minutes ago, Broderick said:

I watched Brandon Clabon's interview with Kevin Fisher from Y&R the other day, and Kevin Fisher flat-out asked Brandon which party he believed Martin represented. Clabon said, "I play him as a moderate Democrat."

Nothing but a Democrat makes any sense, although I don't know why BC had to add the word "moderate."

As I mentioned, though, this seat is already held by a very popular Democrat, Chris Van Hollen, so I don't like the idea of story that has no semblance to reality.

BTG regularly names products, stars, pop culture, and more. But now with politics we're going to play it safe and worry about offending conservative viewers? And pretend we're all ignorant when it comes to politics?

3 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

"It's just a soap" doesn't work.

You're right. In fact, "It's just a soap" NEVER works. Having low expectations of a television show because "it's just a soap" is insulting to a genre that is almost a century old (including radio serials). And it is insulting to the fans. Personally, I want and expect the soap operas I watch to be written as well and as intelligently as possible.

Yeah, I don't need the show to acknowledge Chris Van Hollen (my former Senator for many years!) or anything like that. That's just never been something daytime does. Short of an occasional president soaps rarely acknowledge actual IRL elected officials while they're in office unless they're bringing on a special guest. I don't think that's some break with acceptable TV reality or talking down to anyone. It's just not germane or necessary for narrative purposes, particularly when you're using politician characters. (Nor do I need Martin to say onscreen that he's a Democrat - Helen Keller could figure that out.)

There's not a new set of rules for BTG where they must acknowledge any and all IRL politicians locally in order to form a responsible compact with the audience. Forget using pop stars or music or referencing movies, that's a different sphere. We never once expected this kind of adherence to current government seatholders from ATWT, GL, AW, etc. when they dealt with political stories lol, so I don't see why we would start now. That's an impossible and unrealistic standard IMO.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Vee

I don't need the show to acknowledge Chris Van Hollen either. I don't want them to write political stories that ignore the obvious, though. I know it's something daytime stays away from, and I'm aware that GL, AW, and ATWT avoided specifics.

But I thought we wanted BTG to be different and new and forward-thinking while giving us aop elements from the past that never go out of style.

Does Martin need to say he's a Democrat? No -- but then why deliberately avoid it? That makes no sense to me. It's intentional. I do realize I'm a minority voice here and that most viewers probably don't care, which means the show may be right in avoiding labels.

But I honestly don't want to see stories where obvious labels and realistic story elements are avoided. Running for statewide or national office makes it way too clear that these specifics are being avoided. Just write Martin as a member of Congress. Isn't that impressive enough?

Also, Martin is running for re-election. He has a primary and a general this year. Why are we talking about a Senate race in 2028?

Again, I realize I don't have a lot of support on this. I don't blame GATES for avoiding topics that would piss off CBS and their right-wing Paramount owners that suck up to the Orange Blob. That's why I'd rather not go near that stuff at all.

I think it's pretty obvious where Martin falls on the political spectrum and I don't blame the show at all for not saying Democrat or Republican. These are unprecedented times and why draw unwanted attention, especially from the current administration. I think the show is handling it perfectly.

Something about today's episode...

Dare I say it...are they planning up blowing up all their storylines in May?

Cuz of course there's the cotillion. But the resurrection of Martin's Secret...and today's Martin/Smitty disagreement. Joey and Vanessa being tooooooo happy. The Impaler storyline is a given.

There's a few of positioning going on...and I don't hate it. I mean...as long as it IS a roller coaster ride...which is how it felt like today.

And no, I didn't forget about Kristen Dimera...hehe.

Cliffhangers two days in a row? Dare I hope we get a Friday cliffhanger, too?

Love this. 😅

2 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

You're right. In fact, "It's just a soap" NEVER works. Having low expectations of a television show because "it's just a soap" is insulting to a genre that is almost a century old (including radio serials). And it is insulting to the fans. Personally, I want and expect the soap operas I watch to be written as well and as intelligently as possible.

When people say “it’s just a soap,” they may simply be expressing an understanding of the format, not a lack of respect for the genre.

Martin/Smitty: Not surprised at the conflict because they never resolved their issues.. just forgave the symptom of their issues without actually handling the root cause. I kind of figure Martin and his deeply enmeshed relationship with his family is one of the root causes... but not sure what Smitty's angst is all about since we hardly know anything about his life pre-Martin other then being a journalist.

Joey/Vanessa: Vanessa is truly a toxic one. Joey is right that she's the give an inch and they try to take a foot.

I did like the conversation between Martin/Smitty about the secret with Joey sitting at the corner as a great symbol of the secret just waiting to approach them. And Smitty exits the room, 'the secret' approaches Martin. I commend the breakdown, writing, and the directing for that.

Grayson/Ashley: Curious to see where this goes long term (if there is a long term). I like that Ashley is a strong B or C story character.. those characters are just as important the A-story characters. And she got to do the Tide plug, that must mean something if she got picked to do it :)

Lia: Such a shame she's short-term since her role as chief of staff would be nice as a semi regular antagonist :) This is why you have to be careful when casting commanding performers for short-term roles.

Edited 29 minutes ago29 min by Soaplovers

Tide is back!

33 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

And she got to do the Tide plug, that must mean something if she got picked to do it :)

I admit that I really liked that with her and Jan today. And it felt natural given it was a wacky mama and a semi-wacky daughter. It could just be me.

24 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Tide is back!

But where is Febreze???