30 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Oh absolutely! I was stating more a personal preference. If I make it at home, I like a nice crispy crust on top, especially if it is made in a casserole. Like if it was stovetop Mac and cheese, then fine.

Yes, my Grandma used to make it with the top very crispy. Yum.

1 hour ago, Taoboi said:

I have such mixed feelings about the Madison lawsuit. I liked the Bill/Naomi team-up. And I liked Chels ran to them to decide what she should do in light of the video. I found the video thing highly realistic since in today's culture...there can't be any kind of violent action without someone recording. And it's also realistic that Kat would be worried for the ChelesaKat brand. So I don't mind this beat played. But for all the great scenes in this episode with the Hamiltons...how can I truly get invested if the Madison lawsuit is going to be off-screen? In fact, it all just feels off-screen.

Also intrigued by Tomas and Smitty comparing notes on Lynette. Keeping Lynette's presence and the ticking timebomb of Hayley being exposed alive is definitely the right move. And keeps up suspense.

Well, I can't say that they aren't playing the beats of Nicole's feelings for Ted returning. I don't like it at all. But I respect that they are playing it. And I liked the Vanessa/Nicole scene simply because Vanessa felt like VANESSA there for a second and not a whiny girl. Did I mention I'm happy to see Nicole? But if they are going this route...I wonder where this places Carlton and especially Kial.

In regards to Chelsea, the show has kind of done a disservice to her character since day 1, she almost feels like an afterthought to the writers most of the time. When compared to her contemporaries (Kat, Eva, Naomi), she's under written and under developed as a character.

There are moments I get excited when she finally gets some focus (the trople flirtation, the obsessed Allison arc, the hostage arc), but the show doesn't seem good at writing the aftermath of her brief arcs. The only thing I can assume is that Chelsea's lightening quick relationship and engagement with Madison is a form of PTSD, but she and Madison have gotten little development as a couple nor as individual characters.

Lynette was the sparkplug needed, but now that she's vanished.. the Hayler arc is stalled though at least her presence did reveal some of the motivation for Lia joining the ring (because all her money was stolen).

In regards to Nicole, she divorced Ted quickly without truly processing everything that had happened between them. Partly due to Nicole trying to be the sensible and logical Dupree and also to not be like her sister Dani, a doormat when it comes to Bill. Now that time has passed since the divorce, Nicole is now starting to process what she truly was feeling and I'm going to guess this will either be a way for to put her marriage to Ted in the past.. or the start of the two slowly working their way back to one another.

I see a lot of opinion online that the Impaler is either Carlton or Kial. Greg Vaughan appears far too infrequently, so that's a shrug if he's named.

Carlton? Eh...I wish I could get excited about that reveal. Ideally, this disclosure should be shocking, and Carlton wouldn't be. The truth is that the entire plasma story has been so badly written that I don't care all that much.

If Carlton is named, doesn't that mean he's off the show? MVJ seems to show a lot of loyalty to actors/characters whether they're working or not. Characters on soaps have been getting away with crimes for decades, I know, but we already have Joey and Leslie getting away with a ton. I just want whoever this Impaler is to be off the show.

Saw this on Reddit and said, Ohhhh....

One of the responses:

7 hours ago, Taoboi said:

5-13

It was meh. Especially for the little bits of intrigue.

I'm never going to be here for Cartoon Leslie. Sorry, not sorry. I can't believe someone thinks it's cute that her daughter's boyfriend is cooking dinner, and every other sentence is a punchline/quip/shade. Knowing how Eva feels about him, a little...okay a lot...of common sense goes a long way. I did like the tidbit about Darlene, keeping the dislike between her and SilkPress as well as potential conflict between Eva and Izaiah alive. Good since they gave their first ILYs this episode. So I hope that was foreshadowing that will be the next leg of their storyline.

I have such mixed feelings about the Madison lawsuit. I liked the Bill/Naomi team-up. And I liked Chels ran to them to decide what she should do in light of the video. I found the video thing highly realistic since in today's culture...there can't be any kind of violent action without someone recording. And it's also realistic that Kat would be worried for the ChelesaKat brand. So I don't mind this beat played. But for all the great scenes in this episode with the Hamiltons...how can I truly get invested if the Madison lawsuit is going to be off-screen? In fact, it all just feels off-screen.

Also intrigued by Tomas and Smitty comparing notes on Lynette. Keeping Lynette's presence and the ticking timebomb of Hayley being exposed alive is definitely the right move. And keeps up suspense.

Well, I can't say that they aren't playing the beats of Nicole's feelings for Ted returning. I don't like it at all. But I respect that they are playing it. And I liked the Vanessa/Nicole scene simply because Vanessa felt like VANESSA there for a second and not a whiny girl. Did I mention I'm happy to see Nicole? But if they are going this route...I wonder where this places Carlton and especially Kial.

Hopefully it would lead creepy ass Carlton and his drawn on beard off the show.

Re: the mac and cheese. I prefer the crusty version, but I was OK with what Izaiah served, although I would have liked seeing a side of greens. That was weird.

What bothered me MUCH more was that JOEY taught Izaiah to cook -- not his mother Darlene. Are you kidding me with this???

I expect this show to celebrate Black culture, and that was an easy way to do it. I am so sick of Golden Corral Casino Mobster Joey being shown as the mentor and savior for Black people.

Will we hear that he taught Tyrell how to dance for the cotillion?

3 hours ago, MontyB said:

One of the responses:

I don’t think writers should write according to viewers feedback. Famously viewers don’t know what they want or what they need and it’s the writers’ job to figure it out. Which is what Tracey’s been trying to do all these months: she’s done whatever she wanted. And she’s failed IMHO. And this is coming from someone who despised Guza’s ‘headline of the week style and initially appreciated TT’s input very much.

As for ratings, Josh Griffith’s Y&R is still number 1 but will it resist the test of time? B&B is ‘growing’, but at the same time losing its grip towards international audiences (IMO) whose delay is increasing tremendously. So make of that what you will.

2 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

What bothered me MUCH more was that JOEY taught Izaiah to cook -- not his mother Darlene. Are you kidding me with this???

Yeah it’s insulting and worrisome.

BTW Izaiah’s characterization is all over the place. A few weeks ago, Jacob was teasing him about ‘philosophizing’ because of his training. But we’ve never ever seen Izaiah share a thought deeper than a root canal. We’ve seen him read a book in the dark Uptown light. We know Izaiah can’t stand his father because he wanted to read books as opposed to wearing a uniform. He was wearing sneakers at his brother’s wedding. And that’s pretty much it.

But Lami’s shot in the opening credits is the coolest one, I’ll give him that.

Izaiah works at Banneker as some sort of counsellor? We've yet to see him at work or refer to it much. He's another charcter floating around various eateries.

Donnell and Deanna are there. Why are we not seeing him at work? He could interact with Deanna especially with all the stuff she's going through.

A small office or a an area to suggest a student lounge.

Actually Caffeine Fix set would have worked better as a student cafeteria/lounge.

12 hours ago, MontyB said:

One of the responses:

This is tea. Absolute TEA!

On 5/16/2026 at 12:24 PM, Taoboi said:

So what we all wearing to the cotillion? LOL!!!

It would be fun to dress up to watch it, or imagine ourselves dressed up!

(although sort of a spoiler, I think it's okay to post this here since we all know the cotillion is happening this week).
"Barrington County" ?

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by janea4old

Barrington County has been mentioned several times by the characters.

51 minutes ago, janea4old said:

It would be fun to dress up to watch it, or imagine ourselves dressed up!

I wish I had fancy clothes to wear because I’m crazy enough to do this. Although I think the cotillion is going to be on multiple shows so I may not want to get dressed up for three or four nights straight.

I’m really looking forward to this week for the first time in a long time. Possibly the first time since the anniversary party episodes. I love the show but it’s hardly been riveting these past few months. There was last year’s Chelsea kidnapping story but we all knew Chelsea was gonna be okay so the dramatic stakes were low. But this week we have Bill probing into Hayley’s past, the cotillion drama, the climax of the plasma ring story, and that mysterious spoiler on Friday about the McBrides. This better be good! I really hope the writers don’t blow it.

You know the show is going downhill when a topic of discussion is a fictional scene about mac-n-cheese.

I agree the reveal of Lia as a "boss" should have been done more dramatically. The whole plasma story has had such potential but failed execution at every turn. I'd be okay with Derrick becoming a casualty and Carlton becoming "the Impaler" for story beats after (Nicole and Ashley's reactions), but as everyone has said, there is no build up. The wrap up of this story should have been a week full of intense scenes leading up to a Friday cliffhanger (Derrick stabbed, Jacob shot, the reveal of "The Impaler") then the aftermath for a week. After that, cut into the cotillion for a week of episodes. Then the week after lead into the June event. (I won't mention for spoiler purposes.) The pacing of this show is all over the place.

I'd love for Doug to be alive and Deanna to know about it. It would explain the hatred she has for Vanessa and her trifling with Joey if Doug reached out to Deanna and let her know what was going on regarding Joey. It would also provide drama for Donnell, who wasn't told by Doug, or Deanna, that his father was alive.

I wish Caroline could have been involved with Mike's return to Bill's office. Maybe be the one to begrudgingly walk him in for his meeting.