14 minutes ago, Melroser said:

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

LOL! You know folks like to nit-pick. As someone whose mother is African American, I can tell you with utmost certainty, we are not a monolith.

I've served macaroni and cheese as a main dish because it can be filling and my family didn't mind. When I did this for a friend from Texas though he was like, "you didn't fix any meat to go with it".

5 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

I've served macaroni and cheese as a main dish because it can be filling and my family didn't mind. When I did this for a friend from Texas though he was like, "you didn't fix any meat to go with it".

It absolutely is and can be a main dish, especially when made right.

Writers:
Natalie Minardi Slater
Cheryl L. Davis

Director:
Anthony Pascarelli

The blue collar Midwest thing (white culture) is beanie weenie mac & cheese.. with mac & cheese served with Pork & beans and cut up hot dogs. Sometimes side by side on a plate, or mixed. The ultimate struggle meal (and what I was raised with during very lean times).

So I'm always intrigued with how mac & cheese is done in other families.

original release date: Monday, May 18, 2026 | writers: Natalie Minardi Slater, Cheryl L. Davis | director: Anthony Pascarelli

Thoughts:

• We have made it to the cotillion! I am so excited for this!

• I am going to need Katherine to tone down the bulls**t against Eva. It is nice seeing Nicole be kind to her. For once.

• Anita! Woo-hoo! Looks like a goddess in her gown and her very gorgeous hairdo.

• Jacob really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut where questions are concerned; I doubt Ren is going to be nice and patient for much longer.

• Not Grayson making Ashley an unofficial beneficiary and proxy of his 'estate' information.

• Oh my! June looks absolutely stunning! I love that she embraced this for Samantha's benefit.

• Hayley continues to be petty and judgmental. She really needs to rein it in and focus on a fake backstory to appease Bill.

• I get that Tyrell is really into Jessica, but he can definitely attend Banneker without her.

• Lia meeting Derek outside of Garland feels like she is trying to cover her tracks from being traced.

• Not Dani teasing Nicole about her sex daydreaming about Ted. That is hilarious to me.

• Hayley is dumb as rocks, just poisoning Bill's drink right there at Uptown's bar where anyone could see her... plus, security cameras? For someone who has conned multiple people, she sucks at her profession.

• I like when Eva can rise above Katherine's nastiness, but I would really love for her to ball her fist and just sock her in the face. It is what she deserves. I am sure "our father" stung enough for her.

• I feel bad. Andre is taking photographs of all of the men of the Dupree family, and none of them include him, even though he is presently part of the family.

• Damn. Derek is really keeping his eye on Grayson. He is ridiculous. And damn, Grayson, not you just dropping the bomb that the police know. Oh, this cannot be good.

Notes:

• Starting off the week strong with scriptwork by Slater and Davis. A classic, easy-moving soap script. Perfect way to begin a week of cotillion action! And Pascarelli brought some amazing camera work. Especially shooting down from the top of the staircase. Brilliant work. And again, the lighting on this soap is absolutely stunning.

• Woo-hoo! More flashbacks of Bill and Dani's past! I love when we get moments like this! And I appreciate how the looks of the past feel authentic to the times, but also somewhat outdated for today.

• Seeing the cotillion be celebrated by the Dupree family feels special. As someone who has never experienced something like this, it is very eye-opening, and I have learned so much every step along the way through this storyline.

• Jeresa Featherstone did outstanding work with the costuming for the cotillion. Everyone looks beyond incredible. Very well-tailored and the colours on the women are stunning.

-- It will never not be hilarious that Hayley does her poisoning right out in the open, or that she hasn't come up with a decent story about her past and her family.

-- I have no problem with Derek treating Grayson as he has. He was right all along.

-- Am I missing something? Why is Lia giving ANY kind of orders to Derek about who to work with at the free clinic? Why does she hv any say at all?

-- Jacob had the line of the day with his street "Fo sho."

-- Good stuff on the cotillion prep today, although I thought the men looked better than the women as a whole. The tuxes were all classic and elegant.

-- For the women, I thought Dani's dress from Naomi's cotillion was much better than the one for Samantha's. I didn't like all that fringe.

-- Anita, Kat, and Nicole looked great. I didn't like Naomi's dress color at all, but did like her hair. Chelsea's dress was too much, and needed to get rid of at least one accessory. Ruth looked great, although I don't get the big deal about changing wigs.

-- Samantha and Jessica both looked incredible.

There was just a shooting/hate crime at the Islamic Center here so no live posting today. So I put prayers out for the families, thankful no children were harmed, and will post today's episode when it eventually uploads...more than likely...I'm app-ing.

Until then...

5-15

Yeah, I thought the rest of the week was just...okay. It was nice to see the return on-screen of the cotillion storyline by the return of Belleclaires. And I like that...dare I say it...there was the slightest hint of momentum again. Fingers crossed it keeps going into this week.

I respect the scene of Anita and her follow-up. I expect the cancer part of her story to be a bit more background until the date the doctor gave aka mid-June around when that crossover is supposed to happen I believe. Enough time for Anita to get back to normal and read some folk.

Like I said above, I'm happy to see the cotillion storyline back on-screen. And one thing that I liked was seeing the Smitty/Martin family unit again. We used to get so many scenes of them all together just being a family. So it's nice to have them back...conflict and all. If it isn't Ty being mad at Samantha over the double standard or Samantha feeling the pressure of being like the other Debs...it's seeing Smitty and Martin so close knowing there's a ticking time bomb going off with them due to Smitty's involvement in the plasma ring storyline.

And of course, I liked Nicole/Samantha vs Anastacia/Francisca. I really liked that Samantha got some good licks in, but I am sad she ran off. And Nicole...let me smh like some of the comments I've seen. She should have lunged at the old bag. I liked Samantha got a pep talk though I do question that it came from Eva instead of Kat.

SHUT UP, VANESSA. lol. Nicole don't want to be like you. That said...I just smh at how flustered Nicole is getting around Ted. I still don't feel he's s&*(. And it wasn't helped by all this stuff with Shanice's aunt. So NOW Ted can't be a man and articulate himself to a hard-working woman? Really? I was happy to see Shanice's aunt though. But...I'm no longer on the Ted/Shanice train since it now appears that Ted and Nicole are circling each other. Seems pointless. And even if Ted and Nicole do the tango again, it would just send Silk Press Sheila over the edge. I don't mind that....mind you since I feel Nicole vs SPS gives more than SPS vs Anita and feels more evenly matched IMHO. And I feel Nicole does give when they have their catfights which I believe is the minority opinion.

Speaking of Vanessa...waaaaay to overstep with Joey. If that brings their issues to the surface though...SO BE IT. They have been C plot themselves too long since Doug's death. I do think it is interesting timing to see Donnell finally have more of an issue with Joey again though. I am also side-eying the continued mentions of Joey's sister...given how Joey is already a polarizing figure around here.

Like several of the other characters, I miss when Mona was more of a 3D/gray character. Her loving the church was A PART of her character, not ALL of her character. Now I just roll my eyes. Though I'm always happy to see more Randy.

We all know I'm ready for the plasma ring storyline to end. So good to see Marcel basically calling Lia out. And I did love the soapy near-miss Grayson had with Eva...which actually built some suspense with me. I also like Jacob got a clue. And Ashley is coming across smart with Lia. But again...the writing, the writing, the writing. All this time they made it seem like Lia was the Impaler...though tbf I don't think it was said on-screen she was which makes this storyline even worse...but now she actually answers to higher people and...I zone out. Be done already.

That it appears to be going on at the same time as cotillion...will be a le sigh from me. But I hope the writing and acting will get me through it as I long for the cotillion build-up.

Loved today's show. Everyone looked so nice.

Samantha looks stunning.

Jacob cracks me up trying to sound hard. And he's doing an ATL accent, not DMV.

Edited 18 minutes ago18 min by MontyB