Daphnee has mentioned some health issues on her Instagram. I'm not sure any of them lined up with the filming schedule around the time of the cotillion episodes, but that might have been an issue.

Time will tell. I hope she is well though. Nicole still sits as my favorite character. Since Day 1.

8 hours ago, Romalotti said:

At this point, I’m convinced that Nicole running off during the cotillion wasn’t a mysterious plot point and the only reason it happened was that they needed a valid reason why Daphnée Duplaix wasn’t in the next episode that took place at cotillion.

You may be right, but I'm not happy about the writing there, which cclearly led us to believe something plot-worthy was happening. Yes, this has been done before on soaps, but when it's written THIS dramatically, it should mean something.

-- Last week was a good one overall. I appreciate the light/dark offering of the cotillion/plasma ring, but I still think the cotillion should have been THE even of the week, and played for even more effect. More could have been done with these characters with more time devoted to it.

-- And yes, more could have been done without having the Duprees be in charge of EVERYTHING. I just don't enjoy that complete takeover.

-- I am concerned about the fallout from the plasma ring and that we're going to end up wondering who was involved/charged/convicted/in charge. This "Who is the Impaler?" story should end.

-- I also want to be done with Ashley grieving over Derek. I'm ready to lock her in a room already.

Good point! I did think the Dupree takeover at the Deb Ball was a bit ridiculous. It was made to seem that other past Debs would host, but we got a bunch of Duprees and Deanna. Not to mention that Chelsea, Dani, and Anita didn't even undergo the deb process, so that just further highlighted the Dupree takeover. I think they could have had Kat, Naomi, and Nicole host alongside some extras. Imagine being a Deb/family and the Duprees just hijacked the whole ceremony and then one of their own wins too. It was just too much.

I did go back and rewatch that cotillion dance. Whoever choreographed that did wonderful. Jessica's little move during her intro tho did nothing for me. It was giving Zendaya and Bella on Shake It Up.

5-18

It still holds up from start to finish.

It's such a simple thing. And I'll say it until the cows come home. Either an A story, an event, or a solid B plot that is ready for attention as the main thing. Follow that with a B plot or a B plot that is working. And bonus if there is a C plot going on. And watch a good soap week. And overall, Cotillion Week proved it.

Just this episode alone on a rewatch. Natalie Minardi Slater is reeeally good at breakdowns. I believe that I've liked every one except maybe two. And two, for me, just feels like I'm stretching it. There's usually just a structure and a flow to them. But she's only as good as her script writer. And this was such a good one.

I didn't like that after giving it a build back in February, the show stalled the cotillion story. Worse, they kept all potential story beats off-screen. So it was great to see it back in focus and back on screen. I loved the women in their own scenes. I also loved the men had their alone time, too. It reminds me of the event where all the men swooped in on Tomas when he started to date Kat. lol. It was nice to see everyone bonding (but Kat and Eva of course). I really also liked the sprinkling of subplots (Smitty, Dani/Chels, Nicole's Ted fantasies) within the intimate scenes. And I really loved how the costume designer really nailed all of these great looks that was cohesive, but still got every characters' personality. My faves were Kat (*cough*ponytail*cough*) and Anita (come thru entrance!!!!) for the ladies and Martin (hey, BC, hey!) for the men. And Samantha's stairs entrance...splendid and breathtaking. Sooooo worth the wait with the camera angles to match.

Meanwhile, there was the plasma ring storyline giving support like it should have been doing in the first place. And for once...it did not bug. Perhaps it was the fact that we finally got another set. Perhaps it was that the story was FINALLY heading toward climax. But I did like the Grayson/Ashley scenes. I've enjoyed them together and it really felt like real stakes going on with them. I liked the Derek/Lia scenes. And of course we would get some Derek vs Grayson out of it, too.

And C plot? I don't like that the Hayley storyline is another story that has been stalled, but it was nice that they dangle the tease about Hayley's past (or cover story?) out there for the audience. When we were introduced to Hayley, she said she was an orphan. Now that we know she's a con and that Randy is her cousin...well...DOES Hayley have family out there? Is it another case of foreshadowing.

All in all good start to a great week.

3 hours ago, Romalotti said:

I kinda wish I knew more of the inner workings of the soap world. Like, did they sideline Nicole because they only budgeted for a certain amount of actors in an episode? Or because she is needed for multiple episodes later in the week so they wanted to give her a day off? I need to find a good autobiography written by a soap scribe. Too bad Bill Bell never wrote an autobiography. It would have been a classic and we could have learned so much from it.

Although Bill Bell never wrote an autobiography, there is this book.

22 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

I did go back and rewatch that cotillion dance. Whoever choreographed that did wonderful. Jessica's little move during her intro tho did nothing for me. It was giving Zendaya and Bella on Shake It Up.

I didn't like Jessica's move, either. She's been presented as someone who pushes against the establishment and who is independent, but it still seemed out of character for her. I don't know what I wanted, but it wasn't that.

At first I wasn't crazy about the modern dance moves made at the end of the structured and beautiful cotillion dance. Then I did some reading and found that contemporary moves are often a part of the cotillion dance, and that changed my mind about it completely.

29 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Imagine being a Deb/family and the Duprees just hijacked the whole ceremony and then one of their own wins too. It was just too much.

I will die on that hill -- it was all too much. We're supposed to love the Duprees as a family, but that kind of move doesn't do it. Did any of them ever hear of sharing the spotlight or a generosity of spirit?

12 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

At first I wasn't crazy about the modern dance moves made at the end of the structured and beautiful cotillion dance. Then I did some reading and found that contemporary moves are often a part of the cotillion dance, and that changed my mind about it completely.

Also I read it as that cohort wanting it to be 'relevant' -like unless something directly centers on them it's not authentic to their lived experience etc etc. Everything is filtered through their personal lens.

I thought I posted an Essence article about Yolanda Renée King, the daughter of Martin Luther King III's cotillion on this board. On her Instagram, she posted a clip of her dancing with her dad and there is always a "break" from formality to contemporary/hip hop dance moves. This has been done for a very long time.🤷🏾‍♀️

In terms of the plasma ring climax taking away from the cotillion, yes, I agree but that plasma story was on life support. They needed to give it as much bang for its buck as they could manage because absolutely nothing had been going on with that storyline up to that point. Was it due to poor plotting and lack of detail? Absolutely but it still needed to end. FWIW, the cotillion storyline overall just left out a lot in the run up to the event. The fact that some viewers still don't understand some of the traditions means, they should have shown, not tell. But oh well, the dance and camera work was very good. It was perplexing to see Nicole, a trained therapist so frazzled that she couldn't stand still and take two photos (it really wouldn't have taken that long) before excusing herself. I remember hearing from some former soap actors that those group scenes take a lot of time and we all know that time is money. But the phrase of the day seems to be "We'll see...".

One comment regarding ATWT and that aspect of 'before & after Gunnar' for Barbara...well, different writers so yeah, Barbara was bound to be written differently. It wasn't Gunnar who caused Barbara's evolution from "doormat" ex-wife of James Stenbeck to vixen, it was the failed relationships that culminated with the breakup with Brian and seeing Brian quickly move on with Shannon, a woman Barbara dislike, that help shift Barbara to a vixen. Barbara even says this to a back from the dead James when she gloats that she's no longer a doormat, she's an even match for him. An excellent scene, written by the late great Douglas Marland.

But I digress :-)

4 hours ago, Taoboi said:

Hehe. Well, I will eat crow if wrong and will hold to the other soap belief that it was the start of a C plot. That said...I can understand the opposite as well. After decades of soaps just not having an actor/actress in an episode with optional dialogue explaining why they are not there, going back to old school soap where they do the why on screen is refreshing. Time will tell.

And wow! You all ran with my Deanna thoughts this weekend. hehe. I feel that I too should disclaim that I do not want Deanna to be mentally unwell because her as a spitfire is very much needed and the actress is strong and a mental illness on a soap will lessen some of that. BUT they have been laying the groundwork for that for a looong while as well. Again will tell.

Given how good this week was, BTG really should not hold back ever again. So honestly...WHY?

Since Teresa Zimmerman was largely responsible for writing last year's anniversary party episodes, I'm surprised at how little she was on this week.

Okay, back to rewatching...

Honestly I will be pissed if we have to wait another 6 months for something to happen. When the show actually does something it’s my favorite of the bunch but the day to day isn’t there a lot of the time like I would say it is for GH which with only a few exceptions here and there I feel the need to watch daily.

29 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

Honestly I will be pissed if we have to wait another 6 months for something to happen. When the show actually does something it’s my favorite of the bunch but the day to day isn’t there a lot of the time like I would say it is for GH which with only a few exceptions here and there I feel the need to watch daily.

Yeah, I agree. We can't wait for the snow to fall for another big event or for major plot action. Just no to that.

That happened after Winterfest, and it's why I'm holding my breath after this last week of good stuff.

Edited 10 minutes ago10 min by ranger1rg