Writers:
Natalie Minardi Slater
Cheryl L. Davis

Director:
Steven Williford

I'm enjoying the alternate reality dream episode today, but makes me wonder if there will be a purpose... maybe it'll make Kat so upset that it gives her the energy to wake up haha.

original release date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026 (#314) | writers: Natalie Minardi Slater, Cheryl L. Davis | director: Steven Williford

Thoughts:

• While this does not seem like the ultimate outcome, it also does not seem like all hope is lost where Katherine is concerned. I trust that Dr. Arnold has things under control.

• Oh. This dreamland that Katherine is having... this is why she does not want to wake up.

• Haha, not Eva clocking Dana with her bias towards her daughter, as it should be for parents. 🤣

• This is truly sinking into a "sit and wait" situation, which I hate.

• Love seeing how together everyone is at the hospital in supporting each other.

• What kind of alternate universe is Katherine dreaming of? Is this recent or is it back around the time of when Katherine was born? 👀

• Uh-oh. This is definitely Katherine's nightmare. But not her thinking this is her chance to 'defeat' the enemy... as if to insinuate killing Dana and the unborn child. Oh, this is Katherine's alternate reality where Katherine never existed, right?

• So Nicole ~is~ pregnant. So maybe this is the past when Ted was having his affair with Dana but is firmly planted in the present day.

• Katherine, you just need to wake up, because reality is much better than whatever nightmare you are having.

• Super sweet of Martin to show up for Katherine in her time of need; surely, as ignored as she is in her nightmare, she would love this attention that she is getting in reality.

• This alternate dream reality is hilarious. Katherine, not only is this not the truth, but this is also highly unlikely how it all would have gone down back then had Ted admitted his affair back in the day.

• I like that Dana is being very sympathetic with Ted where Katherine is concerned. Hoping this is truly a change in the tide. Truly.

• No, no... do not feel bad, Martin. You needed to be that way with Katherine... no one had been, and she needed it.

• Oh, this is juicy... it is good to see this, and hopefully it lets Katherine see just how solid her upbringing was and how her current situation happens to be. But her not seeing Eva is really what is standing out.

• Well, this is where the nightmare really comes into play: Eva, in being raised by Ted, has become the Katherine personality, whereas Katherine is now the Eva persona.

• Oh. So Nicole turned into a full-blown alcoholic. G'damn.

• Oh snap... the "sounds familiar" was a kiii. That is what she needed to hear to know that her behaviour has been unacceptable.

• There we go! Welcome back, Katherine. Hopefully things will be different from here on out! Hopefully!

Notes:

• A classic soap script today, thanks to Slater, who has extensive history in soaps. Their brilliance and their keen sense of what works and what does not work just shine in every single script they present. And Davis did solid in flushing everything out within the character's dialogue. Just hate that their brilliance was wasted on a Katherine-centric episode.

• Williford did a wonderful job with today's episode. They chose the right angles and camera movements, especially when it came to transitioning into Katherine's nightmare situation.

• Today's very centric episode feels like a classic P&G-type of episode. It may not be for a character I like, but I do like the concept of it.

I loved today's episode. The end result made the whole thing make sense and worthwhile. At the end, when Eva turned to Kat and asked, "Sound familiar?" gave me actual goosebumps.

Now I'm curious to see how Eva and Kat's relationship evolves from here. I hope they don't unwind all of this, but I also don't want insta-friends either.

I'm glad Martin called himself out today. His behavior towards Kat, in that time/place/situation, was so uncalled for. He has such a temper and it's annoying.

22 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I'm glad Martin called himself out today. His behavior towards Kat, in that time/place/situation, was so uncalled for. He has such a temper and it's annoying.

Martin has always been pretty rash. After all, he's the guy who beat a racist slam to death with a tire iron beside the road, when a simple ass-kicking might've been sufficient.

He's also the guy who wanted to ground his daughter until she's 87 for having a boy in the house.

Where I think the show failed is in showing how much stress Martin was under when he lit into Kat. This was the night before his primary --- this neck & neck contest with a "dangerous opponent" which theoretically could've ended his political career and left him jobless. But the show never tapped into that; I never even saw Martin and Smitty anxiously discussing what Martin would do for the rest of his life if his political career ended. (Epic fail.) PLUS a tree fell on him on the night of his big Victor Newman Saves the Day Fundraiser. It's one of those cases in which a male writer would've probably worked harder to make Martin's point-of-view more understandable to the audience. As it was, it just came across as kinda outrageous.

2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I'm enjoying the alternate reality dream episode today, but makes me wonder if there will be a purpose... maybe it'll make Kat so upset that it gives her the energy to wake up haha.

I hated today's episode. I've never liked alternative dream episodes. ATWT had them too and I never cared for them.

I hated today's episode. It was so heavy-handed and more about propping Eva.

On 6/16/2026 at 10:15 PM, BoldRestless said:

He was very OTT when Samantha almost had sex, too (while being a bro with Tyrell). He was practically ready to kick her out of the house or banish her to her room. And at Kat for just talking about sex, even though Kat is actually pretty chaste.

Indeed, Kay is chaste, just lacking in character in other ways, and she IS a brat

Samantha eavesdropped or overheard a conversation Kat didn't intend Samantha to hear, but there was no explaining it to the selectively prudish Martin and Smitty. The former just ran with the idea that Kat actually encouraged Samantha to lose her virginity. She never said anything of the kind to the teen.

Chuckling at the comments and emojis. Lots of fun.

Put me as one who enjoyed this episode. I thought it was humorous.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by MontyB

1 hour ago, Broderick said:

It's one of those cases in which a male writer would've probably worked harder to make Martin's point-of-view more understandable to the audience.

Which male writer, who is alive, do you think could write Martin's point of view better. I'm curious.

1 hour ago, Broderick said:

Where I think the show failed is in showing how much stress Martin was under when he lit into Kat. This was the night before his primary --- this neck & neck contest with a "dangerous opponent" which theoretically could've ended his political career and left him jobless. But the show never tapped into that; I never even saw Martin and Smitty anxiously discussing what Martin would do for the rest of his life if his political career ended. (Epic fail.) PLUS a tree fell on him on the night of his big Victor Newman Saves the Day Fundraiser. It's one of those cases in which a male writer would've probably worked harder to make Martin's point-of-view more understandable to the audience. As it was, it just came across as kinda outrageous.

I don't blame the writing for Martin on not having a male writer, but I do agree with your main point -- that the writing for Martin AND Smitty has been a real letdown.

The absence of Smitty in these past few episodes is head-scratching. Yes, there was a tornado and Kat/Eva, but I'd rather they devoted time to Martin and his campaign than to this flashback episode. Martin needs to be fleshed out as a congressman, and a ridiculous livestream from Orphey Gene's with NO campaign people or supporters present doesn't do it.

Today's episode was total prop material for Eva -- so we can all understand her and pity her and grieve for the life she had. Did I really have to sit through all those flashbacks to get that?

In Gladiator, Maximus said "Are you entertained?" I was not.

17 minutes ago, MontyB said:

Which male writer, who is alive, do you think could write Martin's point of view better. I'm curious.

Me 🤣

Seriously, I don't watch all the soaps & don't know the various writers. But I've noticed that BTG (which is a mainly female-run operation, and that's fine) often doesn't explore the motivations of the male characters very well. Both Martin & Smitty are terribly underwritten, IMHO. Then they bend over backwards for Joey Armstrong for some unknown reason, practically organizing a tickertape parade for him after he knocked that little girl over when the chandelier fell.

I disagree that this episode was meant to prop Eva, I think the episode was an opportunity to go inside Kat's head and get a chance to see things from her perspective.

Things I liked:

• The alternate universe Duprees were a lot more fun and interesting to watch.. can we get a little of that in the real world.

• Eva/Tomas as a couple shows that maybe Kat isn't quite over what had happened between the two of them.

• Kat realizing that she's letting her bitterness and hatred of Eva affect all aspects of her life was a breakthrough. She isn't going to like nor trust Eva, but she understands where Eva is coming from and perhaps now they'll be cordial with one another going forward. And also let Eva 'hang herself' and then everyone will see that Eva hasn't changed.

• Eva feeling guilt once she found out Kat wasn't awake yet.

• Alternate Universe Nicole was pretty fun to watch.

Overall.. a good episode and Kat's reactions to what she was seeing was a hoot.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Soaplovers

This show certainly loves dream sequences and flashbacks. That dream required Kat to take inventory of how she has been acting and how it really hurts her more than anyone else. Once Eva left her alone and moved on, but Kat kept finding ways to meddle with her left is when she became insufferable.

32 minutes ago, Broderick said:

Me 🤣

Seriously, I don't watch all the soaps & don't know the various writers. But I've noticed that BTG (which is a mainly female-run operation, and that's fine) often doesn't explore the motivations of the male characters very well. Both Martin & Smitty are terribly underwritten, IMHO. Then they bend over backwards for Joey Armstrong for some unknown reason, practically organizing a tickertape parade for him after he knocked that little girl over when the chandelier fell.

LOL!

I can see your point of view.

I definitely agree about Joey. I'm trying not to jump on that bandwagon, but I admit I think he is on too much.