Beyond the Gates: Daily Episode Discussion

[Rodney]

So Vernon hates fashion shows?  So do I.  And it looks like Anita's really starting to miss her singing career.

I don't know why Dani wants to keep things with Andre secret.  But it was good to see Andre in a capacity not involving Ashley and/or Derek today.

Nicole's probably right.  Chelsea was right not to invite Bill since he would've flaunted Hayley in front of Dani.

Samantha was sweet with Chelsea and Kat.  This must be the first time that she's appeared in an episode without Tyrell.  And I liked seeing Martin with his sister and cousin.  I'd almost forgotten that he was related to them since he'd almost exclusively been with Smitty, Anita, and Vernon up to now.  Now let's see him with Ted and Nicole.  You know, his parents.

. . . And as I write that, Martin does talk to Ted in this episode.  Good that he got some advice from his father as to how to handle Tyrell's bullying situation.

So Martin is backing out of running for President.  He told Smitty that it was for family, and it very well may be one reason.  But I think that it's largely because of whatever his secret is.

Samantha's allowed to start dating now?  Good step forward with them.  I wonder if her being involved with Chelsea and Kat is going to get her interested in modeling?  The surprise that she was given (getting to model in the show with Chelsea) certainly has me thinking that!

Martin and Smitty both looked the happiest they'd ever looked when they saw Samantha on the runway.  It was adorable.

Kat and Tomas were cute once more.  And I burst out laughing at the awkwardness when Tomas practically got ambushed by the Dupree and Richardson men.  Alex Alegria is . . . pretty limited, but he had the perfect "ohhhhhhhh, crap" face when that happened.  But he seemingly walked away on good terms with them, so that's a good start.

Oh, Naomi came, too?  I didn't expect her to come!

I'm impressed that the entire fashion show was as flawless as it was.  Usually, big disasters or events happen at these things on soaps.  So the fact that it went perfectly blew my mind.  How unusual for a soap.

This was a nice, fun episode.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E30: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
 

[drivethroo]

47 minutes ago, Rodney said:

I don't know why Dani wants to keep things with Andre secret.

If Andre were some random dude, she wouldn't.  But he's Nicole's nephew and I suspect everyone would just think this is another one of Dani's screwups again.

48 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Chelsea was right not to invite Bill since he would've flaunted Hayley in front of Dani.

I feel like Bill & Hayley will probably show up anyway.  Hayley would love to be part of the Fairmont Crest social scene and this is a social event.

50 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Now let's see him with Ted and Nicole.  You know, his parents.

They really should've made Martin the 3rd Dupree sibling.  There is a way that could happen but it would tarnish Vernon.

52 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Alex Alegria is . . . pretty limited, but he had the perfect "ohhhhhhhh, crap" face when that happened. 

That was pretty funny.

52 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Oh, Naomi came, too?  I didn't expect her to come!

Why not? It's her sister!

53 minutes ago, Rodney said:

I'm impressed that the entire fashion show was as flawless as it was.  Usually, big disasters or events happen at these things on soaps.  So the fact that it went perfectly blew my mind.

It reminded me when Ebony Magazine used to sponsor a fashion show...and a lot of the proceeds would go to scholarships.

[Rodney]

4 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

They really should've made Martin the 3rd Dupree sibling.  There is a way that could happen but it would tarnish Vernon.

Which is why they won't do it.

5 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

Why not? It's her sister!

Oh, of course!  That's why I wanted her to be there!  But she's also knee-deep in her sexual harassment case.  So I figured that that'd be taking up all of her time.

[AnimeMania]

I am slightly disappointed that they didn't make a bigger production out of this episode. The venue was tiny, barely two rows of chairs for the audience and the runway was a third of the length of a real one. They should have rented a larger area with a huge crowd and maybe spent two episodes on this, since so many of the cast were there in one place. They could have even allowed Anita to do a performance of one of her songs. Something that might make people believe that this was an auction/fashion show to raise money for charity. This was fun and they could have spent a little more time just having fun with it.

[JAYJAY1979]

Thoughts on Monday's show:

Dana vs Ted was awesome and I liked the scene ran longer.  Eva now sees the Ted her mom sees.

Laura and Mona were back, and I pray Dana didn't kill her.

Nice to see the Have not gossip club back in session.  Dana and Jan seem to be a fun unit, while Mona seems a third wheel.

No Dani!  She, Derek, and Ashley are the weak links.

Today's show:

Awesome fashion show!  B & B, you have no excuses since this show proved they can be done.

Andre/Dani = eh

Chelsea has come into her own...this was her episode.  She/Kat/Samantha were a fun trio.

Finally got a Ted/Martin scene.

Loved the men worrying about Tomas and not Kat lol

Smitty's new story...I have a feeling Chelsea is part of the underbelly of the influencer world.

Can't wait for Wednesday. 

[michelec]

Today is the first episode I've seen where Martin didn't act like a jerk toward Smitty. There's always tomorrow, though.

[ByaNose]

I thought the fashion show was going to be bigger. The room was about the same as B&B when they last did them. Which was ages ago but I just thought MVJ would amp it up for BTG first even even though their isn’t set in the fashion business less Dani and Chelsea. That said, everyone in the crowd seemed to be having  are about 5 months in so they are probably used to each other now and glad to be together.

Colby who plays Kat always looks like she’s having a blast. She really knows how to turn it for the camera. I think this is her first tv gig and she has star written all over her. I’m still not sold on the Tomas and Kat pairing just yet. He’s good looking but she’s (COLBY) running circles around him in the acting department. 

Also, Tamara did more acting than anyone when she was looking at that gold dress and missing her fame and stardom. She didn’t even have a line. She touched the sleeve of the gold dress and was melting. It was pretty amazing. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

I was thinking it was so cute that Kat and Chelsea were playing older cousins to Samantha's little cousin that it took me a long while to remember that Kat is actually Samantha's aunt. They really need to tighten up some of those family lines. I think today was the first time I ever saw Ted and Martin have a conversation and Ted referred to Samantha as his grandbaby. Neither him nor Nicole seem to have a huge familial connection to Martin at all. Nicole seems more like Andre's mother instead. Which thank god she isn't because I love Andre and Dani. They are wasting Andre on that triangle with Ashley and Derek.

It has been bugging me for a while that there was something off about Samantha and then today I saw a tweet that said the actress who plays her is actually in her 30s. They hide it with the very young styling and clothes but you could see it when she walked down the runway. She looks amazing for her age but she's not really passing for 16 when you look at her too long.

I thought the fashion was very nice and sweet. Chelsea looked great in all the clothes and we needed a breather from Bill and the lawsuit and Leslie and her killer wigs.

I gotta say the dull totebag that we thought was Chelsea's handbag was actually better than what we saw. I was like all that commotion over that?

 

3 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Nice to see the Have not gossip club back in session.  Dana and Jan seem to be a fun unit, while Mona seems a third wheel.

Jan is happy to have someone to gossip with and Mona wants to pretend that she's above that.

2 hours ago, michelec said:

Today is the first episode I've seen where Martin didn't act like a jerk toward Smitty. There's always tomorrow, though.

He was even flirting a little bit. I was shocked.

[YaddaYadda]

7 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

Jan is happy to have someone to gossip with and Mona wants to pretend that she's above that.

I wonder how Mona will feel when the whole thing with Leslie/Dana-Eva-Ted explodes. She knows Leslie, she is close enough with her that she has breakfasts with her, recommended Eva to Nicole. It's an interesting dynamic.

I really enjoyed the episode, the fashion show, Smitty and Martin's reactions at seeing Samantha walking the runaway, Chelsea's homage to her mother, and all around just how supportive the family are of each other. It's nice and sweet, probably won't last.

I was deeply unimpressed with the bag. 

[drivethroo]

12 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I thought the fashion show was going to be bigger. The room was about the same as B&B when they last did them. Which was ages ago but I just thought MVJ would amp it up for BTG first even even though their isn’t set in the fashion business less Dani and Chelsea.

If the fashion show was BTG's take on the Ebony Fashion Fair, it would not have necessarily been in some big venue, it could be in a concert hall or auditorium or it could be in a church's fellowship hall.

11 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

I was thinking it was so cute that Kat and Chelsea were playing older cousins to Samantha's little cousin that it took me a long while to remember that Kat is actually Samantha's aunt.

Another reason why they should've made Martin the third Dupree sibling instead of Nicole's child.

Smitty told Samantha not to disclose she's related to Chelsea but I don't see how she's going to be able to hide that anymore, especially if she wants to be a model.

 

[TiffanyNichelle]

1 hour ago, drivethroo said:

Smitty told Samantha not to disclose she's related to Chelsea but I don't see how she's going to be able to hide that anymore, especially if she wants to be a model.

I think he meant when she was Chelsea's fan page, he didn't want her to tell the anonymous people there that she was Chelsea's cousin. He wanted her to keep her social media identity a secret.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E31: Wednesday, April 9, 2025

[Sake614]

So Samantha walked the runway and of course now she wants to be a model. Poor Chelsea tried everything she could to talk her out of it, but Samantha is a teenager and she’s awestruck. I wanted to be a model when I was a kid, too. I think a lot of young girls do, but they grow out of it. If she’s really going to give it a try, at least she has Chelseato guide her.

Still not feeling any real love from Martin and Smitty. There’s just no ‘there’ there. But it was nice to see them talking about the kids, how they’re growing up so fast and that no matter what happens, their dads will always be there for them. Whatever they feel for each other, it’s clear that they love their children.

i think Shanice is suspicious of Dana. At least I hope she is. How is it that this woman has unfettered access to all these different locations and can log into the nurses station?

not sure I understand what Eva is so upset about? She’s a hairdresser right? So Nicole and Ted setting her up at the country club would be a good thing. She’d make a good salary, nice tips and make connections that could help her get ahead in life. I know she enjoys working for Nicole, but she’s deluded herself into thinking it could somehow be permanent. Of course if her mother has any say, it will be, since Lsura isn’t getting out of the hospital anytime soon. At least Dana didn’t kill her!

so little nurse perfect Ashley made a clerical error. Oh no! The horrors! Cue the violins.🎻 I mean, unless she screwed up a patient’s meds and caused serious harm, so the hell what? Geez, get over yourself!

[drivethroo]

15 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

not sure I understand what Eva is so upset about? She’s a hairdresser right? So Nicole and Ted setting her up at the country club would be a good thing.

It's not about the money, she thinks Ted & Nicole are getting rid of her (which they are).

15 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

so little nurse perfect Ashley made a clerical error. Oh no! The horrors! Cue the violins.🎻 I mean, unless she screwed up a patient’s meds and caused serious harm, so the hell what? Geez, get over yourself!

Too much potassium can cause a heart attack so Ashley's mistake could've been deadly. For years I was on a combination of meds that if anyone here took that combo, they'd have a heart attack and possibly die because their potassium was too high.  Ashley's decimal point could've killed a patient so she needs to pay attention to her job and stop crying over Derek and Andre.

[Sake614]

21 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

Too much potassium can cause a heart attack so Ashley's mistake could've been deadly. For years I was on a combination of meds that if anyone here took that combo, they'd have a heart attack and possibly die because their potassium was too high.  Ashley's decimal point could've killed a patient so she needs to pay attention to her job and stop crying over Derek and Andre.

Ah I missed that. Since the doctor wasn’t overly concerned about it, I just figured it wasn’t a big deal. 

[AnimeMania]

Things I wish would have happened.

Andre getting some video of Dana/Lulu working as a nurse at the nurse's station.

Chelsea telling Samantha to ask Dani to be her manager and give her advise on how to be a model, with an assist from Chelsea when needed.

I hadn't heard anybody mention a party for Kat's birthday, maybe Ted and Nicole will let Eva plan all of it, it would serve Kat right.

[One Tough Cookie]

2 hours ago, drivethroo said:

oo much potassium can cause a heart attack so Ashley's mistake could've been deadly. For years I was on a combination of meds that if anyone here took that combo, they'd have a heart attack and possibly die because their potassium was too high.  Ashley's decimal point could've killed a patient so she needs to pay attention to her job and stop crying over Derek and Andre.

I was given the wrong dose of fentanyl when I was in the hospital it sent me into a psychotic state for over a week, so yeah, it could have a fatal error. Husband wanted to sue, but I wanted to put is behind me.  But, dosing has to be PRECISE

[michelec]

Whoever is in charge of security at Garland needs to be fired yesterday. Counting her little escapade on the roof, that's 3 times Leslie has had unfettered access. I know you have to suspend some disbelief with soaps, but this is getting absurd.

This documentary storyline ain't it.

Still rooting for a Kat/Tomas/Eva triangle.

Edited April 10 by michelec

[JAYJAY1979]

5 hours ago, drivethroo said:

Too much potassium can cause a heart attack so Ashley's mistake could've been deadly. For years I was on a combination of meds that if anyone here took that combo, they'd have a heart attack and possibly die because their potassium was too high.  Ashley's decimal point could've killed a patient so she needs to pay attention to her job and stop crying over Derek and Andre.

Laura's test had levels of potassium in her blood.

Ashley got spoken to for the clerical error on the dosage of Potassium.

Ashley was assisting in Laura's case in the first week of the show.

I have a feeling Ashley will be blamed/investigated for what happened to Laura.

I have a feeling if this happens, Shanice will recall loopy Lulu.

Maybe Andre also recorded Lulu at the nurses station...but we didn't see him filming.

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, drivethroo said:

IAshley's decimal point could've killed a patient so she needs to pay attention to her job and stop crying over Derek and Andre.

I was under the impression that she didn't cause the error.  It was one of Leslie's pseudonyms. 

That hospital would get sued so fast for their violations.  There's no way that a stranger should be able to access a patient's file. 

I kind of thought Smitty and Martin were more believable as a couple today.  I am wondering if they realized they had written Martin as a total jerk and so they're trying to back off of that.  Especially with him deciding not to run for president.

 

[TiffanyNichelle]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I kind of thought Smitty and Martin were more believable as a couple today.  I am wondering if they realized they had written Martin as a total jerk and so they're trying to back off of that.  Especially with him deciding not to run for president.

We need more scenes of them like that to remind us that yeah, Martin actually likes his husband because half the time (ok 90% of the time) I'm rooting for Smitty to snatch those kids and leave. They went a little too far with Martin and it's a bad look when the only gay male Dupree on the show is a complete ass.

BTW the scene Tomas had with Eva at the diner giving her advice might have been his best. He was more relaxed, it wasn't about him kissing up to Bill or trying to seduce Kat. There weren't any forced smoldering looks. He needs to bring that energy to the rest of his scenes more often.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E32: Thursday, April 10, 2025
 

[Elizabeth233]

Hayley is so unlikeable can't wait till bill cheats on her ass.

Martin was unreasonable about Samantha wanting to model although I'm confused why she's asking Chelsea to be her manager instead of Dani as I thought she quit modeling so she could concentrate on her fashion line.

Don't cross anita.

[drivethroo]

4 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

BTW the scene Tomas had with Eva at the diner giving her advice might have been his best. He was more relaxed, it wasn't about him kissing up to Bill or trying to seduce Kat. There weren't any forced smoldering looks. He needs to bring that energy to the rest of his scenes more often.

I think the actor needs to stop trying to be this spicy Latino and just be.  He was just being in the scenes with Eva and that's why it came off more relaxed.  When he's in the office with Bill & the gang, he comes off as more relaxed. (And Derek was more relaxed in his scenes with Hayley). When Tomas is in a scene with Kat, he puts on the "spicy Latino" effect and he's tense & focused on delivering lines instead of just "being."

3 hours ago, Elizabeth233 said:

Martin was unreasonable about Samantha wanting to model although I'm confused why she's asking Chelsea to be her manager instead of Dani as I thought she quit modeling so she could concentrate on her fashion line.

Chelsea isn't going to be nearly as overbearing as Dani.  Speaking of Dani and modeling, she dropped out of school to run to NYC and model.  Perhaps she should go back to school if she hasn't and get some education.

3 hours ago, Elizabeth233 said:

Hayley is so unlikeable can't wait till bill cheats on her ass.

I'd like Hayley to wake up and realize she's being used by Bill to punish Dani for some reason.  Take today's episode.  Neither Dani, Anita nor Martin were paying any kind of mind to Bill and Hayley but they went over there to taunt Dani. Why? What is the reason? You want this lady to leave you alone and get a life but you move down the street from her, push yourself into her social scene and won't leave HER alone.  Why?  

And I'm glad Dani told Bill & Hayley she will never be an outcast in that community, THEY were the outcasts. 

3 hours ago, Elizabeth233 said:

Don't cross anita.

Anita was activated and I don't know what Hannah and her lil' Dutch boy wig were thinking when her charity depends on DANI's family foundation for money.  The First Gen Foundation should've fired Dani right after the wedding shoot up but worked Dani until her shift was over and then fired her.  If they had fired Dani right after the wedding incident, I don't think Vernon or Anita would've been that upset because they know Dani shooting up the wedding was a bad look.

Hannah looked all sad and shocked when Anita & Vernon announced they would set up their own scholarship fund. Did they really think the Dupree Foundation was going to continue working with their foundation after they fired Dani?

I feel like Bill had something to do with Dani getting fired and that's why he decided to have breakfast at the country club with Hayley.  Poor stupid Hayley.

Edited April 10 by drivethroo

[JAYJAY1979]

Dani getting coddled yet again.

Why isn't the country club giving Bill the cold shoulder?  He's the one that violated his marriage vows and left Dani.  Double standard.

Hayley has potential, but the writers need to interact her with other characters.  

[One Tough Cookie]

1 hour ago, drivethroo said:

  Neither Dani, Anita nor Martin were paying any kind of mind to Bill and Hayley

But how could they NOT notice them when she was wearing those God awful metallic boots?

 

2 hours ago, drivethroo said:

I feel like Bill had something to do with Dani getting fired

That was my first impression also.

[AnimeMania]

I thought the Country Club employee was really rude when serving Bill And Hayley. They have been sitting through 3 of Dani's guests and they still haven't been served their food, if they hadn't been so busy enjoying Dani's misery, they would have realized how poor their service was.

[TiffanyNichelle]

3 hours ago, One Tough Cookie said:

But how could they NOT notice them when she was wearing those God awful metallic boots?

The whole outfit was just awful. I love that her character never quite gets it right.

 

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I thought the Country Club employee was really rude when serving Bill And Hayley.

It was totally inappropriate, totally rude, and totally hilarious. When Hayley was going on and on about Dani being an outcast and talked about at the club all I could think was Dani didn't need her husband by her side to get a chicken cesar salad. I loved that Dani told her she's a Dupree, she will be fine. And she will.

[Rodney]

All right.  Had to do a security job in Waterloo, an hour-and-a-half away from my home in Utica, so I had to miss Wednesday.  And I worked seventeen hours, so I had to sleep through today.  So bear with me while I play catch-up.

Wednesday:

Wonder what the pushback toward Andre was about?  I don't get how Ashley's mistake was so bad with the decimal, especially since it sounds like she still handled her patient the correct way.  Ashley at least admitted her feelings about Derek's job and how much fear that it instills in her.  At least Derek understands, and they have an understanding about that.  But Andre still clearly wants Ashley.

So Samantha wants to break into modeling?  She should see Dani about it, and Dani would have something else to do.  I'm surprised that she wanted Chelsea as her manager instead.  I was glad that Chelsea told her the ups and downs of being a model, including what happened to her friend with an eating disorder.

Well, hello, Tyrell.  Still being bullied, I see.  Not surprised that Smitty recognized his and Samantha's divide-and-conquer strategy.  Too bad we didn't see Smitty's reaction to the model reveal.

Uh-oh.  Kat tried the camera thing again.  I wish that she would've told her mother that she felt like Eva has an agenda for being there, because that's true.

Kat and Tomas were cute again.  I liked her inviting him to the anniversary party.  And Tomas is Puerto Rican?  At least we know from which "branch" of Hispanic heritage he hails.  And yes, I liked his advice to Eva, as well.

So Laura got an infection from what Leslie did to her?  Not to mention a small heart attack?!  Sheesh!  The woman is crazy to keep her laid up for what's going to be "the foreseeable future?!"  Poor girl!

No second assistant, but Eva's going to be a hairstylist at the country club?  Decent job, but it's not near Nicole, so Eva might not like it.  Leslie definitely won't.  And good for Eva for again being suspicious of Leslie being responsible for Laura's misfortune.

Martin and Smitty's scenes at brunch were so cute.  It was a reminder that Martin does love Smitty.  Hearing how they met was nice.

Good episode.

[Rodney]

Thursday:

So we get the Samantha follow-up.  Smitty was admittedly apprehensive about it, and justifiably so.  And Martin flat-out hated the idea.  But Smitty at least had a good solution and compromise.  And it was good that he told Samantha and Tyrell why Martin was hesitant.  Still, despite Dani talking to Martin, he stayed firm.  Didn't stop Samantha from going behind their backs, though.

I thought that Tyrell would finally tell Martin about the bullying.  But all he was doing was covering for Samantha.

So Dani gets fired from her job on the board.  Oh, dear.  It was because of the gun thing, like I thought.  I did agree with Dani, though.  By waiting to squeeze everything out of her and then firing her, that Hannah woman was the real poor role model.  I appreciated Anita wanting to try to get her back onto the board.

Of course Bill and Hayley would enjoy Dani's suffering enough to be turned on in the middle of the country club.  Loved Martin's brief glare at them as he came into the country club before he went to talk to Dani.  They had the nerve to fire on Dani for that.  Still, I'm glad that Dani set Hayley straight.  She won't be shunned because of her family.  Hayley has to cling to Bill.

Anita and Vernon's retaliation against Hannah was a shock, but made me laugh.  I kind of get why they did it to her.  They should've let Dani go right when she pulled what she did at the wedding, not wait till weeks later to do so.  But giving Dani her own charity to run is a nice alternative.

Still, it was another fine episode.

On 4/9/2025 at 10:23 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Laura's test had levels of potassium in her blood.

Ashley got spoken to for the clerical error on the dosage of Potassium.

Ashley was assisting in Laura's case in the first week of the show.

I have a feeling Ashley will be blamed/investigated for what happened to Laura.

I have a feeling if this happens, Shanice will recall loopy Lulu.

If Ashley gets in trouble for this, then Leslie had better feel bad about it, because that's her best friend's daughter whose job could be in jeopardy from what she did.

8 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Dani getting coddled yet again.

That's  . . . not really coddling.  She actually was done dirty this time.

[YaddaYadda]

Bill and Hayley are pathetic. And it seems like Bill enjoys Dani's crazy and her pursuing him. Those ducks kisses he and Hayley were sharing were designed to rile her up. But since she wasn't paying attention, they went to her table.

Hayley and office dress code are apparently strangers. 

I've been enjoying the Martin/Smitty scenes lately. Smitty just seems to be a really good guy, while Martin is . . . Martin, I guess. But he hasn't been so bad lately. 

Hannah kept deferring to Vernon when Anita was speaking to her. She tried to ignore her from the moment she stepped into the house. What gives? Clearly, Anita is the one stirring that ship. She and Vernon came as a united front. Even if Vernon disagreed with Anita, he wasn't going to contradict her in front of Hannah. Read the room!!!

[michelec]

12 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I thought the Country Club employee was really rude when serving Bill And Hayley. They have been sitting through 3 of Dani's guests and they still haven't been served their food, if they hadn't been so busy enjoying Dani's misery, they would have realized how poor their service was.

As the episode went on, I was like did they get on a boat to catch Bill's branzino?

Also, remind me never to get on Anita Dupree's bad side.  The FirstGen charity is going under, and Hannah will be blacklisted. Whee.

[JAYJAY1979]

6 hours ago, Rodney said:

Thursday:

So we get the Samantha follow-up.  Smitty was admittedly apprehensive about it, and justifiably so.  And Martin flat-out hated the idea.  But Smitty at least had a good solution and compromise.  And it was good that he told Samantha and Tyrell why Martin was hesitant.  Still, despite Dani talking to Martin, he stayed firm.  Didn't stop Samantha from going behind their backs, though.

I thought that Tyrell would finally tell Martin about the bullying.  But all he was doing was covering for Samantha.

So Dani gets fired from her job on the board.  Oh, dear.  It was because of the gun thing, like I thought.  I did agree with Dani, though.  By waiting to squeeze everything out of her and then firing her, that Hannah woman was the real poor role model.  I appreciated Anita wanting to try to get her back onto the board.

Of course Bill and Hayley would enjoy Dani's suffering enough to be turned on in the middle of the country club.  Loved Martin's brief glare at them as he came into the country club before he went to talk to Dani.  They had the nerve to fire on Dani for that.  Still, I'm glad that Dani set Hayley straight.  She won't be shunned because of her family.  Hayley has to cling to Bill.

Anita and Vernon's retaliation against Hannah was a shock, but made me laugh.  I kind of get why they did it to her.  They should've let Dani go right when she pulled what she did at the wedding, not wait till weeks later to do so.  But giving Dani her own charity to run is a nice alternative.

Still, it was another fine episode.

If Ashley gets in trouble for this, then Leslie had better feel bad about it, because that's her best friend's daughter whose job could be in jeopardy from what she did.

That's  . . . not really coddling.  She actually was done dirty this time.

I agree Dani was done dirty, but she always gets bailed out by her parents.  In some instances, Dani seems to have a pragmatic approach..but her parents do her no favors (i.e. being forced to go to Bill/Hayley's wedding, this board drama, etc).

I side eyed Vernon and Anita...not Dani.

In regards to Dana, she might feel a bit bad if Ashley is caught in the crossfire...but she'll most likely not care since that means she won't get caught.

[AnimeMania]

9 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

In regards to Dana, she might feel a bit bad if Ashley is caught in the crossfire...but she'll most likely not care since that means she won't get caught.

But, Ashley is Dana's best friend, Jan Morgan's daughter.😷💣

[TiffanyNichelle]

43 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

58 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

In regards to Dana, she might feel a bit bad if Ashley is caught in the crossfire...but she'll most likely not care since that means she won't get caught.

But, Ashley is Dana's best friend, Jan Morgan's daughter.😷💣

But are they really best friends? I feel like Leslie inserted herself into this friend group because of their connections to the Duprees. Does she care about anything besides revenge on Ted and Nicole, getting back together with Ted, and taking care of Eva, in that order.

[YaddaYadda]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

But, Ashley is Dana's best friend, Jan Morgan's daughter.😷💣

Dana is nobody's best friend.

Even this whole scheme she is running on the Nicole and Ted. She's using Eva to do it, which makes this thing all about her, not about this stuff she's been telling her daughter about how she should be taking her place, get what is rightfully hers.

How does she think Ted will react when he finds out that Dana planted their daughter and is in on this thing?

[AnimeMania]

S01.E33: Friday, April 11, 2025

[Rodney]

It's sounding like these nights in which Nicole needed Ted, he was off having his affair with Dana/Leslie.  Andre unknowingly made him feel guilty by comparing him to Bill.  So much so, he actually confesses his affair to him!

It's good that he's telling Andre, though.  It might help him find out about Dana/Leslie.

Speaking of Dana/Leslie, she needs to stop acting like Eva's a fool or a clown to suspect her of Laura's condition when she knows that she did it.  Eva is smart to keep up her suspicions, especially based on the timing of Laura's infection.  But of course, Dana/Leslie stirs up the guilt trip, and she's off the trail once more.  (Though I guess her mother's right that she wasn't technically trying to kill Laura.  Just incapacitate her.)

2 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

But are they really best friends? I feel like Leslie inserted herself into this friend group because of their connections to the Duprees. Does she care about anything besides revenge on Ted and Nicole, getting back together with Ted, and taking care of Eva, in that order.

Per the show's Wiki, Dana/Leslie and Jan have been friends for about a year, since Dana/Leslie and Eva first moved to the area from Chicago last year.  In fact, she was her first friend upon moving there.  If anything, I think that her friendship with Mona was a way to be connected to the Duprees and Richardsons, because Jan has no such tie.  So her friendship with her is genuine, at least.

Oh, shit.  It looks like Doug's gambling addiction is interfering with his work . . . during an emergency situation.  This is not going to go well for him.  Still, it's good to finally see him being a doctor, even though his addiction is not making him a very good one.  He did the right thing by stepping back, though.

Randy feels even guiltier now about doing this to Doug.  Despite what Joey says, he could step in and save Doug at any time.

Speaking of Joey, he and Vanessa were wonderful yet again.  It was good to hear more about Joey's backstory.  He was married, but spent so much time with his casino, his wife cheated on him.  And with one of his pit bosses, no less.  I hope that he did just run him out of town, like he claimed, rather than kill him.

I can see why Samantha would be more comfortable with Chelsea, but why not have Dani as her manager?  It gives Dani more purpose, and Chelsea can focus on her and Kat's business.

Kind of a more sedate episode compared to most, but still good.

[AnimeMania]

Ted has been faithful for 20 years, how old is Kat supposed to be?

 

 

Nevermind, he said over 20 years.

Edited April 11 by AnimeMania

[drivethroo]

On 4/10/2025 at 8:00 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Why isn't the country club giving Bill the cold shoulder?  He's the one that violated his marriage vows and left Dani.  Double standard.

While it may be a double standard, most women don't trust other women who are the Other Woman.

On 4/10/2025 at 9:21 PM, AnimeMania said:

I thought the Country Club employee was really rude when serving Bill And Hayley.

Bill definitely should've spoken to the manager on that one.

18 hours ago, Rodney said:

I don't get how Ashley's mistake was so bad with the decimal, especially since it sounds like she still handled her patient the correct way. 

If you have too much or too little potassium, you can have a heart attack. That's what happened with Laura. We now know from today's episode ALIAS injected Laura's IV with a bunch of potassium.  It's just coincidence Ashley made a mistake with the decimal point...but Ashley needs to tighten up because the wrong dosage could have a fatal mistake.

13 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

Hannah kept deferring to Vernon when Anita was speaking to her. She tried to ignore her from the moment she stepped into the house. What gives?

Hannah was letting Anita that Anita was a nobody and had no power because Vernon was the one who was important (because he's a man).  Vernon let Hannah know that ANITA was the power and he was just there.  Hannah was trying to be a Pick Me for Vernon ...but why would Vernon be cool with Hannah firing his daughter?

11 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I agree Dani was done dirty, but she always gets bailed out by her parents....I side eyed Vernon and Anita...not Dani.

In this instance, Vernon and Anita did the right thing. FirstGen needed the Dupree family name and Dani's notoriety to raise a lot of money, then fired her after they collected a lot of money. If they had done it right after the wedding, Vernon & Anita would not have bailed Dani out or blamed FirstGen.  It was the fact FirstGen used Dani to raise all that money, fired her then expected to continue to use her family's name for their own benefit.

7 hours ago, Rodney said:

It's sounding like these nights in which Nicole needed Ted, he was off having his affair with Dana/Leslie.

We learned Martin was a small child during these hard times so he's probably not adopted. Ted was cheating on Nicole while Nicole was trying to get pregnant again. I need to know how Kat was conceived, but it's appearing to me Dana and Nicole were pregnant at the same time and Ted wasn't about to confess his affair and risk Nicole having another miscarriage.

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Ted has been faithful for 20 years, how old is Kat supposed to be?

We know both Kat and Chelsea are over 21 years old because both of them have been hanging out in that Uptown bar (and Eva's been at the bar too).

[Kerri]

Did Leslie do something to keep Laura in the hospital? I feel like I missed an episode, although I'm not sure how. I might have accidentally deleted something.

[AnimeMania]

17 minutes ago, cleo said:

Did Leslie do something to keep Laura in the hospital? I feel like I missed an episode, although I'm not sure how. I might have accidentally deleted something.

Yep, you missed one, they showed you almost everything that happened in the latest episode. Leslie pretended to be a new nurse named Lulu and talked to Shanice.

[JAYJAY1979]

22 hours ago, Rodney said:

It's sounding like these nights in which Nicole needed Ted, he was off having his affair with Dana/Leslie.  Andre unknowingly made him feel guilty by comparing him to Bill.  So much so, he actually confesses his affair to him!

It's good that he's telling Andre, though.  It might help him find out about Dana/Leslie.

Speaking of Dana/Leslie, she needs to stop acting like Eva's a fool or a clown to suspect her of Laura's condition when she knows that she did it.  Eva is smart to keep up her suspicions, especially based on the timing of Laura's infection.  But of course, Dana/Leslie stirs up the guilt trip, and she's off the trail once more.  (Though I guess her mother's right that she wasn't technically trying to kill Laura.  Just incapacitate her.)

Per the show's Wiki, Dana/Leslie and Jan have been friends for about a year, since Dana/Leslie and Eva first moved to the area from Chicago last year.  In fact, she was her first friend upon moving there.  If anything, I think that her friendship with Mona was a way to be connected to the Duprees and Richardsons, because Jan has no such tie.  So her friendship with her is genuine, at least.

Oh, shit.  It looks like Doug's gambling addiction is interfering with his work . . . during an emergency situation.  This is not going to go well for him.  Still, it's good to finally see him being a doctor, even though his addiction is not making him a very good one.  He did the right thing by stepping back, though.

Randy feels even guiltier now about doing this to Doug.  Despite what Joey says, he could step in and save Doug at any time.

Speaking of Joey, he and Vanessa were wonderful yet again.  It was good to hear more about Joey's backstory.  He was married, but spent so much time with his casino, his wife cheated on him.  And with one of his pit bosses, no less.  I hope that he did just run him out of town, like he claimed, rather than kill him.

I can see why Samantha would be more comfortable with Chelsea, but why not have Dani as her manager?  It gives Dani more purpose, and Chelsea can focus on her and Kat's business.

Kind of a more sedate episode compared to most, but still good.

What if Joey's ex is Jan and Ashley is his estranged daughter?

I'm trying to figure out what purpose Ashley serves since she was one of the characters mentioned in the Soap opera bible for the show..and the writers seem unable, or unwilling, to write for her character.

So if the show doesn't write the Laura story where Ashley gets blamed, or if she isn't Joey's estranged child...then I'm still waiting for the reason why she's a character on the show.

Also, I do agree Anita runs the Dupree family even though Vernon is more level headed and not prone to making decisions based on emotion.

In regards to Friday's episode:

I would have cut out the Doug scenes, and also cut out the Dani/Chelsea/Samantha scenes.

I would have made the Ted/Andre, Eva/Shanice, Eva/Dana, and Joey/Vanessa scenes longer.

A hallmark of a Ron C breakdown episode are the too short scenes.  Breaking them up dilutes the impact of a scene.

For example, the Ted/Dana scene on Monday ran much longer then normal..and it made the scene more intense and riveting.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

For example, the Ted/Dana scene on Monday ran much longer then normal..and it made the scene more intense and riveting.

I noticed that when Dana/Eva was talking there was more than one picture of Eva in the apartment, one picture was right across from where Ted was standing and was almost sure to be seen by Ted if it was there in that scene, the other one Dana knocked over so Ted couldn't see it. Seems weird they did that.

[YaddaYadda]

Dani needs to take a mega-sized chill pill. If I were Samantha, I'd change my mind about modelling right then and there. Dani doesn't ask, she just bulldozes her way through everything.

I thought for sure the patient on Doug's table was going to end up in the morgue. 

Joey and Vanessa scenes. More of that, please. I love Jon Lindstrom and I will never understand why he has been sidelined like that on GH. 

Ted confessing to Andre about his affair with she of the many names was a bit shocking. Having the confession juxtaposed with Nicole talking about the night she couldn't find Ted was all kinds of shades of bad. And Martin being a toddler 20 years ago??? He must have been the oldest toddler ever.

Edited April 12 by YaddaYadda

[AnimeMania]

59 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Dani needs to take a mega-sized chill pill. If I were Samantha, I'd change my mind about modelling right then and there. Dani doesn't ask, she just bulldozes her way through everything.

I see it as the opposite, that fact that Samantha doesn't want to listen to anything that Dani wants to say to her makes me think that she is wanting to having fun more than to learn what it really takes to be a professional model. If I were her Dads I would make Dani be her manager and spend all her time learning everything before ever letting her take her first gig. 

Dani said "I am going to go get you girls some snacks" and then comes back with carrot sticks and celery. Now that is manager material.

[mbluecpa]

I really liked Friday’s scenes with Ted and Andre, as both the writing and the actors did a good job of building some tension without dragging it out. I know I’m jaded from years of soap watching but I fully expected an interruption followed by multiple other ‘false alarm’ reveal scenes over the coming weeks.  And in a way it was really two confessions in one: both the affair/pregnancy and the blackmail.

Also glad to see based on the scene at the Uptown bar that Eva didn’t necessarily buy Leslie’s “I’m not psycho” claim re: being nurse Lulu.  Assuming (a big if) the reveal happens at the anniversary party, this story has moved pretty quickly by soap standards.  

After seeing him interact with more of the characters, I feel like Andre/Sean Freeman has really good chemistry with everyone except Ashley.  

I chuckle every time I see the poker room, with three players at the table, the owner and pit boss/manager watching from six feet away and a bar that looks like it was a prize on The Price is Right in the 80s.  It stands out even more against what overall is really good set design on this show.

Edited Sunday at 04:56 PM by mbluecpa

[SiouxB]

1 hour ago, mbluecpa said:

After seeing him interact with more of the characters, I feel like Andre/Sean Freeman has really good chemistry with everyone except Ashley.  

 

I could not agree more about Andre…

….after watching him with Ted, I now have a new appreciation of his character….  I feel he is completely wasted on Ashley, who in my opinion is the most “blah” character on the show….. dull, charmless and no sense of humor.

…although I don’t mind Andre as a very occasional booty call for Dani,  I think he can be better served elsewhere and I liked that Ted took Andre into his confidence because he knows Andre is sensible and nonjudgmental.

[TiffanyNichelle]

Those Ted and Andre scenes where Ted confessed about the affair and Dana/Leslie (DaLeslie?) returning really highlights how close Ted and Andre are and how much Ted and Martin have nothing to do with each other. I wonder if having kids was always something that Nicole wanted and that Ted just went along with. Or if Martin was an accident and that's why neither of his parents really interact with him. Meanwhile Kat was the one they wanted, or at least Nicole wanted, and that's why they dote on her as much.

I do think, wanting kids or not, the Dana/Leslie affair resulting in a baby messed up Ted so much that when he recommitted to his marriage, he decided to then go even harder at being a father for Kat. I keep thinking about that scene at the bar where he tells Nicole that Kat was his heart or however he phrased it. Either way I will never not be confused by how hands off and uninvolved both Nicole and Ted are in Martin's life versus Kat. Yeah, Martin is a married man with kids but sometimes you wouldn't know he was Ted & Nicole's son. You'd think Andre was. Thank god he isn't because of Dani, lol.