Man hasn't been on a date in about 30 years. He's rusty. Also, who's he gonna ask? His so-called bestie is panting after his ex (can't talk to her, either). Bill is too dumb. Vernon don't wanna hear it. Doug is dead. He's hard up for confidants. Just Andre and the girls.

Look, I'm really struggling with the notion that This Show is using a White Savior narrative to make us sympathize with a gangster who we watched actively destroy a black neurosurgeon's life before having him murdered.

I would watch every episode of this.

But I would enjoy Kat spying them and putting the pieces together, so it could turn out to be worth the present boredom.

Yes, it's more successful - but since that longer arc is in service of "ignore everything Bill has done to Dani and with Joey and get ready to cheer on their repairing," I'm unmoved. I think TPTB are reminding us that Joey/Izaiah exists because it will be important later. But it's clumsy.

Because Joey's gonna need plausible allies when everybody finds out about Doug? Basically, this episode was doung a lot of "Sympathy for the Devil" with Joey and Bill - more successfully with Bill because Anita/Dead Mother, but same agenda.

What I'm getting here is it took Wesley Morris four viewings of Sinners to have a revelation he could have gotten in Season 1 of The Wire.

You know, brain tumor might be the only way out at this point. Too bad they killed off the neurosurgeon.

I know May sweeps isn't really a thing anymore, but I need Doug's murder to be the May sweeps reveal. I don't mind a slow burn, and I honestly love watching Jon Lindstrom eat up this role, but this storyline needs a shoe drop sooner rather than later.

I've just gotten to used to not going. It's my new normal, and I'm good with it.

I think that's the correct filter. Otherwise, why wouldn't Anita also be glad that her grandson doesn't have the gene?

Just as the show wavers between Bill the chronic cheater who routinely humiliated Dani while also playing a hand in getting some people killed and Bill who may just deserve Dani after he's seen the error of his ways (AS IF), it wavers on whether Tomas is just social climbing or really cares for Kat

I think she wants him dead, but she also wants Bill to want her more than he wants Dani. Basically, she wants to win.

I agree that's what the writers did, but I think that it was an unnecessary sacrifice of Doug's character because Vanessa genuinely had great chem with both. There were lots of ways to sell that story. And the one they chose was the worst, IMO, because the characters are boxed in.

Vanessa didn't need it - she's an interesting hot mess of a character on her own. Ashley, OTOH, won't be interesting no matter how many men/obstacles/enemies they toss her way.

Ashley works best as a BFF / sidekick, but TPTB want her to be That Girl. And she's...not.

They shouldn't have had him treating her like absolute sh*t the first 8-9 months of the show.

The only reason I'm not TeamPoison is Timon's one of the stronger actors on the show. But if they keep trying this story, I may be willing to miss him.

Well done, sir.

A Cassadine would be using this knowledge to get custody of Scout.

Or if the show had spent any time establishing Ted & Carlton's friendship beforehand, or shown the effect of all the drama on their partnership. Anything to create some kind of stakes for a triangle. Just half of what they wasted on Ashley/Derek/Andre would've worked.

I don't dislike Carlton - I mean, it's 100% not cool to go after your BFF's ex when the ink isn't dry on the divorce papers, but if the story was there, I'd go for it. It's just that he has no story outside of being Nicole's Safe Rebound, and he's not that interesting. Not Ashley bad, but...

All that charm wasted...

We're not even a week in!

Is it because you said Jeff Goldblum was a better Joel Grey than Joel Grey? Because (all due respect to Goldblum) my brow DID furrow...

I just need some hint that the whole "Joey killed Doug" thing is gonna be dealt with.

It's a low bar, but it does help.

"All the ways WE failed Each Other...?!" What a joke of a man.

He dull tho.

Nah, Leslie told Ted. That thread's done.

I would say she has made the occasional attempt to de-escalate - eg, right after the anniversary party from hell, not telling Ted that Kat sabotaged his office license renewal to make her look bad. But that's not the same thing. She is right that Ted's just setting them both up for Xmas pain.

Memphis is a blue city in a red state, and it's being treated accordingly. The parts of Tennessee that voted for this are feeling just fine.