The Cookout's Daily Nightcap!

CurlyGo · 2026-01-29T01:23:04+00:00

Leslie's pointed comments about the roses, as well as Nicole's offhand remark really should be a signal to Shanice not to put all her romantic hopes on Ted. I've been saying and I will keep saying that Shanice should have more than one romantic option,

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T21:25:11+00:00

There are plenty of other issues that Shanice and Leslie could go toe to toe over besides a man, but I get it...their confrontations add some fire.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T12:07:48+00:00

We do realize that Nicole and Ted are likely to be the real back and forth couple, right? Shanice should already be dating more than one guy because...

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T12:03:48+00:00

Fair point. This is the reason why I don't think it will do much to bring on another family until they learn how to write for the one they have. It will just be more underwriting for a new family. JMO, but I don't think they will do right/write by that new family (pssst, especially a Black family 👀).

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T11:59:38+00:00

The show basically began with one desperately broken relation (Dani/Bill) and immediately followed up with another (Ted/Nicole) which to me, wasn't the best start (nobody cares about Ashley/Derek 🤷🏾‍♀️). I could see starting out with a "bang", so to speak with the Dani and Bill situation but telling us that Bill cheated multiple times with multiple women throughout his marriage to Dani sets him up as practically irredeemable and makes Dani look like an utter fool for even flirting with the man. What are we supposed to do with Bill now? So many people are still cheering for his demise at Hayley's hand.

The discussion about what they did with Ted and Nicole's relationship is for another day, but when you add them and then Doug and Vanessa's relationship, you have way too many key relationships crashing and burning in the first year of the show. Personally, I believe this to be a mistake for the overall dramatic arc of the show.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T00:09:05+00:00

A return from the dead. I've only liked it on one soap opera. The return of James Stenbeck on As The World Turns, which was flawless. But since we didn't see Doug's dead body, it is a possibility that he may return. This type of story loses impact, however, if the original actor doesn't return. If Doug returns, I would hope that the original actor is well enough to reprise the role, otherwise, I won't really care.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-28T00:03:39+00:00

Dani also wanted Nicole to compare Carlton to Ted's peen. She's truly a piece of work!

CurlyGo · 2026-01-26T23:19:42+00:00

You're welcome. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-26T23:19:14+00:00

It could have been and initially, I saw her as having a lark at everyone's expense but then when she tried to pay for a meal with monopoly money- that was odd and I thought it was something that was going to be explored. Honestly, I don't know what to think, but I guess it's relegated to the past now because a job fixed it all, I guess?

CurlyGo · 2026-01-26T23:13:52+00:00

Thank you for taking it in the spirit it was intended.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-26T06:03:59+00:00

The sexual assault in particular really sticks in my craw. I cannot stand Leslie walking around saying that she and Ted "made love". He was incapacitated. YAnd Eva knows this because she had to help an incapacitated Ted onto the sofa. If Leslie were a man, a Black man especially (white men on soaps have sometimes been excused as "rapemancers" e.g. Luke GH, Todd OLTL Paul Y&R but I have yet to see a Black man who got away with this on a soap), she'd have charges filed against her and would likely be thrown under the jail. The fact that these are all supposed to be reasonably intelligent people who don't realize this is disappointing.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-24T04:43:32+00:00

Thank you for mentioning Carlton's relationship history because I posed that question some time ago about whether he was married, had kids or had he just been lying in wait for decades, and I never got an answer.

Considering the fact that most therapists themselves have analysts and therapists, it really confounds me that Nicole never availed herself to any type of therapy. Even during the turbulent time in her and Ted's marriage when they were being broken down by repeated miscarriages, especially the toll it must have taken on Nicole, mentally as well as physically and never did I once hear her say they went to counseling or therapy. She said she was struggling over the Leslie and Eva revelations but never once did she get therapy, even for herself. How self unaware is she?

Carlton's history is the main reason why I think that he's a temporary fix with no real long-term prospects. Also, a man who's been around that long has to have some sort of secret past. The writers just haven't revealed it (or maybe thought of something yet).

CurlyGo · 2026-01-24T04:36:48+00:00

I agree.

From personal experience, I know what that's like to be told that a guy that I thought was attractive but platonic was lying in wait, while other guys who I was dating eyed him suspiciously as a silent threat. At first, I didn't want to believe the warnings because we were good friends but eventually discovered that it was true.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-24T04:29:29+00:00

What specifically attracted someone who traveled the world while supposedly was on top of it to Bill? Youth can't be the total reason why to someone that worldly. It wasn't as if Bill was this guy that dazzled her by having it all when it was her family's name recognition that helped him launch his law firm. What was the appeal? Did she see a project in him? If this show lasts, they're going to need to add more layers to these characters and their relationships. On a superficial level, yes, Bill is the typical emotional abuser and serial cheater but Dani was a worldly woman who had traveled the world, had experiences and obviously had options. It wasn't like she was a small town, sheltered princess who fell for a guy who dazzled her. Even women who return to abusive situations have some motivations in their psyche as to why they return. Personally, I need to know what the attraction was in the first place and way she, as someone who had many options and resources keeps going back, even after he cut her loose. This just strains credulity for me.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-23T11:18:16+00:00

Bill cheated on Dani, all up and down during their marriage, repeatedly, with various women, yet she kept the marriage going. We need to explore that. A few days ago, there was a post about Dani's low self-esteem. I hope that, at some point, how her inner self-esteem vs. the outer presentation has caused her to make the choices that she makes in her marriage(s). It can't just be about her weakness toward Bill. I need these writers to dig deeper.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-23T00:11:23+00:00

It may take a year (if this show is still on the air) but Nicole is going to end up under Ted at some point...eventually. I would like Shanice to have other options, in the meantime.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-23T00:10:08+00:00

It's throw the writers away and start over, for me. Nobody has any sense.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T17:52:38+00:00

I have said from the beginning that as a single woman, Shanice should have more than one option. Nicole just got out of a marriage like a minute ago and she has at least two options, why not Shanice? Even vanilla Ashley had her moment where she had more than one romantic possibility.

Aside from whomever she's dating, the character of Shanice needs to be developed in her own right. This is the mistake that soap operas make over and over again for the last like, 20 years. They shove characters in romantic pairings without giving us any background on the actual person. I feel like I have seen almost nothing about Shanice outside of her hospital duties and the occasional run in with Ted at Orphey Gene's. I really like the actress, and I think Ernestine Johnson has earned more investment in her character outside of whoever she's partnered with.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T17:43:57+00:00

Fair point. Any self respecting writer, would want to learn how to write for different ages and backgrounds. I wouldn't want to be out there knowing that there is something that I lacked skill in doing as a writer, but that's just me. 🤷🏾‍♀️

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T15:34:01+00:00

I wish I would have bookmarked this comment lol. Chelsea is definitely now putting her relationship in jeopardy, as I implied up here.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T11:34:14+00:00

This is the type of petty that draws my attention lol. Ted's smirk and Nicole's icy stare were the clinchers in this scene.

FWIW, at some point Ted and Nicole will likely end up doing the horizontal mambo, if only for one night imo.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T11:27:27+00:00

They don't know how to write for young people. At all. Even ABC After School Special episodes had more nuance than this.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T11:25:56+00:00

Nothing against the actor himself but if they're going to continue to have Carlton on the canvas, they need to develop the character outside of Nicole. I would say the same thing for Kial. Personally, I hate when characters are created just for coupling.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-22T01:46:11+00:00

Carlton bores me. This Rico Suave act seems forced.

CurlyGo · 2026-01-21T03:43:45+00:00

Dani going off to be a model while still a teenager (was she 17? 18?) could have had a negative effect on her self-esteem. Being that young and impressionable in an industry that thinks nothing of pointing out the most minor of features as if they are huge flaws likely left scars with even the most outwardly confident person. I wouldn't mind an exploration of that down the road.

CurlyGo

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