Daytime Divas: Season 1/ Episode 5 “Baby Daddy Drama” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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I don’t know if I may cover the 2^nd season of Daytime Divas. Not because I think it is a bad show, but it is just sort of campy. Now, recognizing camp often is associated with being so bad it’s funny, I think the best way to describe Daytime Divas is it sometimes attempt to be so dramatic that it is barely believable. Partly that is because Williams seems to be the queen of making dramatic moments comical with her sass. Something I’d argue is her signature. Alongside Lynn Whitfield. But when it comes to the actresses playing Heather and Nina who sometimes try to do that, so comes the need to call camp.

Time To Stop Pretending: Nina, Shawn, Heather, Anna

Thanks to Anna, any means or method Nina and Andrew could have been cool is over. Anna pretty much digs her heel into Nina’s throat to the point she can’t pretend things can be alright. Much less, Andrew can’t pretend he and Nina can remain cool. For with a leaked penis pic he goes into Anthony Weiner meltdown. It seems his career is over but then Maxine comes up with a plan so cooler heads can prevail. Something which allows Shawn to get the girl he wants and Andrew to be free of her. Everyone wins right?

Well, not really. For during Andrew’s exit he plants the seed for Shawn to ask about Nina’s Pulitzer. Which of course he does since Shawn is heavily ruled by his emotions. Thus leading to Nina revealing she took someone else’s draft, a person she assumes is dead and published it under her name. Not crediting that person at all. Leading Shawn to flip out since this ruins her credibility and it was one of the reasons Nina was hired.

Switching to Heather, Anna doesn’t come directly for her but does leave a mark. Though it is Ella who really goes for the gut. Not on purpose, mind you, but accidentally. For Ella is pretending to be the Brad Jr. his father wants to make him happy. Just like, Heather and Brad Sr. are pretending to be in a happy marriage. So, with her clocked by her own kid, she decides it is time for her to move out, with them, and live with Aunty Mo for awhile. Meaning, after two episodes Mo-less, she is going to be back ya’ll!

Commentary

Nina remains the weak link, as does Shawn, and this show can try as it might but that won’t change. The reveal of her lying to get her Pulitzer didn’t shock me. But, then again, I was just never that interested in it or her. Much less, Shawn’s dramatic behind who I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed Maxine’s husband. More on that later though.

As for Heather, with her, I want to care. I can see some feeble attempt at showing a conservative person who is firm in her beliefs but having a hard time. Yet, with the show making her the butt of too many jokes, it is just difficult. But that is kind of the problem with Daytime Divas in general. It is trying so hard to be a dramedy, but the characters aren’t really crafted to handle both genres. They are soap opera characters who are more so made for quips and what someone may consider shocking moments. None of which add layers as much as they seem like more superficial toppings.

The Heart of the Issue: Kibby, Julian

Kibby makes a fool of herself on TV. Her excuse is that she worked at a network more worried about releasing episodes than her education. 20-minute lessons between takes isn’t long enough to focus. So, Julian gives Kibby the hookup to go to NYU. Problem is, Kibby ends up having sex with the professor and ends up learning nothing. So, in turn, Julian questions what is the root of Kibby’s addiction? An excellent question to ask.

Commentary

Let me be real when it comes to Chloe Bridges and Kibby. It isn’t like she is 2^nd to Vanessa Williams by an inch, it is by a mile. However, she is written and performed better than Nina and Heather by oceans. Much less, the root of her character, the fallen child star, is more interesting than the conservative housewife whose personal life is a traditional woman’s nightmare. Much less an esteemed journalist who is a fraud. So, the foundation alone gives her a leg up.

But what makes Kibby the most interesting, of perhaps all characters, is because things said build when it comes to her. Take when Maddie stormed off in the last episode talking about Kibby sleeping with someone higher up. That built up to this episode and her sleeping with the professor. Her, “having a thing for older men in authority” could stem from whatever that person did to her while she was a child actress.

Alongside that, you saw with how much she invested in Maxine it stemmed from how crappy of a mom she had. Yet, once she kind of realized Maxine was using her, that triggered her to keep her distance a little bit. Notice that she isn’t’ seeking that much alone time with Maxine anymore. For she kind of realized that Maxine sees her as an investment more than a sort of mentee. If not the daughter she perhaps always wanted. [note]Honestly, stuff like what is mentioned with Kibby and being a fan of Vanessa Williams is the only reason I’ll finish out the first season and maybe touch the 2^nd.[/note]

The Self-Destruction of Anna Crouse: Anna, Maxine, Phillip, William, Nina

When Anna starts on The Lunch Hour, to much surprise she doesn’t make digs at Maxine. No, instead her focus is squarely on Nina and her scandal. She isn’t just doing surface level stuff either. Somehow she learns about Andrew’s impotence and uses that against her. It’s a bit shocking but makes for good TV. Something the network heads agree with.

However, despite Nina having been in dangerous parts of Columbia, among who knows where else, she can’t handle this public scrutiny [note] Which if Heather wasn’t so sugar sweet, would have been a great moment for her to bring up how fragile liberals are. Alas, she is but a conservative without much bite.[/note]. So she walks off. After all, Andrew being talked about negatively makes him want to expose Nina, so Anna making it a consistent topic is no Bueno.

But, Mommy Maxine to the rescue. She makes a deal with the [note]Sort of since Shawn isn’t Maxine’s biological child[/note] mother to her grandson. Maxine will handle Andrew, through the release of a dick pic and giving him the chance to recover on The Lunch Hour. As for Nina and the Anna problem? Nina will do some investigation work. Well, will do to Anna what she has been doing to Nina. Which is exposing she stalked and even got aggressive with a former co-worker to the point police got involved.

Something which gets exposed on air and destroys any credibility Anna could have had. That is, until Phillip comes back around. His petty vendetta [note]Which I desire to say is racist for some reason[/note], he continues by going with Anna to the cops with his tape. One which places Maxine in her home the night her husband died and at the scene. A place she claimed not to be but with it being Maxine of all people, of course no one dug into that. However, Philip’s tape and a doorman refute her claims. Which could cause serious issues.

Commentary

You know, really thinking about it, Kibby may have a better storyline than Maxine. Hear me out here. Maxine’s storyline is basically becoming her covering up the murder. Something Shawn probably did hence why she has him often within eyeshot. That is, rather than focusing on her abuse of power, sexism and ageism in her industry threatening her position, if not better offers. Which, who knows, maybe more boring storylines. Yet, I’d argue they would be something which wouldn’t seem as generic as another murder cover up.