Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots

[Jason73]

I really can't stand Wyatt. It's a combination of finding the actor extremely annoying and wanting the character to get some sort of comeuppance. I guess I'm supposed to feel that all this behavior stems from his childhood abuse and prison rape, but the actor hasn't helped me feel any sympathy for the character and the actor isn't good enough to make him a "love to hate" character.

Candace just finally found out Wyatt was the one who hit her brother and that was sort of anti-climactic. She didn't even slap him. He deserves at least a slap from Candace.

 

[Daniel Avery]

For me, it's Wyatt's non-stop, self-loathing and whining, blaming everyone for his being a basket case, but doing nothing (up to the time you're watching) to get out of the situation or at least get away from all the dysfunction. He criticizes and mocks everyone around him, even a genuinely caring person like Hannah who has no responsibility for his situation. I know it's a writing "thing" but it also bothers me how he never leaves the house, never has "friends" (even stoners can have friends, and he's cute+rich, which ought to have people wanting to hang out with him), and his scenes are so repetitive since the "Big Secret" about the car crash is so slow in being revealed. I have no sympathy for him either, but I'm not sure it's entirely the actor--I think the canvas is so full of drama from so many other characters, that Wyatt is not being given proper attention.

You'd be tempted to think he's marked for an Amanda-style exit....

 

[Jason73]

I have no sympathy for him either, but I'm not sure it's entirely the actor--I think the canvas is so full of drama from so many other characters, that Wyatt is not being given proper attention.

It's probably more the writing than the actor for me too, if I think about it. It's just so much of the same stuff over and over again.

You'd be tempted to think he's marked for an Amanda-style exit....

That thought has crossed my mind, but I think it would be a shame if both the Cryers' children were written out.

Is Maree Cheatham the only person on the show with a southern accent?

 

[Jason73]

Killing Quincy is the worst kept secret in soaps. Wiz and Benny have both seen the body. Half the town, including a DA and a police officer, have seen Jeffery with blood on his shirt. Jeffery got arrested driving Quincy's car and now they've found blood in the car. LaQuita is tracking Quincy's phone and now she knows Jeffery has been driving her/Quincy's car. Jeffery almost told Wyatt what happened. Benny's partner saw him getting materials to bury the body. And then there's the nosy neighbor who saw Quincy go in, but is sure he never went out.

And this is all within one or two days of the murder. How long can Jeffery and Candace get away with this? Although, since it's HAHN, they are probably still dealing with this story in the current episodes.

 

[Jason73]

Uh oh. Candace thinks Landon is behind setting her up with Oscar. I'm scared for Landon. But if it gives him some screen time this season, I'll take it.

 

[Jason73]

LaQuita vs. Maree Cheatham = TV gold

 

[Daniel Avery]

Off-topic: I used to work with a woman named Quita--in Savannah! Luckily she was not THIS one. I have this comical image in my head of the actress playing Quita actually being posh English, having graduated the Royal Shakespeare Company and such, all "Dame Judi Dench" off-screen but seamlessly able to lapse into this character the minute they yell "action!". Yes, I've been watching too much Dave Chapelle.

Is Maree Cheatham the only person on the show with a southern accent?

Silly, isn't it? I brought this up elsewhere, in a "Things that Make No Sense on TV" thread on another discussion site, and I got...crickets. Crystal Fox has the best one of the main cast, and Cheatham's is just as authentic. But it's VERY unlikely that an old-money, Southern Girl like Kathryn Hargraves Cryer would not have an accent, along with her children (both of whom were raised in Savannah). In fact, hers should be a major part of her character, a "stamp" of sorts that tells everyone about her without exposition. I'm not sure if Jim was born and raised in the Savannah area, but Schneider is doing a mild Southern accent that comes and goes. When he gets mad it disappears, and since Jim is yelling/angry so much, the accent is barely detectable. Certainly nothing like the accent he had as "Bo Duke" back in the early 1980s. Though Veronica is from Chicago, Angela Robinson seems to lapse into a "theatrical" Southern accent at times, which is odd but fits her schizophrenic mannerisms. The guy playing Benny is pretty reliable in adopting the accent, but his is more North Carolina/Tennessee than coastal Georgia. Candace? I get the idea that dropping her accent was a purposeful move in order to deny her modest upbringing and come across as more "worldly", so I overlook her lack of an accent.

I'm sure some of the actors couldn't do an authentic South GA/coastal accent if their lives depended on it, so TP likely decided it was better for them not to try. What makes me go hmmm is the fact that they're filming in Atlanta, so I imagine 3/4 of their crew is from that area, and would be able to provide "accent tutelage" for any of the actors who want to model their accents on someone. I know when I'm surrounded by people with certain accents, I pick it up without even noticing.

 

[Jason73]

I hate Candace. Scaring poor Landon so badly that he pees himself is a step too far.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I Do think TP takes too many liberties with his recurring characters. Most shows like this subject their recurring players to various abuse in service to the storylines of the core characters, but TP tends to take it too far. Some of the embarrassing stuff (like that scene you mention) should also be inflicted on their core characters more often, such as the girdle/wig stuff with the ladies at the jailhouse. It keeps them all more on an even footing and doesn't create that sense that if you're not in the opening title card, you shouldn't expect to escape with your dignity.

I'll assume you didn't see Tuesday night's new episode yet. I was away visiting my family in Savannah, but made sure to clear the schedule to see it! My mother did everything short of clutch her pearls when I explained some of the more curious situations. According to Comcast, this was NOT season five, and was in fact season four, episode 12.

 

[Jason73]

I Do think TP takes too many liberties with his recurring characters. Most shows like this subject their recurring players to various abuse in service to the storylines of the core characters, but TP tends to take it too far. Some of the embarrassing stuff (like that scene you mention) should also be inflicted on their core characters more often, such as the girdle/wig stuff with the ladies at the jailhouse. It keeps them all more on an even footing and doesn't create that sense that if you're not in the opening title card, you shouldn't expect to escape with your dignity.

I agree! It makes it frustrating at times. I'd like to see Jim or Veronica or Candace knocked down a peg or two, but even when they are up against the ropes they are still messing up everyone else's lives. The most recent example of this is Veronica setting Maggie up to get shot by the hit the Jim had put on her. That's just happened and I'm assuming Maggie is dead now. I liked that character.

I'll assume you didn't see Tuesday night's new episode yet. I was away visiting my family in Savannah, but made sure to clear the schedule to see it!

I still have about twenty episodes to get through before I am caught up. The pacing is starting to get to me a bit. I binge watch a bunch of episodes and rarely have anything to show for it in terms of plot progress.

My mother did everything short of clutch her pearls when I explained some of the more curious situations.

I watched an episode last week, when I was home visiting my parents and my mom wanted to know if the characters did anything but yell at each other.

According to Comcast, this was NOT season five, and was in fact season four, episode 12.

I've given up trying to keep track of seasons. I will get caught up and then just watch the new episodes as they come.

 

[Jason73]

Yep, Maggie's dead. That's a shame.

So the cop who has been groping Jeffery (the son of Mary Robeson) is married to the judge who is trying Veronica's case. Small world.

Benny's hot business partner, (is it Mitch?) just witnessed War forcing himself on Candace at the tow yard. I think this won't end well for Mitch.

 

[Jason73]

Jeffery taking all his sexual and personal frustrations out on Mary Robeson's son is kind of satisfying. It's nice to see Jeffery in control for a change.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Mitch has a back-story of his own, and as usual, the back-story comes in VERY handy in their "small world".

 

[Jason73]

Finally! A Landon and Jeffery scene--but Jeffery is such a dick to Landon. I love Kristian Kordula's face.

Oh, and I guess Wyatt is dead now. @Daniel Avery you did a great job of holding that one close to your vest. I honestly didn't think they would kill him off.

 

[Daniel Avery]

It's kind of funny how Landon realizes too late that he's the only sane person in this whole circle of people. (I guess Maggie would have been the other one, but of course Veronica casually took care of that!) Landon might have felt that Jeffery was...salvageable? Like maybe he needed to be rescued from his family situation by Landon the Hero. It took him a while to realize that Jeffery was/is part of the whole landscape and doesn't seem to want to be 'saved'. Jeffery's continued devotion to Wyatt (or the idea of Wyatt, actually) continues to grate on my nerves, but it is realistic that Jeffery would back off from a genuine guy like Landon in favor of an unavailable man like Wyatt, since he's still not confident in his ability to have a normal, healthy relationship. Mooning over Wyatt was/is "safe". I guess married, deeply-closeted Officer Justin is the next best thing, since he's unavailable (except for booty calls, etc.) and wants to stay that way. If Jeffery had been able to go from Wyatt (unrequited love) to Justin (casual sex) to Landon (actual love), it would have been a healthier progression.

BTW, the whole "Justin's wife is the judge in Veronica's case" was a plot point they threw in at first but did not follow up on properly, and actually they barely mention the wife again, much less her connections. I can't even recall her name! Pearl mentions in passing that her son is a policeman and that her son-in-law is the Chief of Police, but that was also never mentioned again (as of the last episode I watched). She didn't mention her daughter-in-law was a judge (something a name-dropper like Pearl would mention).

The police department, jail adminstrators, and social workers in their version of Savannah sure are inept, aren't they? When they're needed to investigate crime scenes, they overlook the simplest details. But that's soap for you.

 

[Jason73]

It's kind of funny how Landon realizes too late that he's the only sane person in this whole circle of people. (I guess Maggie would have been the other one, but of course Veronica casually took care of that!) Landon might have felt that Jeffery was...salvageable? Like maybe he needed to be rescued from his family situation by Landon the Hero. It took him a while to realize that Jeffery was/is part of the whole landscape and doesn't seem to want to be 'saved'. Jeffery's continued devotion to Wyatt (or the idea of Wyatt, actually) continues to grate on my nerves, but it is realistic that Jeffery would back off from a genuine guy like Landon in favor of an unavailable man like Wyatt, since he's still not confident in his ability to have a normal, healthy relationship. Mooning over Wyatt was/is "safe". I guess married, deeply-closeted Officer Justin is the next best thing, since he's unavailable (except for booty calls, etc.) and wants to stay that way. If Jeffery had been able to go from Wyatt (unrequited love) to Justin (casual sex) to Landon (actual love), it would have been a healthier progression.

I guess a makes a kind of psychological sense that Jeffery makes "safe" choices like Wyatt and Justin because deep down he's afraid to be in a gay relationship. It just doesn't make sense to me, at this point, that Landon would continue to want to be with Jeffery. Jeffery has been awful to him, most recently telling Landon he wasn't very good in bed. (Like mother, like son--Veronica just told Benny he wasn't very good in bed either.) Anyways, Landon just said he's done with the whole crazy town, including Jeffery, and is currently packing his bags . . .

BTW, the whole "Justin's wife is the judge in Veronica's case" was a plot point they threw in at first but did not follow up on properly, and actually they barely mention the wife again, much less her connections. I can't even recall her name!

Oh interesting. I was sure it was going to be a plot point later on, a way for Veronica to wiggle out of her legal situation. But then I doubt Jeffery will actually go through with testifying against her.


Hanna and Pearl's first meeting was fun. Marie Cheatham is hilarious.

I'm still surprised they killed off Wyatt. It seems like in the long term Kathryn and Jim having a trouble making son around would offer more dramatic potential than the short term of Kathryn struggling to cope with both her children dying in a short span of time.

 

[Jason73]

I really appreciate that Mitch has made his Benny's Towing shirt sleeveless. Those arms shouldn't be covered up.

 

[Jason73]

Benny's dumb, blind faith in everyone around him is really starting to get on my nerves.

 

[Jason73]

I'm actually finding Mitch quite intriguing right now, and not just because of his arms. He seems like a good guy, which is rare on this show and he seems to care about Candace. Because I don't exactly know what his motives and because I don't trust that anybody (except Landon) is a good guy on this show I'm finding him to be an interesting wild card at the moment.


There continues to be a purple theme with this show. Jeffery has switched out of his purple pants that I like so much into a pretty purple and white shirt, which meets with his mother's disapproval. And Veronica has set up a nursery with all sorts of purple accents.

 

[Jason73]

Jeffery has switched out of his purple pants that I like so much into a pretty purple and white shirt, which meets with his mother's disapproval.

Now he's changed into a hideous purple floral suit jacket.