It's Thanksgiving, and once again, family members cease carving up each other and carve a turkey instead. It's a yearly thing when the Forresters and Spencers pretend to be grateful for each other when they really just want to cook each other's gooses. In this The Bold and the Beautiful Two Scoops, we'll hop in the DeLorean and flash back to Thanksgiving truces struck during bitter feuds between our Los Angeles residents. Warning -- it's a No Mashed-Potato Fly Zone. And don't flick any peas at people, either.
I wondered how they'd do Thanksgiving this year. Would it be at Brooke's house? It sure wouldn't be at Bill's or that tiny new place of Katie's. But I couldn't imagine that there could possibly be a family Thanksgiving at the Forrester mansion after how these people behaved toward Eric these last months. Well, they pulled it off.
Steffy was the one to crack and call a family truce so everyone could eat their turkey in peace. I almost spit out my Thanksgiving chocolate martini when Steffy beamed about how nice the mansion looked and then hugged Quinn. You gotta see it to believe it, folks. Quinn acted like she didn't even know what to do.
Katie followed up with another awkward hug when she arrived. It think the hugs are laying it on just a little too thick, considering how bitter things have been, don't you think? But then again, Steffy's not doing her job if she isn't over the top and sending out mixed signals that leave a person blamed for thinking it all meant something. Of course it means something to Steffy, as she relayed to Wyatt about their marriage. At that moment, it means everything. Catch her on a different day, and it might be another story.
As Steffy played the Thanksgiving bliss witch this year, it got to me recalling how the holiday has gone over the years and how things changed for the Forresters, Logans, and Spencers -- and how some things remained the same. Join me in looking back on the last five turkey days in Los Angeles. We'll review who was mad at whom and who had to suck it up come dinnertime.
2011: A war on lemon bars and Hope versus Liam's marriage
Pam has had Charlie by her side for a few years; however, in 2011, she was brooding over Stephen jilting her, and she blamed it on Stephanie. So angry and vulnerable was Pam that she began stealing Forrester designs in exchange for romantic attention from Nick Marone.
Stephanie called a sisterly truce for Thanksgiving, and Pam whipped up a triple batch of lemon bars. When she arrived at the mansion and discovered that not only had Stephanie dared to use caterers -- but Stephanie also preferred pumpkin pie to the lemon bars -- Pam stormed out and returned to her design-stealing ways.
In subsequent years, Pam has a devoted man in Charlie, and those two might be the only ones who can say something nice about each other each holiday. Maybe the secret to their commitment is avoiding marriage, the very thing everyone else covets and discards yearly.
Nothing has changed in the last five years for the lemon bars. Quinn tried to deter Pam from cooking them because Eric is still recovering -- I guess Eric's healthy enough for Quinn's bedroom treats but not Pam's baked treats. Pam put her foot down about serving lemon bars this year, claiming that a couple wouldn't kill Eric. Unlike Stephanie, Quinn is still weak in power as the new matriarch, and she chose to go along with it rather than rock the boat.
One person who didn't give a damn if the Thanksgiving boat tipped over was Hope, who squawked like President Obama's turkey before the pardon over Ridge's order to respect Liam and Steffy's marriage. Ridge even had the audacity to direct her to toast to it at the dinner table.
Who can forget that Thanksgiving cliffhanger? Hope had just demoted Ridge from "Dad" back to "Ridge," and Steffy and Hope had made Thanksgiving into a competition over Liam. It was Steffy and Liam's first holiday as a married couple, and even though Steffy exuded confidence in her marriage, she wished like hell that Liam would decide to go to the Spencer dinner instead.
Steffy would rather feel the scorch of her fire-breathing mother-in-law Katie over the freezing fear that Liam really would show his proclivity for Hope. Ridge risked his relationship with Brooke and Hope and shifted the competition into Steffy's favor by forcing Hope to come to grips with the reality of Steffy's marriage. I doubt anyone at the table was breathing when Hope stood to make her toast.
As it turned out, it wasn't the holiday that caused Liam to lament. It was seeing Hope and Thomas together in HFTF campaign photos. "You replaced me..." Liam uttered to Hope. This year, Wyatt's the one who's sad because Liam replaced Wyatt in Steffy's life -- or maybe Liam got his place back after Wyatt replaced Liam? Who can keep up?
Either way, the men's sentiments remain the same. Liam had told Hope, "You know I still..." This year, Wyatt said something similar to Steffy when they sat down for a tête-à-tête about Wyatt's decision to drive up the coast instead of attending the family dinner. Just like Hope, Wyatt wasn't interested in watching Liam and Steffy together and hadn't come to grips with the fact that his life isn't what he'd envisioned it to be.
2012: Stephanie and Brooke, the Ultimate Truce
I wonder if Pam would have walked out on that 2011 Thanksgiving if she'd known it would be the last one she would have with Stephanie. There was no great Thanksgiving dinner in 2012. Instead, Stephanie -- dying from cancer -- had chosen to live out her remaining days at Big Bear with Eric at her side. 2012 had to be the saddest holiday in B&B history as Stephanie laid down her armor, called a final truce with Brooke, and died in Brooke's arms.
Stephanie gave Brooke the engagement ring off Stephanie's finger, and I wondered how Ridge wound up with it at the gravesite the other week. I can't tell if that's the same ring or not, but Ridge has become quite frugal with the engagement rings, huh? Not Bill, though. Bill reminded R.J. this week that it was his ring Brooke was wearing right now, and Bill told Ridge she was "My Brooke," not "Ridge's Logan."
On that bench by the tree in Big Bear, we said goodbye to Stephanie and hello to Brill. Bill met Brooke up at the cabin after Stephanie's passing, and it's where they shared their first kiss. That year, Ridge had dumped Brooke over a text message, and Katie had concocted a postpartum match-making disappearing act on Bill to move him to closer to Brooke.
This year, Steffy sat Brooke between Ridge and Bill, the very spot Brooke tries lately. Brooke has a chance to fulfill Stephanie's wish that Brooke lead the Forrester family, but Bill is confident that she'll be the Spencer matriarch very soon. In fact, he'll probably spring another elopement proposal on her before the stores reopen Thanksgiving night for Pre-Black-Friday deals.
So far, Brooke's been adamant that she's marrying Bill, and R.J. has decided to tolerate Bill. Don't get it twisted -- R.J. still wants his parents back together, but lame Liam, who probably tuned in to DuckTales as a kid, helped R.J. make sense of Bill swimming around in vaults full of money. Scrooge McDollar Bill is unique, Liam told R.J.
R.J. claims to want his mother to follow her heart and do what's best for the family this wedding-go-round. Don't those two priorities usually contradict each other in Brooke's love life? Just when I thought I knew what Brooke's ultimate choice would be, she threw me all in a tizzy with her statement to Ridge at Stephanie's headstone. "I'm still wearing Bill's ring. If I decide to take it off, he'll be the first to know," she told Ridge.
Say what? For real, Brooke? It's the closest I've seen to Brooke waffling in this whole storyline. What's it gonna be, Brooke? Decide already before both of your turkeys get cold feet.
2013 Everyone vs. Dollar Bill
Brooke might be making up her mind on whether to marry Bill now, but in 2013, she'd sworn off him after he faked a one-day reunion with Katie to try to get the company back and custody of Will. Katie fell for it faster than Bill had almost fallen off the cliff that had inspired him to trick her. Hope perpetually couldn't stand Bill, so there was no surprise that, while hosting her first Thanksgiving dinner, she wedged him between his two baby mamas.
The year marked the beginning of new family traditions, the first one being a holiday without Stephanie. Quinn had been overjoyed to spend the holiday at the Forrester mansion, and she'd even kissed Eric without Stephanie's portrait crashing from the wall. Maybe Stephanie's spirit already knew back then what was to come.
The second tradition that began was Hope's "lie about the guy to the right" game. Well, it's true, isn't it? If any of these people actually meant what they had to say from year to year, what would be the point of the show? Bill got the most of hate that Thanksgiving.
Wyatt was miffed at Bill for telling him to respect Liam's relationship with Hope. Katie could barely stand to look at him, and Donna had no use for him after the divide he'd caused between Katie and Brooke. Quinn had just recently stabbed him with his sword necklace, but at least he didn't have to compete with the dressmaker and the peas for Brooke's hidden affections.
Hope surprised everyone with her "person to the right game," but Rick and Caroline trumped it with a surprise wedding. Back then, Carrick was a powerhouse to reckon with. Too bad that, the following year, Caroline would be saying happy anniversary to a maniacal CEO who'd set his mistress up in a love nest while he pretended to reconcile with his wife just to get control of Forrester Creations.
2014: Faked Truces and Half-baked Truths
When the turkey hit the chopping block in 2014, Rick was on the phone, pretending to take a business call, but he was really pacifying an angry Maya because she thought she should be beside Rick to carve it up and not that birdbrain, disloyal Caroline.
Everyone sat at the table to pretend all over again that they were thankful and grateful to have the one on the right -- no how matter deadly the next lightning strike might be for them. Ridge and Caroline stared longingly at each other, pretending they wanted to be with Katie and Rick respectively, but Katie was beginning to think her engagement string from Ridge was tied a little too tight now that Bill was back to giving her the time of day thanks to Brooke's trip to Milan.
One person who the pregnant Hope wasn't about to pretend with that year was her mother-in-law, who Hope turned away along with the baked casserole that was supposedly Wyatt's favorite. Don't you just love how Hope kept it real at these events? Maybe all along she was hoping the others would, too, and the mashed potato bombs would land where they may.
Hope blatantly sat the Spencer brothers right next to each other, so they could lie once again about how grateful they were to have each other. That year, Liam managed to snipe that Wyatt had gotten exactly what he'd set out to accomplish, as always.
Liam remarked to Hope that she'd said the previous year that it was incredible what a difference a year made. Ain't it the truth? 2014 marked the end of Lope and Hott, and 2015 ushered in the sagas of Steam, Livy, Wivy, and Statt.
2015 The Baby Truce
Hope was gone, but her "Person to the Right" game lived on. Ridge had a hard time being thankful for his son, who Ridge believed had taken advantage of Caroline and gotten her pregnant with a child that Ridge could never give her. For the sake of the unborn Douglas, Ridge called a truce with Thomas, who was too busy blatantly moving in on Ivy to really notice Ridge's evil stares that holiday season.
Zende tried to curb his evil stares at Lizzie, happily gestating away in Nicole's belly. Lizzie didn't give a dang about Zende. Even though Maya was elated about the baby on the way, she still had time to sic her evil eye on the uncouth Julius, who was just getting the hang of calling her "daughter" without wincing.
Quinn and Deacon were side by side at the table that year. Steffy and Liam had just gotten engaged, and Wyatt was dating Ivy. Katie had Bill back, and Caroline had Ridge. Could we have imagined that in one year's time, every single one of those relationships would be destroyed?
Could we have predicted that, a year later, the single Eric would have Deacon's wife, Caroline would be in New York with Thomas and their son, Brooke would have Katie and Caroline's former husbands fighting over her, and Steffy would have lost Liam, married Wyatt, found Liam, and ditched Wyatt? No wonder place cards are mandatory every year. Sit the wrong people beside each other, and they might forget who they are supposed to go home with this round.
2016: The Truce about Quinn
For Eric's sake, the family decided to dismantle the dog pile against Quinn. Let's face it. It wasn't going anywhere, and half the team didn't even have true motivation to drink the haterade anyway. Quinn hasn't done anything offensive to anyone since the kidnapping, and that was at least eight or nine months ago.
It's hard to argue a case to get rid of Quinn when all she does is acquiesce and attempt to appease them. For that reason, the truce this year could be valid -- unless Katie steps on another Quinn landmine, that is. From the way Katie was acting when she found out she got the new house, I'm thinking there's plenty of landmines between her new doorstep and Quinn's.
Quinn and Katie wound up hugging it out -- much to Katie's surprise. Quinn worked herself up into a tizzy about Katie and her red lipstick moving in on Quinn's territory, but Katie passed on a little advice and warned Quinn to cut it out and stop self-sabotaging.
Quinn snapped out of it and claimed to take the advice to heart. She'd better take it before she winds up exactly where Katie is right now -- divorced while her ex-husband orbits the very woman she was paranoid about. I'm glad Katie learned that from her bout of paranoia about Brooke, because if Katie hadn't gone off the rails about it, she could possibly still be with Bill.
I say it all the time that if you ruminate on something, you can will it into existence. What do you think about it? Is Quinn self-sabotaging, or for those who believe Katie had been right to accuse Bill, is Quinn just as right to suspect Katie? Is Quinn being insecure or is Katie gaslighting Quinn the way Katie accused Bill and Brooke of doing to her? Katie is flashing back on Eric a little too much these days, if you ask me. What is that all about?
That trouble-loving Steffy hosted the Thanksgiving dinner, and no one can convince me that she put Eric to Katie's right out of the goodness of her heart. When Steffy finally came to Eric, all weave in hand, to finally call a truce in the war of the adults and spoiled brats, she learned about the conflict with the new neighbors. The first question out of her mouth was, "Is Quinn jealous of Katie?"
How does Steffy help ease that jealousy, if it's indeed there? Why, of course, she makes sure Katie gets an invitation to the dinner in the first place and seats Katie in a position to force Quinn to hear Katie say nice things about Eric. Steffy, you ain't slick, and you don't consider the Logans to be family. As Michael Jackson says, "You just wanna be starting something."
During the Person to the Right game, Pam said that Katie reminded her of Stephanie in many ways. Quinn looked on enviously, but being like Stephanie isn't always a compliment, though crazy Pam meant it as one. Quinn's eyes were twitching as Katie told Eric that she valued their friendship, but Katie flat-out rolled her eyes when Eric doted on Quinn. See, just like Stephanie.
No, I won't say anything nice about Katie. She's the person on the left this year.
But guess who's on my right? Steffy Forrester. Ugh. I'm gonna play the Thanksgiving game and say something nice about Steffy. I loved, loved, loved that shirt she wore when she was talking to Wyatt about attending Thanksgiving dinner. Is that good enough?
Seriously, here's my something nice about Steffy. I like that she stopped being Ridge's Renfield, went to Eric on her own, and sucked it up for the sake of the holiday and Eric. And it was cute the way she loved on Eric at Thanksgiving, just like a granddaughter would. I liked that Steffy finally told Wyatt that she probably shouldn't have gotten married. Thank you very much, Steffy, for kind-of sort-of owning up to it.
Wyatt, however, still seems to be in some kind of fantasy. I don't know how else to reconcile the fact that he spent so much less time with Steffy than Hope, but his time with Steffy is supposed to be the greatest in his life. Maybe it is because he had Steffy without Liam around for months. I have zero clue why he'd be grateful for Liam. But hey, Steffy put Liam on Wyatt's right, so...
Which do you think was the better or healthier relationship -- #Hott or #Statt? Is Wyatt being delusional about what he had with Steffy or was it actually real or significant, even if only for a short time? Wyatt seems pretty pitiful holding on so hard to a couple fun days at the beach while, on the other hand, Steffy is removing her tattoo and has moved back in with Liam.
Have you ever been in Steffy or Wyatt's situation? It must be horrible to be the person who left someone and moved on with another while the one you left can't let go. On the other hand, who envies being the person in pain, watching the beloved move on with another person?
I don't blame Wyatt. I'd drive up the coast, too, instead of going to dinner. I mean, what's he missing besides a chance to make it even worse by having to compliment Liam at the dinner table? Plus, he had to have a front row seat to Steffy and Liam feeding each other lemon bars and pumpkin pie for dessert.
Wyatt isn't close to Rick, Maya, Nicole, or Zende, and most of the people at the table had belittled him for supporting his mother. Bill doesn't even seem to notice that Wyatt doesn't work at Spencer anymore. In my view, there was very little at that table for Wyatt. He should have skipped it instead of faking through it.
Maybe it would have been worthwhile for Wyatt if he set out to figure out why Nicole sat there, looking all tired and dazed. No one at the table seemed to notice it or comment on it. She is way too young to walk around like the troubles of the world are on her shoulders. After narrowing escaping another gestation, Zende slapped something else serious on her -- a marriage proposal. Where is Carter to slap some sense into Zende?
Who in the world thinks he can fix sleeping with a woman's sister by proposing marriage? And that ring of his is burning a hole in his pocket. Every minute, he brings up the fact that he has it. He didn't want Maya and Rick to pressure Nicole about the surrogacy, but he's pushing this marriage thing hard. I find it laughable because, to borrow my mom's phrase, he "doesn't have a pot to piss in," but he wants to get married. Zende, can you get your own place first? Geez!
I already know most of you probably agree that Zende is flying in Never-Never Land if he actually thinks proposing to Nicole is the answer to their problems. What do you think Zende ought to do at this point to repair the relationship, or do you think it's time to just let it go for a while because he's done way too much to expect an immediate reunion?
A look ahead
Next week, according to our spoilers, I was right. Bill's back on the elopement kick, but Ridge and R.J. are campaigning hard against Bill as Brooke's next husband. Bill thinks graveside proposals are creepy, so I wonder what Ridge will pull next? Whatever he's up to, he'd better tell Brooke to leave her phone at home, so Bill can't track them down again. Yeah, graveside proposals are creepy, but so is GPS-stalking your fiancée, Bill.
The road seems clear for Steffy and Liam to ride off into the sunset, so you know what that means. Time for trouble. Next week, Quinn makes another appeal to Steffy on Wyatt's behalf. I want to say that I just don't see this going anywhere, but if Caroline can do a one-eighty from Ridge to Thomas without missing a beat, will Steffy flip back to Wyatt before the New Year? If it happens, watch out for flying pigs and know that hell hath frozen over.
Let us know what you think about Zende and Ridge's creepy marriage proposals this week. We love hearing from you in the comments. I said something nice about Steffy, so now it's your turn to call a truce and say something nice about a character you don't exactly love. Until we scoop again, I hope everything you had to say to the person on your right this year was bold and beautiful, baby!
What are your thoughts on The Bold and the Beautiful? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
