Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did it turn out your baby had a lot of heart? Did a custody case finally lead you to get some? Did your all for one turn into one for one? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Spectra clan this week!
Well, that didn't take long, Scoopers! The much-needed resolution to Leffy/Lope gravitated from potentially new soap ground to catfighting over the catwalk. Then there was Katie and Thorne, whose lighting-speed newness-to-seriousness relationship got so serious it deemed some début rolling in the hay. And Bridge seemed stuck competing in the daughter derby. Are you ready? Let's Scoop about it!
AFFIDAVITS ARE AN APHRODISIAC
A second, third, and fourth-thinking Katie relayed to Thorne how Bill had threatened to wipe the courtroom floor with her if she went ahead with attempting solo custody of Will. Only problem with that is, Thorne was already there when Bill and Katie had that heated conversation. Submitting Exhibit A, Your Honor: it's called exposition. But it didn't bother Katie, who went on lamenting how Bill hadn't been there for his son in ages.
Now, no one can argue that Dollar Bill is a crap parent, with two neglected grown sons from two different mothers who can all testify to that effect. But shouldn't Katie be cutting Bill some slack here? After all, she was the one who, just six months ago, walked in to find Bill on the floor with his life's blood seeping out of him. Yeah, the blood went somewhere else, as he soon panted for Steffy, but the guy got shot!
This never comes up in Bill's defense of himself. You'd think he'd be, ahem, bleeding Katie for sympathy on this score. It also makes you wonder why Will is suddenly so blasé about the father he almost lost. Maybe Katie and fam kept this fact from the kid, but Bill is simply being portrayed as a horny deadbeat dad instead of a man who survived a punctured lung. Holy soap gods. Am I actually taking up for the Dollah?
Thorne was...up somewhere else, because "Forrester Lite" picked that moment to tell Katie she'd always have his love, in response to Katie questioning why Thorne loved her. Am I the only one not buying this show of devotion? It was only June when Katie dumped Wyatt, then kissed Thorne five minutes later. Oh, and now, to her, Wyatt had been just a "wonderful distraction." Ouch! That's not what I saw for nearly a year!
It was all Thorne needed to hear, because he and Katie went upstairs and finally dood it. Proclamations of "wow" and "yeah, wow" followed. Well, we got Ingo wrapped in a bedsheet out of it, and let's face it: when was the last time Thorne got any? Katie admitted she'd "always had a bit of a crush" on Thorne. I wish I could remember when they actually had that brief flirtation that went nowhere.
Was that in 2006 (or 2007), when Donna almost married Thorne to get revenge on Stephanie? Because I remember a brief Katie/Thorne friendship as a result. Kind of fitting, then, that Donna called to interrupt their nookie. Katie surmised that Bill would claim he had changed her from wallflower to "wow." Betcha Bill would be even more mad to learn Nick probably had that honor after Katie took him from Bridget!
NO ONE PUTS BABY IN A CORNER
Justin, who has been contract for months but still never leaves Bill's side or office, told his raging boss that family law isn't his area of expertise. That's much more realistic than Carter, considering that legal eagle seems to have experience in every area. Justin wondered how Will's custody would be swayed if Katie and Thorne got married. That's a valid concern. Korne got together so fast, they should be exchanging vows next week.
Bill reminded Justin that Katie had been the one who exhibited parental lapses in the past. He's not wrong: while I'd forgotten how Katie had abandoned Will following her postpartum depression in 2012, I certainly remembered her drinking whiskey out of broken glasses in 2016. In fact, that year, it took Brooke to keep Bill from taking Will away from Katie. You'd think Katie would do a Dollah a solid in return.
On Justin's strangely sensible advice, Bill went to Katie's to once again attempt to reason with her. Instead, Bill found Thorne in his face. Is it just me, or is it weird to see Thorne in Bill's orbit? I mean, the last time they had any scenes together was in 2010, when they took DNA tests to determine which of them was Liam's father. Today, the one-time Broadway star is taking Will's father to task for not being Will's father.
In Soap World, it's pretty obvious to spot when a character is suddenly given a storyline because they need one. But I find myself wondering if this new arc of Thorne's doesn't make the most sense since Ingo took over the role. Thorne did lose Aly; though he's never mentioned Steffy's part in it, he has been talking about his deceased daughter a lot. Maybe his unexpectedly strong connection to Will is compensation for that loss.
Bill sneered that Katie was not Thorne's wife and Will was not Thorne's family, but a kind of fire came out in Thorne that seemed to give Ingo's presence on the show purpose for the first time. Thorne was so adamant in his support of Katie's custody case that Bill actually looked impressed. But I agree with Bill that Thorne started this whole thing. And if this plot comes off somewhat forced and contrived to you, you're not alone.
BALLOON PAYMENT
Bill swaggered into Il Giardino, where he found a surprise lunch companion in the form of Brooke. After she groused to her former Stallion about how Ridge was possibly about to make a business decision she wouldn't agree with (more on that later), Bill told La Logan what she already knew about Katie's custody case. Bill nearly choked on his bread stick when his ex-wife admitted she thought Katie was in the wrong!
This led Bill to ask scandal queen Brooke how to emerge from a scandal "mostly" unscathed, a subject she could teach a college course on. The Dollah kicked himself for becoming his father -- but I don't remember Bill Spencer, Sr., sleeping with either of his daughters' one-and-onlys, much less pulling even half the shady ish Junior has since arriving in 2009. The O.B. (Original Bill) was an angel compared to his son.
Over at Forrester, Katie channeled her big sis and got nasty with Thorne in an office; while zipping up, she suddenly feared Bill had rigged the room with cameras to catch them in flagrante delicto. "He's done worse," Katie recalled. Um, Katie...so did you when you installed cameras in your living room to catch Bill with Brooke! Irony is so lost on all of these people. Ya know?
Then something happened that brought chills to this experienced soap watcher's spine. Bill returned to his office...and had flashbacks of Brooke! Oh, no! Please tell me B&B needed to get more mileage out of those tired Aspen scenes and not that we're heading into a revisit of the Ridge/Brooke/Bill triangle! Bridge is squabbling quite a bit lately...but let's not have Bill fixate on Brooke again so soon after fixating on Steffy.
BUT I MADE UP MY MIND, I'M KEEPIN' MY BABY...
Despite having gotten a clean bill of prenatal health the soap day before, Hope found herself wincing in pain and crying, "Not again, not again." Her 2014 miscarriage rarely comes up, so it was a good nod to show history. Still, I wonder why she'd suddenly start cramping out of nowhere. Did that infamous tumble down the stairs have repercussions that are reverberating into Hope's current pregnancy?
For some reason, Hope called Liam first; I'll never be an expectant mother, so maybe I can't understand not calling the hospital before a husband. Anyway, the continually Zen Steffy genuinely "oh no"d and encouraged Liam's sprint out of her house to be with Hope. And it all made sense...until Wyatt and Sally showed up so Steffy could talk about Lope's baby with them -- um, I mean turn down a party invitation.
Did any of you find it odd that Steffy would converse with Sally so openly, let alone let her one-time almost-rival peek in on Kelly? It just seemed their interaction should have been more chilly. Then again, as Wyatt and Sally really have no story of their own right now, they had to be brought in as sounding boards for Steffy. Soon after, Bridge, who, along with Taylor, led the show for decades, joined in the gossip about Hope's baby scare!
I don't know why, when action takes place on our soap, we have to have adjoining scenes with unconnected characters discussing said action. Can't we just have a completely separate storyline running at the same time? We got close this week with Leffy/Lope happening in tandem with Will's custody scuffle. After last week's "comedy" over Steffy and Hope having the same OB/GYN, Dr. Robin Givens got real with Hope.
Scanning and scanning after Hope's cramping and spotting, Dr. Phillips couldn't find the baby's heartbeat! You know it was bad, because she cut to a new episode and a commercial break before the thumpity-thump came through the monitor. Well, that was what the doctor ordered, because Hope was sent home with only an instruction to take it easy. So, what was causing her cramping, then? I feel like I missed something there.
Since I guess Hope and Liam are living in the never-seen-until-recently Logan cabin now, Steffy availed herself of its door and knocked on it, wanting to know how Hope's child had fared. Steffy gasped and aww-ed accordingly depending on the aspect of Lope's recollection, and honestly got to my heart when she patted Hope's shoulder and said no woman should ever have to go through that. The feels, Scoopers! The feels!
SHOULD BOLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT
Steffy, Liam, and Hope talk a lot about their blended family these days, and the way they came together over Hope's near-emergency, I wondered if we were headed for something I don't think a soap has done before. I've often joked that Liam should just marry both Steffy and Hope; Wyatt even alluded to it before Lope's latest wedding. But, sarcasm aside, this trio cohabitating would truly be the logical next step, given their history.
And how fresh would that be? The show has generally offered typical soap fare with few exceptions -- and a lot of repetition and inconsistency to boot. Having Leffy/Lope simply settle into a single living arrangement where both kids and adults are cared for would rock a few chairs, but it would be different, and most certainly bold -- an adjective you can't apply to much of what we've seen the past several years.
You know what was bold? Learning that Jake had been molested by his uncle. The original Sally presenting the Grand Diva line for plus-sized women. Taylor getting implanted with Brooke's egg. Maya being revealed as transgender. All of these covered new ground, if not in all of soapdom, then most assuredly on B&B. Liam sharing his kids with Hope and Steffy under one roof would be about as bold as bold gets.
Couldn't you just see it, even as a fantasy sequence? It'd be Three's Company, B&B style. Liam would be Jack Tripper, falling over things and letting his hair grow longer. Steffy would pull a Janet and sit on the couch, wearing glasses and reading over profit-and-loss reports. That leaves Hope as Chrissy, well-meaning but befuddled, and snorting while she laughs. Does that make Bridge the Ropers?
When the tortured trio marveled at how well they were doing at forming "a loving, united family," I thought we might be going there, if just symbolically. But, sure enough, people smiling and gushing on a soap means trouble is not far behind; it's a most accurate telegraph. Little did we know that Leffy/Lope's reverie was about to be sullied, not by any romantic struggles, but occupational ones!
WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
The first sign should have been Brooke telling Hope to watch out for Steffy -- head-scratching, given that Brooke just told Ridge how impressed she was with Steffy's attitude. Ridge sat nearly everyone down for a meeting, including Quinn, a major player who's been reduced to a day player, and spelled things out. Forrester Creations' couture line remained their focus, but budgets required one of the peripheral collections to chill.
Of course, the decision was down to Hope for the Future versus the Intimates line -- which one should go? And it didn't take long for everyone to get their dander up. Couldn't we have just left it at Hope and Steffy having made peace? Did we really need a new reason for them to be in conflict? It wasn't just the two Liam lovers, though. Thorne wasn't happy, Quinn waffled, and Brooke also doled out contradictory opinions.
While Steffy made a case for Intimates, Brooke, who created its prequel, Brooke's Bedroom, actually said, and I quote, "There are other ways to make women feel beautiful and special." Did you evah? Stephanie must be picking up her jaw in heaven, or wherever Gangsta Granny ended up. For her part, Hope argued that HFTF had momentum, whereas Intimates hadn't even had a showing yet. Not wrong there, Hope.
Much like Emma stomping backstage after Hope cut her choreography idea, Hope stomped thusly and bitched to Liam about being edged out, sure that Ridge would side with his daughter. "It's still my line against hers," Hope pouted. Wait a minute -- wasn't it that eight years ago when Katie was CEO and chose HFTF over Steffy's long-forgotten Afterparty line (had to look that one up; that's how long-forgotten it was)?
Steffy caught Liam comforting Hope backstage and for some reason had a problem with it. She was okay having Hope's unborn baby up in her face and walking in on Lope kissing the day before but now bristled at the sight of them nuzzling? Maybe it was hearing Hope say that she'd always imagined herself being Liam's wife and carrying his baby, and she wanted HFTF, too.
Steffy made a beeline for Ridge, who rather intuitively interpreted her Intimates pitch as a way of crippling HFTF to get back at Liam. Now, here's my problem with this sudden choice Ridge has to make, and Thorne said it himself: "Since when do we starve one line to promote another?" Much less Steffy saying Hope was starting something new and exciting. Girl, HFTF has been around since before Will was born!
HERE'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE
Thorne worried that, if HFTF got scuttled, he'd have nothing to design, since it was unlikely he'd be transferred to the couture team. (I have news for you, Thorne: up until last year, the only thing you designed was the sign on your door in Shipping.) Sally also feared being cut from her HFTF "grunt work" but showed more initiative than Thorne by designing some lingerie just in case!
Now that's how a Spectra rolls. Wyatt was equally wowed, but how did I know his tongue would start hanging out? He wanted Sally to be able to produce her designs so she could model them. Dude, that's just like when Ivy became the Face of Forrester and you wanted her to practice wearing teddies for you. Between that and role-playing with Katie, Wyatt's probably the biggest perv on the show! Not that that's a bad thing.
Wally also had the chance to dish Ridge's potential choice of lines with, of all people, Zoe. Steffy and Sally getting along was one thing; would you really talk office politics with someone who stole your laptop and tried to frame you for posting threatening comments? Yet they were yappin' like none of that had happened. Naturally, Zoe and Sally were on opposite ends of the debate, but, then again, who cared?
The real debate went on elsewhere, as Steffy found Hope and essentially asked her to make the choice for Ridge by giving up Hope for the Future. Considering Steffy had sacrificed Liam, she wanted Hope to return the favor. "I need something on my own," Steffy admitted, adding, "Forrester Creations is a place where I can lose myself." Not entirely unreasonable, when you think about it.
Steffy's logic got a little muddled when she told Hope, "It's important for me to show [Kelly] what a strong, independent woman can accomplish." First, Kelly's a baby, so she ain't exactly gonna catch on. Second, parading around in teddies is a good example? Hope seemed to sense my question when she snarked, "What message is there in lingerie?" Steffy didn't like that at all.
Much was said of HFTF's influence on society, but I keep saying it: how can any line of clothes send a message? Sure, sustainable fabric and all that. Really, Forrester Creations doesn't need either of these collections. They're Versace, not Forever 21 or Victoria's Secret. Ridge should teach both Hope and Steffy a lesson and bring Thomas back to helm the men's line instead!
DROP ME A LINE
Brooke changed her tune and now felt that Steffy's peacemaking had all been an act! On a warpath you rarely see Brooke on outside of old clashes with Stephanie, Brooke went to Ridge and demanded to know which of their daughters he'd kick to the curb! I feel bad for Ridge this time. Usually he's so pigheaded that he repels sympathy, but his motives seem to be all business; he told Steffy he thought hers were personal.
Despite bragging to Hope that no one had more influence over Ridge than her, that claim went right out Brooke's window as she bypassed any attempt at seduction and went for confrontation with her beleaguered hubby. Brooke spoke of how successful her Brooke's Bedroom line had been before Steffy rebranded it as Intimates, yet Brooke wanted Ridge to drop it in favor of HFTF. Huh?
But Brooke looked ready to start throwing cake herself -- not at Taylor, but Taylor's daughter. Brooke overheard Steffy pushing Ridge in the direction of Intimates and went berserk! I guess Brooke didn't process Ridge reminding Steffy he'd have to make his decision as co-CEO, not Steffy's dad. Brooke put Steffy on blast and reminded her she only had 37.5% of the company because of boffing her baby's grandpa!
Brooke was mad as hell, and she wasn't going to take it anymore! Didn't this blow-up seem a little...overblown to you? I could see Brooke being upset, but to me, the situation didn't really merit the way she went off on Steffy. If I have to watch Hope, Liam, and Steffy every day, I'd rather see them continue to deal with the peaks and valleys of forming their blended family. This contrived company conflict isn't knocking on my door!
How about you, Scoopers? Is all this HFTF vs. Intimates stuff worth the fuss? Is there a rift forming between Bridge that Bill will do his best to fill? Is throwing new lovers Katie and Thorne into a custody case too much too soon? Talk to us in the Comments section below or on the soapcentral.com message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!
"I can't believe that Katie hasn't told Thorne where he gets off...Katie would have never thought about suing for full custody on her own and Thorne has stirred up a hornet's nest after smearing himself with honey. The Dollah is going to sting him bad." -- "DaffySez"
"Katie going for full custody because Bill doesn't see Will enough is an incredibly stupid plot line. It doesn't even make any soap sense..." -- Collins
I'll catch up with you as fall officially begins in two weeks. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember, now more than ever, no matter color, creed, religion, gender identity, orientation, or nationality, we're all beautiful.
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