Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did try to regift a wedding ring? Did you trade in your waffle iron for a flame thrower? Did you rail against secrets while keeping your own? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Spectra-Buckingham clan this week!
Holy Miley Cyrus, Scoopers! Thomas must have read The Little Engine That Could to Douglas one too many times, because Tridge's son is chugging along at full steam, telling himself, in regard to stealing Hope from Liam, "I think I can, I think I can!" Who knew Liam would step up and call Thomas "the little engine that better not?" Meanwhile, indignant Wyatt is forgetting his own history. Let's Scoop about it!
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
At Taylor's old beach house, Wyatt was losin' it because Sally hadn't come right to him and told him that Thomas (who ironically lived in that house as an infant) had confided in Sally his plan to lure Hope away from Liam. "We agreed we would be honest!" Wyatt wailed. "Oh, except about me kissing Flo behind your back. That doesn't count."
Of course, Wyatt didn't admit that last part, but where does he get off coming down on Sally when, after their first dust-up, he ran right to Flo and reminded her how his lips tasted? It's kind of like a certain high-profile figure: if he's accusing others of it, he's really doing it himself. I'll allow that Wyatt might be extra sensitive, since he said he had to "pick up the pieces" after Bill torpedoed Steam's marriage, but dial it down.
"Thomas doesn't care about Liam and Hope and their commitment," Wyatt snorted. Dude, neither did you! When you stepped out of your solar shower in 2013, the first thing you did was roll like Thomas in deciding you wanted Hope for yourself. What, it's only okay if you do it? And let's not forget, Wyatt shouldn't be barking about lies and secrecy when he's already proved himself a master of both.
I mean, this is the guy who pocketed the HFTF diamond and pretended to "rescue" it from actual jewel thieves just so he could impress Hope. Wyatt has certainly walked a straighter and narrower path in more recent years, but demanding complete transparency from Sally makes him a total hypocrite, given his own past. Between that and frenching Flo on the side, this week was not Wyatt's best look.
A MOVING EXPERIENCE
Sally, on the other hand, was making a mini-skirt out of mea culpas, telling Wyatt "I screwed up" and taking the full burden of the conflict onto herself. Hold up, Bucky! Even the O.G. Sally never did that! And really, what did Sally do that was so wrong? "I tried to be the bigger person after what he did to me," Sally explained as her rationale for letting Thomas bend her ear about Hope.
Hey, Sally only let Thomas bend it, not kiss it. Besides, by Wyatt's rationale, he should tell Sally about every detail Liam privately shares with Wyatt about his marriage. Unfortunately, instead of demanding to know why Wyatt was on her jock, Sally fancied herself a modern-day Joan of Arc and martyred herself in the form of moving out. Wonder if the apartment she rented with the missing Coco is still available?
Wally is the perfect example of why I have a hard time investing in B&B couples anymore. They get together way too fast then break up at the slightest provocation. Wyatt and Sally had one fight, and already, they're done. Man, good thing they never came up against a real problem. With the number for U-Haul on speed dial, Sally sped into the design office and snatched Thomas' pencil out of his hand!
"You put me in an impossible situation," Sally fumed, "and I let you!" At first, Thomas was torqued that Sally finked on him, but then he actually apologized for messing up Sally's relationship and advised her that moving out on Wyatt was only good advice "if you want to lose him." Sally blamed Thomas for her change of address, but Sally should have stood her ground and fought for her man...like a Spectra would.
Quinn was all "for reals?" when Wyatt announced there would be half the laundry at his house. The scent of Sally's perfume still in the air, Quinn shipped Flyatt hard, to the point Wyatt interjected, "Mom, Sally just literally left a second ago." I don't think Wyatt knows what he wants, but we'll get to that. Not like the show will ever get to telling us exactly what Quinn did that forced her and Wyatt to ditch Vegas.
SO TONIGHT I'M GONNA PARTY LIKE IT'S 2012
At the Logan manse, it seemed Thomas was chewing the wrong kind of gum, because Hope pulled away from his sudden kiss like he was rocking some Anchovy & Sour Cream Bubblicious. "I know I'm overstepping," Thomas replied, adding, "it probably seems self-serving..." Neither acknowledgment stopped him from overstepping and self-serving, however, as he used Hope's own argument against her.
Yes, Liam should stay with Steffy, Kelly, and Phoebe in Paris, and Thomas mentioned Douglas needing a mother as often as he could. "We were close once," Thomas remarked. Yeah, as stepsiblings! It was gross the first time Thomas tried to bag Hope, and it's gross now, since Thomas' father is married to Hope's mother. Making family reunions awkward would be the least of their worries.
Likely noticing that his abs were doing nothing for Hope, Thomas finally put on a shirt and tried to up his game. "Caroline knew how I felt about you," he revealed. Not only that, but it was Caroline's wish that Hope "take her place" if anything happened to her! Oh, well, that solves everything, doesn't it? I'm sorry, but I did not see Pierson Fodé's Thomas carrying even the smallest torch for Hope his whole time on the show.
The only way this history rewrite works -- maybe -- is because Hope wasn't on the canvas during Fodé's 2015-2017 run. But she was certainly around for his quick 2018 visit, the one where he swept Sally off to New York and didn't even have a scene with Hope. None of that mattered to Thomas now. Based on absolutely no actual relationship, Thomas pulled a Cabo San Lucas and proposed to Hope!
And get this! Thomas used the same ring he'd used in Mexico seven years before. He'd saved it. Hell, maybe he and Hope belong together, after all -- didn't Hope save her first engagement ring from Liam to use in last year's betrothal? Thankfully, Hope wasn't swayed. "This is about the life you want for Douglas," Hope gently commented. "Your love for him, not me." You go, Miss HFTF!
And go she did, right out the front door, leaving Thomas with blue balls big enough to do pilates with! Bam! My self-satisfied smirk fell, though, when Hope came back in, having had second thoughts. But surprise! Hope's declaration that Thomas was right, and her subsequent game of tonsil hockey with him, was all Thomas' fantasy. Yo, Tom, try Internet porn instead. It's free. And far less creepy.
Ridge and Brooke also seemed ready to go retro, as they skimmed on the edge of disagreeing about their kids' love lives, which they were famous for in 2012. Amazingly, Ridge broke the pattern by telling Brooke, "we can't be my mother," and that "these kids are gonna do what they wanna do." Not only was that an out-of-nowhere, welcome reference to Stephanie, but it showed real growth on Ridge's part!
PARIS IS BURNING
Overseas in the City of Lights, Steffy and Taylor were out at a market (do they really do their own shopping?), leaving Amelia to once again extol the virtues of Liam staying in Paris with Steffy, Kelly, and Phoebe. "Steffy would never say it," Amelia demurred, apparently not knowing her boss well enough to know that Steffy most certainly and absolutely would say it.
It's just that Steffy is in a more mature place now. And, I get it -- Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is still on maternity leave (congrats on your Emmy, Jackie Mac!), so we have to have other characters make Steffy's case for her. Amelia's lucky, because if she stuck her nose into the private lives of any other employer, she'd be fired on the spot. Anybody else notice her resemblance to Ivy?
Before Liam could contemplate Amelia's similarity to another one of his exes, Wyatt interrupted with a phone call from L.A. Sally predicted correctly when she told Thomas the first thing Wyatt would do upon finding out Thomas was moving in on Hope was share that info with Liam. Not havin' it, Liam burned up his frequent flyer miles and jumped the first flight home to let Thomas know what's what.
THEY DIDN'T COVER THIS IN MY TRAINING
Hope looked to have snapped out of her funk, happily showing Flo around Forrester Creations and probably hella glad Shauna hadn't Krazy Glued herself to her daughter for this current audience. Flo agreed she'd be happy there "once we figure out what my job is actually gonna be." Touché! Maybe in addition to the steam room, Sky Lounge, and long-gone infirmary, FC can open a casino in the basement?
Hope was glad to be back at work, overseeing her line, but her resolve didn't last long, as she felt so comfortable with her cuz that she emotionally vomited on Flo all over again. Hope is working through a lot, of course; it's just that Flo ends up being her counselor in every conversation. Hey! Maybe that could be Flo's job! The soap gods know Forrester's employees could use an in-house shrink now that Taylor's cray-cray.
Amid an interesting/strange sequence of close camera angles on Hope's mouth and Flo's eyes, Flo listened to Hope saying that maybe Liam should stay in Paris with his "girls." Flo understood Liam's connection to Phoebe..."because it's true....Liam is Phoebe's father!" Dum-dum-DUMMMM! Ordinarily, that would be quite a confession, but even Flo telling Hope the truth straight out was lost on Hope.
Well, of course Liam was Phoebe's father, Hope agreed. Hope was so glad that Flo understood where she was coming from! I'll cite Hope's continued grief as the reason she didn't pick up the Cluephone that was right in front of her. The biggest surprise came when Hope told Flo about Thomas' intentions. Hope was clearly moved by all of Thomas' talk about becoming Douglas' mother. But Flo wasn't about that!
For all of Flo's wimpy wishy-washiness of the past several weeks, Ms. Fulton was unexpectedly strong and forceful as she told Hope that she and her husband needed to heal together. "You and Liam don't need to leave each other to be able to have enough love to share with all the children in your family," Flo insisted. It would be a disservice to Beth. "I won't let you do it!"
So, Florence Fulton has a backbone! It was refreshing to see. She made the most sense of almost anybody on our screens this week. (Wait 'til you see who else made sense.) I know Flo's pro-Lope viewpoint is more out of her guilt over the continuing repercussions of her help in the baby switch, but there was something sincere about it, too. Maybe she's got a little of Storm in her, after all!
Flo finally got her new employee packet -- as delivered by Zoe, who had overheard Hope talking about Thomas' pursuit of her. And Zoe was Team Thope! "You can't be telling me you think Hope needs to lose her marriage, too," Flo retorted. Zoe thought Douglas could fill the hole in Hope's heart, and she advised Flo to embrace the cornucopia of conveniences that had fallen into her lap. Zoe going Thope was kind of odd.
EXES AND OHS
When Quinn sashayed into the office, talking about some piece she'd made to go with a design of Thomas', Sally was sure the not-quite-mother-in-law-from-hell was really there to gloat about Sally's relocation. Au contraire! Quinn actually didn't lord the misfortune over Sally, telling her, "I do feel for you." Never would have figured Quinn for showing compassion to someone she didn't like!
But Quinn, whose propensity for lying and secret-keeping is actually on file with the LAPD, admonished Sally for not telling Wyatt how Thomas wanted to break up Liam and Hope. To quote Quinn, "for reals?" Maybe over the past six years, Quinn has forgotten how she tried to lay waste to Lope herself -- remember her hacking Liam's email and sending Hope the video tribute he'd made to Steffy, for starters?
Yeah, so Quinn has no room to talk. Both the Fullers are full-on exhibiting convenient memories this week, and Sally may want to revisit her assertion she won't give up on Wyatt, because Wyatt seems to have already given up on her. Wyatt called Flo, who got to Malibu from L.A. immediately, though even in the middle of the night, it would be at least a 45-minute trip.
Wyatt went on about how Flo was the most honest and open person he knew, unlike Sally. Naturally, this was meant to play up how the secret Flo is keeping makes Sally's sin of omission look like nothing. Wyatt decided he could trust Flo completely and proceeded to trust her throat with his tongue! Dang, Wyatt! Not letting any grass grow under your feet, are you?
Wyatt is just being a bastard, and I don't know where this shift is coming from. It took Flo to remind Wyatt that he'd simply had a fight with Sally and was acting from being upset. Flo is 2-0 in the Realness Department this week! Her words bounced off his spiked 'do, though, as Wyatt decided it all meant that he and Flo were being given a chance to pick up where they left off!
This time, Flo offered no resistance to Wyatt's goateed lip-locking! I just can't see Wyatt being this heartless. He was with Sally almost a year, they're not even broken up, and now Flo is his destiny. Well, Wyatt got with Sally the same day Katie broke up with him, too, so there you go. Can't poor Sally ever get a man who won't screw her over? I'm beginning to think maybe Saul needs to come back for her!
PUMPING WAFFLE IRON
Thomas interrupted Hope's number-crunching (she does that?) with a new HFTF design, but no matter how much Hope indicated she wanted him to vamoose, he plopped himself right down next to her. Hope might be considering Thomas' move-busting for Douglas, but it's pretty clear that even though she told Flo he's "easy on the eyes," being around Thomas makes Hope want to hork up.
En route from LAX, Liam stopped at Wyatt's because "I wanna know what I'm walking into first." Wyatt reiterated everything Sally had told him about Thomas' "Hope springs eternal" plot. "You know Thomas has done this before, right?" Liam pointed out, explaining Thomas' out-of-the-blue desire to pursue Hope in 2012. There's definitely a pattern here, and both Wyatt and the show missed it.
This would have been the perfect time for Wyatt to exclaim, "Dude! Thomas totally tried to do the same thing to me with Ivy!" But no such luck. Liam couldn't believe that Thomas was claiming years-long devotion to Hope, scoffing, "What does that make Sally and Caroline -- intermissions?" Finally! Somebody gets it! That was a detail that needed to be mentioned!
And it was sweeter for having come out of Liam's mouth. Soap characters may act like their lives before any current episode didn't happen, but we know better. Liam even had an unforeseen bit of self-awareness. "The guy was a hot mess back then," Liam said of Thomas. "He'd probably say the same about me." Real talk! Liam was waffling so fast seven years ago that IHOP couldn't keep up with him.
None of that for 2019, though! After exchanging happy hellos with Hope -- and even presenting Thomas with a Parisian gift for Douglas -- Liam laid down a quiet smackdown on his former brother-in-law. "I was older than Douglas when I lost my mother," Liam recalled (yeah, like over 21), "but I still know how brutal it is to become a motherless child. But that's where my understanding stops!"
Liam is world-famous for his lack of conviction, but he displayed plenty of it as he raked Thomas for trying to "break up another family in order to mend your own." He and Hope were grieving, too! Thomas needed to back off! "If you think you get to use the son [Caroline] loved so much to make a play for my wife, you're delusional." Liam doesn't have this kind of intestinal fortitude often, but when he does, it's hot.
Despite Liam's correct contention that Thomas "can't just decide that [Hope] belongs to you", Thomas turned the tables on Liam, insisting that Liam loved Steffy and that Hope had told Liam repeatedly that he ought to be with his daughter and his daughter's mother, only Liam hadn't listened. I can't say there isn't any truth to that. Hope did go so far as to take her wedding ring off to make that point.
Thomas taunted that Liam needed to man up, but Liam was doing just that as he pushed back on what he viewed as Thomas trying make Hope into Douglas' mother so Thomas could have her for himself. All throughout, though, there was this sense of two men fighting over a female without giving the female a say in her own life. Hope channeling Liam's frequent constipated look didn't make me feel any better.
Finally, Hope did speak for herself. She informed Thomas that Liam had been there with her through "every moment of loss." Still, she couldn't deny the bond she'd formed with Douglas; I loved that Liam vowed to support it. Seeing Hope wavering after Thomas produced a new drawing Douglas had done of Douglas holding hands with Hope, Liam asked Hope if that life was really what she wanted. Was this the end?
Of course, we aren't gonna find out until Monday. But it does seem Thomas has done more damage in a few weeks than Bill did when he went Demolition Man on Spectra Fashions; Thomas is on his way to destroying two relationships in one week. Does he have a point about them all recoupling because it's best for the children? Should Sally fight for Wyatt or leave Flo to him? And should Amelia be fired? Crash into the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!
"Thomas needs to be locked up in a mental ward until he realizes that he is not entitled to just take whatever he wants whenever he wants it. He is showing signs of being a true sociopath. The way he talked to Sally about breaking up Hope's marriage to Liam as if he expected kudos for it was chilling...At this point, I hope Flo doesn't tell the truth so someone else can make the reveal and Flo will get the disgust and derision she deserves instead of a pat on the back for telling the truth. Flo was not some naive innocent who Reese hoodwinked; she knew all about what he was doing before she signed the adoption papers and took $50,000 for doing so, and I want to see her go to jail right along with Reese." -- "DaffySez"
"Now we have 'evil Thomas' I gather doing his best to break up Liam and Hope. That bit about him telling Douglas THIS will be his mommy and 'help' convince Hope to become his mommy. That poor little kid. Part of me hopes this all comes out and HOPE ends up somehow with custody of sweet Douglas if Thomas' BAD parenting comes out." -- "evave2"
"Zoe's a perfect match for new Creepy Thomas. How the [writers] made him devalue his romance with Sally is disgusting. This stupid excuse for Wyatt to not trust Sally for listening to Thomas's crazy ideas and plans and not run in an hour to tell Wyatt is just bad writing...[Sally's] always been earnest in her apologies and proved herself time and again she's worthy if not better than most of the Spencers, Logans and Forresters...I think Courtney Hope is a delight and a terrific addition to the show. I'm sick of the writers building [Sally] up only to take her down...why bring Sally back only to waste her again?" -- "Dorinda's Pajamas"
See y'all again next week, and in the meantime, keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember: no matter color, creed, religion, gender identity, orientation, or nationality, we're all beautiful.
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