It's been quite a year for Hope Logan on The Bold and the Beautiful. She ended her marriage with Liam and entered into a passionate romance with Thomas Forrester, a man who said he would love her and only her forever.
Hope took a real risk getting involved with Thomas, considering he was once obsessed with her, and five years ago, he went to great lengths to keep the secret that her presumed-dead daughter was alive. While Thomas has made up for things since then and sought therapy (off-screen) to achieve personal growth, Hope's choice to be with Thomas was controversial.
Although it was clear that Hope loved being with Thomas, she had a hard time saying those three little words and an even harder time accepting Thomas' three marriage proposals. After all those years with Liam and being fresh off ending her marriage, she seemed gun-shy to marry again, even when she could finally tell Thomas she loved him.
After Thomas took off to Paris with Douglas, Hope threw herself into her work and tried to forge ahead, not thinking of what and who she'd lost. When she told Finn she was having headaches and he started massaging her, viewers wondered if that was a plot device for Hope to start falling for Finn. However, something more could be going on here.
When Hope suddenly began fantasizing about Finn, it looked as if she was desperate for any man who paid attention to her. Then, Thomas returned with Douglas and announced he was going to wed Paris Buckingham. Of course, he would have changed his mind if Hope was willing to marry him, but she still couldn't say yes, so Thomas took off again. And Finn is on her mind again.
For a soap, it would be too simple to learn that Hope's only been lusting after Finn because she was lonely and latched onto a man paying her attention. Therefore, something more has to be going on here, and there seem to be two possibilities. B&B could be introducing the brain tumor soap trope. It would explain Hope's headaches and odd behavior, but it has been overused on soaps (even Thomas had a subdural hematoma that affected his behavior)-- also, it is something that could be remedied quickly with a diagnosis and surgery.
Another option would be to explore a potential mental illness, but soaps have not always handled these with the delicacy they deserve, often using them for humor purposes or shock value.
If Hope doesn't have a brain tumor or a mental illness, maybe her sudden lust for Finn is a little more sinister. She might have initially just been happy because Finn was kind and complimentary to her, but after Thomas came and left again, another Hope seemed to emerge. This Hope looks a little more calculated during her moments with Finn. She had no problem inviting him into the Forrester Creations dressing room when she was half naked, and she didn't even look as if she cared when he rejected her. She was on a mission.
Perhaps Hope's mission is not to snag Finn for herself, but to snag Finn to get back at Steffy. After all, she sees Steffy as the person who ruined her relationship with Thomas, and she's not unjustified. Hope wasn't ready to marry, so Steffy convinced Thomas that Hope could never commit to him and then felt smug satisfaction when Thomas listened to her suggestion to bolt town.
What better way for Hope to get back at Steffy for taking Thomas from her than for Hope to take Steffy's man for herself? Maybe Finn is just a means to an end, and the real prize for Hope is Steffy's misery.
What is Hope really up to with Finn? Should Thomas return so she can come to her senses? 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.
