Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you get to know your brother with your fist? Was your switch to the positive meant to inflict something negative? Were your husband and sister more entertaining than Netflix? These and more situations faced the Forresters et al this week!
Well, Scoopers, it's Mike again, and it seems B&B's intrigue of the last few weeks has flatlined like a Forrester sales chart in this last batch of episodes, mostly because the Kiddie Patrol is back five times a week. At least there's still a freshness to Wyatt, but, once upon a time, the younger set got a hot summer storyline that ended by the time back-to-school came. Now the young'uns are running the show again, with a lot of rehash to boot. Fortunately, there's a grown-up or two on hand to keep things interesting.
Eric lowered the boom on Rick in a nice bit of continuity, reminding his son (and us) that Forrester's numbers weren't great before, and Rick was supposed to pump them up. But Rick had been too distracted juggling Caroline and Maya, which makes total sense, because he was. Basement buddies Thorne and Thomas concurred, providing proof of the slipping sales that had Eric threatening to pluck the presidency plaque off of Rick's door if the decline continued! Wow, actual business being conducted at Forrester!
And the soap gods know it was awesome to see Thorne (not to mention hear he might actually be getting a story), but maybe the air is so stale down in the basement, he forgot some of his own history. "Forrester had some banner years when I was president," Thorne boasted. Years? Thorne was president for maybe five seconds in 2004 before battling with Ridge and defecting to Spectra! Thorne should be running Forrester, especially with Ridge gone, but let's get it right, people.
Also, I find it funny that Hope for the Future has to bring in $100 million, or else. Eric himself said Thomas was working on the Men's Line. Is that not making money? What about Brooke's Bedroom? Were Hope's Perfect Wedding and Steffy's ski lines scrapped? Doesn't Forrester put out regular couture anymore, like they did when they had fall and spring collections instead of dedicated lines? I agree Rick needs to step up his game, but it's not like Forrester will end up in the toilet if Hope for the Future tanks.
Enter Caroline, who had just barely dried off her Jimmy Choos from the waterbed soak before deciding to recruit Rafael for another I-want-Rick-back scheme. How about Rafael talking some sense into Caroline, discouraging her desperation and telling her to just be fabulous? I have to say, I really like their friendship. And Caroline's flashbacks seem to indicate that she's attempting to revert to her nicer self, though she can't switch from diva to demure in one afternoon. Maybe it takes a balcony?
Caroline owned some of her crap and vowed to help Rick preserve his presidency. "Your mother didn't bring me to Forrester to chase you around a desk," Caroline recalled. Touché, my dear! But then Rick blurted out that he'd do anything, and Caroline said she'd accept a weekend getaway as payment. We just spent weeks rolling our eyes at her Room 8 shenanigans. Do Rick and Maya need another obstacle already? At least this is a more plausible one, but how about a little breather first?
Maya also admitted that her woes with Caroline, Bill, and Jesse (remember him?) had been a distraction. Caroline apologized to Maya -- even using her correct name! -- but then noted that her Patti LaBelle new attitude would ultimately be what won Rick back. Maya refused to trust Caroline, especially after sabotaging Room 8, which, by the way, premieres this Thursday in the real world.
Over at Quinn Jewelry, the baubles flew as Quinn tried frantically to keep Wyatt from ditching her for new daddy Bill. "You don't even know this man!" Quinn cried. That's true, Wyatt; does it make sense to take up an offer of hang time with a father you met only an hour ago? I asked it last week: no DNA test? Wyatt may be acting out of his anger toward his mother's secrecy, but I'm not fooled: having the Spencer boys bunk together was just an excuse to get Hope alone with Liam and Wyatt.
After much hugging, and observances that rare steaks and Scotch make Bill and Wyatt so much alike, Hope came over to break bread with Bill. Huh? Hope and Bill can't stand each other! And when did Liam go vegetarian? I seem to recall the day Steffy had her accident, Liam was grilling up some steaks for them to enjoy. Weird. After Bill took off, Hope and Liam went to bed (right after dinner?) and left Wyatt alone with all the bling. This guy could rob you blind while you're in there lighting candles, Liam!
And Wyatt will steal Hope if you're not careful. Hope came out to retrieve her much-misplaced cell phone, knowing Wyatt was in the room. Wyatt teased that Liam seemed like a bath kind of guy (callin' his new bro gay?), then made another move on Hope, which she dodged. Wyatt connecting Hope's name with the Hopi people was cute (if slightly inaccurate: the word "hope" does not derive from them), but maybe Liam's right. Maybe something's off about Wyatt. Anyone else getting an Adam Newman vibe?
Either Hope has gotten a lot more comfortable with her sexuality, or Wyatt got her going, or both, because she and Liam proceeded straight to some candlelight canoodling! And in the same bed Liam and Steffy got frisky in just a few months ago. Hope didn't need a pill this time, but I think I might have. This was contrasted against Wyatt getting the Leffy/Lope lowdown via Google. Hope emerged with her boobs uncharacteristically on display, and Liam caught Wyatt staring her down as she left. Uh-oh.
The next morning, Hope planned her wedding with Gustav (nice reference to the tent he installed in Brooke's backyard, by the way), forgetting that she didn't actually have a wedding date. Meanwhile, Liam balked at Wyatt's bacon so we could see how different they are. Didn't Liam tell Hope he loved peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches last year? A small story point, but if I can get it right, so can B&B.
Anyway, Wyatt made the interesting comment to Liam that Bill was seeing both of their mothers at the same time. Sure, why not; that backstory's not set in stone yet. But Wyatt's mention of it is cause for questioning. Did Liam's mother, Kelly Cooper, know Quinn? Did they pull a Y&R and make some sort of Katherine/Jill arrangement? Were Wyatt and Liam fraternal twins separated at birth by Quinn and Kelly? Where's that DNA test? Of course, that kind of intrigue is a little too advanced for B&B.
A point proven by trotting out the Steffy's-making-me-wait-six-months-for-a-divorce shthick we sat through last year. It makes no sense! This time, Steffy wanted to break from Liam and purposely pushed him and Hope together. Why not facilitate the process? And why do only Steffy's divorces take six months to go through? Hope went ballistic when she found out, and in a way, I couldn't blame her.
But then Hope became the pouty princess many viewers accuse her of being. "Either we get married soon, or we don't get married at all!" she barked, demanding that Liam go to Paris and force Steffy to sign annulment papers. Yeah, because that worked so well last time. You know this tired roadblock was set up to give Wyatt an opening, especially the way Hope and Liam were arguing in front of him, which of course, in real life, would never happen. Then Liam had to go to Spencer. Does he actually still work?
Apparently not, because he did a "U-ey" and raced right back to Hope, who bitched to Wyatt about Liam's fixation with Steffy. Hope got another kiss from Wyatt, which resulted in Wyatt getting punched in the kisser by Liam! Very gallant, Liam, but hypocritical as hell! Did Hope not catch you kissing Steffy right there in front of that very house? Of course, if Hope had clocked Steffy when that happened in 2011, we might not have been subjected to two years of soaps' most hated triangle. Well, hated by me, anyway.
I've gotta tell ya, Scoopers, I'm rooting for Wyatt on this one. He may turn out to be an evil seed, but Liam's had his chance, and he's deserved a beatdown for a long time. So has Bill, though Katie is showing signs of letting up on him. "You don't think I forgot that you betrayed me?" Katie growled at Donna, though Katie soon said she understood Donna's position of being caught between her sisters. I think Katie's letting Donna off easy, but that generosity of spirit may not be extended to Brooke.
Who else thought it was weird that Brooke would call Katie as soon as she heard Bill had another son in Wyatt? Isn't it Bill's place to tell Katie? And for as much as Brooke wants to save Bill and Katie's marriage, couldn't a revelation like that just deepen Katie's bitterness toward Bill and his sexual escapades? At least it gave Brooke the opportunity to apologize, and I think she meant it, but I wish she didn't need prompting by Donna first.
Katie appeared to soften and let Brooke babysit Will, then called on Bill (who inexplicably hadn't made arrangements to visit with his son) to relieve Brooke from duty. But Katie was merely taking another page from Bill's playbook by spying on Bill and Brooke with surveillance cameras to see if they could be trusted! Question: why did Katie only install cameras in the living room? I highly doubt that's where Bill and Brooke would get busy. Are there cameras in other areas of the house?
Donna was "appalled" by Katie's tactics, throwing in a plug for CBS's Big Brother while she was at it, but then hunkered down to watch Bill and Brooke's ultimately G-rated interaction. Katie commanded Donna to keep her mouth shut ("You kept Brooke's secret; now you have to keep mine"), while Bill and Brooke admitted what they did was wrong. Brooke felt Katie was beginning to trust them, and repeated that sentiment five times in two episodes! I thought Katie had looped some video playback!
Katie seems to be willing to take Bill back if he passes her test. Don't do it, Katie! It would suck if Katie weakened in her resolve. Now that Bill has convinced Brooke to go on a Brooke's Bedroom press junket in Monte Carlo, maybe Katie will get the ammunition she needs to follow through on her divorce! Does Katie need to wait six months, too? Just wondering.
I'm also wondering what your thoughts are on all things B&B! Express 'em on the Soap Central message boards or the comments section. Send an email or leave a voicemail. You can also have your say via Facebook below. Your comments could end up in a future column. Like these!
• "What if Liam turns out to be Thorne's son? Someone could have tampered with the DNA results. Wyatt would then be the number one son at Spencer and Rick would have more company over at Forrester!" -- Denna
• "I don't agree with you that Lope is the weakest link, Mike. Leffy was always the weakest link, and Steffy was, and is, the reason Liam hasn't been likeable for a long time...clearly, [Liam] is a minute too late, as sparks have been flying between Hope and Wyatt, but at least Liam is refreshed and less annoying than he's been in forever...Darin Brooks is a fantastic addition to the cast and the whole show has a new look and feel...there IS no weak link on B&B right now, it's never been better!" -- Chelsea
• "Lope is definitely the weakest link. Hope being engaged to a married Liam is a stupid move. One would think Hope would learn some kind of lesson by now. Hope and Liam are trying too hard to be together. They should let it go by now and move on. Lope having sex in the same cabin as Steam, eww." -- Camille
• "Anyone else checked out the family tree links and seen how many miscarriages/stillbirths there have been? Writers must not know how to deal with children being born on this show. So sick of Hope, Liam, Steffy. Do not like Hope at all! Hoping that Hope ends up with Wyatt and Steffy ends up with anyone else but Liam. Liam is disgusting!" -- Gina
• "Steffy needs to come back and Wyatt be her new love. That would be most interesting." -- Ruth
• "Why do stories use a character that we know but haven't seen for a while and give her a different name? Quinn, Wyatt's mom is Felicia Forrester. Hair color style, voice, all the same. The daughter who had cancer, all but died, came back with a baby and moved away now to be Quinn? Give us a little more credit than that!" -- Diane
Let's wrap this puppy up with some Points to Ponder:
Did we really need Hope to recap outing Wyatt as a Spencer for Brooke's benefit? Though it was interesting for Brooke to side with Quinn, noting that Hope should have handled the matter privately... Quinn yelped that she wasn't going to let Bill take Wyatt away from her. What is Wyatt, five? Hey, maybe Quinn needs to hit up Bill for eighteen years of child support!... First Bill said the cliff house was Liam's, then crowed, "It's my house." Make up your mind, Bill... When Liam asked why Quinn wasn't married, Wyatt said, "That's another conversation." I sniff a story there, Wyatt! Color me intrigued!
There was a huge meeting at Forrester regarding the faltering Hope for the Future line, yet Hope was nowhere to be seen. Brooke was also conspicuously absent, considering her son was on the chopping block... Katie has a conglomerate to run, and her major task for the day is redecorating Bill's office? Then the assistant called Katie "Ms. Spencer" -- you'd think Katie would insist on "Miss Logan." And then Donna told the assistant, "This doesn't seem like anything that can't wait" and shooed her away! Donna's not an employee of Spencer, and she's a disenfranchised sister to boot. She's in no position to give orders!
"She was so mad, she wouldn't hear me," Brooke lamented to Donna. No, Brooke, Katie didn't hear you because you were defending her husband that cheated with you... Bill mentioned Liam and Wyatt to Brooke in the same sentence as if she already knew about Wyatt; she did, but Bill didn't know that... Was the picture of Bill and Liam that Wyatt was studying from Liam's 2010 coming-out-as-a-Spencer party?
Odd that the tabloid web site listed Liam as "William Spencer," and that Wyatt referred to Steffy as "Stephanie"... Hope scoffed when Liam asked her to move in as they waited out the divorce, claiming Liam knew how Hope felt about that. Yet she was okay with sleeping with Liam?... In the car, Liam flashed back to their conversation, but where did that particular flashback come from? That stretch of dialogue wasn't in said scene. Looks like it was taken from a deleted scene that someone forgot was deleted!
I will be back to Scoop for you again next week, and on August 19, Tracy returns to dish B&B in her own inimitable style. In the meantime, consider these important questions: What will Bill and Brooke get up to in Monte Carlo? Is Thorne finally being taken out of mothballs? And has war been declared between Wyatt and Liam? Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!
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.
