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Can a character be the best thing on a show… and the most frustrating at the exact same time? Based on this week’s episodes of Bold & Beautiful, I’m going to say yes. Plus, we really need to talk about the Darin Brooks situation…
Sexytime For Thope
The pacing of the Thomas/Hope story has been a mess for reasons I can’t quite understand. But at least this week we got to see them steaming things up. I couldn’t help but remember that a few weeks ago, Eric was complaining about how everybody uses his office and his desk. Well, if he thought that — or Ridge throwing away his stapler — was a major sign of disrespect, I can’t imagine what he’d have thought of Thomas and Hope’s antics!
Hey, at least they locked the door first!
Credit: CBS screenshot
Of course, Brooke’s Thopedar started pinging the second these two went at it, so she was soon trying to barge in. Given that Brooke’s had sex not only in that office but in the Forrester steamroom, design office, lab and backstage area, her clear disgust at what her daughter had done and where seemed a tad hypocritical!
What’s Up With Thomas?
It seemed a little bit weird for Hope to basically repeatedly demand that Thomas declare his love (“I need to hear it!”) when she’s made it clear she doesn’t feel the same way. Talk about wanting to have your sexy, sexy cake and eat it, too!
And how, exactly, are we supposed to feel about Thomas? Certainly the end of Wednesday’s episode, which cut from Brooke warning that Hope’s kinda sorta beau was dangerous to Thomas pausing in the Forrester hallway to fantasize about his lady love as ominous music played. Does he love her? Is he obsessed? Both?
“Do you think she loves me back, Chair? Or am I crazy? Oh, great, I’m asking Chair. Everyone knows you’re a Liam/Hope supporter. I should be talking to Couch.”
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
With this show, who knows. These days, I’m honestly not convinced the writers know… or should I say that they are all on the same page. Because there seems to be a real lack of day-to-day continuity.
Unleash The Kraken!
I’m worried about Li. I mean, I absolutely love the character and think Naomi Matsuda’s alter ego should be given much, much more to do. While everybody else sits around tand talks endlessly, Li takes action. Over the past two weeks, she’s tried to push niece Luna out of town and been the one person who did more than talk about Sheila.
Yes, I could have done without the face-in-the-pasta scene. I mean, for one thing, it couldn’t have been more obvious what was going to happen. The second Sheila strolled across the room with that huge plate of spaghetti, it was very clear what was about to happen.
Fortunately, Li had ordered the Endless Pasta Bowl and could get another order of pasta, minus Sheila’s face.
Credit: CBS screenshot
This show has a long history of this kind of nonsense. But when Taylor and Brooke throw mud or paint at one another, it’s completely different than when you play those same scenes with someone who is quite literally a murderess. No, Deacon’s love has not erased Sheila’s past. Even if she never, ever commits another crime, she is still guilty of perhaps more felonies than any other soap character in recorded history.
Bold & Beautiful needs to stop writing Sheila like a cartoon character/romantic heroine, give her back her spine and write one final epic storyline in which the real Sheila comes roaring back, does her worst and winds up either killed or behind bars for good. Period.
More: Here’s all (or at least most) of Sheila’s crimes
But back to Li. Remember at the start of this column, a billion words ago, I asked if a character could be both the best and most frustrating character on the canvas. This was what I meant. Li is full of piss and vinegar, and nobody on the current canvas can give better sneer.
But she’s also frustrating thanks to the writing, which makes her all bark and no bite. I’m ready to see her completely unleashed!
That Can’t Be It… Right?
As for why Li’s so determined to get Luna out of town, there’s got to be more… right? So Poppy — whom we now know was born Penelope — was a bit, as my mom would say, “free with her affections.” So she wrecked a marriage and, to hear Li tell it, got her sister transferred? Big whoop.
R.J’s not about to let Luna go… ’cause with her goes his only chance of a real storyline!
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
None of that has diddly squat to do with the Forrester family. Yet from the start, it was made clear that Poppy and Li want to keep Li far from that clan. So far, the only reason I can see to do so involves the major HR violations which R.J. seems to commit on a daily basis. But we all know Forrester doesn’t have an HR department, so that can’t be it.
Farewell, Wyatt
I was so sad to hear that Darin Brooks is, for all intents and purposes, leaving the show. Yes, yes, Bold & Beautiful will say that he’s “recurring,” but they still think of Maya as recurring, too, I’m sure.
More: Read Darin’s farewell message
What’s particularly upsetting about this is what that it represents a far bigger problem with the soap, which is its complete inability to balance the canvas. Either characters are on every single day, or they’re essentially gone. Worse, they often leave without ever being given an exit storyline. All this time later, we still have no idea the details behind Rick and Maya’s split. Is Zoe, who left on a business trip, ever coming back? The audience may have had issues with Flo, but she’s a Logan who vanished without a trace.
“Wait,” whispered Liam to his dad. “Does Wyatt know he’s outta here?”
Credit: CBS screenshot
One of my favorite things about Bold & Beautiful in recent years has been the Spencer men. Put Brooks, Scott Clifton (Liam) and/or Don Diamont (Bill) in a scene, and it’s automatically must-see. Yet Brooks is now being written off, while Clifton and Diamont have been completely backburnered. Why? So we can have endless, repetitive scenes in which the same six characters talk about the same things, over and over?
Frustration, thy name is this show.
And if Brooks’ exit doesn’t have you asking who’ll be next to walk through that revolving door, you might want to. Because I promise, he won’t be the last. Trust me…
Here We Go Again…
Liam continues to be the absolute worst. The complete and total disrespect he’s showing toward Finn and Steffy’s marriage is borderline shocking… or would be if it was anyone else. But Liam’s gonna Liam, so of course he not only took it upon himself to call Steffy but did so from Finn’s office! He didn’t even have the decency to go into the hallway or wait until he got home. Nope, when Liam decides to leap, it is always without looking.
Finn tried using his invisible remote to mute Liam. It didn’t work.
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
And here’s the thing… Liam then had the nerve to suggest Steffy come home… to him. But it’s not as if he’s done anything more than Finn has to deal with the Sheila problem. Just because he says he’ll keep her safe doesn’t mean he can or will. At this point, I kinda want Steffy to just say, “Oh my God, you two are impossible… get outta the way, I’m going to deal with Sheila. I shot her once before, I’ll do it again!”
Character Flaws
Fans took me to task on Twitter (which I will never, ever call “X”) this week for daring to suggest that Finn do something more than wag a finger at Sheila and tell her to go away. With most being self-confessed “Sinn” shippers, it wasn’t terribly surprising that they accused me of “hating” the character. But that must mean I hate every character on the show, because… well, let’s just look at the list of folks I’ve taken to task, and why, in recent weeks.
“Do I have to do everything around here, Finn? Fine, I’ll do your surgery, then I’ll dash over to Sheila’s place and push her off a cliff so Steffy can come home!”
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
• Brooke and Ridge, for reuniting without working on the issues that parted them in the first place.
• Taylor, for being a World Renowned Psychiatrist who continues to pine for a guy who has hurt her over and over.
• Hope, for hooking up with Thomas despite their complicated history.
• Deacon, for risking everything to be with Sheila.
• Sheila, for endlessly talking about wanting to be with Finn yet never actually reaching out to him after Steffy left town, clearing the path for her.
• R.J. for being wildly inappropriate with an intern.
• Liam for… well, pretty much everything he’s ever done.
You get the point, I hope. The thing is this: When I call out a character, it’s not because I hate the character or the actor. It’s because what they are doing on screen doesn’t make sense. That’s about the writers, not the character or their portrayer. What the character does this week might drive me insane, while what they did previously put them on my “awesome” list.
That’s what ALL bias trolls say, Jan. 😒 https://t.co/dJrc6R9SmI
— Kelly Kardashian (@kenyababy) October 19, 2023
I’ve been saying this for three decades, but I don’t ship couples or characters. I ship storylines. I love a good, messy, complicated storyline. I might praise a character this week and diss them the next. I like when characters make sense, don’t forget their history, and are actually doing what their dialogue says they are doing. Don’t tell me you’re fighting for your marriage, show me. Don’t tell me you’ve instantly forgiven your true love, show me how they’ve earned that forgiveness.
More: Annika Noelle (Hope) sets the record straight
But haters gonna hate, and shippers gonna ship. Like peanut butter and jelly, those are just two things that are gonna go hand in hand.
You said he hasn’t done a damn thing. That criticizing him not the writing. Just stand on it. Why is it hard?
— MS 116 (@Mngh116) October 19, 2023
So I’ll say it again for the folks in the back: These are characters on a TV show, not real people. So when you criticize what the character is doing, you’re referring to the actions crafted by the writers. And I’d be willing to bet that even some hard-core shippers, though they’d never admit it, sometimes get frustrated by what the scribes have their faves do.
More: Even Sheila didn’t see this twist coming
Random Thoughts
• Anybody else find it kinda weird that Thomas and Hope pushed everything off the desk… and then wound up having sex on the couch? And while I get that this is CBS and not Skinamax, it was rather amusing that these two interrupted their hot-and-heavy sex session to cover themselves with a blanket.
“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?”
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
• Call me crazy, but if my Honey Bear is coughing up blood all over the living room, I’m taking them to the hospital. Donna had Eric’s doctor come over, walk him through a few deep breaths and declare, “Gee, we’re not sure what’s really wrong with him.” Do some blood work! X-Rays! CT scans! Hook him up to every maching known to man! Y’all are rich, fly in Dr. Meredith Grey!
We’ve got a status update on all your favorite Bold & Beautiful couples in the gallery below. Which pairs have what it takes to survive?
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