Has your week been bold and beautiful? Was blackmail a part of your seduction technique? Did you discover that clearly if you're easy, you're gonna be blue? Did you use a new website to say there was hope for no future? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Avant-Spectra clan this week!
This may be a first, Scoopers: I can't pronounce a new couple name. Is it "WALL-y" or "WHAL-y"? In the middle of that and wondering if these guys have broken the show's speed record for hooking up, Bill thought the idea of throwing Taylor in jail would get Steffy all hot and bothered. And then things got weird. Suddenly, there's a lot of aggrieved Forrester employees and one nasty HFTF message! Let's Scoop about it!
LET'S BLACK-MAIL THOSE WEDDING INVITATIONS
Okay. First question. What the hell is wrong with Taylor? She shows up on Steffy's door all crying and paranoid that Bill will turn her in. I can see Taylor's guilt eating her up inside, but this is not the woman I watched in the '90s and early '00s. I already thought Taylor was a little off when she returned from the dead (again) in 2005, becoming an alcoholic, then becoming fixated on everything Brooke did or didn't do. But this?
There's a story here, and B&B isn't telling it. I am totally cool with a character acting, well, out of character, if there's a good reason for it. We need to know why Taylor has slipped off this edge. Just shooting Bill to protect Steffy's non-virtue isn't enough. Undealt-with trauma from being shot by Sheila? Being held prisoner by Omar for years? There are many possibilities. One needs to be picked for this to make sense.
Next question: What the hell is wrong with Bill? The man goes to a meditation retreat and comes back determined to put Taylor behind bars if Steffy doesn't marry him? Bill has become crazier than Taylor. And at least here, one could see an obsession getting the better of Bill, because look how many he's given in to the past year alone. Bill has always flirted with being unredeemable; now he's having a full-blown affair with it.
Still is officially over with this turn into Can't Come Back From It Land. Even Steffy told Bill there was no way she'd ever fall for him given this despicable behavior. And y'all know Steffy has cosigned any amount of Bill's despicable behavior over the years. Bill seriously thinks he's trying to save Steffy from enduring Liam gravitating toward Hope again and sought out Brooke for the sole purpose of working on her regarding Lope.
Brooke saw through his crap, and so did Steffy, but Liam, who has said over and over he didn't want Steffy keeping any more secrets from him, bought with his own credit card Steffy's excuse that she needed to delay their wedding. Shouldn't the last few months have taught Liam that Steffy's sudden turnarounds mean she's shutting down, and that usually has something to do with Bill?
And here's something else I don't get. Steffy recently said that Liam knows Taylor put a bullet in Bill. When did that happen? Because back when Liam thought he did the deed, Steffy merely reasoned him into realizing he couldn't have, and she never said boo about Taylor or anyone else having committed the crime. Apparently Detective Sanchez calls Bill every day, asking who shot him. No more suspects in four months?
Steffy's "hormones" (nice misogyny, Bill) had her promising her one-time lover that he wasn't going to get away with threatening Taylor. I'd love to see Steffy turning the tables on him! Of course, it may turn Bill on more; Still started because Steffy blackmailed him into relinquishing control of Forrester back in 2010. I really think Bill is done. He's bypassed rogue and become a bona fide cartoon villain. He's not fun to watch anymore.
Why doesn't Steffy send Taylor away somewhere, preferably to a nice institution in Switzerland? Or why doesn't she pack Liam, Kelly, and Taylor up and leave L.A.? We could still see them -- it doesn't need to be a remote -- I just can't see why Steffy marrying Bill to protect Taylor is the only option. I realize Bill would probably find them overseas. But splitting town would be more proactive than what Steffy's doing now.
NOT ONE TO LET GRASS GROW UNDER MY FEET
Wyatt wanted a beachy mural on a wall belonging to a house his father could kick him out of at any time (come to think of it, why hasn't Bill given him the old heave-ho?), and Sally got jealous because the artist Wyatt had in mind was a female. Here's the thing. Wyatt and Sally seem like they could be a really fun, solid couple...but not after a couple of soap days. Why always the rush with new duos on this show?
Seriously! Two "days" ago, Wyatt was still thinking of a future with Katie. It's true: Wally is a rebound and nothing less, no matter how much I like them. It would be only natural for Wyatt and Sally to hold onto each other, given their current circumstances, both licking their wounds over their heartbreaks. Sometimes you just need someone to hold. But don't sell me on this thing that Wally is the next great romance. Not this fast.
I wish Wyatt had given Sally a place to stay and that we could have had at least a month or two of distrust giving way to hiding sparks to the point they couldn't be held back anymore. That's the way soap romances used to jam, anyway. "What happens in two weeks when they break up?" Ridge wanted to know. And if the King of Wafflers is asking that question, you know it's serious.
Suddenly, Eric and Quinn, who have been more than a little AWOL lately, came charging through the beach house door, uninvited! Guys...you're not at Forrester. Not even the courtesy of a call or text first? I know the show only has nineteen minutes per episode but that's not a good time-saver; just knock on the freaking door. Well, in no time, Quinn sussed out her son was gettin' some and peppered Sally with questions.
Sally appealed to Quinn's own history of being screwed over by Bill, a fact Quinn couldn't deny. "He forced [Wyatt] to end his last relationship," Sally reported. No, he didn't! Not unless Bill coached Will to comment on Wyatt not being his dad, knowing it would prompt Katie to pull the plug on him. Has the writing room missed something, or did Wyatt not tell Sally the whole truth about his sudden singledom?
Wyatt admitted that Sally was rudderless right now and just needed a chance to get back on her feet. So, he suggested that Eric give her a job! I mean, that's sweet and all, but is Forrester Creations the only place of employment in Los Angeles? I want to know what happened to Quinn Artisan Jewelers, the company Quinn and Wyatt were running when they first showed up. Wyatt's broke, too; why can't he and Sally reboot QAJ?
SO MUCH FOR THAT EMPLOYEE PICNIC
Against everyone's judgment, Eric acknowledged Sally having stolen Forrester's collection last year but decided to forgive and forget. Needless to say, most others at FC weren't about such generosity of spirit. Before we delve further into that, can Eric make hiring decisions? I don't know much about business, but Ridge and Steffy are co-CEOs. Maybe that high up, they don't deal with HR issues. Just wondering.
Sally managed to dig yet another outfit out of the purse she said held all her worldly belongings -- or at least, everything that wasn't in "great-aunt Sally's storage locker." Sally told Ridge that the O.S. (Original Sally) "sends her regards." Wait a minute. nuSally came to L.A. at Sally's behest and lost everything, trying to make Spectra rise from the ashes, and our favorite diva can't break away from the cabana boys to help the girl?
Ridge was more upset about Sally being on the payroll than he was about Eric going over his head, but Hope borrowed the stink eye Maya had given Emma the previous week and cast it heavily toward Sally. Or Maya had a spare, because she made it a double stink eye, leaving Sally's denim duds smelling like a skunk. I can sort of understand Maya's attitude, since she was there last year during Sally's theft. But Hope?
Hope was still in Milan, brooding over Liam for the third year in a row when all that was going down. Family loyalty, I suppose, because Hope let Sally know not only would Sally not be there if Eric had given Hope a choice (didn't Eric similarly pull rank in 2013 when Hope wanted to fire Wyatt?), but Sally shouldn't bother gifting Hope with free designs, because Sally was never going to design at Forrester. Like, ever.
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON
Maybe Hope has it out for Sally because she and Liam almost became a thing under the rubble of Spectra and everything. Even Wyatt referenced that explosive event when reminding Liam of his history with Sally. Was it just me, or did Liam seem jealous that Wyatt got to sleep with her and he didn't? Then something happened I didn't catch right away...everyone started warning Wyatt about Sally.
Liam saw the bullet hole Sally had added above Wyatt's mantelpiece and worried that Sally might hurt Steffy or Hope if Sally's new thing with Wyatt hit the skids. Um, dude, you had no problem with Steffy pushing you out of the way to add the same adornment to Sheila's motel room, so pipe down. And Liam, in all the time you spent with Sally, did you ever get the impression she could hurt people, even at her worst?
No, you didn't. But Liam wasn't the only one with such concerns. Ridge reminded Sally how she'd fired a gun in Bill's office, and if she pulled anything like that at Forrester, she'd be out! So, is that why we haven't seen Rick? He got fired retroactively? Let's not forget that at the beginning of 2015, he shot at Ridge and Caroline, with no such repercussions. Nevertheless, Ridge thought Sally was dangerous!
Ridge sure hasn't worried much about Thorne most of the past three decades, considering Thorne actually shot Ridge in the head when mullets were still in style. Speaking of Thorne, he seemed to very much enjoy telling Katie that Wyatt had moved on with Sally! "Already?" Katie grumbled. Excuse me? You're gonna pop off with that, seconds after kissing Thorne, who you moved on with even faster? Girl, you tried it!
Dressing up in her best hypocrisy, Katie made a beeline for Wyatt's and had the nerve to tell him that maybe Sally wasn't the best choice for him. When she found out Sally had shot Bill's picture like a plastic duck at a carnival, Katie really went, ahem, ballistic! "Can't you understand a little bit here?" Wyatt asked. "After all, you held a gun on my mother last summer, and I was totally cool with that." I added that last part.
Yeah, Katie's got no room to talk on that one. At least Sally's had actual troubles and didn't get sacked from a jewelry designing position she wasn't qualified for. Wyatt got the same earful from ex-wife Hope, only Sally overheard Hope trying to turn Wyatt off her. And Sally did not like it. She wanted respect and declared to Hope that she could take care of herself. I'm not sure what that meant. Not something you say to a new boss.
LADIES WITH AN ATTITUDE
Everyone must have forgotten it was Casual Friday, because claws were out, and I don't mean the bear claws on the catering table. Charlie caught Emma fiddling with her phone near the HFTF designs and shouted, "Busted!" He's probably a fan of that old Ray Charles song, but before Emma could willingly hand over her device, Maya swooped in and bought Charlie's claim that Emma was at it again.
Yes, Emma snapped a photo of an HFTF piece, and yes, as Chanel said last week, she wasn't the first one to do so. Former intern Beverly also pixelized for posterity back in 2011; not the most original infraction. But Emma, don't worry: Gina Rodriguez as Beverly disappeared from Forrester but has been going great guns as Jane the Virgin for four seasons so far. Maybe there's another dancing show in your future!
Before Emma could prove herself one way or the other, Xander exclaimed that Emma had done nothing wrong. "I know her." I'm sure when I was a teenager, I thought I knew someone after a couple of days, too, which is the only thing that could explain such a proclamation. I don't think Emma should be getting so much flak for being a Barber. That said, why did they let her backstage by herself if they didn't trust her?
Maya had plenty of stink eye left to go around with her husband off on a country music tour (oops, that's Rick's portrayer, Jacob Young). Fresh from Hope telling her she'd had no authority to fire Emma and to "stay in her own lane," Maya learned HFTF needed fresh faces, and she would not be sashaying in its showing, despite being Forrester's lead model. Maya bitched to Emma and Xander and then skulked out of the room.
Meanwhile, Pam was none too thrilled to discover Hope had been in close conference with Liam over the development of the new HFTF website. Charlie felt it wasn't Pam's business. "Steffy is my business," Pam retorted. "If [Hope] doesn't keep her distance..." Uh-oh. Aren't Pam and Charlie in the exact same place, expressing the exact same looks as when Pam went off her meds the night Bill was shot?
When Charlie reminded Pam that Liam and Steffy weren't married at the moment, Pam fired back that he always said marriage wasn't for everyone. Then she doubled down by admitting that maybe she overvalued marriage because she'd never been a bride herself. Ouch. But maybe Charlie deserved it. He and Pam have been together five years, which is before the dinosaurs in soap time. Why no proposal yet?
Pam snooped on Liam presenting HFTF's brand-spankin'-new site to Hope, who loved it. Kudos to the show for having Hope say Liam had IT experience, but didn't he just tell Brooke and Thorne that preparing the site was going to take awhile? Moments later, Liam declared the job done! And come on -- for all Liam's expertise, that site looked like he'd just spent a few minutes building one with Wix.
Well, Pam waited for Hope to emerge and told her how Stephanie used to call her in Chicago, telling her all about Brooke's antics. Pretty amazing when you consider that during our first visit with Pam in 2006, she said she hadn't heard from Stephanie in 30 years. Pam labeled Hope a Logan and warned her to stay away from Liam, even demanding she stay in her own lane. Did Pammy pick up that line from Hope?
PREGNANT PAUSES
Hope lost focus during her meeting with Maya, Emma, and Xander and hurriedly excused herself; once Maya bailed, the teens were left wondering if every day at Forrester would be this weird. I thought Hope was just rattled from her confrontation with Pam; who wouldn't be? But by the time Hope found Brooke, her mother clued in that something else was going on.
Hope relayed that she probably had the flu, but she remembered she'd felt like this the last time... Hallelujah! Hope finally mentioned her never-mentioned 2014 pregnancy! And I knew pregnancy was the subject because Hope whipped out the most generic CVS pregnancy test possible. She was going to go the bathroom and take it. I wonder if Sasha is still down there, offering to help Hope dip it in the toilet of her choice?
Brooke insisted to Bill she'd accept Liam and Steffy's remarriage, but dang, La Logan just can't help herself when it comes to babies. She seemed jazzed that Hope was going to have a child by the man she loved, despite the situation! So, Brooke wanted to know when Hope's test timer went off...was she pregnant? Was she? Now, Scoopers, you didn't really think we were going to find out on a Friday, did you?
Across the hall, Liam was showing Thorne the new web site, reading off the comments they were already getting in the appropriate section. It's different to see Liam and Thorne in a scene...makes me think of that brief period in 2010 when Liam thought Thorne might be his father because Thorne had also been with Kelly Cooper. Anybody else think this might be a good time for Liam to switch fathers?
I wondered why Hope and Thorne would be averse to accepting comments on the page, but I soon got my explanation. "I'm coming after U. Watch out!" said one decorated with a skull and crossbones. I second Liam's "Whoa!" It's like 1995, when Macy was getting similar threatening letters. Of course, they had to have been letters, since the Internet was barely a thing yet. Is Anthony Armando out of jail?
Who could the cyber-bully be? Emma, whose dancing concept was ditched? Pam, whose lemon bar hobby clearly isn't working? Maya, who no longer is supermodel of the world? Hell, they let Sally backstage, unsupervised, with her tablet the way they did Emma. Is Bill trying a new tactic to scare Hope away? Or OMG -- could Taylor be getting ready to put a bullet in Hope to get her out of Steffy's way?
Tell us your suspicions in the Comments section below or on the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!
"Why every summer [does B&B] have to bring on a bunch of...kids? They got rid of R.J. who had a right to be there because he's Ridge and Brooke's son to make room for some more [kids] that nobody cares about." -- "joaniepoo"
"ITA about the Katie and Wyatt break up. I know B&B moves fast but this was a new record. I love this couple but I would have accepted the breakup if there was some build-up to it. Last time we saw them, they apologized to each other for their disagreement concerning Bill's manipulation and everything seemed fine. But now, Will simply stating that he wants to talk to his father instead of his brother is a deal-breaker? Come on! Also, I get that [Wyatt being Will's half-brother] is an issue for some but this is B&B and if Brooke is able to marry 2 of her son's brothers, I believe Katie can, too." -- "callieab"
"I realize we're watching a soap opera (and new problems are part of the genre) but I think viewers would like to see B&B's characters reflect on their relationships' demise (for more than 5 minutes!) before moving on to their next love interest." -- "Wide Awake in Sleepy Eye"
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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