Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you gain and lose a husband at the same time? Did you talk to your shooter about a shooting without the slightest bit of irony? Did you clearly fail your medical exam? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Walton clan this week!
Are you strapped in, Scoopers? It was quite the ride on B&B as Steffy had to switch marriage vows from Liam to Finn and then find out she was widowed. And Sheila, with both nurse and murderer positions on her résumé, seemingly forgot how to off someone as she tried to do Steffy in twice. Meanwhile, the Leffy/Lope tease seemed over...until it wasn't! Y'all ready? Let's Scoop about it!
Monday was the sole episode which featured a different story besides Steffy's shooting -- the apparent return of Quinn, Eric, and Carter, who has become the wonder womanizer of Los Angeles. Six months (in real time!) after Eric and Quinn supposedly resolved their differences -- and Eric's erectile dysfunction -- the marital malaise was said to be continuing, if not via ED, then by Eric being MIA.
Kinda outta nowhere, wasn't it? First Carter ditches Paris (Grace, who had no purpose on the show except to push Zende/Paris, probably peaced out, clapping her hands in glee), then Carter and Quinn start talking about how much they miss each other. And how much Eric has been sleeping solo in the guesthouse while Quinn lets her fingers do the walking all over again, alone in the Forrester manse.
Quinn thought she might be kidding herself in thinking that Eric could truly move beyond her betraying him with Carter. Me, I think the show's kidding itself in thinking we should go for Quarter: Round Two. It's been too long, Carter has since vacillated between Katie and Paris, and where would that leave Eric? It's too much like the show is trying to capitalize on a fiery pairing they themselves threw water on.
But if Quinn and Carter are going to burn holes in bedsheets again, at least let Quinn divorce Eric first. And for soap's sake, put Eric front and center with his own story where he belongs. John McCook's retirement will come sooner rather than later, and, as one of only two actors who have been on B&B its entire run, he should have story revolve around him instead of being relegated to the seniors' table. Oh, and no reunion with Donna. That ship has sailed, as well.
For the first time since Krista Allen took over the role of Taylor, I saw some Hunter Tylo shining through this week. Not because of any acting choice -- it's the dialogue, which pitted Taylor against Brooke again, this time over whether or not Steffy should be allowed to continue thinking Liam was her husband. Taylor thought Steffy was too fragile for the truth, while Brooke didn't think the charade did Steffy any good.
I can't tell you how much social media opposition I saw to Hope and Brooke evidently marking their territory during Steffy's time of crisis. But I hafta tell ya...I was very much on the side of the truth coming out. Steffy might have been suffering a "dissociative response to trauma," as Taylor accurately pointed out, but usually shrinks want patients to remember things, not be encouraged in their delusions.
Plus, I think the one thing all B&B fans can agree on at this point is that none of us wants to see another Hope/Liam/Steffy triangle. At least, Steffy harping on "my sweet babboo" -- er, husband (just a little Peanuts there for ya) is more of a Leffy/Lope tease. But a tease is good enough. Viewers deemed that triangle old in 2012. So, Steffy getting hipped to Liam not being her husband couldn't happen fast enough for me.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Hotdog -- er, Baker, was sniffing around, likely only picking up the scent of cafeteria frankfurters while the stench of criminality was standing right behind him. Seriously, Sheila lurked in the background as Baker tried to get Steffy to remember who plugged her. Shouldn't Sheila's very presence put Baker on red alert? He was only around when Sheila shot Stephanie in 1998!
Brooke and Co. heralded Baker and Co. as "excellent detectives"...and this praise also came from Liam! Liam, whom Baker was ready to throw in jail a scant year ago, holding only circumstantial evidence in Vinny's death! Baker never actually solves any B&B crimes; the main cast always figures them out. Which was why my eyebrow raised in a good way when Baker actually pulled Sheila aside to talk to her!
"I'm well aware of your criminal past with the Forresters," Baker announced. YES!! The deputy chief couldn't understand how the family was letting Sheila anywhere near them! Sheila used her grief as a shield to get Baker off her back, but he should more avidly research the Sheila connection. Not to mention dig deeper into the investigation itself.
The cameras were out at Il Giardino? How convenient! Chanel asked in last week's column whether Baker had interrogated the bistro's staff. We saw for ourselves the hunky waiter who saw Sheila talking to herself at the bar. No one observed Sheila going into the back alley, where customers don't belong? And/or Steffy? What about Finn, who had to have rushed back there like a bat out of hell?
Sheila had just played up her real tears for Baker's benefit when she sneaked into Steffy's room, stared at the equipment to which the sexy CEO was hooked up, and decided that Steffy couldn't live to remember the truth! Actually, I was surprised Steffy was alive -- her beeping monitor said her heart was thumping at only 60 beats per minute! Any lower, and Sheila wouldn't have anything to worry about.
Sheila looked like she was going to pinch Steffy's I.V. tube, or maybe it was her oxygen tube. Then Sheila's fingers danced over one of the machines as if pressing a button would take care of Steffy once and for all! Now, I'm not a nurse like Sheila used to be, but even I know that none of those things would kill Steffy. It's not like Steffy was on life support or couldn't breathe without the assistance of a tube.
So, I don't get how the show thought any of the actions taken by Sheila in that room would lead to Steffy's demise. It was pretty sloppy, and it put Sheila way off her game. I mean, this is a woman who killed someone with bees. The old Sheila would have sneaked into the dispensary and bogarted some liquid medicine and a syringe with which to inject it into Steffy's I.V. Failing that, Sheila's been known to make her own poison! Losin' your touch there, She-Devil.
Brooke and Hope appointed Liam to be Steffy's truth teller, though he probably had waffles for breakfast, because he tried to straddle the line between what his wife wanted and what his ex-wife presumably needed. That's when Bridget -- a quasi-legacy character who's been reduced to a role a day player could have tackled -- happened upon the scene to reveal that Steffy was now strong enough to be clued in to reality.
Ridge and Thomas objected, despite Bridget delivering official medical advice. And Taylor would certainly have freaked, except she was busy interrupting Sheila's not-murder attempt. But then things took a rather amazing turn. Liam, the designated reviser, told Ridge that he and Taylor had the last word in the decision. Followed by Ridge saying that he wanted to be in the room when Liam told Steffy the truth!
This set up a compelling scene in Steffy's hospital room, where her fam, plus Sheila, gathered. They began by feeding Steffy her daily dose of innocuous pabulum, but Steffy proved sharp enough, even in her weakened state, to wonder why Sheila was there. Ridge silently signaled Liam, who I fully expected would have to do all the heavy lifting himself.
But surprise! Liam got help from Ridge and Thomas, and even Taylor, albeit grudgingly at first. Liam explained that Sheila had suffered a loss, as well, and Ridge assured Steffy that they would find out who had shot "both of them." Steffy pinged, which Liam took as a cue to refresh Steffy's memory about how she had met...Dr. Jonathan Finnegan? We were told his name was John! Finn had to die before we got clarification on his name?
Taylor actually slid in to cushion the existence of Finn, which Ridge verified by putting a photo of Steffy at her wedding to Finn in front of her. And Steffy remembered! Both her husband and her child! "You have another child -- Hayes," Liam reminded gently. And Steffy went ballistic! "HAYES??!! Why the hell would I name my kid after mom's abusive ex-husband?!"
All right, Steffy didn't say that. But it would have been the perfect opportunity to fix one of B&B's greatest goof-ups. Absorbing her restored memories, Steffy wanted to see Finn...which led Taylor, the last person you'd expect in that situation, given her resistance, to be the one to lovingly inform Steffy that Finn was dead. Wow. Jacqueline Macinnes Wood can ugly cry like nobody's business, and that is an absolute compliment.
I just really liked how the scene unfolded. Something about the layered aspect of it, the way Ridge came around, the way Liam didn't have to shoulder the entire burden of giving Steffy such horrendous news, how Taylor ended up stepping up the most even though she was the most worried about how Steffy would take the revelation. Even the way Sheila bawled as she relived the news of Finn's death was top notch. Kudos!
Sheila got an unexpected burst of sympathy from Steffy, who acknowledged that Sheila was also hurting in light of Finn's death. Sheila choked up that Steffy had offered such kindness, but the second Sheila left Steffy's hospital room, Sheila went back to wondering how Steffy could be silenced. After all, it was already pretty amazing that Steffy remembered everything except who shot her and Finn.
And Bridget declared that Steffy's total recall was "imminent." Unfortunately for Steffy, Bridget also declared that she and the other doctors were doing everything they could to be mindful of Steffy's past addiction...in earshot of Sheila. (It's not actually the first time this was mentioned in front of Sheila, but it was the first time it registered.) It's up there with Bridget accidentally allowing Brooke's egg to be implanted in Taylor; you'd think that Taylor would be far more adversarial with Bridget and that the subject of baby Jack would come up.
Well, Sheila decided that Steffy overdosing was the answer to all her problems. Interestingly, Sheila thought to herself that she didn't want to be "this person" and that "I was going to be better than this." But Steffy had left Sheila no choice. And again, Sheila's fingers danced over the machinery Steffy was connected to. I still say, how was that supposed to help, especially with an overdose in mind?
Was that machine supposed to be pumping medication into Steffy that Sheila could just turn up to eleven? If Sheila could get her hands on a gun, surely she could excuse herself, score some opioids from one of her dark connections, and return with it in hand to squirt into Steffy's I.V.! No, without even explaining, this gizmo was supposed to end Steffy...except Super Liam saw the cha-cha signal and burst in.
Yes, Liam had just had "a feeling" something was wrong with Steffy. At least he acted on it, unlike Brooke, who'd had "a feeling" she hadn't gotten drunk by accident but never followed up on her hunch. Speaking of La Logan, I had gone into the week, thinking she'd sure forgotten about her New Year's naughtiness, but she took a brief -- if inopportune -- moment to remind us, and Ridge, about it.
Brooke wanted to support Ridge in his time of need but went back and forth between Steffy's ordeal and wanting her husband back. Telling Ridge that she couldn't spend another night without him was not Brooke's best example of timing. And topping off her lament about Finn's death with "Finn's never going to come home to his wife -- but you can" really came off as the height of insensitivity! I can't believe Brooke went there.
As I said before, I kind of liked that our soap avoided the predictable route and merely hinted at a Steam reunion in the form of Steffy mistakenly thinking that Liam was her husband. And that said hint was quashed by Steffy remembering Finn. That should have been the end of it. Stir up the fan bases again, make us think they're going to the well again, then suddenly turn the wheel hard and yell, "Psych!"
But that's not what B&B did. And I'm as worried about that as I used to be in the weeks following an L.A. earthquake. Taylor yammered on to Hope so much about Liam being there for Steffy that Hope started having flashbacks of gondolas. Brooke wondered if Taylor was insinuating that Liam and Steffy should be together. Confronted with that insinuation, Taylor denied "trying to matchmake Liam and Steffy."
I hope so, Tay-Tay, because that would be the pinnacle of heartlessness if you were. It was bad enough when Taylor tried to push stepsibs Hope and Thomas together just after Thomas lost Caroline, but Finn's body only just got cold. Yes, Steffy's free now, but come on. It was shades of Taylor before she got pumped full of rainbows and unicorns and after she pumped lead into Bill.
Then the show went further by having Hope eavesdrop on the conversation Liam was having with Steffy in her hospital room, in which Liam said he would always be there for Steffy. Hope looked like she was about to upchuck the soup she had from the hospital vending machine. Why are we having Taylor play on Hope's insecurities and Hope getting all nervous about Liam again? Because nobody wants to see that. I mean no one.
Who should arrive to throw a curve ball into last decade's shenanigans but...Bill? I had to shake my head to make sure I was seeing things clearly. Especially when Bill hugged...Hope? I guess he's come around to the daughter-in-law he once sicced paparazzi on. I got the sinking feeling that Bill was back to further stoke this heightened connection between Liam and Steffy.
Instead, Bill boastfully relayed that, in terms of Steffy and Finn's shootings, "I've already got our private investigators on this." Great! But that again begs the question, why hasn't anyone placed Sheila at Il Giardino minutes before gunshots rang? Are Bill's people going to be any better than Baker and his team? It would really ramp up the suspense to have the professionals putting pieces together instead of Sheila's whole exposé dependent on what Steffy remembers.
By the way, did anyone else find it weird that Bill and Taylor were in a room together for the first time since Taylor fell apart thanking Bill for not sending her to jail -- after Taylor shot him and tried to shoot him a second time -- and yet there they were, talking about a shooting as if the dynamic between them was completely normal? I would have liked to at least see Bill shoot a dirty look at her, which he would.
First Sheila would pace her hotel room, thinking about her living son; now she paces her hotel room, thinking of her dead son. Is Keith going to charge her for wearing out the carpet? "I've got to find a way to survive," Sheila told herself. So, run! Why is she sticking around, knowing that, sooner than later, someone is going to find out that she gunned down her son and his wife?
Running isn't likely, since we've recently received word that Kimberlin Brown is on contract. Whoo boy, I wonder how this is going to play out. Sheila's regret aside, Sheila is essentially unredeemable at this point. The only way for Sheila to remain on our screens long-term is for Steffy to not remember Sheila shooting her for months on end.
So, what -- Sheila tries to kill Steffy again? Puts Steffy in a coma? We know that Jacqueline Macinnes Wood is inches away from going on maternity leave, so pretty soon, Steffy is going to have to be out of commission. Maybe Steffy goes away to a European clinic, where experts work to help her regain her memory? And what can Sheila do for any length of time except hide her crime? I'm dubious, folks. Dubious.
Brooke also predicted that Ridge would "track down this criminal himself if he has to." Last year, we heard that Thorsten Kaye wanted to take some extended time off, which opened up a lot of speculation as to Ridge's fate. Given Brooke's assertion, will Ridge fall victim to Sheila, as well? Maybe it'll be Ridge who takes Steffy overseas for treatment. But now it's me who's speculating. My column. I can do that.
Anyway, Deacon came to visit Sheila, which got me thinking again -- why hasn't the show had Deacon and Bridget cross paths yet? Knowing Sheila practically lives at the hospital now, Deacon could go there to see Sheila and bam! He runs right into Bridget. We need that, especially with Breacon having gotten a soft restart and Hope right there for all to see. Maybe we'll get to these layers once Steffy's crisis subsides.
Deacon actually managed to make Sheila laugh by suggesting that she could hit him to vent her feelings, and he admitted that Sheila was his only friend. Deacon assured Sheila that she could tell him everything, with no judgment, and for a second, I thought that was exactly what she was going to do. What a position Deacon would be in if he found out what Sheila did but had already sworn to be quiet about it!
Sheila would only admit that, for the first time in her life, she had felt whole through connecting with Finn and that she had begun to think anything was possible because of him, "even my redemption." Finn and Hayes were "going to make me a good person," Sheila lamented. Hey, Sheila's had enough therapy to know that only she can do that. But ya know, insanity.
Deacon echoed everyone else in that he was sure the "son of a bitch" who had left Steffy and Finn for dead was going to be caught. #JusticeforFinn! #JusticeforSteffy! Sheila just hunched down as if she wanted to disappear. I just don't know how Sheila stays on the show now. And Finn hasn't even had a funeral. How about bringing Tanner Novlan back so Finn can haunt Sheila? That would be righteous!
Meanwhile, Bridget must be one hell of a doctor, because in about a 24-hour span, Steffy went from a weak patient with a severely impaired memory to someone off oxygen and ready to go home! Yes, Bridget was ready to discharge Steffy. Good, maybe now Bridget can interact with Deacon. Bridget doesn't even live in L.A. And where's her son, Logan? If Will is in boarding school, Logan must be a senior in high school by now.
Speaking of kids, yes, baby Hayes was the cutest. The pain was palpable as Steffy realized Hayes probably wouldn't remember his father as he got older. It kind of made me laugh, though, that "Hayes" cried pretty much through the whole scene. And no wonder -- he's stuck with the name of his grandmother's psycho ex-husband, and his mommy just edged him out of the family. You would cry, too, if it happened to you!
What's in your memories, Scoopers? Should the show keep suggesting another Leffy/Lope go-round, especially with Finn not dead that long? Is Bridget overdue to have a scene (or ten!) with Deacon? Would the second time not be the charm for Quinn and Carter? How do you think Steffy will be written out for JMW's maternity leave? And does Sheila really have any kind of future now? Have total recall in the the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could be in a future column! Like these!
"Even though Kimberlin Brown is now under contract it doesn't mean Sheila won't be exposed for killing Finn and shooting Steffy and maybe go to prison for a bit. Plus characters could visit Sheila in prison. Also I'm wondering if maybe down the line there's a medical emergency with Steffy and Finn's son and Sheila's the only one who can save [him] but in return she gets off for her crimes." -- Andrew
"...There is still time for Lauren on Y&R to find out she didn't shoot Sheila dead all those years ago like she thought she did. That's the story I want to see played out and I can't believe that nobody ever called Lauren in Genoa City to tell her since she is supposed to be a great friend of the Forresters!" -- James
Man, inserting Lauren into this would be epic! It's probably too much to hope for, but what a bookend/full circle it would be to come back around to Sheila's beginnings just as Sheila's story seems to be coming to an end. I would be there for that all day every day!
In the meantime, I need to find out what happens with Steffy's memory now that she's going home and how long it's going to be before Sheila gets busted, so if you're like me, you're gonna keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And, no matter where in the world you are, democracy and freedom are always beautiful.
AMJ
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.
