Hello, and welcome to the most recent shootout between Brooke and Taylor -- only their choice of weapons for this duel wasn't pistols or knives, but instead, many colorful tubes of paint. Hey, the décor in the Forrester living room needed a little brightening up, anyway, and those vivid hues certainly livened up the drab color scheme. After penning The Young and the Restless Two Scoops column for over seven years, writing a Two Scoops column for another soap enticed me out of semi-retirement to brush the cobwebs off my computer. (It's a new Mac, so that didn't take long.) Since I watch all four daytime soaps, it sounds like fun to give my opinions, both good and bad, about Y&R's sister soap. As you might know, AMJ is taking a few weeks off for personal reasons, but he will be back next month to share his B&B thoughts.
The couples on B&B are a little scary in that they all seem to be able to get over a broken romance in lickety-split time. I know that when my heart was smashed in two in the past, it took me a long time to heal, and I wasn't ready to take a chance with another love again for quite a while. I sometimes wonder if any of the characters have ever been truly in love if they are able to jump into another relationship so quickly afterward. Every time. And when they take the leap, it's usually with one that they had already been with in the past. Come on, this is Los Angeles. There must be a lot of fish in that sea, but no amount of bait seems to be capable of luring them out. A perfect example of this is what I have endearingly labeled "the eternal triangle" of Hope, Liam, and Steffy,
Liam flip-flopped between the two lovely ladies so often that my head got tired of spinning. And the storylines among this threesome became redundant and stale with practically the same lines being spoken day after day after day. Hope and Steffy were doing anything and everything in their power to win the grand prize, only I didn't see how Liam could be considered a prize when he could never decide between the two of them in any way that would stick. Hey, girls, he's all yours. But it got so tiring to watch because it was the same old, same old all the time. No one was more thrilled than I when the dashing Dr. John Finnegan rode into town on his white steed to sweep the beautiful damsel Steffy off her feet. It really appeared that "the eternal triangle" had found a final ending, after all.
But then Sheila returned to town and did what Sheila always does by creating mayhem and havoc the second her toe crossed over the city limits line. And she couldn't leave the son, whom she claimed to love and wanted to reconnect with, out of her mass destruction. Heaven forbid! Oh, no, Sheila saved her worst for Finn, when she shot him "dead" (soap opera dead) and then turned the gun on his loving wife. Only Steffy survived, and when it was discovered that she had a partial memory loss and believed she was still married to Liam, I screamed at the TV, "No! The eternal triangle is back! Darn you, Sheila!" And Taylor really expected Hope to go along with Liam pretending to be married to Steffy. Yeah, okay.
So, then I thought I would be back to fast-forwarding through the same monotonous scenes again with my remote, when a bright light suddenly shone on the horizon. I absolutely love it when a soap can surprise me. You know it's happened when I am left with my mouth hanging open after I yell out, "What?!" But it's so rare to trip up the fans these days, since we've pretty much seen every soap storyline under the sun. However, B&B has managed to accomplish this great feat with me twice. The first time was when Nicole confronted her older sister, Maya, and announced that she knew from the past that Maya was her brother. What?! I could have sworn that Nicole was going to say mother, so I was thinking, yeah, well, what else is new? But, yeah, brother was definitely new. Bravo!
The second time came just recently when we all learned that Finn was still alive. I was practically in tears and thanking my lucky stars. I could pause on using my fast-forward button, because the eternal triangle wouldn't be squaring off once again to go around and around in circles. Or however a triangle spins. But also, I really like Steffy and Finn together. He accepts her as the strong, independent woman that she is, plus it's very obvious that for him, she's not playing second fiddle. Steffy is number one with Finn and vice versa. It's very romantic and wonderful to watch. And with Sheila still around, even if they don't know it yet, this happy couple will still have plenty of drama and angst to fill their lives, which will keep them off the backburner.
And speaking of backburner, up until recently, Bill had practically vanished from our screens. Sadly, I can understand why Wyatt hasn't been around as much after he was paired off with the not-so-popular baby-napping Flo instead of the spirited, complex Sally, who thankfully has moved on in a tremendous way to Y&R. But we still need the complicated and sometimes morally challenged Bill Spencer in our lives. Since Katie and Bill have already made a run at love several times, it's time for them both to move on to something new. Shoot, Katie should have called it over and done with Bill the first time she learned that he had chosen her sister Brooke over her. So, I'm ready for Bill to wine and dine another fair lady. Could that someone be Finn's mom Li? Time will tell.
Then there's probably what could be known as the original eternal triangle: Brooke, Ridge, and Taylor. Really, are we ready for another round with this trio? I have to admit, though, that the paint fight between Brooke and Taylor was rather entertaining. They not only livened up the scene with their bickering but also with the vibrant colors they were covered with. But, yeah, they were acting more childish than Douglas, and the poor kid had to do without his paints once they had finally gotten all their anger and frustration with each other out. Oh, well, that's the way life happens sometimes. Brooke and Taylor were both wrong, and they should have been ashamed, but somehow, I doubt if they were. All's fair in love and war, even if immaturity and insecurity win out.
Why are Steffy and Thomas treating Hope like she's not Douglas' "real" mother? Hope adopted him, and she and Thomas arranged to have a contract drawn up specifying that they have shared custody of the boy. But now, Thomas has decided that he wants full custody of Douglas, so to heck with Hope? Thomas is almost acting like Hope has been Douglas' caretaker just until he felt he was ready to take over custody of him. Hope is the mother of Thomas' son, just as Thomas wanted. A bigger question is why are Steffy, Taylor, Ridge, and Brooke all getting involved in the custody issue? Was Taylor using Douglas to win Ridge over, as Brooke claimed? But really, this should be between Hope and Thomas. It's their decision to make, not their families'.
Have Thomas and Hope ever heard of compromise, especially since they live in the same city? Come on, it's not like they live in different states. They are constantly visiting at each other's residences, anyway. Shoot, sometimes Thomas seems to be at Hope's place more often than Liam. But apparently, it was better to drag Douglas though all the nonsense than to discuss together, calmly and sensibly, what's in the best interests of the child. They could work it out so that everyone wins. There is plenty of love to go around, and a child can always use as much as he can get. But selfish reasons seem to be the determining factor. It should be about what Douglas needs, not about what Thomas wants. And what Thomas seemed to want was Hope. Oh, no, not again!
Where Deacon goes, trouble follows, and Sheila gives the best meaning to the word "trouble," by far. A masked Sheila is just as dangerous as an unmasked one. Deacon always finds a way to get himself in the worst situations, and he may never be able to recover from Sheila. Even her past victims are still trying to. Just ask her son. And sadly, Sheila was determined to find a way to get back into Finn's life. Those biological ties may just keep him bound to her for life and beyond. (Finn has already almost had a taste of the beyond, thanks to Mommie Dearest.)
I will be so sorry to see Rena Sofer go! I loved the Cinderella story between Quinn and Eric, and I was rooting for them all the way. Even though Quinn is with Carter now, that's probably all for the best. It's looks like Quinn might be recast, since we've already seen Ms. Sofer's last airdate. I'm just glad that we got to take the ride of Eric and Quinn's love story right along with them. Farewell, Rena Sofer! We'll cherish the memories.
Until next time, please stay tuned.
Teddi
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 -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.
