Bold and Beautiful opinion for November 21-25.
Let’s do something different!
Since it was a short week of shows and the Forresters and Logans seem to have traded Thanksgiving for that other annual tradition – Ridge trading wives – I’m doing this column a little differently this week.
I figured the long weekend was a good time for us to have a good gossip session about The Bold and the Beautiful characters we love, the one most of us hate and the two I no longer recognize.
Almost like a real family gathering – without the creamed spinach and awkward small talk.
Let’s dig in!
Ridge Forrester, aka The Dressmaker
Honestly, what is this guy’s problem?
For a rich, successful and not completely hideous to look at white man, Ridge has only one thing in abundance – insecurities.
He treats every other male of the species as though they’re a primal threat and treats women worse.
And yet he’s got the ladies lined up two at a time. I’ll never understand this.
I find the evergreen Ridge plot of having two loves – so that those two women are driven to outcompete and humiliate each other – so retrograde and tiresome.
Never any consequences for Ridge
What really gets to me is that Ridge and the rest of the cheating Forresters have discussed Brooke’s romantic escapades ad nauseam – including some that never happened – but no one has mentioned Ridge or Taylor’s equally colorful and complicated histories.
Not only does it come off as targeted misogyny, but it turns away from so much juicy story potential!
So, spare me all the yip-yap about how Taylor is the woman who will always be faithful to Ridge.
Sure, maybe this time Ridge and Taylor will stick to their vows but I’m not betting on it.
What do you think? Will Ridge and Taylor work this time?
Taylor Hayes, aka World-Renowned Psychiatrist
I must hand it to Taylor – wearing virginal white to your ninth wedding is kind of bad ass. I applaud that, but not much else.
My problem with Dr. Hayes isn’t her fashion choices. What’s wrong is that since she and Ridge reunited in Aspen, Taylor doesn’t seem to be making any important choices for herself.
Thomas, Steffy and Ridge are telling her what to say and when to say it, and Taylor is happily obliging.
What happened to “integrity?”
Remember when Taylor was adamant that she would not hop back into things with Ridge and wasn’t going to compromise her integrity by stealing another woman’s man?
How times have changed! Is sleeping with a married man still considered a lack of integrity?
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want Taylor or any other B&B character to be a paragon of virtue. I just want them to make sense.
Taylor had to know, right?
Taylor is so delusional right now and that could lead to some good aftermath drama. On some level, Taylor should have been expecting that something was going to stop the wedding, right?
When you get on the Ridge marry-go-round, there’s only one way the ride ends, and Taylor knows that.
What do you think? Is Taylor headed for heartbreak?
Thomas Forrester, aka The Dressmaker’s Crackpot Kid
I just can’t with this slime ball. Thomas has zero redeeming qualities right now.
It’s not just that Thomas is a child abuser (present tense), drugged people or tried to kidnap a woman.
There’s also his lack of remorse for his actions and insistence that everyone forgive and forget his horrendous past.
Like father, like son and just as dumb!
Can we wrap this up?
At any point, Thomas could have taken Douglas’s phone, deleted the app and sent the kid to boarding school to make sure the truth about the CPS call never got out.
Thomas’s stupid solution: just scare Douglas enough not to tell anyone what happened. What could go wrong? Everything, it turns out!
For the love of Susan Flannery, let’s just wrap this stinker of a plotline up already.
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B&B opinion: Brooke’s Man-Trapping Skills
Steffy Forrester, aka Boss Lady
After weeks of Steffy’s mean girl routine, we finally got to see a softer side of Mrs. Finnegan and I for one loved it.
It started this week when Steffy was stunned to learn from Douglas, who wasn’t too scared to talk after all, that Thomas had used the voice app to make the CPS call in Brooke’s voice.
Douglas’s auntie immediately went into protective mode and assured her nephew that everything would be all right if he told the truth.
The scene was classic soap opera at its best!
Steffy did the right thing.
Did you think for a moment that Steffy might take the phone and destroy the evidence?
NOPE!
She immediately confronted Thomas, and when a giddy Taylor floated in, Steffy barely hesitated to tell her mother everything.
Now that’s a boss lady!
Bill Spencer Jr., aka Dollar Bill
I have a soft spot for soap characters like Bill who don’t fit in and always seem to be their own worst enemy.
Despite his many positive attributes, Bill frequently lets his ego get in the way and he’s left alone and scorned. He’s an injured soul.
But who is this guy we see now? He’s talking about his feelings and he can’t decide which Logan he wants.
Has Bill switched bodies with Liam?
Writing Bill desperate to marry any Logan is so off for his character. It makes him look pathetic and that’s Ridge’s job.
Bill is coming off kind of sad and, dare I say it, washed up.
Li Finnegan, aka Finn’s Other Crazy Mom
Li made a rare appearance at the wedding of doom this week, or at least someone who looked like Finn’s other crazy mother.
What happened to Li since we saw her last? Something must have changed for Li to be all smiles and kissy-kissy with Taylor.
Where is the determined and slightly batty mother who kept Finn hidden and let everyone believe he was dead, all because she thought the Forresters and their psychodrama were the reason he nearly died?
Can we have that woman back?
Bill and Li’s shared hatred of the Forresters would have been a great way to jump start a new romantic couple.
But at this point, I don’t think we should be holding out hope for Bill and Li, and that’s a crying shame.
Giving thanks
I just wanted to take this opportunity to give thanks to all of you, the readers of this column.
Even though I mostly trash B&B every week, I’m always excited to sit down and write about this show and the soap genre we all love, because I imagine it’s a conversation with every one of you.
So, thank you all for the chance to get to know you and be part of the online soap opera community.
I always look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.
Well, most of you!
What do you think?
Will Taylor tell Ridge the truth or get the ring first?
Will Steffy ever trust Thomas again?
Will little Douglas blow up his family by playing the CPS call recordings?
Where’s Sheila?
Leave a comment and feel free to read more of my opinions on B&B on SoapsSpoilers, which includes some fun alternative storytelling ideas!