B&B Opinion: Is Thomas a Deadbeat Dad or Deserving of Proper Shared Custody?

Brooke and Taylor Go Head-to-Head as Custody Story Enflames Fan Wars With Rewritten History & Forgotten Details

 

Last week, I talked about how the fight over Douglas could be an umbrella story utilizing the entire cast. I was excited then!

 

This week, that story limped along as the Forresters came together to celebrate Douglas, while Brooke and Taylor had a strangely low-key blow-up about – you guessed it – Ridge.

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CBS

Brooke or Taylor: Choose your fighter!

 

Things between Brooke and Taylor coming to a head after the kiss that rocked Monaco was the only thing working for me this week. It was classic B&B, played out by two of the strongest actors of the entire soap opera genre.

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CBS

It was engaging because Taylor and Brooke are two mothers fighting for their children and families. Their arguments are enhanced by decades of story that we the viewers remember, even if the writers don’t.

 

The problem is that these two fabulous women are still fighting over who gets Grandpa Ridge today. Who cares when we know it will eventually flip back and then back again?

 

Why are Brooke and Taylor not tired of this nonsense? I know I am. Are you?

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CBS

 

What should happen next?

 

Can we have an entire episode of Brooke and Taylor going at it? Because they are SOLID GOLD together. And there’s more story with many other shared lovers besides Ridge to mine from.

 

How about bringing back a past love interest of Taylor (Nick? Thorne? James?) who becomes a friend and confidant but obviously still has feelings for the world-renowned psychiatrist.

 

Brooke figures out his feelings and encourages him to pursue Taylor so she can have Ridge to herself. Give at least one of these women another male option besides The Dressmaker.

 

Shared custody not an option for Douglas?

 

Doesn’t it seem like the details of the Douglas custody case have already changed since it started two weeks ago? I’m not even sure what version of story history we’re dealing with here.

 

Hope and Thomas are throwing around words like custody and agreement and adoption interchangeably, which makes me wonder if maybe the writers aren’t even sure where this is going.

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CBS

Are they sticking with what we saw when Thomas agreed to let Hope take his son and be the boy’s mother?

 

Or did the writers realize that Hope and Liam raising the boy while Thomas sometimes stopped by to play catch sorta made him look like a deadbeat dad?

 

Whichever history we’re getting, I’m still lost. Why is shared custody with more time for Thomas not an option?

 

That way, Douglas would get to experience “the Forrester legacy” with dad Thomas and still have a stable home with mom Hope he’s grown to love. Easy peasy!

 

If you think about the details and the simple resolution, the custody story seems like a non-story. It’s breadcrumbs.

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hope calls thomas bold beautiful
CBS

The meat of this story!

 

Thomas was in a real bad place and doing real bad things for a while. We all saw that.

 

Hope was conflicted and manipulated by Brooke into taking Douglas. We all saw that.

 

Before she left L.A. last time, Taylor asked Hope to be a mother to Douglas. We all saw that.

 

Hope did some manipulating of her own when she and Brooke convinced Douglas not to snitch on Brooke for kissing Deacon. We all saw that.

 

That’s just what I remember off the top of my head. There’s plenty of meaty stuff to make this custody conflict an engaging, realistic and even informative story.

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CBS

The problem with Thomas

 

I’m still having trouble seeing Thomas as a reliable father when no on-screen time was spent on his “coming out from the dark side” or whatever vague term they’re using to sweep the sordid details under the carpet.

 

I want to feel strongly for both sides of this custody story but nothing Thomas has said makes sense to me. I want to feel for him as a father who has put in the work to turn his life around and be a part of his son’s life.

 

Show me, don’t tell me!

douglas thomas fam gathering
CBS

What should happen next?

 

We need a scene where Taylor explains why exactly she is pushing so hard for Thomas to have sole custody of his son.

 

My theory: it’s her guilt over not being there for Thomas (even though she mentioned talking with him on a few calls while she was overseas) and she thinks helping him reunite with Douglas would somehow make up for her absence.

 

What else should happen next?

 

The increasingly ridiculous Deacon/Sheila story should collide and explode with the custody story. If the truth came out that Deacon has been harboring the Forresters’ worst enemy, things would be popping all over!

 

Ridge decides that Brooke will always be connected to Deacon and leaves her.

 

Donna is upset she let Brooke drag her into her drama and tells her to stay away.

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CBS

Liam thinks Hope should cut off Deacon and let Thomas take Douglas.

 

All of this results in Hope losing her adopted son, blaming her father, and feeling like her husband wasn’t on her side. DRAMA!

 

Who do you think should raise Douglas?

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Donna reports from behind enemy lines

 

I still cannot get over the moment when Donna tiptoed away from the Forrester family party, swung her hair, flipped out her phone and got to snitching for big sister Brooke.

 

It was a surprise moment that also honored character and history and maybe set up a mini rivalry with Taylor. Of course Donna was spying for Brooke and I feel stupid for not realizing it. Brava!

 

As the sister and the ex-husband of Brooke, Donna and Eric should be at the heart of the custody story, struggling with their family allegiances and having arguments that echo viewer sentiment.

 

I want more for them both than just being Honey Bear and his latest arm candy.

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CBS

I’m trying to be nice here!

 

Thank the soap gods that we got some story flashbacks instead of recap scenes this week.

 

Is someone listening to me? If so, please don’t do this in every episode!

 

I know I haven’t been clear enough in my suggestions sometimes. Like when I said that the show should be more like a telenovela and you gave us Sheila in a Sheila mask.

 

Sorry about that, everyone!

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CBS

Quote of the week!

Deacon, to Sheila: “Listen, if you and your nine toes wanna go hide somewhere else, I won’t take it personally.”

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CBS

What do you think? Is the Douglas story working for you?

Will Tridge rise from the ashes of Bridge? 

Leave a comment and feel free to read more of my opinions on B&B on SoapsSpoilers, which includes some fun alternative storytelling ideas!