Hear me out…
Some are taken aback when I tell them my personal preference for a soap opera—I want to watch people overcome their demons (real or imagined), make terrible mistakes and find a way to live their lives. In short, I want to see people suffer.
This week, The Bold and the Beautiful delivered the kind of soap opera I want to see every single day.
When fans were promised that a big twist was coming to B&B, an event that would “change the show forever,” I was not optimistic. Forever is a big word, especially for a show that drops facts, plots and characters on a regular basis.
For years, we’ve wanted the CBS soap to live up to their name and do something that was truly BOLD. This time they did, when Sheila mistakenly shot and killed her son Finn and then intentionally plugged his wife Steffy, leaving them both for dead.
Never meet a psychotic nurse in a dark alley
From the moment that Sheila caught Steffy eavesdropping in the alley, things took a sharp turn. Sheila took control of the scene and laid down the law in her creepy “talking to myself” voice—Sheila would have a relationship with Finn and Hayes whether Steffy liked it or not. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt… I want my son’s wife to accept me!” RED FLAG!
Even with the compelling case Sheila made for staying mum about the whole getting Brooke drunk thing, Steffy decided to stick to her moral code (don’t laugh). Really? Steffy is in a dark alley with a desperate Sheila, and NOW she wants to throw down about right and wrong?
Someone won’t make it out alive
The sense of foreboding in the scene was soap opera at it’s finest. We knew this would not end well for someone. Someone would not emerge from this alley alive.
When Steffy refused to placate Sheila, was it any surprise Sheila pulled a gun on her? Does Steffy not know about Sheila shooting Taylor and grandma Stephanie?
Before you say “How did someone like Sheila get a gun?” the answer is all over the national news. It’s easier to get a gun than it is to register to vote in most states.
From psychotic menace to grieving mother in one shot
If there’s one thing that Sheila is not, it’s a good shot. Finn arrived on the scene just at the wrong time to find out. Once again, the person Sheila was aiming a gun at was saved by someone else jumping right in front of that bullet.
The whole scene was so tragically gruesome. The abject horror on Sheila’s face was palpable. The irony that, of all the times she’s shot someone, Sheila’s first success is killing her own son. So Shakespearean!
Rather than do something helpful like call 911, Steffy wailed to the heavens and Sheila babbled and waved the smoking gun around. I buy it because it was a shocking event that neither one of them has processed.
Finn, lying on a pile of garbage and choking on blood, pledged his undying love for Steffy and the kids and then took his last breath. Could he be more heroic?
Bravo to the set design team that created the alley behind the restaurant. It was so realistic, I could practically smell the garbage rotting in the California heat.
Steffy strikes me as the kind of woman who might have a pearl-handled .22 in her handbag, but no such luck. When Steffy insisted on calling for help, Sheila plugged her without a moment of remorse. DAMN!
Now that’s the Sheila Carter we know!
After a bit of graverobbing to make the scene look like a mugging gone wrong, Sheila kissed her dead son goodbye and got gone.
Wow!! Kimberlin is absolutely killing it on the show!!
(No pun intended) 😂
Y’all it’s such an honor to work with this brilliant actress.
To work with the cast I get scenes with is such a blessing. Truly.🙌🏼
So proud to be on #BoldandtheBeautiful— Krista Allen (@KristaAllenXO) April 6, 2022
Alone in her darkened room, Sheila’s chilling reaction to her misdeeds continued in a soliloquy that should be in the soap opera hall of fame. Sheila was brushing herself bald as she bemoaned the terrible mistake she had made. Lady Macbeth who? This is Emmy reel stuff.
Loading ...Soap opera parody
On the flip side, Bold and Beautiful still needs to work on realistic character conversations that don’t sound like a soap opera parody. “What do you mean he’s been shot? What are you saying?”
Why is Brooke here and being saddled with such stupid lines about her “psychic connection” to Ridge? I find myself laughing in scenes that are meant to be the very height of drama. Do better, writers. You’ve shown us you can.
I get why Li hates and distrusts Sheila.
Sheila was probably the last person Li wanted to see when she rushed to the hospital. But if it weren’t for Sheila, Li would never have had Finn for a son. So refusing to let Sheila see their dead son one last time just came off as petty and vindictive.
How can Li still have so much resentment towards Sheila in this troubling time? Finn is still Sheila’s biological child #BoldandBeautiful #BoldandtheBeautiful
— Jack The Samurai 🎋 (@createdbycolton) April 7, 2022
Imagine if a grief-stricken Li embraced Sheila, mended fences with her son’s bio-mother only to later learn that Sheila was the killer. The fall-out would be epic and could even lead to a great “Who killed Sheila?” murder mystery because EVERYONE will want Sheila dead when the truth comes out.
Sheila at the hospital like ..#BoldandBeautiful #BoldandtheBeautiful pic.twitter.com/ibc7xrOIZc
— FridayInCanada (@FridayInCanada) April 7, 2022
“How is Steffy doing?” Sheila asks Taylor. “Is she improving?” Translation: Do I have to steal a nurse uniform and pull the plug on her? I joke but I think Shelia may try it.
Seeing the Tridge branch of the Forrester family rallying around Steffy was a treat. Cornball dialogue aside, I believed Taylor’s tears and Ridge’s frustration that there was nothing he could do because their reactions were totally in sync with the characters we know them as.
What happens now?
I’m not going to say B&B should be this good every day, but the quality of these episodes shouldn’t be such a rarity. You’ve got a cast that has proven they’re up to the challenge. Give them better material to work with ALL THE TIME.
Ironically, these powerhouse scenes come at the end (we hope) of one of The Bold and the Beautiful’s most unpopular stories—Brooke’s New Year’s Eve drunken kiss with Deacon that even the staunchest fans are sick of hearing about.
But at what cost? #Sinn fans are upset and threatening to stop watching the show. Excellent! This is the kind of controversy and outrage that get people talking and watching. It’s been sorely missing since soaps decided to make all deaths temporary.
@BandB_CBS has disappointed once again for killing off a beloved new character John “Finn” Finnegan @tannernovlan He’s Perfect! Why? Why did Bold let him go? 😠😡 Why can’t we keep our beloved characters?🥺🥺 #SteffyFinnForever 🥺🥺 #BoldandtheBeautiful #Boldandbeautiful pic.twitter.com/2bfOJ6FjZU
— 💙💛𝔹𝕣𝕖𝟘𝟚𝟛💙💛N͜͡O͜͡W͜͡A͜͡R͜͡🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@Sumrgrl07) April 7, 2022
How about some fresh story ideas?
The fall out of Finn’s death and Steffy’s coma could lead to new stories that aren’t recycled plots of the past. Fingers crossed!
A custody battle seems like the next logical story. Finn is dead and Steffy’s future is uncertain. Someone’s got to care for little Kelly and Hayes.
The Finnegans and the Forresters duking it out over who takes Hayes could be an umbrella story involving the entire cast. Who would be on who’s side? What skeletons might be dragged out of the closet? The possibilities are endless.
Liam and Hope raising his daughter Kelly could cause all kinds of drama. If and when Steffy comes back, Kelly might decide she wants to stay with daddy in Hope’s little country cabin.
Will Steffy wake up and remember what happened and point the finger at Sheila? Maybe she’ll blame herself and take up her pill addiction again. Give her something great to do!
Will Deacon’s lifesaver moment make folks see him in a new light? Does he have a chance again with Bridget? Near death does have a way of changing your priorities.
Sheila is at a whole new level of desperate and is capable of anything. Will she pull the plug on Steffy to cover up her misdeeds? Maybe there’s a plastic surgeon who can make her look like Phyllis again. Could James show up to whisk Sheila away to safety?
Sheila killed Finn so they better have security on Hayes 24/7 because she’s gonna try and kidnap him. #BoldandtheBeautiful
— RealityTV Addict (@Iona_Mc_) April 5, 2022
Loading ...What we don’t want
Bill and Liam’s creepy/schmaltzy talk about kids and fatherhood seemed to be a launch point to warm up #Steam once again. NO NO NO! We’ve been down this road so many times. Let it rest.
#BoldandtheBeautiful #BoldandBeautiful I found it odd the way Bill was acting as if he didn’t know what caused Steffy and Liam’s marriage to start falling apart 🙄 https://t.co/gM42H6J55F
— After Show Debates (@LetsTalkSoaps) April 5, 2022
Sheila has kinda sorta convinced people she’s on the straight and narrow for far too long. She’s either got to be exposed as the killer and pay for her crime or successfully pin the shooting on someone else.
See my previous piece here where I theorize on how Sheila could get away with it all!
What do you think? Will Finn’s death change the show forever? Will you miss the good Dr. Finnegan? Are you team #SINN forever? Like and comment below, then follow me on Twitter @mattFarris.