The soaps are filled with brokenhearted girls, the ones who love and then lose the man of their dreams. But only The Bold and the Beautiful has taken the metaphor literally. Katie Logan Spencer, the ultimate good girl, suffered the indignity of losing her husband and then nearly dying over him when her transplanted heart sprung a leak. Okay, so it was a heart attack, but the net result is the same. Katie's heart -- Storm's heart that he committed suicide to give to her -- was shattered by the revelation that her lover-man husband, Bill, wanted to leave her for Steffy Forrester. Does it get any worse than that for a soap heroine?
Poor Katie. Had she just discovered that she was the only one working on keeping her marriage alive? Apparently, Bill had checked out months ago. Here she was being the wife he claimed he wanted, and Bill was off rescuing Steffy as though she needed rescuing. What was Steffy's woe, you ask? It was seeing her father return to the woman that he loves instead of remarrying Steffy's mother. At 25, or whatever age we're supposed to believe Steffy is, her big heartache was "Daddy doesn't love me enough." Give me a break! But that was all it took for Bill to decide to dump his loyal, loving wife for a hot chick. What a guy!
You have to question Bill's values, don't you? It's not just that he was ready, willing, and able to cheat on Katie; it's that he feels justified in doing it! In his screwy thinking, Katie betrayed him because she wouldn't accept that his homicidal rage against Amber was acceptable behavior. Katie was horrified that Bill would consider killing Amber as well as the child she was carrying, all because Amber had trapped Liam into believing he was the dad. In Katie's mind -- and most civilized people's -- murder is wrong no matter how you try to rationalize it.
But because Katie objected to Bill's ways and said something to Taylor during a couple's therapy session, Bill deemed Katie unworthy of him as a spouse. And since Steffy was willing to put up with a killer for a lover, she was Bill's choice of a soul mate. Really, is that how it works? So, in order to be a good wife to Bill, you have to turn into an accomplice and be willing to condone his murderous rages. What morally sane woman would stand by her man under those circumstances?
The answer is Steffy. Steffy Forrester has become a moral pretzel, ready to twist her ideals to suit whatever situation suits her desires. If Brooke goes after her father, she's a homewrecker. If Steffy goes after Bill, breaking up his home, it's perfectly all right. If Bill thinks Amber's destroyed Liam's chances for the future and Bill wants to kill her, then Steffy thinks it's just fine because it's Bill. For Steffy, she and Thomas taking over Forrester Creations instead of Thorne, Felicia, and Kristen getting their part of the family business, is the way things should be...even though her father is actually a Marone and his children shouldn't have a claim to the Forrester legacy. Those shares should be going to Stephanie's offspring with Eric. I guess for Steffy, it's all about how she decides to look at it, right?
While Katie's lying in a hospital bed, clinging to life, Bill has suddenly realized that he may have allowed his judgment to become clouded. Seeing the damage his flirtation with Steffy has caused, Bill decided that he really loves Katie after all. That means Steffy is going to wind up like her mother, the other woman. Oh, yes, I know that there are Taylor fans out there who believe that she was Ridge's true love and Brooke was the other woman. But maybe we should just agree that they have both been the other woman on occasion. The point is that Steffy fits that definition to a tee. Steffy has tried to break up Bill's marriage since day one and doesn't mind being the other woman.
Perhaps the reason Steffy is so attracted to Bill is because he's really like her Dad -- weak and spineless. Bill and Ridge have a lot in common. They appear to be strong, dominating men with vision and power. However, they're both jellyfish when it comes to women. They're wishy-washy and can't make up their minds. In Bill's case, instead of telling Steffy that he would set the agenda with Katie and decide when and if he was leaving her, he let Steffy manipulate him with the loft apartment and the full-action come-on. Bill also was intimidated by Katie's renewal ceremony, and rather than stop the minister, Bill put on a show. Geez Louise, stand up, Bill! Make up your mind, man!
You know who's been showing some spunk on the show? Taylor! Yes, that's right, since the embarrassment of being left at the altar again by Ridge, Taylor's stopped weeping and started acting like the strong, independent woman we've known her to be. Even though I disagree with her stance about Thomas and the irrevocable trust, I admire that she's focused and rejuvenated. She stood up to Steffy about the inappropriate relationship with Bill and then went to see Katie about it. That's a mother taking charge. She didn't sit and hope that Steffy would realize that Bill was Katie's husband and therefore off-limits. No, Taylor went to Katie to set her straight. Taylor's protecting Steffy, even if Steffy won't appreciate her mother's interference.
The way it looks now, Bill's going to break Steffy's heart in order to save Katie's life. One heart is more important than the other, and in this instance, Katie's wins the battle. Bill's not going to let Katie die so he can get in the sack with Steffy. Not even Dollar Bill is that much of a crud.
One thing about this heart story, at least they're being somewhat honest about heart transplant recipients. Katie's health should be an issue; she has a serious ongoing health issue. The writing was a little clunky because they brought up her condition sort of out of the blue, but at least they remembered. Of course, wouldn't it have been nice if they'd given a little build-up for the story. Or maybe if they showed a scene with Bill and the doctor, where Bill indicated that he was aware of Katie's ongoing issues because after they were married, Bill had taken Katie to the top cardiac specialist in the country to ensure her good health. That might have put a whole different spin on Bill's reaction to Katie's illness, don't you think?
There were a few other stories touched on last week. For no apparent reason other than giving Steffy a love nest, Owen and Jackie moved out of the loft and into Nick's house. Why a hot-to-trot couple like Owen and Jackie would want to live with her grown son is beyond me! I mean, don't you get the idea that Owen and Jackie cavort naked in their home and make love at the slightest provocation? Presumably, they're a duo that would prefer the privacy of their own home, right? Well, you can assume that this is a cost-cutting measure by the soap to continue using a set that's already been bought and paid for...otherwise, they'd have to find Steffy a love loft all her own.
We also got a look at Amber and the baby again. Does it strike you, as it does me, that there's no more storyline for Amber now that Marcus is the father of her child? And while she has no story, neither does Dayzee, who showed up for a date with Marcus just as he was moving out of Amber's cliff house. There was positively nothing going on with these characters. It was boring watching them! They've made Marcus so nice and so bland that he's a dullard. He has no edge. Amber has edge, but she's not doing anything except taking care of Rosey. As for Dayzee, if she doesn't get back into Thomas's story, she's going to disappear completely. They're not even bothering to show the coffeehouse anymore.
Another thing they're not bothering with is Brooke's foundation in Stephanie's name. That plot point has gone by the wayside...and without so much as a missed step, Brooke was back at Forrester Creations and ready to work. Tell me, do you think the writers realize that we actually watch this show and notice what's going on? Makes you wonder sometimes...
And you know who else turned up last week out of the blue? Oliver. Yep, he's still on the show. His big contribution to last week's show was admiring Steffy in a bikini! I guess he's not interested in talking about Hope anymore. And Hope, meanwhile, is about to find out that Liam is a red-blooded male who wants to have sex with his girlfriend. Will Hope hold out, or is Liam going to find another girl who's not hung up on her virginity?
So, this coming week, what can we look forward to? I think we'll be wrapped up in the Katie-Bill-Steffy dance for a while, don't you? While we're on the subject of characters, who would you like to see get more attention on the show? Me? I'm voting for Nick. Can't the writers give Jack Wagner something fun to do? Who'd you like to see come back? Click the Feedback option at the top of the page, the email me link at the bottom, or click here. Meanwhile, here are some letters from the readers!
• So Bill gave his mistress a sword necklace like his. He had time to get that ordered and picked up, but not time to tell his wife that he had a woman on the side? And, regarding the trinket Steffy now has but can't wear in public, what makes her think she has the only one that was ever hung around a lady's neck? Bill was known as a swinging bachelor before he met Katie; perhaps that is Bill's stock gift to a woman he is seeing. Just think, there might be lots of sparkling swords hanging around women's necks all over the world. - Maggie
