Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you get the relief you needed without a pill? Did you realize you'd made so many "mistakes" that you had to put a copyright claim on the word? Did you hold a steak in front of a starving dog? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Fulton clan this week!
We're doin' it, Scoopers! Essentially a month into our new round of episodes, and...I can't tell if we've really made progress or not. Steffy is still wincing from her motorcycle accident injuries, and Ridge is still dealing with the snake eyes he rolled during his drunken Vegas night with Shauna. But it seems, while Bridge is putting the apples back in the cart, Quinn is ready to upset it all over again! Let's Scoop about it!
But first! Courtney Hope has jumped over to Y&R! And I'm wondering...will it be as Sally? Wyatt did suggest Sal split town to find herself, and she wouldn't be the first L.A. outcast to end up in Genoa City. (That means you, Amber.) So, can we finally have some updated credits now? We're still working from the cast we had in early 2019! Oh, did I mention that again? You bet, and I'll continue to until we go in and do some editing!
Ridge paid a visit to Steffy and the always sleeping Kelly (I know; union rules), only to find Steffy still barely able to move without cringing in pain. Now, I'm on the fence, because Steffy did sustain broken ribs and a sprained back, and in soap time, it's only been a few days. But for us, it's been a month, and it's like she hasn't experienced any healing at all. Now she's stuck on the couch and can't even fold baby clothes.
Steffy forgot about her level-6-that's-really-level-8 pain for a moment when Ridge shocked her with the news that he is now married to Shauna. "How is that possible? You're still married to Brooke," Steffy wondered. Amen, sister. Granted, during the week, we heard the story of how Quinn got Shauna to text Carter from Ridge's phone and get those yellowing divorce papers signed. But problems...I got problems.
I am all in with Chanel's comments from last week. In what universe would Carter get a late-night text from his BFF about filing divorce papers and not call back to confirm? What courtroom was open that late to accept such a filing? And who would process and finalize a divorce that very night, let alone make it legal instantly? I've had to ratchet up my suspension of disbelief a lot with this show, but this one...
Isn't Las Vegas itself a mecca for quickie divorces? See, getting it done there would have made a lot more sense. Though I suppose that would have required Ridge to be carrying the marriage-ending documents around when he impulsively split for Nevada. I'm willing to bet this marriage isn't valid. I think the certificate could be a fake and that Ridge is still really married to Brooke, after all.
Then Thomas came over to visit Steffy, and again, I think he said something, but I was too mesmerized by how fine he looks with his bushy goatee. Outside of that, the one thing I will give the guy is that he does seem like he's mellowed since his year-long affair with the devil. Thomas was genuinely concerned about his sister's agony and actually took responsibility for a few things.
I mean, my jaw dropped when Steffy told Thomas about Ridge's wife switcheroo, and Thomas said, "Dad and Brooke loved each other before I came between them." Whoa! And, despite Thomas' continuing ill feelings toward Brooke (guilt over berry boffing her, maybe?), Thomas just wanted Ridge to be happy! Thomas also thought that Shauna had pulled a fast one on Ridge somehow. And he should know!
But Thomas lost me when he started going on about how Steffy wasn't really over Liam. Even Steffy was like, "Let it go! I have." One thing I do not ever need to see again is the Leffy/Lope triangle in any configuration, much less any hint of it continuing. Steffy, get Thomas to put the Steam Sears Portrait Studio pic in Kelly's room for her to enjoy, and let us never speak of this again!
Finally, Thomas used his superpowers for good -- seeing how much Steffy was suffering, he twisted his sister's arm into calling Dr. Finnegan for more pain meds. Apparently, she had been weaned onto over-the-counter pills, but they weren't helping, and I agreed with Thomas that that call should be made. Amazingly, Finn picked up right away when Steffy called! No other patients, huh?
Even before Finn got to the house, Steffy broke down to Thomas and admitted how much pain and difficulty she was having. She actually had to wipe away tears when Finn arrived, and she downright begged the doc for more pills. "I really need it," Steffy pleaded. "I really need relief." Why did I snigger and think she wasn't talking about pills as she sat across from all of Finn's finery?
At any rate, Finn was torn, because he wanted to help Steffy, yet he felt he was already walking a fine line just being in Steffy's living room, to say nothing of another bottle of painkillers being a slippery slope. Finn eventually gave in but warned Steffy to be "very judicious" with this one refill. Where is this going, I wonder? Could Chanel be right that we are heading into an addiction story for Steffy?
Beric! Beric! Beric! God, I love watching these two chat, and how I dearly long for Eric to get his own story again. This go-round, he was stanning Bridge and repeatedly reassuring Brooke that it didn't matter what Ridge's current marital status was -- Brooke was the only woman Ridge loved. How many years did Brooke say the same thing when Ridge was married to Taylor?
I understand that Brooke was hurt by getting changed out like putting a new 9-volt battery into a smoke alarm, but there was something strange about her indignance. Over and over, she felt the situation was hopeless because, drunk or not, Ridge had merrily divorced her without even the courtesy of a heads-up. "Something made you do it," Brooke told Ridge, something borne out of an apparent attraction to Shauna.
Didn't we already cover Ridge being attracted to Shauna by virtue of the fact that he kept kissing on her while separated from Brooke? It's weird that Brooke would take issue with that now. It was over, Brooke declared. "How could he do this to me?" I got the feeling this is much more about Brooke's ego than what Ridge did while tanked. Ridge did far worse sober, and I don't have to tell you that Brooke did, too!
"For you to marry another woman -- that's wrong," Brooke decided. Oh? What about when you only married Grant because your scheme to get Ridge to stop that wedding failed? Or when you had "grief sex" with Nick the same night you thought Ridge had burned to death? Ridge deserves every heaping helping of crow he's feeding himself now, but it's not like Brooke to throw in the towel with him like this.
Quinn soon arrived, under apparent orders from Eric to show Brooke some compassion. But let's face it -- Quinn went there to gloat. Shauna was the better wife for Ridge, Quinn proclaimed, because Brooke had betrayed Ridge so many times. I'm sorry, why I am struggling to remember those times? Not that Brooke is a wide-eyed innocent, as I said, but Brooke doesn't exactly have a history of outright cheating on Ridge.
Brooke knew some shady ish had happened, and she promised Quinn and the arriving Shauna that she would get to the bottom of it. You know it's goin' down when Brooke gets that Stephanie look on her face. It was a strangely subdued confrontation, though -- I'm assuming because yelling on a closed set is not a great idea right now. That's okay. It just flagged a little, that's all.
Cut to Quinn and Shauna talking for two episodes about their secret, with Shauna feeling unconvincingly guilty about manipulating her way into Ridge's last name and Quinn persistently working to assure Shauna that Shauna's marriage to Ridge was the best thing ever. Quinn thought Ridge was thrilled and that he really cared about Shauna! Yeah, is that why Ridge didn't spend the night with his new wife?
I can't tell if Quinn is just more interested in sticking it to Brooke or if she's trying to live vicariously through Shauna, since Quinn couldn't have Ridge for herself. On that subject, Quinn railed that Brooke had cheated on Ridge by kissing Bill. Dude, it was one kiss -- not like the many kisses you shared with Ridge while "cheating" on Eric! And do kisses count as cheating? I always thought sex was the deciding factor. Thoughts?
Quinn felt it was vital to her future with Eric that no one ever find out how she and Shauna had created a new Mrs. Ridge Forrester. Man, I really hope Eric dumps Quinn's ass when this all comes out. I've never been big on Queric, anyway, with only "the love of a good man" alleviating Quinn's psychotic behavior and Eric marrying Quinn despite having already been wed to a crazy woman, the one and only Sheila.
Just when Quinn left Shauna to her own devices, Flo showed up. Oh, no. I have to admit, I pretty much tuned out. Hearing how Flo and Wyatt had gone away for a few days to "reconnect" did nothing for my appetite, and I was not there for Shauna gushing to Flo about how she had bagged Ridge. Only interesting part was that Shauna didnt' tell Flo about the scam. Hmm...
While we're at it, look at Shauna, keeping another secret. It still baffles me that Ridge would have wanted anything to do with the woman who knew his wife's granddaughter wasn't dead but said nothing, let alone all the heartache that secret caused Ridge's own daughter. I'm just not buying it. Besides, we all know Shauna is just a bump in the road on this Bridge.
And that's exactly what Ridge was trying to convince Brooke of. Having gotten some advice from Eric, and hearing how Eric had gone to bat for him, Ridge went straight to Brooke and basically said, between rounds of repetitive dialogue, that he had had Carter draw up annulment papers and that he was ready to tell Shauna about them. I would have a few things to tell Carter, too, Ridge, if I were you, for not fact-checking.
I do like that Ridge owned some of his crap this week. "I could have gotten over that kiss!" he bemoaned to Steffy about Brill's liplock, and he lamented, "Look at all the time we lost because I was wrong about Thomas." Well, finally. Now if Ridge would just concede that he had no right to get all up in Brooke's grill about one kiss with the Dollah after Ridge had walked out on her and smooched on Shauna multiple times, I'd be good.
Ridge tried hard to break down the wall Brooke kept adding bricks to, reminding her of everything they'd been through. "My mom was terrifying, wasn't she?" Ridge recalled how long Stephanie had tried to Gangsta Granny her way between them. If Bridge could get past La Forrester, they could get through anything! Ridge even joked, "You married Bill, and he's a troll, and I still forgave you."
Brooke didn't know whether to smack Ridge or laugh as she said the two situations weren't comparable. "I had to chase you to Dubai, and he threw me out of a helicopter," Ridge remembered, half-jovially. Ridge did get a little het up when he started talking about Bill and the kiss, but then Brooke blurted out, "You weren't supposed to find out about that!" with this odd grin on her face.
Ridge and Brooke had a laugh about it, and when you think of all the stupid stuff they have done to each other, it does rather seem funny. Ridge even conceded that Bill had been there for Brooke when Ridge wasn't. I do take issue with Ridge's assertions that Brooke has always been the one and that life didn't make sense without her. I did kind of feel like we were forgetting about Taylor -- the sane one, anyway.
In a paraphrase of the Laverne & Shirley theme song mostly only those of my generation would get, Brooke finally came around and told Ridge, "if there's a chance for us, I'll take it! Read us any rule, we'll break it. We're gonna make our dreams come true! Doin' it our way!" Bridge sealed the deal with a kiss, though "Ridge" had a way thicker beard than Thorsten Kaye did. Again, that's okay! It's still amusing, though.
Liam paid a rare visit to Bill, apparently having brought Kelly with him and dropping her off for some time with Uncle Wyatt. Bill kept hoping that Steffy was okay. Which begs the question, why isn't he hovering around Steffy and using his considerable resources to make her comfortable? Accident or no, Bill is still the one who hit Steffy's chopper with his car. Yet Bill hasn't even visited.
In the middle of this, Steffy asked Liam to bring Kelly home because she had to run to the pharmacy. Why didn't Steffy go while Liam was already taking care of her? For that matter, don't most pharmacies deliver now? And why didn't Steffy just call Amelia? Thankfully, when Liam got to the cliff house, he put the kibosh on Steffy picking up the pills and went out to procure them for her.
Then Liam got all worried about Steffy popping one of these and cast doubt about whether or not Dr. Finnegan should have prescribed them. Oh, no, I did not hear Liam grousing about Finn already! I don't need him sticking the nose above his scruffy beard into Steffy and Finn, especially when they haven't even gone out on a date yet. No. Just no.
Quinn and Shauna took another opportunity to boast about how Shauna was now Ridge's wife, but Eric came in and rained on that parade real quick. He knew from experience that Ridge and Brooke always found their way back to each other; whether or not they married other people didn't matter. (Again, ouch for Taylor.) Eric also informed his smug wife that Ridge was over making up with Brooke that very second.
Indeed, Bridge had agreed to make another go of it, but then they got into this weird loop of how Ridge hated Bill (he still thinks Bill took advantage of Steffy!) and blamed him for the Brill kiss to the point Brooke had to defend herself...moments after Ridge and Brooke made up, where Ridge was the one asking for forgiveness.
It was so strange, even Ridge was aware of it, commenting, "Here I am, going off on Spencer..." Of course, we "had" to be reminded of Ridge's animosity toward Bill, because we know how much the show likes to telegraph. Ridge finally left to get Shauna to sign the annulment papers, which he should have done straightaway instead of getting into some tirade about Bill.
Over at Spencer Publications, the Stallion himself was paid a visit by I'm-on-contract-but-still-have-no-story Justin, who had just heard the most juicy gossip: Ridge and Brooke were divorced. Before Bill could absorb that and relay to us that Katie had no interest in taking him back, Quinn sauntered in and teamed up with Justin to tell Bill that Brooke was free again, thanks to Ridge marrying Shauna.
Any of y'all get the feeling there that Quinn and Justin might be a good couple? They're both sneaky...it could work. Anyway, Bill saw through Quinn right away and figured she was there to campaign for another installment of "The Brill Chronicles." Quinn let loose about how Brooke had always looked down on her and had tried to get Eric to leave her. Aha! So, Quinn does simply have it out for Brooke! Called it.
Quinn reminded Bill that Brooke was the love of his life (is she really?) and that Brooke would only go back to Ridge if Bill didn't step in and stop her with some professions of love (or whatever Bill equates with it. Does he still have that sex room in his office?). And wouldn't you know...Bill had some major Brooke flashbacks. Gah. Can't we just put Bridge back together and be done with it? At this point, they're endgame. Let's not insert Bill into this after both Thomas and Shauna came between them!
Between these two sagas, my money is on the Steffy one so far! How about you, Scoopers? Do you think Steffy might get hooked on pills before she can get hooked on Finn? Is Quinn so bent on taking Brooke down that it doesn't matter if Quinn even destroys Shauna in the process? And what do you think Courtney Hope's new role will be on Y&R? Place your bets in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!
"Wouldn't Shauna and Ridge's marriage be illegal given he was so drunk he does not remember it? I would imagine he could get an annulment without any trouble." -- Eileen
"Shauna's "relationship" with Ridge reminds me of the movie "City Lights"...I mean, he only seems to remember her when he's drunk..." -- "Suzannah14_54"
"I FF through every Flatt scene. I can't stomach them. Love Courtney Hope and the character of Sally, she deserved so much better than this stupid storyline. So wish that over the break B&B had totally forgotten the character of Flo in an attic somewhere!" -- Sandy
"I don't like that they're trying to make Thomas a good guy! If you want to make Thomas a good guy get a different actor to play him." -- Salena
I still say we need to see Thomas getting extensive therapy (imagine the history we could delve into!), but as long as he keeps the facial fur, I might be able to forgive him. Meanwhile, as Ridge, Shauna, Brooke, Bill, and Quinn keep fumbling over themselves, "Sinn" is the one to watch! Love the build-up -- will they end up living up to it? Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember: wearing a mask to help tamp down a virus and respecting everyone -- even when they're different than you -- is always beautiful!
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 -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
