What a beautiful wedding. The bride was divine in her gown designed by her father. The matron of honor had kind words for the bride and groom at the altar. The stepmother of the bride was spectacular in her shimmering gown. Even Aunt Pammie made a glam entrance. But then there was the mother of the groom. I'm not talking about Li Finnegan, as beautiful and as pitied of an adoptive mother as she might be. No, I'm talking about:
"Sheila?" "Sheila..." "Sheila!"
The name echoed through the room from the mouths of Sheila Carter's victims in a stunning, look-what-the-kid-dragged-in moment in daytime drama. I don't even have to say more. The name precedes her, and so do the horrors she committed.
In fact, you have to be a super-handsome, uber-busy ER doctor with no time to learn about your fiancée's family history in order not to know who Sheila Carter is. Or maybe you're a blissfully ignorant adoptive mother who'd never think her husband would hide something so mortifying and relevant from her. Because, let's be honest -- who actually believes Jack didn't know Sheila already, especially after she so casually referred to him by his first name?
If you're a new viewer, don't worry. The Logan women backtracked down memory lane long enough to make Eric a photo album out of it and to give you the gist of why no one wants to meet Sheila in a dark guesthouse and learn she's his mommy. Hope terrorized Liam with the folklore about the Forrester bogeywoman just the same way Brooke did to her as a child.
Everyone is offended by Sheila's gall to call herself Finn's mother, so let's just dub Sheila the birth portal. Now the questions are: how did this birth portal open, and who opened it? More importantly, how do we close it before another kid spawns forth?
I'm sure Steffy would like to tie Sheila's tubes -- right around Sheila's neck, but we have theorized a few reasons why it won't be so easy to get rid of Sheila this time around, and there might only be a few ways to do it -- a couple of which are quite tragic. Plus, we'll get two scoops deep into why we might have been right to predict that Quarter ought to call it quits.
To kick this off, let's honor the cast members who delivered stellar performances this week. They brought to fruition the tale of a beautiful wedding gone horribly awry when the wedding guests are assailed by the worst villain in daytime who just so happens to be the bio-mom, I mean birth portal, of the most Howdy-Doody character on the show besides his bride's ex. Finn and Sheila couldn't be more different, yet we learned in short order that they do have one thing in common: Lying. Finn, why did you promise to stay away from Sheila and then send her a heart emoji? The only way to get rid of her now is to burn her at the stake.
Kimberlin Brown slipped effortlessly back into the persona of Sheila. It's almost scary the way Brown can play Sheila so precisely every time she's brought back, no matter how many years have passed. Brown excels at homing in on Sheila's disconnect from reality, and her smile, even when she's genuinely happy, is sinister. Kimberlin, you are magic. Because of you, I almost empathize with Sheila. Almost.
Naomi Matsuda (Li Finnegan) brought to the scene heartbreak and fragility as Li struggled to assert herself as Finn's mother, only to ultimately learn that her husband had betrayed her by keeping secrets with Finn's birth portal for decades. Her who-did-I-marry glares were sharp enough to slice Jack in two. Li wants what's best for her son, but how can she convince her son that psycho mom isn't it?
Tanner Novlan (Finn Finnegan) kept pace with Kimberlin Brown, which is a talent within itself. He zeroed in on his inner child with his expressions and confusion. When paired with the other characters' condemnation, it helped to manifest the angst of their predicament. Finn has dreamed of this since he was a child. He literally reverted from a grown-ass man to an anxious kid who brought a black mamba into the house but didn't know why everyone wanted to kill it.
Then there's Ted King (Jack Finnegan). A picture is worth a thousand words, but thanks to King's silent acting abilities, Jack's facial expressions speak volumes. What Jack is telling me with those looks is that he knows Sheila better than he's letting on. I instantly fell for King as an actor. I want him to stay on the show. Sheila's probably going to rip Li's heart out and eat it for lunch, so let Jack stay and maybe find love with Shauna.
Thorsten Kaye (Ridge), John McCook (Eric), Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), Matthew Atkinson (Thomas), and Jaqueline McInnes Wood (Steffy) are always perfection. They play off each other with ease, and I've almost forgotten that they are actors, not family. Scott Clifton (Liam) and Annika Noelle (Hope) backed them up with the WTH looks and talk that gave me life.
What was most striking about the scenes this week came in the things unsaid. As I mentioned, it was Jack's shifting eyes, hung head, and gentle acknowledging nod. It was Li's brokenhearted but strong demeanor and her angrily crossed arms over her chest. It was the way Eric covered his eyes with his hands, and Ridge comforted his father and gently kissed Eric's shoulder. It was Steffy acting like she'd be sick at any moment. It was the way Brooke lunged at Sheila, and Ridge gently held her back. It was most definitely the way Sheila rolled her neck and smiled after Steffy slapped her.
Y'all are good. Oh, The Bold and the Beautiful's cast is really good, and we thank you.
After the shock wore off from having Sheila Carter back in the Forrester circle, Ridge demanded to know what Jack and Finn knew and when they'd known it. I demand to know how Jack and Finn could "not" know anything until this very day. Seriously, how do you not know who Sheila Carter is and what her crimes are? That's like saying you don't know who Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, or Jodi Arias is. (Nobody better ask who Jodi Arias is. Google it.)
Jack claims not to know Sheila? He never saw her on 48 Hours Mystery? He never caught that episode of Forensic Files where they showed how scientists used a pollen spectrometer to tie Sheila to the night bees that killed Lance? When Google was invented, he never went to SheilaCarter.com for a cyber documentation of her crimes? So, Sheila was running around, kidnapping the son of a shipping tycoon, and Jack never heard of that?
Jack just sat up there and let a lunatic call him and call him about his infant son? Every birthday of Finn's, every Christmas, and every other important life event of Finn's, Jack was standing around with shifty eyes, accosting anyone who looked out of place, throwing the costumed Barney the Dinosaur out of the party, and refusing to let Finn go to sleepovers just in case Sheila might choose to pop up or to interrupt Finn's life?
I don't buy that Jack was living in fear, but Finn and Li didn't sense it. I don't buy that Jack didn't get to know Sheila. Especially not after the way Jack said he'd been protecting Finn all his life, and Sheila scoffed, "Protecting him? Jack!" She said it as if Jack knew he hadn't had to do that.
As for Finn, he might not have known Sheila upon sight, but I'm flabbergasted that he didn't know her by name. The fact that he didn't proves that Finn and Steffy don't know each other and had no business getting married. Maybe if they'd talked about more than how awesome Steffy is, Finn would have known that Sheila shot Taylor's mother.
That was the most defining moment in Steffy's life besides losing Phoebe, but Steffy never told Finn who shot her mother? Who shot her stepmother, who shot her grandmother, and who she, Steffy, eventually shot herself? At this point, I question whether he knows she's a Marone or what toppings she likes on her pizza. He probably doesn't even know why she had a box of Bob Hope DVDs in the room they gave Paris.
Finn and Steffy have a lot to learn about each other, but personally, I think it'll be easier to pull the plug at this point. Steffy had to be thinking the same thing when she brushed Finn aside like a curtain on her way to smack the gums out of Sheila's mouth. I advise Steffy to use the "Your Mama Shot my Mama; Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" clause because, in addition to neither of them being forthcoming with each other, neither one of them seems capable of respecting their marriage vows when it comes to Sheila.
Houston, we have a problem. Not one hour after Finn promised to forsake all others, he dragged Sheila into the house, insisting that she stay and partake in the celebration. He was more dense than a reject doughnut for his failure to read the room and back right out of it with Sheila the moment he saw the looks on his family members' faces.
It was colder than a morgue in that room, but Finn didn't use the sense his ER skills gave him to immediately access the problem and fix it before somebody potentially died. Fixing it means invoking his vow to forsake all others, because slap-happy Steffy isn't about to let Sheila near Hayes. I feel for Finn, but he disrespected his wife by not getting Sheila out of there. His first job is to protect Steffy and Hayes and ask questions later. Finn failed.
Unsurprisingly, Finn failed again the very next day. At first, I thought some common sense had prevailed upon him after having the night to think about it. Unfortunately, sex with Steffy must have burned out his last five brain cells, because, even after making a clear promise to have nothing to do with Sheila, he responds to a text from her with a heart emoji. That might as well have been the kiss of death for Steffy, and Finn has no idea what hell he just unleashed.
On the other hand, Steffy failed with her vows, too, or soon will. She vowed to be with Finn for better or worse, but the moment "worse" walked in the door, Steffy wasn't having it. She did not respect his desire to know his birth portal. Furthermore, she slapped his birth portal right in front of him, a clear sign of disrespect. Additionally, without consulting Finn, Steffy declared that Sheila would never see Hayes. So much for co-parenting.
I'm not saying Steffy is wrong. I just hope she now knows how Hope felt when Hope didn't want Beth around the gun-slinging Taylor. At this point, I don't think Finn knows about Steffy's Annie-Oakley mama, but I hope that if she ever does tell him, she'll understand it if he asserts that Taylor can never see Hayes because of it.
Does Finn have a right to get to know his birth portal and to let her spend time with Hayes? Yes. Should Steffy let Sheila get to know Finn and Hayes? Hell, no! Therein lies the rub.
It's a good thing Steffy's family is staunchly behind her because I have a feeling Finn won't respect her wishes. That puts Steffy in danger, and her luck with Sheila is about to run out. Sheila already let Steffy shoot her and smack her in the face. There is only so much of that fake meekness Sheila will dole out before she decides that Steffy is an obstacle, not a pathway, to Finn and Hayes. Once that happens, Steffy had better watch out for bees and make it widely known that Finn taste-tests her every meal and beverage.
The most tragic thing about the newlyweds is that Steffy doesn't know her husband well enough to know he wouldn't be in on a plot with Sheila. She asked him several times if he knew about Sheila beforehand and if he'd been in on it. First, what is Finn "in" on? A year-long conspiracy to bed, impregnant, and marry Steffy? And to what end? A cement grandbaby for Sheila?
Finn asked Steffy not to let it get between them, but her response was to again ask him if he was sure he hadn't known about Sheila. This persistent doubt of hers, especially when he'd given her the benefit of the doubt about why she'd slept with Liam, doesn't bode well for the couple. But then again, Steffy could be right to doubt Finn; he did just send the heart emoji to Sheila behind his wife's back. (Insert glare emoji)
Sheila is back, and they are doing it right this time. She's off-her-rocker manipulative, talking to herself in those anti-reality soliloquies. She's lying and manipulating with no conscience. She is still playing the victim and refusing to take responsibility for her actions.
For example, Sheila turned Finn's excitement to get to know her back on him by telling his family that she shouldn't have let him talk her into coming inside. Finn apologized as if it had been really his fault, but in reality, Sheila should have been adamant about not going to the reception if she was really sincere about not hurting him.
As for her crimes, Sheila can't believe the Forresters took her threat against baby Thomas seriously. Poor Sheila. She might have misbehaved, but Stephanie treated her badly. They all treated her badly. After blaming everyone but the bee for her actions, Sheila practically blamed Taylor for getting shot, claiming that Taylor had interfered, and if Taylor hadn't tried to grab the gun, it wouldn't have happened.
Brooke noted that Taylor had acted because Sheila had aimed at Brooke. What Brooke should have also divulged to everyone was what Sheila had boasted about to Brooke, Nick, Ridge, and Massimo in South America. Back then, Sheila acted as if shooting Taylor had been a service. Sheila had bragged that Brooke wouldn't be with Ridge if it hadn't been for Sheila. Brooke became outraged that Sheila had rationalized "killing" Taylor.
As much as Sheila loves to assign blame, she equally loves to take credit, and that's exactly what she was doing in South America -- taking credit for Brooke's new marriage to Ridge. In 2021, she took credit for Steffy having a husband, too, and also for Li and Jack having a son.
"You wouldn't have a son if it weren't for me. I'm the one that carried him in my womb. I am the one that nourished him. I am the one that gave him life, and that is a bond that you will never break. We will always have a connection, the two of us and Hayes," Sheila declared in a smoky demonic utterance.
The quote above is one of the main reasons I believe Sheila will be harder to get rid of this time, and it also might be an indication of one of the few pathways the writers might go down to eradicate Sheila from Los Angeles if and when the time comes.
Sheila's most formidable foe in Los Angeles was Stephanie Forrester. Sheila fought Stephanie for a sense of belonging, and Stephanie fought to protect her family. Sheila has sought to infiltrate the Forrester family in many ways. First, it was through Eric, where she failed at a marriage and failed to become impregnated. Next, it was through her daughter uniting with Rick, but that tragically ended in a hostage situation and murder.
Now there's Hayes. Hayes legitimizes Sheila, and that is why Sheila won't fade away into the Il Giardino staff background. The Carter and Douglas genes have meshed. Sheila has just as much right to see Hayes as grandpa Ridge. While Sheila praised Li and Jack for the job they did with Finn, it's quite obvious that Sheila expects them to step aside because none of it would have been possible without Sheila and her birth portal.
The other gravitational pull keeping Sheila around is her DNA with Finn. Where I suspect she failed with Mary, Diana, Ryder, and Daisy, I think Sheila intends to make things right through Finn. This isn't about stopping in for a quick kidnapping or dropping in for a few months to terrorize Quinn and Eric. This is about family, and I detect a long story arc in the making.
After Sheila's Friday flashback of Eric and Sheila in the hot tub, I suspect this is about Eric, too. She's going to make a play for him, and I don't expect it to end any way but disastrously.
All good stories come to an end, and eventually, this one will, too. Looking ahead to possible ways the Forresters can be free of Sheila again, I came up with a few options, some of them tragic. As of now, even if Steffy and Finn divorced, Sheila would still be a burden on Steffy and the Forresters because of her connection to Hayes, but what if Hayes wasn't really Finn's?
Poof! No more Sheila if someone discovers that Sheila manipulated the paternity tests to ensure Finn came out Hayes's father. It happened with that doctor who rigged Bridget's paternity test, despite Sheila's spinning vials. If the writers don't want to go down that path, they could consider the idea that Finn is not Sheila's son. Maybe she bought him and sold him to Jack. Maybe that's why Jack didn't tell Li about his contact with Sheila, but now Sheila is in town, presenting herself as the birth portal when she was really the baby broker.
Breaking Sheila's biological ties to Finn and Hayes isn't the only way the writers could choose to sever Sheila's connection to the Forresters. Killing Finn and Hayes would also do the trick. It would be sad and maybe abominable, but boom -- no more motivation for Sheila to stick around. But why kill Finn and Hayes when the writers can just kill Sheila and revive her at will like an undead Jason Vorhees? Maybe in this storyline, Sheila's the one who finally "dies."
While watching last week, I had some random observations and didn't know where to stick them. I'll just place them below.
Sheila and Finn had a powerful scene and a connection when they met, but Finn was an idiot for not considering that Sheila might be a con artist, looking to scam the Forresters. His wedding was a private affair on a gated estate, but when he encountered a total stranger, he didn't ask who she was, how she got on the grounds, or why she was hiding out in the guesthouse.
Finn still has not asked this woman who fathered him or how he was conceived. Does Finn even have a father? I ask because some reptiles can impregnate themselves, you know.
Why is Donna still talking about her honeybear but not being about the business of getting her honeybear back? Also, look at how Donna talks about how crazy Sheila is while Donna is simultaneously snipping Eric's ex out of his photographs. Psycho much yourself, Donna?
Look, I get that the cute little arts-and-crafts at work scene happened to give viewers some background on Sheila, but it kind of backfired by making Donna look a bit sophomoric and desperate. Why is she calling someone else's husband "Honeybear" still? Why is she making him arts and crafts like she's too embarrassed to talk to him? They haven't even had a scene together since Eric threw Quinn out, so what is the point of Donna's unrequited love?
Next up, Pende. I'm calling it. Zende is officially leading Paris on. What was that BS he gave her about slowing things down, but then he sneaks off with her to be alone during the reception? Maybe sensing something between Finn and Paris made Zende change his mind?
Stephanie's picture stayed on the wall. Even it didn't want to miss a moment of the family versus Sheila. It felt like old times to see Sheila standing out in the bushes at night, seething to herself about the Forresters. That was when I truly knew my girl was back in town. With that neck popping a smile after Steffy slapped Sheila, I'm beginning to suspect that Stephanie Jr. might not be a match for Sheila, and they're gonna have to call in the reserves -- Quinn.
Speaking of Quinn, her "it wasn't me" shrug to Carter was hilarious when Ridge was telling Carter about the uninvited maniac at the wedding reception, and the way she covered her mouth to keep from screaming when Ridge said Sheila's name! Perfection. Thanks, Rena!
Spoilers indicate movement in the Quarter storyline, and even though Carter and Quinn might be toying with saying three huge words, Eric drops an unexpected anvil on them that might lend credence to our last-column's prediction that Queric will reunite. Also, Carter is forging ahead with the relationship and contemplating going public. I advise him to check the want ads first.
Meanwhile, Eric comes to a decision that shocks Quinn. My guess? Eric took a long, hard look at Sheila and either realized that Quinn isn't so bad or that he needs his guard dog back in the house to bark and throw tablets at Sheila.
I suspect that if Eric does want Quinn back, the news spins Quarter into a quandary. Remember, Quinn doesn't think she can give Carter the future he wants, and Eric is the kind of stability Quinn needs. Quinn and Carter possibly express love to each other, but I still suspect Quinn will return to Eric. Someone also gets blackmailed soon, and I predict Sheila or Donna will blackmail Quinn about Carter.
Expect Sheila to cause a rift between Steffy and Finn as the Forresters rally to ban Sheila from their lives, but Finn remains torn by his loyalty to his family and his curiosity about his birth portal. Sheila dreams of being in Finn's life, and Jack issues Sheila a warning.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and if you have time, tell us: what's the worst thing Sheila has ever done? Steffy said it was shooting Taylor, which resulted in Steffy and Thomas not having their mother. For me, it was when Sheila locked Lance in his room, unleashed those bees on him, and then stood at the window, castigating him as he died. I can't stand swarms of insects, and I still feel creepy when I think of it.
Why haven't I been able to get the "Oh, Sheila" song out of my head all week? Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
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