Gondolas: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Soaps!
You gotta love 'em.
Hope: My mind wanders. I keep -- I keep going back to being in that gondola, forced to watch Steffy and Liam get married. It's... it's weird, even when I'm in, like, an elevator and the doors close, I... I feel trapped in there like I can't breathe!
Y'all, I cannot tell you how happy I am that this component of the whole Hope/Liam/Steffy debacle is a point that is going to keep on coming up. And more flashbacks!
I mean, this is a serious issue. People all over the world have PTSD after having been trapped in a gondola and forced to watch their half-sister* marry the man they were engaged to the day prior (it's just one of those things that's not widely reported). All over the world. And now elevator doors trigger the trauma for poor Hope. Perhaps for her next fashion line, instead of focusing on promoting abstinence she can focus on generating awareness for the National Organization for Gondola-Trapped-Wedding-Viewing-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
*And yes, I slapped an asterisk on "half-sister" regarding Steffy and Hope because there's been some disagreement on this in the comments in the past. Here's what I can say: Deacon signed away his paternal rights, so he is only Hope's biological father. The show has referred to Hope as Ridge's adopted daughter, so if this adoption was actually formal and legal, Hope and Steffy are half-sisters because they share a father (Ridge) but not a mother. I have no clue if they're stepsisters or not because I don't think Ridge and Brooke are actually married right now. Are they? This show is weird. And hilarious. And heavy on the gondola traumas.
In other news, I think they finally found the right way to style Steffy's new 'do.
Finally! I'm digging it.









I am so on the fence with Steffy's do. I think it's the blond highlights (or lowlights) that turns me off. So distracting and it looks so dated to me.
I don't follow B&B closely but one thing I admire about B&B is how unabashedly campy it is. I've always thought it was the "most soapy" of all of the soaps. I love OLTL but the camp and the drama is intertwined and often works to the detriment of dramatic story. B&B is camp all year long with the few "social issuey"-type episodes to earn Brad Bell an Emmy for Best Show.
Regarding the Hope/Liam/Steffy triangle, I find all of the actors appealing and this story hilarious.
Posted by: Soapbaby | November 05, 2011 at 12:32 PM
Yeah for the Spinal Tap reference!
I haven't watched B&B in years because I just couldn't deal, but I love these recaps. They're way more entertaining than I ever found the actual show.
Posted by: LoriK | November 05, 2011 at 02:31 PM
I love this blog so much but every time I see a B&B post, I think: isn't there a better soap opera to cover. Then I remember that they've all been cancelled.
So gondola traumas it is!
PS: I don't get why these two chicks want Liam anyway. He's still Dylan anyway.
Posted by: Lisa | November 05, 2011 at 02:44 PM
Yeah, but instead of Hope trying to show trauma-face, she should've been laughing her skinny butt off about those gawd-awful boots that Steffy was wearing!!!
Posted by: MelP | November 05, 2011 at 03:57 PM
I love Steffy's hair, but the short 'do kinda exaggerates her gaping maw. I don't know, is it just me?
Posted by: The Queen B | November 05, 2011 at 06:16 PM
I don't watch B&B, but I'm delighted to see gondola screencaps.
Posted by: CZ | November 05, 2011 at 06:38 PM
Whoa, every time you mentioned the gondola incident in the past, I always imagined that poor Hope was somehow trapped in a Venetian gondola while watching Liam and Steffy get married. I had wondered if they were getting married in another gondola or on a bridge somewhere, and I figured Hope had to be bound and gagged by a crazed gondolier. This makes way more sense, and only loses a small fraction of the whimsy of my original imaginings.
Posted by: Jennifer | November 05, 2011 at 07:49 PM
WATCH THIS BEAUTIFUL SOAP OPERA OPENING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbGoo1szkVY
Posted by: GLOBO NETWORK, THE BEST SOAPS OF THE WORLD | November 05, 2011 at 10:47 PM
No, The Queen B, it isn't just you. There is something decidedly horse-y looking about Steffy's(JMW's)face. Can't put my finger on it. Maybe it is her "gapping maw", as you pointed out.
Posted by: Linda | November 07, 2011 at 10:04 AM
Jennifer, me too.
I had no idea there are more 'gondollas' in English language than the ones in Venice. I was very confused when reading about the mountains and gondollas, but then again this is a soap where people like Ridge or Liam are fought for as if they were something to really fight for.
Louise, thanks for the screencaps, now if anyone could point me to a youtube vid to watch the whole thing, i'd appreciate it very much :)
Posted by: shelle_cr | November 08, 2011 at 05:25 AM
I too had been imagining Venetian gondolas. Thanks for the screencaps, Louise! This post made me laugh so hard :)
Posted by: Ziyal | November 09, 2011 at 02:17 AM
I was imagining ferris wheel gondolas - this makes way more sense!
Posted by: Judy | November 11, 2011 at 01:21 PM