The Bold and the Beautiful: Week In Review

Jumping into the middle of the Liam/Hope/Oliver triangle right now on The Bold and the Beautiful is a little hard to to because it seems so truly bizarre. Those of us who watch soaps are pretty used to its tropes and the beats of a triangle, but here we are in a situation where Hope is essentially dating both Oliver and Liam and trying to decide between them, and both of them are completely okay with it. To be fair, Liam is pulling a little harder for his side put this poor little cutie Oliver... I mean, what does he stand to gain from this? Is there something in it for him other than the heart of this girl? He just sits around in rooms with her while she talks about her feelings for Liam and waits for phone calls from him and actually has the nerve to use him as a sounding board. And yes, it's pathetic of him to sit around and take it, but if she had a little more decency it seems like she would just cut the poor kid loose. Is he more nefarious than he seems? I do realize he has a darker past but he seems to be on the level with this one, and it just feels off.

While I say that Liam is pulling a little harder for his side, I guess that's a stretch considering he basically just accepted getting dumped by text message and has already made out with someone else without even speaking to Hope about what's going on. But it sure is haunting him in hilarious ways!

These articulate, heartbreaking texts are literally hurling around the air assaulting him! (Scott Clifton continues to be a trooper.) He should totally sit around being confused about them rather than going to talk to Hope for clarification!

Meanwhile, Steffy continues to throw herself at Bill by trying to convince him that his wife doesn't appreciate him like she does (which, to his extreme discredit, seems to be working), telling him she's already his completely and that she doesn't care that he's married. Of course, by the end of that conversation she changed her tune and insisted that as long as he's with Katie, they've shared their last kiss, while also telling him he's a great man of commitment (though misplaced commitment, in her opinion) about five seconds after they were rolling around on the couch groping each other. I somehow doubt Katie would consider horizontal make-out sessions and confessions of love to be the kind of fidelity she'd hope for in a spouse. And I still must ask: except for the ginormous ego-stroking she provides, what exactly is it that Bill sees in Steffy? Jacqueline McInnes Wood is a knockout, no question, but I've been watching again for a month now and I have yet to see her make a facial expression. I mean I guess it runs in the family, but at least Taylor has a reason for not really being able to move her mouth. Shouldn't Steffy smile or laugh every once in a while? She's so dour! I mean I guess it's not the most cheerful thing in the world to run around trying to seduce your step-aunt's husband, but she does have a limited pool of options since just about everyone on the show is related (by marriage if nothing else).

And now what seems to be the primary story of May sweeps, people ate berries that they didn't know were poisonous, hallucinated, woke up with their clothes on and are FREAKING THE HELL OUT as if this is some shameful, terrible secret that will blow up everyone's lives. I can imagine the script outlines just have things like, "Thomas wants to keep the secret; Brooke wants to confess" and "X character tells Brooke or Thomas they should really open up about what happened on the island." And I'm not sure who wrote it but you just know someone got a high-five for that Ridge asking if Thomas had been talking to Brooke about Taboo (the design line) and she whispered, meaningfully and with a deeply unsubtle double entendre, "Yes, yes, it's taboo."

The upside? The berries have arrived in Los Angeles! Taylor added them to some lunchtime fruit salad and started hallucinating -- and this time it was terrifying!

Oh my sweet Jesus what did we do to deserve this? What did Taylor do to have such a horrifying vision? 

Apparently these berries give different symptoms to different people. On the island, Brooke and Thomas were just fascinated by one another. In California, Taylor eats the berries and has creepy flashbacks to her ex-husband when his hair was even more seventies than it is today!

(Hmm. Maybe not so different from today's look:

It's just... has he ever been without the sideburns?) 

And they very cleverly digitally inserted Taylor into old footage:

One of the things that I really do like about this show is that they are never trying too hard to be cool. (I think those of us who've spent years watching General Hospital are a little traumatized by a show that tries so desperately to be too cool for a soap.) Unless all that texting stuff is supposed to be cool? Oh I hope not.

And alas, another way the berries affect people differently in California: they made Taylor pass out in minutes (but not before making out with her husband while picturing her ex).

Poor thing! And poor Whipple. And speaking of Whip, this week they dropped Rick Hearst to recurring status. So I guess we see where the Taylor/Whip union is headed. Why oh why can soaps not seem to find a regular place for someone of Hearst's caliber? What exactly is not appealing about the whole "super-talented and hot" thing? This is something viewers do not enjoy? What am I missing?

And finally, why is it spelled "Dayzee?"

Whipple out (sadly, pretty much)!

Comments

[Soapbaby]

Excellent recap. I really appreciate B&B but do not regularly follow. I just adore Katherine Kelly Lang. Regarding he recap, my biggest problem with the Liam/Hope/Oliver triangle is that it is really a quad with Amber. Amber hurts the story although Tawny is a wonderful bonus. Amber's involvement makes me unable to enjoy the story. She's sickening and I never understood her return and the time she spent on Y&R. She's a wasteland of character at this point (& I liked her first run on B&B.)

Jacqueline McInnes-Wood has vastly improved as Steffy but I agree about her demeanor. Where's the joy and sex-kitten vivaciousness? But she is better in dramatic scenes. Also, I love all things Dollar Bill Spencer. One of the best current characters in soaps. Don Diamont is great in the role.

I am a big fan of those trippy berries!

I agree about Rick Hearst. But this show also wasted Sarah Brown and only recently took Heather Tom off the sideline. He shows too short to have such an large cast.

[Soapbaby]

CORRECTION: The show is too short to have such a oversized cast.

[Louise]

I was recently trying to brush up on stories and thought I read something that said Liam was passed out when Amber had sex with him. Is this true? She actually raped him?

[Bourgeois Nerd]

But, Louise, as GH has taught us, a man being raped by a woman is fun and hilarious, as well as infidelity on the part of the man!

[Barbara]

I used to like Oliver but he's just creepy these days and a bit stalkery. He had accidental sex with Brooke at Hope's graduation party. Oliver had given Hope a pendant that was the Chinese symbol for Hope. She left it at the office and Marcus ended up giving it to Brooke who stupidly put the thing on along with a mask. So when Oliver showed up he thought Brooke was Hope. They danced together and she whispered in his ear, "I'm ready" which is what Hope said she'd do when she was ready to have sex with Oliver.

They went outside and had terrace sex. He did attempt to remove the mask but Brooke didn't want to. This song got her engine revved up. I just don't understand how they could have confused the other. Brooke looks great but she's not eighteen and Ridge is pushing sixty so I'm confused about the confusion.

As if this wasn't bad enough the news of it gets revealed at a press conference which really sucks for Hope. The stupid thing is that Oliver kept wearing the damn necklace. He finally removed it and Hope forgave him but while she was trying to avoid the media she ran into Liam who is the one that accidentally found the video that led to the secret coming out. It wasn't really his fault since it was Justin that leaked it. It was pretty funny when Stephanie went after Liam.

Hope tried to make things work with Oliver but she ends up hanging out with Liam and falls for him. She forgave Oliver but things just weren't going anywhere since the boyfriend having sex with your mom is just something you can't get over although I guess on this soap they do. She even forgave Brooke.

She ends up dating Liam and as usual Steffy tries to steal Liam since she makes a habit of going after guys that are already taken. Bill isn't her first and so far she hasn't had any luck although the groping with Bill is the best luck she's had so far.

Amber and Liam never had sex. Liam hit his head and passed out because he had a concussion. Amber followed him home and got into bed with him. So she's just convinced the guy that she didn't have sex with that he's the father when the father could be either Oliver or Marcus. I'm really hoping for Marcus since that wouldn't require a paternity test.

Oh that hallucination of Taylor's was just horrifying. No wonder she passed out. I was hoping I'd pass out too. I do feel bad for poor Whip. I guess he'll be sent down to the basement with Thorne. Owen isn't on much either. Maybe Thorne and Whip could have an affair after all they need to do something while they're in the basement. Or maybe they could go search for Felicia. She came back wanting to tell the family something only she disappeared since it was when everyone found out about Stephannie having cancer.

[Louise]

Thanks, Barbara! So Amber and Liam never even had sex... did not know that! I'd heard about all that insanity with Brooke/Oliver. That must have been absolutely hysterical. And sort of icky.

It's just weird because Amber barely even seems committed to the ruse. It seems like it's all Tawny.

[Josie]

Do you think Scott Clifton ever gets deja vu while he's playing these scenes? I mean...Liam/Schuyler was concussed/drugged and mistakenly believes he had sex with Amber/Stacy, while the real father is likely to be Oliver/Oliver. At least there isn't any Rex in this scenario!

Speedo!Ridge - my eyeballs will never recover. It's completely unbelievable that Taylor would find *that* more attractive than Rick Hearst. Oh well. At least people are allowed to just disappear on B&B, unlike GH where the only way out of town is in a body bag.

[michele the belle]

regarding ridge, no he has never been without side burns, he was born with them, at that exact length. and the speedo, seriously? these was this scene last year wear he and brooke were having a romantic night and both were wearing kimonos his was electric blue with giant white seagulls on them and I thought it was his worst look, i was wrong ... so so wrong

[Bianca]

Okay, I might be in the minority, but I think Ron Moss looks damn good for his age. I would even go so far as to say that he and Rick Hearst could believable play brothers (they both even share a fondness for sideburns). So, I'm not surprised that both of Ridge's obsessed wives married him at some point. However, I do have to admit that 1) speedoes are gross, in general, and are unflattering to Mr. Moss, specifically and 2) Rick Hearst is an insanely better actor!

[jewelry store las vegas]

Totally disagree with you there, Bianca. Ron Moss looks terrible. No way they could pass for brothers.