The Bold and the Beautiful: The Right Psycho at the Right Time
Oh man! You guys, I've just run through the past week+ of B&B and the show is firing on all batshit crazy cylinders right now. It's no secret I hate any love triangle that has Liam in the middle of it, but for once that's not the only story on hand. We've also the big new fashion line rollout, we've got Maya's family in town, we've got Aly Forrester losing her cotton-pickin' mind with her mother's disembodied head floating all around telling her to do all sorts of dastardly deeds IN THE NAME OF MORALITY.
In other words: B&B's meat and potatoes are cookin' on the screen right now. I might be a vegetarian but I love it.
So let's check in on today's episode, shall we?
We open with Rick and Maya getting some general congratulations on their engagement(!). Maya's mother Vivienne is delighted, but of course Papa Julius is more reluctant. He makes some passive aggressive comments about how he asked Vivienne's father for her hand in marriage first, but then insists he approves of Rick and Maya's union.
What is this guy's game? Because we know he hates this. My guess: for once we have an older male gold-digger on a soap! Awesome.
Aly gives Steffy the cold shoulder when she tries to get Aly to come celebrate the fashion show's success. Darla's Head immediately pops up to telling her to do something "so big" tonight.
I don't even have Photoshop, y'all, so I assure you these screencaps are real. It's amazing. If you're not having fun with this show right now, I don't even know what to tell you. Also, aren't Aly and Oliver dating? Does he feel weird when she shows up for dates in high-collared woolen sister-wife dresses? What do they talk about?
Brooke assures Maya that she's all for this marriage and they have a little bonding moment, putting the past in the past. Meanwhile, Rick offers to pay for Vivienne and Julius to stay in town a little longer so they can stay for the wedding, which Rick insists needs to happen post-haste.
The Quad (Wyatt/Steffy/Liam/Ivy) express concerns about Aly going dark. Steffy is way too optimistic and suggests that tonight might be the start of Aly "putting her demons behind her!" This is, naturally, at the exact moment that Aly is outside slashing Steffy's tire. The Quad then transitions into talking about much money they want to make, in particular hoping that they'll beat Rick's numbers from his CEO tenure. Wyatt and Ivy leave and Steffy and Liam discuss how committed they are to each other and how Liam needs to find a time to break that particular news to Ivy.
Vivienne questions Julius's sincerity regarding his approval of the engagement, and he comes right out and admits to her that he's just trying to impress their almost-son-in-law. This strikes her as ridiculous, since Rick has already accepted them since he's marrying their daughter. "All I know is we have many days ahead of us, drinking champagne," he says, so apparently his transphobia stops where the cash flow begins. This is going to be delightful!
Steffy goes off a-drivin' in the night and, of course, eventually the tire gives out. Aly is following her on the road with a diabolical look on her face.
People start arriving for the after party at the Forrester manse, and Ivy immediately heads upstairs to see if Aly's in her room. Steffy, meanwhile, does not call AAA or try to get an Uber. And just at that moment, right after Maya and Rick have a sweet moment in private, Ivy opens Aly's closet and finds her Shrine To Hating Steffy.
D'oh!
Back on the road, as Aly approaches Steffy, Darla's Voice pops back up to tell her to take her out.
Julius chuckles at the idea that Rick could have any woman he wanted and didn't even choose a "real" woman. Vivienne objects, telling him that Maya is a real woman. Julius couldn't care less at this point because their "son" isn't his problem anymore -- Maya's getting married off and they can reap the financial benefits. He surmises that if they stay around these "crazy L.A. people long enough," they might become like them!
Vivienne is not impressed with her husband right now. May I just say that the addition of these two into the show is injecting it with some serious life? I can't even tell you how excited I am about Obba Babatunde and Anna Maria Horsford being here. It's one of those things I never would have imagined but is exactly what B&B needed!
Rick and Maya are actually still at Forrester Creations, making out in the office, the way everyone who works there does on the reg.
Ivy brings Wyatt and Liam up to see Aly's Closet of Crazy. Liam calls Steffy to warn her, but she's a "cool chick" so she's out changing her own tire and left her phone in the car. Aly completely loses it in her car about all the perversion that FC is indulging in while she has flashbacks to Darla getting hit by Taylor's car. Well, inasmuch as one can have a flashback of something one did not witness. Her meltdown continues as she flashes through all the horribly dirty things these fashion rapscallions are up to with all their low-cut dresses and trans identities and out-of-wedlock smooching and flirting and champagne-drinking, and then she slams her foot down on the gas and goes full speed ahead with a spectacular look of madness on her face.
I know, you guys! It's too delicious!
And if that weren't fun enough, the show actually ended on a FREEZE FRAME. And not just any freeze frame. This freeze frame:
I cannot possibly find the right descriptors for how flippin' fun this was!
Everything about this is my favorite
Posted by: O42 | July 21, 2015 at 09:50 PM
Great post.
I agree 100%. I find the romance between Maya & Rick gorgeous, they are working their way into becoming one of my favorite soap couples of all time!
Obba Babatunde and Anna Maria Horsford are brilliant and have upped the talent on this show 100-fold! Their characters are real and feel authentic and the actors are fantastic.
I like Aly's trip on the crazy train because it breaks up the monotony and is super entertaining! The actress has been doing a great job. The redux of Darla's death was very well done.
Still, I have one big problem. I hadn't realized Aly's focus would be split between the sexuality Steffy represents and people being transgender. That bothers me. LGBT issues and hypersexuality are far too often conflated to detrimental results for many.
Posted by: soapbaby | July 22, 2015 at 09:07 AM
I see what you're saying, soapbaby. I do think, though, that Aly is just off her rocker and making judgments based on her warped idea of EXTREME evangelical morals, where I suppose being trans and drinking champagne can get lumped into the same category, even before Steffy's alleged "looseness" comes into play. Seems more of a catch-all than conflating trans issues with hypersexuality, if that makes any sense.
Anyway, I'm glad you're having fun with the show too! It was such a treat to sit down to a week's worth of episodes and see how much of a blast the show is having rather than just repetitive scenes of Liam being "torn."
Posted by: Louise | July 22, 2015 at 09:54 AM
Bold & the Beautiful is SO the bee's knees right now!
I think what said about Aly makes a lot of sense. There was something about how she looked at the one model that just rubbed me the wrong way. I prefer your take on it.
I just wish the show slowed down the pace a little to build the stories but I am very happy with the show, overall.
Posted by: soapbaby | July 22, 2015 at 10:56 AM
Haven't checked in in a while, but happy to see that things are looking up and deliciously campy. I love the recap and all the screencaps, and I am happy about the Raya love story even if I don't really like either character. Awesome stuff!
Posted by: Ziyal | July 22, 2015 at 12:35 PM
Rick and Maya have bullied Aly for months and never apologized to her. Their attitude bothers me and I can't enjoy them as a couple.
Crazy Aly was awesome! It's sad the show killed her off instead of writing a good story on mental illness, like they did with the transgender story.
Posted by: AbsoluteLunatic | July 25, 2015 at 12:21 AM