True colors: B&B's box of crayons

by Mike

For the Week of August 26, 2013

It was a regular box of Crayolas this week on B&B! Wyatt favored black, Katie was partial to blue, Brooke's choice was shocking pink, and Thorne was green with envy! Get out the Cyndi Lauper records and taste the rainbow with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you paint a target on your half-brother's back? Did you give an R-rating to your PG-rated adventure? Did you tell your sister that your husband's upgrade doesn't come with a warranty? These and more situations faced the Forresters et al this week!


Greetings, Scoopers! Mike here, ready to get down and dirty with you about the latest happenings on The Bold and the Beautiful. Is it just me, or was it kind of a strange week? If nothing else, certain characters rather popped out from behind their masks! Let's sit down with the crayons and markers and color in some of these folks together, shall we?


Oh, Katie. You really had me when you finally moved to divorce Bill's wandering, tower-locking ass and snagged control of his company while you were at it. I even stayed on board during the whole spy camera thing. But I got off the Katie train when she started whimpering about wanting Bill back. Dude, he just chased your sister halfway across the world to rat you out about your recent foray into filmmaking! Let the bastard go and move on already! "I shouldn't have shut you out," indeed.


Naturally, Bill continued blaming Katie for everything, decrying her postpartum matchmaking. Please. That's like a fish biting a hook and blaming the pole. No one made you bite the bait, mister! The only thing he was spot-on about was that he and Katie are no longer compatible. Maybe they never were. Bill raged about Katie's rules, but all Katie wanted was for Bill to be a decent human being. If he can't manage that, then she deserves more. I was actually glad Bill walked out. There's no saving this marriage.


Then, the claws came out in a scene that struck me as odd. Brooke, who rarely gets angry, lashed out at Katie, telling her she just wanted to feel sorry for herself! Brooke said Katie berated herself for things that she had no control over, like Storm's death (nice continuity, B&B), but claimed innocence over messes she made herself! Um, Pot? Meet kettle! And pouting that Katie didn't care about Brooke? Now who's feeling sorry for themselves? Brooke topped off her tirade by accusing Katie of abusing Bill!


Good thing Brooke likes horses, because I was calling "Whoa!" on that one! But when Brooke betrayed her feelings for Bill in referencing her miscarriage, Katie pounced on it, and my respect for the youngest Logan started going back up. "How many times have you been in love?" Katie wanted to know. "How many weddings have you had?" Katie nailed Brooke for believing that Bill was her destiny, and that's when the convo got very interesting.


It's been almost a year since Ridge left Brooke, and I've repeatedly said that Brooke doesn't know how to function without a man. Katie knows it, too. "Don't tell me you don't like the attention," Katie spat. And we got quite the dose of perspective when Katie told Brooke she'd always be asking herself if she could trust a relationship with Bill, "because that's what it's like to love Bill Spencer." All the more reason Katie should cut her losses, wouldn't you say?


Brooke got home in record time (one scene!) to find a towel-clad Bill ready to start singing Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. Like the song, Bill basically told Brooke she was a good girl, but he knew she wanted it. And Brooke did, though she tried to fight it a whole minute before saddling up with the Stallion. Question: how did Bill get into Brooke's house? The last man who let himself in and got amorous with Brooke was rapist Andy Johnson! Has Brooke ditched the deadbolts since then?


Brooke felt guilty in the morning light, but Bill flexed his considerable pecs and swept Brooke off her feet, a skill Katie said Bill had mastered. What did Katie mean the night before when she told Bill, "My actions had terrible consequences -- and so will yours"? Them's fightin' words, from what I can tell. I'm intrigued to see if she'll follow up on them. But what can she realistically do at this point? Expose Brill to the media? Run Spencer into the ground? Hey, she wasn't in the office all week as it is.


Said office became the new endgame for Wyatt, who suddenly started yapping about his Spencer birthright and all the possibilities it provided. Not even a reunion with mommy Quinn seemed to dull Wyatt's newfound taste for Spencerdom. Quinn was rather kindergarten in thinking Wyatt's presence meant everything was going back to normal, an annoying trait she has exhibited more than once. But she didn't seem that surprised by the lucre-laced lust in Wyatt's eyes. "I know my son," she said.


Does she? Here's an interesting question: we're seeing darker aspects to Wyatt already, but he can't have just started behaving like this these past few weeks since he found out Bill is his father. Could it be that the charming Wyatt we met has always had a bit of barracuda in him, and Quinn knows it? "The only thing standing in my way," Wyatt opined, "is Liam." You know what? I'm all for someone taking Liam down, even if it's someone who's only newly nasty! Must be something in the metal of that sword necklace!


Wyatt pretty much described Liam to Quinn as a tofu-eating, yoga-practicing buffoon. Only thing is, when did Liam become that? Okay, sure, people switch things up -- hell, I just took up yoga myself last week. But on a soap, we need to see changes, or we end up feeling something is amiss. One sentence would have cut it. Instead, we're being force-fed aspects of Liam's personality that didn't otherwise exist to show how different he and Wyatt are. That's called a plot-driven story, and those never work.


There are already enough flaws in Liam that Wyatt could exploit without inventing any. And now, Hope, who had to numb herself with antianxiety meds the last time she moved in with a not-yet-divorced Liam, happily sent out change-of-address cards so she, Liam, and Wyatt could all be under the same contrived roof. Talk about plot-driven! Or maybe Hope just likes the idea of rooming with two hotties that fight over her. Now we just need Mr. Roper, and B&B will really be Three's Company.


I found the whole thing very awkward. Liam and Hope excusing themselves so they could go have sex? Wyatt whining about Bill liking Liam better because Bill bought Liam a mansion and not him? First off, the cliff house is hardly a mansion, and besides, Bill has known Liam for three years. A month ago, Bill didn't even know Wyatt existed! This sense of entitlement makes me think Wyatt has watched too much of Adam Carrington on Dynasty...or Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless!


Maybe Wyatt is a Forrester! Because entitlement seems to be running rampant among Forrester boys Thomas and Thorne. Now, Thomas, I expect that from. Here's a guy who sold his mother down the river because Stephanie offered him 25% of Forrester Creations, and has bitched ever since because Stephanie did the right thing and left her shares to Eric instead. And I suppose Thomas' bitterness toward Rick could have been magnified when Caroline dumped Thomas for Rick. But what's Thorne's excuse?


I was so happy two weeks ago when Winsor Harmon showed up on my screen again. I'm still happy to see him, but Thorne is on my nerves in a way I never thought possible. Thorne is a full-blood, first-generation Forrester. He always should have had more of a leadership role in the company, even when Ridge was there. But when Ridge left and Eric offered Thorne the presidency, what did Thorne do? He turned it down! Maybe he regrets that decision now, but you snooze, you lose, bud!


Now Thorne is channeling Ridge, calling Rick "little brother" as if it were an insult and essentially daring Rick to fail. Seems to me when Ridge did that to Thorne, Thorne punched him! Ridge was always arrogant, but this is completely out of character for Thorne. Even if he truly feels he could do a better job running Forrester, the Thorne I know would never go about it this way. No one forced his ass into the Forrester basement! He's been working there since Day One! Campaign fairly or suck it up!


I'm grateful to see a fashion show happening at Forrester, but there are so many things wrong with this story that I don't know where to begin. The stakes are either the rebranded HFTF makes $100 million, or Rick loses the presidency. That benchmark was supposed to be reached by the end of the year. Thorne and Thomas act as if HFTF is supposed to make that much today or it's curtains!


And since when does mere audience reaction determine whether a line is a success or failure? Forrester's M.O. has always been to mount a show, get press, and ascertain success or failure based on sales. Why now is one crowd's reaction all that matters? And I can understand Rick's attempt to appeal to other demographics by bringing in new buyers, but it seems like shooting yourself in the foot to not combine fresh customers with the tried and true. What was up with everyone's silence, anyway?


It might matter more if the whole thing wasn't set up to fuel the Caroline/Rick/Maya/Carter quadrangle. Yawn. Rick has to work with Caroline to save his job, Caroline makes points with Rick by pendulum swinging closer to her previously demure behavior (at least she acknowledged her switcheroo!), Maya gets all boo-hoo about Rick's preoccupation with work and leans on Carter. Standard enough soap fare, but this quartet ran out of steam weeks ago.


I loved that Caroline mentioned Rick hating secrets because of what he went through with Amber -- I always appreciate good nods to history -- but what about all the secrets Rick kept? And that includes during his bid to steal Caroline from Thomas, to say nothing of when he used Steffy to hurt Ridge! Rick could take a lesson from Caroline and own his own behavior so we can accept his being a nice guy again.


As for Maya, she must attend the same kindergarten as Quinn! "We spent the night together," Maya lamented to Carter. Huh? Even Carter knew that was crap -- they kissed a little, and Carter slept on the couch! Maya is acting like she pulled a Brooke. Maybe, by Maya's standards, she did. But it's hardly worth all the fuss. In fact, it's laughable. Of course, with Rafael spilling the beans to Caroline (why was he allowed to attend a fashion event reserved for press and buyers?), I'm sure much "mayhem" will ensue.


Who will Eric choose as president this time? Should we care? Will Brooke just go for the gusto with Bill already? Is Wyatt about to make Bill look like...Liam? Share your own burning questions and observations on the soapcentral.com message boards or the comments section. Send e-mail or leave a voicemail. Or express yourself via Facebook below. Your comments could end up in a future column. Like these!

• "I have had it with Brooke. I always felt sorry for her when Stephanie called her the slut of the valley, but now I think she really is the slut of the valley. I have no respect for her anymore...Bill is no better. Last week he's pursuing Katie and wants her back...and this week he wants Brooke. It makes no sense....I don't like the storyline between Maya and Carter. Frankly, it's boring." -- Judy
  
  
• "Personally, I am glad Bill dumped Katie. All she does is whine about him and leave when things get tough. I am not saying Bill isn't a first-class jerk, but Katie gets all red in the face, stamps her feet and pouts her way out the door only to come back and say she wants to work things out...Katie is a 12-year-old in a woman's body..." -- Denise
  
  
• "I agree with everything [Tracy] said...[Brill] is a horrible storyline...I was always a Brooke fan for she and Ridge, even after all she had done. Not anymore." -- Delores
  
  
• "I have been watching B&B since the first show. [They]...need to let Brooke pay for her sins...[they] should write something else for her to do besides sleeping with everyone's husband. I love the show but if another marriage [breaks] up because of Brooke, I will stop looking at it." -- Mattie
  
  
• "Wanting a change on B&B. Where is Nick, Jackie, and Owen? What about Dayzee and Marcus, a baby any time soon? Please have a new storyline for Thorne and Thomas! Is Steffy coming back? What about Ridge? I think [B&B] should bring Ridge back, with him and 'the Doc' as being married! That would send Brooke into a [whirlwind] no matter how much she says she loves Bill!" -- Peggy
  
  

Well, Peggy, I'd have to say the odds of Steffy returning have gone down some, since Jacqueline MacInnes Wood has just been hired to host Party On! on E! But we may be picking up the slack if the latest casting notice about Thorne's daughter Alexandria is to be believed. Wish B&B had thought of that when Taylor was around, since Taylor had a hand in the death of Alexandria's mother, Darla! Ah, missed opportunities.


Speaking of missing things, let's see if you all noticed what I noticed in Points to Ponder:


Since when is Thorne a money-grubber? When Rick points out how Thorne has withdrawn his support, Thorne's excuse is "Well, little brother, lost revenue can do that to a guy..." Apparently if Thorne replaces Rick as president, Thomas will become vice-president. Except that Thomas is already vice-president!... Hope is cool with changing her line to HFTF, but when has she been in the office to approve or disapprove?... Caroline didn't have time to talk to Rafael, but she sure had time to gab with Rick and Maya. And shouldn't Rafael be worried that Maya will quit Room 8 if she finds out he blabbed about her and Carter?


Wyatt and Quinn were out of touch for weeks, yet Wyatt was awfully cruel to her. "Come along for the ride or get left behind," Wyatt sassed. If Ridge or Thorne had talked to Stephanie that way, they would have gotten slapped... "Hope is an awesome woman!" Wyatt exclaimed. Hope's more like that Britney Spears song. You know, not a girl, not yet a woman... Heather Tom is going to have one hell of an Emmy reel with all the kick-ass performances she's racking up. Katie's blouse was tear-stained as she confronted Bill and Brooke! But for all the worry that Katie would keel over and die, her heart seems to be handling all these dramas pretty well...


Brooke would have made a lot more points if she'd admitted her part in her affairs with Eric, Thorne, and Deacon when Katie brought them up instead of deflecting it... "We're starting our lives together," Bill told Brooke not long after walking out on Katie. Is this where Liam gets his waffling tendencies from?... "You've been living here all by yourself," Wyatt told Liam, apparently unaware of the revolving door Hope and Steffy have come through the last two years... Why was Dayzee seating the press at Forrester? She doesn't work there! And Oliver is the house DJ, so why was Othello in the mix?... Finally, why was Thorne ready to move Rick to the basement? Rick wasn't downstairs before he was president; it's highly likely he'd stay upstairs even if he had to resume his usual duties!


Thank you to everyone who's voted so far for my "Change My Mind" video to be emPower Music & Arts Best Posi Music Video of 2013! With August 31 as the deadline, this is the last week to vote, so visit www.empowerma.com and cast your ballot! I appreciate the support, and I'll let you know the outcome!


Tracy's back next week, which means I'll next Scoop for you September 9. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

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