The bold and the broken

What's going on with Taylor and Brooke? It's like they're broken and out of control. Brooke is lusting after her brother-in-law, and Taylor's playing tonsil hockey with Eric, her former father-in-law. Meanwhile Dayzee, Maya, and Steffy all have some form of baby trouble. We'll try to piece some broken lives back together in this week's Two Scoops.

Hello, friends. Have you had a good week, or was someone forcing you to move to Paris? Maybe someone hired a team of experts to shower the skies with kites to remind you of the past? Or maybe you just watched The Bold and the Beautiful and noticed that our Forresters and Logans are a squirrely bunch of privileged people?

Something is wrong with Brooke. I've given her the benefit of the doubt in the past, felling that she'd been victimized or misjudged. However, when Hope confronted her this past week about the Bill situation, I couldn't agree more with Hope. Brooke's got to be kidding about her feelings for Bill because it's just plain wrong. Bill is her brother-in-law and if she continues to think there could be something more to that relationship, she's going to lose her family.

Taylor is another case of a woman who's losing it. Talk about a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown! When she annotated her losses to Eric, I had to concede that she was partially right. Losing Phoebe was a heartache that Taylor may never overcome. But Steffy and Thomas' problems are normal for adult children. Steffy's having relationship issues, and Thomas is frustrated at work. Big deal! That's life in the big, bad world. Everyone struggles, no matter how rich you are or what your last name happens to be.

As a therapist, Taylor should really be much more circumspect. For her to be in tears about Thomas moving away, for instance, is ridiculous. If he chooses to spend time in Paris at Forrester International, as a parent, Taylor should offer support and encouragement. It's selfish of her to want her grown son to remain within her area code. Sure, many parents do prefer that their kids not leave home, but in reality, plenty do. Brooke was right when she pointed out to Thomas and Taylor that Rick spent a couple of years in Paris, and it was valuable experience for him. Brooke chose not to selfishly keep her son tethered to L.A.

Taylor also felt that she'd lost something in the way her relationship with Stephanie ended. It was complicated. They had been BFFs for years and years. Taylor had truly been the dutiful daughter-in-law, just as she said. But long before Stephanie's death, Taylor knew that Brooke had wormed her way into Stephanie's heart, and they'd built a special friendship. Taylor had seemingly accepted that she was no longer Stephanie's best buddy, but apparently she was covering up her real feelings.

But for Taylor to cry to Eric about the anger she felt because Stephanie didn't die in her arms was disingenuous. If anyone had the right to that anger, it was Eric. Yet, as they both said, Stephanie had a plan for her death, and she chose Brooke to be there. That's not Brooke's fault. It was Stephanie's decision. Yelling as a portrait of Stephanie was infantile and beneath Taylor's dignity.

But here's my main complaint about Taylor. She's an accomplished woman who's been giving in to self-pity. Why? When is she going to take control of her life and really live? She needs to stop walking into other people's homes and lecturing them about what they're doing wrong. It's not Taylor's place to warn Brooke to stay away from Bill. It's none of Taylor's business.

Taylor could be doing so much more with her life. She could travel, date, write a book, create a foundation, volunteer at a hospice. The possibilities are unlimited for such a successful person, and yet she's moping around a beach house in Malibu and sighing, "Woe is me." Well, sorry, but I don't feel sorry for you. Go see your own therapist and get some perspective on yourself, Taylor!

But it looks like Taylor's answer to her problems is to find a new man. Just wondering, but if Eric and Taylor get involved and have an affair, how is that okay when Eric marrying Brooke was so wrong...according to Taylor and her family. And at what point does the finger point to Eric for being a horn dog? I love the guy, but seriously, he's been married to both Brooke and Donna, and he's apparently getting hot and bothered by his former daughter-in-law Taylor. Can't he date outside the family?

Of course, what was Eric supposed to do when a "grateful" Taylor planted a soul kiss on him after he decided to promote Thomas to vice president of Forrester Creations? If this had been an adult movie, she might have thrown him onto the couch and had sex with him right there in the office. To me, Taylor's reaction to Eric's memo was wildly inappropriate. Was that supposed to be the result of her kvetching about how the Logans have treated her family so unjustly? Eric should have stopped the kiss and set her straight, spoken a little truth, and pointed out that she was getting carried away. Instead, he just gave in to her complaining by presenting Thomas with a promotion. It was like she was a spoiled child and he bought her a new toy.

Taylor's kiss was wrong, and she should have known better. Eric is in a vulnerable position. Not only is Eric in mourning for Stephanie, but Taylor is still family to him. Sure, Brooke was also a daughter to him when they got married, but Eric was younger back then and a lot more randy. Are we supposed to think that Eric is the same man now that he was 20 years ago? I think not, even though we know that he hasn't had sex in a long time. Before Stephanie's death, there was nothing going on in their bedroom.

Meanwhile, we got to meet Marcus' brother, Carter. He's a lawyer, which is a good thing because Dayzee may need an attorney very soon. The Maya situation is spinning out of control. From what we've been told so far, Dayzee is not to blame for Maya's plight. Perhaps she was wrong to assume that she was doing the right thing by placing Maya's child in adoption so she'd avoid being put into the system. That's highly possible. But it's out of line for Maya to take no responsibility for her actions, even if she was wrongfully imprisoned. In Maya's view, Dayzee has wronged her from the start.

If Dayzee is guilty of anything, it's probably not knowing that she should have had a lawyer to protect her involvement. Dayzee is open to litigation now because Maya's going to want justice in some way. She won't be able to get her baby back, so she'll seek revenge on Dayzee. Maya has already noticed that Dayzee has moved up in the world. Maya doesn't know Dayzee's a Forrester, but she's going to find out.

This may sound superficial, but I don't like the way the producers are presenting the character of Maya. Her demeanor is bitter and hard, which is understandable to a point. She did spend time in prison before being exonerated. However, because she's a villain, does she have to be shown in such a harsh light? The actress who's playing Maya is named Karla Mosley, and she's beautiful. Can't she be attractive and ticked off at the same time? It seems to work for Taylor.

On the subject of things that are broken, or at least defective, let's discuss the triangle. You know the one. It's the only one that Brad Bell seems to want to write about -- Liam, Hope, and Steffy. Hope has been like a new woman since finding out that Rick and Bill betrayed her and Liam, thus robbing the two of the married life they would supposedly be living right now. Well, enough already.

There's plenty of blame to go around, and nobody robbed Hope of the opportunities to have forgiven Liam after his wild and crazy bachelor party night with Steffy before the Beverly Hills wedding. Hope might have laughed off Liam's fake tattoo, dyed hair, and black skivvies and married him right then and there. She chose not to go through with it. Sorry, Hope, but face facts. She may have been robbed in Italy, she still had chances with Liam and let them slip away.

Meanwhile, what's up with Steffy? If she was so anxious to see Liam when she returned to Los Angeles, why did she go to the office before going home? Why on earth did she spend a couple of hours yapping with her mother instead of racing back to Liam with news about the baby? Her ambivalence worries me. Is Steffy really intent on fighting for Liam? My guess is that she's reached the point where she wants him to want her exclusively. In other words, she's waiting for him to really come to a decision and choose her over Hope.

The problem, as we all know, is that Liam cannot make a decision. Maybe it's in his DNA, this inability to choose. When he told Brooke last week that both Hope and Steffy were incredible women, he wasn't kidding. But unless they're interested in polygamy instead of monogamy, he can only have a future with one of them. Here's a thought: if Liam cannot decide whom he wants "till death do they part," maybe he should just wait a few years until he's figured it out for sure.

I know, I know, that's not really an option now because of Steffy's pregnancy. It's hard to imagine Liam not marrying her and giving the child his name. It's also hard to imagine that Liam won't convince himself that he will be happy with Steffy, and thus, he'll be forced to decide.

The irony will come down the road, as I see it. Maybe a year from now, Liam and Steffy will be married with a little baby, and Liam will be lusting for Hope. And if Hope is with another man by then, which is practically a given, Liam will be jealous and unhappy. Brad Bell probably has this all mapped out through 2014! Of course, since CBS renewed The Bold and the Beautiful this week, we're going to definitely get to see it!

Finally, a word about Thomas. When did he become such a sore loser? Does Thomas recall that he lied about what happened on the island and caused terrible damage to the family? He made a horrible pact with Stephanie to get ahead in the company. He forced the Taboo line down the throats of the fashion media and embarrassed his family. He didn't accept his punishment to the basement with grace. If I were Taylor and Ridge, I'd be sorely disappointed in Thomas. Instead, Taylor considers Thomas a poor, unfortunate victim. Her blind faith and support for her son is understandable, but misguided.

Don't get me wrong, however, because Brooke is just as deaf, dumb, and blind to Rick's flaws. Neither of these women have been great mothers, just like Stephanie was a really bad mom. Seriously, was there ever a question that she favored Ridge over Thorne, Kristen, and Felicia?

As I started in my Two Scoops for The Young and the Restless last week, I'm instituting a new feature within my Two Scoops column. I'm calling it My Pet Peeve of the Week! This week, there are two.

The first is what I like to call the belly rub. Every time Steffy mentions her baby, she rubs her belly. Once was nice. Twice was okay. The 75 times since then has been annoying. We get it, Steffy, you have a baby growing inside you. There's no reason to do close-ups of her hands on her stomach every time she talks about the child she and Liam will be having.

Peeve number two is about Pam. Pam finally had a nice scene with Eric about getting over Stephanie's death. But that came only after she tried to get him to eat pot roast - again. Enough with Pam's pot roast and lemon bars. Come on, it's overkill. In the past we've been told that Pam's got mad skills in the kitchen. It's time to expand her tasty offerings to Eric. How about fried chicken and brownies?

So, that's it for me. Please share your thoughts with me about what's going to happen in the weeks ahead, as well as your best and worst from the year gone by... I'm anxious to read what you all have to say. Send your comments to Soap Central, and stay in touch. Don't forget to keep on reading Two Scoops every week!

Meanwhile, here are some letters from the readers!

• Just a note to crazy Taylor. She couldn't understand why Brooke was with Stephanie when she died and not Eric or anyone else in her family. Well, if she remembers, it was because HER son, Thomas, insisted on having an FC meeting that Eric felt he had to be at. Taylor's behavior is starting to become stalker-like, walking into everyone's house, checking whose car is parked there. Getting scary! - Deborah

• I love Steffy and cannot stand the perfect Hope. Please let Steffy get back to being the tough, smart, fun woman she was when Liam first fell in love with her! If Liam goes back to Steffy because of the pregnancy that would make me puke! He is as wishy-washy as Hope. Give Steffy a strong MAN if Liam doesn't grow up! I so want Taylor to take Brooke on, too. That would be awesome if she finally acted more like her daughter. Thomas and Rick both make me change the channel. - T.M.

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