Aly, Aly, oxen free

This week, the Forrester-Spencer-Logans indulged in their favorite childhood game: hide-and-seek. Ridge and Katie found their concealed feelings. Brooke thought she was "it." And Aly barely counted to ten before seeking out Great-Aunt Pam for help with Wyatt! Make a run for it and tag home base with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you break boinking records on two continents? Did you find out that your sister wants your mister? Did you decide that your favorite bird is the loon and that loons should flock together? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer clan this week!

Well, Scoopers, it's finally happening -- the damage from Darla's tragic death is surfacing in Aly, the daughter she left behind. It's getting interesting, but something's off about Aly's descent into madness, mostly in that there's no descent. Grown-up Aly came to us as a well-rounded, unaffected girl that Thorne was proud of. Shouldn't we have seen subtle cracks in Aly's armor from the start? Her sudden switch to crazy lacks the impact we would have had felt had they slowly let us know something was wrong.

Though Aly's tactics are a bit severe, she's not exactly wrong about the Fullers: they are rather out for themselves. It's hard to get a bead on exactly what kind of characters Quinn and Wyatt are, which is either brilliant writing or crappy; I haven't decided. But I'm with Aly in the matter of Stephanie's jewelry. Sure, Quinn Artisan created pieces for HFTF, but if Forrester wanted to pay tribute to the matriarch by putting her bling on display, they have the rights; they don't need Quinn and Wyatt for that!

Aly also doesn't quite understand her place in the company. Not only is she basically an intern, but she doesn't have any more authority to do the hiring and firing than Hope does. Only Eric and Rick, as CEO and president, respectively, have that power. That didn't stop Aly from trying to can Wyatt, however. I felt bad for him until he told Aly he had mile-highed Hope on the plane. Where did that completely inappropriate comment come from? No wonder Aly backhanded his ass Stephanie-style!

As Wyatt told Hope about his visit from Aly, Brooke and Thorne continued discussing his daughter and how Wyatt seemed to be a trigger for her. So what does Brooke do? She has Aly deliver papers to Hope and gives Aly the key to Hope's room! Um, Brooke, you could give TED talks on the horizontal tango; did you really think Hope and Wyatt wouldn't play "hide the French bread" instead of going out to sightsee...at night? Only if Brooke didn't know about Aly's problems would handing over Hope's key make sense.

Of course, Aly walked in on Hope and Wyatt au naturel and freaked out. "Liam would never do that!" she cried. Sure, he wouldn't. Wasn't it refreshing not to see Liam all week, not to mention have the Lope/Hyatt triangle over with? But I digress. Aly was fixated on Hope's original chaste image, and, when Aly couldn't accept that those days were over, Aly called Hope "raunchy and vulgar!"

Wow! Hope didn't know where to look, and she was right to suggest that, this time, Aly was doing the bullying. It's a shame Hope didn't flash back to telling Aly that "Taylor killed your mommy." She's the one person could put the pieces together about Aly's behavior. Instead, Hope gently told Aly to get over it then went back to shagging Wyatt. Could you get it on after that exchange? But the real fire happened when Aly electronically flamed Wyatt on her smartphone. Even Sheila didn't have tools like that!

As for Brooke, she spent much of her Paris trip goofy over Ridge. (Isn't it ironic that they've temporarily switched cities?) Is Brooke just in denial, or is she really this clueless? She thinks she has Ridge back, but it's not like he's been particularly loving toward her lately. And Brooke thinks Katie has her head in romance novels? Brooke might as well change her last name to Harlequin, the way she fantasized like a schoolgirl that Ridge was lying next to her on the plane!

The real Ridge was with Katie in the park (where else would they go?), parking those three little words in her ear. Katie made sure to pass by a hoppin' band as she tried to assimilate Ridge's confession (because Heather Tom's real-life husband was the front man). Katie and Ridge danced a little bit, and when they got home, Katie admitted that she loved Ridge as well. I still say these two should at least date before making such major pronouncements, but I do see a lot of potential in Team Kridge. A lot!

Back in Paris, Brooke told Hope she was ready to head back to La-La Land to start her life with Ridge. Hope, who strangely arranged to get Brooke out of town so Ridge and Katie could explore their feelings, called the wannabe twosome to warn them -- and suddenly, Brooke picked up the phone! Huh? That doesn't even make sense! If Brooke needed to make a call, she sure didn't clarify it. For that matter, why didn't Hope just call Katie from her cell? Does she have that sucky a roaming plan?

On the plane home -- with Brooke in the next cabin, mind you -- Hope told Wyatt how she had pulled a Steffy so that Ridge and Katie could get their attraction out of their system. What business is it of Wyatt's? More baffling, Hope went straight to Ridge and said that Taylor's vendetta and exposure of Brooke's affair with Bill caused everything! Hope topped it by comparing Ridge with Bill, saying that what Ridge is doing with Katie is the same thing Bill did with Brooke!

Whoa! Brooke had already miscarried Bill's baby long before Taylor involved herself (wonder why the show isn't filling Ridge in on that little detail?). Brill still happened, and would have continued if Bill hadn't played Switch the Sisters to try and get his company back. And Ridge called it: "She's not my wife," he said of Brooke, "and I didn't have an affair behind her back." The only thing Hope might be right about is Ridge being comfortable as the man in the middle after two decades waffling between Brooke and Taylor. But that's it!

Meanwhile, Katie decided it was time to tell Brooke that Ridge had changed sisters, but Brooke responded by laughing in Katie's face! I'm surprised Brooke didn't remind Katie of the time she wanted Donna's man, Rocco, back in 1988! Brooke just didn't want to hear it, and even the revelation that Katie collapsed at the wedding on purpose didn't seem to get through to her. Katie got pissed. "He's been with you, so no other woman could ever be good enough for him?" she barked. Hoo!

Brooke was glad when Ridge showed up to talk Katie down from her "nonsense." But Katie pointed out that Brooke seemed to stay in the same place, while Katie and Ridge both had changed their expectations about "how we want to be loved." Brooke couldn't believe her ears and turned to Ridge for backup, wanting him to pooh-pooh what she viewed as Katie's crush. "Ridge, tell her!" Brooke implored. Alas, all she got was a close-up of his chiseled features, meaning she'd have to wait 'til Monday.

Back at Forrester, Wyatt told Quinn about his Paris jaunt with Hope, glossing over his run-in with Aly, then texted Hope to come to the steam room for a rerun of "If the Plane's Rockin', Don't Come Knockin'." Is this all these two ever do? I'm beginning to believe that their relationship is pretty much based on sex. And how can Hope be with him so easily when she knows he faked a jewelry heist to impress her? Doesn't exactly instill trust, does it? But no worries, Scoopers -- Pam hasn't forgotten!

I guess it took Charlie and a day-glo diamond, but Pam is finally becoming a real character instead of the go-to girl for lemon bars. She not only did a double take when Quinn wanted to send Hope flowers (and charge them to Eric!), but she vehemently disapproved of her departed sister's jewels being used as a publicity stunt. "Is Wyatt planning on swiping those, too?" Pam growled. You go on! Pam seems to have cast off her doormat status, and, if anyone knows crazies, it's Miss Douglas, who's been there!

Pam warned Quinn she'd chuck Wyatt in jail if he and Hope ever hit the skids. Who should witness this but Miss Aly Forrester! I'm not sure why Aly is turning against the woman who gave her the faboo makeover she has no problem maintaining, but Aly went to Great-Aunt Pammie, wanting the full-on poop. "Trust your instincts," Pam replied as Aly said the Fullers were bad news. Hmm...Pam and Aly working together: if this combo was any nuttier, they'd be a jar of Skippy Extra Chunky! Tastes good to me!

B&B's going in some interesting directions right now! Are you Team Kridge or Bridge? Team Aly or Team Wyatt? Share your comments with us on the Soap Central message boards or the comments section. Send email or leave a voicemail! Or talk about it on Facebook below. Your comments could end up in a future column. Like these!

• "I have to say the most exciting news I heard...is that there will be a crossover with...Rick Forrester coming to [Y&R's] Genoa City to watch Chelsea's fashion show. Woo hoo, the [Jacob Young/Melissa Claire Egan] fan base from AMC (JR and Annie) has waited for three long years for these two to share a scene together again. My wish is [that] the TPTB will see the natural chemistry between the two and move Jacob to Y&R...I feel he is too good of an actor to continue on [B&B] (sorry)..." -- L.B.

• "Finally, a real love story on B&B. Katie and Ridge are bringing to daytime something that we have not FELT since [GH's] Luke and Laura: our hearts racing and always wanting more!! Brooke, [Bill], and "crazy baby momma" are just a blip on the B&B radar. The chemistry between Heather Tom and Thorsten Kaye is off the charts!!!!" -- Patty

• "Why can't [B&B] get other story lines and just let the best couple of all time, Ridge and Brooke, be together...they have such great chemistry...Katie is not the one for Ridge...guess [B&B likes] losing viewers." -- Sharon

• "I hate the waste of good dialogue time with all of these repeated musical flashbacks. They are a complete waste of time. On another note, as others have said, Katie and Ridge have no history, he barely acknowledged her in the past. Now they have a connection. Why is Ridge even hurt in the first place when he left Brooke? He left her over a text message that easily could have been forgiven. To come back and not even explain what has been going on with him, and then to suddenly get married?..." -- Minerva

• "[Mike,] I agree with more of what you say in this week's column more than in any other that I've read since I started reading you years ago. Thank you for that...I can't buy that [Thorsten Kaye] is Ridge, but I would have liked him as a new character. I will miss the very old flashbacks of Ridge and Brooke -- at least they were real flashbacks, not this stuff of being in the park yesterday with Ridge over and over...why not use that time to develop a storyline that we can believe? Wish the writers would be a little more realistic...Hope just remembered she is leaving for Paris tonight for a big event, but no one made any plans for anyone to go with her till now? Now she says Brooke must go with her? What if the wedding had gone through? Who would have been going then?" -- Pam

Let's finish 'er up with some Points to Ponder:

Aly told Brooke that "Dad thought it would be best" if she came to Paris. No, Aly, you were the one who decided you needed to see Thorne... Putting Ridge and Katie back in the park was a bit of an eye-roller, but as a location shoot, it was rather well done... "She's a grown woman," Brooke told Thorne regarding Hope, "and she can make her own decisions." That's a far cry from the Brooke who felt she had to micromanage Hope's love life! Brooke then said she sent Ridge to babysit Katie because she didn't want Katie and Will to be alone. What, Aunt Donna wasn't available? By the way, who's running Spencer Publications while Katie is out falling in love with Ridge?

"It was really wonderful seeing you, Thorne," Brooke gushed to her ex-husband and former brother-in-law. Hear, hear! Winsor Harmon is not only still hotter than hell, but Thorne needs to be on our screens as Aly goes further and further off the deep end... Aly was incensed at what she saw as Wyatt's poor treatment of Hope -- where was she when Liam was treating Hope much, much worse?... It looks like Forrester International has its own designers. Why? Eric, Ridge, and Caroline all design for Forrester; doesn't their work carry over to the overseas office?... "I decided I wasn't ready for marriage," Hope insisted to Aly. No, Hope, you didn't marry Liam because you were tired of his connection to Steffy! Other than that, you were Miss Perfect Wedding of 2012 and 2013!

How about that: Brooke reminded us how Bill tried to cast Ridge as gay because of his Parisian roommate, Fabrice -- and Hope told Wyatt that Katie had issues "with my sister, Bridget!" Finally, a reference to the 2008 aunt/niece battle over Nick... "Do you miss Chicago?" Quinn asked Pam. Talk about a non sequitur -- was Quinn hoping Pam would say "yes" so she could send her five-second bestie to the Windy City in a pine box?

Hope and Brooke were supposedly in Paris for Fashion Week, perhaps the biggest event in the couture industry. But Brooke wanted to go home to marry Ridge, so Hope just gleefully said they could shuffle press functions and hop on a plane the next morning! Good way of doing business! Brooke joked that maybe Katie would make her breakfast -- hardly, and not because Katie's was preparing to serve up her love for Ridge instead: it's an 11-hour flight from Paris to Los Angeles; even with the 9-hour time difference, the best Brooke could hope for would be lunch!

Floored to hear that Katie faked her collapse at Brooke's wedding, Wyatt asked, "What kind of person would do that?" Um, you would, you jewel stealer; at least Katie didn't do anything illegal! Hope then spoke of remembering Ridge going back and forth between Brooke and Taylor when she was a child -- forgetting that Ridge was mostly with Brooke after Hope was born... After accusing Aly of bullying her, didn't Hope turn around and do the exact same thing to Ridge, castigating him about Katie? Nice way to treat the man that raised you, Hope!

Next week, Tracy will wield both of her Two Scoops for your reading pleasure, and then I will be back March 24 to cover March Madness, Aly's madness, Darla's return, and the 27th anniversary of B&B. Say it with me: keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

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