Let's do the flip-flop again

It ain't the Time Warp -- or is it? Oliver took a jump to the left in his sudden quest to be a corporate climber. Liam took a step to the right by becoming a trailer-jacker. And Brooke put her hands on her hips, trying to get Bill reinstalled as Spencer's CEO. But supposed 'central character' Hope borrowed Liam's playbook and took his place as a waffler! Decide if it's rocky or horror with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you and your mom's floating head not see you were getting played? Did you decide blood isn't thicker than paper? Did you almost give birth to a bouncing baby waffle? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer clan this week!

Whatza haps, Scoopers? Spring is in the air, or at least Rick and Caroline were, as they jetted over to Y&R's Genoa City for a "Chelsea by Jabot" fashion show with Chelsea Lawson. Thanks to the recaps here on Soap Central, I know Caroline chatted up Jack Abbott, Summer Newman, and Noah Newman, played by Linsey Godfrey's real-life boyfriend, Robert Adamson. Oh, and apparently Rick and Caroline want Chelsea to freelance at Forrester. Hey, Forrester's halls are crowded enough!

No mention of any of this on Rick and Caroline's home soap of B&B, but then, our characters had their hands full, starting with Aly, whose scruffy lip-lock with Oliver had her rolling around on her bed and gushing to her mommy's glowing head. I'm sorry, but Disembodied Darla isn't working for me. Why can't Darla just sit next to Aly as if she were actually there? Haven't the writers ever seen Six Feet Under? At least we saw a pic of Real Darla with little Dress-Shredding Aly!

Then there's Clueless Carter. He noticed Maya was distracted, but that's about it. Is Maya questioning Oliver's motives out of concern for Aly, whom she barely knows, or simply because Maya's jealous after getting her own scruffy kiss from Oliver some months ago? Not that I blame her -- Oliver's lookin' really good these days. I just am not sure why he's suddenly willing to "put up" with Aly to keep his job. It's out of character for him. Is that what four years on the backburner does to people?

At any rate, after Oliver confirmed to Maya, and us, that Aly is only a means to an end for him, he strolled over to the Forrester compound. What a trip to see actual exteriors of familiar locales that were only sets for years! Oliver wasted no time whipping his shirt off (good for us) and giving the flustered Aly another beard brush. Maya, however, recorded Oliver's confession on her trusty iPhone and played it for Carter. Will she play it for Aly? And will it be Oliver's head floating -- in the pool -- when Aly hears it?

Meanwhile, there were many, ahem, pregnant pauses, as we milked the heck out of Hope revealing whether all her romping with Wyatt put a bun in her oven. It didn't -- and, I have to say, it's interesting to actually see a pregnancy scare, because usually our ladies just find themselves expecting. Liam felt it necessary to put in his dos centavos, which caused Wyatt to yelp, "This is not even about you!" Gotta agree with Mr. Fuller there. Liam's freakin' vice president of Spencer. Does he ever work?

Once alone, Hope and Wyatt admitted they needed to be better about using protection. Really, kids? No glove? Rubber lover's gonna protect you from more than having to buy baby booties. Tsk. Anyway, the not-pregnant couple decided to go trailer traipsing, again (apparently, they don't work, either). But when Wyatt got a call, Hope checked out the trailer, and Liam jumped in Wyatt's truck and took off. Hope silently stared out the back window, trapped. It's Gondola 2014!

Okay, how did Liam even know Hope would get into the trailer? And what -- Wyatt just left his keys in his truck with all those people around? Next stop, Contrivance Boulevard! Liam talked to Hope via cell phone, telling her they had things to figure out because of her pregnancy scare. "There's nothing to figure out, Liam!" Hope insisted. That may be the smartest thing she's ever said. Liam is delusional. His ex has been with another guy for months, and he still thinks there's a chance for him? I'm so sure!

Then again, Hope is starting to give Liam mixed signals. In one breath, she tells him that she's dating Wyatt; in the next, she says she doesn't want to close the door on Liam. Maybe the girl can't help it. She was raised by Ridge, the Champion Waffler of All Time, and Liam's own flip-flopping between her and Steffy was some kind of example. Plus, Hope's mama is Brooke; 'nuff said. Hope needs to dump both these studs and do some growing up on her own for a while. Of course, that's not allowed.

This is why I respectfully disagree with Mr. Brad Bell. In a recent TV Guide interview, he referred to Hope as B&B's "central character." Doesn't that explain it all? He truly feels Hope is the focus of the show; that's why she's always on our screens. It's nothing against Kim Matula; she's a fine actress who has been pre-nominated for an Emmy three times. It's just that Hope isn't a strong enough character to carry the entire soap. She's just not that compelling.

You wanna talk compelling? Quinn was "fiyah" this week. She burst in on Liam and was ready to bitch-slap him into next Sunday for "kidnapping" Hope and taking her away from her precious son, but Liam blocked her ass and got up in her face! That's what I'm talkin' about! And you know, there's a strange electricity between Liam and Quinn. I bet they end up in bed before long. That would piss everybody off. I think, in soap jargon, that would be considered...compelling.

I'm not a fan of Quinn's underdeveloped "craziness," but she sure had a point, telling Liam he needed to stop being a whiny little boy who throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants; she said Bill spoiled him and that he needed to be grateful for what he had instead of wanting something that wasn't his. Miss Quinn gets no argument from me this week. Personally, Liam's mooning over Hope is not only old, it's ancient. Hey, Liam, remember how pathetic you thought Oliver was when he did the same thing?

Instead, Liam reminded Hope that he was still Liam Cooper (a surname he dropped in a hot minute after finding out he was a Spencer) and asked her to come home, where they had so many memories. Oh, dude. A year ago you were sharing that home with a pregnant Steffy -- and Hope has had issues with having to live in the same house as her! Where does that boy come up with this stuff? Nevertheless, Liam's words got to Hope, because when she left with Wyatt, the wheels were turning. I heard 'em.

Hope was glad she wasn't pregnant, feeling she wanted to bring a child into a nurturing and supportive family. You better keep taking those birth control pills, honey, 'cuz the Forrester-Logan-Spencer clan will always be the mess you say it is now. And while she kissed on Wyatt, she was obviously thinking of Liam. Let's do the flip-flop again! Hope, realize here and now that you are part of your family's mess. Can anyone on this show be with one person without thinking of someone else?

Katie, at least, ain't havin' the triangle thing and ripped Eric a new one for trying to get Ridge to waffle back to Brooke. I'm a little amazed Eric is a Bridge shipper; he's always carried a torch for Brooke and should've taken his shot at getting her back while she was manless! Alas, Brooke honored her commitment to go it alone for about five seconds before jumping into the Stallion's saddle. I knew better; B&B never lets any of its characters grow, and Brooke needs that growth more than anyone else.

Anyway, Eric. His logic in trying to push Ridge and Brooke back together when Ridge has Katie, and Brooke has Bill, is baffling, but John McCook showed us some vulnerability and genuineness in Eric as he sighed, "He's gonna hurt you, Katie." I guess, after 27 years of watching Ridge's romantic ricocheting, Father may know best. I'm really glad Eric lowered his guard with Katie, because it was looking like he was just pulling a Stephanie with this co-vice president thing. Now we know he's got emotional reasons.

It's fair to say there were also emotions in play when Brooke overheard her sister reaming out her ex-husband/ex-father-in-law (because everyone leaves the CEO's door open while having a private conversation for others to overhear). When Katie sassed Brooke for not telling Eric she'd reunited with Bill, Brooke asked, "What do you think I do? Sit around all day, talking about my personal life?" Bam! Isn't that what everyone does on this show? I'm surprised they're not all in the poorhouse!

I have to admit, the contretemps got interesting when Brooke implied that the shy Katie had wanted "this" all her life: power over Brooke! That may or may not be the case, and I give Brooke points for reminding us she invented BeLieF and created Brooke's Bedroom and the Men's Line (one of many good nods to history this week), but then she stomped her foot saying, "I'm a chemist!" Seriously, Brooke? We haven't seen you in the lab since the '90s! Is it even still there?

Katie made a continuity slip, too, telling Brooke, "enjoy my husband." Yo, Katie, you and Bill are divorced. At least, I think you are. If B&B had ever made it clear, we'd know for sure! Nevertheless, Katie left to attend a board meeting at Spencer that included Justin...and Karen! There was talk of recasting Joanna Johnson last year over her scheduling conflicts, so I'm glad to see Karen in her original form, and she's just as strong as ever. Long-departed twin sis Caroline would be proud!

Maybe Katie's been spending too much time in the park with Ridge -- plus Liam's never at his VP desk -- because apparently the company's in the crapper. "We are in transition," Katie explained. After nine months? A little convenient, isn't it, that now Katie's leadership seems to be lacking -- and that Bill is squawking about getting his company back. He didn't care about it when he spent months moping over Brooke! (Now we see where Liam gets it from.) What, he got Brooke back, so Spencer's next on the list?

Brooke called the visiting Karen (didn't know Brooke had her number!), and over a nice salad, she told her brief one-time rival for Ridge that it was time to boot Katie out of the CEO chair and let Bill swivel in it. "She's on a power trip," Brooke insisted. Um, really, Logan? Because I'm not seeing that. Someone on a power trip would secretly call Bill so he can bump into Karen. Oh, wait. Brooke did that. It's just like when Brooke played peacemaker for Bill and Wyatt, only with much higher stakes.

While Brooke got Bill and Karen to exchange niceties and talk about family support (glad to hear B&B still isn't shying away from Karen being openly lesbian), Justin appealed to Katie in a very Bill way, asking her to have a heart in regard to letting Bill be CEO again: "I know yours is borrowed, but you can still use it." Dang! Cold-blooded, but one of the best lines I've heard in ages. Not to mention, a great way to maintain continuity.

Katie basically told Justin where to shove his legal briefs, adding he's lucky he still has a job. Indeed! It's amazing Katie didn't fire his ass after he helped trick her into signing those papers that would have returned control of Spencer to Bill and given him joint custody of Will -- papers that are apparently still in play. See, when Brooke switched the documents with leaves last November, I thought she'd destroyed them. But she didn't. Why? She was done with Bill! She really kept them just in case?

That "just in case" is right now because, even though Karen and Bill did some bonding, Karen still felt Katie was a better choice for CEO than Bill. But after Bill left Il Giardino, Brooke reached into her purse and ta da! Those all-important papers! So now she's just carrying them around? And if she's had them all along, why go to Karen? Maybe she was hoping Karen would come through, and the papers would be unnecessary. But now Brooke's about to fling that grenade right at Katie! Boom!

I know I'm not the only one around here with opinions. Talk to 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!

• "In light of Taylor's return, there's been something I've been confused about since Ridge's return. Taylor was foaming at the mouth over Brooke and Bill hooking up and Brooke's pregnancy. Even though she claimed it was all for the sake of Katie's health, Taylor didn't hold back during Brooke's party hosted by Katie and insisted on telling everyone in sight -- especially Katie. So, if she went to Paris to be with her kids, where Ridge happened to be as well, I would have expected as soon as her plane's wheels hit the tarmac, Taylor would have...immediately [filled] him in on every gory detail. Even if she didn't go to Paris, I would have figured Taylor would make sure Ridge knew. Be it Skype, telegram, ad in Paris Match, carrier pigeon, skywriting... So how come Ridge didn't know?..." -- Julia

• "In Points to Ponder you forgot: where is RJ? Doesn't he live with Brooke? Where is he when Brooke and Bill have...all that sex? Or...[she's] drunk...or visiting all her family members? And where is Will...when Katie is working or having sex with Ridge? She's never with him..." -- Arline

• "A few weeks ago the end scene for Y&R showed Aly Forrester inside an airplane and she commented that she was looking forward to seeing Sharon. I assume she meant Sharon Newman but do not understand the connection. I also don't understand why on the same day this aired Aly was at a Forrester meeting in which she was being very critical of Wyatt. My question is why this story line didn't go anywhere? I really was curious as to why Aly would be en route to Genoa City and planning to talk to Sharon?" -- Rob

Well, Arline, if I mentioned all the points I have to ponder, we'd be here all day! And Rob...to my knowledge, Aly has not done a Y&R crossover. So, whoever you saw on that plane, it couldn't have been her. How about that Cassie doppelgnger that's been running around? There is a bit of a resemblance. Any Y&R viewers want to help me and Rob out?

Oh...did someone say Points to Ponder?

First, some Positive Points: I loved Katie talking about "BeLieF 2.0" and accusing Eric of wanting a repeat of Bridge's infamous lab floor boink! I loved Brooke telling Karen how she became "very close" to Caroline "toward the end of her life." Karen's "the only thing I've noticed is you two butting heads over the men in your lives" comment about Brooke and Katie was brilliant. And, it's nice to see some different combinations of characters for a change: Katie with Eric, then with Justin, and Brooke with Karen. More please!

Now, the other Points...Brooke told Karen that Spencer isn't Katie's family business, but many would argue that Forrester isn't Brooke's family business, either, as she claims... Was anyone else a little weirded out to see the camera panning up Aly's legs? Even if she's 18, she still comes off like a minor... Maya told Carter to close the door so she could play her recording of Oliver -- a Forrester first! Every employee leaves doors open around there...

I wish Wyatt had called the cops on Liam for stealing his trailer. Everyone gets away with everything on this show... So, Liam thinks it's okay to kiss Hope and beg her to be with him though she's with Wyatt, but it wasn't okay for Wyatt to kiss Hope and beg her to be with him when she was with Liam? "He doesn't pressure me," Hope said of Wyatt. Yeah, that's all he did when you wanted to marry Liam... Quinn got a strange look on her face when she started telling Liam about siblings and circumstances. Is Quinn about to get a brother or sister?

Tracy's back for you next week, when Taylor makes her return and not only comes face-to-face with Aly, but Ridge. May Sweeps are coming, so keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

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