A girl's gotta suffer for fashion

Power-hungry Maya wasn't the only one donning the latest fashions this week. Rick wore a scowl. Ridge wore Bill's fist on his face. Eric wore a disappointed frown. And Caroline wore her heart on her sleeve while confessing she'd fallen for Ridge! Model this latest collection of drama with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you haul ass out of Holland? Did you get "Daddy" to give your relationship some extra punch? Did you confess that your passion wasn't just for fashion? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer clan this week!

It's November sweeps, Scoopers, and, for the first time in a while, it wasn't only taken up with Hope, Liam, and their constant courtship-related curve balls. Wyatt and Hope may have flown home from Amsterdam, and Liam may have flown Ivy on the wings of love, but something else flew back in Los Angeles during a fashion show that even attracted a guest from Genoa City. Let's delve into who dressed for success and who was just a mess!

In the Netherlands, Liam and Ivy floated along a canal in the boat that Wyatt chartered for them. Well, you might as well have brought in Captain Stubing, because that little ship was definitely becoming The Love Boat. It's hard to believe, but Liam definitely seemed to be cultivating an attitude of "Hope who?" -- substantiated by the candlelit coziness he created for Ivy once they got back to the hotel. I want to buy Livy, but Liam romanced Hope and Steffy in exactly the same way. Are we to believe him?

Hope decided she wanted to go home after seeing Liam and Ivy making out on the boat, on top of discovering Wyatt was the reason her ex went Dutch with the saucy Aussie. "Who did it hurt?" Wyatt asked, after Hope compared his actions to Quinn's. "No one was in danger!" True, Wyatt may have taken a page from his mama's book, but only a short one. Wyatt knew his pregnant wife was still hung up on Liam, and you almost can't blame him for wanting everyone to move on.

Once Hope was on the plane (and a commercial flight, at that!), she apologized to Wyatt for overreacting then had a double flashback, recalling her relationships with both Wyatt and Liam. Sorry, Hope -- I don't think anyone's feeling sorry for you at this point. Maybe it's just as well Kim Matula is exiting the show, because Hope's story doesn't have a lot of places to go, especially now that she's rolling like Brooke. Of course she had to brush her belly with her hand, but hey, Steffy did that, too.

Too bad the Spencers were stuck with an in-flight movie, because the real ish was going down at Forrester Creations. Rick again barked at Ridge and Caroline, then boffed Maya right there in the CEO office, probably without the benefit of a locked door. After the tormented Forrester team barely faked pulling together for intrepid fashion reporter Jarrett (wonder if he's still hanging out with pals Karen and Danielle?), Rick decided Maya should review and decide upon the lineup for the imminent showing.

Ridge certainly called that one: no lead model should be making such determinations. Rick further threw his weight around by pricing the dresses of the couture line in the $10,000, $20,000, and even $35,000 range. I think that must be a B&B first; I don't recall Forrester ever discussing the cost of their clothes. Rick's Price Is Right game may seem excessive, but layouts in GQ or Harper's Bazaar often attach four-digit figures to shirts and shoes. Rick's numbers weren't totally unreasonable.

Ridge and Caroline felt Rick was trying to kill their line by overpricing it, and when Maya continued to mouth off, even getting in Eric's face (why wasn't Maya immediately fired for that?), Ridge yelled, "You're not in this conversation!" and appealed to Rick, admitting his half-brother had a right to be angry and taking responsibility for having kissed Caroline. It even seemed that Rick was taking Ridge's conciliatory words to heart...for a few seconds, anyway.

It's too bad B&B cut a delicious bonus scene (at least it's on YouTube) in which Ridge called Maya out; told her she stole Caroline's life; asked what happened to the sweet, wide-eyed Maya; and insisted that Rick was just using her. "Have you thought this through?" Ridge wanted to know, pointing out that no one would have Maya's back when Rick went back to Caroline. Why do all the best scenes end up on the cutting room floor?

Bill's jaw was on the floor when Katie, who has been absent for much of these proceedings, revealed she had been away visiting her father in Dallas (you may remember that Stephen's portrayer, Patrick Duffy, left the show for the reboot of Dallas, which is sadly no longer with us; I was hoping it would lead to a resurgence of Dynasty! But I digress...). And the first thing Katie did was to tell Bill about Ridge and Caroline's couture kisses.

Well, didn't Bill go ballistic! He fumed that Caroline was young enough to be Ridge's daughter -- then, hearing Caroline factored into Ridge's possible CEO position, Bill roared "Nobody is going to treat the women I love that way!" Dollah, it's time for a game of Hungry, Hungry Hypocrites. You went way further than a few kisses with Ridge's daughter. And, a year ago, you tried to manipulate Katie into giving you back your own CEO position! Dude...someone needs to give you a mirror for Christmas.

Katie was really no better. It seemed she was just innocently bemoaning her troubles to her ex (I don't like this reconnection of Batie; Bill treated Katie like crap the entire time they were married, and she'd be a fool to take him back), but then Katie whispered to her baby monitor, "Don't worry, Daddy's gonna take care of it." Wait -- the woman who abhors violence and took Bill to therapy over it fixed it so Bill would kick Ridge's ass? What's in that heart rejection medication of hers?

True to form, Bill stomped over to Forrester and interrupted the fashion show preparations by taking Caroline aside. "I want to understand how much Forrester took advantage of my daughter!" Bill slipped. Is there something we're not being told? The only way Caroline can be Bill's daughter is if Karen and Danielle adopted another one of Bill's illegitimate children. Why else script such a slip? I still want it to come out that lawyer Connor Davis is Caroline's father; the hottie really needs to be back on our screens.

Anyway, Bill only heard what he wanted to hear, immediately convinced that Ridge had seduced his lily-white niece (try off-white), not hearing that the designers only shared a few kisses. Now, Ridge should know not to spend any time up on the Forrester Sky Lounge, considering he just about got chucked off its roof by Rick in the late-2000s. Of course, Bill tracked Ridge there, and I was sure someone was going to go over.

Again, Bill applied his do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do filter to everything, scoffing that Ridge was "Mr. Entitled," that he was spoiled, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and considered himself untouchable. Hold up; isn't Bill describing himself? And let's face it: Ridge was right when he asked, "Don't you think throwing me out of a helicopter started this?" I was thinking the same thing. Bill's fury at Ridge might be acceptable if he'd ever been much of an uncle to Caroline before now.

Instead, Bill popped Ridge in the face, which led to the men brawling in the Sky Lounge against shots of the fashion show taking place downstairs. I'll come right out and say I think it was the best sequence I've seen on B&B in a long time. It was exciting, suspenseful, cleverly edited, and prime-time quality. The showing even came with some old-school magic, right down to the original 1980s music cues, then went 21st century by having Forrester provide a live stream of the action on the runway. Brilliant.

What I don't understand is...why was Y&R's Gloria there? I know she met Eric when he crossed over to Genoa City some months ago, but it seemed she was only there to make goo-goo eyes at him and eat Pam's lemon bars. Her presence had nothing to do with the plot -- certainly not the way those Lauren and Sheila crossovers in the '90s did. I know I keep going back to that, but that was storytelling at its finest. These "Gloria-fied" cameos of late really don't serve any purpose. So why bother?

It turned out that, like his Aunt Katie telling Bill about Caroline so he'd pummel Ridge, Rick did, in fact, overprice the couture line so it would flop. This is rather up there with Rick stealing Forrester designs and bringing them to Jackie M some years ago. Rick is no pillar of virtue himself, yet no one is reminding him of this fact. Trying to send a bloodied Ridge to take a bow on the runway was definitely shades of Kyle Lowder's Rick. Yet Maya prattles on about Rick's sense of honesty and loyalty.

Also, Caroline is doing way too much whining about how she messed everything up for everyone. It's good that she's remorseful -- especially after the way she tried to sabotage Rick and Maya's initial relationship in 2013 -- but talk about overkill. At least she got some of her moxie back when she told Maya to "quit fanning every tiny little flame," and by putting the egomaniacal model in her place. "I designed it," Caroline affirmed regarding her showstopper, "I will decide when it's perfect."

Still, when Caroline saw Ridge battered like a tray of fish and chips, she was quick to nurse him, and whoo doggies, that electricity was still there. I said when this started that I didn't necessarily want to see Ridge and Caroline together. Now...I'm trying hard not to change my mind. Rick's excessive retaliation makes me rail against the idea of Caroline going back to him, and Ridge and Katie were boring long before Caroline entered the picture. Cridge crackles like no couple on the show has in ages!

Cridge knew it, too, because Caroline admitted that, despite the suffering it had caused, she had fallen for Ridge, while the disabled designer told Caroline, "Man, there's something about you." At this point, if Cridge happens, it will be because Rick pushed Caroline into Ridge's arms. Forget his arms -- these two hold hands and it's swoonworthy! The show would almost be foolish not to tap into the heat Cridge generates, but is it a fire the writers can keep burning?

Rick was burning, but only because the couture line (all five dresses of it) was selling like crazy despite the high price tags. And Eric was pissed. "You wipe that smug smile off your face," Papa Forrester demanded when Sonny Boy tried to justify his actions. When Rick bewailed the fact his wife had been unfaithful, Eric shut him down with, "What you've done is much worse -- shacking up with Maya!" I'm so glad somebody said it!

"Why should Forrester profit from something that is so tainted and so dirty?" Rick replied, referring to Ridge and Caroline accenting their collection with kisses. Does Rick even hear himself? Maybe not, but Rick sure heard it when Eric bitched him out for basing major company decisions on the success or failure of his love life after the newly minted CEO promised not to. Eric also wasn't having it when Rick brought up how his father's own sordid past affected the company. Eric wanted Rick to be better than that.

And it was all kick-ass until Eric threatened to boot Rick out of the CEO chair unless he reunited with Caroline. Whaaaaat? Is that Eric's thing this year? Back in the spring, he told Ridge he'd only make him CEO if Ridge left Katie and went back to Brooke. It seems Eric is now doing the same thing he just told Rick not to do. It's one thing to replace Rick if he can't do the job or be depended on. And Eric may be right that Rick still loves Caroline. But Eric's being just as unprofessional here. What a letdown.

Of course, just as Caroline came to feel she had seen Rick's true, ugly colors, and that it may be worth pursuing things with Ridge, Rick walked in, finally ready to talk and begging Caroline to come back to him. So, before, Ridge tried to use Caroline to win the CEO seat, and now Rick is doing the same thing to keep it? Maybe Caroline would be better off going back to New York -- though all this means Maya is headed for a nasty fall. Girlfriend better trade in those diamonds for some Band-Aids!

Will Caroline patch things up with Rick or shake things up with Ridge? Will Maya switch personalities again when she realizes being a bad girl got her nowhere? And how do you think Hope will be written off? Pop off on the Soap Central message boards, in the Comments section below, or simply click here to submit Feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column, like these! Check it out!

• "Watching Ivy and Liam makes me happy." -- Eva

• This has hardly been a sweeping November for #BoldandBeautiful. #YoungandRestless has been action-packed." -- Michael

• "First, I am glad the Hope Show is over....at least for a while, it's been dragged out forever, and not the same without Steffy. Funny how Rick hates Ridge for the past, but Rick forgets what he did to Phoebe, and all the evil leading up to her death! I love the new Ridge, he gives the character something new, plus he can actually act. I want Maya to go bye bye....but I sort of like the fire between Ridge and Caroline. Katie was just plain evil with how she used Bill!" -- Karen

• "If anyone makes B&B sappy, it is that whiny character of Rick always boo-hooing because he is a real Forrester and Ridge isn't. Get over it crybaby!" -- Martha

• "Why can't they redeem Maya already. Her character is more deep than that." -- "Maya Fans"

I know, this coming week, many of you will be enjoying your turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy as Thanksgiving once again arrives. An appropriate enough time to serve up a side dish of Points to Ponder!

Liam was thrilled to put on the necklace Ivy made for him as a permanent addition to his wardrobe. Won't Bill, who is rather obsessed with his family's collection of Spencer sword necklaces, be a little pissed when he finds it's been replaced?... "You're gonna be filthy rich!" Maya gushed to Rick. News flash, "Myrna": as a Forrester, Rick was filthy rich when he was born. Speaking of Maya, wouldn't really knowing her backstory inform her sudden social climbing? We never were told what happened to Maya in jail, and God knows what her criminal babydaddy Jesse did to her...

Ridge sent everyone off on a break then hugged Caroline, which Bill saw at episode's end. The next episode started in the same place, but this time, there were people rushing around... Rick bragged about an app and a video game that had been developed in conjunction with Forrester. Yet Thomas long ago suggested embracing technology, which Rick pooh-poohed... "I need this collection to wow," Rick told Maya. Then why did he try to sabotage the same line? Not that Pam's lemon bars wouldn't have done that; talk about amateur, palming off homemade baked goods at a fashion show!

Gloria blanched when she saw the prices of the couture line. So did I; since when are prices of a collection listed in a showing's program? It's also kind of ironic that the slammin' black-and-white designs were way hotter than the showstopper, which is supposed to be the zenith of any collection... Was Bill threatening to kill Ridge? Hey, why not: he already plotted to kill Amber and once swore to off Deacon if he came back... "I did not develop a real appreciation of Stephanie until toward the end," Eric admitted to Rick. That may be the most honest, insightful thing the Forrester patriarch has ever said!

Tracy will be back with you next week, and I will again brandish my Two Scoops on December 8. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

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