Number 7,000 with a bullet

Caroline, Ivy, Pam, and Liam blasted Rick. Nicole, Bill, and Brooke put Maya on blast. And Rick may have had a blast gunning down Ridge and Caroline! B&B followed its bang-up week with a shot at celebrating 7,000 episodes -- see if the retrospective hit the target with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you come home to a completely different picture? Did you decide to give your estranged wife a shot? Did you count to 7,000? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer clan this week!

Well, Scoopers, this was a landmark week for The Bold and the Beautiful. Not only did our soap salute hitting 7,000 episodes with a behind-the-scenes retrospective -- something they've never done before -- but they took a break from focusing on one storyline by giving us three instead. We'll delve into whether the much-ballyhooed 7,000th installment merited the break in a moment. First, we have episodes 6,996 to 6,999 to Scoop about!

Looks like Rick and Maya are gaining enemies faster than I gained weight over the holidays. Buoyed by the stubbly smooches of her co-designer, Caroline ditched cowering in Rick's seething shadow in favor of the snark she had been known for. About time! It was one thing for Caroline to be remorseful over kissing Ridge, but it felt out of character for her to let Rick run roughshod over her. Even Rick noticed that Caroline pulled a Patti LaBelle with her new attitude!

And I just about stood up and applauded when Pam put the sour on Rick instead of her ubiquitous lemon bars. Pam giving Rick a dressing-down for taking down Stephanie's portrait was one of the best things I've seen on the show in a long time. Pam also wouldn't run the background check Rick wanted done on Maya's sister. Stephanie and mama Ann would be proud to see Pammie rolling like a Douglas!

Why exactly does Rick want info on Nicole, a girl he hasn't even met? He heard about her from Caroline, and suddenly he wanted verification. Does he have doubts about Maya he's not sharing with anybody? He needn't worry because the Avant girls are the real deal, as indicated when Nicole went to the House of Maya, formerly known as the Forrester compound. I echoed Nicole's "Seriously?" when Maya didn't even recognize her sis!

Yes, I think I'm going to like Nicole. She gave Maya sass over her gigantic portrait and told her that "someone forgot to tell the Internet" about Rick's supposed divorce proceedings! Nicole wasn't having Maya's frontin', but little sis also showed some genuine caring when she filled in some blanks about the Avants' backstory.

They're from Evanston, Illinois (near the Bells' real-life hometown of Chicago), and apparently Nicole hid her investigation of Maya from their parents; she even said she was mad she'd been too little to leave home when Maya did. What kind of monsters are Mr. and/or Mrs. Avant? Turns out Nicole can do some computer hacking, too, as she admitted zapping cash into Maya's account during her stint in jail. Nicole's the most interesting new character the show has introduced in recent memory (sorry, Ivy). Hopefully Nicole will stay interesting as she interfaces with the rest of the cast.

Maya was less pleased at the sight of Bill, her second visitor. Bill's rationale was a little wonky; when Caroline explained how badly Rick was treating her, Bill barked that Caroline needed to be back with her husband anyway. I guess a guy who locked his wife in a tower would give Rick a free pass. No, Bill's gripe was with Maya, and he stormed the Forrester mansion to tell her she had to vamoose in twenty-four hours. To accomplish precisely what? Reuniting Rick and Caroline? Bill pummeled Ridge for kissing Caroline, but not Rick for cheating on Caroline. Go figure.

However, Bill did remind Maya that he knows about her past and can make it stick to her, which was most intriguing. You may recall, in 2013, when Maya first got between Rick and Caroline, Bill tried to blackmail Maya, who wasn't to go near her babydaddy, Jesse; Bill arranged for them to meet and threatened to show pictures of the encounter to Maya's parole board. Is the possibility of Bill sending Maya back to jail still in play, I wonder?

Bill walked a tightrope with Maya, balancing absurdities like "How about respecting my niece's marriage" (like you respected your own, Dollah?) with pegging Rick as someone who gets off tormenting himself. That was an interesting observation. But Bill had to hightail it to his office so he could continue trying to get Katie to take him back. Danger -- danger, Will Robinson!

Bill, you are as slick as an oil spill and twice as slimy. Laying the charm on his ex-wife would almost be sexy if I hadn't just watched him running the same lines on Brooke a few months ago. (Apparently both Logan sisters make Bill "a better man.") I just get the impression Bill only wants Katie back because Brooke dumped him. I don't care if he did reinstate the daycare Katie instituted as CEO; something about the idea of Batie 2.0 doesn't feel right. Bill's pushing way too hard.

And what is up with Bill promoting Liam to president and giving Katie his son's old VP position? So much was said about Liam being a hard worker -- are you kidding? Liam's never in the office; he's always at Forrester or flying around the world in pursuit of his ladies! At least Katie saw the job as a carrot Bill dangled to tempt her into a reconciliation. And when Justin walked in to seal the deal, Katie said, "I would be crazy to sign anything he drew up without reading it first." Zing! A reference to Bill and Justin tricking her into signing over control of the company! And we didn't even need leaves this time.

I must say, Katie is a lot stronger these days. She reminded Bill that their marriage tanked because he took up with Brooke then basically told Caroline she did her a favor by kissing Ridge, whom Katie didn't understand. Katie declared she used to be afraid of Bill's vengeful side and that she was more comfortable with herself now, advising Caroline not to follow in her footsteps and forget who she is with Ridge. Maybe Batie 2.0 could work with a stronger Katie -- but there's too much icky history there for my taste.

There was actually a lot of strength on the show this week, which is so much more compelling to watch than a canvas full of wusses. Caroline didn't take it when Rick laid down the smackdown during their design meeting -- when Rick scoffed that Ivy wasn't a model, Caroline fired back with "Neither was Maya until you decided to make her one, and you weren't CEO until your Daddy slapped a label on your door!" Where the hell are my pom-poms? 'Cuz I need to do some serious cheering.

Ivy also refused to take Rick's vitriol, reminding him that sleeping with Maya was worse than Caroline kissing Ridge, though I felt it really wasn't Ivy's place to pipe up about it. Maybe it wasn't Liam's, either, but when Rick went ballistic after figuring out Ridge and Caroline had locked lips again, Liam ran in and interrupted Rick's high-decibel tirade by grabbing him and throwing him on the floor! And Rick just laughed! It's true: B&B really offered us some good ish this week.

And Liam -- what a better character he is when he's not waffling between sometime stepsisters. "Yeah, how's the new roommate," Liam spat when Rick went on about his faithless wife, adding that Rick wasn't entitled to bully people just because he'd gotten hurt. "These are my people," Liam warned, saying he'd protect his cousin and girlfriend. Wow! Has Liam finally moved on from Hope and Steffy to the point he considers Ivy his "people?"

Then, in the midst of this much-improved drama, Brooke strolled into Deacon and Quinn's place...as if it were any regular scene. Perhaps that was the intention, but I'd have thought, with Brooke gone for three months, her return would be cause for a little more fanfare. Sure, Brooke wanted to let Deacon know their daughter was still in Milan, but really? That was her first stop?

And when Quinn came in, yapping how Wyatt deserved better treatment from Hope, I just wanted to yell, "Oh, shut UP!" That is one thing I have not missed in the six weeks since Hope left. Neither did it help when Brooke told Quinn "it's all your fault" Hope miscarried. Good Lord, are we on that again? Compared to the crackling of the show's other stories, Brooke's return looked about ready to fizzle out.

But only until Brooke popped into the Forrester mansion to visit Rick and caught Maya prancing around in a Brooke's Bedroom special. "What the hell?" Brooke demanded when she saw Stephanie's portrait replaced with Maya's. I know the Brephanie friendship wasn't popular with some of you, but it warmed my heart to see Brooke slam Maya for being disrespectful to La Forrester's memory. "What are you doing with my son?" Brooke wanted to know. Maybe Brooke and Quinn are reading from the same book after all. Shades of Amber, perhaps?

Then evening fell, and people started gettin' frisky. I found Liam and Ivy's playful banter kind of boring at first, but Ivy saved it by reminding him she wanted to take things slowly. Glory be, Ivy Forrester may be the most mature character on the show when it comes to relationships. Granted, her resolve may have weakened from witnessing Liam's sexy, macho defense of her, but then, mine did, too.

So, Liam brought Ivy to his pad, which of course he decked out with candles. He did that with Hope and Steffy so much, they must have given him Bed, Bath & Beyond gift cards for his birthdays. But I soon found myself asking, "Hope and Steffy who?" Liam told Ivy he loved her, noting how she'd taught him "that caring for a woman doesn't have to be a struggle" or about "overcoming obstacles." What a neat bit of perspective on four years of Leffy/Lope!

Finally, a Liam relationship done right. When the clothes finally came off, all seemed as it should be. I only hope, with Steffy coming back for a visit next week, that we don't end up in a triangle all over again. I really don't need to have Livy/Leffy going on until 2019!

The hormones flowed at Forrester Creations as well, as Ridge and Caroline treated us to a chemistry-filled montage of their design modification. Later, as Caroline relayed how Rick tried to fire her, Ridge pointed out that Rick has "always been angry." I don't know if that's a completely fair assessment as I think back over Steven Hartman, Jacob Young, Justin Torkildsen, and Kyle Lowder in the role of Rick, but there's enough truth in Ridge's words that I can't completely prove him wrong. And was Ridge referring to Rick's gun-toting turn as a pre-teen?

Rick did some recollection of his own, including a beautifully placed flashback from Jacob Young's first days on the show in 1998 (right around the time I met him as an extra on B&B!). See, now that's how you use a flashback. Then Rick finally met with a lawyer to get his divorce from Caroline. Everyone says Rick still loves her, but he looked way too happy about it when he told Maya, and Rick has treated Caroline so badly, I don't want to see her going back to him anymore!

After that, things got weird. Rick whipped out the gun he found in Stephanie's bureau, offering it to his attorney, Kris, because "I don't trust myself." Is this really something you say to someone who works with the law? Kris responded by picking up the gun and aiming it at the horse portrait behind Rick. Somehow, I think this goes beyond attorney-client privilege. I wondered if Rick was just handing it to Kris so Kris's fingerprints would be on it as well...

Next, Kris inexplicably left the gun behind; Rick grabbed it and chased after him, getting an eyeful of Ridge and Caroline making out across the hall. Hmm. Given how Caroline's face was still smoking from the acid Rick threw at her about kissing Ridge again, would she really turn around and do that very thing across the hall from Rick -- with the door open? Before I could make sense out of it, Rick coldly raised his gun, aimed it at the canoodling couple, and started singing that Jessie J/Ariana Grande song. "Bang bang into the room! Bang bang all over you!"

Did Rick really fire three shots at Rick and Caroline, or were we, as I suspect, taking in a fantasy sequence? Everything between the lawyer coming in to the gunshots seemed off, and perhaps it was meant to; plus, Rick was drinking. That's the cliffhanger B&B left us on, instead making episode 7,000 a retrospective much like when Y&R honored the departed Jeanne Cooper in 2013.

I have such mixed feelings about the special. I mean, with so many of us fans, and only 19 minutes of airtime, B&B was in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position: whatever they put on-screen, someone would end up disappointed. The same will be true of this review, but this is my column, so I call dibs.

The highlights: Sally Spectra revisited (with John McCook and Sean Kanan imitating her!). Katherine Kelly Lang's screen test. Multiple cast members commiserating on how unromantic it is to film love scenes. Hearing Brad Bell talk about how the show first formed in 1987. And the commercial that aired before the soap's premiere (which I'd only ever seen on YouTube.)

The lowlights: It felt so staged; the festivities seemed more like a performance than a behind-the-scenes look. The over-reliance on current actors and stories. We should have been delving into what fans tune in for: the stories, both old and new.

I know many of you weren't happy with the absence of Hunter Tylo, Winsor Harmon, Susan Flannery, etc. I myself wished for moments that didn't end up on-screen. But am I glad the show did this retrospective? Yes. Am I hopeful the show will have 7,000 more episodes? If B&B keeps delivering the high-octane shizz we saw this week, I'll offer up a qualified yes. Even if that takes us into 2043!

Okay, let's hear it. Talk to us about the retrospective, Nicole, Rick -- everything. Tell us in the Comments section below, on the Soap Central message boards, or by simply clicking here to submit Feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column -- like these! Check it out!

• "...what happens if Rick does push out the very family designers who have just had a triumphant showing? It would be a PR disaster for the company and it would take more than Rick's allotted year to rebuild the company's reputation. I think it is ridiculous that Eric would leave at this time. But what I'd really love to see is if Stephanie's portrait kept mysteriously popping up all over the house and office!" - Julia

• "I am not a fan of Ridge and Caroline. Rick and Caroline are the power couple on that show; [Ridge] just needs to hurry up and get back with Brooke already [because] they are meant to be. I do not like Maya at all...[she and Rick are a] horrible couple, she needs duct tape for her mouth, she is annoying and needs to stay out of what she does not know." -- "biggest b&b fan"

• "I don't like Ridge but detest Rick even more. I can't stand how Caroline begged and pleaded with Rick to take her back when she just kissed Ridge while he went right into sleeping with Maya! What he's doing to her is emotional abuse. If Ivy is so close to Caroline, why didn't she tell her about Rick/Maya? Also, Eric leaving while his company is in disarray is ridiculous!" -- Rose

• "Does anyone but me resent all the time that is taken up with the L.A. scenery shots opening the show and between each segment. What a way to reduce the story each day. I'm not interested in seeing snapshots of the freeways, parks, downtown area etc. day after day. Is anyone else tired of this already?" -- Carolyn

Believe me, Carolyn, I think all the establishing shots are filler too; I couldn't believe it when even the retrospective started out with them!

Well, instead of doing Points to Ponder this week, I need to correct a few boo-boos I made in my last column. Because Caroline's hand was slightly out of frame when she seemed to flash her hand at Ivy, I said Caroline had taken her wedding ring off; Two Scoops reader Windye pointed out that Caroline is still wearing the ring, as proven by all episodes this week. Nannie corrected my assumption that Rick now has the same gun Stephanie used to shoot Stephen Logan; she's right that Stephen gave Pam the gun, which Stephanie then took from her to shoot him, and I can't confirm Stephanie kept it. Finally, I'd said there wasn't a special 6,000th episode, but Scott Novick (from the awesome "World of B&B" site!) reminds me I got the number wrong: I called the show's "don't smoke" episode 5,000 when it was actually 6,000. (The Core Four spent 5,000 up at the Big Bear cabin.) What can I say, Scoopers -- guess I better start taking some ginkgo!

Next week, the role of Two Scoops columnist will again be played by me, since Tracy just had her baby! (Congrats, Tracy!) What will happen on B&B as we hit episode 7,001? Will Steffy shake things up? Will Nicole be a thorn in Maya's side? And will all Forrester designs now be done up in blood red? Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.