Taking stock

Was math your best subject in school? Eric wouldn't boot Rick as CEO by invoking the sudden 'behavioral morality clause,' so Ridge, Liam, the absent Thomas, and the returning Steffy added up their shares in Forrester and gave Eric an early Father's Day present! But multiple calculators were needed to get the figures to match up on Rick and Maya's full-circle reunion. Sharpen your pencils and spread out your spreadsheets as Mike once again plays accountant in Two Scoops!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you offer friendship to someone who used you for target practice? Were you blue because of a busted Bluetooth? Did you come home to share and share alike? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Avant clan this week!

Well, Scoopers, two very formidable young ladies are back to shake things up in Los Angeles: Caroline, whose unexpectedly sizzling relationship with Ridge has been missed, at least by me, and Steffy, who forced me to torch the welcome mat during her last go-round. It does seem the real Steffy is back this time, so we'll see. Now, I love me some B&B, but what's up with these sudden plot developments? Sometimes our show has more convenience than a 7-Eleven! Y'all ready to Scoop about it?

I'm talking, of course, about the heretofore unheard-of "behavioral morality clause" embedded into Rick's "irrevocable CEO" contract. To begin with, if Rick's power is that absolute, why does his contract have a failsafe? And if this clause has been in place for everyone who's ever held a position of power at Forrester Creations, why has it never been invoked before? Hell, Stephanie could have cited it when Brooke took command as CEO all the way back in 1993! Yet Brooke ran the company uncontested for years. Brooke's Bedroom didn't violate a behavioral morality clause?

As the Church Lady used to say, "How conveeeeeeeenient!" In and of itself, the clause makes sense. Okay, let's assume no one at Forrester thought of it until this year. Check it -- Rick had his own contract drawn up for Eric to sign! So Rick included a clause that could get him removed as CEO? And said clause never crossed his mind as he bullied everyone and shot at Ridge and Caroline? Since everyone seems to know about this clause, why wasn't it invoked while the bullet holes were still smoking? Sorry, but it's too implausible a plot twist to just throw in and expect it to work.

It didn't even end up doing any good! For the three millionth time, Eric found himself having to decide who would run the company. That was already old ten years ago, when Ridge and Thorne were having the same fight. "Who will Eric choose" is no longer a suspenseful question. Yet Rick laid it on thick, reminding Eric that Ridge stole their wives! Hey, Rick, you want some cheese with that whine?

Let's face it: no one can be "stolen" who doesn't want to be. Yes, Ridge had a part to play in all of it, but when sparks were flying between him and Caroline, she acted on them as well. As for Brooke, Eric damn well knows that she was in love with Ridge even as she exchanged vows with Eric amidst cotton candy hair and hot balloon rides! Okay, that was a blow to Eric's ego, and I understand him saying it's a wound he still carries. But Ridge didn't put a gun to anyone's head. That's Rick's department.

Though Eric did take Rick to task for the shoot-'em-up and other rash acts influenced by high emotion, Eric turned around and acted on his own high emotion by keeping Rick in power simply because Rick pushed the Brooke button! "You're not the Forrester you think you are," Eric told Ridge, who wanted Rick demoted. "Shame on you!" Then, when Ridge assumed his true Marone paternity was a factor -- a logical conclusion given Eric's words -- Eric declared he was Ridge's father, and "don't you dare suggest otherwise." Confused yet? Because I am.

That Eric and Brooke are simply sipping the Kool-Aid where Rick is concerned completely baffles me. As Rick's parents, it's only natural they'd want to believe in him, but it's also appropriate that they'd recognize when Rick needs help. Good thing Ian Buchanan is done at GH; maybe he can come back as B&B shrink James Warwick, because Rick, Brooke, and Eric all need therapy. Ordinarily, I'd say Eric should make Brooke CEO to stop the Ridge/Rick infighting -- she's certainly qualified -- but at this point, Brooke would just use her power to keep cosigning Rick's BS. Still drinking, Brooke?

Over at Spencer, Liam did much pouting over Bill having exposed Maya as transgender in their publications, despite promising not to. Why are Liam and Katie surprised? This is how Dollar Bill Spencer rolls, and right now, he's the only character who's consistent. Bill was aghast, asking Liam, "Isn't this what you wanted?" Indeed! Liam went on about how wrong it was to divulge Maya's personal and private information, yet that's exactly what he was looking for when he assumed Rick had a secret and later when he thought Maya had something to hide. If Liam wasn't ready to run around the diamond, he shouldn't have put on the uniform.

Bill also insisted that he had to move things along, because Liam's takeover plan was nowhere. Another "amen" from this choir. The takeover plot has been on hold for two months, and you only need to read back in my February and March columns to see how ineffective the whole thing was in the first place. Looks like we need it now because of Eric's refusal to invoke the behavioral morality clause. What was the point of introducing such a clause if it wasn't going to be used?

Its one saving grace is that it got Ridge past not wanting to betray Eric, which is what stopped him from teaming with Liam and Steffy before. This time, Ridge called Steffy, who just happened to be in town (there's that Church Lady again), and told her it was game on -- as long as she shelved getting Liam back as a condition of the takeover. And she agreed! That's more like it!

I just about gagged over the winter when Steffy decided she was fine leaving Rick in power if she couldn't reunite with Liam. I fully expected Stephanie to come back from the dead and double bitch-slap her namesake! So I hope it's true what I've heard about Steffy sticking to business this time. She reminded us that she was the one who got Forrester back from Bill, a fact we haven't heard much about in the five years since. Granted, that was due to her physical and blackmailing prowess, not business prowess, but what the hell. "Where do I sign?" Steffy asked her daddy. I'll get you the pen!

But things got a little weird when Ridge invited Liam to the party, and not because of any Leffy interaction. Liam, who had been ready to deface the Statue of Liberty if it meant protecting Ivy and Caroline from Rick, stood there and asked Ridge, "What's in it for me?" Say what? And Ridge's reply was to offer Liam the vice presidency at Forrester! Ignoring for the moment that Ridge and Brooke currently share that position (so Brooke's getting thrown under the bus, too? Not that she doesn't deserve it), how can Liam be president of Spencer and vice president of Forrester at the same time?

While we're on conflicts of interest, Caroline wheeled herself over to Rick's, offering her support amidst the fallout regarding Maya's gender identity. I'm glad B&B has written Linsey Godfrey's terrible accident into the story, and I think it's really brave of her to personify it through Caroline. But I gotta tell ya, if someone had shot at me, all I'd be offering them is a Nothing to Do With You sandwich. Caroline must still be on the morphine.

Remembering how Maya and Caroline clashed in 2013, it was fascinating to hear Caroline's reaction to the revelation that Maya is transgender. Back when Caroline was a schemer, she did say she felt Maya was hiding something. And, because Caroline has two mothers, it stands to reason she'd be pro-LGBT. I really want to see Caroline and Maya having a convo about this. It would be delicious. In the meantime, Caroline shook her head about Maya lying to Rick. "Maya didn't lie!" Rick insisted.

See, this is where it gets dicey. Maybe Maya not telling Rick about her transition wasn't technically a lie, but she wasn't honest, either. Given how Rick abhors betrayal, you'd think Maya withholding such important information so long would merit him turning his back on her. Instead, we have Maya turning her back on Rick. A neat twist, admittedly, but a contrived one, since she only split over assumptions and miscommunications.

Because Rick used the word "embarrassment" when Bill broke Maya's story, Maya ran off. Then, driving down the road in separate cars, Rick and Maya spoke via Bluetooth; Maya heard a click when she asked Rick if he still wanted to marry her, so she figured it was over, despite his filling up her voicemail with apologies and explanations afterwards. Maya knew explaining herself wouldn't be easy -- Rick even begged for time to process it, and she wouldn't give it to him!

Of course, Maya doesn't know that Rick's call was disconnected because he crashed his car into a tree. Surely Maya would find out he was in the hospital and rush to his side! Maybe the kidney Amber donated to Rick back in 1998 would fail, and Maya would offer hers! Something big like that needed to come out of such an accident. However, Rick was next seen at Brooke's house with nary a scratch. So the only reason Rick crashed was so Maya would think he hung up on her? A dropped signal couldn't accomplish that?

I'm sorry, but the repercussions of Maya divulging herself have been disappointing, and rife with plot holes. Maya just looks like she's sulking, and how on earth was she able to go back to the apartment above Dayzee's? Maya thought she was living the high life in the Forrester mansion; there's no way she'd keep renting her old pad, and Dayzee's not even around to have it on standby for her. And come on -- Rick seriously needed Nicole to figure out Maya was there? That place should have been first on his list!

Nicole's just not very good at keeping secrets, is she? This is the second time this month she's blabbed Maya's business after being told to zip it. Interestingly, there was something cool about Rick and Carter nearly bonding over having both been kept in the dark about Maya's gender identity. As for Maya, she got ready to blow town, apparently leaving all her stuff at the mansion. Downing a cup of joe at Dayzee's, Maya thought back to first meeting Rick there...when lo, Rick appeared as a waiter, reenacting that very meeting!

Romantic? Yes. Should it have been? Sort of. The proof is in the flashbacks. Revisiting Maya and Rick's first encounter was rather electric. But Maya's other recollections only served to remind us that she and Rick were a couple while Rick was blatantly cheating on Caroline, and later when Maya and Rick were lording their power over everyone. That kills Rick and Maya's rootability; their union is tainted. Maya being transgender, and Rick so easily accepting it, doesn't change that, though Rick's overture will likely keep Maya from going Greyhound.

Back at Forrester, dramatic music built as a crestfallen Ivy listened to Steffy proclaiming that Liam was the love of her life and always would be. What was the problem? It's not like Steffy was stating an intention to get Liam back like last time. Later, when filling Ivy in on the takeover, Liam and Steffy acted as if they had something to hide. Talk about implying drama where there was none.

I know I've spent quite a bit of time bitching about B&B this week. I just want it to make sense, you know? My favorite part of these past five episodes was Ridge having a talk with Stephanie's portrait while working through betraying Eric. "When this comes down," Ridge told his departed mother, "he's gonna need you." Even though Thorsten Kaye didn't portray Ridge when Susan Flannery was on the show, it suddenly felt like this Ridge was indeed Stephanie's son. Maybe even for the first time.

The takeover decided, Ridge called Eric to the office to drop the bomb. Thomas signed a proxy to give Ridge control of his five percent share. Did Steffy and Liam not need to do the same thing? At any rate, Ridge pulled rank with their combined 62.5% (really glad the show did the proper math on this one) and informed Eric he was being overruled. "You don't decide!" Ridge added. "Rick's time is over. Your time is over." Pow!

As Rick has been CEO for five months (an unusually long time, considering how soaps blitz through stories these days), Ridge's power grab actually comes as a relief. I'd certainly like to see Forrester again become a place where creativity is encouraged and morale is heightened. But hold the phone. Rick knows he doesn't hold a single share in Forrester -- has he never viewed his detractors combining their stock as a possibility? And how can Eric's time be over? He's only CEO emeritus; that means in name only. Eric's time has been over since he retired last year!

Are you Team Rick or Team Ridge? Cheer your fave in the Comments section below, on the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column -- like these!

• "The [show is] not even following their own foundation for [Rick and Maya's] story. If this dishonesty by Maya wasn't going to be a big issue to Rick, then why...almost a month of...Rick highly valuing integrity? It is almost like the past four weeks were a waste of time." -- M. Brewster

• "I am shocked and disappointed at Rick's reaction to Maya's revelation. Especially with his personality and all of his going on and on about honesty, etc. How can we believe he would be OK with it all?" -- Rebecca

• "Maya's and Caroline's situations differ on a few points. Caroline did something stupid WHILE she was with Rick and lied about it. Maya did something BEFORE she even met Rick, and didn't say anything. It's a huge difference between 'while' and 'before'." -- Anna

• "I agree how Rick treated Caroline was horrible. but [Maya being transgender] is a different storyline and raising awareness [of] the LGBT community is important." -- Elaine

It is important; I just wish the details and history of the characters were more closely adhered to. As for real life, transgender actor Scott Turner Schofield (Nick) gave a fascinating interview to Soap Central that you ought to read, plus a profound and educational TED talk that is sure to open your eyes about gender equality. It opened mine!

Let's take stock of a few last things with Points to Ponder!

Ridge rightly pointed out that it had always been Eric's dream for Ridge to run Forrester one day; that's certainly how it went down in the '80s and '90s. But Eric seemed annoyed when Ridge alluded to Eric losing Brooke to him. "You want to bring that into this conversation?" Eric cried. Why the disgust? Eric didn't mind when Rick did the exact same thing... Carter and Rick surmised that Maya would have to show up for her paycheck. Did Maya save nothing during her time as lead model?

"You're all Marone, buddy, like Massimo," Rick smirked to Ridge. Ironic, considering it was Massimo who once gave a very green Rick the business training to go up against Ridge. These are skills Rick must be tapping now; you'd think he wouldn't berate the man who handed them down... Nicole was thankful that Rick had "let me work here." When was Nicole on the payroll at Forrester? She only tested as a model, and not very well. For that matter, where did Rick get the tie-dyed T-shirt to recreate his first meeting with Maya? And Maya shouldn't think that means she's special; Rick also recreated his first meeting with Caroline when he proposed to her...

Many were worried about how the media backlash was affecting Maya. Where was it? Maya wasn't being hounded by reporters, and they weren't even hanging around Forrester... When Ridge reminded Rick that Thorne is the eldest biological Forrester sibling, Rick spat, "At least [Thorne] knows his place." Why is Thorne being kept out of this storyline? Especially with the way Rick has been treating his daughter, Aly?

Rick may have more to worry about than mortal parental interference -- Darla is coming back for another spectral visit soon in what Schae Harrison calls an "awesome storyline." Personally, I'd love to see Darla and Stephanie get together and haunt the hell out of Rick! But I'll be happy if we get to see all of Ghost Darla this time, not just her head.

Next week, it's Chanel's turn to chronicle the soapiness, which means I will be back to Scoop for you June 15. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

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