I go to extremes

Steffy heard a story about her mom so fantastic -- but did Bill's reaction bombastic cause a situation that's drastic? Sign the papers with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you diagnose as a doctor who should be a patient? Did you get off so many hooks that Captain Hook asked you for advice? Did you spill ink rather than tears? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Avant clan this week!

Looks like May sweeps came early, Scoopers! Taylor wasn't having a revenge fantasy -- the berry-eating shrink really did bust a cap in Dollar Bill's ass. It gave Steffy and her baby one more bombshell to process and indirectly cleared Liam of committing patricide. But among the fireworks and spot-on observations loomed repeated conversations and an old, familiar Leffy/Lope feeling. Let's Scoop about it!

I'D HAVE PREFERRED GOLDEN GRAHAMS

Taylor shakily aimed Bill's golden gun at him, intent on finishing the murderous job she started that cold, windy, gloved night. Didn't it ever occur to Taylor that she was once on the receiving end of a bullet, courtesy of Sheila? Taylor was the one who tried to take the gun away from Sheila, the resulting struggle affecting Taylor's life for years to come afterwards. And she's going to be the one taking vengeance with firearms?

It also never came up that Taylor had shot and was ready to reshoot a former patient (Bill received therapy from her after arranging Amber's demise). But I guess ethics kind of fell by the wayside, as they are wont to do these days. Ridge reported to Brooke that Taylor was furious to learn about Still's sexing and exhibited "a whole 'nother level of hatred" that surprised him. After all, "Doc" was the rational one, right? Right?

Maybe a little of the old Taylor (who can't come to the phone right now) kicked in as she lowered the weapon and chucked it on the floor. Could have made it go off that way, but Taylor got lucky. She described her fall from grace to Bill in detail as we saw Taylor in flashback, slinking into her former home, draped in black. Because nothing says "I just wanted to confront you" like dressing like a cat burglar.

Bill raged that Taylor had simply gotten on a plane and left after shooting him. Huh? Didn't she say that she'd been in L.A. ever since finding out Bill "violated" Steffy? Regardless, Taylor said that once she'd learned Ridge had been wrongly arrested, she'd been on her way to clear his name but came to see Bill first, and just fired. She'd wanted Bill to lose more than Steffy had. "Did I deserve to lose my life?" Bill fumed.

No, Taylor answered sheepishly. Bill was moved to realize he hadn't been shot by his own son, but barely had time to process it as Steffy burst in (still no locks, Bill?), having been notified by app of her mother's arrival and figuring some ish would be going down. Bill announced that Taylor knew for sure Liam hadn't shot him. And Taylor was forced to admit that she knew that because she had pulled the trigger herself!

ORANGE IS SO NOT MY COLOR

Steffy looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, or at least the weight of her ponytail, as she tried to come to grips with even the idea that her own mother would try to gun down her father-in-law/lover. Steffy's "You would never shoot anyone" matched Bill's "This isn't you," and ain't that the truth? Even Taylor echoed, "You know this isn't me." Then how come this does, indeed, seem to be her?

When Steffy heard that Taylor had been working off Ridge's erroneous conclusion that Steffy had been sexually assaulted, Steffy had to, once again, put her foot down and make clear she had ridden the Stallion consensually. Steffy's right; her parents are making her relive her mistake over and over by not getting it through their heads that Bill didn't move on her like a bitch.

"You could have called!" Steffy exclaimed. I know, right? And the Taylor we know would have done just that to get Steffy's account of things instead of going rogue and using Bill for target practice. Imagine how many times Taylor would have shot Brooke back in the day if she'd acted on her impulses based on that kind of misinformation about Ridge! I'm glad Steffy set Taylor straight so I didn't have to.

After Taylor offered up a "My bad!", Bill decided it was time for Taylor to pay the piper. If you hit him, he preened, "I hit back twice as hard!" There have been many times recently that I thought of Bill as a Trump clone; this seemed to confirm it. Taylor cried that she'd never survive prison! I agree with her, but it blows that she didn't connect having done time in 2006 for mowing down Darla as part of her prediction.

Taylor's fortunate to have committed a crime now; almost no one has been behind bars since her incarceration except Deacon, who went up the river for just trying to shoot Quinn. Bill revoked Taylor's "go directly to jail" card...for now -- a provision he added not once, but twice. Taylor agreed to get help; I'd say call James, but his pill addiction doesn't make him the most qualified, and having porked Taylor after an earthquake is a major conflict of interest.

PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF

After Steffy left her loopy mama alone with Bill (!), he ruminated about a movie he'd seen in which a main character with a terminal illness had gone to medical school so he could find a cure for himself. This is along the lines of exactly what I was thinking between episodes! As I said last column, it's not uncommon for shrinks to actually have more issues than their patients. Not entirely uncommon, anyway.

The jump between Saint Taylor and Gun Moll Taylor seems like trying to pole vault across the Grand Canyon, but maybe it actually makes a weird kind of sense. Let's observe Taylor's history: here is a woman who "died" twice and as a result was held captive by Prince Omar both times; the second time, she missed years of her kids' lives, and the kids had to be mothered by her archnemesis, Brooke.

Then Taylor ran Darla down with her car, devastating Thorne and making Aly motherless; Taylor's guilt was unbearable. She had just barely crawled out of the bottle before she got implanted with Brooke's egg...are you seeing where I'm going? Difficult as Taylor's transformation is to digest, it may be possible that enduring all these events caused her to lose even just a bit of a grip on her sanity.

And who knows what issues Taylor came to us with? The sensible shrink seemed to imply she'd had a happy childhood with father Jack, mother Sharon, and brother Zack, but maybe girl Taylor's life wasn't as peaceful as she said. Taylor did marry the abusive Blake Hayes, and her pull to him may not have been random. So, Bill's observation about Taylor was surprisingly astute, since, you know, we're talking about Bill.

C YA WOULDN'T WANNA B YA

Bill offered a drink to Taylor, who refused it, saying she hadn't wanted one in years. Well, that takes the drunken shooter theory off the table. "This won't surprise you, Taylor," Bill said as shooter and target actually had a discussion, "but relationships are very complicated for me." Yes, Taylor would know; she was only Bill's therapist for a brief time in 2011! Why wasn't the show mentioning this?

Taylor wanted Bill to stay away from Steffy; in exchange, Taylor would disappear. Bill wasn't about his assailant setting ground rules -- he said she and Ridge needed to stop making Steffy a victim and reiterated that his bedroom romp with Steffy was consensual. "I don't even see how consent is possible!" Taylor sneered. This while Taylor was the one who caught Steffy in bed with Bill the first time? For real, B&B?

Thankfully, Bill saved things by remarking to Taylor, "when you cut me off from Steffy years ago, you cut her off from herself." Yes! And so true; Steffy only ever went to Liam, rebounding from Bill. The Dollah also wanted Taylor to stop living Steffy's life for her. Well, no wonder Taylor picked up that skill, after years of hanging around Stephanie! Wonder what Gangsta Granny would think of her sweet Taylor packing heat?

Later, at the cliff house, Taylor announced to Steffy that she was ditching L.A., but not before relaying that Bill was in love with Steffy. "What are you going to do about it?" Taylor demanded to know, that crazed pitch in her voice again. Taylor needs a shrink sooner than later; maybe she can stop by Il Giardino and get a referral from Sheila. Can't believe we're not going to get a convo between these two.

Last time Taylor and Sheila saw each other, they struggled over a gun, and Taylor got a hole blown through her heart; I'd at least like to hear Sheila say, "Oops." And what, still no scene with Taylor and Thorsten Kaye's Ridge? Kaye's been in the role over four years; I think we could accept Taylor seeing this Ridge now. "She's not gonna leave town without talking to me," Ridge insisted. Don't hold your breath, Dressmaker.

So, once again, someone commits a crime on this show and gets off with a slap on the hand. Not the best message. I mean, I know it's Taylor, but she did go to jail once for causing a death. What do you think, Scoopers? Should Taylor pay for what she did? Or are you just as happy Steffy talked Bill into giving her mom a pass? Do you feel there's a distinct inequity between wrongdoing and punishment on B&B, or are you good?

WELCOME TO LEFFYLOPE, POPULATION 3,000,000

Ohhhhh...here we go again. Maya and Katie paid brief visits to our set this week, but no sooner did they get into something that actually affected them than they decided to weigh in on Steffy and Liam's marriage and Hope's connection to it. I had to check my calendar to make sure it's really 2018, because external characters getting sucked into the whirlpool of Leffy/Lope is so 2011. And 2012.

I mean, we finally escaped that trap; I'm so not here for it today. Maya, who first acted like she was just learning what Hope for the Future was then said she was honored to be part of it again, honed in on Hope's yearning for Liam and encouraged her designer, noting Liam's increased presence working on the line. Maya loved that HFTF was about gender equality, the environment, etc. How can HFTF be so many things? It's clothes!

Katie barely got a word out about calling off her engagement to Wyatt (or commenting on Brooke's snazzy new cut) before the youngest Logan sister began discoursing on Steffy's reaction to Liam and Hope's renewed closeness like she had accidentally taken one of Stefano DiMera's mind control drugs on Days of our Lives. Guess Katie's not planning to tell Brooke about Watie's plan to con Bill, either. Not that she had time.

MEM'RIES...LIGHT THE CORNERS OF MY MIND

No matter how much Steffy and Hope insisted Liam couldn't have put a bullet in his own father, Liam stuck to his recollection of that fateful night, able to see every detail, like walking up Bill's driveway from the gate, loading the gun, and pulling the trigger. Of course, by now we knew Taylor did the dirty deed. So why does Liam remember it all so explicitly? Did he witness Taylor's crime and insert himself into the experience?

Liam ushered Hope out, moaning that he didn't deserve her friendship let alone her love, but when Steffy popped by the motel (doesn't anyone ever run into Sheila in the hallway?), she Krazy Glued her feet to the floor. And what ensued was one of the biggest examples of dragging out a revelation I've ever seen. Liam kept interrupting Steffy whenever she tried to get it out that he wasn't guilty of attempted patricide.

Not helping, Steffy walked Liam through the entire evening again instead of just cutting to the chase. I mean, it was interesting hearing Liam contrast his latest knockout with his kidnapping, recalling he'd been so out of it then he'd believed Quinn's claim that he was her husband, that his mind had filled in his blanks. Liam came to the same realization when Steffy finally clearly communicated that Liam wasn't the shooter!

Then something weird happened. Steffy chose not to tell Liam that Taylor was actually guilty of the crime he'd convicted himself of. Steffy only reported that Bill knew Liam was innocent, and all Liam had to do was call his father. Come on, guys. Wouldn't it help Liam more to know exactly who shot Bill? Liam could keep it a secret. Instead, Steffy's keeping yet another secret from Liam, and just as much of a doozy as the others.

Maybe Liam was still suffering the effects of this latest concussion, because none of Steffy's vagueries pinged for him. He took his estranged wife at her word and went straight to Bill, who revealed that he had simply seen the reflection of a tall, lanky figure -- but it wasn't Liam. Isn't that what I said Bill should have told Detective Sanchez? I can't imagine Sanchez or Deputy Chief Baker is going to simply let this case go cold.

HOPE-LESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU

Well, when Hope found out that Liam hadn't shot Bill, she was "Squee!" personified, no questions asked! Really, Liam and Hope are both accepting this too easily considering how convinced Liam was that he tried to snuff out his father. Liam compared his memory lapse to the one he'd had when Quinn kidnapped him, but Hope's expression said she was hearing about this for the first time. Adam and Eve didn't reach Milan?

Good thing Hope for the Future believes in recycling, because its creator did the same with both action and dialogue. Hope believed that Liam needed to get the toxic combo of Steffy and Bill out of his life. She'd wanted to support Steam's marriage, but she wasn't about it anymore. What she was about was kissing the still-married man on the lips! And she didn't even need antianxiety pills to do it this go-round.

Except this is all the same stuff she already did a few weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, Hope, we know; you love him. I don't know why we needed the rerun. "Faithfulness has always been you," Hope gushed. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who's having the memory lapse now, Hope? Liam may never have directly cheated on you, but this is the guy who put your engagement ring on Steffy's finger when it was still warm. Never forget!

In a turnaround from Leffy/Lope's earlier attempt at world domination, Brooke actually seemed to ship Steam! Home from work (does anyone know what Brooke does?), Ms. Unforgettable listened to Hope wax romantic about Liam, reminding the daughter she once suggested seduce Liam with lingerie that Steffy was still Liam's wife. "How can a man get over his wife sleeping with his own father?" Hope countered.

Um, same way Eric (seemingly) got over his wife sleeping with his son; go chat him up. "Don't look at me like I'm a homewrecker," Hope told her aghast mother, which was funny because you'd think Brooke would break out the pom-poms to cheer her daughter following in her footsteps. No, Hope thought it was time Liam let Steffy go, and she declared that she had made no bones about sharing this contention with Liam.

ANNUL AND VOID

Though Hope Logan and Bill Spencer seem like two people who would never agree on anything, they seemed to be on the same page about the dissolution of Liam and Steffy's marriage, albeit for different reasons. Having put Liam's mind at ease, Bill paid a visit to Steffy, reminding her he had done something for her by not going to the cops about Taylor. And now it was time for Steffy to do something for him.

Bill was adamant that Steffy had feelings for him (you tell her, boy), and that it was time for Steffy to sign the annulment papers Liam had given her back in January. It would force Liam to make a decision: either he'd rip up the papers, or he'd accept them, which would get everybody out of limbo. I can't say that's not a sound idea. But then Bill added that Steffy needed to hand Liam the signed documents, since Bill kept Taylor out of jail!

Conditions, eh? Leave it to Bill to essentially blackmail Steffy into getting an annulment so he can have a shot with her. But I have a question. Why an annulment? Liam and Steffy have been married over a year, and they certainly consummated it; their unborn baby is proof. Doesn't that rather nullify the necessity of an annulment? Seems to me we should be taking about straight-up divorce instead.

At any rate, after a visit from Ridge, who actually admitted he'd been no help at all and gave Steffy the opposite advice of not giving up on Liam, Steffy invited her cha-cha-cha over and put her John Hancock on Liam's marriage-ending document. Liam was flabbergasted. And he must still not be thinking too clearly from the concussion, because he barely caught Steffy's thinly veiled hints about sacrifice and lack of choice.

Only once did Liam smell a rat; he wondered if awarding him his freedom was some kind of atonement on Steffy's part. Steffy told Liam he could accept the papers or not; she hoped he wouldn't, but presenting Liam with the option was what she had to do. So, our cliffhanger is, will Liam sign them? Should he sign them? And is Liam out of his fog enough to notice Steffy looks ready to vomit? Hell, she could write it off as morning sickness!

Did Taylor's lack of punishment work for you? Is B&B running the risk of being taken over by Leffy/Lope again? And does Bill have a funny way of proving his devotion? Get extreme in the Comments section below or on the newly revamped soapcentral.com message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!

"And just like that, [B&B's] character assassination of Taylor is complete. Unreal." -- "alwayshuntress"

"I also knew it would be Taylor and it is the final bullet in the assassination of Taylor's character...Taylor was established as an intelligent, loving, kind, compassionate person who loved her family...[now she's] a shrill, shrieking, vengeful alcoholic who would mow someone down and let her daughter keep the secret and now shoot someone in the back and let others be suspected for it. This is NOT Taylor." -- Rhaegar

"I know what Bill said but Steffy is living in another world...Bill forced her to put Liam on a box. Sign the papers and see what his punk ass do. If he tears them up then fine but if not Bill is saying I'm here. Even if Steffy doesn't deal with Bill he will not turn Taylor in." -- Lisa

"This is gross. Bill has become the predator that Ridge accused him of being. If he really believed that Steffy was into him he wouldn't resort to these tactics. I'd rather have Steffy with anybody over Bill. Still is trash." -- Chris B.

See y'all in two weeks for the real May sweeps! Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember, now more than ever, no matter color, creed, religion, gender identity, orientation, or nationality, we're all beautiful.

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