Just put down the pen

The baby-napping plot hit yet another sandbar on its cruise to nowhere when peeping Tom, up to his old tricks, blocked Xander from exposing the baby-napping scam. Could Flo's revelation to Thomas finally be the beginning of the end of this six-month-long voyage, or is it the final heap of dirt shoveled upon the secret to keep it buried for the foreseeable future?

A wise owl once experimented with how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. This fed-up scooper wants to know how many people it takes knowing about Reese's secret before we can get to the bottom of this baby-napping storyline. The owl cracked his sucker with three licks; however, we just got up to six suckers knowing about Beth, and so far, none of them has cracked or found the conviction to put this plot out of its misery.

Now that Thomas knows who Beth is, we might as well put a note in a time capsule for Hope to open on Beth's eighteenth birthday, because we know good and well that Thomas will not allow Beth to return to Hope and disrupt Douglas' "mom-affair" with Hope. I fear for the safety of Xander and Beth because there doesn't seem to be any line Thomas won't cross to get what he wants.

Let's get two scoops deep into whether Thomas learning the secret about Beth is the beginning of the end of this storyline or if Thomas will make sure Beth's identity remains buried for years. We'll also theorize about the dark plot twist writers have teased about this storyline. But first, we'll ask the question: why get a divorce when you can just lie and annul your Bold and Beautiful marriage?

To annul or not to annul. Is that really a question?

Remember when Steffy refused to annul her first marriage to Liam to set him free to marry Hope right away? Steffy's marriage to Liam had meant something to her, and she refused to annul it as if it didn't exist. Yeah, not so much with Hope, who had no problem signing her very real marriage into nonexistence, dragging Liam by his heart to its sad conclusion, one signature at a time on the paperwork.

I was surprised when Hope and Liam decided to get an annulment rather than a divorce. Steffy's divorce took six months to finalize. Maybe the writers didn't want to go the divorce route with Liam and Hope because the writers are in a hurry to legitimize a relationship between either Steffy and Liam or Hope and Thomas without the six-month waiting period -- not that waiting for a divorce to finalize ever stopped anyone from moving on before.

The choice to get an annulment is peculiar, especially because Carter has to lie to get it. Carter specifically told Liam and Hope that he'd listed the reason for the annulment as being physically incapacitated. Hope clarified that it was because she can't have children. Correction, Hope. You won't have children, not can't have them. Refusal to try to have another child is not the same as being infertile.

Annulments are usually sign-and-go quickie, get-out-of-marriage free cards for characters. How many times have we seen parties not even related to the annulment waltz in and demand signatures on the documents, and then we never hear another word about them. Boom. Single. So, it was weird that Carter spent so much time going over the document with the Spencers, page by page and signature by signature.

According to Carter, couples can annul their marriage as long as it's within four years and with an acceptable reason. In California, you may apply for an annulment if you were underage at the time of the marriage, if there was bigamy, if you are a blood relation, or if you were forced into it. You can annul if you were of unsound mind at the time of the wedding or have an incurable, physical incapacity. None of these apply to Hope. Her problem with having kids is mental, and I'm sure no doctor gave Hope a physically infertile prognosis.

Flo said that if a marriage can be annulled so easily, then an annulment can be annulled just as easily. Maybe that's what the writers are going for. Carter is infamous for typos in legal documents, and the reason he lists for Hope's annulment is bogus. Is Flo's statement foreshadowing that a judge might reject the annulment or nullify it in the future?

It took over a week for Hope and Liam to say goodbye and end their relationship, which leads me to believe that a reconciliation might be on the horizon. If Hope and Liam do reconcile soon, I hope that a judge invalidates their annulment due to the fact that they actually do have a child together and the fact that Hope can indeed have kids. That way, we do not have to suffer through yet another fiasco wedding between these two.

Zoe isn't the boss of Xander. Too bad Thomas is.

Or at least Thomas claimed he was Xander's boss when he shooed Xander away from Hope's front door before Xander could tell her that Beth was really alive. Being a Forrester has its privileges -- intimidating interns is one of them. After intimidating Xander, Thomas strode over to the Forrester mansion and intimidated Flo into spilling the tea about Beth.

It seems like Zoe was right. Flo couldn't hold the secret on her own, not even to save herself from modeling stripes in the prison yard. Thomas barely sneezed on Flo, and she blurted out that Beth is really alive. Who could have known that all you had to do was raise your voice at Flo for three seconds, and the truth would just gush out of her?

To be fair to Flo, it was quick and loud. Thomas bellowed at her like a clap of thunder in a powerless house at three in the morning. It was kind of like punching a slot machine and watching all the coins flood right out of it. Maybe Flo revealed it because she is just worn down from all the debates about the secret and is really ready to come clean.

Flo's Logan Privilege has convinced Flo that she is Reese's victim in all of this. She told Zoe that she and Zoe didn't even know about what Reese had done until it was too late. That is completely untrue! Flo knew everything he'd done before she signed her name in the birth mother's spot on those adoption papers.

Flo could have stopped the adoption at any moment. But then she wouldn't have gotten her fifty grand. Where is that money, Flo? Oh, right, she's putting gas in it now that it turned into her new car. She'll really be crying victim when Taylor takes the car as a refund.

Which reminds me...Taylor is where right about now? I thought Taylor was trying to be around her kids, help Thomas grieve, be a grandmother, and reopen her practice? Did Steffy even mention her mother when she returned to Baby Laundry Land?

It's too bad Flo told the absolutely wrong person the secret. When it comes to a dangerous nutball like Thomas, we never know what he's going to do. Thomas claims to love Hope, and we can only pray that the so-called love he has for her causes him to lift her up out of her agony by telling her the truth.

On the other hand, he looks different, but he is the same Thomas. He's the same Thomas who lied about sleeping with Brooke for stocks. He's the same one who had sex with an incapacitated Caroline. He's the same Thomas who tried to get Hope drunk for sex in Cabo, who blew up Rick's car, and who just forged a dead woman's letter and children's drawings.

There's no way in hell Thomas tells Hope the truth about Beth. Thomas will not lift a finger to reunite Liam and Hop because it would leave himself, Douglas, Kelly, and Steffy out in the cold. Thomas will go to great lengths to make sure that Xander, Flo, and Zoe keep quiet, too. Shauna, who's in Vegas, should stay in Vegas until this all blows over, lest Thomas drop an anvil on her head, too, to keep her quiet.

Unless the heartless Thomas finds a conscience corner in a vending machine, I see this as yet another meandering blip on the screen in a drawn-out, flatlining storyline. Thomas is clearly the villain of the show, and now that he knows the secret, he will be the boss of the colluders, forcing them into silence -- which won't be hard for any of them but Xander.

I fear the lengths Thomas might go to in order to keep Beth's identity a secret. From setting the truth free, to harming others, to altering paternity tests, Thomas Forrester has the power to change the landscape of the storyline in many ways. His decision can either bring the plot to a swift close or ensure that Liam and Hope won't know about Beth for decades.

If you ask me, Thomas isn't about to let Liam win, either. I suspect that Thomas will use his powers for the utmost evil just to spite Liam. Here are a few posts from our message board to give you a sense of how other viewers see the latest developments on the slowest sinking plot hole in history:

"They are going to invalidate that annulment so Hope & Liam do not have to get remarried after getting Beth back. They will already be married. The papers will be invalidated because they do have a child together & hope can have kids..." -- IHEARTLIZZIE

"How many times do we have to see the same scene -- the one where Flo is wavering and wants to tell Hope about Beth, and Zoe talks her out of it. Or Shauna talks her out of it. Over and over. And why are the writers making the characters SO stupid that they have these VERY private and secret conversations where anyone can (and does) overhear them? It's lazy writing. Hire some more creative writers -- ones who know how to make the story unfold without resorting to having secrets learned through eavesdropping." -- Chesapeakaboo

"I am sick and tired of watching Thomas bully everyone and everyone cave in. All in the name of dragging this nauseatingly cruel story line about Beth out at long as possible. The way he is obsessing over Hope one has to wonder how long it will be before he assaults her since he knows she's does not love him. For those of us who will always believe he assaulted Caroline it is no stretch to believe he will find a way to drug Hope or get her drunk and take advantage." -- TexasTango

"Could Thomas pass himself off as Phoebe's father? Now that he knows Beth is alive and we understand he will do anything to be with Hope, he will likely decide to keep quiet. I wonder if he and Flo will make a pact and pass him off as the father..." -- MissParker

MissParker has an interesting plot twist theory. Her post went on to theorize that Thomas could say that he had one night in Vegas with Flo when he'd been in his estranged relationship with Caroline. People would probably buy it, but in order to pull off the lie, Thomas would have to dispose of Xander, who is adamant that Hope and Liam need to know the truth about their daughter.

Ironically, this preview article just so happens to throw out there that one character might not make it through the summer...And that brings us to our last section of the column in which we will take a look ahead and discuss the upcoming plot twists for the summer.

In a look ahead: A Truth Bomb

According to the latest preview video, a truth bomb might lead to disaster. In the video, Zoe, Flo, and Xander fret about the truth being exposed. Thomas declares that it must come out and tells Steffy that she needs to know something. Steffy asks Thomas what is going on.

The good news is that maybe this plot will advance a centimeter further down the playing field. The bad news? We'll be seeing Zoe and Flo's God-awful rompers for a while longer. I didn't see Hope in the video, so maybe we'll get a break from her Maude in shorts roleplay outfit.

Articles, rumors, and spoilers indicate that the baby-napping storyline takes a dark turn. Xander and Zoe question their commitment once they find themselves on opposite sides of the baby drama. Thomas faces a dilemma about the information he received, and Xander, Zoe, and Flo are shocked by Thomas' threats. Later in the summer, someone will die, but there is no indication of whether the death is tied to the baby-napping storyline.

I'm at a loss about what kind of dark turn the storyline could take unless Zoe, the very person Reese was trying to protect, winds up somehow getting killed over this secret. It's possible that the villainous Thomas could attempt to alter any DNA test Beth might take, and Hope won't know about her daughter until years down the road. Maybe it could be something as simple as Reese dying and leaving a letter for Hope and Liam, containing the truth about their daughter.

Let's hear what you think. Have we finally reached the beginning of the end of the baby-napping storyline, or do you think Thomas' insertion into it will prolong it indefinitely? Will Hope be reunited with Beth, or will the story arc conclude without Liam and Hope knowing that Beth is alive?

Xander implored Hope and Liam to put down the pens and listen to him. I beg the writers, please put down your pens and let this storyline end! Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!

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.