Hello, dolly!

Carter may have to share Zoe with Zende, and Finn might have to share Steffy with Liam's overprotectiveness. But Thomas has a new love he doesn't have to share with anybody! Get crazy in time for Halloween with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you think about upgrading more than your car? Did you get the houseguest from hell? Was your new love sponsored by Mattel? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Walton-Buckingham-Fulton clan this week!

Happy Halloween, Scoopers! If you're still into that, given how scary this year continues to be. Bridge got the treat of still being married, Zoe got the treat of Carter's bedroom, and Steffy got treated to a new relationship with Dr. Finn. Thomas, however, is getting tricked by a Hope look-alike doll...and I'm actually enjoying it! Y'all ready to hear some voices? Let's Scoop about it!

YOU GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL DOLL

Zoe woke up at Casa Carter, sipping cappuccino and taking in what had happened upstairs. That's right, Zoe and Carter did the do! Or, at least, we were told they did, since COVID has us doing without actual love scenes for now. I guess it's kind of hard to maneuver the mannequins in a bed. Zoe was experiencing some serious afterglow, apparently having forgotten about a certain returning Zende.

Zoe told Carter she was really into him, and that seemed genuine. She just wasn't ready to move in, because she had rushed headlong into things with Xander and Thomas, and even in going along with keeping Reese's Beth secret. And that's smart; Carter is totally jumping the gun on bringing Zoe in as a roommate. Other than that, Zoe wanted to keep going forward with Carter.

And this would all be fine except for Zende, who, after being home one day, decided he wanted Zoe for himself. I agree with Chanel that Julius would never tell his beloved daughter's ex to go for someone else's girl. Unless that's the mindset that produced Sasha under Vivienne's nose. Julius would sooner be ready to whack Zende with his golf club for hurting Nicole.

And yo, B&B, you can't just keep splitting couples up off-screen without giving us a decent reason why. First it was Rick and Maya, now it's Nicole and Zende. And Maya's gone now, so we'll never know! It's just sloppy storytelling. If you want to free up a character for a new romance, make the reason for their singleness part of the moving forward. How can we root for Zende when we don't know what he might have done to tank his marriage?

That said, even technology isn't rooting for Zende. He tried to text Zoe in the middle of her romantic date with Carter, so she'd bail and come see Zende instead, but the message didn't deliver. It's kind of like when Charlie Brown got that Valentine heart: "Forget it, kid." Then Zoe came in...and told Zende she'd boinked Carter? Inappropriate much? Just how much detail did they share on social media, anyway?

"No one's opinion matters to me more than yours," Zoe told Zende as the subject of whether she should move in with Carter came up. That was weird; Zoe barely knows the guy! Zende didn't think he'd be much of a friend to Carter if he didn't support the relationship, and he noted that Zoe seemed happy. So why did Zoe react by co-opting Liam's famous constipated look? Zoe, this is a no-brainer! Team Carter, baby!

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

Meanwhile, Bridge got some news that wasn't exactly news, though it was a confirmation: their divorce was null and void. "We were never not married!" Ridge realized. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that may be a B&B first. Plenty of Bridge's marriages were declared invalid from unsigned paperwork, clerical errors, Taylor's not-deaths, and the like. But a marriage continuing to be legal?

Yeah, I think that's a new one. Brooke and Ridge were happy to let it go at that and not have any more celebrations or weddings, and they joked about growing old and how they could install an elevator for Ridge once he couldn't handle the stairs. "We've done well in elevators," Brooke teased. She couldn't believe they survived after Stephanie, Taylor, and both sets of kids had tried to come between them.

I'll have to make an exception for Taylor, unless you want to count her last appearance where she kissed the clearly married Ridge. But more on Taylor later. Across town, Wyatt and Flo were chatting about Quinn and Shauna's Bridge-busting scheme, but I wonder when they were told of it. Another off-screen revelation, I guess. Flo pondered if Shidge might have gotten together on their own.

I didn't have as much faith in Ridge's supposed feelings for Shauna as Flo did, and neither did Wyatt, for that matter. Brooke was always endgame, he felt. Word. Out of nowhere, Quinn showed up with the news she had been staying in a hotel since her falling-out with Eric. Wyatt lamented that Quinn had been doing so well not acting on her diabolical impulses. Quinn looked like the dog ate her homework.

Then Flo, who I really don't need to see on my screen anymore, had an idea! How about Quinn moving in with her and Wyatt? Wow, way to put Wyatt on the spot, Felony Flo. It was all he could do not to squirm out of his suit as he went along with it, later telling Flo he predicted nothing but disaster. This might be interesting storyline-wise, but I'm as done with Quinn as I am with Flo, so consider the investment low on my part.

Eric moped into the office, still unhappy that Quinn had gone to such lengths to torpedo Brooke and Ridge. Brooke got back on her high horse about Eric needing to divorce Quinn ASAP, but I can't say I disagree with her here. Privately, Brooke told Ridge that Quinn being the rehabilitated wife had simply been Eric's fantasy. It was time for the Forrester patriarch to rip off the Band-Aid.

See, this has been my problem with Queric the whole time. Eric had already done the crazy wife thing with Sheila, so you'd have thought Quinn, whose history was already laid bare for all to see, wouldn't even have been an option. When Quinn came sniffing around for forgiveness, Eric related his disillusionment that deception and manipulation were still part of Quinn's worldview.

Man, I wish he would have mentioned Sheila there! And Stephanie! Quinn swore that, other than targeting Brooke, she had been a faithful wife. Other than kissing on Ridge, you mean? (That needed to come up, too.) Quinn insisted she had changed because of Eric. No. You don't come back from pathology like that simply because of someone's love. Quinn needed to be in therapy as soon as she tried to shish-kebab Liam.

Personally, I hope Eric doesn't take Quinn back. I'm not sure what kind of story he'd have going forward, but we need to have Eric on our screens as much as possible before the day comes John McCook decides to retire. Is it too late for Eric to record albums and enjoy great success as a crooner? Hey, he's still designing, too, which is more than most people at Forrester do!

Quinn showed up at the Forrester manse, "needing to be home," but ran into Ridge, who was consoling his pop. The disgraced Mrs. Forrester tried to explain her actions to Ridge until he had enough and stormed out. This left Quinn to continue apologizing to Eric, if, by apologizing, you mean, "justifying your actions and doubling down on your hatred for your rival." Quinn wanted her marriage back but kept hurting her own case.

Quinn found comfort in the fact that Eric hadn't taken her portrait down. Didn't that mean Eric really wanted to stay married to Quinn? But holy plot twists, Batman! Shauna, who had been AWOL since her aborted do-over wedding, suddenly sauntered down the stairs! What was Shauna doing there, Quinn wanted to know. Indeed! Eric said nothing, and Shauna just smirked. Is Eric carrying on with Shauna?

ALL DOLLED UP

Ridge visited Steffy, who was back to her hottie-boomalotti self after months in sweat pants! Not that many of us haven't spent months in sweat pants this year. Apparently, Steffy had gone back to the office, but just long enough to sneak home to get some hang time with Kelly. Steffy regretted that she had been in such "deep denial" about her addiction. I think the show's just in deep denial about how long she was addicted.

Anyway, Ridge wanted Steffy to dish about Finn, which was a really cute moment. Steffy didn't give much away, but she got her chance when Liam and Hope came over to basically get Steffy to do the same thing. Well, Hope did, at least. I have to say, I really love Steffy and Hope as friends. They were all, "girl" this and "girl" that over Dr. Finn.

I worried at first that Hope might have had her own marriage-preserving motives for Steffy moving on with Finn, but Hope seemed genuinely happy for her former rival. This camaraderie went on to the point that, when Liam returned from checking on Kelly, Steffy kiddingly told Liam she was eloping with Finn, and Hope totally went along with it! That was a lot of fun! And Liam admitted that he, too, was happy for Steffy. Whew.

I'M A BARBIE GIRL, IN A BARBIE WORLD

Thomas let the Hope mannequin spend the night as "she" requested, though apparently not in his bed. He dared her to talk again, then went to the office to declare himself the best designer and lobby to get on the HFTF team again. (If he's so good, why doesn't he just do his own couture line?) But then he heard Doll Hope's voice, thinking Hope was actually saying "her" words to him! Woo boy!

I know a lot of you think this story is too creepy or too far-fetched. But I think, so far, it's the most enjoyable thing on B&B since we came back from the shutdown. It is Halloween, and we knew Thomas couldn't have had all his marbles back just because he said he did. This makes a certain amount of sense, and at least he's not scheming to snare the real Hope again.

Steffy suggested to Finn that perhaps Thomas was unstable because of their parents splitting up, and/or their sister Phoebe dying. I think it goes deeper still. Thomas, like his sisters, did suffer the trauma of thinking their mother was dead for years. And let's face it: Taylor hasn't been right since her return in 2005. Now, that's not a bash on Taylor, Doc fans. Hear me out.

I think Taylor suffered permanent brain damage from losing so much blood when she was shot by Sheila. And, she was clinically dead, at least to the point the hospital declared her deceased before Omar spirited her away. Having your mom return from the dead, only to become paranoid and an alcoholic, had to have been traumatic to a preteen like Thomas.

Let's not forget, Thomas did blow up Rick's car and set fire to his house in 2009. I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to conclude that mental illness runs in Taylor's family. Taylor's brother, Zach, got mixed up in organized crime. Their father, Jack, had a gambling addiction. Maybe that's why Taylor wanted to become a psychiatrist in the first place. Such issues are not uncommon motivators.

We also now know that Steffy has addictive tendencies, as well, and Taylor lost it to the point that she rationalized shooting a man in the back. So, it seems there's enough background for Thomas' mental struggles to be hereditary. (Yes, Brooke's family is wacko, too, but in a different way.) This is all the more reason we should see Thomas back in counseling. We can't bring James back to treat him again like in '09?

Finn took his first steps into Forrester Creations, looking for Steffy, and immediately regretted it when he encountered Thomas, who wasted no time going off on Liam and warning Finn that Liam would waffle back to Steffy sooner than later. Finn, making himself even more likable, sussed out that Thomas was really bashing Liam because Thomas still wished he was in Hope's life. Finn had heard about the whole Beth thing.

As had happened during his convo with Hope, Thomas kept hearing the Hope doll. (Annika Noelle is clearly having so much fun voicing her alter ego!) Because of Thomas' recollections, Thomas relayed to Finn that "Hope" really wanted to be with Thomas and not Liam! Finn was like "okayyyyy" and asked three times if Hope had really said that, but Thomas wouldn't clarify one way or the other. Thomas was out of it, and Finn's doctor senses kicked in. He wondered if Thomas was all right!

Thomas mumbled his way through, causing Finn to make a beeline for Steffy's. (Finn also brought Kelly flowers! Awwww! Can we keep him?) Finn burst Steffy's bubble and reported that her brother may not be over his obsession with Hope, after all. Steffy couldn't believe it and texted Thomas to come over right away. And Thomas did, as soon as he could tear himself away from the real Hope.

I do think we overplayed Thomas' flashbacks of Doll Hope. The first three or four times were fun, but I'd rather have had new doll scenes instead of rehashing the original one so much. Thomas told Hope he had been having nightmares, prompting Hope to encourage Thomas to open up, the way she did with Douglas when he had bad dreams. Thomas thought better of it and promised Hope she didn't have to worry about his unwanted attentions anymore.

Facing Steffy and Finn at the cliff house, Thomas tried to convince them that Finn had misinterpreted what Thomas had said about Hope wanting him. He worked to put a past tense spin on it. But his explanation was so unconvincing that Steffy even asked Thomas if he was sure he was being honest. Thomas assured his sis that things were different now when he went home. (I guess Vinny doesn't live there anymore?)

Finn shrugged and said that maybe he had been wrong, but his earlier thought that something could be medically wrong with Thomas remains valid. Some of you think he might have sustained a worse head injury than originally believed when he tumbled over that cliff last year! I do hope we get into what's going on with Thomas...and again, I'm glad to see his struggle is more internal and not involving more plots against Hope.

Steffy and Finn told Ridge about what Finn had heard Thomas say about Hope. Neither Steffy nor Ridge seemed fully certain that Thomas wasn't tripping out again, which was astute, because Thomas went home and argued with the mannequin. The tortured designer did seem to realize that everything was in his head, going on to frantically dismantle the doll and put her back in her box!

But then, something very...Halloweeny happened. The Hope doll blinked on her own and laughed as her eyes turned red! Ooh, where are we going with this? Is Thomas truly losing it? Has Emma's ghost come back and inhabited the doll to avenge Thomas' part in her death? Maybe Thomas had better just sleep with "her" already to keep "her" happy! Hey, at least then we'd get a bed scene.

I'm probably in the minority about liking this Thomas/doll story! How about you, Scoopers? Are you curious to see where it goes, or is it a little too Passions/Days of our Lives for you? Do you think Zoe is needlessly complicating her growing relationship with Carter? Should Eric just divorce Quinn already? And is he actually shacking up with Shauna? Strike your pose in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column!

So, apparently, Bridget is coming back on Monday! No one's getting married, so will this be for more than a one-episode visit? Is Bridget going to be the one to treat Thomas? Or might she get into a triangle with fellow doctor Finn and Steffy? We'll soon find out. And don't forget, Sally arrives in Genoa City on Tuesday! It'll be interesting to see how much of Sally's history is covered in Wisconsin. Will Sal-gal really make a fresh start? And with whom?

That's all I've got for ya this time around. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember: democracy is beautiful.Mike

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