Open the door and let him in

Paris started fantasizing about Finn, but Eric was the one who insisted that Quinn make her fantasies a reality with Carter! Is B&B's touching on the idea of characters having an open relationship too hot to handle? Fan the flames with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you pine for your ex so much you became pine scented? Were you so thirsty for your roommate that even the recommended eight glasses of water a day wouldn't quench that thirst? Did you send your wife an open invitation to an open relationship? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Walton-Buckingham-Finnegan clan this week!

"Poly" want a cracker? Dang, Scoopers, but this potential polyamorous story of Eric's has gotten a lot of you hot under the collar, and not in a good way. Eric offering to have Carter fill Quinn's sexual needs seems too much for many. But I'm more bothered by Donna still longing for Eric after eleven years and Paris drooling over a married man! Has love in the afternoon turned forbidden? Let's Scoop about it!

After Liam dished Queric with Wyatt, his literal brother from another mother (love to see the Spencer bros chatting and not fighting over a woman), he headed for a beach day with Hope...and Steffy. And Finn! What could have been awkward was amusing, with Liam and Finn getting along and cracking dad jokes. Hope and Steffy were happy that the blended family they'd dreamed of had materialized.

Then Hope blew it by mentioning Sheila. Talk about letting the air out of the beach ball. Lope thought Sheila had left town, and Sinn doesn't even know where the one-time naughty nurse is. All Steffy knew was Sheila had been discharged after the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her. You mean no one in the Forrester realm knows how to put a private investigator on Sheila's ass to ascertain her whereabouts?

Seriously, how novel would that be -- someone on the show running surveillance on Sheila? I don't know why anyone is worried that Sheila will make off with Hayes. She only does that with her own babies. If anything, Steffy might want to put an ankle monitor on Finn, because Finn could find himself chained up in Sheila's hotel room. An apt prediction, since it's obvious Sheila hasn't changed.

She hadn't changed by her 2017 return, either, but at least then Sheila made noise about attempting to grow past her unstable tendencies. This time, she's just here, acting as bonkers as expected, with no nuance or indication there's even an effort at betterment. Sheila was at her best during her 1992 to 1998 run, when she was trying so hard to be good but couldn't quite pull it off. I miss the depth she had in those days.

After Lope loped off, Sinn tried to get busy, but Paris came home, blocking something that rhymes with block. Just as well, perhaps, because Steffy knocked out while hanging with Hayes, which left Paris alone with her crush. And get dis bish: Paris tried to encourage the part of Finn that wanted to get to know Sheila. "Maybe she's changed," Paris mused as she put her hand on Finn's!

Steffy, it ain't Sheila you have to worry about. Though I did ask myself Paris' question, "You're a doctor -- wouldn't you know if Sheila was faking?" I'll grant Finn's contention that he couldn't be objective, but, yeah -- he should have been able to tell. Of course, Finn's never at the hospital anymore, so maybe he forgot his doctoring skills. Finn also can't tell when someone's obviously interested in him.

"Obvious" being the key word. Could Paris have been any more so? When Finn kept shutting down Paris nearly encouraging Finn to explore a relationship with Sheila in deference to Steffy, Paris thought it sucked that Finn couldn't share that sense of loss with his wife. Then, as Finn checked on Hayes, Paris had a fantasy that Finn kissed her, and liberty bibberty! Zende who? Ah, those Buckingham sisters.

Last week, Chanel suggested that Sheila might end up using Paris to get Steffy out of Finn's life. I see that coming now. Steffy even asked Paris to keep an eye out for Sheila and report back to Steffy if Sheila lurked nearby. I still wonder where this mystery restraining order against Sheila is, too. For all of Steffy's shouting that danger is near, she really isn't doing much about it!

Can somebody tell me why someone as vivacious as Donna has been reduced to babysitting her niece's kids and pining over a man she divorced eleven years ago in real time? Hey, I enjoyed Katie, Donna, and Brooke hanging out over Chinese food (especially because I'm watching the beginning of their saga as B&B posts it on YouTube; check out our recaps here). But Donna has really become pathetic.

As pathetic as it was watching Taylor moon over Ridge years after he'd moved on without her. It's not romantic seeing Donna cry over Eric or claim that she triggered their breakup. Donna, y'all divorced because you blamed Stephanie for Beth's drowning, and Eric took Stephanie's side. And instead of Brooke urging her sister to be healthy and let Eric go, she coaxed Donna to let Eric know she was available.

Ugh, I just can't. Which is what I've seen a lot of you saying about Eric essentially telling his wife to have sex with another man because Eric can't satisfy her anymore. You know what? I gotta admit, this twist is putting the "bold" in "The Bold and the Beautiful" more than anything has in ages. And how awesome, focusing on a geriatric issue, with John McCook turning in one stellar performance after another.

"But, Mike!" you say, "Surely you're not condoning open relationships!" Here's what I have to say about that. I was actually in an open relationship for15 years. Not that I wanted it open; I wanted monogamy. But the man I was in love with didn't. So, I agreed to those parameters, even though I went against my better judgment in doing so.

Also, my best friend is in an open marriage, which I was vehemently opposed to for the longest time. And what have these experiences taught me? That as long as both people in a couple are happy with however they define their relationship and are perfectly willing to define it that way, they can set whatever parameters they want. It's not anyone else's business to judge it or cast aspersions on it.

So, from that perspective, if Eric wants to propose that another man fulfill Quinn's needs, he has every right to do that. It's not dirty or shameful or disgusting. And isn't this in line with something Eric would do? He's certainly exhibited an adventurous streak over the years. Now, if Quinn decides that having an open marriage with Eric is also what she wants, then that's up to them. And it's different for a soap!

The thing is, Quinn didn't seem to want it. At least at first. After she and Carter tried to process Eric's request and opted not to go down that road, Quinn joined Eric in bed and insisted to him that she had everything she needed right there. The next morning, Quinn reiterated this, but Eric still felt he couldn't be Quinn's lover, and he was tired of seeing doctors and hitting brick walls.

As I pointed out in my last column, why is Eric shutting down the idea of sex with Quinn completely simply because he can't get an erection? He has hands, a mouth, a tongue. L.A. has no shortage of sex toys for sale, of varying descriptions. True, it might not be complete intimacy, or intimacy as expected, but Eric can still pleasure his wife by other means.

Wouldn't that be a better message to send than, "Just let your wife have sex with somebody else"? Maybe that's not as dramatic a story. Quinn's resolve started to waver during her first post-proposition convo with Carter, asking, "We can't possibly do what my husband is asking...can we?" Though, to be fair to Quinn, Carter started it when Quinn said what she had with Eric was enough, and Carter said, "Is it?"

Wyatt walked in during this and didn't like the heat and tension coming from his mom and her "former" lover. In fact, he gave them quite a bit of hell about it. Meanwhile, Eric kept catching hell of his own, thanks to Bridge. First, Brooke called Eric and put her sisters on speakerphone with her to give Eric a pep talk and subtly ship Donna in the process. Mild enough. Ridge, however, came in like a bull in a china shop.

First Ridge got on Eric's case so much that the usually jovial Eric started getting pissed. Ridge couldn't understand why Eric had taken Quinn back or why Eric was being so mysterious about the reunion. It's fair that Ridge noticed that Eric seemed more concerned with Quinn's happiness than his own. But Ridge simply would not let it go, even after Eric specifically said, "I don't want to go there again with you."

Then Eric got double teamed with the arrival of Brooke, who'd forgotten her self-awareness of the previous night, when she had told her sisters, "I'm sure [Eric's] sick of hearing about it from me." No, Quinn was wrong for breathing, and Bridge ganged up on the septuagenarian. The one thing Brooke was right about was observing that "it's not worth sacrificing your own well-being to honor a commitment."

Of course, Brooke didn't know how close to home she had hit, or why. Case in point, Eric stormed out on Bridge and visited Quinn, who told her husband that he was only working off what Eric thought Quinn needed. So true. Eric's basically been directing Quinn's life, albeit for altruistic reasons. Eric continued his crusade to get Quinn laid by handing her an envelope he wanted her to deliver to Carter.

No sooner had Eric gotten home and fixed himself his trademark martini than Bridge barged in, haranguing Eric even more! They wore Eric down so much he admitted that Quinn was out "enjoying herself" and that he didn't want to hold Quinn back. He even went so far as to tell his inquisitors that Quinn wasn't the problem -- he was! But Eric wouldn't elaborate, and Bridge left even more confused than they were when they arrived.

At the loft, Quinn showed up at Eric's directive, remarking that it wouldn't be safe to come in, as Carter's shirt was open. Carter buttoned up and accepted Eric's envelope from Quinn, which contained a single piece of paper with the words, "Tonight is yours -- Eric." Quarter was still not inclined to let Eric pimp out his wife. Sorta. Bumping uglies was off-limits until Carter decided "it wouldn't be disrespectful," since they had Eric's permission.

Carter touched Quinn's face and started to kiss her. Quinn held back at first, but, perhaps on Wyatt's unwitting advice for Quinn to do whatever Eric wanted her to do, Quinn went in for some more lip-smashing -- twice! Carter admitted he still loved Quinn, and Quinn confessed she loved Carter in addition to Eric. Cue more kissing. Ooh, doggies! Are both Eric and Quinn going to get their wishes fulfilled, just not with each other?

Turn up the heat with your thoughts in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Like these!

"I remember that Eric and Quinn had a fantastic night of marital bliss before the vow renewal. Quinn told Shauna the juicy details. No sign of ED with Eric it seems. After the vow renewal Eric threw Quinn out, July 2nd I think it was. So when, please, did he develop ED? These last weeks when he was home alone? When did he visit these doctors who told him there was no help for it?" -- "Suzannah14_54"

"They should have them explore a cuckold relationship. Carter is the perfect bull for this. Not sure if Eric would be into watching, but he could allow Quinn to have her jollies since he's not able to "help out."" -- Jennifer

Is it still cheating if you get permission to cheat? That's the question of the day, so keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And for soap's sake, get vaccinated! Because protecting yourselves and others from a virus and its variants is always beautiful.

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.