Haunted houses

Bill and Deacon scarily thought it was Valentine's Day instead of Halloween, and each made romantic plays for Brooke. Wyatt disappeared into thin air, and Douglas wanted Liam to do the same. Then, just as Hope fell under Thomas' spell, it was the return of THE MANNEQUIN! And will an imminent visit from Lauren exorcise Sheila? It's tricks and treats with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you become a card-carrying member of the growing I Want My Mommy and Daddy Back Together Club? Did you get two proposals for the price of one? Were you man enough for a mannequin? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Buckingham clan this week!

Holy parent traps, Scoopers! Douglas can be forgiven for wanting his dad and adopted mom together, but Hope is following in Steffy's parental matchmaking footsteps by pushing Deacon on Brooke. Meanwhile, Wyatt has vanished, but his house remains; two understudies auditioned for the soon-to-be vacated role of Brooke's husband; and it's the return of THE MANNEQUIN! Strap into the spookiness, and let's Scoop about it!

Hope and Deacon dished about Bridge amongst the dishes at Il Giardino. For a guy who works and lives at the Beverly Hills hot spot, you'd think he'd wanna get "the meats" at Arby's or just eat anywhere that wasn't the I.G. Of course, not much lunching was going on, especially once Hope popped off that Deacon might be the better choice for Brooke!

If Ridge could walk away from Brooke so easily without even a word of explanation, Hope reasoned, then Ridge didn't deserve Brooke. I really have a hard time coming up with an argument against that logic. To prove my point, Ridge went to Brooke's to gather up some of his stuff and still wouldn't tell her why he'd left her. Ridge is a punk. He always kinda has been, but this year, he's really become Punk Deluxe.

Even worse, Ridge declared that he was filing for an annulment! An annulment? Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you only get an annulment within the first year of marriage? Bridge is four months out from being married five years! Plus, from what I'm reading, Ridge doesn't have grounds for an annulment -- mental incapacity, fraud, underage marriage, duress, or bigamy certainly don't apply here.

I thought maybe it was a mistake that Ridge said "annulment," but then Steffy concurred when she lorded it over Hope. Well, I guess I should at least be glad that Ridge sought out a legal proceeding. (I wonder if he still has the previous divorce papers he made up for Brooke when he himself committed bigamy with Shauna?) No word on Eric filing with Quinn yet, and she's been gone two months.

Anyway, Deacon didn't have to be told twice that Brooke was an apple ripe for the picking, so he and Hope motored over to Brooke's house, where Deacon whipped out a ring! Wait a second! First off, how can Deacon even afford an engagement ring, except one out of a Cracker Jack box? He barely makes minimum wage, and it's not like Sheila has ponied up with any of this supposed money she has.

Let's talk about Sheila for a second! How does Deacon think any kind of marriage to Brooke could work? To begin with, Sheila's not going to be happy about her boy toy moving into Brooke's playground. And then, Deacon will be facing his own true annulment when Brooke finds out he's been harboring Brooke's former BFF and current very-much enemy.

Well, no sooner had Brooke turned down Deacon's proposal than Bill strutted in, wanting Brooke back for himself! This is the exact same thing that happened in 2014, when Deacon and Bill also made revolving door proposals to Brooke. Granted, Bill didn't ask Brooke to marry him here, but boy, was Katie right. Two seconds after professing his undying love for Katie, Bill runs right back to Brooke. Katie called that one!

I do have to give it to Brooke that she stayed laser-focused in her devotion to Ridge. There surely was a time Brooke would have accepted a wedding ring from anyone who gave her one. And both Bill and Deacon must be thinking with the wrong heads, because neither is worried Brooke would be on the rebound. And Deacon never even had a real relationship with Brooke to pick back up from in the first place.

Across town, Taylor finally realized that she'd been imposing on Finn and Steffy long enough (yeah, almost a year!) and scooped up Wyatt's beach house for her and Ridge to live in. Echoing the previous point, Taylor and Ridge may have been married twice, but they have no current romantic relationship on which to base a reunion. People change; you can't just pick up where you left off as if you weren't two times in the grave.

Speaking of which, Bill does seem like someone who would take a secret to the grave, but I can't fathom him being so quiet about assailant Taylor, letting her consider his Aspen property and then clearly selling her his beach house! Because didn't Bill constantly remind Wyatt that Bill owned it? And that begs the next question...

Where is Wyatt? And is the fact that he speedily "moved out" of the house he's been in for years mean that, like Quinn and Pam (whose portrayer, Alley Mills, started on General Hospital this week), Wyatt has just disappeared into thin air? Did Wyatt ever marry Felony Flo? Are they even still together? Shouldn't Bill and/or Liam mention Wyatt's fate? Talk about being ghosted.

I will give props that, long before Wyatt moved his solar shower into that house, Taylor indeed lived there. Both when she was single and when she and Ridge were married the second time, before Ridge bought her the house that now belongs to Bill. (Their real estate agent must get killer migraines keeping up.) Too bad Taylor doesn't remember drunkenly setting herself on fire on that very doorstep in 1997 because Ridge had an emergency business meeting with Brooke.

Liam and Brooke got together for another one of their "tea time grievance-filling powwows," as Brooke called it, with Brooke saying she had come to enjoy their chats. I know a lot of you are taking it as a sign that Brooke is about to sex yet another of her daughters' men. Can I just say that I am almost here for it? There is a certain warmth between Looke (Briam?), and Liam's been a helluva lot nicer to Brooke than Ridge has.

But the president and vice president of Thomas' not-fan club were worried about the man in question. They hoped that Thomas wouldn't attack Lope's marriage the way Thomas had Bridge's. And that's when they don't even know about Thomas' voice-activated call to CPS yet. I can't say I don't share their trepidation. Not with Hope warming to Thomas.

Did I say "warm"? I may mean "hot." As in "HOT," the one-time smoosh name for Hope and Thomas (specifically, around 2011-2012). The word is apt, because Paris, who has nothing better to do than model dresses and walk in on Thomas modeling his underwear, did exactly the latter. And Paris was joined by Hope, who caught Thomas as he was getting out of his sweaty clothes from biking to work.

I'm not exactly sure where in L.A. Forrester Creations is located, but I've always thought it might be Beverly Hills; I know the establishing shot is near or in the Wilshire District (I've been there). And Steffy's house in Malibu isn't close to either of those locales -- 25-30 miles, depending how you clock it. Did Thomas really need that convoluted of an excuse to shuck his shirt off? He already does that on days ending in "y."

Paris almost needed surgery from how prominently her eyes had bugged out taking in the vision of the chesty Thomas. Not that I'm not sitting over here thinking that torso was the reason baby oil was invented, but Paris' exhortation of Thomas' sexy, dangerous virtues struck me as odd. I mean, they were roommates, and Paris shut down the move that Thomas busted on her, remember?

Maybe with Carter dumping her and Zende being her...whatever, Paris is rethinking her stance about Thomas. In fact, Paris wouldn't shut up to Hope about his pecs until Hope finally, grudgingly, admitted that Thomas was hot. Paris being who she is, Hope barely got the one-syllable word out before Paris went to Thomas and repeated it to him. Did Paris really never hear from Zoe just how pathologically obsessed Thomas was with Hope?

Case in point: Thomas busted Hope on her having deemed him hot, a sitch that Hope couldn't scurry out of fast enough. She decided she wanted to see a gown slated for the upcoming Hope for the Future showing (an actual fashion show? Why do we never get to see those anymore? I can't even remember the last one B&B did) and made a beeline for the partition behind which said gown was stationed.

When, what to her wandering eyes should appear? THE HOPE MANNEQUIN! Yes, the object of Thomas' bleeding-on-the-brain obsession struck a pose right there in the CEO office. Now, what the hell was that doing there? Thomas claimed that "someone" had brought it in, thinking Thomas could use it in his HFTF designing, but that is so much bull.

What was that thing even doing in the building? The last time it graced our screens, it was in Thomas' apartment, which I assume Paris now lives in alone. Nobody thought to trash it or recycle it in its aftermath? Keep in mind, too, that Thomas tried to stop Hope from peeking behind the partition. Which means he already knew Hope's doppelgnger was in residence.

Brooke had just reminded Steffy how Thomas had been detached from reality. But when Brooke caught Hope and Thomas rapping after being clued in about Hope thinking Thomas was hot, Brooke made mention of the mannequin...not knowing it was right there in the room with them! Not hidden, though, was Hope's newfound faith in Thomas. She thought it beautiful that Thomas and Douglas were bonding.

And it might just be, but Hope should be having flashbacks, having just seen her plasticized face staring back at her. She should be thinking, like Brooke and Liam, that Thomas is regressing -- and fast. But did she? No-sir-ee-bob. Instead, Hope pushed back on Brooke about her concerns and held to her belief that people can change. I'd have bought that tack before the mannequin sighting, but not immediately after it.

Indeed, Thomas slipped to Steffy that he and Hope had a "relationship," which even pinged on pro-Forrester-at-all-costs Steffy's radar. But Thomas may get his way this time -- and may not have to resort to kidnapping. Hope tried on one of Thomas' gowns (doesn't FC have models for that? Or is Hope headlining her own showing?), and Thomas thought back to his fantasy about Hope moving in for a luscious kiss.

I'll have to give Thomas credit that he remembered Hope was married and that he shouldn't be fantasizing about her. Well, fantasies are okay; it's acting on them that can get you into trouble. I just can't understand how Hope can be so clueless after all the crazy crap Thomas did to her. And with an estimated four million women in L.A., why is Thomas still wanting Hope after first becoming enamored with her eleven years ago...in real time?

The presumably-still-married Eric and new hausfrau Donna watched Douglas trample Liam in chess. Turns out Donna had not only been coaching the boy, but she herself had been all that in her high school chess club! And you thought Donna was dumb! Hey, so have most of the other characters on this show; you're in good company. But it was Douglas who was about to checkmate his adopted mother's husband.

Liam, perhaps inappropriately, perhaps not, tried to persuade Douglas to come home after having been at the mansion with Thomas for so long. That Liam is having to do Hope's job for her speaks volumes. But Douglas moved his queen piece and insisted that he didn't want to go back to the Logan cabin. He wanted to stay at the Forrester compound with his parents!

Ouch! Quite a slap in the face there for Liam, coming from the boy who officiated Liam's wedding to Hope. But Douglas definitely isn't the only child wanting mommy and daddy together at the moment. Hope just made the same move with Brooke and Deacon, and on the heels of Steffy and Thomas maneuvering Tridge into a reunion at that. You know, my parents divorced when I was ten, and I never spent a moment wanting them reunited. Just sayin'.

Douglas stabbed Liam far better than Quinn could have dreamed of with her homemade Liam-impaling sword, because Douglas had his not-daddy take him to Forrester to rat Liam out about wanting Douglas to be under Liam's roof. Douglas announced that he didn't wanna didn't wanna didn't wanna, and Hope caved faster than a crappy mine carved out in the California Gold Rush of 1849.

I really do have to wonder if Brooke could be right about Thomas once again manipulating Douglas, only now, Douglas is older and could be developing a devious streak of his own. Making Liam feel even more like an outsider, Douglas declared that he wanted to spend the weekend with Thomas and Hope, and only them. Hope neither allowed nor denied, but she was perfectly cool with Douglas staying put at the mansion.

Maybe the mannequin has become sentient and switched places with Hope; otherwise, Hope is about as devoid of sentience right now as the mannequin is supposed to be. Liam was not wrong when he complained to Brooke that Hope and Douglas are doing nothing but obeying Thomas. Maybe Liam needs to sleep with Brooke, after all; it might be the only thing that would shock Hope out of her brainwashing!

In the apartment above Il Giardino, the fugitive Sheila lamented that she had nothing to do all day but watch her soaps! I love how meta that is! Especially since we're down to three network soaps and one streaming one. Which show do you think Sheila favors? Of course, it can't be B&B or The Young and the Restless, since those events happen in her universe. I feel like she'd probably like GH, but Days of our Lives seems to be much more her style.

After all, she's come back from the dead about as many times as Stefano DiMera did -- not forgetting that Stefano was played by the departed Joseph Mascolo, who also portrayed Sheila's one-time lover Massimo. See, it all ties together. Sheila read Deacon's beads by correctly deducing that he made a play for Brooke with Ridge out of the picture.

Sheila tried to dissuade Deacon from continuing his low-odds folly, which, for Sheila, sounded saner than pretty much everyone else on the show this week. But then, Sheila bought out all the red flags she could find at Home Depot and Walmart combined and waved them proudly for Deacon to see. Sheila bragged that Brooke couldn't hold a candle to her and proclaimed that Deacon was all that Sheila lived for!

Rut-ro! Make that double rut-ro! When Sheila starts talking like that, it means she has shifted to full-on obsession mode and that anyone interfering in the acquisition of that obsession had better take out life insurance. But wait! Wasn't it just a few months ago that Sheila deemed Finn her "whole world"? Mama sure moved on quickly from him!

Oh, but Sheila hadn't skipped town because she had to be close to Finn and Hayes. Then, why hasn't she done boo about at least spying on her son and grandson? Sheila follows Deacon's directive about not going out, but she's got the Lina costume, and if Genoa City denizen Nikki Newman didn't recognize her, Sheila should be home free. Unless someone is about to return to the scene who would recognize her the fastest!

Could my current and biggest soap wish finally be coming true? To begin with, Monday is Halloween, and B&B is celebrating with the second stand-alone episode of the year, this time focusing on Sheila. I saw the commercial for it, and Sheila's most time-honored nemesis, Lauren Fenmore, is right in the thick of it. And then, come to find out that Lauren's character, Tracey Bregman, is making an appearance on B&B later in the week!

I so don't want to get my hopes up here, but I can't help it. What is one of the things I've been bitching about the most as far as Sheila is concerned? That Lauren never found out Sheila was alive. As far as the Fenmore's heiress knows, she popped a cap in Sheila in Genoa City in 2007, even though Sheila supposedly had Phyllis' face. I still hold that it was Sheila's henchwoman Sugar, who had already had surgery to look like Sheila, that Lauren killed.

Then, when Sheila resurfaced in 2017, she would only say to a confused Katie that rumors of her demise had been greatly exaggerated. After that, there was never a word about whether or not Lauren had been warned that her ultimate victimizer lived. Are we going to correct that now, five years after the fact? Oh, B&B, don't be like Charlie Brown and give me a rock. I will sit up all night and wait for the Great Soap-kin if it means Lauren and Sheila (or Lina) are finally coming face to face! I am the most sincere!

What tale was the most deliciously scary for you this week, Scoopers? Was it Brooke and her dual dowries? Was it jerk Ridge outjerking himself? Was it Wyatt's mysterious absence from his own house? Was it Hope seemingly being under mind control from Thomas? Or was it Douglas essentially acting like Liam doesn't exist? Clear the cobwebs in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could end up in a future column! Like these!

"I just hope, THIS TIME, when Ridge comes crawling back to Brooke, she has some pride, dignity & self-respect and tells him to eff-off and then seduces Finn just to show Steffy and the gang a thing or two...[and] just because she can! LOL. Now THAT would be worth tuning in for! After all, Finn must be horny AF by now because [Steffy's] more concerned about her mom & dad doing the deed than she is about her and Finn." -- "Buttocks"

"Yes, Mike. Someone needs to tell Ridge about [Taylor shooting Bill]...why doesn't Brooke play the Forrester family card too? She has a child with Ridge (anyone remember RJ?). Her name is Mrs. Forrester, not Ms. Logan. Her family is more 'the Forresters' than Taylor's; two of her children are actually real Forresters...I'd love to see [a recast Blake Hayes] appear and want to claim [his] life back [with Taylor]. Or maybe Omar. Or, here's an exciting twist. Maybe Thomas really is Thorne's son after all. That'd throw a huge spanner in the works. Especially if Taylor knew the whole time. Like Stephanie did with Ridge." -- Eva

"Obviously this show is built around Brooke and she can be as mean or nasty or manipulative as she wants and she always comes out on top. [In my scenario] Brooke gathers ALL the Logan women (plus Eric and Liam) so she can scream about Ridge. The roof falls on them, killing them all. Ridge inherits Eric's house and puts a family portrait above the mantle. Steffy kills Sheila and dumps her in the ocean from the jet. The remaining people find spouses that only love them and won't cheat, and everyone is happy. Now I feel better. Seriously, other soaps are WAY better than this one. They have storylines that don't involve triangles and they don't have the same bonehead guy bounce back and forth from woman to woman, and the women don't put up with cheaters." -- Kasi

"Thank you so much for telling the truth about Taylor. I get so irritated when they proclaim her a saint... no mention of her living with Prince Omar or sleeping with all the Logan men AND all the Forrester men, plus Whip, Nick, James, Hector, etc. No mention of Taylor throwing herself at Ridge [3] years ago in Brooke's house at Caroline's wake, leaving HOPE to raise Douglas instead of his aunt or grandma. No mention of Steffy sleeping with the Spencer men. No mention of all the women Ridge has been with. The ONLY history brought up is Brooke's old stuff. I wish Brooke would tell Ridge to keep walking. But she won't." -- Sharon

While we're on the subject of history, Brooke, Donna, and Katie's papa, Stephen Logan, in the form of Patrick Duffy, is making an appearance in late November for the first time since 2011! Ginkgo-fueled viewers will remember that Stephen has been living in Dallas (a nod to Duffy's time on said prime-time soap). No hint of why Stephen would be in town, especially with ex Pam and enemy Stephanie gone, but apparently, Stephen isn't coming home alone. I'm very curious to find out what's bringing Stephen back! A Deric wedding, mayhap?

That's all I have to say about the boldest and the most boo-tiful, so have a safe Halloween, keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. See you in two weeks, my Scoopnesses!AMJ

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