Living well is always in fashion

On the eve of Eric's fashion showdown with Ridge, Eric received a terminal diagnosis, the news of which was passed on to Katie and R.J. Then Lauren Fenmore arrived from Genoa City, but the father-and-son designs were overshadowed by no one telling the Y&R diva that Sheila is alive! Soak up life with Two Scoops' Mike.

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did your health ailment suddenly go from distinct to vague to mysterious? Did your determination to inform your family about an important disclosure lack determination? Did everyone forget to tell you that your dead tormentor was actually alive? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan clan this week!

Strike a pose, Scoopers! But first, let's talk about Wyatt. What the actual? Mr. Solar Shower of 2013 is the latest in a long line of B&B characters who just disappeared as if they'd been kidnapped by aliens. Maya, Flo, Shauna, Quinn...now Wyatt. Was it so hard to at least give Wyatt a single exit scene? Gone are the days when people simply went upstairs, never to be heard from again, you know!

And Wyatt was really done dirty. First his fiance vanished, then he was rendered homeless when Taylor bought his house out from under him. And Carter, who also came on in 2013 but had almost nothing to do until 2020, got a tenth anniversary acknowledgement, while Wyatt got dropped through a trap door! It's just wrong. Rant over. Now, if you're ready to yap about the kickassness with Eric, let's Scoop about it!

Ridge was determined to win his fashion challenge against Eric (FYI: it's not their first -- they battled each other on the runway in Portofino in 2002), though the former Speedo King was tiring of fighting with his pop. R.J. teased Ridge that, because it would not be specified who designed which gown (nice touch), Ridge was afraid Eric would win on name alone, while Ridge ribbed that Eric would win because of the "last collection" hype.

R.J. deflected when Ridge began to wonder if there was something more going on with Eric. But the younger Ridge nearly gave himself away when emotion bubbled up in him as he said Eric was designing as if his life depended on it. Joshua Hoffman is really impressing me lately, and not just because he's so damn cute. Ever since R.J. got something real to do, Hoffman's been showing off a wonderful down-to-earth range.

Over at the Forrester compound, Eric and Donna covered when Katie walked in during one of Eric's increasingly frequent coughing fits. After the youngest Logan sister left, Eric again insisted to Donna that he was going to live until he died (a good phrase that the show is overusing). He refused to let the rest of the family know of his health travails because he didn't want their pity, which was actually quite an understandable motivation.

Then Dr. Colby, who in 2023 apparently makes his living making house calls, came by to give Eric his diagnosis. (He's not related to Jason Colby, is he? After all, The Colbys also took place in Los Angeles.) But we weren't to be hipped to that info -- by the next scene, Donna and Eric were already taking in the news. I hope that's just to ramp up the suspense and not that Eric is going to have Soap Opera Disease, where a character's true ailment is never specified.

Eric was dying! And Dr. Colby (who I hope sticks around) was adamant that Eric back out of the fashion show. But Eric declared he was going out on his own terms, and he didn't care if the runway clash killed him. Man, John McCook could deliver an Emmy-winning performance reading out of the phone book (remember those?), but he's really been making the most of this material. Team Eric all day, every day, baby!

Just as Donna cried that she'd already lost Eric once, which had remained the biggest mistake of her life (good reference; Donna divorced Eric in 2010 after she blamed Stephanie for her mother's death, and Eric took Stephanie's side), Katie and her leather pants returned and overheard Eric's prognosis. Once Eric excused himself, Katie returned for answers and got an earful, thankfully just as Donna needed her most.

Carter, who had seemingly been the president of Eric's fan club before, walked into the design office after waffling over who he was rooting for in the challenge and caught intern Luna doing nothing. That would usually deserve a talking-to, but Luna was mulling over the newest message from Poppy saying Luna needed to ditch Forrester. Does Poppy just send the same audio file over and over?

R.J. came in from nearly ratting Eric out, and once Carter acknowledged that Eric's line had to top everything Eric had ever done and then left, R.J. came down with Second Thoughts Syndrome. Now, mind you, R.J. had only noticed that Eric's tremors had been getting worse and that there was now a cough. R.J. had no idea his aunts were discussing Eric having to put his affairs in order.

But R.J. asked, "What if I'm robbing [Ridge] of precious time with his dad?" Perhaps R.J. had been divining the truth from spending time with Eric, because he decided that no, Ridge needed to be told, after all. Weirdly, part of Eric's beef with Ridge was revealed to be that Ridge wanted "to make couture trendy." Um...since when? I remember Ridge wanting to make couture sexier in the 1987 pilot, but this is the first I'm hearing about "trendy."

Back at the mansion, Eric learned that Katie knew the truth about his health. In a terrific nod to history, Eric asked Katie how she had replied to her own doctor when told she couldn't have a baby following her heart transplant. Katie recalled she had advised the practitioner to go to hell. Eric rested his case by asking how old Will was now. Y'all know I haven't been thrilled with B&B lately, but that was just a brilliant piece of writing.

The next day at Forrester Creations, Lauren Fenmore made a triumphant return! She'd only walked those halls herself when she was on B&B full-time from 1995 to 1999. Inexplicably, Lauren brought along Y&R's Esther Valentine, who worked as Katherine Chancellor's maid from 1982 until Kay's death in 2013. I must say, as a crossover guest star, Esther was kind of a weird choice.

Esther couldn't wait to meet the Eric Forrester. How come Lauren didn't dish that Eric is her ex? Lauren went in to see Eric first -- their former relationship again not coming up -- and Lauren asked, "Can we talk about the elephant in the room?" Oh, my soap gods! It was finally going to happen! Lauren was going to ask about Sheila! But no...Lauren instead wanted to talk about devilishly handsome designer Eric.

Gaaaaahhhh! When are we going to confirm to Lauren that Sheila is alive? Surely Lauren must already know -- Sheila nearly killed Steffy "Sexy CEO" Forrester, and surely that was headline news! I need to see Lauren and Sheila in a scene together, or I am just going to plotz. Lauren wanted to know why Eric was not occupying the CEO office. Uh, honey, Eric's only not been CEO since 2017, and you've been in L.A. since then!

Eric himself said that his not being in the chair was "a little situation I hope to have resolved very soon." Eric gladly allowed Ridge and Steffy to captain the company together -- has he been secretly resentful of that for six years, or are we supposed to believe he suddenly decided he wants to run things again? Eric did hint to Lauren that time was catching up with him and that he wasn't sure how much he had left.

Hmm. Interesting that he would "confide" in Lauren but no one else. In the foyer, Esther chirped to Luna about how "Mrs. C" had given her the purse she was shouldering. Katherine did get a lot of deserved honorable mention, though maybe too much. Then Esther wandered to Pam/Donna's desk and looked ready to put some files in said purse...only for intrepid security guard Charlie to catch her in the act!

Turned out Esther was just straightening out of habit, having been a maid for decades, but come on. She really carries a feather duster in her purse? Now, even Lauren noticed there were sparks flying between Charlie and Esther. Where are we going with that? Earlier, Charlie was disappointed that Pam would rather bake lemon bars (insert eyeroll here) instead of come to the show, and Pam essentially hung up on Charlie before he could tell her he missed her.

Of course, we know Alley Mills has moved on to General Hospital (Pam, another character who disappeared without an exit scene). But Charlie lamented that he was unlucky in love. Really? Dude's had the longest-running consistent relationship on the show; he and Pam got together around this time ten years ago. In real time! So, Pam's gone cold on him, and he's eyeing Esther? Will Esther move to L.A. to be with him?

Another history-laden moment happened at the mansion when Katie consoled the grieving Donna, saying, "Speaking from experience, there's always a chance Eric could beat the odds." Donna couldn't help agreeing, since Katie herself was a "medical marvel." Totally! Katie is the Transplant Queen of Southern California! Her brother's heart, her supposed niece's kidney...when hospitals need organs, they come to her!

Seriously, Katie has lived to tell, and from that place, Katie told Donna to cherish and honor Eric every moment until the end, whenever that was. Awesome. As for Eric, he was getting ready for the fashion show...in the design office at Forrester. With the event not until the next day. Where was Ridge and his line? Are they keeping their stuff secret from each other, or is it all cool? You'd have thought everything would have been hush-hush until the runway.

Charlie took Esther and Lauren on such a detailed tour that Lauren admitted she had seen new areas of the building, "and I worked here for years." (Yesssss!) Charlie continued to flirt with Esther, and I just don't get it. Isn't he with Pam? They had one faulty phone call, and he's decided to move on? Of course, if Pam hadn't been summarily written out, we might have answers as to that relationship.

Then we got a scene with Thope that I didn't need to see. The sometime stepsibs did some more goo-goo-eyeing and pawing, and it was all I could do not to ralf up. Of note, though, was Thomas saying he sees Hope as "sexy, passionate, and wild." Miss Public Virgin of 2011 still seems to have the need to be told that. Thomas was glad HFTF would have their budget back once the showdown was over. FC can't afford to run multiple lines anymore?

Now it appeared to be Ridge's time to use the shop for his prep work while Eric did more of his at home. Eric and R.J. took turns complimenting each other about the legacy line, with Eric switching between "you did this" and "we did this." R.J. pooh-poohed that he'd just done "the mechanical work." Speaking of which, didn't R.J. offer to help Eric by introducing technology to their process? What happened to that?

In the midst of all the goodwill, Eric slipped that his life was riding on the collection. R.J. pounced on the leak, but when Eric tried to pivot with more accolades, R.J. steadfastly said, "Don't treat me like a kid right now!" So, Eric relented and divulged the truth to his grown-up grandson. Eric was Zen about it all. "Life on this earth is never made so clear as it is to a person who finds out they're gonna die," Eric relayed.

Man, good stuff. R.J. wasn't nearly as Zen, though; he thought Eric going through with the showdown was "insane" and that specialists should be brought in. All Eric could think about was bringing his swan song collection to fruition, and when he was alone, underscore from the show's first days began playing. Suddenly, we flashed back to the premiere episode! I actually applauded! It was exactly what that moment needed!

R.J. was having a tough time concentrating on finessing the models for the show. Luna noticed, and the young designer unburdened himself to her about the sand running out of Eric's hourglass. I know R.J. and Luna have been getting closer and that he'd already shared some things about Eric with her, but it seemed overkill for him to blab about that personal a detail to a near stranger. Why does Luna know and R.J.'s parents don't?

And didn't R.J. say a day or two earlier that it was time Ridge knew the truth? R.J. had been sitting on news of Eric's impending demise since the night before; you'd think R.J. would have run straight to his mom and dad. Meanwhile, in a showroom I've never seen before, Zende and Paris (remember them?) milled about, and we met luminaries Fanny (whoever she is) and the Countess von Frankfurt, a.k.a. Marie Osmond.

She's not a little bit country or a little bit rock 'n' roll anymore! The Countess was a perfect snob -- nice turn for Osmond -- and advised the fangirling Esther to "close your mouth, dear; wouldn't want to catch any flies." Meow! Esther deserved it, especially after she got "Frankfurt" mixed up with "frankfurter" and somehow thought the countess had something to do with hot dogs. That was painful.

After Ridge reiterated to Brooke that he had to win for the good of the company -- because somehow now the winner would be awarded the CEO title -- the showdown began. Another changed premise was Katie announcing that the guests would pick their favorite design and then "win their selection." Whaaaat? Wasn't it that whichever designer garnered the most sales would be declared the winner?

The showdown began -- with no runway, and Katie describing the gowns, which B&B has not typically done. Ridge popped in where Eric was watching backstage, and they engaged in some good-natured sparring. But once alone, Eric began coughing again. Did no one find the bloody hanky he stashed in the design office wastebasket? Surely custodial would have reported its existence to Ridge!

And not for nothing, but Lauren still doesn't seem to know Sheila is alive! Ridge, whose own daughter was gunned down by Lauren's nemesis, looked Lauren straight in the face and said nothing! This was such a good week -- the best of 2023 so far; I really enjoyed it -- but it's like the show is taunting us with keeping Lauren in the dark. I need a Lauren/Sheila scene! Do y'all understand? NEED it!

Well, the fashion battle is on, to be continued after the weekend. Who do you think is going to win? And do you really think Eric is going to die? Sashay into the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback!

My money says that Esther, who couldn't shut up about how much she wanted a Forrester gown, will indeed win her selection. It also says that Eric will win the competition -- but collapse when he's taking his bows. And let me tell you, I can't get enough of all these original '80s music cues the show is using to illustrate Eric's adventure, which I am vehemently here for! Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold! See you in two weeks, my Scoopnesses!

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