Business -101: The Bold and the Beautiful Two Scoops for the week of November 18, 2024

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you leave your cluephone out on the waves with your surfboard? Did you drop so many hints that even Hansel and Gretel could find you? Did you sell your daughter out to your not-husband? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Finnegan-Walton clan this week!

Holy decade and a half, Scoopers! If I may be so “bold” (see what I did there), allow me to acknowledge this column as marking my 15th anniversary with Soap Central! Yup, I first began these rantings all the way back in 2009, and I don't know who's seen more changes in that time -- me or the Forresters. Well, given we've had four Thomases since then, I guess maybe I'm safe!

But enough about me. You want to know what I think of all this hoopla with Carter and Hope trying to take over at Forrester Creations. Ooh, so many good ideas...but B&B may have to go back to business school to revisit the execution. Not to mention, Cope (Harter?) waffled so much about their coup, I thought Liam was going to walk in, plus Brooke seems to have stopped it before it could start! Ready, y'all? Let's Scoop about it!

First order of

Before we get to all the corporate circling, let us adjourn to a small office where Will and Electra were tending to their own duties -- making out, of course. “What if someone walks in?” Electra giggled. “Not to worry,” Will replied. “Everyone gets it on in these offices! Why, it's required according to the employee contract!” OK, Will didn't actually say that. But let's face it: if you don't at least kiss while you're at work in this place, they shun you in the commissary.

I'd be all right with the smooching if these two knew each other outside FC's confines. New couples simply meet and start playing tonsil hockey; it was this way with Carter and Hope, and R.J. and Luna before that. Can't we ever have build-up and romantic tension so thick that we're damn near salivating for a twosome to share their first buss? Yeah, I'm old-fashioned. But that soap trope worked so long for a reason.

Anyway, Will actually had enough interest in Electra beyond her lips that he started peppering her with questions, like where she had come from and why she had come to Los Angeles. Before she could classically deflect, Aunty Ivy did the interrupting for her, the lucky girl. Ivy seemed genuinely surprised to find out Will was a Spencer. Now all Ivy has to do is get with this third Spencer brother, after Wyatt and Liam, and she'll be a real Forrester.

Will must have heard my kvetching, because we next saw him and Electra at Il Giardino, with him remarking that he liked seeing her out of the office! I don't know if chowing down Beverly Hills pizza like everyone else at the company counted as a date, but it's a step in the right direction. Then Deacon, who hasn't had much to do these days, popped by to (deep) dish to Will about Electra.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the fellow we saw the previous week with his starter stalker kit of Electra photos was sitting nearby, watching with a great deal of interest. I should point out that he was basically wearing the leather cap and outfit that Luna was wearing when she caged Steffy. Too bad Sheila couldn't have peeked out; in true it-takes-one-to-know-one fashion, she could have pegged the new dude as a psycho and saved everyone else the trouble.

Again saved from Will's questions by his phone's beeping notifications, Electra bid her insta-boo bye-bye and stayed behind to scoop up any escaped mushrooms. Lo and behold, who should stop by her table -- not the waiter, but Stalker Dude! We already knew from spoilers his name was Remy, but this was the first on-screen confirmation. And how about that: Electra was glad to see him!

Now, kudos to B&B, because this is not where I expected the proceedings to go. I thought, from what Electra kept saying to Ivy and Will, that she was on the run from Remy. But since it seems she has no idea that, as far as we know, Remy is one pot away from boiling a rabbit, there has to be some other reason she bolted from wherever it is she's from. Wow. Our soap still has it in it to be unpredictable!

Go about your

Onward we journey to the only other saga transpiring this week: Carter's attempt to take the reins at Forrester. I'm not sure how it all is supposed to work because I was not a business major in college, nor did I ever go to college, but Carter had signed the contract to form the much-talked-about LLC, and all that had to happen from there was to get Ridge and Steffy to put their John Hancocks on it. Then Carter could call all the shots!

Ah, I couldn't help thinking of Dynasty – the '80s original, thank you very much. In two separate seasons, Adam Carrington made things happen by getting people to sign documents. First he forged an order for poison and got mama Alexis to sign it so no one would know he had tried to incapacitate Jeff Colby. Later, Adam tricked papa Blake, who was ill and out of it, into putting his name on power of attorney paperwork so Adam could do what he wanted at Denver-Carrington.

Had Carter done a little retro TV watching to get inspo for his plan? If he did, the inspo fizzled out quickly. Adam Carrington took quick, decisive action with his misleading documents. Carter, on the other hand...well, it was understandable he would have doubts about going through with punking Ridge and Steffy when all that was left was to get their signatures. After all, Ridge was Carter's BFF.

And Hope reasoned that junking the LLC and coming clean to Steffy about her relationship with Carter was out, too, because it would result in Steffy questioning all of Carter's decisions going forward. But without implementing their plan, Hope would forever be barred from Forrester. But if they did, it would cause a tsunami that made the ones in 2012 and San Andreas look like a water park kiddie pool. Decisions!

Over at the company in question, Eric was actually worried about how Zende would fare now that Hope for the Future was in the toilet. Bet you'd feel real bad about bitching how Grandpa Eric had chosen RJ over you to work on his legacy line this time last year if you heard Eric come to your defense, wouldn't you, Zende? For Ridge and Steffy's part, they assured Eric that they would give Zende the hook-up. Nice.

But that's where the niceties ended, because Steffy crapped all over Eric's concerns about Hope being axed. Then, Steffy had Katie draw up a press release to announce HFTF was history. Wait a minute -- Steffy deactivated Hope's key fob and e-mail account essentially the second Hope was out the door, and Steffy's only now putting out a press release about Hope leaving?

Ridge asked Steffy to slow her roll and went to see Finn, seeming to want verification that Hope had come on to Finn like Steffy kept saying Hope had. And Finn declared that Hope had tried it! This just makes me believe even more that Finn can't be Sheila's son -- he's too stupid. Does Finn really think Hope knew he would walk into the wrong office and therefore threw on lingerie to seduce him?

Even if he was dumb enough to form that opinion, he had to have noticed how flustered Hope was when she saw him. She was in no way confidently purring and giving off pheromones like the fragrances that were once sprayed around the now-missing cosmetics lab. But Finn defined Hope's befuddlement as enticement and told Ridge as much!

Finn held his ground when Brooke also came over for verification, just for the opposite stance. Finn's lucky Brooke didn't come on to him, the way he was running around shirtless after surfing. Does this guy ever work? Instead of being a doctor, Finn insisted to Brooke that Hope had tried to play doctor. Hope had him pinned to the desk! How this guy passed medical school is beyond me.

Giving you the

Despite Finn delivering the lowdown on Hope's apparent hoedown, Ridge went back to work and instructed Katie to hold off on distributing the press release in question. Steffy was not happy and whined about the possibility of her poppy-pop wavering. It sounded to her like he was defending Hope and Brooke, heaven forfend. Somebody needs to get Steffy her binky and put her downstairs in daycare where she belongs.

At Hope's cabin, her phone dinged, signifying the arrival of said press release, which Steffy had asked Katie to send to Hope...as a courtesy? Like Steffy cares about being fair to Hope right now? I'm surprised Steffy didn't have the Goodyear blimp scroll the press release to all Los Angelenos in viewing distance. Well, that was enough for Hope. It was time to use the LLC contract to take over Forrester Creations!

But wait, did all that justify a coup? Carter and Hope agreed they had been disrespected; they just couldn't be sure such a drastic step was the solution. Until they were. Until they weren't. And this is the broken record that these supposed lovebirds got stuck in for the rest of the week. Maybe there's a reason they both got run roughshod over at Forrester. They can't stand by a decision!

Mind your own

Carter figured, before taking a step he wouldn't be able to come back from, that he would try one more time to get through to Ridge. Why? Carter's already done that twice and gotten absolutely nowhere. Did Mr. Walton actually think that the third time would be the charm? Once again in conference with Ridge and Steffy, Carter committed the biggest faux pasthat any soap schemer could ever possibly commit.

He said that, if Ridge didn't reinstate Hope and, by extension, Hope for the Future...well, Ridge and Steffy had no idea what the stakes would be if they didn't! For real! And, over the two-episode scene, Carter made no less than four allusions to his plan! Did you ever see Adam Carrington dropping such blatant hints about the chicanery he had up his sleeve? No! You didn't!

Carter was so obvious that Ridge finally had to ask what Carter was insinuating! Carter demanded that Ridge flat out override Steffy, but the COO should know that the father-daughter team are co-CEOs (even though Brooke was installed as such) and one can't veto the other. But it was game on when Steffy looked Carter in the eye and said that Hope Logan was a bitch.

Steffy girl, this is 2024. Is “bitch” the best you could come up with? Granted, that was the first time I heard Steffy call her rival and sometime blended family member that particular word, but that's so 1989. It might have been shocking then. Today, though? Yawn. However, it was enough for Carter to whip out his LLC papers and present them to Ridge and Steffy. But wait, Ridge said. Why was Carter's signature on it?

Again, I don't why Carter's cursiveness being there or not being there was important, but it just shows another flaw in Carter's attempt to double-deal. Why didn't he get Steffy and Ridge to sign a blank document, and then fill in his own name once he got back to Hope's cabin? And was Carter so misinformed about the form he himself drew up that he couldn't foresee Ridge throwing up this particular roadblock?

Luckily for Carter, Taylor breezed in. Our “world-renowned shrink” must have gotten medical leave to do her chakra healing, because she's never out treating patients. I will, yet, give it to Taylor for commenting to Finn about how Hope had fought for years to not follow in her mother's three-inch heels; Taylor labeled Hope's struggle “commendable”. It's too bad we don't actually know why Hope has gone down this uncharacteristic road, but that's because her car is plot-driven, not character-driven.

Taylor's appearance was enough for the doubting Ridge to decide that Carter's autograph also being on the LLC papers was cool, and Ridge signed right on the dotted line. Once Steffy's ink was also in evidence, Carter took off with his game-changing contract while Steffy and Ridge wondered why the hell Carter was so hot to stand up for Hope all the time.

You mean y'all don't know? Truly? I don't know how these guys didn't figure this conundrum out ages ago. Pretty much every business decision at Forrester Creations is influenced by hormones, and both Steffy and Ridge have made their share of these. Also, since Carter pretty much wants to get married as soon as he catches feelings (ask Maya, Zoe, Paris, and Quinn), I mean, Carter might as well have “I love Hope” tattooed on his forehead.

Let's get down to

Brooke went to see Hope, who must have compared notes with Carter, because Hope likewise dropped so many hints about something being afoot that Brooke wanted to know what was going on. Hope pivoted by talking about how, for once, she was with a man with enough strength and conviction to stand by her side. And you know, as rushed as Hope/Carter has been, it's kind of hard to argue with such an astute declaration.

I don't have to remind you about Liam's wishy-washiness, and even Wyatt still had to bend to his father's will. Then there's Thomas...the less said there, the better. Sure, he stood up for Hope, but ya know, that whole I-obsessed-over-you-and-let-you-believe-your-baby-was-dead-then-kissed-a-lookalike-mannequin thing. Hope observed that Carter didn't have as much baggage as her previous men. True. Thomas alone had enough to fill the cargo holds of ten 747s!

Brooke excused herself, and Carter came home with his fully signed LLC documents. It was going down now! Except Carter and Hope still didn't know if they should throw down this gauntlet. OMG, what wusses! My mother used to have a saying: s**t or get off the pot. Admittedly, hearing her utter it in her thick Dutch accent was hilarious. But heed my mama, you two. Either take control of Forrester with your contract or chuck it in the damn fireplace. Enough hemming and hawing!

And see, if Hope and Carter had simply run straight to California's company registrar or secretary of state (an LLC document still has to be filed and approved, which I just now learned so you don't have to) instead of farting around, Brooke wouldn't have shown up and overheard them back-and-forthing about it. At least this time snoopy Brooke didn't catch Ridge and Taylor twisted around each other like pretzels, but still.

Back at the office, Taylor told Ridge that she was continuing her sessions with Shandra; it's nice to see Taylor's broken heart syndrome isn't just instantly being cured. Talk came around to Brooke being pissed about Ridge giving her daughter walking papers, but Taylor assured Ridge that he and Brooke would work it out. Nothing could come between them. Which is soap code for something is definitely about to.

Indeed, Brooke stomped into the office and asked Taylor for some privacy, but it wasn't Ridge that Brooke was mad at. Brooke reported that she knew about the LLC, and Ridge wondered how. Yo, Brooke's still supposed to be co-CEO, so she should have been informed about it. Anyway, Brooke announced that there were not one, but two things Ridge didn't have on his FC bingo card.

The first? Hope and Carter were an item. Ridge rather took that bit of news/gossip in stride. But the second? Carter had played Ridge, and now Carter had full control of Forrester Creations! Dude! I can't believe Brooke did Hope like that. I guess I fully expected Brooke to argue for Hope 'til the end, even at the risk of her relationship with Ridge...you know, because Taylor's lurking around for no other reason.

So Brooke doing the opposite and going to Ridge was quite unexpected -- the second such plot twist this week, and both in the same episode at that. So much for Carter's takeover attempt! Brooke was actually wrong that Carter had wrested away control, because without filing his document, Carter has no more power at the design house than the janitor. Carter did it to himself by being so hesitant. Now what, sucka?

I'll tell you now what: Carter's gonna be out of a damn job. The only other option left here is for Carter to somehow open a competing fashion empire with Hope, but I admit I can't see how. Neither Carter nor Hope have that kind of money, and, while they could take Zende and RJ with them to design, their work was what made HFTF tank to begin with. Hey! If Brooke backed this new venture...! La Logan certainly has the clout, and that would drive a big ol' wedge between her and Ridge! Oh, Taylor? You might wanna hang out in those wings a little longer!

What would you tell us if we got up in your business, Scoopers? Did you expect Electra to be friendly with Remy considering all she said about getting away from her old life? Does Finn need to go back to his hospital and put in for a brain transplant? Did Carter and Hope screw themselves by being so wimpy about their Bill-type plan? And did Brooke do the right thing by going to Ridge with it instead of keeping it to herself? Sign herewith the documents located in the Soap Central message boards!

How are Carter and Hope going to “cope” now that Ridge knows about their romance and their takeover plan? I can only offer one piece of business advice: keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold!

(Purchase Adam-Michael James' books on Amazon at tinyurl.com/amjbewitchedbooks)