Why so rigid, Ridge?

What has happened to Ridge? Normally, he's a go-with-the-flow type of guy. He's at least more amenable than Stephanie, who is as tough as nails when she thinks her way is the only way.

Did someone put salt in Ridge Forrester's coffee instead of sugar? You have to wonder because this past week saw the usually California cool Ridgester as rigid and uptight as a plank of wood. And, no, that was not a knock on Ronn Moss's acting style! Seriously, what has happened to Ridge? Normally, he's a go-with-the-flow type of guy. He's at least more amenable than mama Stephanie, who is as tough as nails when she thinks her way is the only way.

Perhaps this was a case of it being the last straw for Ridge? Maybe once he learned about the kiss on the plane, he just couldn't take it anymore. But since we all saw the kiss and know exactly how innocuous it was, Ridge's reaction is just extreme. The way Taylor couched it didn't help. She made Thomas kissing Brooke while she slept seem like a romantic tryst in the friendly skies! A mile-high moment between her baby boy and that evil seductress Brooke... Oy vey! Say it isn't so.

It isn't so! There, I said it. Taylor took a single kiss and turned it into something vile and dirty. She let her vivid and scurrilous imagination run wild and put the blame on Brooke. It didn't matter that Brooke was sleeping and completely inactive during the kiss; Brooke was still the cause of the kiss. Then, to make the incident seem more evil, Taylor amped up the volume by riling up Ridge. She told him that Brooke had dishonored Ridge and disrespected the institution of marriage by not telling him about the kiss. (By the way, does Taylor even remember that she took vows with Whip, her husband?)

Was Brooke really so wrong to keep her mouth shut? Yes, Brooke probably should have told Ridge, if only to protect herself from the criticism that she'd endure. However, Thomas begged her to keep it a secret. Thomas didn't want to risk his father overreacting to something that was "no big deal." Because Brooke agreed it was no big deal, she did as Thomas asked. She decided that for the sake of Thomas and Ridge's relationship, as well as Brooke and Ridge's relationship since the graduation party boink with Oliver, Brooke kept the kiss quiet. In her mind, it was the wise move. In Stephanie and Taylor's minds, it was proof that Brooke is really Satan!

Stephanie and Taylor misinterpreted Brooke's silence as guilt. I know there are many, many of you who are anti-Brooke (check the letters below!) and believe that the moral center of the show comes from Taylor and Stephanie. I don't agree. Taylor has done nearly as many inappropriate things as Brooke, so who is she to cast stones? Taylor has seemingly forgotten everything she's learned as a therapist. She brings no critical judgment to her thinking. Thomas told her that he instigated the kiss, that he was curious about the so-call spell cast by Brooke over men. Despite that information, Taylor chose to respond with pure emotion and hatred. She blamed Brooke and absolved Thomas. Would you take advice from a psychiatrist with that kind of muddled thinking?

As much as I'm down on Taylor, I'm more upset with Stephanie. I believed that Stephanie had turned the corner when it came to Brooke. It appeared that she'd come to accept Brooke for the woman she is today, her good points and bad. Brooke is a flawed woman, but she's not without her positive qualities.

Brooke has made many mistakes in her time -- as have Taylor and Stephanie -- but she's also done a lot of good things, too. I thought Stephanie understood that, but this "kiss on the plane" changed her viewpoint to the extent that she's forgotten how good Brooke had been to her during her first weeks as a cancer patient and their time on the streets. Stephanie allowed all of Taylor's ranting and raving to influence her updated opinion of Brooke. Stephanie turned back the clock emotionally and saw Brooke as the "slut from the valley" again. It was as if all the years of growth and evolving in their relationship had never happened.

Still, when you add it all up, it was Ridge's reaction that was completely goofy. You don't pull the plug on the most successful line your fashion company has produced in years because of a kiss. You don't issue a memo to stop the sewing machines when your company is still operating in the red. You don't punish your son by making a multi-million dollar business decision that could result in bankruptcy. Ridge may be a helluva fashion designer, but he's not much of a CEO. You don't throw money out the window just because your kid acted rashly.

There were other options for Ridge. He could have taken Brooke off the Taboo line for starters. If he'd asked Brooke her advice, she might have agreed to shift her focus to something else so that Thomas could continue with Taboo. You know, even though Forrester Creations is all about Taboo right now, it's not the company's only product line. Brooke's talents would be useful on Hope for the Future, wouldn't they? What about the Brooke's Bedroom line? Maybe she could go back in the lab and create another fabric treatment like BeLief? What about Steffy uniting with Thomas on promoting Taboo in place of Brooke? There were options, people!

Which reminds me -- Steffy is the head of PR, right? So then why was she missing-in-action when Thomas hosted the press conference? There's no way Steffy should not have been there to oversee the meeting with the media. There was also no way that Madison would have risked her job with Forrester Creations by not issuing the CEO's memo. That does not happen in real business.

By the way, there's one more "it would never happen" about the press conference. There's no way that Ridge, Taylor, and Stephanie wouldn't have known about the press conference taking place in the building. The place isn't the Pentagon, for goodness sake! It's not that big. Someone would have run upstairs with a question, don't you think? Thomas didn't ask anybody but Madison and Brooke to keep quiet. That was a big leap of faith in storytelling if you ask me.

It's interesting that Thomas pointed out to Ridge that he's just like his father. Ridge was a scamp when he was younger. He did wild and outrageous things, but was always forgiven. Remember when he snuck into bed with Caroline and pretended to be Thorne? That was eons ago, but I remember it. So if Thomas is like Ridge, could that be why Ridge is so critical of his son? Maybe he doesn't like what he's been seeing because he did the same kind of crap?

Finally, I was glad to see Thomas talking with Dayzee about his situation with Ridge. Their relationship has to evolve if we're going to believe them as a romance. She's down-to-earth and realistic, the perfect counterpoint to his high-flying ambition. However, it's really intriguing that the scuttlebutt in the business is that Thomas will turn out to be gay.

If they do go in that direction, you have to wonder about his attraction to Dayzee. Maybe he likes Dayzee as a friend and an inspiration, but he's not sexually attracted to her? Of course, we haven't seen Thomas turned on by anyone. Even his fascination with Brooke was more of a crush, and while he was supposedly with Summer and Madison, he didn't seem into it. Could Thomas be dating women because it's what he thinks is expected of him as a Forrester? What would happen if a guy showed up at the L.A. offices and it's revealed that he was Thomas' lover in Paris? Maybe while at International, Tom had a boyfriend? Even if the show plays it off as Thomas just experimenting, it would shock the family.

Would they ask him to stay in the closet rather than publicize that he was gay? Would the Forrester men be embarrassed that one of their own isn't heterosexual? Perhaps someone in the clan would turn out to be enlightened enough to support Thomas and accept that his sexuality isn't a choice but the way he was born. Anyway you look at it, this would be a storyline that could be the boldest ever on the soap. Can't wait to see how Brad Bell handles this one!

Well, in the meantime, here are some letters from the readers!

• Just when I thought they've made progress the BB writers do it again. Recycled story lines. Taylor needs to get a life. Her rampage on Brooke to Stephanie was ridiculous and it appears from the spoilers that Stephanie will go back to hating her and slapping her. I've been hoping to hang in there and see if they would move on to more exciting stories, but I just don't how much more I can stand of the same old thing. -- W.

• The writers want to start the Bill/Katie/Steffy triangle, so they decide to turn Bill into an idiot. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Bill is supposed to be. Noticed I said supposed to be. Bill tells a woman he knows to be a vindictive blackmailer that he wants to kill someone. Are we supposed to be [so] dumb that this makes sense? Why is Bill turned into an idiot every time the powers that be try and put Bill with Steffy? It makes no sense that he would tell a woman who has already blackmail[ed] him such info, especial with a loving understanding wife like Katie. -- Moe

• Taylor is acting like a raving maniac; she needs to go back to the prim proper submissive Dr. Taylor Hayes. Brooke, on the other hand, I guess when your pushing 50 you really do need to stop acting the whore. If she was still in her 30's she would be all over Thomas. Nobody has forgotten at the core, she has slept with every man on the show, she flirts with Thomas, touches him inappropriately, says inappropriate things to him...then plays dumb and shocked that he's getting turned on... It really is her life story....seduce, steal and shed a few of those fake tears and Ridge acts like she is brain dead. No, Ridge she's not brain dead; she wants to sleep with every guy she meets. She has never respected any marriage, not her friends', her own daughter's nor her own. Nothing's changed. Ridge has just tired of fighting it. I love Bill and Steffy...wow...hot, hot, hot! Katie is not for him. There's another one for you...she sleeps [with] and steal her niece's husband, then acts indignant that somebody is doing it to her? -- Chris

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