No hope for the future: The Bold and the Beautiful Two Scoops for the week of October 28, 2024

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did your resting bitch face extend to the rest of your body? Did you make decisions as co-CEO, forgetting you weren't co-CEO? Did the final rose fall off your long-dead rosebush? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Finnegan-Walton clan this week!

Spring forward, fall back, Scoopers! That seems to be what B&B is doing, bringing in some new concepts while backtracking and forgetting their own history – even recent history. And, aside from Sheila's Halloween silliness, it all centered around the survival or not-survival of Hope for the Future and Carter's sudden idea to Warren Buffett Forrester Creations. Ready to invest? Let's Scoop about it!

Springs eternal

Because not a single door in the Forrester Creations complex has a lock on it, and because nobody who works there gets horny unless they're on the clock, Brooke walked in on a half-naked Carter and Hope because, of course, she did. Brooke was understandably shocked, but she shocked me by asking, “What about Katie?” What about her?

Carter and Katie have been over for months. And months. You mean to tell me, in all that time, given how close-knit the Logan sisters are and how much they love to kibitz, neither Brooke nor Donna knew that Katie and Carter had friend-zoned each other? That doesn't seem right, and it made Brooke's outrage seem particularly faux. Besides, Brooke should be more worried about the freak-flag-flying Hope.

Since July 2023 alone, the usually steadfast Hope has lusted her way through Thomas, Finn, and now Carter. Taylor, pro-Steffy as she is, suggested that Hope was spiraling, and I feel like there's merit there. For Hope to do this much of a one-eighty, something is clearly driving it, and I wish B&B would explore it. Did Hope have a mental break? Did her continuous migraines have an effect on her behavior?

I posited months ago that Hope could be acting from the trauma she surely experienced the years Thomas gaslit her and stalked her; it would certainly explain the makeshift Stockholm Syndrome of Hope falling in love with her one-time tormentor. This would be a perfect explanation for Hope's actions of late. How much richer would this arc be if the show just dug even a little bit?

We also need to discuss all the fuss over Forrester's Hope for the Future line. It's doing great! It's fully sucking. It's making money hand over fist! It's losing money faster than someone obsessed with a Vegas slot machine. Frankly, Hope for the Future lost the thread of its own message years ago. We certainly heard about it enough when Hope created the line in 2010.

Back then, Hope was a virgin, and she worked themes of purity into the collection. Plus, the whole selling point was sustainable fabrics, not to mention goodness and light. If Hope hadn't outgrown all that lily-whiteness two summers ago, she definitely has by now. Does HFTF even have a message anymore? Personally, this line has long outlived its usefulness, especially as a plot device. It's boring.

Hold out

I have to admit that it's different — for this show, anyway — that we've had Carter coming up with the idea of creating a Forrester Creations umbrella and acquiring undervalued fashion houses to bring under that umbrella. Then there's the part about having shareholders and investment firms involved. Beats hell out of everyone fighting over who's going to be CEO every couple of years.

But Ridge, Steffy, and Eric are right that Forrester is, for all its strengths and weaknesses, a family company. Hell, they didn't even have Brooke sign a contract when she created the BeLieF formula in 1991 (of course, that lack of documentation is what allowed Brooke to grab 51% of the stock and become CEO for a decade in real-time). And...shall we address Brooke while we're at it?

There have been all kinds of business discussions of late, about Carter's mergers and acquisitions proposal, about Ivy resurrecting the jewelry line, and hey – that's cool. Forrester's a business. One problem. Brooke is co-CEO! Everyone is acting like Ridge is still sharing CEO duties with Steffy and that he didn't just turn over those reins to Brooke a few months ago.

Brooke isn't even sitting in on these meetings! Wouldn't it create a lot more drama and conflict for Brooke to feel torn between supporting Carter's idea because Hope believes in it and wanting to kill it because she agrees with Ridge about keeping things in the family (which these people do so well!)? Instead, we're pretending Brooke never received that promotion. Hey, B&B, if you need someone to keep track of your own storylines, I'm right here.

Taylor was more involved in these proceedings, and she doesn't even work there. For the record, Taylor saw Grace again off-screen, and I guess Taylor's Broken Heart Syndrome is all better now after one good cry and getting to pretzel cuddle with Ridge. It's not that I wanted Taylor to die — not even for real this time — but what a cop-out, changing her heart failure to a psychosomatic condition that she got over after a single non-medical treatment.

I would have had tons of sympathy for Taylor if she'd had actual heart failure, especially if the show had traced its cause to Taylor being shot through the heart (and you're to blame) back in 2002. Her heart muscle sustained a major injury. Man, what a heavyweight story that could have been. Nope, Taylor's just still boo-hoo over Ridge, even though their last official marriage ended 22 years ago.

I'm sorry, but it makes Taylor look extremely weak, and as much of a powerhouse as Rebecca Budig was on Guiding Light and One Life to Live, her take on this role adds to Taylor's simpiness. For soap's sake, Taylor — get over it. You ruined a perfectly good marriage with Whip in 2011, and two years ago, you had simmering chemistry with Deacon. But you're still mooning over Ridge after decades. Physician, heal thyself.

Hoping against

Steffy was mad (not that she isn't mad all the time; shall we rename this fussbudget Lucy Van Pelt?) that Carter had ambushed her with Ivy and Ivy's mystery niece whom everyone in the family knew, Electra. Granted, Steffy has a super volatile past with Ivy, outside of them sniping over Liam: Ivy blackmailed Steffy with a video of Steffy accidentally killing Aly, and Steffy caused Ivy to be electra-cuted. (See what I did there?)

Even if Carter wasn't up on or kinda forgot about the Steffy/Ivy history, I can understand why Steffy would be annoyed to be put on the spot about bringing Ivy back onto the payroll. But can I just say I am bitterly disappointed that B&B not only ignored its own family tree, but sprouted a new branch just to make Electra happen? All right, Electra is Ivy's niece, fine. So that means Electra's mom has to be Ivy's sibling.

Ooh! Ooh! One sibling, coming up! Twenty years before we even knew there was an Ivy Forrester, there was a Jessica Forrester, whose daddy was, surprise! – Eric's brother. Over the years, this bro got a name, John, and we met him in 2014, not long after Ivy showed up. Ivy's mom was named Claire, and Jessica's mom was named Maggie, but Ivy and Jessica are still sisters! Alas, we never saw them together. Ever.

Even though anyone who started watching after 1996 wouldn't know who Jessica was, B&B gave itself a chance to remind us about her when Ivy made her recent comeback. Jessica was 17 in 1994, meaning, even in real-time, she would be old enough to have a daughter Electra's age, albeit just barely. Did we mine this history and deepen Ivy's roots by at least implying her connection to Jessica through both John and Electra?

Nah! Though the show acknowledged John and his death (prompted by portrayer Fred Willard's own passing in 2020), they skipped Jessica and invented a new sibling for both her and Ivy, a John Forrester, Jr. Why? Jessica was right there! Even if we weren't going to bring original actor Maitland Ward back to play her, there was no need to create another off-screen relative we'd likely never meet. Did I mention “bitterly disappointed”? I did? Well, I'm mentioning it again.

But back to Lucy Van Pelt – er, I mean, Steffy Forrester. This week, Carter said Steffy needed to get over herself, and if I could be bothered to get up off the couch, I'd have risen to my feet and cheered. I am so sick of Steffy being bitchy, nasty, and controlling. Yes, her namesake, Gangsta Granny, was all those things, especially in her later years. Unfortunately, Steffy is stuck in this mode when she absolutely shouldn't be.

This year alone, Steffy killed someone (yes, in self-defense, even if it was Sugar and not Sheila), and barely two months ago, she fainted from malnutrition and dehydration from being locked in a cage that just happened to be standing in a building that was about to be demolished. These are both psyche-shifting experiences. Did Steffy feel humbled at all, or realize that being lucky to be alive gave her a chance to make changes in her life?

No más. Steffy pretty much returned to battleaxe status before Finn even finished breaking her out of Luna's prison. I like that Steffy is feisty, sassy, and strong. I like Jacqueline MacInnes Wood's portrayal of her. But Steffy is constantly annoyed, and all she does is tell people what to do; even Finn is totally whipped. It's off-putting and depicts Steffy as completely one-dimensional. I'm so, so over it.

Well, I guess we knew it was coming; Steffy repeatedly said she'd cut Hope for the Future if she ever saw Hope near Finn again. Carter was right that Steffy shouldn't have been using her position as co-CEO to punish and threaten Hope, but I digress. And it's true that Hope couldn't have known Finn was on his way over. But what possessed Hope to throw on a nightie with the expectation that Carter would be the next one to enter the design office?

Again, Forrester Creations is a workplace. I know there are only so many sets, and these folks have been boinking on the job going on four decades, but dude, the place is an HR nightmare. Hope, at least go to the steam room like your mama always did! Then there's Finn, who came looking to bring Steffy her errant tablet in said design office...instead of the CEO office where Steffy actually works.

Ask your doctor about new once-a-day Contrivance! That was a spectacular reach, aligning all those stars so Steffy would catch a lingerie-clad Hope with Finn. Yeah, it was inevitable, and at this point, doing away with HFTF is a mercy killing, as I said. Still, you'd think instead of babbling, Hope would have come up with better excuses. It must have been that important to keep this insta-relationship with Carter a secret.

Dash your

Okay. It was kind of cute to have Sheila going all out for Halloween – even though she never exhibited an interest in the holiday until she first got involved with Deacon in 2021. I will certainly concede that Deacon is so hot it's spooky. But really, Sheila? Toe cookies again? That was fun at the Sheacon wedding, but if we're not careful, toe cookies are going to be the new lemon bars. And nobody needs sugar that badly.

For Carter's part, when Brooke nearly caught him with his pants down, he joined Hope in asking Brooke not to say anything to anybody. Cope (Harter?) needed to be kept secret. That didn't stop Carter from going down to Il Giardino and waxing poetic about Hope to, oh, you know, Hope's father. Carter pretty much gave himself away before his pizza order reached the kitchen. But then, Carter has never been able to slow his roll with women, so at least that's consistent.

Over at Forrester, Steffy was making the current object of Carter's affections do a walk of shame past models having a birthday party while being escorted out of the building by Charlie. Was that level of cruelty necessary? And I thought the threat was simply to cancel HFTF...when did purging Forrester of Hope completely become part of that? Incidentally, you got it wrong, Steffy. Hope can't be “just another slut from the Valley.” Hope was born in Beverly Hills – like you were, missy.

Ridge went from having Steffy put words in his mouth (“I spoke to my father, and he agrees!”) to concurring that Hope needed to go. But again...Ridge is no longer co-CEO. If Steffy needed to coordinate with anyone about this decision, it had to be with Brooke, the actual co-CEO. Yet Brooke was nowhere to be seen! Couldn't she hear Hope's on-her-way-out protests from whatever office she was in?

“I am a Logan!” Hope shouted back at Steffy. “Proud to be a Logan, and that is something even your beloved grandmother Stephanie accepted in the end.” In your face, Steffy! Not that Steffy needed to be reminded what her grandmother's name was, but what's a little exposition between rivals. And dare I say it, at least the Logans are a legit clan.

Because for all Steffy's roaring about being a Forrester...she ain't one! Yeah, I'm beating that dead horse again. But it's true. Steffy, and by extension, Phoebe, Thomas, and Ridge, were all outed as Marones around the same time Morgan made Toddler Steffy wear a red wig and call herself Stacy. Every time Steffy lords the Forrester name over anyone (and everyone), I just wanna 23andMe her ass. Ivy is more a Forrester than Steffy ever will be.

Well, just when I thought the only eatery in Los Angeles was Il Giardino, Eric met Carter at a heretofore unknown café to talk about Carter's proposal to restructure Forrester into some sort of “luxury brand.” (Isn't FC already a luxury brand? They have fashion shows, boutiques, and websites...) It was an unusual step to have them gather in a place that's not the office since all B&B conversations happen there, but it was a refreshing step nonetheless.

Eric didn't mince words. He found the whole presentation alarming. His word. Even if Eric and the others wanted to go the route of assimilating lesser fashion houses and taking on stockholders outside the family, Forrester would have to take out sizable loans to buy all these companies — plus, with outsiders to be responsible to, they would have to give up the control they've had ever since the company started.

Again, I think it's interesting that this angle was written into this storyline, even if I have a hard time accepting that Carter has spent years developing it. But Carter had to know no one was going to go for it. He's been there since 2013, and he knows how these people are. And if Carter came up with all this just so he could keep HFTF afloat and get Hope into bed...well, that's a lame reason to concoct such a huge business proposal.

Not surprisingly, Eric didn't want to transition the privately owned company into some sort of conglomerate, but before Carter could respond, he got a text and peaced out. When he drove up to Forrester, Hope was waiting outside, crying about how she had been booted (at least Steffy didn't have you carried out in a garbage can like Stephanie did to Brooke!).

Carter didn't like it. No sir. Pulling Hope into a hug, he stared at the building and vowed, “You're not getting away with this.” Such bravado! But just who was Carter directing that directive to? Steffy would be the assumed recipient, but could he also have been referring to Forrester in general since Eric just put the kibosh on his big reorganization plans?

Where do you think this is going, Scoopers? Will Carter take Hope and start up his own fashion house to compete with Forrester, as many are speculating will happen? Would you want to see Forrester finally have a competitor again? Is Steffy's never-ending supply of venom getting old? Did the show lose its nerve by giving Taylor a quick cure to a psychological ailment instead of sticking to the heart failure story? Would you have liked to see newbie Electra tied to a long-ago Forrester instead of another newbie? And do you think something deeper has been happening to motivate Hope's uncharacteristic behavior than we've been told? Dish about every last bit of it on the Soap Central message boards!

I can't exactly figure out what's happening on our soap right now or why, but I do know that Luna is going to make an appearance next week. Who saw that coming, with the angelic intern turned psycho cooling out in prison? We're on the Carter train now, and we have to see where all this is going, so keep watching, be alert, and, most of all, be bold!

(For Adam-Michael James' books on Amazon, visit tinyurl.com/amjbewitchedbooks)