Credit: Howard Wise/JPI (4)
The return of R.J. Forrester was the talk of the town on this week’s episodes of Bold & Beautiful. And by “the town” I mean the Forrester Creations offices, in which we were locked for three solid days of non-stop hugging. Elsewhere, Carter majorly ticked me off, Sheila hosted a series of get-togethers and we finally saw the return of Bill’s fun side.
Family Matters
Remember last week, when the soap celebrated its 9,000th episode with a Steffy-centric episode that was described as being all about family? I can’t help thinking this Wednesday’s outing, which saw both sides of Ridge’s fractured clan come together for a selfie, did a better job of selling that concept.
If they’d thrown in a few flashbacks of Brooke and Taylor fighting over the years, as well as some of Steffy/Hope’s fights, and ended with Thorsten Kaye making one of Ridge’s “family comes above all” speeches, it would have worked beautifully. And it would have felt much more inclusive of the entire canvas than did the actual 9,000th episode.
Monday and Tuesday’s episodes bored me to tears, largely because they revolved entirely around R.J. without actually giving him (or anyone else in the scenes) anything interesting to do. Wednesday, on the other hand, actually had some lovely moments and beautifully set up how easily the young man’s return could upset the tentative peace that currently exists between the two sides of Ridge’s family. The more R.J. insists (and you know he’ll be doing it for weeks) that he “doesn’t want to get caught up in family drama,” the more you know it’s coming down the pike.
Help Wanted
What’s the over/under on how many weeks it will be until R.J. stops talking about “wanting to do his own thing” and takes a job at Forrester Creations so he and Thomas can butt heads? I’m going with three weeks.
In the meantime, in keeping with the rules long-ago established in our Soap Opera Drinking Game, chug every time someone mentions R.J. being an influencer or talks about the number of followers he has. Given that it was long ago established that Steffy is a huge social media presence, it would have been nice for her to lovingly mock R.J. as a relative newcomer to the game.
Let’s Cut To the Tape
I’m calling balderdash on that whole scene in which Carter tried to say that his relationship with Quinn was all about the sex. I watched Quinn and Carter’s love story. Like many other viewers, I was all-in on “Quarter.” To have him now saying that they were just sex while what he does with Katie is “making love” is annoying on numerous levels.
Look, soap opera characters fall in love all the time. They stand before God (and Carter) and vow to love, honor and cherish one another. They look into one another’s eyes and say there never was and never will be someone else. And then, a year or two later — or six months later, on Bold & Beautiful — they declare those same words to someone else.
But what’s important is that at the time they whisper those sweet nothings to one another, they believe it… and so do we. To turn around and later try to rewrite history is disrespectful to the audience, and I’m 100 percent not here for it.
More, More, More!
Probably my favorite moments of the week were those shared by Wyatt, Liam and Bill. Any combination of the Spencer men is pretty much guaranteed to be a good time. Bill’s back to his delusional, egomaniacal, grinning self. And the scenes in which Wyatt refused to let Liam eat because he’d missed the lunch meeting were hysterical.
Meanwhile, as a longtime Katie/Bill fan, it’s time for him to give up and move on. Yes, they were magical together… but I would never, ever be able to respect Katie if she were to go back to Bill after everything he’s pulled. And is it just me, or is the show trying to play that Bill and Katie were basically reuniting when he pushed her away to pursue Sheila? Because that ain’t how things went down.
Is There a Doctor In the (Big) House?
Up until the final moments of Friday’s episode, I assumed that Sheila’s visitor was going to be Finn. After all, she mentioned having put in a request to see her “primary physician” knowing that he would worry and come running. But then, the nutjob — informed her visitor had arrived — broke out the lipstick and perfume, which ain’t exactly the kind of thing you do when trying to play upon the sympathies of your son.
So who might her actual visitor be? Well, I’ve got two theories… one of which seems likely, the other of which is far-fetched but would be awesome. My dream scenario? Sheila summoned the one and only Dr. James Warwick — who is both a psychiatrist she could use in formatting a defense and her ex, making him susceptible to her charms. But it’s far more likely that it’ll turn out to be Finn’s dad, Jack. After all, Li and her son randomly mentioned both Jack and his affair with Sheila this week, and we all know Bold & Beautiful is not a show which does anything without reason.
More: Sheila’s visitor could also be…
Random Thoughts
• On The Young and the Restless, Lauren Fenmore is occasionally still seen feeling the impact of her long-ago torture at the hands of Sheila. (And shame on the Forrester clan for not even telling her the villainess is alive!) But Steffy and Finn, who were nearly killed and have two children to protect, don’t even lock their doors. Yes, Sheila is behind bars… but shouldn’t they be having at least enough PTSD to prevent people from being able to walk into their home?
• Mike helped Sheila escape… in what world would the prison allow them to hang out together?
• I loved the scenes in which Taylor and Thomas were joking about their ages. “If you’re old,” she said to her son, “I’m ancient!” That was the kind of real conversation every “grown” kid has had with their parents at some point.
• R.J. also had a really good line that could, if further explored, help flesh out the character. While talking to Thomas, R.J. admitted, “It’s hard to make a name for yourself when you share yours with someone as legendary as Ridge Forrester.”
Proving that love isn’t always enough, these soap couples — some incredibly popular — are actually pretty toxic. See if any of your faves made our list in the gallery below!
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