We’re Begging Bold & Beautiful *Not* to Go Where We All Know They’re Heading
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI (3)
This week,Bold & Beautiful kicked off February sweeps with a party which morphed into a wedding. Meanwhile, we started down another storyline path that, should it continue next week, is likely to upset a whole lot of fans for more than a few reasons.
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R.S.V.P.
I’m just going to say it: Eric throws a lousy party. I mean, dude, maybe if you took a little time to plan the events, guests would be given a little notice and be able to show up. And not for nothing, but nice as the Forrester living room is, it doesn’t exactly scream “special occasion.”
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It does, however, scream “wedding”… as did Donna’s white dress and the fact that Carter — the family’s unofficial officiant — was on the rather exclusive guest list. More than a few folks pointed out that there were more Logans than Forresters in attendance. And the excuses given for some of the absences were right up there with “I had to wash my hair.” Hayes being sick and Steffy not wanting to risk her still-receovering grandfather’s health made sense. But Thomas and Hope having some big Hope For the Future meeting? Yeah, no. And maybe someone could have called Bridget, who helped Finn save Eric’s life?
The Marrying Man
Everything about Eric’s proposal was perfect…and probably more than many realized. First, there was Eric asking Ridge to help him get down on one knee. This beautifully illustrated that Eric is not yet fully recovered, and that he has a long way to go. Then there was the face John McCook made when he said the line, “Will you marry your Honey Bear?”
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When I spoke to McCook a few weeks ago, he made it clear that both he and Jennifer Gareis (Donna) have been pleased to see the show take this pairing away from the “Honey Bear” days. Yes, it’ll always be part of their history and, knowing how this show is written, it’ll be one of those phrases we forever include in our Soap Opera Drinking Game. But the face McCook made was sort of a great way of acknowledging that Donna and Eric have become so much more than the “horny old goat” (as Stephanie always called him) and the bimbo mistress.
The Uninvited
If the Hope For the Future meeting was so important that Thomas had to miss his grandfather’s wedding, shouldn’t the fact that Zende wasn’t included push all his buttons? After all, that line is one he is supposedly heavily involved in. Shouldn’t he be at least as upset about being excluded from that as he’s been about not helping develop Eric’s line, which he was never a part of to begin with?
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But of course, Zende had to be at this party so that he and R.J. could put their differences aside — pretty much out of the blue — in order to take this story in a new direction. As Poppy realized her “special mints” were missing, Luna was downing them and champagne while Zende was repeatedly making it clear that if she ever “got bored” with her beau, he’d be happy to step in.
Next thing we knew, a stoned Luna was mistaking Zende for R.J. and beckoning him into the guest house bed. I’d love nothing more than to believe that Zende will realize exactly what’s going on and walk away. But this show loves nothing more than to repeat its own history, and we’ve seen pretty much this exact same scenario play out time (Ridge and the original Caroline) after time (Thomas and Caroline 2.0) after time (Taylor and Ridge).
Let’s just assume we’re going to have an awful lot to discuss next week.
Don’t Say the ‘D’ Word!
I was amused by Liam and Bill’s scenes, in which the son said that his dad wasn’t a “destiny, fate kinda guy” despite the fact that the guy’s been talking non-stop about the universe bringing Poppy back into his life for a reason. In fact, those were the very next words out of Liam’s mouth… and soon after, Bill was talking to Poppy about “cosmic forces” bringing them back together. And then there was Liam saying he’d never seen his dad so enamored with a woman. Sorry Katie! Apparently, they years Bill spent pining for you were nothing compared to him having had two or three dates with Poppy in recent weeks.
Topping things off, Bill then claimed he had “felt the same way about” Liam’s mom. So apparently, Bill — whom we’ve always been told was a love-’em-and-leave-’em guy — was actually falling head over heels with every woman he encountered, but never bothered to keep in touch with them. What next? Are they going to tell us he was also in love with Wyatt’s mom, despite us knowing theirs was an intensely sexual relationship fueled largely by mutual loathing?
This is such a blatant rewrite of Bill’s history it’s almost as bad as General Hospital morphing Nina — a woman who once literally ripped a child from another woman’s womb — into a relatively stable member of Port Charles society who is now BFF’s with that same woman!
Unlike the writers, we know that Bill’s entire history was that of a playboy who only felt love for the first time when he met sweet Katie Logan. Their entire story revolved around the fact that he tried to change his ways for her, but repeatedly failed. Now, suddenly, we’re not only erasing that years-long history but pretending that Bill has essentially fallen in love with every woman with whom he had a one-night stand!
Random Thoughts
• Why were Poppy and Luna getting all dolled up in the design office at Forrester? Couldn’t they have done that at home? Or, if they wanted to cut down on set useage, have Luna say that R.J. had given her a key to the beach house.
• Speaking of sets, I feel bad for Poppy. She’s dating one of the richest guys in town and yet they go nowhere but Il Giardino. I mean, yeah, the pizza gets great Yelp reviews, but the place also employs the woman who tried to kill Li, Steffy and Finn.
• Wouldn’t a rich family like the Forresters have a fleet of cars to drive their champagne-swilling guests home?
• I actually got weepy when Eric told Ridge, “When my time comes, and it will, I’m not afraid. I don’t want you to be afraid for me, understand? Make no mistake, I love this life. I want to live.” And what a lovely moment when, following his speech, Eric kissed his son on the cheek. It was a damn-near perfect moment.
Check out these gorgeous behind-the-scenes photos from Eric and Donna’s wedding!
