Bold & Beautiful Is About to Blow A Hope-Sized Hole in Finn and Steffy’s Marriage… With An Unexpected Assist

Is About to Blow A Hope-Sized Hole in Finn and Steffy’s Marriage… With An Unexpected Assist

When Sheila is — however briefly — the voice of reason, you know you’ve got trouble. But that was the case on this week’s episodes of Bold & Beautiful. Meanwhile, Taylor vanished as quickly as she’d appeared, and Luna’s secret was revealed. Oh, and it looks as if Thomas may have some unexpected competition! 

Are Finn and Hope Heading For A Romance?

Watching Hope and Finn bond this week reminded me that not all that long ago, we were speculating that this pair might find themselves drawn together. Now, as word begins to spread that her dad and his mom are involved, that seems more likely than ever.

Tea. It always starts with tea, the most deceptively innocent of all drinks.

Think about it: Obviously, Hope isn’t going to be thrilled with the notion of her dad dating Sheila. But given that Hope tends to see the best in people, it’s not hard to imagine her eventually coming around. Once Deacon gives a few of his patented “Hey, if I can change, anyone can” speeches, Hope will no doubt start thinking her pop is right.

To be clear, he’s not. Sheila is a wholde different beast. But that’s another story.

And if Hope decides to throw her support behind the idea of Deacon and Sheila forming some sort of warped relationship based entirely on the idea of them making one another better, it’s not hard to imagine Finn jumping on board. After all, we’ve been told repeatedly that he has some weird, inexplicable connection to his birth mother…

“Wouldn’t you be happier with Hope? She makes such a nice cup of tea… “

Seeing in Hope a much-needed cheerleader, Sheila will clearly do everything in her power to make sure Steffy never reunites with Finn. All of which means Steffy might wanna get her tush back to Los Angeles as soon as possible, because she’s in for the fight of her life!

Et Tu, Doc?

Some fans were bent out of shape when Finn told Hope she was “better than” Thomas… especially given that her current beau is the doctor’s brother-in-law. “Shouldn’t he,” they thought, “be siding with his wife, who says that Thomas is a changed man?” They pointed out that not all that long ago, Finn seemed to believe that as well.

“Admit it, Hope… having two people in love with you is a major turn-on!”

But people on this show are as likely to remember their own history as the writers are to let them discuss it. In any case, while I personally see zero chemistry between Hope and Finn, the idea of them becoming involved during Steffy’s absence is somewhat intriguing. And unlikely as it seems, wouldn’t we have said the same thing about her hooking up with Thomas a few months ago? Perhaps a Finn/Hope flirtation could be the next step in the ongoing story I like to call The Sexual Awakening of Miss Hope Logan. It would also be a cool reversal, given that Hope has spent the past year or so wanting someone who loves her and only her. What if she got that in Thomas… only to find herself drawn to Finn?

In any case, look for Hope to keep flashing back to Finn saying that Thomas isn’t the man for her about a billion more times in the weeks ahead as the show oh-so-subtly pushes in that direction.

Sheila Carter, Voice of Reason

While I don’t buy for a minute Deacon sacrificing everything to be with his favorite nine-toed psycho, it’s undeniable that the two of them have chemistry. I’m glad the show seems determined to plow forward with this story, if only because the last thing I want is weeks and weeks of Sheila and Deacon keeping their engagement secret while canoodling in his closet. At least taking them public — starting with Finn — will provide a whole lotta drama.

“You will never have to pay for pizza again.”

While Sheila eventually came around to the idea of marrying Finn, she at least had the foresight to think this wouldn’t be an easy road. She even tried rejecting the guy, listing all the reasons they wouldn’t work, before pushing those doubts aside and accepting his proposal.

Moving forward, I’d like very much love it if they stopped having Deacon say the word “crazy” and then catch himself. I mean, if you are aware that your lady is so insane that the word “crazy” could push her over the edge, maybe rethink the whole engagement thing. That and the “Daddy” thing can both go into a box marked “Do not open, ever, under any circumstances.”

What’s Up With Eric?

This week, poor Eric went from his hands trembling whenever he even thinks about picking up a pencil to him coughing up blood like Nicole Kidman in the final act of Moulin Rouge. I don’t really think the show would kill Eric… unless there’s more going on behind the scenes than we know. Remember, when Susan Flannery decided she was hanging up her acting hat, the writers crafted a lovely final storyline for Stephanie.

“I never saw the end of that movie, Honey Bear. I assume everything works out for Nicole Kidman and it ends with a big production number?”

So it’s not entirely inconceivable that a similar situation could be unfolding. But having spoken on several occasions to John McCook — who never imagined he’d be playing Eric all these years later — I just don’t believe he’s ready to follow in Flannery’s footsteps. Somebody needs to get Bridget on the phone, pronto, and let her pull a miracle cure out from beneath her Madame X veil.

Mama’s Back

Thrilled as I was to see Krista Allen return to the canvas, what was up with Taylor suddenly whipping up conspiracy theories about how Hope might be “using” Thomas? To what end? Long before Hope got re-involved with Thomas romantically, she’d already made it clear that he was the only person in the entire known universe who could design for her line.

“Mom, did it ever occur to you that I might want to be used by Hope?”

Taylor told Hope it wouldn’t be fair for Thomas to want a life with her if that wasn’t what she, too wanted. How hard would it have been for the guy’s mom to explain she knows exactly what that’s like thanks to the years she spent chasing after Ridge? Instead, it was left for Hope to spell things out to both Taylor and the audience.

“Do I take issue with the fact that Liam has feelings for two different women? That he’s in love with two different women?” she asked Taylor. “Yes, I do take issue with that, and I would hope that you could relate to that, given your history with Ridge.” Instead of processing the truth bomb that had been dropped on her, Taylor basically rolled her eyes at the younger woman.

Random Thoughts

• If Sheila and Deacon really do get married, I’m about as sure as I can be about one thing: It won’t take place in the Forrester living room! I assume they’ll do it at his restaurant, maybe roll out the uneaten cake from Carter and Zoe’s ill-fated ceremony.

“Did someone say ‘wedding?’”

• If there’s one thing that drives me crazy about this show — and truthfully, there are many — it’s that when the writers latch onto a phrase, they beat it to death. But usually, the phrase stays within one storyline, being uttered repeatedly by the characters within it. So I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Donna suddenly started pointing out that Eric was a “world renowned designer” in much the same way that Taylor is a “renowned psychiatrist.”

• Anybody else spend a ridiculous amount of time parsing Luna’s every word and trying to guess at who her mom might be? We were sorta surprised when by week’s end, we met Poppy and found out that she is Li’s sister. But the murky dialogue left me unclear as to exactly why Luna shouldn’t reconnect with Li and Finn. Hopefully, we’ll get more info next week…