A few months ago, I told the world how weird I thought it was that B&B never directly addressed Sally's status as a character in the months following Darlene Conley's passing. She may as well have been one of the original 4 who started this show as she had been a great foil for the Forrester almost from the beginning. Now this week we get to see a fleeting glance of CJ signing over the company to Jackie after it had been given back to Sally through some kind of 'default'. Uh...ok. Clarke (who also gets dusted off for a few lines) gets Jackie and Nick to commit to buying the whole abandoned mausoleum for a bargain price in hopes of, yes-here it is, sticking it to the Forresters again. Here's my thing...this crazy story of Sally living it up in St.Tropez (or whatever tropical destination they named) and just not caring about the business seemed to be kind of cheap. Here's how I would have handled it...
We all know that since your cannot have the original actress come in to tape a death scene in this case, the next best thing for long-time fans of Sally's would have been to have her 'die off-screen'. How do we do this? Well...Sally was on her way back from Europe scouting new financing and designing talent to start a new company when her plane goes down over the Atlantic. You do not have to have a casket scene, CJ can still come back to deliver her eulogy, and Stephanie can throw back a shot of bourbon in Sally's old office chair and have a tearful montage of all their back-and-forth battles over the years. Stephanie glances over at the 'Sally Says Recycle' poster and says her goodbyes. It works and it doesn't disrespect the memory of a great acting talent or insult the viewers who have watched Sally from the beginning. But as with many character disappearances, etc., Brad has bungled this one too and made it some cheap afterthought that really only serves the purpose of giving Jackie something to do now that Donna is making her run through the Forrester beds.
And does anyone else think that now, with Sally 'explained away' like this, that the writers are looking to make Jackie the new 'Sally'? Her flashy and flamboyant ways will now translate into crazy and over the top fashion shows, media and the like. Her press conference will be done in a tub? Are you kidding me? Geez...she fell far, huh? I always liked Jackie...I thought she had class and an air of sophistication that Stephanie had lost along the way but another Sally she is not. Sally was unphased by the accusations of design-stealing and had no skeletons in her closet. Her character was wild, a little sleazy, and no BS. Jackie running Spectra? I don't know...I'm not sold on it as a 'must see' storyline.
And did I hear Clarke right? They are going to let 'Eric design for them'? Ugh...more design stealing. Leave off a button here, take off a stitch there and it's enough not to get sued. See? Another case of Brad letting a Xerox machine do the writing for him. A hot young stud designer is what's needed. Does anyone remember when Tony came to town and lit the entire LA fashion scene on fire? Eric was trying to woo him to the other side because his designs were cutting edge and fresh. But now we are just playing copy-cat because Eric picked Donna to sleaze around with and we need to get revenge somehow. Wake me when it's over.
Meanwhile, back at Inept Memorial Hospital, Taylor really dug into Bridget over the scrambled egg debacle. You know...if it were me (and trust me when I say that I would never seek out ANY medical procedures having to do with kids in this town!) I would probably have been just as upset. I mean, come on...how do you not take extraordinary steps to make sure you have the right dish to work with? Maybe Bridget was too busy thinking about how she doesn't have a man or that she has no life, for that matter. Maybe she's just not that good of a doctor? After all, it's not like we ever saw her doing any doctor stuff anyway or attending any classes to be a doctor. Maybe her degree is from one of those online colleges? All you need is an email address and Paypal to be a doctor!
And with all the Taylor-hating out there, how could anyone think that she deserves this? Her character needs a break here, people! Taylor and Nick make a good couple (not great, but good) and now they have the constant spectre of Brooke lurking over their shoulders trying not to care about this baby that shares her DNA? Too much! We all know it's only a matter of time before the baby has another crisis and it will pull Nick and Brooke closer. Taylor will be, once again, odd man out and maybe the 'Tridge' fans will get their wish. Ridge and Taylor will be there to console each other over their spouses falling for each other AGAIN. It's just a vicious cycle...Taylor-Nick, Brooke-Ridge, Brooke-Nick, Ridge-Taylor....ad nauseum. With this kind of schizophrenic writing, it's a wonder anyone is still watching every day.
Ok, I know I am doing this after Halloween (and I hope everyone had a fun and safe one at that! I walked around with Spiderman, so I knew I was safe!) but here is the annual B&B Tricks & Treats for last week....
TRICKS: Felicia's outfits lately (looking like the Forrester Dominatrix!)...Stephanie's gaudy broaches are so distracting they could be used for road construction instead of traffic cones...Brooke's light-speed sexual anxiety recovery with Ridge (that didn't take long, did it?)...Jackie putting her hand through the wall at Spectra accidentally (and what was the purpose of that again?)...Clarke's cheesy lines he says...Ridge being such a classless pig when Ashley came home (couldn't he have waiting to party with Mattress-Back until AFTER he broke off the engagement? Sick...)...Brooke's Freudian slip calling Jack her son (ouch!)...Ridge acting like a spoiled 6 year old that doesn't want to share his toys at the playground (it's not like Brooke asked to be the mom! Get over it already!)...
TREATS: Ashley's handling of the break-up (class and dignity... she has come a long way from her Victor Newman obsession)...any scene with Thorne and Katie...the acting of KKL and Hunter Tylo during their scenes dealing with the scrambled egg fallout...Nick's handling of Taylor's fragile state (he seems to really love her)...Eric's cold-as-ice demeanour with Queenie (oh well...what goes around comes around) and the wondrous appearance of his SPINE...another bitch-slap for a Logan woman...Brooke saving her blood for Jack and signing her rights away (yes... I thought this was something to cheer about and showed that she can be mature and selfless when she tries hard enough)...
This week's question: Who is the more appealing couple to watch, Ridge & Taylor or Brooke & Nick? I know they are not coupled this way NOW, but the handwriting is on the wall, people!
The Soap Box
Barbara asks:'...regarding Kristine's B&B Two Scoops Commentary, I'm sure she must receive a lot of comments regarding the show from her fans who read the column. Would it be possible, like Y&R Two Scoops, to include some of the fans comments in her column. I'm sure it would be interesting reading and great to see how some of the other fans feel about the show. Thanks.' Uh...that's what the Soapbox is here for.
Roxy says: 'I think it is disgusting about Ridge and Brooke, he promised to marry Ashley and now he is going back to Brooke. First of all I don't like to way Brooke is always telling other women that Ridge belongs to her. Ridge made Ashley look like a real fool, especially after bad mouthing Rick, and telling her how much he really loved her and Brooke could never come between them. Well, looks like Rick was right about him and Brooke. I have stopped watching this show, everything always comes back to Ridge and Brooke. I'm sick and tired of the break-up and make-up between these two.'
PennyB writes: 'Nice column this week, I always enjoy reading it (don't always agree, but enjoy!)
I have noticed that the Taylor hate has really dropped off the boards in deference to the real life tragedy for Hunter Tylo. It is always reassuring to see that most people CAN separate real life from soaps!' Amen sister!!!
Have a great week!!!
