This week, Scoopers needed an antacid to help digest the fact that they got robbed of the show's Thanksgiving tradition. Characters talked up the holiday, but the show failed to deliver the person-to-the-right love that the feast has been known for. We don't even know where the families spent the holiday and who scowled at whom as they passed the peas.
If you stomached the holiday robbery, you definitely needed something to coat, soothe, and relieve in the aftermath of the smoke Wyatt blew up Sally's chimney for her Liam misnomer. Once again, Sally's minor slip-up threatens her future with Wyatt, who had the nerve to accuse Sally of wanting his brother while he still pines for Flo.
Maybe you need a neck brace, not an antacid, to cope with all the whiplash Ridge is swirling up in his marriage and his "friendship" with Shauna. One day, Ridge doesn't know who Brooke is -- the next day, Ridge can't live without his Logan. Quinn is stoked to see a romance between Shauna and Ridge, but it would serve Ridge and Quinn right if Eric became the "friend" to Brooke that Shauna has been to Ridge.
I'm still not sure why the Thomas and Hope fallout caused grave issues between Ridge and Brooke but not between Hope and Liam. Perhaps it's because Brooke doesn't have the very same sense that she raised Hope with. Hope is smart enough to play along with Thomas to get what she wants. Why can't Brooke also "get along to get along" for her marriage's sake?
Let's get two scoops deep into why Wyatt is the worst fiancé on the planet for gaslighting Sally into thinking she has cold feet when he suffers freezer burn due to his feelings for Flo. We'll ponder why Hope fails to see that Thomas is up to his old tricks of manipulating her with Douglas. We'll scoop about how Brooke should play the forgiveness game to her advantage to save her marriage and get Ridge to see the true Thomas.
We've all done it, right? Called someone by someone else's name? But how many of us have called our partner by an ex's name or heard our partner call us by the wrong name?
As someone who has been on both sides of this awkward and relationship-damaging faux pas, I can attest to the fact that it doesn't feel good to be Sally, the one calling her lover by someone else's name, or to be Wyatt, the one who must live with being called the other name and the one who wonders what was really behind the slip of the tongue.
Wyatt wasn't having it when Sally called him Liam's name in an awkward on-screen moment. When I heard her say it, I thought the actress had flubbed her line. Wyatt expressed the same disconcerting feeling I had, but while Wyatt gave weight to the misnomer, I remained confused by why Sally was even thinking about Liam.
I forgot that Sally once had a crush on Liam a few years back. In case you forgot, too -- Liam sided with Sally against his father when Bill wanted to build "Sky" on the Spectra lot. Bill wound up demolishing Spectra with Liam and Sally still inside. Sally told Liam about her feelings for him and kissed him, but Liam didn't have feelings for Sally.
Liam's honesty with his wife about the kiss led to the one-night stand between Bill and Steffy. Hope arrived in town while Liam was living in a hotel, estranged from Steffy. Hope and Sally had a conversation about Liam, but Sally faded out as a contender for Liam's affections.
It's understandable that Wyatt would not want to compete with his brother for another woman. Every woman they competed for eventually bailed on Wyatt because of their feelings for Liam. However, Sally never slept with Liam or had a romantic relationship with him, which makes Wyatt's insistence that Sally has subconscious feelings for Liam seem contrived.
What's more likely is that Wyatt has cold feet about his engagement due to his feelings for his childhood sweetheart, Flo. I'd warn Wyatt to be careful about trying to get back together with his childhood sweetheart. As Quinn told Shauna this week, marrying one's childhood sweetheart is disastrous. Yeah, Quinn said that, and judging from Wyatt and Flo's last attempt, Quinn might be right.
Here is what some of you on our Soap Central message board think about Wyatt and Sally's name faux pas this week:
"I didn't think Sally committed some horrible act and I in no way think she has Liam on her brain. She wants to be with Wyatt but obviously, he is missing Flo... why, I have no idea, but it looks like we'll be watching more of her one-note acting again soon. Liam was giving him grief about not buying a ring yet but I don't see it happening at all" -- Tnc
"Wyatt is making excuses not to get a ring for Sally. Sally is not. Wyatt rather be with the worst person than Sally. Sally wants to marry Wyatt but she's not an idiot and probably realizes she deserves better than how Wyatt treated her before" -- Chabby lover
"I just find it weird that Liam is even asking questions about a ring when Hope's not wearing one either. I know self-awareness isn't a thing with Liam, but WOW. Should I take that to mean that he doesn't actively plan on marrying Hope again or...............? And it is super weird that Wyatt hadn't gotten a ring for a woman whom he's asked to marry him. Dead weird;" -- SoapsBurn
SoapsBurn makes a good observation. Liam hasn't proposed to Hope, either, let alone gotten her a ring. Wyatt's reluctance to get a ring for Sally should have sparked a conversation about when Liam would marry Hope again. One would think that Bill would be equally concerned about Liam marrying Hope and taking care of the Spencer children.
In fact, one would think Bill would be more interested in his own wedding to Katie than to either of his sons' relationships. All three Spencer men claim to be ready to settle down, but why have none of them married the women in their lives?
What do you think was behind Wyatt's insecurity about Sally's feelings for Liam? Should Sally make it work with Wyatt, "even if it kills" her, or should she not bother with a man who tried to make her feel guilty for wondering why he hasn't gotten her a ring?
We suspect why Wyatt won't buy Sally a ring, but what is the holdup with Liam and Hope? Hope and Liam's reluctance to plan another wedding could stem from the writers' eagerness to explore Thomas and Hope's demented relationship even deeper. The idea that Hope and Thomas could be a "thing" horrifies me, but the writers seem to be intent upon striking romantic triangle gold with Liam, Hope, and Thomas.
The triangle appears meant to be -- even if it kills viewership. The primary problem I have with it is that it suffers from redundancy. Each day, the characters have a long talk based on a short, repetitive script. Thomas uses Douglas to sway Hope as Liam frets in ignorance because Hope won't be straight with him -- been there, done that already with these three, and it wasn't fun in the first go-round.
Thomas and Hope's relationship is becoming like that of the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, complete with Thomas the coyote living through hyperbolic accidents. One incredulous thing after another occurs between them, but neither of them wises up to the other's tactics. Thomas uses Douglas to get closer to Hope. Hope allows Thomas to do it and doesn't tell Liam the full story about it. Liam rescues Hope. Rinse and repeat.
Hope probably feels the need to be amicable with Thomas for Douglas' sake. After all, she has families now with Thomas and Liam. It's a tip she should pass on to her mother, whose marriage is falling apart while Hope amazingly keeps two families going despite what Thomas did to her and her first family. Maybe if Brooke gives Ridge what he wants, she could work from within the family to fix Thomas instead of adversarially lurking outside the family.
Ridge believes that he and Brooke are meant to be. If so, why are they headed for a divorce? Ridge is willing to make it work with Brooke even if it kills them. It just might kill Brooke to have to forgive Thomas -- even if forgiveness is in her best interest.
As Ridge met with Brooke this week and contemplated whether they'd ever have another holiday together, viewers wondered what happened on the holiday that just went by. Did Brooke and Ridge see each other for Thanksgiving? Did they try to make a day out of it with their embattled kids and grandkids? Were Brooke, the Logans, and Spencers even invited to Eric's house this year?
From Steffy and Liam, to Hope and Liam, to Thomas and Hope, to Brooke and Ridge, to Bill and Katie, the year's theme about family has been strong. That's why it's peculiar that viewers were unable to get a peek at how the families related to each other this season. What's even stranger is that we got to see Halloween this year, but not Thanksgiving, folks.
We can assume that Brooke did not go to Eric's this year because she asked Ridge if Shauna had been there. I doubt that Brooke was with Hope because Thomas was with her and Douglas. Brooke's anger with Thomas probably led her to spend the holiday with her sisters, isolating herself from Hope and Douglas, thereby making it harder for her to protect them from Thomas.
If Brooke wants to keep an eye on Thomas and continue to persuade Ridge to get his son the proper help, she must follow Hope's lead and cease being Ridge's adversary. Just as Hope plays nice with Thomas, Brooke must support Ridge and be open to forgiving Thomas -- whether she means it or not. Once Ridge is no longer fighting Brooke's view of Thomas, Ridge might be able to observe Thomas objectively and see the flaws that Brooke sees.
Brooke won't get anywhere with Ridge as long as she remains obstinate. It seems inane that Brooke acts more outraged for her daughter than Hope is for herself. Brooke's stand against Thomas looks even more unreasonable because Hope has a functional relationship with him. If Hope and Liam haven't lost their relationship over Thomas, why should Ridge and Brooke?
The rift between Brooke and Ridge paves the way for Ridge to explore a relationship with Shauna. Quinn is ecstatic about it, but that's because she forgets that Brooke is rarely alone for long. In fact, Quinn gets a lot of Bridge's history wrong. She tells Shauna that Brooke and Ridge were childhood sweethearts, but Ridge and Brooke met after college. More importantly, Quinn forgets that Brooke married Eric first -- before she married Ridge -- and she often leaned on Eric over the years when her relationships didn't work out.
Wouldn't it be a delicious start to the year if Shauna's good fortune with Ridge turned into a bad break for Quinn? Quinn calls Eric the president of Brooke's fan club, and there's no way that he wouldn't be there for Brooke if she needed him. Shauna and Quinn make the best of girlfriends, but I'd be interested to test how quickly Quinn would turn on Shauna to save her own marriage.
In next week's preview video, Relentless Pursuit, Thomas intensifies his pursuit of Hope, using HFTF as his way into her life. Liam remains vigilant and warns that everything Thomas ever does is a means to get closer to Hope. Liam orders Thomas to back off and asserts that he'll never let Thomas hurt Hope again.
In other spoiler and rumor news, we can look forward to a fashion competition between Steffy and Hope. Liam and Steffy turn to Zoe to learn more about Thomas. Hope is surprised to learn that Thomas planned a romantic interlude for him and someone else.
Ah, who knew that jealousy might be the way to Hope's heart? Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
What are your thoughts on The Bold and the Beautiful? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
