It finally happened. Jiminy Cricket made an appearance, and Stephanie realized that she couldn't let Ridge marry Taylor under false pretenses. Her conscience got the better of her, and Stephanie stopped the wedding. Of course, she was actually naïve enough (at her age!) to think that Ridge would still go through with the ceremony after hearing about the big lie. Come on, Steph, even you knew that Ridge had to stop and reconsider once he heard that he'd been played for a fool. For the first time in weeks, Ridge lived up to his name! He straightened his spine and cried, "Stop!" Mama was not going to force him to say, "I do" when every cell in his body was screaming, "I don't."
It was about time that Stephanie remembered that the ends don't justify the means. She had done the unthinkable. She'd used her grandson to get her way, and no matter how she spun it, Stephanie was wrong. Her reasons were just -- in her mind -- but all the talking in the mirror and arguments to convince herself that Brooke deserved to have her feelings discarded simply fell apart.
Maybe all that glaring Dayzee did at Stephanie had some effect after all? Goodness knows that if looks could kill, Stephanie was dead as a doornail from Dayzee's dirty looks. Dayzee had done all she could verbally, but when Stephanie told her to pipe down or get the hell out of the house, Dayzee had to zip it. I thought Dayzee was going to bolt from the premises, but she didn't. She chose to stay and use her eyes and influence to fix an impossibly wrong situation. And her efforts paid off. Good for Dayzee!
But don't look for Dayzee to kiss and make up with Thomas any time soon. He had his chances to stand up and be a man, and he failed. The bottom line is this: Thomas is a weasel. How could he have done that spiritual reading at his mother and father's wedding and not have spoken up? After the way he acted -- or chose not to act -- Dayzee will dump him for sure. She was disgusted -- and rightfully so.
Consider where Dayzee comes from, and you can understand why she would find Thomas' inaction so deplorable. What he did was the epitome of selfishness! Both he and Stephanie were intentionally hurting Brooke, a woman whom Dayzee had only seen a positive light. Thomas and Stephanie's decision to lie was akin to an act of violence against Brooke, and Dayzee couldn't watch that happen and just accept it. Thomas and Stephanie were happily ripping Brooke's life apart without regard for the outcome.
When I say that Thomas is a weasel, I'm taking into account not just the big lie, but everything he's done to promote Taboo -- and himself -- before the crash. It all involved Thomas using Brooke. She allowed herself to be used, that's true, but she was coming from a pure place. She thought Thomas' talent deserved to be spotlighted; she was helping him make a name for himself in the family business. And how did Thomas repay her kindness? He lied in the worst possible way. It reminds me that Thomas may be older and more worldly now than he was a few years back, but he's still the same character who tried to burn down Rick's beach house and put a bomb in Rick's convertible. He's not a good person.
When the wedding came to a screeching halt, I have to say that I felt really bad for Taylor. It wasn't just that she'd lost Ridge -- again! -- it was that she'd been betrayed by her best friend and her son. The disappointment in her eyes when she learned what Stephanie and Thomas had conspired to do was heartbreaking. Taylor's great tragedy is that she's in love with a man who's in love with her...and another woman. And that other woman always has just a bit more of Ridge's heart than Taylor does. That, my friends, is the essential love story that Brad Bell has written for years and will probably continue to churn out for years to come.
There was more than the wedding going on last week, and in the prelude to the affair, I saw perhaps the best scene I've seen on the soap in years -- Eric's one-on-one with Ridge. Ridge went to ask his father to be his best man and received a major dressing down. There was some nasty bitterness from father to son (presumed son), and Ridge had no choice but to take it. Everything Eric said was true. Ridge had destroyed Eric's marriage to Brooke. Ridge did tear apart Eric and Brooke's family. It was refreshing -- like a cold slap in the face -- to see that Eric has not simply forgiven Ridge because so many years have passed.
It wasn't exactly All About Eve, but Eric was determined to skewer Ridge. He was glad to see that Thomas had hurt Ridge the way Ridge had hurt Eric. Even though we all knew that Thomas hadn't really had sex with Brooke, that scene showed how painful it was for Ridge to think that Thomas had been with Brooke. Another thought occurred to me as I watched that scene; I think Eric is still carrying the torch for Brooke... Oh sure, Stephanie is Eric's partner, his companion in life, but he's long past loving Stephanie in a romantic way. In his heart of hearts, Eric probably still longs for the kind of marriage he had with Brooke.
It was nice to see Pam and Stephen acting like a real married couple. They get so little screen time, but their phone conversations proved that their relationship is going along swimmingly. Pam's still ditzy, but she's now a happily married ditz. Would it kill the show to give them a bit of a storyline? You have two wonderful actors - use them!
And while we're on the subject of characters who don't get enough screen time, wasn't it great to see Felicia and Thorne at the wedding? Thorne looked a bit fed up with the Stephanie-Ridge-Brooke-Taylor nonsense, don't you think? Wait until he hears what "mother" did with her 25 percent of Forrester Creations! I'm so hoping that Thorne blows up at his mother. How dare she treat her one legitimate Forrester son like a second-class citizen!
I enjoyed seeing most of the wedding guests crammed into the guesthouse, although I doubt it's really such a small space. I mean, this is Beverly Hills, folks -- not Manhattan. Even the cabanas outside the swimming pool are bigger than most New York apartments. But for the sake of the gag, all the guests pretended to be on top of each other, bumping into furniture and scrambling for somewhere to sit. And Pam, naturally, had to bake something for the occasion, even though Steffy's pantry is woefully bare. Sorry, Pammy, Steffy's not taking her cues from the Food Network. Steffy probably needs a map to find the kitchen.
The guesthouse scene was like the movie A Night at the Opera, when Groucho Marx and every other character in the film seemed to wind up in his stateroom on an ocean liner. Was Brad Bell inspired by the Marx Brothers when he came up with that scene? Was he channel surfing and saw the movie on Turner Classic Movies? I'd like to think so.
Finally, just when it looked like Brooke was going to throw herself into the new water feature on her property, Ridge showed up. We didn't get the big smooch yet, but you know that's coming. By the way, what do you think of that fountain at Brooke's estate? I liked it, but all that lapping water made me feel like I had to go to the bathroom! No, just kidding.
Fortunately the pool wasn't very deep, and there was no way that Brooke was going to drown herself. She really was losing it, though, and even the most hard-hearted anti-Brooke fans out there had to feel like she was getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop. She had no memory of a sin that destroyed her marriage because it never happened. It was nothing like the graduation party boink; Brooke remembered that one, and she and Oliver both shared responsibility for that mistake.
So, this upcoming week should be a humdinger. Brooke and Ridge will reconcile. Taylor will tear her hair out. Thomas will look like he's going to cry. Eric will need a dozen martinis to accept Stephanie's latest manipulation. And Stephanie will be forced to do a lot of explaining and apologizing if she expects her family to ever forgive her. It should be fun, right?
While we're on the subject of characters, who would you like to see get more attention on the show? Who'd you like to see come back? It looks like Bill's sister will be making an appearance very soon. What are your thoughts about that? Click the Feedback option at the top of the page, the email me link at the bottom, or click here. Meanwhile, here are some letters from the readers!
• You are so right about Ridge! What bugs me is that he says he needs to be with Taylor and the 'kids,' but he has a child with Brooke! Their son is what, seven-years-old? I think that little one needs Daddy at home more than the two fully-grown spawn of Taylor! I would love it if B&B grabbed the now available Maura West and had her spin Ridge's head in the opposite direction of Taylor and Brooke. That would be priceless. She would eat him alive AND be a good match for Stephanie. - Ron
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.
