It was a sad moment for Brooke, all one-teary-eyed and disillusioned that her best friend would try to set her up with Ridge's biggest enemy (in his own mind), Deacon Sharpe! But in that one-tear-jerker moment, I chuckled because, in the end, Brooke played BFF chicken with Taylor -- and won!
It was a satisfying moment for any Brooke fan who did not want to have to hear for the next decade how Brooke broke the pact and was never sincere. Taylor broke it first and even called it stupid. By break it, I mean more than flirting. I mean the first to make a blatant play for Ridge while Brooke was still promising to stay true to the pact. Taylor fans don't have to worry about the betrayal stench following their girl, though, because nothing bad sticks to Teflon Taylor.
To me, it's amazing that Brooke really thought that the slithering, fork-tongued giggle box was her friend. Brooke should have known Tay-Tay was on the take-take the moment she declined to move in with Brooke. Or maybe the moment Taylor asked Brooke about rekindling things with Bill -- you know, the sore spot between Katie and Brooke, and Ridge and Brooke? Maybe Brooke should have known when Taylor tried to shove her at the young Hollis, who looks old enough to play influencer with R.J.
It took Taylor secretly setting Brooke up with Deacon, the man Ridge tried to pummel to death in a broom closet, to wake up and smell the Ode de Snake all over Taylor. Some fans feel Brooke deserves it for going after Steffy, and Taylor was right to protect her kids. Yeah, I have to say Brooke was dumb and as transparent as Pop Rocks to think she could go to Taylor and tell her to make Steffy "take it back"; however, even after that, Brooke reported to Ridge that the friendship was intact, and she was still keeping her end of the pact -- unlike Taylor, who torpedoed like the ending move in the Battleship board game.
Braylor made themselves a Ridge Pact, but they should have also made themselves a Kids' Pact, vowing not to let Steffy, Hope, and Thomas get between them, either. Ridge asked Brooke if she and Taylor had fought over him, and Brooke replied, "We don't fight over you anymore, Ridge." That was the line of the week, but as I've said in a previous Two Scoops, Brooke and Taylor fight more over Steffy, Thomas, Rick, and Hope than they ever did over Ridge.
What do you think? Did Taylor play Brooke, or do you think Brooke has been playing Taylor? Why either woman would want to give up their peace for that flirting-trash Ridge, I will never know, but what kind of example are they setting for Thomas, who is determined to change?
Steffy and Hope sparred about Thomas. In the CEO's office, Steffy had a whole meeting with her parents about Hope getting the hots for Thomas. Hope was in the design office, admitting her feelings about Thomas to Brooke. Taylor did her best come-on routine for Ridge, and Brooke and Taylor are about to get scrappier than cats on a hot tin roof, but where is Thomas during all of this? All I can imagine is Thomas sketching in Thorne's old office in the basement with headphones on, without a clue what's going around him.
Isn't it convenient that the topic of just about everyone's conversation this week wasn't even on-screen the whole week? I guess I can be relieved that Thomas wasn't doing the obligatory listening at doors or walking in wearing his new Mr. Rogers' sweater, asking, "Did I interrupt something?"
As the number of people who suspect Hope of obsessing about Thomas grows, he's bound to find out about it. Fans are curious to know if he is capable of turning Hope down, if he'll return Hope's feelings, or if he'll pursue Hope as she remains in denial. The key is in the blood, specifically the Hamilton blood.
Taylor (Ashford) Hamilton-Hayes-Forrester proved last week that she is the obsession queen. She has obsessed over Ridge for decades, unable to have a successful marriage with Nick or Whip, pining for Ridge while in Omar's castle for years, unable to shake him in the bush of Africa, and willing to stab her BFF in the back for another international kiss, this time in Rome. Hope might like bad boys because of Brooke; however, obsession is in Taylor's genes, and Thomas gets it from his mama. After he sees that Taylor can't shake her obsession with Ridge, will Thomas hold back his feelings for Hope?
I will acknowledge that Thomas is trying this time, but why should he fight his feelings for Hope if his mother doesn't bother to fight her feelings for Ridge? And if we know Evil Cupid well enough, now that she knows about Hope's feelings, Taylor will probably be in Hope's ear, too, trying to get her to act on her feelings for Thomas. It will create the perfect storm of chaos between Brooke and Ridge, and as a bonus, it might free Liam up for a "win" in Taylor and Steffy's camp in their war against the Logans.
I would not put it past Taylor to urge Thomas to go for Hope now that he has worked on himself and gained a new perspective. She'll probably tell him that he's mentally ready to handle being with Hope. Oh, what it will mean to Douglas! Before you pooh-pooh me, remember -- Taylor's the one who originally told Thomas to go after Hope as a mother for Douglas.
Last week, Taylor really got Deacon's mind bent on the possibility of uniting with Brooke after all these years and giving Hope a family. He'd been so into imagining a future with Brooke that he refused a phone call from Sheila at the prison. But when a man has to flash all the way back to damn near the turn of the century to find a memory of when a woman reciprocated his feelings, it's probably a sign that he needs to just let it go.
Gulping her iced tea like it was a shot of bourbon, Brooke handled Deacon's feelings with delicacy and grace. She didn't make him feel like an utter fool for putting her in the position of having to turn him down yet again. However, the look on her face when she was painfully smiling at him said, "Not this again. Hollis, Bill, and Ridge had better not be in line behind you in the lobby."
Misery loves pizza, which is why miserable Taylor, who can't let go of love in the nineties, will probably wind up consoling Deacon while Ridge and Brooke are together in Rome. The question is: for all the chemistry bubbling between them, can Deacon and Taylor be a viable couple, or did Taylor's latest scheme just buy her a ticket out of Los Angeles and onto the backburner?
When Krista Allen first took on the role of Taylor Hayes, I gave it two years before I believed Taylor would be through that revolving door of characters who just can't seem to keep their roots in Los Angeles soil. It's not because she's a terrible character. Allen has excelled in reshaping the role, even gotten an Emmy nom out of it, but often the characters on The Bold and the Beautiful burn bright like a comet and then fizzle right out of Los Angeles. For example -- Rick, Maya, Thorne, Bridget, Felicia, Kristen, Nick, Jackie, Massimo, Clarke...Need I go on?
I thought Taylor might be taking another trip to Africa after her derailed wedding to Ridge, but then the Braylor fling cropped up, offering Taylor a new direction. Braylor is on the skids; however, Allen's chemistry with Sean Kanan is better than Disney magic. I'd love to watch the two of them get all floury as they make that dough together. It'd be better than a Braylor cake fight -- and more romantic. Will the show go in that direction? If not, what's left for Taylor if Bridge reunites in Rome?
I hope it isn't more of the same because Ridge flirting with Taylor while placing his heart with Brooke is romance troll behavior. It reminds me of the college guy who tries a girl just to see if he can bed her. You know, like that frat boy who slept with the girl at a weekend lake party, but his heart was really with Beth Logan? At Brooke, Ridge, and Taylor's ages, they should know better, and as a "world-renowned psychiatrist," Taylor definitely needs a counseling session in the mirror about Ridge. I will be handing out free airsickness bags if we have to buckle in for more Bridge/Tridge triangle drivel.
With Braylor and Tridge possibly coming to an end and Taylor transforming into a blatant devil in the beige outfit, do you think Taylor is being written onto the backburner and possibly out the show's back door? If not, let me know in the comments section below what other roads Taylor could possibly take in L.A. and with whom. I, for one, am still holding out for Braylor's Jack to come to town. He's got to be more interesting than R.J.
Here are a few other oddball things I noticed happening on the show last week:
Brooke attacking Steffy's character like Brooke didn't already suspect Hope. What was with Brooke acting like she didn't already suspect Hope of these feelings for Thomas? I have no idea why Brooke was attacking Steffy via Taylor when Brooke knows what's up with her daughter already.
Charlie has more intrigue than R.J. I hate to say it, but what is R.J.'s point on the show? And I know it isn't to strip and change clothes in the design office, stealing Men's Line shirts off the rack as he steals gym time at a company he doesn't want to work at when he probably has a full gym and bowling alley at Brooke's house. Charlie seems to be more interesting than R.J. All R.J. does is look for his big sister and ask people if his mom is okay. At least Charlie is trying to scheme to get on the Rome trip. Maybe Charlie needs to start wearing a GoPro and posting viral videos of himself. Once he's famous, he can tell Ridge to take his inventory and shove it. As for R.J., I'd love for him to ask Hope, "Remember when we almost set Mom's house on fire? Good times."
How long has this Rome trip been in the works? Speaking of Rome, how long have they been planning this trip? It's mighty odd that San Francisco fried Liam's hair off, but Hope and Thomas in the most romantic city in the world just hasn't come up.
The shameless becomes shameful. I got indigestion watching Taylor pour her heart out to Ridge while he just stood there blinking at her. He'd just told Brooke that he missed her, and he'd learned that he didn't want to be away from her. When Taylor told him that she missed him, he just stood there, giving her crickets. She offered her best "I'm asking but not asking" speech to go to Rome with them, and all she got was frogs croaking from Ridge. It was shameful and utterly embarrassing at the same time, especially when she told Ridge that Brooke hadn't held up her end of the stupid pact in regard to him. He knows full well that Brooke has, and he has the blue balls to prove it. Taylor claims the heart wants what it wants, but she should have used her head.
Katie is really pushing for this Bridge reunion. Carter noted that Katie was really pushing for the Bridge reunion. Katie claimed to want to see her sister happy, but I suspect that Katie wants Brooke with Ridge for the same reason Taylor wants Deacon with Brooke -- because it frees up the men they are obsessed with to be with them. If Brooke is with Ridge, then she can't possibly be competing for Bill, and that creates a safe place for Katie to let Bill woo her back.
The old way of doing things doesn't work anymore. Anyone hear Hope tell her little brother that people can reach points in their relationships where the old patterns and ways of doing things don't work anymore, but a part of Brooke would always love Ridge? Was she talking about Bridge or Lope? (Insert whistle emoji)
The spoilers for what's ahead seem kind of mysterious, but I'll take a stab at them. You know, like how Taylor stabbed Brooke in the back?
This week, Ridge makes a confession. My guess? He wishes someone would invite him to Il Giar-Deacon's so he doesn't have to show up there dateless to be ridiculed by Deacon the way Deacon ridiculed Bill that one time. Also this week, Brooke and Taylor's standoff ends in a stalemate, probably because they want the same mate, Ridge, who spoilers say is struggling with his conscience -- probably because he ate that whole pizza Taylor bought him in one sitting.
Thomas is surprised to hear who's spreading rumors about him, and Hope has an unexpected vision about the future. I'm gonna guess Hope is envisioning a future with Thomas, HFTF, and Douglas -- a future in which Liam and Beth kick rocks and disappear.
That's the two scoops for you! Thanks for reading along, and please make your thoughts known in the comments section below. Until we scoop again, I advise you that the quickest way to unfriend a friend is to set your bestie up with a sexy exy. It's the best way to ensure that you're the next ex on their list. Stay bold and beautiful, baby!
Chanel
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