No wonder Rick is paranoid. People are always spying on him. Stephanie is a lurker to begin with, and once she gets the idea someone is up to something, she becomes a full on stalker. Stephanie intercepted Rick's IM from Steffy and made a beeline to the beach house. I can hardly wait until Monday when Stephanie feeds Rick his testicles. It's going to be brutal.
There are several issues I have with this whole storyline. Allow me to lay them out for you. 1) Rick and Steffy have never been on one date, yet they are declaring their undying love and devotion for one another. 2) Every time they choose a place to have a clandestine meeting, they choose a place that is owned by their respective families, like the cabin at Big Bear, a Forrester office, or the beach house. Since they are both rich and privileged people, why not get a hotel room? 3) Why do they have to sneak around? The big thing keeping them apart is that if they are caught, Ridge will be really mad! Um, so what? Ridge gets mad all the time.
Or maybe it is the vague threat that the family will press charges against Rick for the car crash with Phoebe? There is no evidence to support that her death was anything but a tragic accident. Rick was not drinking or driving under the influence, say like Taylor was when she ran down Darla, but Stephanie keeps saying she is going to make him pay. He committed no crime other than his repeated bad taste in women. If Rick and Steffy really wanted to be together so badly, they could move to Chicago and get jobs working as buyers for Macy's and tell Ridge to get lost. Ridge can't forbid them to see one another, they are adults. Sure, Rick has reason to be angry; Rick has worked his way through all the women in Ridge's family now. Ridge better hide his stepdaughter Hope away, or Rick will probably go after her as soon as puberty hits. Sure, Hope is his half sister, but when did that ever stop anyone in the Forrester clan?
I agreed with some of Stephanie's comments this week - when does unconditional love cross the line into enabling? Stephanie accused Eric of enabling Rick's bad behavior, and I have to agree. He has done one horrendous thing after another, and Eric feels such guilt for being a lousy Dad he never makes Rick accept the consequences of his actions. Rick stole Eric's entire collection, and Eric said angry words but took them back in about 5 seconds. Any sane person would fire Rick. If Eric didn't want to prosecute his own son that would be understandable, but to allow him to stay in his position and possibly have access to do the same thing the next time he gets mad? Nutso. And kudos to the always brilliant Susan Flannery, a day without Stephanie is a day not worth watching. She brings that show to life in any scene she is in.
The notion that Eric would casually hand over his entire collection to Jackie M without a fight of any kind is ludicrous. Eric's one condition was that Nick couldn't have his son. Well, great - that worked out wonderfully for Nick, now he doesn't have to fire a conniving lowlife backstabber like Rick. Of course, Jackie M might end up with a Forrester as a designer anyway, since it appears Bridget is going to give up medicine to draw dresses. I can just hear her inner dialogue now... "I'm really bored with saving people's lives. Why, if only I hadn't worked so hard to save Katie, I would still be with Nick! Screw medicine, I will go into fashion like my Mom and Dad!"
She's always been such a dedicated doctor; it doesn't ring true that she would walk away from medicine so casually. They threw in a line about how she had always wanted to design and had clothes for her dolls, but sorry - not buying it. Brooke would certainly have encouraged her daughter to follow her heart if Bridget had wanted to design. Revisionist history methinks. But, they had to find some way to put Bridget back in Nick's orbit, right? Nick doesn't seem all that anxious to marry Katie now that there is not a baby on the way, and Bridget is always his back up wife when he dumps someone else. I wish I could do that. Box up all my crap and say "I am going off to be a pop star now." But alas, I am too old for American Idol and too poor to have a trust fund to support me while I daydream.
When Ridge told Brooke he suspected that Rick was responsible for the theft of Eric's collection, Brooke exploded. I love that Brooke is always so outraged whenever anyone mentions her son might be up to no good, even though he usually IS up to no good. She has spawned so many kids with so many fathers; she should at least accept the possibility that she might have produced one bad seed amongst them.
What will happen tomorrow dear readers? Will Jackie have to start turning tricks again if the new collection doesn't earn enough to pay off her loan? Will Stephanie ask Thorne where he put those hidden cameras he had in Owen's office so she won't have to slink around behind sofas to spy on Rick? Will Marcus declare his true love for Felicia even though they never went on a date and barely know one another? Will Aunt Pam crochet some Speedos so men can buy one, too?
