When Will retired and made Katie cupid, he should have left a manual for his matchmaking mom. If he had, it would have said that the second rule of matchmaking is to not matchmake for your ex. Rule three would be to avoid unmatching your ex with his subsequent ex in order to rematch him with his first ex of all time. Rule four would be to avoid trying to forge a friendship between all the exes with yourself in the middle.
What would rule number one be? Do not be friends with your ex in the first place because it leads to nothing but war, pity, stagnancy, and unwanted triangles.
That's exactly what happened this week when Katie waved her meddling wand in her ex's love life. Katie turned Cinderella Sally back into a jilted girlfriend and transformed the rat Flo back into the belle of the ball, and then Katie had the nerve to smile in Sally's face like a friend. Peacemaker Eric was no better. He insinuated his ex between himself and his wife like a "friends-till-the-end" Chucky Doll that Quinn just has to put up with.
Over at Steffy's house, Robin Thicke's song "Blurred Lines" was on repeat as Steffy's "friend" Liam moved right in and played house with her while still wanting Hope. Meanwhile, Hope confided in Thomas, and the next thing you know, he had his arms around her. These instances, my fellow scoopers, are exactly why Katie was out of her ever-loving mind to promote to Wyatt that exes can be friends!
And when did Katie become the Buddha of relationships, anyway? I don't recall her being the grown-up when Bill left her twice for a Logan. Let's get two scoops deep into the four reasons that exes just can't be friends this week on the Bold and the Beautiful.
Reason One: Pleasantries are not peace
Attempting to be friends with an ex isn't impossible in the real world, but in the "reel" world of Los Angeles, it's easier to return from the dead than it is to have a successful friendship with your ex -- especially when you're in a new relationship. Wyatt told Katie that he wanted to be friends with Sally, but before he forges ahead with that fantasy, he might want to check out how it's working out for his mom with Eric and Brooke.
Quinn and Brooke have put up with each other for years. They manage to be polite to each other and even work together. It's no small feat for Brooke, who had to forgive Quinn's role in Hope's miscarriage. Brooke even found a way to get over Quinn slobbering all over Brooke's fiancé Ridge. Brooke drew the line at Quinn urging her bestie to go after Brooke's husband.
Like fire with fire, Brooke fought best friendship with best friendship to get Shauna out of the mansion. It worked, but when Brooke insisted upon turning her vendetta toward Quinn's marriage, Quinn turned the bottles on Brooke, spiking Brooke's juice with liquor.
I'm not going to say that Brooke didn't deserve retaliation from Quinn. When Brooke pranced into the spider's web with her crochet Prince pants on and threatened the black widow, what did she expect? A fair fight? With Quinn? Nah, Brooke should have known better than to think she'd get a fair fight from a woman who'd kidnap her son's brother to remove him as a romantic rival.
Playing around with people's sobriety on B&B is not a new thing. Sheila spiked Macy's orange juice and derailed her sobriety because Thorne refused to support Sheila's marriage to Eric. For the love of Jackie, Massimo set Deacon up by hiring Heather to put an odorless, colorless liquor in his protein drinks. Quinn took it a reckless step further by suggesting that Brooke drive with the open container in hand. Maybe if Brooke rammed into Eric, Flo, Shauna, or Wyatt, Quinn would finally get why she can't play dangerous games like this.
Although Quinn has taken the vendetta with Brooke too far, I blame Eric for this. Eric insists that his ex and his wife can get along, without a referee, even after hearing the disturbing things they are saying about each other. He acts like he doesn't even remember how bad it got the last time he forced Quinn to play nice with his ex Sheila.
Had Eric learned from the past, he'd know that the only exes of his to get along are Beth, Brooke, and Donna, and that's because they had to as Logans. He should have learned from his divorces from Stephanie that there is no such thing as expecting an ex to respect his current wife. He should already know that he cannot give any special place in his heart to an ex when it comes to siding with the ex or his wife.
Exes and current lovers can be civil on the surface, but anyone thinking it won't turn into a drink-spiking relationship brawl can just ask Liam, who doesn't even know the extent of treachery Hope's ex has wielded against him. Ironically, Liam is not only the victim of an asinine ex, but he is himself an asinine ex to Steffy. Liam is either too selfish or too dense to realize that the friendship he insists upon having with her is the main reason she can't move on.
Reason Two: Moving in ain't moving on
If Wyatt truly wants to be friends with Sally, the first step in that direction would be to no longer live with Sally. Accepting the breakup might be more real for her if she weren't still living at the beach house. Steffy, if she wasn't so busy pretending to be unfazed by Liam's game of musical houses, would be the first to say that boundaries could make the heart grow fonder for a new relationship instead of the same old Spencer garbage.
It really isn't clear from the scenes whether Sally ever actually moved back into Wyatt's place. I assume she did because she'd lived there pre-engagement. Steffy, on the other hand, recently indicated that Liam is living with her and Kelly. Yeah, way to show Hope that she's wrong about Liam really wanting Steffy -- and way to show Steffy that he really wants to marry Hope.
The blurred lines between Steffy and Liam won't clear up as long as people like Ridge, Thomas, and Bill keep blowing hot air in an effort to revitalize Steam. Liam and Steffy shouldn't listen to any of them for relationship advice. Ridge is leading Shauna on to get what he thinks Brooke isn't giving him, which is the same thing Liam is doing to Steffy. Thomas just wants to clear his path to Hope, and Steffy is crazy to believe any other reason he might claim. And Bill has twice wanted Steffy for himself. Who believes Bill now when he says that Liam, who's as dull as a paper sack, is enough man for Steffy?
Liam moving in with Steffy for the child's sake is a bunch of baloney. If it was important for Liam to be in the house with his child, then he would have tried to get Hope to let him remain in the cabin. As rigid as Hope is, she was right to make Liam leave if they aren't going to be married. No one needs to play house, trip all over the blurred lines, and never recover from the relationship enough to move on and find a completely devoted mate.
I'm talking to you, Steffy. Stop being available to be Liam's friend, roommate, and doormat. Make him choose you on purpose and not by default for a change. Or better yet, just kick him out and make room in your heart and home for a better man.
Reason Three: Friendships lead to triangles
It's funny to me that Wyatt wants to remain friends with Sally. Isn't his desire to be friends with exes the main reason he is in this situation? I recall that, when he ran into Flo again, he'd merely wanted to catch up and be friends. In fact, he'd told Sally that she had nothing to fear from Flo being back in his life. As soon as Sally went to visit Grams, Wyatt was down the Flo rabbit hole, and Flo's tongue was down his throat.
Friendships with exes just do not work, and Wyatt ought to know it because he couldn't even take Sally being a friend to Thomas. Wyatt also couldn't take it when Sally accidentally said Liam's name -- and Sally never even dated Liam! Wyatt was creating triangles where they didn't even exist. Well, let me put my point another way. Friendships with exes might have the potential to work, just not for Wyatt.
When I was young and dating, I would never befriend my exes, and I'd rarely befriend guys I went on dates with. I noticed that my friends would maintain these types of relationships, and frankly, I witnessed too much drama unfolding around them. New men got jealous of the past men and vice versa; men had to choose between their female friends and their new girlfriends. Then there was having to lie about whom one had been intimate with in order to maintain the friendships and a new relationship. You can avoid all of that with a strict policy against dating/friendship drama.
I always looked at it this way: if I hired a man to be my boyfriend, but then I had to fire him, why in the world would I try to find him work in the friend department? And if he was the one to fire me, I'm sure as hell not begging for scraps in the friend department. I wasn't going to be that girl who all of his friends, his family, and his new woman looked at, shaking their heads like -- well, like I look and shake my head at Steffy and her portrait.
Reason Four: The pity ain't pretty
The pity was palpable the week when Wyatt expressed how bad he felt about leaving Sally for Flo. It was even worse to have to watch Sally defend her relationship with Wyatt to Flo. Flo piously tried to get Sally to accept that her engagement had ended because yet another man had left her for an ex. Even though Sally brought it on herself for attempting to hold onto a humiliating slug of a man, nothing can be more degrading than to have your man's new woman feel sorry for you and ask you if you will be okay.
Wyatt said he didn't want to lose Sally from his life completely, and he wanted to remain friends with her. So self-serving and selfish. Wyatt is sorry, but the wedding, the kids, the dog, the cat, the house, and the life all go to Flo. Sally is welcome to stand on the other side of the picket fence, watch it all happen, and help him feel less guilty for handing the future he'd promised her to another woman.
The pity is an epidemic, spreading to friends and relatives. Take Katie, for example. She was in the clouds about Wyatt hooking up with Flo. She was so sure Sally would bounce back fine, but when she saw Sally later, Katie gazed upon Sally as if she was a wet, homeless cat. "I know that Wyatt cares about you," she told Sally. As if Wyatt's caring and five dollars could even get Sally a footlong sandwich these days.
Here is what some of us on our B&B message board had to say about Wyatt and Sally:
"Sally is far too dynamic to be married to someone doing it out of pity. Let Wyatt be bored to death by Florence the dull," -- nykarenb
"I used to love Wally, but I can no longer stand Wyatt! Sally deserves much better if she can survive her illness. I hope Wyatt becomes so bored with dull Flo or that she burns him good! I hope he will be haunted by what he had with Sally and never have love like that again!"-- CattiPatti
"Wyatt now wants Sally to be his charity case after cheating on her and trying to make it all her fault. Sally needs to run away from Wyatt and say to hell with the Spencers and all the men on the show." -- joncharmed93
Let us know what you think of Sally and Wyatt's relationship. Should Sally keep fighting for a future with Wyatt? Should she accept a friendship with him? Speaking of friendships, is that all there is between Steffy and Liam? Will you accept a Steam reunion if Liam is returning to Steffy due to the process of elimination?
In a look ahead: Not a Simple Kiss
Rivalries and deception rule the week, according to next week's preview video (which you can always find in our The Scoop section), Not a Simple Kiss. Two is better than one, asserts Thomas, who offers to team up with Quinn against Brooke. When it comes to that kiss between Liam and Steffy, Hope can't unsee what she saw, but Steffy feels there is something Hope should know.
In other spoiler news, Quinn urges Wyatt to marry Flo quickly. As the fashion showdown heats up, Sally conceals her illness. Thomas continues to use Zoe and Douglas to manipulate Hope, but Liam plants doubt in Zoe's mind about Thomas.
The battle between Quinn and Brooke wages on, and Ridge believes it's fueled by Brooke's rage against Thomas. In other words, Thomas continues to get away with everything, as usual.
Thanks for scooping with me this week. As always, we look forward to reading your comments below. Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
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