While poor Zende was putting his feelings on the line, questioning if Paris gave a damn about him dating anyone else, the modicum of respect I had left for Paris shriveled up and died. She didn't give Zende any straight answers. I feel that she's making a fool out of him, and I'm screaming inside for her to simply let the man go.
Zende's a grade-A fool for not getting the memo that Paris is just not that into him, but then again, how can he see anything clearly through those Grace-colored glasses he's wearing? Before Grace arrived, leading him on about Paris' feelings, Zende was pretty much getting the hint that Paris was all about that single life, even if it is a lie.
And we know it's a lie because, across town, Paris is peeling off Carter's clothes, vowing to do anything for Carter and professing love for him. Some fans understand Paris' behavior because she's young, single, and playing the field. That's fine, but after hearing the things she said to Carter, who's buying that she wants to lead the single life? Or is she just not that into Zende?
We know for a fact she isn't that into Zende because, after sex with Carter, she said that no man had ever touched her on such a deep level. That right there blows Zende out of the water. No wonder Quinn was so addicted, pun intended. But is that love? I don't know, but it's bad news for Zende, whom Grace set up for a huge fall once Paris is up-front and honest with Zende.
What's keeping Paris from being honest with Zende? If she really believes she and Carter are righteous in their actions, she should have told him that she was seeing someone else. She doesn't have to say it's Carter, but it will make canoodling in the workplace difficult if she doesn't. Paris can at least tell Zende that she doesn't see herself married to him now or ten years from now, and it's best that they end their romantic involvement. Just tell him, Paris.
The fact that Paris' overbearing mom is attempting to drag Paris out of Carter's house ought to be a sign to Carter that Paris is just too young and immature for him. The scene was reminiscent of when Taylor had caught Steffy and Bill rolling around in her childhood room together. Bill was humiliated to be caught by someone's mom then, and Carter should be now.
Carter needs to seriously evaluate himself for saying he loves Paris so soon after being willing to run away forever with Quinn. He should also ask himself if he really wants a monster-in-law like Grace -- if he indeed wants to get married, which brings me back to whether Paris wants to get married. It makes me wonder why Grace pushes marriage at all if Paris isn't ready.
What is Grace's motive for pushing her daughter to marry Zende? If Grace doesn't like Carter dating sisters, I invite her to investigate Zende and his history with Sasha and Nicole. I don't think Grace is motivated by money or the Forrester name. Maybe it's something deeper. I'm frustrated by the storyline because we don't know Grace well enough to interpret her motivation.
Why do I get the feeling, though, that Paris might become convinced to marry Zende, only to learn she's pregnant with Carter's baby? What do you think? Is Zende the better choice for Paris? Should she love the one her mother wants her to or the one her heart yearns for? Do you care about Paris' love life after she hopped from Zende to fantasizing about Finn and now to sexing Carter? Maybe Grace ought to evaluate if Paris would even make a good wife instead of worrying about marrying her off.
Aww...you guys...wasn't Ridge so cute, going to Brooke's house to "pick up some of his things" and "check on" her? A man in love with his wife, he only took about 48 hours to wander in with an excuse to see her. He claimed it was to check on her drinking, but who really thinks it was to see if Deacon was there? I bet Ridge never thought he'd show up, and Brooke would say, "Well, don't let me stop you. Go be with Taylor."
It was amazing to finally see Brooke resolute in her decision and no longer moping. She used Ridge's own words, reminding Ridge that he'd said he needed stability that she couldn't provide. She reminded him that he'd told her that he wanted to be home with Taylor and his kids. Ridge was speechless. Blinking back tears, he asked, "That's what you want? Just like that?"
What was Ridge surprised about? Isn't he the one who, "just like that," asked Taylor if he could come home in the first place? Ridge exchanged Brooke for Taylor like a man swapping out his Italian leather shoes for a pair of Crocs, but he was disillusioned because Brooke let him do it. Brooke asked him if it was what he was already doing and reminded him that Taylor had waited for a family with him again. He rasped that it wasn't about Taylor's feelings. In the end, he decided that he just "can't," but for the record, all he wanted was a life with Brooke.
For the record? What record? The divorce record? For someone who wanted a life with Brooke, Ridge was an expert at filing for divorce. When Brooke decided to let him go, that was Ridge's cue to step up and meet his destiny. It was his cue to make it clear that he doesn't want Taylor, but he blew it. Not only did Ridge let Brooke break it off because of events he'd set in motion, but he ran off to the cliff house and obeyed Steffy by going upstairs to make out with her mom.
Comparing Paris to Ridge, I feel that at least Paris has the guts to stand up to her mother for love. Not Ridge. He has a yo-yo for a brain, and he went right upstairs like Steffy instructed, so he could "be" with Taylor. He told Taylor that Brooke had let him go. "For the record," he didn't say he let Brooke go. Brooke let him go, which means he's only out on loan to Taylor. Brooke holds all the cards and can get him back "just like that" (finger snap).
This is the reason that Ridge is canceled in my book. I don't desire to see reruns or classic episodes of his spineless waffling. He's canceled because he's using Taylor and his other family for attention and ego-stroking until he runs back to Brooke. I was unhappy to hear Ridge tell Brooke that it wasn't about Taylor's feelings. It is about Taylor's feelings because she asked him not to start with her if he wasn't serious. Disregarding her feelings is the opposite of serious.
What do you think is on Ridge's mind? Is he just going through the motions with Taylor? Is Taylor the better choice for Ridge, even if he cannot muster the love for Taylor that he expresses for Brooke? He told Brooke that she was always with him because she was in his heart. I hope that if Brooke really is in there, she isn't nauseated by his romantic assault on Taylor last Friday.
The other week, we finally got to see what it was like when cunning clashes with manipulative. Thomas and Sheila had their first tête-á-tête after Sheila waltzed into Steffy's house like she owned the place, an act I completely blame on Taylor. Thomas stepped to Sheila like Evil David to Goliath. Thomas matched her tone for tone and wasn't intimidated by her sinister whisper. Because each of them is so unpredictable, they lit a much-needed fire beneath the plot.
Besides the impressive acting, what I love about Sheila and Thomas' interactions is that Thomas has righteous indignation. Sheila shot his mother. The act ripped his family apart. For once, the writers used history masterfully to deliver natural contention between the characters. Each character also has its own love/hate relationship with Brooke.
Brooke was once a friend and ally of Sheila's, but Sheila felt that Brooke had turned her back on Sheila. Thomas, on the other hand, was once infatuated with Brooke but resented her for being with Ridge. I was intrigued to see how this dynamic would play out and how Thomas, a person who'd pimp his own sister out to a drugged Liam, would react to learning that Sheila had tampered with the sobriety of Brooke, the roadblock to his family's happily ever after.
Thomas is showing viewers that, even though he isn't perfect, he has changed. He's actually thinking about the consequences of bad acts, and he's exhibiting empathy, even for his enemy. He exhibited a protectiveness over Brooke. Perhaps it emanates from his love for Brooke as a child or from the fact that Taylor and Steffy are also recovering addicts. Thomas has exhibited real growth, and Sheila showed vulnerability by admitting that she'd partly taken action against Brooke to make up for shooting Taylor, sparking the division of Taylor's family. While the writers are serving it up right between Sheila and Thomas, it's all wrong between Taylor and Sheila.
The Taylor and Sheila dynamic has puzzled me since the beginning. I didn't understand Taylor's motives for being gracious to Sheila at Christmas, but I knew it would lead to Sheila bogarting her way into the family. And bogart she did when she waltzed into Steffy's house, something I doubt Sheila would have gotten away with if Taylor hadn't acquiesced to Sheila's unsolicited office visits. Sheila visits Taylor because Taylor is the weakest link. Sheila's persistence paid off. She wore Taylor down to a pebble, and eventually, instead of saying Sheila shouldn't be there, Taylor invited Sheila to take a seat.
The main reason I think Sheila and Taylor's relationship is a fail on the writers' part is because Sheila is rubbing the wrong belly with Taylor, just like Sheila was barking up the wrong tree with Brooke. In reality, Brooke can't keep Sheila from Finn and Hayes. Likewise, Taylor is not their gatekeeper, either. Steffy and Ridge will outvote Taylor every time when it comes to Sheila. I think that if Sheila had put this much energy into her relationship with Finn instead of into Brooke and Taylor, she'd be holding Hayes right now. Steffy wouldn't know it, but still...
Some viewers reason that Taylor is keeping her enemy close, but if that's the case, why was she telling Sheila over and over again not to be at the office or that she couldn't be Sheila's therapist? No, I think Taylor fell for Sheila's ego-stroking, and Sheila got Taylor to let her guard down so low, Taylor was actually psychoanalyzing Brooke in front of Brooke's professed enemy. That's a bad look for a so-called "world-renowned" therapist.
Another reason I dislike the dynamic is that Taylor has been labeled the better choice for Ridge because she'd never do to him what Brooke did, and yet, Taylor is inviting the very person who disrupts lives to sit down for a chat. I would love for Ridge or Steffy to show up at Taylor's office one day while she's chuckling with Sheila, gossiping about Brooke, and see that Taylor is no better a protector against Sheila than Brooke is against Deacon.
Kudos to Deacon for trying to support Brooke and standing by her, even if she was too downtrodden to realize what support looks like. I'm glad Deacon was there to support Brooke because Ridge is over there, getting support, laughing, ordering lattes, and smooching on Taylor. What does Brooke have but a bucket of tears?
Brooke tripped me out, saying it didn't feel like support when Deacon downed Ridge and when Deacon mentioned Ridge with Taylor. Hell, yes, that was support. It was one-hundred percent organic, Chanel-approved, golden nuggets, and they made Brooke think. I believe Deacon's advice was the catalyst that got her thinking she needed to let Ridge go.
Who loved Sheila's confession about switching the bottle labels? It was everything good soap drama strives to be. Thomas demanded that she tell him what she'd done. On the screen played a faded flashback, and Sheila's voice-over came in like a classic murder mystery narrator. Seamlessly, it switched back to the present, and I loved it!
The fashion for the week rocked! From Steffy's silky suit to Brooke's tan riding pants, everyone looked gorgeous. Taylor showed skin in a classy way with a shirt that draped off her shoulder like she was born to wear it. Sheila's kimono blouse was stunning, and she and Quinn were almost style twins as Quinn appeared in a backless blouse with a similar print and material.
Weren't you glad to see Quinn? I wonder what she'll think of Carter hooking up with the woman who first exposed their affair.
On March 23rd, our favorite soap turns 35, however, according to Supervising Producer Casey Kasprzyk, because of a preemption the other week, the celebratory episode airs March 24th. Bold will air a stand-alone episode about Brooke's five true loves. You can look forward to guest appearances by Winsor Harmon (Thorne Forrester) and Jack Wagner (Nick Marone).
In other news, the show will be preempted on Thursday and Friday this week for March Madness. Paris persists in convincing her mother of her relationship with Carter. Ridge finds himself in the middle of a debate between Hope and Steffy. Brooke wakes up and realizes she needs to stop giving her husband away and fight for him. I wish Brooke would remember that to get Ridge back, all she needs to do is snap her finger "just like that!"
That's it! I'm all out of scoops! Let me know what you think of the week in the comments section below, and until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
Chanel
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.
