I have to admit it; there were times when watching The Bold and the Beautiful this past week that I was quite literally cringing with pain. The assault on Brooke reached a fevered pitch when she bought into the notion that she was rotten from the inside out and had to be redeemed. Her self-flagellation included everything but wearing a hair shirt and beating herself with a whip! Seriously, I nearly turned away from the screen as Brooke groveled before Stephanie and confessed her wickedness to Eric...even though she still has no memory of defiling Thomas.
Did you feel like I did watching those scenes? Were you ready to grab Thomas by the scruff of the neck and force him to tell the damn truth so that Brooke could stop her plan of redemption? She's like a victim of brainwashing. After all the years of Stephanie and Taylor telling her that she's the slut of the Valley, an evil seductress who's destroyed every male member of the Forrester clan, a woman without any moral compass, Brooke is now convinced that she is what they've said she is. Her self-image is shattered. Her self-worth is zero. Her only solution is to give up everything that matters to her, starting with Ridge, to attempt to be forgiven. Frankly, I'm surprised that Brooke isn't heading to a nunnery to take a vow of celibacy and give herself to the Lord! Sister Brooke, creator of BeLief, patron saint of the bedroom line, and inspiration for Taboo. Take her, Father, for she has sinned.
Hey, Brad Bell, isn't there something about forgiveness in your B&B universe? What about this one: "let he who is without sin cast the first stone"? Yes, yes, yes. That's the ticket. Stephanie and Taylor are prime candidates when it comes to world-class sinning. They've had lives filled with mistakes, missteps and -- in Taylor's case -- murder. True, she only killed Darla accidentally, but still. She ran a woman down with her car! And what about Stephanie's past? Remember when she facilitated Brooke's date rape? That was quite a sin, don't you think? So, overall, how do Stephanie and Taylor's sins hold up to Brooke's? I think they're all quite capable of being called sinners of the first degree.
There have been two camps when it comes to comparing Brooke and Taylor. The Taylor fans forgive Taylor for all of her mistakes, while condemning Brooke for sins just as grievous. The Taylor troop doesn't forgive the fact that when Taylor returned from the dead, Brooke didn't give Ridge back to Taylor. The Logan camp, where I'm probably more comfortable, sees Brooke and Ridge as destiny's duo and Taylor as the interloper. Taylor found Ridge long after Ridge had gotten over Caroline and fallen for Brooke. Ultimately, I think even Brad believes that it would be inconceivable not to put Ridge and Brooke together forever. But that doesn't mean he won't make Ridge and Brooke suffer again and again, but ultimately, it's Logan and Ridge, not Ridge and Doc.
There were a few weird moments in Brooke's meeting with the family. One thing that threw me was Eric's reaction. He seemed shocked, but non-committal either way about whether he believed she screwed around with Thomas or not. Maybe that was the right way for Eric to accept it, but my gut told me that he would have reacted like James and Hope. Both Dr. Warwick and Brooke's daughter questioned the veracity of Thomas' story. James and Hope were fantastic: clear-headed and reasonable. They refused to just buy what Thomas was selling. Eric has always been Brooke's biggest advocate. Maybe he'll have suspicions next week.
Did you happen to notice the subtle look in Brooke's eyes during that family meeting? Maybe it was just my take, but is it possible that Brooke's grandstanding, as Stephanie and Taylor labeled it, was in fact Brooke's diabolical plan? Could Brooke have had a memory of her own about the island? What if Brooke remembers that she and Thomas did nothing untoward while under the influence of the berries and she is determined to guilt Thomas into telling the truth? That would be a great turn of events, don't you think? Perhaps it was something that James came up with when Brooke was stumped about how to proceed? Does anyone think I'm on the right track, or is it just not a Brooke kind of response?
Since I'm spinning tales, I have a good one for Brad to use for Thomas. Remember the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Tell-Tale Heart? The killer in that story was so guilt-ridden that he couldn't stop hearing the sound of his victim's heart beating louder and louder. Brad should do a variation on that, with Thomas haunted by Brooke's words and the images of her kindness to him. The guy should be seeing Brooke everywhere and hearing her words coming out of everyone else's mouths. It should reach a point where Thomas cannot keep quiet about his lie. He starts to lose it and only telling the truth will save him. Wouldn't that be something?
Considering all that Stephanie has gone through this past year, the character has truly regressed rather than evolved. Facing death was merely a pause for reflection, not a lasting change in lifestyle. And her compassion for the homeless went right out the window when compared to cutting Brooke out of Ridge's life with a lie of epic proportions. Stephanie doesn't even seem to care that Brooke is trying to make amends by giving millions to charity and doing it in Stephanie's name! Instead of seeing the bigger picture, how the money will help the needy, Stephanie only sees Brooke taking advantage of the Forrester name. Really? Is that how Stephanie thinks these days? Put her back on chemotherapy and maybe she'll be humbled. Maybe she'll remember that conscience and morals mean something. Something more than getting Thomas to manipulate Taylor and Ridge back together.
By the way, if Taylor's so intent on psychotherapy for Thomas, why didn't she send him to James? Dr. Warwick treated Thomas when he tried to kill Rick. Surely, he's the right psychiatrist for a former homicidal maniac like Thomas, right? By the way, does Thomas have a mind of his own? Why is he listening to mommy when it comes to his supposed victimization by Brooke? It's not like Brooke forced sex on Thomas, even in the lie that he's telling. In the lie, they were both consenting adults. To hear Taylor tell it, Thomas was a molested Cub Scout.
What's so infuriating about Taylor and Stephanie's accusations is that they're blaming Brooke for everything that Thomas has instigated. He initiated the kiss on the runway, he kissed sleeping beauty on the plane, he perpetrated Taboo with Brooke as the cougar seductress. How can Brooke be responsible for leading him on when she was passive for much of those events? Hell, she was asleep on a couch. How could she be the culprit in that instance? Oh, right. It's Brooke's fault that she wasn't snoring or drooling in her sleep. If she had looked like an old crone with a hunchback, Thomas would have left her alone.
Finally, did anything else happen last week? Oh right, Steffy wants to be the host of The Catwalk. As someone pointed out, that's a conflict of interest. She works for Forrester Creations, and the TV show is a Spencer Publications production. Unless the show becomes an infomercial for Forrester, Bill should nix the idea from the get-go. Also, why would Little Miss Business Executive with aspirations to be Forrester Creations' CEO want to be the host of a fashion TV show -- and not a very good one at that! Steffy is so transparent. This is just a way to get Bill to be tempted to leave Katie and have a fling with Steffy. Thank goodness that Katie wasn't fooled. But, just you watch, Bill will give Steffy that damn show.
Now it's time for some letters from you. Remember, you can weigh in by clicking my name at the top of the column, the "Email me" link at the end of the column, or by clicking here.
• I personally think Brooke deserves every [bit of] crap she is getting because she has spent years tearing Ridge and Taylor apart, Stephanie and Eric, Thorne and Macy, Bridget and Deacon, Bridget and Nick, and not to mention her very latest crusade of Hope and Oliver. She is not really innocent and if for once she is paying for her nonsense, it's not a big deal. I wish Taylor and Ridge would give time to get to know each other and to move on from the Ridge/Brooke fiasco. I want that couple together, but not like this. As for Rick, don't forget, Taylor was ENGAGED to him and Brooke had acted her crazy self as well. She slapped Taylor, so Taylor was just merely nice when she learned that Brooke had done the deed with Thomas. Taylor never raised Rick "as a son.' And as for Darla, Taylor was drunk, YES, but Darla lost her balance and fell under the car. Just please stop making Taylor look horrible because Brooke is the stirrer of all this nonsense and Taylor is just a pawn in the game. - Prema
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