Anna Yolei

Nick was no saint, especially with Bridget, but I will give the writers credit for not having him go into a chest beating rant when he learned about Bridget and Owen's ONS. Not that his "I can't raise another man's child" thing wasn't BS since he'd already done that with Hope but at least he had the sense to keep his tap shut when Bridget correctly said "You owe me one." But Ridge has zero awareness at all so to hear him blast Nick is nothing short of hilarious. Is she wrong, though? I mean, how many times as Ridge gone to her either out of guilt for hurting his father (marriage number 1) or because he wanted to be a father to his son (marriage number 2) or because his mother faked her illness and he wanted her to die in peace (marriage number 3) or because he was having a row about Rick or any of the other weddings that got busted up by false pretenses? I mean FFS, the last one she found out Thomas used her traumatized grandson to break up Bridge and she was STILL trying to go through with the wedding anyway! But for all of that, and as much as Taylor's thirsty ass brought this on herself, Ridge was always ever gonna go back to Brooke. She fully knows he broke land speeds to get with her because he was mad that Brooke didn't abandon her kid (yet) on his behalf and said TO HER FACE that she was his safety net. How does someone LIVE like this?!

Sadly, you're probably right, but it's nice to dream. I just hope he gets to have a scene with Hope, because she deserves and needs the support far more than Brooke does and perhaps having her real dad figure might do her some good in getting her mess of a life together.

I mean, I can see where you're coming from but for this specific pairing that once banged 30 minutes after Ridge was presumed dead, they passed the threshold of weirdness long, long ago :p Keeping it a buck though, Brooke owes Ridge absolutely nothing and after seeing her debase herself for....what, since November at least? I'm genuinely glad to see her head turn for anyone else.

Stopping in to say that this is the first episode of B&B I have unironically enjoyed in ages! It was a goddamn Bricky bingo card, even down to the writers remembering how Nick drops nautical metaphors! I used to bag on that "Going Back Again" song but God, did I love to hear it again! Was genuinely sad that he's apparently gotten rid of the Shady Marlin, cuz she was damn near a character in her own right. I even gave the BS about Brooke having a relationship with Jack a pass cuz I'm just glad he's being acknowledged at all. And Nick still has no use for Ridge whatsoever. 10/10 reunion, no notes. 👍

Oh, she's too popular to get rid of. She's also finally having a girl so maaaaaaybe this will be the last time she dips. But at least it's only one actress--there was a point on ATWT around 2002 or '03 where they had THREE actresses with due dates within days of one another and they had to concoct some ridiculous plot about being trapped in some spa as a way to have them all in robes for the last six weeks! He sure the hell did and that sucks so much for him :(

Literally it's this song personalized: And yeah, the only thing that could possibly redeem this pairing would be Thomas coming back and watching his head (and his own relationship of convenience with Paris) explode. Sheila has been up to her shenanigans for as long as Brooke and Taylor have been taking the piss out of one another but it seems like she's finally gotten to a place where she can get out of her own way and not ruin her happiness. Even better, she's not encouraging other people to follow in her footsteps to validate her own poor decisions, which is more than I can say about Brooke and Taylor, who have had no qualms about using their daughters as proxies in the past.

Frankly, Ridge and Katie had even less going for them than even Harter. All they ever did together was talk about Brooke and Bill and when Ridge eventually waffles on away to Caroline while she was still wearing his raggedy red ribbon, she didn't even cry a tear over it. I don't disagree with the bigger point of his asinine behavior, but they barely even liked each other when they were actually a couple, let alone now.

Yeah. That's something Brooke has never once uttered about his kids and she would be beyond justified after not just the animosity but genuinely illegal shit they've both pulled on her and her family. Rick, I fully understand why Ridge would be done with him, but even when he came to his and Brooke's engagement party covered in Phoebe's blood he wasnt as absolutely foul towards him as he has been to Hope. Probably because Rick wouldn't hesitate to deck the shit outta him or take a page from Thorne's playbook--if I had a nickel for every brother of Ridge's that's shot him, I'd have two nickels. It isn't a lot but anyone else holding that done would reconsider the life choices that led to half their siblings capping them in the ass.

The only reason I think this won't happen is because Show seems to have zero interest in branching out beyond the gnarled, inbred family tree of Logan/Forrester/Spencers and certainly don't give a shit about their Black characters to put that effort into branching out a new family. This is the beat I'd expect any other show to play out but B&B routinely zigs when they should zag, but frankly I'm just not invested enough in this twit to even care. I just want her and Carter gone. Nick Marone can't return to beat the Dressmaker's ass soon enough for me. I had always wished he was around for early Steam/Lope shenanigans but Ridge is far more deserving of that ass beating than Liam ever was.

Indeed not. It isn't like we haven't seen the two of them use their daughters in a proxy war over the years, so why not have had them compete for Jack's affection similar to how akay and Jill had their fight over Philip III's custody in the 80s? As for having two Jacks on the show, Jack Marone could easily go by a nickname. As he likely ended up in the same sea going career as his father, he'd almost certainly have one like any sailor worth their salt. :p LMFAO BITCH SAYS WHAT?!?! Forget Hope, Steffy was ready to kill the jewelry line over her cousin dating a guy neither one of them have dated since before the iPhone 5 was released. I fucking can't even. Thank you! He's been able to be more civil to Rick the last go around after he deliberately shot him FFS.

The very same. Jack was supposed to be the reunion path for Brick, but KKL vetoed the idea of turning Brooke into a waffle between him and Ridge so they wrapped that up, gave custody to Brooke, who subsequently never had a word to say about him again, Honestly, I'm beginning to lean towards yes, which is wild because if nothing else, OG Taylor was an absolute smokescreen and even Krista Allen channelled that energy despite being considerably less posh and uptight as OG Taylor. Budig is giving nothing, which is just as much an issue of the poor writing as it is casting.

Liam couldve fought for some custody of Beth instead of immediately running to ruin Steffy's marriage, were that the case.

Oh cool, Katie's buttinsky skill will finally be used for good I legit checked to see if we had a blue moon six weeks ago to explain this 🤣 ..... You know, I truly didn't think there was a pairing I could hate Thope but Harter is fast approaching to snatch that crown on the simple basis that even Thomas was able to occasionally fight for Hope and stand up to his family and for the fact that despite what ever "change" the show proclaimed he had, he still had Brooke standing on his neck. When everyone and their mother is propping Carter as a "great man when he was willing to let Hope take all the abuse for a plan *HE* created and would've gone through regardless, it gets a lot harder to root for him. I want Carter to be a character and not a prop but that also includes him owning up to his mistakes instead of of this mealy-mouthed crapola. If that's the best he can do, I'd almost rather see her back with Liam.

Which feels like more of the show placing the thumb on the scale to prop Steffy, because when has she ever given a fuck about being sensitive to anyone's wants and feelings? She had no problem joining in with the rest of her family to celebrate Sheila's demise right in front of Finn before they'd even cleaned up the blood from the hardwood floors or blasting her daddy's marriage to Brooke at every opportunity. I'll grant Liam is once again being selfish and thoughtless and with Hope spiraling, there's a part of me that's glad it's Steffy and not Hope getting pulled into his vortex of suck so she's not having second thoughts about this loser puke. But someone in this equation ought to be thinking about Beth, who doesn't have a stepfather to comfort her or even grandparents since Mommy and Granny Brooke are on the outs No one needs to tell Hope everything but a simple "I'm in the hospital and can't see Beth" is the least she deserves.

Will to his credit is an 18 year old boy with surging hormones who was raised by a guy with a vendetta against his cousin/sister-in-law for years because she didn't put out. It's a minor miracle that he had any decency at all. Carter OTOH is a grown ass man who has allowed the woman he supposedly loves to get slagged by people who she once considered family and is bemoaning letting her go while stringing another woman along. Schemes or not, this says more about Carter's lack of a backbone than Daphne. Yeah, that seems on brand for B&B these days. :\

Yeah, probably. IIRC, Wagner left over money disputes and the fact that he'd lost revelance in the show as it was rapidly turning into the Lope and Steam half hour. The show as is can't afford what I'm sure he'd be asking for. Now that the excitement has worn off,I'm scared to tune in because I know the show will probably ruin him worse than they did in the year after he divorced Brooke and she's always gonna pick Ridge anyway.

But that's just it. Kelly's parents have never been together in her lifetime. The kids who do bemoan their parents splitting up are the ones that actually grew up with them both under the same household--and even those kids are a lot more rare than people think since they'd been listening to their parents argue and piss and moan for years at that point. I knew we would get this sooner or later because it's B&B but it's stupid and makes no sense at all. I'm glad someone remembers this. Surprisingly, this is one of the very few things that Brooke has skated on, both in universe and even with her most ardent haters who have cheered on actual murderers, rapists and baby traffickers that have dragged her. Taylor died and suddenly the last year with her twu luv that she destroyed her daughter over no longer mattered and she went back to treating him like scum to get with Ridge. The bond Nick had with Hope was still very endearing but Hope wasn't wrong in what she said last week: Brooke *was* ashamed to give her Deacon's name, not because of what she'd done to Bridget but because of what it signified to Ridge.

Same here. For all that Liam absolutely deserves to be dogged for the shit he's done to Steffy and Hope: 1) Bill is screeching this at Liam to deflect from the fact that he brought an unhinged murderer into the house that he told no one about, for no reason anyone can discern 2) Bill had his hand in all of Liam's relationship drama until the very recent past, pushing his thumb on the scale for Steffy until he got the opportunity to finally fuck her himself. Much like with Ridge and Brooke, Liam would've been forced to make a clear decision if he and everyone else hadn't been butting in for their own agendas. Regardless of my complains about Liam, it's certainly a logical thing to ask "Hey dad, WTF" in this situation.

I see he's learned a lotta acting skills from his daddy playing Nick Newman, then :p Among many other reasons to have a new soap opera after 25 years make it to air, I love Beyond the Gates because it holds up so many mirrors to the other shows, but to B&B especially. Cuz on that show they have a similar rivalry with one suspecting the other of being shady but Kat has the ability to STFU about her hate of Eva and have normal conversations with her boyfriend and her cousin & other people in her family. Steffy doesn't have that ability to enjoy *anything,* and it's even more sad knowing that a huge part of the reason she became so popular in the early 2010s was because she could be the fun counterpart to Hope's ice princess persona. I got to watch the episodes I missed during deployments from 2012 and I honestly got why people could cheer for her over Hope. But now she has the loyal husband, her parents reunited (for now--it won't last but this is honestly the longest they've been together since before Beats by Dre were invented), the business is back in Forrester hands and most importantly she's gotten everyone in Hope's life to turn on her, including her own mother, who Steffy also hates. She's not the poor little rich girl living in the shadow of Daddy's favorite daughter anymore, if she ever was that in the first place. And at least when B&B was blowing smoke up Hope's ass ten years ago, she wasn't covering up manslaughter or getting to talk to everyone any stupid way without getting popped on the mouth.

Especially when, unlike Steffy, she doesn't have plot armor to keep her from not dying 🤣

And even there she was nothing at all like the way Maya was hissing in Rick's ear to be a legit bully to everyone at FC (which Ivy having been there for that can and should attest to), or how Stephanie actively plotted with Eric on how to keep Belief from Brooke. Come to think of it, Ivy can also attest to the time she had to work directly under Hope after being brought into Quinn's jewelry line and how Hope was truly trying to throw her weight around until Ivy reminded her it washer last name on the door, not Hope's, and not in the braggy way Steffy usually always means it. She's seen Hope at her mean girl propped worst. This wasn't even close.

The only major beef she had was with Rick, and regardless of his justification or how right he was about Ridge, he was the one who started that beef. Other than one comment about turning into her mother when Bridget and Felicia were duking it out for Dante, Stephanie has never had issues with her. Hell, Steph offered to help Brooke raise Baby Hope, giving fodder to femslash fanfic writers across the world I'm sure. I don't recall her taking any sides in the Liam Wars of 2011-2012 but that was probably because she was dying of cancer and had bigger concerns. Stephanie was...a lot but in large part, she was motivated by love to protect those around her rather than solely by spite and hatred and entitlement. And that attitude extends well beyond Hope, who wasn't a factor in Steffy making a beeline to come between Liam and Ivy (a blood Forrester, mind you) because "I had him first" or conspiring with Bill yet again to separate Thomas and Sally bc of beef with Sally 1.0 that Stephanie herself has moved past before Steffy was out of diapers. Honestly, if BtG continues it's upswing in viewership, he probably won't need to.

I knew she had been doing directing gigin the last few years but not writing!

And this, for all that I've grown tired of the Two Minutes Hate campaigns both on screen and among fans towards Brooke in recent years, is exactly why she continues to be as hated in fandom as she is. She truly learns nothing and ruins everyone around her in her wake, most especially her children. And all the while crying her stupid lone tear about destiny or whatever the fuck. This isn't even the first time she's fucked Hope over for a man either. Besides Bill being Katie's wife, he was also her first bully, helping Steffy with her schemes. But hey, credit where it's due, cuz Bill actually did knock the shit off when he got with Brooke and made an effort to meet her halfway. Because that's what a man who loves a woman DOES. My mom was in a situationship for most of my formative years of my life and I spent every Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day from age ten to nearly 16 hearing her cry and moan about Mr Big from Wish was never gonna leave his live in girlfriend for her and then, when it finally ended when he couldn't even come by after her life saving surgery and he started flaunting new patsys at the gym--because I cannot stress what an incredibly insecure guy this was that he ALWAYS had to have at least two women after him--i had to listen to her rant about this guy for a minimum of one solid hour. FOR A YEAR. I suppose the only good thing I can say about my stepdick is that he got her to shut up about this jabroni. :| because yes, that shit weighs on you as a kid. It forms you. Its probably not the reason I'm asexual but between that TMI trauma dumping I grew up with and the shit in high school that was ironically compounded by my mom telling me that the worst thing a woman can be is desperate, it sure made me be at peace with not being married at forty. And hey, Mr Big from Wish to his credit was open about that BS arrangement, unlike Ridge who spent much of their early relationship trying to manipulate her for this reason of that one. And he certainly wouldn't talk stupid to any of us kids.

It pains me to know how right you are about that. I don't want to conflate obsession with loyalty but despite having more problems than my 9th grade algebra textbook, when Thomas makes a plan, he fucking sticks with it to the bitter end. Normally, I would say she's headed out the door. When Bell runs out of men to put women with, they get shown the door. She's related to every other man on this show and I have the feeling that if they're gonna saddle Bill with any exceedenly inappropriate romance in the near future, it'll probably be Luna. But Bell has shown he is never letting his glory days of the 90s go and if he has to milk the fighting to their daughters and even their granddaughter if the show manages to survive long enough for that to come to pass, then by golly he'll do it. Which means he'll find more ways for Hope to be Meg Griffin'ed....even if he has to throw what little of Brooke's integrity under the bus to make that happen. I hate it here.