RuntheTable

I did not see that coming. I think I have watched that ending about ten times because as @KerleyQ said, that was so very satisfying. As usual Ridge did not know when to shut his big mouth and this time he went a step too far. The remark that sticks out for me was after Brooke said that he needed two women to stroke his ego, and he responded that he only needed one that was completely devoted to him and no one else. HA! This coming from the father that has mollycoddled his two brats for years, effectively hand waving away all their horribleness. So, it is ok for him to support and love his kids, but Brooke can't? Yeah, MF'er you can step lively away with that nonsense. Now Brooke OTOH was letting stingers fly like a nest of hornets. I squeed when she turned Ridge's words back on him and reminded him that he turned to Taylor in "break neck speed." I also enjoyed Brooke reminding Ridge that she is his family, best of all though, was when Brooke said she wished she had never set foot in that house. Man, that was saying a lot. And her parting shove of that limp, brown, dishrag was positively epic, so much better than Steffy's petulant shoulder slam of Hope a few weeks ago. But that is how it is with Brooke; it takes a lot to get her to the point of physical violence, but once she is there, she is no holds barred. I am sure Ridge will rush to Taylor's aid, I mean, Brooke may have exacerbated Taylor's BHS. I know it won't last, but I am going to enjoy the ride regardless.

Merry Christmas to all my fellow posters! And just like that, my excitement has evaporated. It looks like we will have a retread, of a retread, of another retread, that was a retread of a prior retread. SHOW, we have seen this so many times before. How long will we be subjected to Brooke weeping and moping about this time? And once Zende spills the beans, Ridge will not be able to get to Brooke quick enough to say how sorry he is, and Brooke will cry out of both eyes and fall into his arms. Good God woman, this man called your daughter, a person he raised as his own for many years, a bitch and a slut. Outside of him being fully aware of how that word affects you, is the fact he used it against your child. Then he went on to essentially tell you that you, and your entire family are trash. I guess that would include his son and his father’s wife. He compounded those insults by bellowing how you have betrayed him, as he had just come down from sexing up his Jock Rider. That is bad enough, but worse is his automatic assumption that you have gone to the dark side. Why won’t Brooke see that every time something happens, Ridge always jumps to the wrong conclusion and runs to Steffy and JR to be reassured that he is right about her? And if Zende does come clean and Ridge believes him, that will also be a slap in Brooke’s face because she tried to tell him herself, but he was so full of man pain and butt hurt, that he couldn’t be bothered to listen or believe her. And don't get me started on how Ridge dressed Brooke down, acting as if she was some upstart intern, that he and his vaunted family had "helped" become a success. This is when I would have spun his greasy head around with the slap heard around the world. Forrester Creations would not be the fashion house it is today without BeLief. Nuff fucking said. I don’t care who’s side you are on, this writing sets women back 1000 years. Neither woman has a shred of self-respect or dignity. They have been fighting this battle for over thirty years, and no one ever comes out the winner except Ridge. It’s insulting and appalling. On a lighter note, I was shopping for some thermals for Mr. R and came across this:

I thought KKL did a good job of balancing her horror at Ridge's words and her need to please him. She was clearly getting worked up as he berated and insulted her but seeing the little Jock Rider appear from upstairs sealed it. I absolutely loved how she simply looked at her greasy hobo with disdain and disgust and walked out without a word. For me, that silence puts an exclamation point on things. I am actually excited to see where we are going. I haven't been able to say that in long time. Why was Steffy's husband talking like he had a mouth full of marbles? Yes Steffy, a Christmas day miracle of your mom glowing in her "victory" over Brooke. Except, once again, JR is only in Ridge's bed because he is pissed off at Brooke. If it was my mother, I would tell her to run away as fast as she can, and to stop putting herself in this position. JR will once again be living her daily life looking over her shoulder, questioning Ridge every time he is five minutes late, and always stressing if he has been with Brooke. This has been JR's whole entire adult life, you would think as a WRP she would see the vicious cycle she keeps subjecting herself to, but winning over Brooke takes precedent over everything else. Such a sad, pitiful, and pathetic way to live one's life.

So, Ridge heads upstairs with some kind of booze, and the Jock Rider swans in with two empty glasses? Is JR officially off the wagon? Has the California Highway Patrol been notified? But then, JR isn't going to be driving anything but Ridge's dick. It is kind of hilarious that Ridge's parting words to Brooke were something about how he couldn't do this because he loved her too much. Yes, he loves her sooooooooooo much that he falls into bed with his ex-wife in less than a week. I think that is a record for Ridge. Oh man, could I ever get behind this. Not that Eric has any wiggle room when it comes to keeping his pants zipped, but in this instance the stakes were really high. Ridge was reeling with man pain that superseded his need to get the company back. JR is very well versed in how to stroke Ridge's ego, more importantly, she knows how to push his buttons regarding Brooke. And coming upstairs when she should have been going home? So, so calculated, but Brooke is the manipulator. Yes, it is well beyond time for Brooke to step out of that useless waffler's shadow.

In the previews for this week, they show Brooke pounding on Eric's door yelling to Ridge that she needs to talk to him. I think she is going to walk in and see him and the Jock Rider getting busy, and that will change her plans to help Ridge. Zende will then fill the gang in on Brooke's plan, and Ridge will once again realize he misjudged Brooke, but hopefully it will be too late. I would love to see Brooke as angry as she was over BeLief. Tell that greasy slob that if he and his spawn want a turf war, then she is there for it. Brooke should reopen her old office and let Carter have Eric's. But of course it will never happen.

OMG! @NinjaPenguins, there are simply not enough likes in the world for that friggin masterpiece. You nailed every pertinent point in your standard hilarious way, but this little nugget: I am dead.

And now I have a glimmer of hope. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but while Brooke looked heartbroken, she also looked angry. As I watched her pound the back of that chair, I saw frustration and fury. Then they showed those previews, and it looks like Brooke will be taking over the reins of FC’s. So, now, maybe Brooke will remind Ridge that he is not the only one with a family. Brooke is the scion of the Logans, and it is time she rose to that challenge by cutting her ties to that greasy slob. If Ridge wants a turf war, then I say you go for it Brooke. That would be a SL I could completely get behind because it has been building for decades not weeks. It goes back to the very roots of the show and will absolutely touch everyone on the canvas. I did kind of fucking guffaw out loud when Ridge chirped to Steffy that “Brooke doesn’t seem to think her daughter can have her own apartment.” This, from the king of squatters, who has shuffled from his father’s house, to his partner’s house, to his daughter’s house. And of course, his little Jock Rider (because seriously @KerleyQ, that needs to be trademarked), materialized from the depths of the kitchen, so pathetic in her excitement as she warbled “you left Brooke.” Ah yes, I suspect Ridge will be back in Jock Rider’s bed by nighttime. When I saw those previews for next week and Brooke was talking about taking over as CEO? I squealed with glee. Brooke should have been in the spot all along instead of Steffy. She is more than capable of doing the job, and it will be far more interesting than watching Carter do it. Where is RJ? Why hasn’t he been told about this turn of events? I don’t see this faring well for Donna and Eric.

Ridge calling Hope a nasty little bitch was rotten and mean, but those parting words yesterday, when he looked at the love of his life and said he was going to stop Hope from hurting his family and his business? Wow, that pretty much summed up how Ridge feels about Brooke, because if he doesn’t consider Hope family what does that say exactly? Brooke did try I guess, when she started to get worked up and brought up how Steffy has always treated Hope. But man, Ridge was on that real quick and in a hurry and put the little woman back in her place. His kids are perfect, and there is always an excuse for their behavior. This SL stinks because there are no winners here and there is no one to root for. I am just fucking angry at everyone. Carter is misguided, Hope is weak, Brooke is delusional, Ridge is a brute, and Steffy is a bitch. Show leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Ruh Roh And just like that Brooke was invisible. Ridge was like an angry bull seeing red, focused on releasing the pent up bile he has always carried for Hope, Brooke’s feeble pleas be damned. This is the perfect time for a full on Forrester, Marone, and Logan free for all, we are only missing Taylor to round out the cast. Instead, it looks like we will have Carter stepping up in defense of Hope, and once again I am pissed off. Let Hope stand up for herself, she is the one with the issues, I don’t want to watch her stand behind Carter. Talk about misogynistic writing; the little woman must let her big, brawny man defend her because she is just too dainty and delicate. UGH! This SL was supposed to be a bone to Hope supporters? It’s my opinion that Hope looks much worse than Steffy in this situation. Steffy fired Hope on what she saw; Hope could have fixed that, but she chose to remain silent. Regardless of why Steffy did it, she is at least owning it and hasn’t backed down and hasn’t hid behind anybody else. Hope OTOH, kinda played Carter. Once she found out about the LLC thing, she encouraged him to do it for himself, all the while knowing what it would mean for her. She also wanted to see Steffy brought down, and this way she could be in the kitchen and not feel the heat. I don’t think she counted on Ridge blaming her, which shows a crushing level of naivete. So, now she will stand there like a deer caught in headlights while Carter defends her. I take a hard, hard, pass on all of it. And since I am pissed off again, let me continue to the next topic. How is Forrester Creations Ridge and Steffy’s legacy? How about all those other children who have contributed. You remember them, don’t you Eric? Those bio kids of yours? Thorne, Felica, Kristen, Rick and Bridget? Eric can also miss me with all this wha whaaing about Carter and Quinn. Outside of the fact that you green lighted them to continue, is the fact that you have been a womanizer your whole life. You fell in and out of love with woman quicker than you changed your drawers. Beth, Brooke, Sheila, Lauren, all in very quick succession, always keeping Stephanie at arm’s length until you wanted to complain about your current wife. If Ridge and Steffy want this to fail, then all they have to do is resign. Steffy would be no big loss, but without a designer you can’t run a design house. I seriously doubt that Thomas would join forces, so that would leave Zende and RJ. I guess they could always bring back Sally!!!!!

Well, that was unsatisfying. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Steffy and Ridge getting a long overdue bitch slap, but it is the wrong person/persons doing the slapping. Carter has never been treated badly, he was accepted, has officiated at almost every wedding, handled most of the divorces, was given a job, and was promoted to COO. I will also throw in the whole Quinn thing, where Eric forgave Carter, even though that whole SL was nauseating. As for Carter’s ideas about the company? I don’t take an employer not implementing your ideas as a slight, particularly when those ideas would have meant a huge money outlay, along with loans and financing. If I had a dollar for every employer that side eyed one of my ideas, I would be a wealthy retiree right now, and my ideas were things like, switching paper suppliers, or toner suppliers, not something that could have bankrupted the company. So, I don’t buy this whole I am so disrespected that I must steal your company stuff. Also annoying is how Carter won’t pick a lane and stay in it. Is this about his ideas or avenging Hope? Why can’t Hope avenge herself? Hope and Brooke are the ones who have true beefs with Steffy and Ridge. Brooke knows how to fight these battles, she has done so many times before, but she also can’t seem to pick a lane. One day we have her storming into the CEO office confronting Ridge and Taylor, then the next day she is at the cabin freaking out with Hope, worried sick about Ridge. This truly pisses me off. Brooke has grown in so many ways, but as a mother she still falls flat. Once again, she is more worried about her fucking Destiny than her child. Of all people, she knows how it feels to be shoved aside like trash. To be belittled and degraded and judged. Brooke should be encouraging Hope to stand up for herself, not standing there talking about how butt hurt Ridge is. Seriously Brooke, you need to take those fucking Destiny blinders off and read the room. Ridge has made it clear who he holds responsible for this. He is siding with his daughter against your daughter, which ultimately means siding against you. How are you going to cope with his constant tirades about your heathen spawn? How are you all going to coexist? If Ridge orders you to evict Hope again, will you do it this time? You know Taylor is right there with her tragic BHS, and her need to set her Chakra’s right, so yeah, I can see you booting Hope out. How is Christmas going to work? Will Ridge allow Hope and Beth in the main house? Or will he boycott that family holiday, for one with his other family? If Brooke thinks that any of this is going to turn out well for her and her Destiny, she better prepare herself. As some of my fellow posters have noted, suddenly changing up someone’s wardrobe to black leather/pleather, or black/grey monochrome, does not make them a badass. They have been trying this shit with Steffy for years, and she has always come off as a Bratz doll gone bad. And whatever that was that Hope was wearing was just plan fugly. Carter looked smokin hot though. Luna! Wow, when Poppy was going off on her and she had that wicked mean ass smile on her face? This SL does have my interest. You just know Luna will be out in a week after Poppy made a point of telling her she would be there forever. Bill is gonna cave, I can just feel it and will probably help Luna. Maybe Luna and creepy Remy will hookup to get Will out of the way, so she will have a clearer path to Bill. I wonder how she will manage Katie, cause you know Gladys will be all up in it. That does have the other side of the coin too, where Bill would have to save Katie from Luna’s crazy grasp, and that being Katie’s wakeup call to how she really feels about Bill. UGH.

Show, the first rule of writing is to show not tell. You can keep pounding me over the head with Carter and Hope, but that does not make them an epic couple, swelling orchestral music notwithstanding. Their relationship has only been germinating for a few weeks, and we have gone from a refreshing office romance to………….this. Talk about ham fisted writing. Also, they are making the Forrester/Marone gang look hella stupid. Hope is many things, but I don’t think she is a psychic, and had no way to know Finn was even in the building that day. But according to our resident brainiacs, she had it all planned out like the black widow she is. Hope has also apparently been taking online, or non-credit courses on law and LLC’s because she knew about those papers Ridge wanted Carter to take care of and was planning her nefarious scheme. There is also that little nugget about how Ridge saw Carter’s name on the papers and signed them anyway. Oh, but Taylor had come into the office and Ridge couldn’t be bothered with legalities, when he had to refocus on keeping all his balls in the air. I still have to give two big thumbs up to Carter for daring to go there. He laid voice to so many of my issues with Steffy and Ridge, but he went a step further by bringing the OG into it. AND HE FUCKING CLAPPED AT RIDGE! Best thing I have seen in a long time. But I did have a glimmer of hope yesterday. Brooke seems like she is starting to get a clue. Maybe they will give me more than I had hoped for. Maybe Brooke will be so offended for her daughter that she will find her identity again and will have to tell Ridge about himself. She used to be so good at that. I miss spicy, saucy Brooke, who was not afraid to stand up for herself. I would love to see her tell Ridge to shove off, then go home and join forces with Carter and Hope, with Carter ultimately putting Brooke in charge of the company. Then, Bill could come over to do a story on the coup, and he and Brooke could rediscover each other.

Does this mean we won’t be getting to watch the traditional Forrester family Thanksgiving Day love fest? I would pay top dollar to have tickets to that shit. Holy cow Ridge, how do you really feel about Hope? Too bad Brooke wasn’t eavesdropping on that little tirade. Then again who knows, Brooke doesn’t seem to have any identity anymore, well, I mean outside of being Ridge’s girl. His Logan. His Destiny. I’m not saying I agree with what Hope and Carter did, but damn, I sure as hell don’t agree with Brooke not stepping into the cabin to talk to them before doing anything with Ridge. Brooke may have been able to talk them down from the ledge, but it seemed far more important to earn those good girls points with Ridge. I am so surprised he isn’t ragging Brooke about this, that is usually what Ridge and his family do when things go wrong. And wasn’t Brooke just lapping that up? Good God. I would rather have no Brooke than this Brooke. And fucking Ridge…..really? He is so hella confused about who he is talking about. You can’t transpose your daughter’s life onto Hope’s life Ridge. But you just go on and keep talking that nonsense, trying to convince yourself that Hope is rotten. You have known this girl her whole life; you raised her as your daughter for a lot of that time. You know what she has and hasn’t done, just as you know what your daughter has and hasn’t done. You are a stupid fuck. I was on your side until you started rewriting Hope’s life. Just look at you carrying on your mother’s tradition of Logan hate. You sounded just like her. I am officially pissed off at you too. I am trying to get interested in the Electra SL, but it is a struggle. A photoshopped picture? A violation for sure, and infuriating, but I don’t know if I can get too worked up about it. Then there is the actress, whose is absolutely beautiful, but such a bad actress. I see Bill will be visiting Luna next week. That gives me hope.

When Brooke took over FC’s, it was so exciting and satisfying. There had been years of build up with Brooke and Stephanie’s relationship that laid the groundwork. Then there were the months leading up to it, with all the scheming and planning by Stephanie, Eric, and Steve. No matter whose side you were on, you couldn’t look away. Compared to this LLC stuff? I’m just not feeling it. Yeah, Steffy and Hope have been at odds most of their lives, but their rivalry doesn’t have the same gravitas that Brooke and Stephanie had. It seems more like bitchy catfighting, i.e. The Real Nepo Babies of Bell L.A. Stephanie and Brooke had a deep seated animosity that was layered and complex, and wasn’t all about dislike and hatred. Additionally, Show has given me a wicked case of motion sickness with this breakneck speed writing. Carter and Hope pledging their mutual love in a week? Carter pitching his ideas, and deciding in a day to stage a takeover when the CEO’s weren’t on board? Which I might be ok with, but now it seems it has morphed from what Carter wanted to do with FC’s, into what Carter wants to do for Hope. I really just hate all of it actually. The SL has no tread, and it has absolutely no meat. If handled with finesse and care they could have woven an exciting SL that I would want to invest in. There is not enough for me to want to see Carter succeed. Ridge being a shit? How is that unusual. Steffy firing Hope? That was off base for sure, but Hope should have put on her big girl panties and told Steffy that she was involved with Carter. Steffy calling Hope a bitch? Please. Good stories can’t be built without a solid foundation, and this is a bunch of twigs being held together with some Elmer’s. I find myself really fucking pissed off at Finn and Brooke. Finn arrogantly brushing off any attempt to explain what happened or defend Hope, so cocksure that Hope is working a massive boner for him. Finn hasn’t seen Hope in weeks, how does he know she isn’t seeing someone? There is also the burning question of how Hope could have known he would be coming into the design office that day. Deep down Finn knows there is more to it, but he isn’t going to go there. Going there would deduct valuable points from the obedience fund he has been diligently working on, because there would no longer be anything for him to be offended about. Brooke? Oh man, I am so massively disappointed in my girl. As @smartyshorts said, why not confront Hope and Carter? You instead run straight to Ridge? Do you think that is going to help Hope’s cause? Just because you can now tell Ridge about Hope and Carter doesn’t mean he is going to be ok with anything. I suspect he will be angry that you didn’t tell him about them from jump, and now he finds out about an attempt to takeover the company? At the same time, this might be the best thing Brooke could have done. I saw in the previews that Ridge makes a comment to Brooke about “your daughter conspired to”, so maybe this will be what splits them up. Brooke will think Ridge will give her a pass because she tattled on Hope, but I think he will attack her and hold her accountable. For me, no more Bridge would be the best thing to come out of this mess, because I know any takeover is not going to last.

On the first part of the journey When I came into Steffy’s life There were pills and lies and guns and things There was paternity tests and proposals and rings The first thing I saw was a young woman with a buzz And an empty bottle of meds She needed help, so I decided to try But I didn’t know that who I am would die I came to LA as Dr. Finn But now I’m a man with no name I’m just a sap and have no shame In Steffy’s world you’re not allowed to remember your name Cause your “Steffy’s Husband” now and she runs the game On to other topics........ I don't know much about LLC's, but it seems to me if you forge a name and get the powers that be to sign it, that there would be some sort of legality that would make that document null and void. Or, it could just be a simple matter of those in charge being smart enough to read a document before they sign it. Ridge knows about this stuff. He got Brooke to sign the contract robbing her of the BeLief patent without her knowledge, but as Carter said, Seffy and Ridge don't have a clue. I guess as long as they both get a swift kick in the pants I am on board, but I would much rather have seen Carter sign Hope's name on that dotted line. I don't think Electra's stalker is an angry ex. I am envisioning some sort of cult, or maybe she was in the naked photo biz and he was the photographer. B level porn? You know, because I just dislike the character so much, I have to mention how Steffy is never complete unless she is in a fight. Or if she hates someone. Brooke, Hope, Sheila; she steps from one battlefield to another. And it is always about control. She got Sheila out of Finn's life, now she has refocused on the Logan's. Hope and Finn's friendship is over, although that is mostly on Hope, but Finn could have been a bit more understanding. I mean, when you consider he was able to get passed Steffy fucking Liam and maybe being pregnant with his kid, you would think he could get passed a drunken kiss. But his keeper makes those decisions for him, so he can't be friends with Hope anymore. Now, Steffy has got Hope out of Forrester and I am sure her plan was for Ridge to support her and cause problems with Brooke. She is just like her namesake, unable to leave well enough alone. Unable to leave those she viewed/views as her enemies alone. I know it won't last, because Steffy must always win, but I am kind of looking forward to the floor collapsing beneath her. I also have to mention how disgusted I am with Brooke. She just rolled over and played dead. The character has become far to understanding and forgiving. Those previews for next week have me a bit alarmed. Brooke overhears Carter and Hope? Will she support her daughter or her destiny? I put my bets on destiny.

The very thought of Ridge and Steffy standing in judgement of Hope, or anyone for that matter, is downright hilarious. These two serial offenders have long, winding roads that are littered with the detritus of their betrayals. Ridge has always waffled, but historically, he would not step out on whoever he was with. But Ridge is an entirely different character now and has had no problem hurting those he claims to love. He got into a relationship with his brother’s wife, which eventually led to their divorce. After that ended, he and Brooke reunited and got engaged. Shortly after that he began a kissing affair with his stepmother that went on for months and involved a lot more than one drunken kiss. Then, he devastated Brooke again by leaving her for Shauna, a woman he eventually married. When it was discovered that Shauna and Quinn had conspired to fake Ridge and Brooke’s divorce, and that his marriage to Shauna was null and void, instead of being angry he felt he owed it to Shauna to give her a legal marriage. And just recently he ran away to Aspen to be with Taylor when he believed that Brooke had called CPS on his beloved son. For months he and Taylor carried on in an open affair without one thought of how it was humiliating Brooke. I don’t need to outline Steffy’s offences as my fellow posters have done an excellent job of that. However, I would like to say that Steffy’s transgressions go further back than Stallion Night. She has made a career out of interfering in other people's relationships, usually with the goal of splitting them up. This goes all the way back to Oliver, and includes Bill, Liam, Marcus, Rick and Thomas. Outside of that, Steffy is a nepo baby, who was gifted a top spot as a peace offering from her hated step grandmother. At that time, she had made no real significant contributions to Forrester and should have had to work her way up. When Brooke took over the company, she certainly had no business experience, but she had made a ginormous contribution with BeLief, a contribution the Forrester’s did their damnedest to take from her. Brooke continued to contribute after taking over by developing the men’s line, the oversees office, and Brooke’s Bedroom. What has Steffy contributed since becoming Co-CEO? I can’t think of one thing, but she has made a lot of really bad decisions. Decisions that are always hand waved away or brushed under the rug. The most glaring would be running Thomas out of town, leaving FC’s most profitable line with no head designer. Then, when the line begins to tank, Steffy wants to immediately pull it, with no one but Hope and Brooke being willing to voice that Steffy is the one responsible for the problems with HFTF. None of that is to say Hope was right to kiss Finn, particularly when I believe it was in large part to get one up on Steffy. That desire morphed into something else in Hope’s head, and she began to believe her own fantasies. The nonsense with the lingerie and tripping onto Finn isn’t even worth a comment because it was just a stupid accident. If Hope had done that intentionally it would be a whole different set of circumstances. The scales just do not balance here. It is the ninth inning for Steffy and Ridge, with the bases loaded, no outs, 3-0, with a 20 run lead.