Zoe116

There was a part of me that was hoping at first that it was a whole setup that Steffy, Liam and Hope were in on together—staging the kiss and fight for Thomas’ benefit. Why? I don’t know... to set Thomas up somehow? A plaaaaan of sorts? It makes no sense, but nothing on this show does, and this would be a different story, so... you know what, I’m just going to pretend that’s what happened and go with it. weren’t Steffy and Liam aware that Hope was coming over? I almost never knock on my family members’ doors when they know I’m on my way. And for all we know, she did, and came around back when there was no answer. I think it’s the back? Maybe? I need a floor plan of Steffy’s house. The only thing that would’ve made it better was if he got some early 2000s-era DOOL-style soliloquies while he was watching. So ridiculous.

I mean, they’re paying HT and DD regardless, right? They might as well use them. I may not always love Bill, Katie, Liam or Wyatt, but in a contest between watching Spencers or Ridge and his progeny, there’s no contest. I’m still annoyed we didn’t get to see Brooke and/or Bill host a giant Christmas celebration for the blended Logan/Spencer clan, while Liam’s rapist hosted a sad, pathetic one for Ridge, Thomas and... maybe Steffy? (Though I feel she would’ve pulled one of her “Kelly and I are having a solo celebration” stances... though this time, I wouldn’t blame her). If Liam wants Thomas out of Hope’s life, maybe he should get back with Steffy, but give her the same ultimatum. Steffy would fire Thomas so fast (or banish him to Forrester International). I really hate Steffy’s front door. That’s all I have to say about today’s show. That and do they really expect us to believe Steffy’s multimillion dollar home has a chain link fence?

Oh god, can you imagine ridge’s smug sanctimony? Literally the worst. I think about this every episode. We’d also be watching Thomas vs Ridge in a spectra vs. FC showdown and there’d actually be a side in that fight I could root for. I’d love for him to pull this one out during one of Thomas or Ridge’s endless speeches over how he needs to be with Steffy and Kelly. Oh, now that she’s not Phoebe, I’m sure Ridge doesn’t really care for that one, just like her mother. On the one hand, anyone proposing to me with conditions would be an automatic no, on principal. On the other hand, Liam is... not wrong about Thomas. So... can we just skip forward to the part where Liam moves into Bill and Katie’s enormous house, and he relays everything to Katie so I can get to see HT’s hilarious WTF bitchfaces while Liam and Katie eat ice cream on the couch? And then Bill and Will can come home, and Liam can teach Will terms like “corporate responsibility” and “sustainability” while Bill blusters and DD and SC improv a conversation about anything but the Forresters?

Hope gives wedding ultimatums. She doesn’t adhere to them. Still a better proposal than sticking another woman’s still-warm ring on her stepsister’s finger though. I’m not particularly bothered by Liam not running to Bill precisely because Bill would murder Thomas. While Liam wouldn’t shed any tears if Thomas died, I’d think he’d have a real problem with a) indirectly being responsible for it, and b) what that would do to Bill (Bill, obviously, would sleep like a baby, but I’m sure Liam would have fears and worries about Bill’s soul and shit). What I do have a problem with is Liam and Wyatt would obviously have had one of their “OMG, can you believe what Thomas did now?” gossip sessions by now, and Wyatt would hightail it over to Bill’s to spill the beans because he clearly has no moral compass.

If this isn’t a dream sequence, it’s absolute bullshit if Liam hadn’t turned his recorder on before he entered the room. He’s one of two characters who are consistently shown to have something of a brain in his head. Also, after he wound Thomas up, he was way too quiet while Thomas kept on going and going and going. Liam’s an interrupter, but this time he just let Thomas ramble, except for a couple of well placed comments to egg him on? Come on. That shit is replacing the music for the HFTF line at the fashion show (or maybe he’ll wait for when Thomas is declared the winner and is triumphantly kissing Zoe on stage in the showstopper while Ridge is speechifying about his well adjusted son, I don’t know. Either way, it would be the perfect callback to the start of Liam’s relationship with Hope. Then Bill can drop a building on Thomas. One thing I am liking is the way show has developed Steffy and Brooke’s interactions (even though it took them for frigging ever to finally have a conversation about Thomas). They’re not friends, but they’re not enemies. It’s complicated, and sometimes they agree and sometimes they think the other is just the worst, but in the hands of better writers it could be the most interesting relationship on the show. Quinn can die in that fire any day now. I’m so over her lording around Forrester making snarky comments about anyone needing to just get over vicious crimes that were perpetrated against them.

The saddest part of Thomas’ dream was that it clearly happened well into the future. So... his fantasy is years of being with Hope with Brooke bitching about it until she finally kicks the bucket? Dream bigger, dude. So, the faces JMW was making whenever Zoe said something were wholly inappropriate if she was trying to portray a mother grieving having to give up her child and finally coming face to face with one of the people who perpetuated the lie... but I don’t care, she cracked me up. It makes no fucking sense story-wise, but every eye roll was just like, “yep, Steffy, I totally feel ya, that’s exactly what I’m thinking, too!” i really enjoy how Liam can just decide who to hire at Forrester Creations. And by really enjoy I mean do not enjoy at all. Why couldn’t Liam just say, “If co-CEO Steffy over here won’t give you a job somewhere in international where she never has to run into you ever again, I, editor in chief of Eye on Fashion, will hook you up with a job with literally any other fashion house”? You would think Zoe would prefer that anyway since she could legitimately start over fresh.

Fair enough lol... I wish Liam were a nastier person because Bill gave him back eye on fashion, right? He should be plastering the site with all sorts of headlines about Thomas. I don’t understand how we don’t have a scene of Bill and Liam brainstorming ideas, and Wyatt coming up with the hashtags. You know Thomas is crazy because in his dream, Ridge was apparently still alive and Thomas thinks that fucker would just let him have the Forrester estate instead of lording over it himself.

The same could be said about Liam. I believe Ridge mentioned that he’s “designing” and that he “apologized” without considering that apologies don’t mean anything when you break down in a snit when people don’t accept the apology on your timetable. Yup. As soon as Steffy said (not in so many words because god forbid she agree with a Logan) that her interpretation of events is much closer to Brooke’s than Ridge’s he, too, got himself into a little snit. My favorite part was she wasn’t angry or screaming, it was just this quiet forcefulness, with a side of sass. Between “who, by the way, you kept hidden from me” when talking about Beth, and Steffy looking at Ridge like he was a moron when she correctly identified Thomas as having an obsession, I was so here for the sass today. And it didn’t even come from the brothers Spencer (whom I was still glad to see sharing scenes together considering their scenes are the only times Wyatt doesn’t annoy me these days). Eh, I’m kinda on Steffy’s side here. I’m fully supportive of Hope going back to work whenever she’s ready, but going back to work at this point means finding a designer you love who is a great culture fit for you. And you shouldn’t put that on some ridiculous showdown timetable. Like, actually take a minute to plan your line and have a brand strategy, maybe? That’s apparently what Steffy and Sally have been doing (not that we’ve gotten any scenes of that because god forbid we get a day without everyone talking about Thomas) so let them launch their line, and in a few months when you’re ready, launch HFTF.

So fucking noble of Ridge to want to preserve the love he and Brooke have by getting a divorce without bothering to tell her he’s been cheating on her for weeks. I’m honestly a little surprised Eric didn’t tell her. He definitely likes Brooke better than Ridge... I’m going to assume he’s keeping to the code of cheating assholes, and it’s not that he kept quiet out of any particular love or loyalty for Ridge. Ridge and Steffy really are idiots (and terrible CEOs). Even if they truly think Thomas is cured (which Steffy clearly doesn’t) they know what a clusterfuck Thomas and hope working together could be and the way it is likely to blow up in the future. You want Thomas to design? Fine. Put him on another line. Any other line. But don’t set up a line you’re investing money in to fail.

Watching a rapist and a babystealer holding court in the Forrester living room looking down on the mother of one of their victims is infuriating. All I wanted was for Pam to waltz in, get apoplectic and introduce the pair to her friend, the bear. Brooke, sign the divorce papers. Hopefully you guys didn’t sign a pre-nup so you can take 10% of Forrester Creations while you’re at it. This hot mess is not worth it. Speaking of, I would be so on board with Brooke taking that 10% igniting Thomas’ stupid ass “must rid FC of the Logans plan” to which Brooke finally loses her shit and blackmails Steffy into selling Brooke her shares or else she’ll tip the police off to Taylor’s murder attempt. Then rick could come back, letting everyone know that his dad gifted him 5% a la Ridge/Thomas, so ps, the Logans own the majority of FC. I really wish that someone would take Ridge to task for being a terrible father. Like, don’t get help for Thomas to save your marriage or to save Hope from her own stupidity of letting Thomas back in her life. Get help for Thomas because he’s your goddamn son and you want him to live a happy and healthy life. Sticking your head in the sand now is being a way worse father than any so-called abandonment in thomas’ younger years. But Brooke will never say that... it’d probably have to be a Spencer. I know she’s not going to last, but disinterestedly disdainful Steffy might be my favorite Steffy. If she gets more scenes where she says “You know she doesn’t like you, right?” To Thomas while barely looking up from her paperwork, channeling her inner seventh grade mean girl (let’s be real, she doesn’t have to reach too far down for that), I’d be OK with that. (Of course, what I’d really like to see is her actually going to Hope one of these times and saying, “Hey, I just had this concerning conversation with my brother about you that I think you should know about.” Instead, we’ll probably get a scene where she and Liam bond over how they just can’t believe why Hope doesn’t see what Thomas is doing, can you believe her?)

I just binged about a month and a half of this show and... I do not recommend it. literally, the only thing worth watching was the episode when Brooke took off her rings. She DRAMATICALLY tells Ridge that he’s looking at her like Stephanie used to and tells him to say it: “No slut from the valley is worthy of raising a Forrester.” And then the camera DRAMATICALLY cuts to Ridge. And that’s clearly where the scene was supposed to cut, but Scott Clifton, god bless him, forces them to add in his reaction when he gets this “oh shit” look on his face, mouths “oh my...” physically turns his body so he’s staring at the wall and leans into Hope, and just has this look on his face, like, “I am so uncomfortable right now. Can I... can I just hide in Hope’s hair?” It was full on Dillon Quartermaine, and I love him for it. I literally watched it 30 times. Can Scott Clifton just be in the background of every scene with no lines? Between that, his moonwalk out of Brooke’s house the day the Logans thought Hope dissolved Thomas and were being weirdly tense and quiet, and his expression every time Ridge said “hope stole Douglas” he was basically the only thing worth watching. I even forgive him for his WTF faces when Hope rightly told him to be clear with Steffy once and for all about who he wanted to be with, because I interpret that as SC’s reaction that they were actually doing this story again and not Liam’s. Ridge can die in a fire anytime now. The only good thing is with Liam back at Spencer Publications with his relationship with his dad back on track, we can finally get the Kelly reveal.

He can take some responsibility, I think. Hope and Liam had actually talked through their problems and were in a good place when Thomas manipulated Liam’s trip to Paris, and then slowly chipped away at Hope’s confidence so that she wanted the annulment. Ultimately, it was on her, but while Hope May have set the fire, Thomas was egging her on, handing her the match. I also don’t know that it’s accurate to call Liam waffling this time around. He and Steffy had sex when he was unable to give consent, and afterwards, everything in his tone, facial expression and actions said he didn’t want her and wasn’t with her. Katie. But the point still stands. Regarding The Who owns the house conversation, I find it hard to believe Ridge and Brooke don’t have a prenup. Destiny blah blah blah, but they’ve both been married enough times to get things happen, and also, no way in hell Ridge isn’t protecting his 20% of FC should they get divorced. i also find it hard to believe that Katie, who 100% agrees with Brooke on everything but also doesn’t want to see Brooke lose her marriage, wouldn’t whip out her phone and call Karen, who has been pretty consistent in being Katie’s ally, right then and there to get her to take over the Thomas/Douglas situation. Karen has more standing than Brooke, and then Brooke’s hands are clean. Hell, even if Karen can’t take in Douglas at the moment because she’s secretly nursing her daughter back to health and doesn’t want anyone to know, her backing her nephew Liam in his claim for custody would help a lot.

Although Steffy and Eric together own 75% of FC, so if anyone should leave (I can only imagine Eric would be Team Brooke & Steffy over Team Ridge) it should be Ridge/Thomas. I shudder to think what that company name should be though. Because the Bells haven’t bought a house recently to use for the exterior shot? I don’t know how Katie managed to get her house. “My main priority is my son.” Record that shit and send it to Steffy, Brooke. Let Ridge see what his little girl can do with a tire iron. But also, Ridge. STFU. “We have to help him?” Hope, Liam and Steffy are his victims. The onus is never on the victim to “help” the person who committed a crime against them. Thanks for playing, though.

Ridge does not get to say another word to Shawna ever. What he’s doing for Thomas? Is the exact same thing. Can someone also please explain to me how the person the police call to get the victims’ blessing to drop charges in a Logan/Spencer kidnapping is an effing Forrester? I hope Ridge makes this deal, and I hope the Spencers and Logans raise holy hell about Flo getting out, and I hope Bill runs story after story after story about Thomas’ involvement in Emma’s death every damn day. I hope he interviews Flo and Xander and the janitor working at FC that night Thomas fought with Emma, and those video interviews play in every streaming platform there is. And I hope literally everyone crucifies Ridge for his cowardice. (Side note: it’s pretty much unbelievable that Bill hasn’t already done this, right?) So Steffy finally showed up. It’s been beyond ridiculous that she hasn’t been part of this story or had any sort of point of view since she gave Beth up. She is still supposed to be one of the show’s leading ladies, right? Regardless, I think JMW does better with anger than sadness, so while some parts of today were laughable, it was better than her last scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed parts of her takedown, and I’m glad that she showed anger for both herself and for Hope . And I’m so ready for the Co-CEO Steffy fires Thomas’ ass, and CO-CEO Ridge tries to condescendingly tell her he’s really the CEO and Thomas is staying where he is storyline. Anything, really, to get back to the fashion. Also, I’m pleased to see that the return of baby Beth has now resulted in five Hope outfits in a row that I haven’t hated.

Because it really cannot be said enough. Thomas may be Liam’s rapist by proxy, but she’s his actual rapist. She had no business being at that celebration. To be fair, Eric has always liked and respected Brooke more than any of his family members (not that I particularly blame him for that). And engaged to/possibly living with (but we’d never know it because they haven’t been seen in weeks) Katie! Who was there! I mean, not even a line of “Bill went to Tokyo on business, and he’s on the flight back, and I haven’t been able to reach him”? How can Katie know and Bill not? Apparently, Beth’s superpower is influencing her mom to wear better clothes. This is two outfits in a row I haven’t hated, which is maybe a first since AN came on board. Hold up! Thomas actually told his drug dealer the truth? And not some vague “my wife kicked me out because women be crazy” excuse? Why didn’t we get to hear that conversation? So... on Wednesday the Logan sisters wear pink? Lizzie is getting the Kelly treatment. “My mother’s namesake...” She has two, Brooke. Or are we pretending Lizzie/Maya don’t exist now? Are we still pretending they live in that house? Did Thomas murder them too? (He was the last person to mention them...)

Oh, I meant out of the main house. Spring cleaning is spring cleaning, and Brooke shouldn’t have that shit’s stuff anywhere on her property. Douglas can stay though.

Oh look, more Lope slow motion. Because AN and SC aren’t talented enough to let us know that this is A MOMENT. So... was that twisted fairytale retelling of the Phoebeth saga for everyone who tuned out the past eight months and are just tuning back in? Because the rest of us already saw this over and over and over and we’d like a new story now please. Recap was super unnecessary. Just get to the Lope family scenes already. I refuse to believe that Brooke had the cabin set up, and didn’t also toss Thomas’ crap out on the curb. Douglas is actually the cutest kid ever. Caroline must have also slept with the bellhop at her hotel that night too because there is no way in hell that child came from either Thomas or Ridge.

The contention was never that she should. The contention was that, in a fit of anger, she could if no one talked sense into her, and no one would like that outcome, Steffy included in the long term, for the reasons you mentioned. Not so much on that last part. He moved into the guest room, Thomas drugged him so he’d sleep with Steffy, and after that, everyone assumed one lay = forever luv, but I don’t think Liam ever verbalized, yes we’re back together, and two minutes later, he started his baby quest, so... plus, he has been shockingly consistent in his love for Hope all this time. I know the bran tumor defense has been bandied about, but I would love a legit clinical diagnosis of some real mental disorder that explains all of his actions now, as well as his past actions, if only because it would be poetic justice if Taylor spent so much time policing Brooke’s backyard, that she failed to see the signs in her own freakin son. No doubt if there is a legal aspect to this, they’ll find a way to just use that dumb judge’s office from wills custody trial. (But seriously guys, Y&R has a courtroom set. If you’re too cheap to build, just borrow theirs.) It’s almost like falling for someone because you hit your head in your bathtub isn’t a good foundation for a relationship. The woman has literally no self esteem whatsoever. And Wyatt is usually good for that “build her back up” relationship, but at this point, I’d rather just see her have a mentorship story with Eric or something. Get some self esteem, then we can talk about a romance. Seriously. Steffy was clearly starting to get it, and was clearly moving toward acceptance (which, in the grand scheme of things, didn’t take her all that long, considering this is still the same day that Liam told her what Douglas said), and he’s not once, but repeatedly calling for Beth to stay there? Give it up, Ridge. Even Steffy has given up that pipe dream at this point. (Though that’s par for the course for Ridge isn’t it. He’s spent the past year fighting harder for Steam than Steffy has.) Also, show really needs to stop using the slo-mo cam on every big Lope moment ever. It feels like half the episodes in the past two weeks have utilized this. I think we’re perfectly capable of understanding when something is a poignant moment without the added camera work.

Because if Liam and Hope take Beth home and Steffy calls the cops, the adoption looks legit. The paperwork seemed fine enough for it to have been filed with no red flags. It’s only when Lope tell the cops about the shadiness, and the cops investigate it, would the adoption be invalidated. If this all happens late at night when no one can reach that doctor because she’s asleep in her bed, then Lope could spend the night in jail. It would all get worked out of course, and charges dropped, but it’s not the way they want to spend their first night with Beth. Then, they still wouldn’t just leave Beth with Lope. Social services would take her until they could determine parentage. They could determine Beth could stay with one of the Forresters/Logan’s until they determine parentage, but that’s not a guarantee and completely dependent on these people keeping their shit together long enough for social services to think it’s a safe environment... which, these people keeping their shit together is not exactly their forte. After that, yes, Steffy is the one who could be in legal trouble, but everyone seems convinced she knew nothing about it, so she’d likely be fine. This is where encouraging Liam to be Phoebes father really bites her in the ass. Yes, Beth is comfortable with Hope, but Liam has been a constant in her life at Steffy’s urging. Him taking Beth back to Hope’s cabin won’t affect Beth any differently then, say, her living with him in an apartment in Paris, which, if I recall correctly, she spent a good deal of her life living in, so they can really stop with this whole “this house is the only home she knows” crap. Agreed. It would also help in determining if this change in Steffy is legit, or if her new attitude about burying the hatchet with Hope and not turning into her mother was only because of JMW’s maternity leave. I want to believe this is a new Steffy, but I fear she’ll revert to form now that JMW is back full time. If Taylor were around, trying to fill her head with nonsense about Hope and Liam, actively encouraging her to come between them, actively trying to get her to hate Brooke, and Steffy was resisting her, it would do a lot to make me think she’s a rootable character now. Thomas filled that role a bit, but they only had the one or two scenes.

One phone call is all it took to prove that the adoption is shady. Proving Phoebe is Beth is another matter. All of the circumstances point to it, but the only evidence they have is the word of two liars, one of whom helped steal a baby for profit, and the other of whom was also complicit after the fact. And technically, Zoe and Flo don’t even “know” that Phoebe is Beth. They only have Reese’s word, and he’s also a man who stole a baby for profit. We know it’s true, but if the police get involved, they’re going to want DNA evidence. DNA test results seem to range from taking one day to three months on soaps, but in the meantime, where does that baby go if there’s no proof of parentage and everyone is fighting? Hope and Liam are better off getting Steffy on their side before they involve the courts to restore their rights. And yes, it would be shitty of Steffy to let all that happen, but, I mean, it’s Steffy.

She does until the police investigate it and determine it was a fake adoption for themselves. Even then, Hope wouldn’t get her back until a DNA test proved she was Beth. If Steffy chooses to fight Hope, Beth could easily wind up in foster care until the courts/DNA testing settle the matter.

Hope and Liam were doing a remarkably calm job of muddling through the situation, all things considered. And much as I’ve historically disliked Steffy, I’ll forgive her the things she says on this one day given how traumatic it is for all of them. Plus, the way she kept referring back to things in the story, and the way she half stopped herself at one point as if seeing for the first time the resemblance between Hope and Beth, and the point at which she even verbalized that her brain was trying to keep up, it seems clear to me that she’s not being calculated in what she’s saying and has lost all of her filters. Anything she says/does after she’s had time to process this, that I’ll have no problem blaming her for. But that’s not who Liam is. With the exception of times when he’s in extreme pain himself (for example, right when he found out about Steffy and Bill) He’s never been the guy who is intentionally cruel to women when they are in pain. And as annoying as Liam’s waffling has been, and as much as I’ve loved him gaining some agency this past year, I like that he’s still a leading man who is genuinely decent and good. We have far too many of these crap alpha male anti heroes. I loved that moment. Having been unfortunate enough to have watched all four, he always plays his character as a condescending, arrogant blowhard. I don’t think she was a bitch, but I do think she was short sighted and dumb. Both Hope and Steffy are running on high emotions right now. They need people surrounding them to defuse the situation, not antagonize each other. Brooke, despite also feeling a lot of emotions right now, was smart, savvy and calculating enough to know they shouldn’t call the police just yet because then they couldn’t control the story. She was smart enough to keep Ridge at FC, so that Hope and Liam could talk to Steffy without his interference on his daughter’s behalf. Right now, Steffy has all legal rights to Beth, and getting custody of her would take longer than this one day. If Hope wants to take Beth home tonight, she has to get Steffy on board or else wind up in jail on kidnapping charges. Brooke knows that Steffy is highly emotional, and that she can be vindictive and lash out. Brooke knows the limitations of her husband when it comes to his daughter. If Brooke were being the smart woman she was being just minutes before at Forrester Creations, the woman best equipped to help Hope get what she wanted in that moment, she would have approached the situation and Steffy more carefully. She did a much better job later on when she asked Steffy to come up with an alternate solution, trying to show Steffy in Steffy’s own words how ridiculous anything but Beth going home with Hope would be, but when Brooke first entered that room, she entered it hard, and that didn’t do her daughter any good.

Steffy didn’t bother me in those scenes as much as Ridge and Brooke did. I get Brooke wanting to be happy and have a moment with her daughter, but read the room. Maybe wait to have that conversation until you’re in private? Yes, you and Hope deserve your happiness, but things with Beth aren’t settled yet, and her coming in gushing about how Hope has her daughter back in front ofSteffy made me cringe. it exacerbated an already tense situation. It sucks and is unfair that she should have to temper her reaction, but Steffy still has legal custody and what Hope needed was everyone helping Steffy get to a point where she can see reason, and Brooke’s initial comments did nothing to help with that. And Ridge, man. I can understand Steffy’s delusions that Beth should just stay there because she’s still processing this information, but Ridge failed her as a father by feeding into that delusion. If he had been the one to gently reason with her, it would carry a lot more weight than any of the others. But instead of doing the thing that would actually help his daughter, guiding her toward the inevitability of losing Beth (sure, she can insist Beth stay there that night and legally she has the right, but a DNA test and a court order will have Beth going home eventually) he coddled her, which is the exact reason why she has a decades worth of history of being an entitled jackass. But man, JMW was bad. The only moment she seemed to relish in was “say something for once.” (Of course, this is the one storyline where Liam actually doesn’t deserve that. It only took a decade!) that being said, in that moment, my mind played out this whole scenario where the inevitability of losing Beth pushes Steffy to cut Liam out of Kelly’s life to punish him for “choosing” Hope/Beth. So Liam goes to fight for custody, and they find out Kelly is really Bills, and then Steffy throws all their words about Beth back in his face about how Kelly is still family and he can be a part of her life even though she’s not his daughter and Bill is her daddy now. And, anyway, dark!Steffy is born (or, rather, finally acknowledged by the show.) i also keep thinking about something Flo said during one of her explanation scenes about how she assumed the birth mother was a celebrity who needed things quiet at first. It bothered me because even with all of her handwringing all of these months, that’s the first I can recall her saying that, and I really wish that had been the story. Reese leads her to believe bio mom is a celebrity who wants to put her kid up for adoption so she needs discretion, so Flo thinks she’s doing a good deed (and doesn’t think twice when Reese gives her a boatload of cash, assuming it’s payment from bio mom for her help.) She also never learns the bio mom’s name. Zoe shows up at the apartment demanding to know who she is, and Flo still tries to get rid of her, wanting to protect bio mom. Zoe investigates things, and Flo finally tells her the truth about celeb mom, but Zoe thinks something is odd because her dad was in L.A. for two minutes, so how did he have time to meet a celeb mom who trusted him with this? By this time, Wyatt and Flo reconnect and discover she is a Logan. Flo connects with the Logans. Reese slips up in a conversation with Zoe so she knows the celeb mom thing is a lie. She then puts the timing of everything together and suspects Phoebe might be Beth. Flo is horrified, and they run a DNA test on hope and Beth ( not wanting to tell anyone their suspicions so they don’t hurt Hope if they’re wrong) the results come back positive, and Flo and Zoe are horrified. Them keeping the secret is still gross, but a lot more understandable if they don’t know until after Steffy has been with Beth for months and Flo has bonded with her newfound family. They could also have written it so that Thomas found out when he saw the DNA test, and started threatening them immediately. It’s still gross, but a lot more palatable if they plan on keeping these characters around.

I assume Brooke just meant let’s not call yet. She knew Steffy hadn’t been told yet, and the last thing she would’ve wanted would be for Steffy to get a news alert notification on her phone about Flo stealing Hope’s baby before Lope Had a chance tell her. I assume she wanted Steffy to be told, the three to process it a bit and have a chance to figure out the best way to handle returning Beth, and the rest of the family to be told before the arrest alerted the press. Then Forrester could put out one of their press releases in tandem with the arrests. Also, if Flo were arrested and the press notified, that’s 100% how Bill would find out about his granddaughter, which is super shitty.

He’s not more to blame for the switch, but he also owes Hope and Steffy more. Just like Flo’s betrayal will hurt Hope more than Zoe’s, Thomas is Steffy’s big brother and has known Hope his entire life. His betrayal will hurt the most. Do I think he should be held accountable for others’ crimes? No. But he should be held accountable for his own, and if Stope treat him worse than the others, I’d understand. Zoe is basically no one to them, but Thomas was someone they were supposed to be able to depend on and trust. That wound cuts a lot deeper. Tbf, his specialty is really annulments. It’s a very specific skill set to be sure, but it usually depends on the absence of kids, so adoption was really out of his wheelhouse. I admit it, I laughed a bit when Zoe and Flo kept side eyeing each other and then in unison were just like, “uh no Ridge, Thomas does suck that much. For serious.” They both still suck too, but I’m for anyone wiping the smug off his face about his precious children. Also, Flo, when Ridge is like, “I’ll believe that when Thomas tells me,” then that is the time to say, “ok, just take a look at my texts, bro.”