Cool Breeze

Wow. Rip Torn's gun really was Chekhov's gun! Don't think Barry can claim entrapment because the whole reason Barry went to Janice's father's home was because her dad said Gene had id'd him as Janice's killer. That gives Barry motive. If anyone reading this got a random phone call, we wouldn't respond the way Barry did because we don't know Janice and we didn't kill her. For us, it'd just be a random (scary) phone call. But for Barry, it's evidence of motive for him to silence anyone who knows the truth.

Why is Sheila going to a federal prison? She hasn't committed a federal crime. I guess TPTB this "federal" sounds more serious than "county".

I think the difference is that Brooke was disrespecting her own marriage by kissing Deacon. Taylor's not married and has no obligation to anyone. Ridge is the one disrespecting his marriage to Brooke, not Taylor. As much as this show tries to tell us otherwise, only the two people in a marriage are responsible for its sanctity.

Didn't Hope call Steffy's first miscarriage a "blessing" that would pave the way for her and Liam to reunite? And Hope and Brooke seemed to have enough of Steffy's fantasy marriage pretty darn quick. Taylor was wearing the same clothes because, as she said, Steffy woke up yesterday. Brooke and Hope didn't even makee it 24 hours before they couldn't take it any longer. Not making excuses for Taylor's seeming deisre to have Steam reunite. God help us. But that doesn't excuse anyone else's behavior. These are all pretty shit-ass people. Every one of them.

Carter, the reason you don't get involved with a younger woman is because she doesn't have any appreciation of consequences. She's 23-24 to your, what, 37? She still has the last vestiges of imagined invincibility that all young people have. She doesn't yet know the kind of hell her actions may cause. You do. She thinks it's so easy to just give in, but you know better. Or, at least, you did. Too late now. Dummy.

Brooke actually mentioned her education and background within the last month, maybe to Sheila. She said "You know my history. I graduated college and worked as chemist, invented BeLieF formula." Clearly, this was to remind the audience, the majority of whom have never seen Brooke do anything of the sort. What's even more tedious about this current SL is that, once Sheila's bottle switch is revealed, all will be forgiven. Uh, no. What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals. Yes, Brooke was tricked into falling off the wagon but no one made her kiss Deacon. If I'm hammered drunk and someone offered me crack, I wouldn't smoke it because I'm not a crackhead. Clearly Brooke is tempted by Deacon and her drinking gave her the excuse to act on it.

As far as low-budget soap fights go, this looked about as realistic as possible*. Although Deacon is a karate-man, this is one time where TK's ogre-like bulk works. It's not uncommon for grapplers/wrestlers to best martial artists in MMA/UFC fights so this matchup seemed decently plausible. I guess TK's hiatus will come while Deacon recuperates at Brooke's house because "he has nowhere else to go"? *For a recent ridiculous example, see the recent fight among sixty- and seventy-year old men on GH. Showed them removing their jackets, advancing towards each other and then . . . the disheveled aftermath. Not one punch shown. Hilarious.

How does Carter go from Quinn, a woman with a capital “W” who, while replete with issues, is exciting, passionate and fiery, to Paris who looks and sounds like an inexperienced little girl? An immature naif who is the exact opposite of energetic and passionate. She is literally a walking sleeping pill. Carter had some heat when he was with Quinn but now he’s back to his somnambulant self. Quiet, dull and uninteresting. I have to believe putting these two together puts much of the audience to sleep. If I were LSV, I’d be pissed.

Douglas was the one who, against all opposition, stuck to his guns that "Phoebe" was Beth. No one listened to him and he was right. You'd think that, of all people, Hope and Liam would be pretty quick to believe the little truthteller who returned their daughter to them. And about Brooke, she of the selective morality and the less-selective, wandering pelvis? Come on. Hope should have been up at the big house before Douglas even finished his sentence.

I love KC but John Dutton is an absolutely horrible parent. He's made Jamie his cowardly pawn, making him go to law school when he didn't want to and forcing him into a lifetime of, essentially, indentured servitude to "keep the ranch". And Beth, he probably loves her the most but he is perfectly happy using her in just about any way possible to "keep the ranch". And, jeez, he branded Kayce himself. He's a hard man and a terrible father. As for Beth and Jamie, I do wish Jamie would grow a pair and dare Beth to go public with that incriminating evidence. Over the last century, the Yellowstone has deposited maybe hundreds of bodies at the train station. Any number of them were killed by Beth's husband. Heck, John put a guy there this season. "So, sure, you want to "own" me with that picture, I'm going to "own" you because I have a lot more knowledge of where the (literal) bodies are buried than you do. Mutually-assured destruction. You take me down, I take your precious husband and daddy with me." And Jamie should make this threat after he's documented and catalogued all the evidence so no one can make it disappear.

Of course Brooke is working an agenda. I’ve never been a fan of Brooke’s passive-aggressiveness, “Oh, I didn’t mean to fall on your boyfriend’s/husband’s penis. It just happened!” (As if her lack of intent makes any difference.) And I will concede, as between the two of them, I’ve regularly sided with Taylor. That said, Brooke is doing what every single woman on this show does and I can’t stand it, regardless of whether it’s done by Logan or Forrester. The centered, grounded, mature, “let’s-make-peace” approach is only ever offered by the “winner”. “Hey, I’ve got the man we both really wanted and fought for tooth-and-nail. So, we’re cool now?” It’s so infuriating. You’re not being magnanimous. You’ve got nothing to lose! For once, I’d like to see the loser go this route. And without the offer of friendship. Just a recognition of the situation and a truce. That’s magnanimous.

Not crazy about NuTaylor jumping on the "evil Logans" bandwagon, even as a general fan of Taylor with little use for the Logan family. This version of Taylor can exist on her own without any reference to, or pettiness and passive-aggressiveness towards, the Logans. In just two episodes, Krista Allen has shown more warmth than OG Taylor did in a thousand episodes. If Brooke's not careful, NuTaylor may take several big bites off Brooke's plate of soft-voiced, feminine allure. And I can't wait for the wig to go. KA's real hair will make her stand out , in a good way, from every other long-haired woman in the cast. Ah, Hope. As soon as I saw her never-before-seen interest in martial arts, I knew it was a matter of time before SK showed off his "Karate Kid 3" moves.

Didn't Ridge buy Brooke that house way back when? When she was beefing with open-the-door-like-you-live-here Brooke initially, wasn't it the consensus that it was Quinn's home because she was married to Eric? So, isn't this Ridge's home too because he's married to Brooke? And if Ridge is a freeloader for living with his father, then Brooke, aren't Liam and Hope freeloaders for living with her mother?

Piper Perabo is married to the show's executive producer Stephen Kay (ex-Reginald on "GH" for soap fans). Got to be weird seeing your wife in bed with Kevin Costner.

At my table for one, I thought Liam made some sense today. Although, as we know, in relationships, it’s not always easy to hear each other, particularly in times of stress. But when he said he doesn’t hate Deacon just like you don’t hate the hurricane, you just get out of its way to avoid damage? Not a bad argument.

Paris now has three men interested in her? Her “let’s-slow-it-down, now-speed-it-up,” boyfriend Zende, inevitably-obsessive Thomas and now hunky, dull Carter? Anyone, anyone, interested in her, who sings her praises as if she’s Beyoncé, Mother Teresa and Princess Diana all rolled into one, sounds beyond foolish. (At least Zende is the appropriate age though.) Paris is pretty but she is not a “fireball” or “enthusiastic”, both of which were in the litany of praise heaped upon her this week, and neither of which apply. For her to be those things, she’d have to have actual, you know, energy. On a scale of 1-10, Paris’ energy level hovers consistently around 1.5. Why doesn’t Show tell us she’s pretty (which she is) or smart (which can be written) instead of telling us she has these qualities we’ve never seen from her before?

She's a "Fireball"? She has an "Infectious smile"? All the accolades Zende heaped onto Paris today, and his over-the-top tongue-bathing, repeatedly made me question who the hell he was talking about.

Just as I thought, seems we'll be skipping Li's reaction to Jack's decades-long deception to get to Finn's confused befuddlement and, most importantly, the fact Sheila could have blown Jack up anytime over the last thirty years but didn't. "Isn't that proof that she's changed?" (See, also, Deacon discontinuing the fiction of a relationship with Sheila. "Isn't that proof that he's changed?") Switching gears, I have to say it burns my butt to see Hope, who has no discernible skills or talents, zero, being "the boss" over people with actual skills and talents, i.e., Thomas and Zende. She doesn't seem to do anything. And then gets to pass judgment on their designs? What does she know about . . . anything? Ugh. Infuriating.

What is with Jack's occasional Irish lilt? "Oim Finn's fodder"? What? Are you Irish or not?

Buck Taylor goes way back. He was a series regular on "Gunsmoke" in the '60's.

Same with Hope and Deacon. Hope should be able to see her father and have a relationship with him. That’s pretty much her choice alone to make. But her children have fathers. And there’s no way she should be able to make unilateral decisions about who should be a part of theIr lives, i.e., Deacon. Both Thomas and Liam have a say in that and Hope, who has a tendency to get up her own ass when making unilateral decisions, needs to hear them on his.

Strolling down memory lane with all this talk about the O.G. TOD, I'm struck by how much this show actually got right back then. Casting-wise, anyway. KKL, RM and HT were straight-up beautiful. While none of the three were great actors (by any stretch), they all brought something to the table that made them compelling. Brooke and Ridge (RM) were . . . apologies . . . unforgettable. When Katie was insecuring about Brooke to Carter saying she's the woman no man can ever forget? Yeah! I didn't snicker or sneer as I would have if it had been said about just about any other actress/character. But KKL is pretty and has a flirty, charming nature that, coupled with a soft, sexual allure, makes her irresistible to men. It makes absolute perfect sense that Brooke is the object of every man's desire. Similarly, RM's Ridge was ridiculously handsome and had a charismatic presence that, along with a light romantic charm, made Ridge the male Brooke, i.e., the man every woman wanted. Even Macy was pushed toward Ridge in the beginning when Sally purred "that's a man right there." And HT? Was beautiful. She had a type of calm, serene beauty that made her interesting and attractive to every man (inclduing the whole male side of the Logan family). If Krista Allen hasn't messed with herself too much, she'll be what HT would have been had her acting not become crazy histrionic and had she driven past the plastic surgeon's office.

Thank you for this. This scene plays very differently than what's been quoted here. And it's followed by "I love Hope." Big difference. Also shows the world of difference between RM and TK. I can't imagine TK ever being this gentle and kind when disagreeing with Brooke. Hell, he's blustery, loud and aggressive when they're not at crossed purposes. Damn. You don't appreciate what you have until it's gone.

Grown woman Hope needs her mother's and her husband's approval to have a relationship with her father because she's been infantilized her whole life. Recall how Brooke sat in on Hope's therapy appointments (which she needed after she had sex with Liam despite her very public abstinence proclamations). Brooke, likely out of guilt, has over-mothered Hope at every possible turn. None of Brooke's other children received this much coddling, meddling and interference. And Hope's child-like need for approval about how to live her own life is the result.

As between the two of them, the person who behaved abominably in the Brooke/Deacon relationship was Brooke. He was into her, loved her, was passionate about her. She reciprocated those feelings, albeit she was a bit torn given his marriage to her daughter. As soon as Ridge became available*, Deacon was inexplicably villified, by Brooke no less, and told to leave town. Glad Hope pressed her mother on these issues today. The slow unfolding of the conversation led me to believe Brooke wasn't going to own up to the very legitimate shame she should feel at bedding her daughter's husband. Brooke even tried to push some of the blame for the affair onto Ridge because he "wasn't around" but Hope shot that down saying he was married to Taylor at the time, i.e., that's irrelevant and no excuse! *Thanks for the reminder CountryGirl!