KerleyQ

I assume his method of handling Sheila will be the same method he uses to handle every other problem in his life. He'll spend months' worth of episodes wandering around town to complain about her to everyone he knows.

Can Wyatt and Li just team up and go around town laying down some common sense for everyone else? First stop, Deacon's place. Do the writers intend for Liam to come across like an asshole? Because he's really coming across like an asshole, despite being technically right about Sheila. And I love how he goes from asserting his right as Kelly's father to not leave her alone with Finn anymore to basically usurping Finn's place as Hayes's father, as he prepares to absorb him into the family he imagines he's creating with Steffy now. Yeah, sure, dude, you get to decide about your daughter, but you don't get to start "protecting" Finn's son from Finn. Slow your roll. The only small mercy there was that the flashbacks were largely silent. Their dialogue as a "cool, edgy couple," was so cringeworthy. We're probably about a week away from the return of the dreaded "cha cha cha."

And what about protecting them from Sheila, too? Sheila has already gone after Brooke in the past, who's to say she won't go after Brooke's daughter or grandkids?

JR is the only one remaining who I feel pretty confident won't be winning. Dude gets like 30 seconds of air time per episode. I like that we've had more wrong guesses this season. It makes that part of the episode more interesting instead of the foregone conclusion it was in each episode last season.

And, even in Steffy's more recent memory, Sheila was able to sneak in there during her wedding to Finn. Deacon, Deacon, Deacon. You're attractive. You're charming. You own what seems to be a succesful restaurant. I'm sure there are plenty of other women in L.A. willing to call you "daddy." Women you can be involved with without it jeopardizing your relationship with your daughter, your parole status (is he still on parole?), and your business. Women who you won't have to worry might some day shiv you in your sleep or let you take the fall for one of their crimes.

And, up until a few months ago, Hope was simply working with the lead designer on her line, who happens to be the son/brother of the co-CEO's and the grandson of the company's founders. It's not like she had a choice there, especially when she agreed to him coming back. So, Hope working with Thomas wasn't cheating, until it became cheating. Just like Liam's time over at Steffy's house is never cheating until it's cheating. If Liam can be excused in being around Steffy because they share a child, then Hope should be given the same excuse, since she and Thomas share a child. And if not, then that is literally the definition of him not extending her the same grace she's extended him. And, as for her sleeping with him. I believe she didn't intend to when they came home. She told him nothing more was happening, and she intended to focus on her marriage and family. She didn't flip the switch on that until Liam went directly to divorce, when it dawned on her that, when she was in his shoes, she didn't jump right there and refuse to listen. And then he confirmed that he was absolutely interested in getting back with Steffy at that point, and why wouldn't she throw her "nothing else is going to happen, I want to focus on my marriage" mantra out the window? Similar to how Liam tosses his devotion to his marriage out the window the second he feels he has a reason to (Hopequin and the Italy kiss), and runs right into Steffy's arms. Steffy having a relationship hasn't, in the past, been much of a deterrent for Steffy or Liam. She fucked Liam when she was allegedly happily in love with Finn, just because Liam came to her. It took her two kisses to lay down the law this time. She's still keeping those kisses a secret from her husband while lambasting him for his secret. And she'll probably waver onto Liam's dick in due course instead of working on her own marital issues now. Either that or, now that Sheila has saved Kelly's life, he'll start feeling more conflicted about taking her down. Although I have to say, as much as I love Scott Clifton, Sheila killing him to get on Finn's good side would be good story. Or maybe just put him in a coma for a while, and reboot the character when he comes out of it (less of a whiny waffle, for starters).

OK, but, this is what people mean when they say that Liam didn't give Hope the same grace she's given him. Did Hope demand that Liam cut Steffy out of his life after he cheated on Hope with her? Did she demand he have neutral site drop offs of Kelly to limit their interactions? Not only did Hope not make any of those demands, but she sat there and put up with it when Liam was spending nearly all of his time over at Steffy's house when she had amnesia and thought he was her husband. I think her only complaints at the time were that she'd like him to spend some time at home. She wasn't obsessing over it every second of the day, badgering him about concerns that Steffy might try something with her "husband," even while Hope had Steffy's mother basically telling her "you have to let her have your husband now, because she needs him." She's been 1,000 times more forgiving and understanding of years of Liam's shit with Steffy than Liam was able to be over one kiss. The one time Hope kissed Thomas, and the few months she's had feelings for him, pretty much pales in comparison, imo, as merry go rounds go, to the years of Liam/Steffy crap, including him literally fucking Steffy while married to Hope. As for today's show, I laughed so hard at "you need to cut her some slack!" And all of Steffy's facial expressions. JMW usually does bad telenovela reaction shots, but her reactions today were so much better. I love how Wyatt calls Liam on his shit these days. And Deacon calls Sheila on hers. If it wasn't for Deacon's huge blindspot for being in love with Sheila, I'd say that he and Wyatt have too much common sense for the rest of these characters. But Deacon's common sense escapes him when it comes to his relationship with her. He's dead on accurate when he tries to give her advice, though.

I was just thinking, while I was watching yesterday, that Scott Clifton must be so bored. First, he spent months just wandering around town whining about Thomas and Hope. Now he's just wandering back and forth between Wyatt and Steffy, whining about Sheila and Finn. Yesterday, he had almost identical lines to Monday, right down to "I remember when Kelly was born..." Steffy really did seem like she was pissed that Sheila saved Kelly's life. On one hand, I can totally get her being pissed at Finn for the accident happening in the first place, because, yeah, in that adrenaline fueled initial reaction to my kid almost dying, I wouldn't be thinking "everyone turns their back for a moment at some point." But, on the other hand, I think she's focusing on that because she can't express anger that someone saved her child's life, so she is mad at Finn for the whole situation occurring. To Finn's credit, though, he did actually handle Sheila right there. He thanked her for saving Kelly, because, yes, she did save her, but he still reinforced to her that she has to keep her distance from his family. The main thing he did wrong in that interaction was calling her "mom." Because giving her that will just make her completely disregard the "keep your distance" message.

I like how they've both, in recent months, uttered the completely bullshit line about how "I'm not trying to interfere in your marriage," to each other, and they each reassured each other "oh, no, I know you're not." When they both know it's complete bullshit.

I truly don't get it. The only times Liam hasn't essentially treated Steffy like a fun sidepiece were the times when Hope wasn't an option for him. I've really never bought any kind of "soul mate" from either side of Steam. Steffy latched onto him when she couldn't have Bill and then stuck around because of the competition with Hope, and Liam just used her when he was frustrated with Hope or Hope wasn't around.

I'd have a little more respect for Bridge Part 2,047 if the two of them were like "we don't need to get married. We can commit to each other without that, and we've clearly shown that a marriage can be ended practically in minutes." And, besides, when was the last Forrester wedding that wasn't chock full of shocks or interruptions? Best not to court that juju. I still hate that we're still dealing with Sheila on our screens, but, at the same time, I will laugh forever if Steffy and Liam have to put up with Kelly practically worshipping her because she saved her life. They really are going to drive that bus over Finn multiple times to sell the pairing literally nobody wants, aren't they? If I was a Steffy fan, I would be furious.

I feel like there are multiple different issues all contributing. One, Hope is Brooke's golden child, and she's always wanted Liam, so Brooke wants Liam for her. Two, she and Taylor both saw the fight over Liam as an extension of their own fight, and each advocated super hard for their daughter to "win," because it would mark a victory over the other woman in their own decades long war. Third, I think there may also be some level of validation there in Hope choosing to be in the same situation she's in. Now, this fourth one, I wasn't around for, but I've seen enough about it - Hope got together with Liam after she ending things with Oliver. And things with Oliver ended because he and Brooke "accidentally" hooked up at a masquerade party. She may feel like if Liam is Hope's own "destiny," then it gives her some absolution on being the reason Hope and Oliver ended. Lastly, I think she just likes and gets along with Liam. Since the only other man circling around her for years has been Thomas, who Brooke has all kinds of reasons to not trust, Liam is the "safe" option. Now, if anyone was to ask Brooke, it would likely be that her only answer is that she likes Liam and she knows Hope has been in love with him for years. The rest of that is probably fairly subconscious. But, I do wonder how that third issue can come into play now that Hope has explicitly stated that she doesn't want to live like her mother has. Does it make Brooke start to re-evaluate whether it's truly how she wants to live out the rest of her years? Or does she just dig in and cling to her "destiny" even harder?

She probably managed to install a Lojack on him when they hugged. All I could think through all of their scenes since she was released was "so, what's your plan here, Deacon? You going to just be in a relationship with someone who you can never, ever acknowledge you're in a relationship with, or else you lose literally everyone who matters to you? How well did keeping it a secret work out for you last time? Hope almost caught Sheila in your apartment at least once. Ridge and Bill figured you out. There is no way this staying a secret is sustainable." Far be it from me to defend Steffy when it comes to Liam/Hope, but I didn't really like when Hope said something to the effect of "did she tell you the role Steffy played in all of this?" while talking to Ridge and Brooke. Steffy has more than enough real blame over the years for some shit, but, before Hope kissed Thomas, all had been calm on the Steam front for a couple years, ever since Hopequin night. Is it possible that the reason she started fantasizing about Thomas was because, subliminally, his whole "I'm the man who is devoted to only you" shit started to dig in a little and felt good compared to being one leg of a triangle her entire life? Sure. But, Steffy had no actual role in everything that's gone down here and now. That was the one time in all of this that I totally agreed with Liam that Hope was deflecting too hard onto the whole Steam thing. I wonder if it's that Hope has such a problem understanding how she, with all of her moral stances on relationships, kissed a man other than her husband, so she's got to keep telling herself this is all because of the waffling. I mean, I'm still 99.9% on her side in all of this, but that was wrong of her. And, did I catch something in her scenes with Ridge, when she said that she understands he's worried about Thomas because he's his son, and he corrected her that he worries about "all" of his kids, was he trying to make it clear to Hope that he included her in that? The show seems to largely forget that he was one of the father figures in her life most of the time, so it took me a second to wonder if he was including her in that, too, letting her know that he's worried about her in all of this, as well. I honestly think that the last time I remember Ridge overtly acknowledging Hope as one of his kids was when he made her wedding dress back when KM was playing her. He was still more Steffy's father than hers at that point, but I do at least remember him making a point of claiming Hope, as well, during those scenes. (Of course, it was probably mostly to set up Deacon as the shitty father who was about to help thwart her wedding while "good" daddy Ridge was the supportive one who made her dress for her).

And did Li ever refuse to cooperate over the charges for assaulting, kidnapping, and attempting to murder her?

I thought Tim Meadows, too. I even had myself convinced she looks a little like him, around the eyes. I was a little distracted during part of the episode, but was Olivia actually encouraging someone to guess Jim Carrey for Chris? If so, that was pretty genius on her part. At this point, I've flip flopped multiple times on whether Olivia is related to either him or Jenny McCarthy. But, either way, those Carrey clues are obviously about her, so reinforcing someone else thinking they're for Chris is pretty good game play. Even better if she's related to Jenny, because she's kind of double misdirecting people on her clues, then. And she wasn't doing it overtly and obviously like Carly was doing in the first episode.

At one point, I wanted a Steffy/Vinny pairing so badly. And, speaking of things I want but won't get... I want Liam's whole plan here to go in a direction he hasn't considered. I want it to lead to Steffy and Finn having a long overdue conversation about how he's never been able to discuss his understandably complicated feelings about Sheila because he's always had to prioritize Steffy's also understandable fear and hatred of her. It's entirely possible that he's succumbing to Sheila's manipulations now because he hasn't had any healthy outlet to really go over all of his own reaction to her - to initially meeting her, to finding out her history with Steffy's family, to her shooting the two of them and attempting to kill his mother. Let Liam's tattling lead to Steffy and Finn strengthening their marriage as they deal with it. Also, when watching Wednesday's show (I've been catching up the past couple of days), I wanted to slap Liam with his "I trusted Finn to protect them when I can't be there." No, bitch, you trusted him to protect Kelly when you aren't there. Steffy and Hayes are Finn's to protect and trust others with, not yours. Every single thing Liam has said and done since the moment he saw that kiss has just reinforced all the things Hope has said to him that he's trying to deflect.

Yep. I'm envisioning teen Kelly and Beth, and one of them will be the "good girl" while one is the "bad girl." And the hot guy at school will probably pursue the good girl as his girlfriend while he's cheating with the bad girl behind her back. And that will lead to a lifetime of them fighting over some guy.

Sadly, if they retcon anything, it will likely be to reveal that Hayes is really Liam's, after all. Then he and Steffy can have their "Finn who?" happily ever after with their two perfect kids.

Judging from how Ridge's immediate reaction to the news was concern about Thomas going back to being obsessive, I'm thinking what's going to happen is that Thomas starts realizing that Hope, while she enjoys the orgasms, isn't as into him as he's into her, and he's going to start becoming obsessive again. I could see him using the Sheila threat to try to manipulate her into moving the relationship forward fast, like saying he needs to move in with her and the kids (or they need to move in with him) so he can protect them all. (Exactly the same bullshit Liam is going to pull on Steffy, basically). I'm hoping that the fact that Wyatt isn't coddling Liam like the poor little victim he wants to be, and that he went to Hope to get her side, giving us the longest scene DB and AN have had together, means we might actually be getting Hope/Wyatt when all the dust settles.

Definitely. If his concern was, first and foremost, that the hug meant Steffy and the kids were in danger, he would have told her about it immediately. Instead, he retreated so he can contemplate how best to use the information to his advantage. I love how much Wyatt is not indulging Liam's bullshit.

What I've noticed more is their conversation. It's so clear that, from her side, this is all about Liam. They talk about him. Hope talks about wanting someone who only wants her. Nothing about her wanting Thomas specifically, but her wanting someone who isn't Liam. If Thomas wasn't so dazzled by finally getting what he wants, he'd realize that this isn't, exactly, what he wants. He's the rebound who's helping her get up the gumption to end her marriage to a waffle. Are we going to get Steffy having a nervous breakdown (probably aided by Sheila fucking with her) to facilitate JMW's maternity leave? And, when she's back, WaffleMan will bust her out of the mental hospital where Sheila has probably bribed some staffers to drug her up and impede any recovery?

This is so much better than the crap we're likely about to get. I really thought it was going to turn out that Finn was somehow in on Ridge and Bill's last plot, with all of the talk about how many hours he was spending at the hospital during that same time. I figured he was telling Steffy he was at the hospital when he was really meeting with the two of them. So, I would definitely be up for that now. And it would make sense, if this was a new backup plan, that they got someone to pull some strings for him to actually be acceptable as the doctor who examined her to make sure she was physically fit for the trial. There's no way that her biological son, who is also one of her victims, should have been allowed to sign off on her fitness. (And I know he mentioned something about his boss not being OK with it, but it's the court who should have completely refused to take his word for it, given his giant conflict of interest).

Liam is such an ass. First, there's the whole mentioning his daughter last on that list of people he needs to protect, when she should be the first and only one on there. Second, if you really think that Finn is endangering Steffy and the kids, why wouldn't you just spit that out, instead of sitting on it while you go off to ponder how best to use this information to get into Steffy's pants? And why wouldn't your immediate reaction, if you're genuinely worried about anyone's safety living there, be to go over and say that, since Sheila is out on the loose, you would prefer bringing Kelly with you over to Bill's house, maybe along with an offer to take Hayes, too for a couple days if they'd like the time to beef up their security? Instead, you're just worrying about being able to "neener neener" Finn over hugging Sheila. I swear, we just need Wyatt to slap some common sense into Liam on a daily basis these days. I cracked up at Carter being all "yeah, none of the evidence was admissible" today, after the judge has tossed the case. Where was that take a couple months ago, or even the day before the hearing, Carter? Way to help everyone prepare for how that hearing was going to go. Instead of inevitably hiring Sheila Doubtfire to be the kids' new nanny, shouldn't Steffy be out there looking for big burly security guard/nanny? Someone who could conveniently be her new love interest if she dumps Finn?

At this point, from Steffy's point of view, the only point Liam should have in his favor over Finn is that he doesn't come with any ties to Sheila. Other than that, Finn has been better for her in every way. Sheila would probably prefer this pairing. She knows Taylor is way easier to reel in than Steffy is.

Since TN is so much better when he gets a chance to play Finn with more fire, it's a shame they haven't had him be more of this kind of guy.