KerleyQ

In the same episode where one of their spawn divides his time between trying to harass and intimidate his former stepmother and then working his way towards emotionally abusing his young son. Yeah, stellar job there, you two. Great work on the parenting. Oh, and, by the by, Giggles, didn't you go try to murder your daughter's former FIL after she banged him like a screen door in a hurricane because she was pissed off at her husband/his son? Yep, make room on that mantle. The Parents of the Century committee should come calling any day now.

So fitting that Ridge didn't even actually say the words, and Taylor just said "yes." He probably should have brought Steffy with him to pop the actual question. And Taylor, who was so desperate for Ridge to just want her and not fall back to her because Brooke pissed him off, clearly knows that Ridge is pissed off over something (he thinks) Brooke did, but she keeps letting him brush her off and still accepts the proposal. So much for all that self-respect she pretended she had when she headed off to Aspen. And are we supposed to believe that Brooke could, through her "destiny" tie to Ridge, actually feel the moment the proposal was happening? Why did Thomas go over to Brooke's? Did he decide he needs a sample of her voice again for some new evil plan? Because he really kind of showed his hand there. Donna had just been telling Brooke that maybe Ridge's problem was simply that Brooke can never trust Thomas. But then Thomas made it pretty clear to her that he did something, even if he tried to backtrack and pretend she misunderstood him. So, Douglas will be saving the day again. How does Thomas really think he's going to keep this from happening? Despite his best efforts, his son has a very well defined moral compass. And he's probably righteously indignant that dad's been giving him so much shit about this app only to have it turn out that he's the one who's really been up to no good with it. If Thomas starts rebuffing Hope's visits to see Douglas, she's going to know something is up. And it will undermine his entire plan to get her back, too. And if he doesn't keep Douglas and Hope apart while he's being menacing to Douglas to keep quiet, there's so little chance that Douglas isn't going to tell her. After this, Hope had better never, ever give this asshole the benefit of the doubt again.

This. There should be nowhere for him to turn and find any sympathy. If there are any charges that can be filed against him for the fake CPS call, I hope his family all sit back and let him face those charges. They need to realize that bailing him out of all of his consequences has only made him worse.

It just occurred to me - Douglas said he lost all of his voices on the app, right? If the same thing happened to Thomas, it would be hilarious if he went to play it to himself again, and someone walked in and heard "this is Brooke Logan" in Thomas's voice coming from his phone. Well, as long as it's not Hope who walks in. She'll believe whatever BS story Thomas sells her about it, and then she'll agree not to mention it to anyone "to keep the peace."

It would be so amazing if, once the truth comes out, and Ridge inevitably waffles back to Brooke, she tells him to go fuck himself. "You didn't trust me. You wouldn't even tell me why you were leaving me. You wanted an annulment, to pretend our marriage never happened. You refused to listen to me about the very obvious signs that your son was back to his old tricks. You were halfway out the door before Thomas convinced you I called CPS. You kissed Taylor multiple times while we were married. You fucked her while we were married. And you married her 10 seconds after you got your annulment you wanted so badly. Go enjoy your new wife, asshole. You got what you wanted."

That Ridge/Taylor relationship isn't even going to need the truth about the CPS call to doom it. Their meddling kids who can't let them have any relationship moment to themselves will keep them from being very close to each other. Steffy texts her mother like there's an emergency, gets her to leave in the middle of her workday to come over to FC so Steffy can tell her something that Ridge should get to tell her? Then Taylor pathetically spends the rest of the day lingering alone in Ridge's office, hoping he'll come back so she can talk to him about it? They're both eventually just going to feel like they're just doing it for Steffy and Thomas, and not themselves. And now we've got Taylor with her son-in-law acting as her sounding board. It'll be hilarious if they flip the script on us and it ends up being Taylor who bangs her SIL after Ridge goes running back to Brooke instead of Liam/Brooke happening. Finn could be under the impression that Steffy helped Thomas, so he's mad at her, comforts her mother, and... Also, shut up, Finn. Taylor wants Ridge for their family together, but Brooke just wants him for herself? Brooke and Ridge also have a family. Turns out your wife isn't a reliable narrator. Can't wait until you fully figure that out. Thomas was so over the top about the app, that I fully expect Donna to pursue this with Douglas the next time she's babysitting him. And how does Ridge not notice the menacing face his son was making while they were talking about Brooke? He could not have been channeling a villain any harder there. And is he going to go out of his way to keep Ridge away from Douglas now, since Douglas almost blew his spot there? "No, that's OK, I'll tell Douglas you had to go."

While Hope and Thomas were working in Thomas's office, she opened the closet (I think to get one of the dresses for the line out), and the Hopequinn was there. She was horrified, and Thomas assured her he had no idea how it got there and begged her to believe him. (Which she, stupidly, did.) Well, you know, despite being a Forrester kid, he somehow doesn't fit into the category of his "Forrester family," so he's not important. He comes in a distant third place. First is Princess Steffy, Thomas is a notch or two below her, and then RJ kind of exists a little, but he doesn't exist enough to warrant mentions or attention. At least then he'd finally have to admit why he left her.

I think it's a combination of that, and he still wants her (and doesn't want her to move on with anyone else). So, the longer she has questions, the more he can see her and keep leading her on with his declarations that he still loves her, so she can't move on. I was happy to see that Hope didn't seem torn or conflicted. She just full on stopped him as soon as it was clear what he was trying to do. Then she unequivocally told him it was never happening and went home to Liam. I was really afraid that we'd either get an actual kiss, or her starting to lean in and look like she's into it before she snaps out of it and then acts guilty and runs. So her being very clear about where she stands was great. Now let's hope she stops spending so much time over at Eric's. Instead, she needs to draw a line in the sand and say that Douglas is going to start splitting his time 50/50 between his two homes. I also hope that, now that Liam and Hope are talking to each other and not just arguing, Liam tells her about the stuff Douglas has been saying to him. Not like a trying to get him in trouble thing, but just out of concern that this isn't remotely like Douglas. Maybe he and Hope can start suspecting that Thomas is getting in Douglas's ear. Of course, Thomas 100 percent is going to engage in more voice app shenanigans. Let's hope Liam and Hope are both too smart to fall for it. Hope having seen the mannequin recently should especially be in that "things aren't necessarily what they seem" mindset. Damn but KKL and DD just sparkle together. How Brooke can spend that time with him, so relaxed (despite all the stress she's dealing with) and happy, and then want another round of crying over her asshole husband? Also, KKL has looked so good the last two episodes. Hey, someone in the writer's room remembered that Kelly is Liam's daughter! Also, writers, ordinarily, I'd consider it lazy, but if we're just pretending Flo never existed, I'm cool with that. I just can't see what the direction is for Deacon as a character after this Sheila thing. Unless she really does love him enough to fall on her sword for him when she's eventually discovered to be alive, he's got nowhere to go from this. It's going to nuke his relationships with Hope and Brooke, and any future potential there might have been for him and Taylor down the road, if it comes out that he not only harbored but romanced Sheila. His only hope is if Sheila manages to keep everyone from finding out she was staying with him or she "confesses" that he only let her stay there because she threatened Hope and Beth, and he was terrified, given her ability to get away with everything, to cross her.

I do remember hearing some dialogue over the past two weeks about this being the line's return, or something similar.

You'd think that, with Liam not going, Brooke would have been worried enough about Hope/Thomas that she'd get past that and be there to keep an eye on things. Plus, since she still wants him back, I'm surprised she passed on the chance to spend some time with him while Taylor's out of town.

So, was Brooke not invited to her dear friend's house (where her sister lives) for the celebration of her daughter's line? If Hope hadn't already been through this crap with Thomas more than once, I could see how she could be falling for this. But, after all she's experienced with him, she should be pulling Douglas aside and asking him if Daddy is feeding him lines. (And he totally is. Pretty much everything Douglas said in Friday's episode sounded like it came directly from a script Thomas gave him.) And if Hope was going to get pissy with anyone, I wish it would have been to tell Ridge to go fuck himself when he decided to finally bestow his approval upon her.

Steffy was such a bitch to Brooke and Katie about Hope in today's show. Hope's name is the one that's actually on the line, Steffy. Just shut the hell up about your poor precious brother. It's just so hard to have sympathy for Hope when she's sitting there listening to Thomas's "I'm a one woman man" bullshit and not realizing what's going on. Instead, she encourages it. I really hope that whatever inevitably happens between them remains at just a kiss or two before the CPS call reveal. It would make sense for Hope to pull back and need time to think instead of jumping into bed with him right away. And when the inevitable Brooke/Liam horror happens, I'm not going to buy it. Yes, he's almost certainly going to be in a position where he's reeling from finding out something Hope/Thomas happened, but Brooke isn't going to fall into bed with someone because her daughter does something stupid. If she does, it's going to be over her Ridge grief. And she's had Bill offering to fill that role more than once. It makes zero sense that she's stand strong in turning him down but then she's going to lose her mind so much that she lets herself fuck her daughter's husband? Zero sense. But, it's still probably going to happen. Because we can't have nice things. I at least got a laugh out of Wyatt and Bill's simultaneous "punch him in the face!" lines. Wyatt gave Liam good advice. He should have hauled ass to grab some flowers and get back there by the show stopper so he could give her those flowers on the runway after her speech. Or, absent flowers, pick up Beth and bring her there to see her mommy wearing the show stopper. Hope being worried about him not being there only to see him and Beth standing there at the end of the runway cheering for her would have been a good moment for them. I agree with those who did not like that dress. And I uber-hated that thing on her head. She looked so much prettier backstage before she got into the show stopper. Liam definitely deserves his time in this particular hell, but it really needs to be any other man but Thomas. Maybe they could have had some guy from Europe who she worked with when she was away, come to LA to help her finish up the line, and Liam could be jealous of all the time she was spending with him. Or Zende could have some friend from Forrester International who he called in to come help them finish up, and he's smoking hot and taken with Hope. Any living breathing man who isn't Thomas, show. I don't think that's too much to ask.

On one hand, Liam, dude, literally any other day. But, on the other hand, how much has Liam seen Hope in the past few weeks or so? Is she working late and then spending all of her evenings with Thomas and Douglas? Because, I mean, honestly, this is the first time Hope has acted like Liam matters very much to her in a while. Mostly she's just seemed snarky and annoyed by him. Also, Hope, Liam just laid out all of his issues with being around for this (despite his poor timing), and there you went, initiating a big emotional moment with Thomas when you know that, 1) that is exactly what Liam was talking about not wanting to stick around to deal with, and 2) Thomas is one hundred percent still interested in you and is already feeling egged on (by you thinking he's hot, by how much time you're spending with him, and by Douglas's new desire for the two of you to be together.) At the same time, though, the appropriate response to Liam's "how do I just sit there and watch that" is something along the lines of "the same way I sit there and watch you humor Steffy when she thinks you're her husband? Or the same way I let you go running to her side to keep comforting her when she thought Finn was dead? All despite the fact that it hasn't been all that long since she thought Hayes might be your child?" Because, again, Liam has this karma coming for all the Steffy shit Hope's dealt with for, what, a decade now? Also, Brooke, you clearly had an idea what was about to go down there. And we know you and Liam are BFF's and confidantes. Why in the world did you not give Liam some decent advice on this? His best bet would have been to go to the show, bring his wife some flowers and maybe a nice piece of jewelry, applaud her, and then, when the show is over, go backstage and sweep her away for a private celebration. Because, yeah, Liam totally gets that being able to walk out there side by side with Hope is exactly what Thomas wants, but it's part of Hope's job. But by peacing out on the whole show, Liam has opened the door for Hope to go celebrate after the show with Thomas, because, hey, why not? It's not like her husband is there to celebrate with her, and Thomas has worked so hard, too. Yes, Liam and Hope absolutely need to talk about this issue, but there was no worse time to do it than right before her show. When watching the Sheila show Monday, when they had the flashback to her threatening to kill Thomas when he was little, I felt so disappointed over what could have been. A show with no Thomas. Whoever was responsible for Steffy's hair should never work in hair styling again. And I laughed when Katie asked her if she wanted to go over the seating chart to make sure she didn't need to make any changes and Steffy's response was "no, I trust you, as long as you know where everyone needs to be." Um, yeah, that's what she's asking you, to make sure that she didn't miss anything about anyone.

This. It is completely bananas to me that Liam has just been sitting back and letting Hope and Beth trundle off for sleepovers with the man who did everything imaginable to keep Hope from finding out Beth was alive and to keep Liam and Hope apart, including murder and date rape drugging. Just as ridiculous as Douglas suddenly being anti-Liam and pushing for mommy and daddy to be together is Hope not recognizing that this Thomas and Douglas are doing to her marriage exactly what Steffy, Thomas, and Taylor did to her mother's marriage. Thomas is even using the exact same lines on Hope that they used on Ridge, talking about how Liam always messes up, but Thomas has always been true to just her. And I have zero idea what the writers are even going for here. If they wanted Thomas and Hope to be the root for couple, why would they have Thomas being so blatantly bad? I'm personally someone who will never accept them as a couple, but if you wanted anyone to find them remotely palatable, it would seem like the time after Thomas's brain surgery and after Hope found out about the Steam sex would have been the time to go for it. Thomas was supposedly reformed, and Liam had just cheated. But now? Now they need to do so much damage to characters to make this fly. And for what? I don't see any way they actually last as a pairing beyond the CPS call reveal. The only way I could see Hope not running away from Thomas after that reveal is if Brooke/Liam happens, and she's aware of it. Then, Thomas hurting her mother might not matter so much to her. (Although I still think she'd be pissed about him using Douglas like that, and that it would generally show that he hasn't changed like she thought he did.) But, the more they show Ridge pining for Brooke every time Taylor isn't looking at him, the less I think Liam/Brooke is going to happen, beyond maybe a too close for comfort moment that they both immediately freak out over. The show clearly intends to put Ridge and Brooke back together after the reveal, and I don't see him going back to her if he finds out she slept with Liam (and we all know Thomas would break land speed records getting over to tell Ridge about it if it did happen). But something did occur to me. Thomas has already gotten away (so far) with using the voice app to manipulate people. So, what's to stop him from using it again? Maybe to stage some conversation between Liam and Brooke where it sounds like they' slept together? Thinking he can get Hope to jump into bed with him if she hears it? I feel like the mannequin reappearing, if it isn't something he did, maybe served to remind him of how Liam just thinking he and Hope kissed sent him running to cheat. And he doesn't have Liam and Brooke mannequins, but he does have a way to use their voices to create a false impression. That is one of the only things that can save this mess for me right now. Hope has already done it once, when she busted him at his wedding with Zoe. So we know she's capable of it. And maybe she didn't tell Liam or her mother because them reacting exactly as they are helps bolster her act. It would also explain why she doesn't seem to give Thomas a single ounce of shit over his and Steffy's parent trap antics, while she gives Steffy a daily dose of shit over it. ETA: I really need Liam, when Hope is falling for this whole "Douglas wants his whole family to spend time together" thing to remind her that Beth would also probably like HER whole family to spend time together. And Kelly would probably like the same thing. So, unless the two of them, Steffy, Finn, and Thomas are all going to move into some commune with the kids, it's simply not possible for all of the kids to have both of their parents always with them.

I think Thomas has been manipulating Douglas again. Probably nothing like his abusive methods last time, but just by making comments to him. Like after Hope and Beth go home, I could see him saying to Douglas "isn't it nice that you got to spend time with your real family all together?" If Liam is smart, he'll start tagging along when Hope and Beth go over there. He's got the perfect excuse now - that Hope has been so busy with the preview that they haven't had much family time together, so if Eric's house is where their family is going to be, then it's where he's going to be. It seems like they're setting Thomas up to be having some kind of mental break or something. Yeah, he could just be talking to himself a bit, like we all do at times, but I think it's going to be something more. Because they're going to want a way out for the character (again). I think we're going to find out that he brought the mannequin up there. Maybe he doesn't remember doing it, but I feel like it's kind of pointless to bring the mannequin into things like that if Hope was just going to get over it immediately. Like, what was the point? The question is, would they possibly be lazy enough to basically just say that his brain got reinjured or there was some lingering damage they hadn't fixed last time? My only other guess on the mannequin is Paris, just because she seems like she wants to stir shit up. But that's a much longer shot than Thomas having lost it again. Steffy's "I didn't undermine your marriage." Bitch, please. You spent every single breath you've had since you got back from Monaco badgering your father about how bad you think his marriage was and telling him that Brooke makes him unhappy. It's literally the only thing you've done for months, aside from having sex with Finn (you remember Finn, right? Because for all you know Sheila could have kidnapped him a good month ago) a few times. And we all know that Finn didn't get you as hot as setting up the sex room in Aspen for your parents did. On a shallow note, what the wardrobe, hair, and makeup people do to JMW on a daily basis is a crime. Is there anything else even going on on this show? I know it's the "A" story now and all, but can we get anyone else? Or can I at least feel encouraged that this mess taking over the whole episode is a sign that we're rapidly approaching the end, so we can move onto something, anything, else? Sheila has annoyed the ever loving fuck out of me since the moment she popped up as Finn's mother, but I would take an episode or two of nothing but Sheila whining about how unfair life is to her, while ignoring her own obvious bad choices, over more of this. Every time they make it look like Hope might be into Thomas, I throw up in my mouth a little. This isn't some hot, forbidden taboo chemistry that can't be ignored, show. It's just gross. Make it stop. Preferably before any more skin is shown.

Please let us find out that Thomas has been drugging Hope or he's playing mind control tapes in her room whenever she sleeps over at Eric's. As much as the mere thought of Thope nauseates me, when Liam was complaining to Brooke about Hope seeing Thomas in a different (more favorable) way, I was thinking "yeah, well, welcome to Hope's entire existence as your love interest, constantly have to worry about the presence of one of the Marone siblings in your life. I'm hoping she doesn't go so far as sleeping with Thomas, because I hate either him or Steffy getting any kind of "win," but when Liam eventually finds out that she's been kind of flirty and eyeballing Thomas, he has the self-awareness to realize that he does owe her a pass. Also, I think I've said this before here, but I want Thomas to get so close to thinking he might win Hope over, all on his own, only to have the fake CPS call come out and completely blow it for him. Paris, if you're so thirsty for Thomas, go for it. You know he's had a thing for you in the not all that distant past. Why try to pressure someone like Hope, who has all that insane baggage with him that you're aware of, and who was clearly uncomfortable with the conversation, to admit he looks good, and then practically beat a path to tell him about it? Did being dumped at the altar make you decide you just want to watch the world burn? And Thomas, of course, had to go be creepy about it to Hope. Like, dude, just take your W and revel in it privately.

Obviously, Deacon's brain isn't exactly operating at peak capacity, but if he has two brain cells left to rub together, he'll ask Hope to keep the ring for him, with some excuse about his apartment not being all that secure. Because if he brings that ring home with him, Sheila will sniff it out immediately. And then his best case scenario is her deciding he has it to propose to her. But, given that she knows Ridge just left Brooke, she'll most likely do the math on that one. So then Deacon's in danger, Brooke is in danger, and, just to fuck with the two of them, Hope and Beth are in danger. Instead of Hope and Liam getting into any kind of Taytot silliness over their respective fathers and Brooke, I want to see the two of them just laugh, grab some popcorn, and sit back to watch the show. They can dust off Wyatt, and he can join the two of them in gossiping and laughing over the Deacon/Bill rivalry. (Flo can stay in whatever hole she's fallen into offscreen). Speaking of Wyatt, did Taylor even mention that she bought the house from him? Or are we just pretending that it's been sitting there waiting for Taylor and Ridge to claim it? Ridge could not look any less into Taylor every single time she's not looking directly at his face. And Taylor giggling with Steffy over how cool it would be to take Ridge to St. Thomas and propose to him, while he's still married, is just so ridiculous. She's like a teenager with her first boyfriend as opposed to a psychiatrist in her 50's(?) who has had this exact man leave her multiple times. Although her proposing to him right now would be hilarious, just to watch Ridge get the flop sweats.

So, what exactly is Deacon's plan if Brooke actually accepted? How did he envision that going for him when he got back home to Sheila? Speaking of Sheila, I've decided what I want to see happen with her, with regard to her wanting to get back in Finn's life. She can show up with "amnesia," claiming she doesn't remember anything after Finn and Steffy's wedding, or after Christmas Eve when Taylor talked Steffy into letting her come over. And I want Taylor to buy every single bit of it, become friends with her again, and start pressuring Steffy to let her come around again. (And somehow this gets her out of the charges against her, or a lawyer manages to get her a deal with probation after world renowned psychiatrist Taylor argues on her behalf). I can just totally see Taylor insisting that she knows there's good in Sheila, because Sheila saved her. And I want Brooke to not have a single fuck to give about Sheila going around Steffy's family. Eventually, of course, it all blows up, and Taylor once again looks like the worst shrink ever.

I wasn't watching then. Reading that, it makes Taylor even dumber for jumping right into taking Ridge back when it's clear he's super pissed off at Brooke about something. How many times are you going to take the exact same ride, girl? Also, when Ridge eventually leaves skid marks running back to Brooke, I so very much want Hope to, with a big smile on her face, say to Steffy, "your father knows his heart."

Isn't she also working with just one kidney (Flo's)? Not that I wouldn't be perfectly happy to pretend Flo never existed. Brooke, honey, what do you think Ridge has been doing alone in Aspen with Taylor? Chatting? He's been off fucking another woman for a couple days. Even if he does come home and say he realizes he was wrong, your answer should be "yep, you were, now go live in your wrongness with your mistress and get the fuck out of my house." Steffy's living room isn't so big that none of the three idiots would have been able to see that was a picture of Brooke Ridge was mooning over while Taylor gushed to the other two idiots about how happy she is. All I could think while I watched those four today was how much I'm looking forward to them turning on each other when Douglas finally drops a dime on his father. Steffy is going to insist that daddy would have gone back to mommy on his own, but now that Thomas made Brooke a victim, he's blown it. Taylor is probably going to want to peace out on all of them. Ridge is going to be pissed at Thomas (although also simultaneously grateful that he has a reason to go running right back to Brooke). You know, I'm happy that my parents have had a long 53 years and counting happy marriage and all, but I do not want to sit around and beg them to tell me every detail of their romance, and I doubt they have any desire to sit down and share it with me and my brother. Keep a little something for yourselves, Taylor and Ridge. Although every single time Taylor gushes about how romantic it all is and how this is really how things are meant to be, I have a little evil giggle over how wrong she's going to be proven soon enough. Seriously, though, those Brooke and Hope scenes should absolutely have been the two of them packing up Ridge's shit to throw at him when he finally meanders over there to fuck with Brooke's head a little more. (Because we all know he's going to tell her, again, that he'll always love her, so he can ensure she's hanging on that hook.)

So, just to be clear, Steffy, when Daddy picks Brooke, it's because Brooke is manipulating him and pulling the strings, but it's insulting for Hope to suggest that Taylor was at all responsible for Daddy picking her, because "he knows his heart"? Wait, we didn't see Thomas playing his CPS phone call today. How are we supposed to know what's going on? Speaking of the call, come on Brooke, do the freaking math. Ridge was asking you about the CPS call before he left. You told him before it happened that it was something you would do if you felt you needed to. He asked you if you did it. Then, he was gone, and when you went to Aspen, he told you he wanted you to admit to something. How can you sit there with zero idea as to what he thinks you did? We know you didn't do it, but since there isn't anything you can point to that you did do, it only makes sense to think back over your most recent conversations with him and wonder "does he think I made that call?" It's clearly the big issue that was on his mind before he left. I mean, at least when we had months of daily "I don't know why I took a drink" pondering, there were absolutely no breadcrumbs that led to "Sheila switched the labels on the champagne." But you've got breadcrumbs now. I don't expect her to figure out the whole voice app thing, but she should be able to hazard a guess that Ridge doesn't believe she didn't make the call.

"Yes, Carter, we're all sad about your love life, even though I hated that bitch you love and am glad to see the back of her, but can you stop bringing down the room, because I'm trying to hijack everyone's work day to gloat about how I got my mommy and daddy to bang in Aspen. Be sensitive to my joy, will you?" I would not have blamed Paris if she'd let out a little giggle at the news about Quinn. More Bill/Deacon scenes, please. I don't care what they're about, just give me more. Hope shutting down Steffy's "my mommy has integrity" with some reality was great. More of that, please. Are we going to get daily scenes of Thomas mentally masturbating over his CPS call? Can we get to the part where Douglas blows the lid off of this stupidity already?

My issue with Quinn's reason is that there was just such a short turn around between the bike ride and the breakup. Did she really think, that recently, that she was going to want to, and be able to, give him what he wanted? He was at the altar with a woman who wanted to give him all those things. And she busted into that, making him believe she was all in for the same things. Then, what, a couple months later, she went "eh, never mind"? Was she not aware, when she busted up that wedding, that she was around 50 years old and had already raised her child to adulthood? Maybe that could have been mitigated by actually giving us the breakup scenes. Let us see Quinn explain herself. Was she just reeling from walking in on Eric and Donna, and then Eric urged her to go get Carter, so she reacted? Did she think that Carter understood that kids were off the table if they got together, while he thought she understood that kids were absolutely on the table for him? And Carter needs to show some kind of growth from this. He can't jump 100 percent into being in love with Katie after one or two kisses. He needs to step back and make sure this is something that could have the future he wants. Let's see him have the "do you see yourself having more children?" conversation, so that he doesn't fully invest in another relationship that doesn't have the possibility of being what he's looking for. And Katie's health is obviously an issue there, so, if she did see more kids as a possibility, they would need to discuss what that would look like and whether they're both up for what that is, whether it's adoption or surrogacy. He has to have learned something from all of this, otherwise it's even more pointless.

I could swear I remember reading that both KKL and SC have said "no" to the idea of Brooke/Liam. Which is kind of disturbing in and of itself, because it means someone had to have brought it up behind the scenes. "And I'd know, because Steffy set up a webcam when she lit all those candles."

The only upside if that Thomas/Hope scene wasn't a dream, would be if Thomas got that close to finally getting Hope, and then she finds out about the CPS call, and he has nobody to blame but himself for ruining his shot.