Okay, sure… technically, Fauxpe — aka the mannequin that looked exactly like Hope — was gone by the time 2021 started. Her impact, however, continued to linger, and if you think we weren’t going to jump at the chance to kick things off with a photo of the story which had been our favorite in 2020, you’re as crazy as we thought Thomas was until the truth about his brain tumor came to light.
Thanks to Liam’s “snog first, ask questions later” policy, he and Steffy had to decide whether or not to tell their respective significant others that they’d slept together after he mistook Thomas kissing the mannequin for the designer locking lips with Hope. Worse, this put Steffy in the awkward position of not knowing whether she was carrying Liam or Finn’s baby.
Paris may have been wearing pink, but Zoe was seeing green where her sister was concerned. Claiming Paris was encroaching on her life (but actually aware that her sister had caught Zende’s eye), Zoe ordered her to get outta town. Of course, given that Zoe was engaged to Carter, she shouldn’t have cared quite so much about Zende and Paris’ budding relationship, but… well, a girl’s gotta have a back-up plan, right?
The Young and the Restless‘ Summer swung through Los Angeles not only to pose awkwardly for this photo, but to dig up dirt on rival Sally. While Flo didn’t come right out and reveal that Wyatt’s ex had faked a fatal illness in an attempt to get him back, she did send Summer back to Genoa City with enough dirt to try and bury her nemesis.
As you can see, Hope was not particularly thrilled when the paternity tests seemed to indicate that her husband had yet again fathered a child with Steffy. Not pictured: Finn, having a very similar reaction.
Proving that nothing comes between a Logan girl and her sisters, Flo managed to earn the forgiveness of Brooke, Donna and Katie… if not necessarily the audience, who largely continued to refer to Hope’s aunt as “Felony Flo” for her part in the Bethnapping saga.
Not only did Flo get forgiven and a job at Forrester Creations, but the Logan sisters also suggested she legally change her last name. Hearing this, Wyatt wondered if perhaps she’d consider taking his. The happy couple got engaged in March… only to basically disappear for the rest of the year.
Thanks to a few cryptic comments, Thomas began to suspect that drug dealer-turned-lab-tech Vinny messed with Steffy’s paternity test results. Eventually, Vinny confessed and ran off before he could be arrested. (Don’t worry, we’ll be hearing more about him momentarily… )
Rather than put Finn through the torture of watching her give birth to Liam’s baby, Steffy was all set to hop a plane for Paris. But knowing he was the actual dad, Finn rushed to prevent her from leaving and — after taking a torturously long time to fill her in on the truth — popped the question.
In a moment as shocking as it was simple, Steffy — ready to start her new life with Finn — finally took down the picture of her and Liam which had hung in the living room for years. (What do you wanna bet it’s in storage… just in case… )
What should have been a wonderfully romantic night for Paris and Zende took a turn for the grotesque after Zoe slipped her sister some of Eric’s digestive-aiding meds. We’re not sure which was more embarrassing — the sounds which emerged from Paris that evening or that fact that Quinn, who’d provided Zoe with the drugs, was dragged into this juvenile mess.
Although he and Hope had separated thanks to his latest tryst with Steffy, things were looking up for Liam… until he wound up plowing down Vinny! Worse, Liam was so shook by the incident that he passed out, leaving dad Bill to make a bad situation worse by leaving the scene of the crime!
Despite Bill’s best efforts to keep his son from confessing, Liam couldn’t live with the guilt and spilled his guts. Determined to protect Liam by claiming responsiblity, the publisher, too, came clean… resulting in both of them being arrested and thrown behind bars!
This next part won’t make a lot of sense, so don’t ask too many questions and we’ll all get through it just fine. Ready? Thomas found a video on his phone revealing Poor Dead Vinny threw himself in front of the car on purpose. How did he know Liam would be driving? Given that the video included Vinny getting hit and dying, how did it get sent to Thomas? So. Many. Questions. Not a single answer that makes sense.
When Thomas discovered the Liam-clearing video, he made the mistake of telling Justin. Enjoying being large and in charge at Spencer Publications in Bill’s absence, Justin opted to delay the truth coming out by locking Thomas in a cage conveniently located in the building’s basement.
Hope eventually clued in to Justin’s bad deeds and set Thomas free. Together, they presented the evidence which cleared Liam and Bill… after which all three of them basically slipped into the background until late in the year, at which time Liam and Hope would finally get a new storyline. Bill promptly fired Justin for his antics and then, well, pretty much disappeared for the rest of the year.
Although Carter and Zoe got engaged, he broke things off upon finding out that she’d basically been keeping her options open where Zende was concerned. Zoe being Zoe, she somehow managed to blame Paris (if only in her own mind) and set her sights on reclaiming Carter’s heart. Unfortunately, she picked the world’s worst wing woman…
What started as Quinn pleading Zoe’s case to Carter ended up with Eric’s wife and his CFO in bed together! It turned out that Eric had been keeping Quinn at both an emotional and physical distance and, well, a woman’s got needs! The illicit lovers swore it would never happen again, but… yeah. It did.
Zoe realized that Carter had slept with someone else… so Shauna stepped forward to claim she’d had a one-night stand with the hunk! Realizing the error of their ways, Carter and Quinn reunited with Zoe and Eric, respectively. But they contined to be drawn back to one another…
When Eric and Quinn decided to renew their vows, we knew two things would happen: Carter would be asked to officiate, and that would put him front-and-center as the secret came to light. Sure enough, Paris overheard the truth and passed the info on to Brooke, who was only too happy to rain on Quinn’s parade.
Did Zoe lose her ish after finding out about Carter’s fling with Quinn? Nah, she sort of shrugged, hugged it out with Paris (bygones!) and jetted off to Fantasy Island Paris. The most interesting thing about her exit? That it left Paris to couch-surf for several months. Guess being head of the Forrester charitable foundation doesn’t pay as well as you might think!
Despite having made zero reference to his past for over a year, Finn suddenly felt he couldn’t possibly go another day without telling her he’d been adopted by Jack and Li. No sooner had they arrived in town than it became clear that Jack was keeping a secret or two… one of which invovled a face very familiar to viewers.
On Steffy and Finn’s wedding day, everyone was shocked to learn that his biological mother was none other than the notorious Sheila. Well, everyone but Jack, who’d known all along, what with being not only Finn’s adoptive but biological dad. Oh, and the audience, thanks to the show running ads revealing the major twist a week in advance.
Eric reunited with Quinn but erectile dysfunction had him urging his wife to seek satisfaction in the arms — and bed — of her ex-lover, Carter. Although Quinn and Carter resisted one another for approximatley 12 minutes, when Eric gave them written permission, they felt they had no choice but to sleep together again. After all, her hubby had written a note people!
With a little help from Donna and her ever-present bottles of honey, Eric got his mojo back… at least with her. It took a bit longer before he was able to have a similar, er, reaction with Quinn. Eventually, however, Eric and his wife closed the door on their brief experiment with open marriage.
Even as her relationship with Zende grew more serious, Paris found herself fantasizing about Finn, being crushed on by Thomas and bonding with Carter. Zende, meanwhile, had eyes only for his girlfriend and made plans to propose to her on New Year’s Eve.
Each at loose ends, Katie and Carter seemed to be drifting into a romance. After all, it’s not like there are slews of gorgeous, unattached people in the tiny town of Los Angeles. At the same time, he began serving as a confidante to Paris and it began to seem as if there might be something brewing between Zoe’s ex and her sister.
Although she doesn’t look pleased here, Hope was thrilled when dad Deacon showed up in Los Angeles wanting to reconnect. Once he distanced himself from Sheila, Deacon made real inroads with both Hope and her mom, Brooke… much to the displeasure of Ridge. But before long, someone came along who was happy to keep Ridge distracted…
Sure, she’d missed some pretty big events in the lives of her kids — weddings, addictions, kidnappings — but perhaps sensing that Brooke and Ridge were in crisis, Taylor returned to Los Angeles. Clearly still smitten with her favorite ex, the shrink unintentionally scored points with Sheila by arranging for her to spend time with Finn and Hayes on Christmas. And with friends like Sheila, well… things were about to get interesting…
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