Is Bold & Beautiful’s Thomas Forrester Worthy of Redemption, or Is He Doomed to Remain a Terrible Human?
From soap opera villain to hero?
Thomas Forrester has done a lot of awful things this past year on The Bold and the Beautiful, mostly in the name of trying to make Hope love him. While his obsessive creepiness was bad enough, perhaps his most egregious sin was being a terrible father to his precious son Douglas. When Bold and Beautiful returns with new episodes, can he be redeemed? Should he be?
With the current industry wide hiatus combined with Thomas previously getting back burnered, audiences have received a much needed break from the diabolical character. Not that viewers should forgive and forget, but the distance would help should the show try to redeem him when they return with new episodes.
After all the terrible things Thomas has done, redemption would be a hard sell, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility as many a soap villain has done such a 180. Just look at Franco on General Hospital, Xander on Days of our Lives, and Kevin on The Young and the Restless. It would have to be a slow build, involving something selfless on Thomas’ behalf to get audiences back on his side. The love of a good woman, saving Forrester Creations from ruin, or genuine acts of compassion towards his son come to mind.
More: Thomas and Sally could team up
Soap opera fans know the power of redemption is possible, but is it necessary? Thomas has always been problematic. From him setting Rick’s car on fire to having sex with a drugged up Caroline to tormenting Hope and Douglas, his history might suggest he should embrace his dark side. As the show currently doesn’t have a full-on villain, it’s a void he can continue to fill.
What do you think? Is it possible to redeem Thomas? Or should he continue to wreak havoc? Vote and share your thoughts below and take a look at the gallery.
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Image: Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
1/24
<p>Ridge Forrester (then Ronn Moss) wasn’t too happy when son Thomas (then Drew Tyler Bell) started dating Amber Moore and took a restraining order out on her. Ridge was proven right when Thomas later learned Amber tried to ruin Ridge’s life by pushing him and his stepdaughter/once-thought-to-be sister Bridget together.</p>
Image: Image: John Paschal/JPI
2/24
<p>Thomas has known his sometime stepsister Hope Logan since she was a baby. Their relationship would take many twists and turns over the years, including… erm, obsession.</p>
Image: Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
3/24
<p>Thomas and Rick have had a tumultuous history. This includes Thomas blowing up Rick’s car upon learning he romanced both of Thomas’ sisters as well as his mother.</p>
Image: Image: Howard Wise/JPI
4/24
<p>Years later, Thomas (then Adam Gregory) butted heads with Rick over business, as well as Caroline Spencer. One argument led to Rick falling out a window. Hey, it happens.</p>
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5/24
<p>Though Brooke has been married to his father Ridge numerous times, Thomas couldn’t help being drawn to her. He went so far as to kiss her during a runway show as part of a PR stunt dreamed up by Whip Jones. They later developed problems of a different nature.</p>
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6/24
<p>During a tour to promote a clothing line, Brooke and Thomas’ plane crashed on a deserted island. While there, they ate hallucinogenic berries, leading Thomas to believe they had sex. He took a bribe from grandma Stephanie to lie that they had slept together, but eventually came clean. </p>
Image: Image: Sean Smith/JPI
7/24
<p>Despite their parents being married, Thomas became enamored with Hope (then Kim Matula) early on. However, he always had to contend with her love for Liam Spencer, who also had a history with Thomas’ sister Steffy.</p>
Image: Image: Howard Wise/JPI
8/24
<p>Thomas (then Pierson Fode) slept with Caroline, who had just broken up with his father Ridge. However, she didn’t remember their night together due to drinking wine after taking anti-anxiety medication. That night resulted in their son Douglas, who Caroline and Ridge claimed was Ridge’s offspring before the truth came out.</p>
Image: Image: Howard Wise/JPI
9/24
<p>Thomas fell for spunky Sally Spectra and defected from Forrester to become the lead designer at her company Spectra Fashions. Their love wouldn’t last, however, as he left her to be with Caroline and their son Douglas when he thought Caroline was dying.</p>
Image: Image: Howard Wise/JPI
10/24
<p>After Caroline died for real, Thomas (now Matthew Atkinson) returned to Los Angeles from New York obsessed with getting Hope to love him. He was often seen around Forrester Creations lurking, plotting and generally being creepy.</p>
Image: Image: Howard Wise/JPI
11/24
<p>Thomas married Hope (then Annika Noelle) in 2019, but their union was annulled a short time later. Hope, who was still in love with Liam, only married Thomas to be a mother to his son Douglas after she believed she lost her own child. She later got shared custody of the boy and began co-parenting with Thomas.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
12/24
<p>Still obsessed with Hope despite their marriage being annulled, Thomas rather nastily allowed her to believe he had died after they argued at Forrester Creations and he fell into a vat of acid. As it turned out, it wasn’t really acid but a cleaning solution.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/24
<p>Claiming he was really most sincerely over Hope, Thomas began dating Zoe Buckingham and eventually asked her to marry him. The trouble, of course, was that he still secretly wanted Hope… and she knew it. Thomas’ wedding day went up in flames when Hope showed up in a white gown and asked him to choose her. Thomas fell for it and was exposed, after which he ran out and disappeared for a while.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/24
<p>Making another valiant attempt at moving on without Hope, this time Thomas’ efforts were stymied when he crossed paths with a compelling mannequin that looked exactly like the object of his desire. After taking it home, it began talking to him, and inevitably, he tried to romance the thing. In Thomas’ defense, Liam also thought it was really Hope when he spied the designer kissing it. All of this came to a head when Hope found Thomas passed out on the floor of his apartment and it was discovered that he had a brain tumor.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/24
<p>Thomas and Vinny Walker were pals from school, so he was loathe to believe that the kind-hearted drug dealer had used his newfound position in the lab to switch his sister Steffy’s paternity results… but that’s exactly what he’d done. It turns out Vinny thought it would help Thomas get closer to Hope if Steffy had a baby with Liam. Thomas was angry, but was later devastated when his lifelong friend threw himself in front of Liam’s car and died as a last-ditch effort to win him the girl of his dreams.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/24
<p>Now on the straight and narrow, Thomas was determined to do the right thing and turn in the evidence that proved Vinny committed suicide so as to free Liam and Bill from the slammer. But there was a newly unhinged person in town — Justin Barber. Having snapped after all the years of being ordered around by his boss, he wanted to keep him behind bars and take over his empire… so he locked Thomas up! Hope eventually freed him.</p>
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17/24
<p>We couldn’t help but think that Thomas needed to get out of the office more when he fell for another woman who already had a man — cousin Zende’s girl, Paris Buckingham. But that wasn’t the only thing that made it awkward — she was also Zoe’s sister — yes, <em>that</em> Zoe, the one he jilted at the altar. The bad news is that he was going through a man bun phase, the good news is that when the newly-mature and stable Thomas made his feelings known to Paris, who was sub-letting his apartment, he was accepting when she friend-zoned him.</p>
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18/24
<p>Thomas, who had buckled down to become a good father to Douglas again as he searched for a house of his own to buy, was thrilled when his mother, Taylor, came home to the family fold. Thomas teamed with Steffy to try and convince their parents they were better together.</p>
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19/24
<p>Thomas found out Sheila Carter had pushed his father’s wife, Brooke, off the wagon and kept the secret a tad too long in hopes that his parents would reunite. Steffy realized something was going on between the two and eventually figured out what her husband’s mad biological mother had done, which played a part in their fateful confrontation in the alley behind Il Giardino. Much to Thomas’ horror, both Steffy and Finn were shot by Sheila that night and left for dead. Happily, they both survived in the end.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
20/24
<p>Having not hatched a scheme or made out with an inanimate object in months, Thomas decided that it was the perfect time to approach Hope about maybe moving son Douglas out of her place and into the Forrester mansion. Cue Hope’s heart shattering into a bazillion pieces in three, two…</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
21/24
<p>Reformed our ass! Determined to reunite Mommy and Daddy, Thomas used a voice-altering phone app to make it sound like Brooke had called Child Protective Services on him. The dirty trick worked — right on cue, Ridge ran back to Taylor — but we all knew it couldn’t last…</p>
Image: CBS
22/24
<p>Ridge and Taylor <span style="text-decoration: line-through">raced down the aisle</span> hurried to the Forrester living room, only for Steffy, tipped off to Thomas’ dirty deed by Douglas, to speak now rather than forever hold her peace. Afterwards, Thomas not only lost his job, even the mannequin wouldn’t return his calls.</p>
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23/24
<p>In the aftermath of trying to force Douglas to keep his dirty secret, Thomas decided it would be a good idea to let the boy decide who he wanted to live with… because, of course, he’d pick his dad, right? Wrong. Douglas threw both Thomas and Hope for a loop when he chose his Aunt Steffy’s cliffside abode and they were forced to go along with it. Thomas then made another miscalculation by thinking he’d have open access to his son at his sister’s place, which led to yet another falling out with Steffy.</p>
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24/24
