Everything Wrong With What Liam Just Did — Plus, the Twist That’s Gonna Tick off a *Whole* Lotta Viewers

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

Sometimes, it’s easy to see why viewers get frustrated with The Bold and the Beautiful in general and Liam in particular. This week was one of those times. It may have been a short week, but the show made sure we’d have something to talk about until it returns on Monday. So let’s discuss what Liam saw, how he reacted and why what happens next is… well, we’ll get to that. 

One-Track Mind

“If I said you had a beautiful body, would you let me move your various pieces and parts until you were holding it against me?”

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

Over the past few weeks, I’ve praised the show up and down for following the most basic of soap structures by telling multiple stories at once. Turns out, I spoke too soon. Because they went into the Thanksgiving break having spend this entire week essentially telling one story. Yes, yes, there were a few Zende/Paris scenes on Monday — which we’ll talk about shortly — but otherwise, if you weren’t talking to or about Thomas and his mannequin, you weren’t talking, period.

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Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s only logical for everyone on the canvas to be drawn into one umbrella story. Over on General Hospital, they gathered half of Port Charles in a bar and blew the building up, so it makes sense that nearly every scene involved the unfolding tragedy.

This week’s Bold & Beautiful, however, careened mildly from Liam repeatedly insisting that something’s wrong with Thomas to scenes in which Hope ignored the fact that there’s clearly something wrong with Thomas. Meanwhile, the mannequin’s dialogue (and dare we say motivation?) was kinda confusing. Sometimes, Fauxpe — as I call her — was declaring her love for Thomas, only to minutes later urge him to claim Hope for himself.

By Wednesday, Thomas wasn’t the only one with a headache.

Monkey See, Monkey Do… Nothing

The big moment came in Tuesday’s cliffhanger, when Liam saw Thomas making out with the mannequin. So of course, knowing his wife would never, ever be willingly engaging in such behavior, he stormed in and beat the crap out of Thomas.

Here, Liam illustrates approximately how much sense his recent actions made.

Credit: CBS screenshot

Kidding, kidding. Of course, Liam immediately realized that Thomas wasn’t kissing Hope but rather the mannequin. After all, the moment Liam found out about the designer’s unusual houseguest, he accused Thomas of having found a twisted way to act on his obsession with Hope. In a surprising moment of compassion, Liam calmly arranged for his delusional rival to get the help he needed.

Again, clearly, I’m joking. Those scenarios are how Liam should have reacted. It’s how a rational human being, given the knowledge that Liam had of what was unfolding and the people involved, would have reacted. Instead, he clenched his fists, backed away before he could be spotted, ran over to his ex-wife’s house and told her what he’d seen.

Let’s stop here to think about that for a moment. What are we to make of not only Liam’s actions but what it says about his relationship with Hope? In order for Liam to believe that his wife was making out with his nemesis, he’d have to assume that Hope is the type of woman who would do that. Oh, and not for nothing, but that she’d do it with Douglas presumably in the next room. Because remember, as far as Liam knew, she was having dinner with Thomas and his son.

But worse, if Liam really believes — as he’s repeatedly said for weeks now — that something is seriously wrong with Thomas, in what universe would his reaction be to walk away? To leave his wife in the literal clutches of someone he believed to be both delusional and unbalanced?

Were this the first time Liam reacted without thinking, I might — might — buy it. But we’ve seen this exact storyline play out repeatedly, with Liam jumping to the wrong conclusion and, as a result, making a ridiculously bad decision. (More on that in a moment… )

No Spoiler Alert Needed

By now, most of you probably know exactly where this is going, either because you’ve seen the details spelled out elsewhere or you’ve been watching this soap for a few years.

I’d love to say that the reason we know what’s going to happen next is that it’s logical from a storyline perspective, or that the show’s done an amazing job of laying the groundwork. But truth be told, they’re simply following a well-worn path of plot points we’ve seen play out repeatedly with not only Liam and his women, but — in varying combinations — the generation which came before them.

Meet the original Steffy, Liam and Hope.

Credit: CBS

Those who know what’s about to unfold are already making it pretty clear they don’t love it. Others will no doubt weigh in soon. And next week, we’ll discuss not only the twist and its fallout but whether sometimes, it’s not only OK to tick off the audience, but downright necessary. 

Random Thoughts

• Shouldn’t Steffy, well aware that Liam was chock-full of rage and on his way to confront Thomas, have called her brother to give him a heads up?

• Zende and Paris are downright adorable. They probably shouldn’t be quite so cute, given that we know he’s actually into her sister. But unlike scenes between Zoe and Carter — in which we are 100-percent aware that she’s just not into him — it actually seems as if Zende is interested in Paris. Unlike Zoe, whose motives for being with Carter I don’t understand in the least, I get Zende. He’s being the better man by pushing aside his feelings for Zoe and trying to move on.

• Obviously, we weren’t going to get a traditional Bold and Beautiful Thanksgiving episode this year. I mean, the show’s current health and safety protocols require characters to basically stand on opposite sides of any given room at all times, so they weren’t going to clasp hands and pray around the dinner table. (Not that I’m complaining… as noted in our list of things we’re grateful for this year, we’ll take anything we can get where our soaps are concerned!) But I kinda missed the clan’s awkward tradition of putting aside their differences in order to say nice things about one another. “I’m sorry you stabbed me in the back, stole my baby and slept with my sister, but God bless us everyone!”

That’s my take on this week’s episodes. Now, I know you have a few thoughts about Liam you’re just dying to share, so hit the comments. Then visit the gallery in which we look at which Bold & Beautiful characters most get under your skin. (Believe it or not, Liam didn’t actually make the cut.)