The Big Vinny Twist Bold & Beautiful *Has* to Have Up Its Sleeve — Plus, The Scenes That Should Never Have Aired, Let Alone When They Did

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI; CBS screenshot

It was a jaw-dropping week on The Bold and the Beautiful — and in more ways than one. In the wake of the accident which stole the life of my poor, beloved Vinny, Don Diamont (Bill) and Scott Clifton (Liam) gave the kind of performances for which the word “powerhouse” was invented. The much-ballyhooed death itself wasn’t much of a surprise, although I suspect we’re about to find out there’s far more to the story. And then there were… those scenes. You know which ones. But we’ll get to them later… 

Accident or Murder?

After Bill and Liam left Vinny crumpled on the side of the road, I began insisting to anyone who’d listen that the lab tech wasn’t dead. After all, we didn’t see Bill check for a pulse before speeding off, so it seemed reasonable to assume that after a few weeks of Liam feeling guilty, Vinny would return to seek revenge.

But then we saw Vinny in the morgue, and that notion went right out the window!

I’m still pretty sure, however, that there’s a big twist coming, and it’s based on at least a bit more than simply my intuition. You’ll recall that in the days and weeks leading up to the big moment, Bold & Beautiful‘s headwriter/executive producer Bradley Bell referred to what was about to go down as the start of a “murder mystery.” Before the closing credits had even rolled on Monday’s episode, the Internet was pointing out that what happened might be labeled many things — an accident, vehicular manslaughter — but not a murder or mystery.

More: Could Vinny have a twin brother?

Unless, of course, someone else attacked Vinny before he had the misfortune of stumbling into Liam and Bill’s path. One of those excellent forensic docs over on Law & Order could no doubt easily establish that Vinny would have died of those previously-sustained injuries even had he not been struck by the car.

That’s my new story, and I’m sticking to it.

Worst. Date. Evah.

I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to this week’s Paris/Zende scenes. It would be easy to make a quip like “Well, that stank” and move on. But I feel like there’s more that needs to be said, because this wasn’t just a series of awkward scenes which left me feeling bad for the actors involved. It was a huge misfire on the part of the writers and one that plays into a deeper problem.

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First, let’s talk about the timing. Bold & Beautiful ended Monday’s episode with that literally killer cliffhanger. People were not only going to be tuning in on Tuesday to find out if Vinny really died but they would — ideally — be telling their friends about the twist, talking about it on social media and generally helping build buzz. As a result, the clear hope was that curious viewers — both lapsed and new — would be lured into the tent on Tuesday.

Now, I want to give the show credit for playing a second story in Tuesday’s episode. But “Come for the fallout, stay for the fart jokes” is not a great selling point. And make no mistake: While the word “fart” was never uttered on screen, that is what the entire Internet was buzzing about… to the point that they were drowning out any chatter about the fantastic work being done by Diamont and Clifton.

Timing aside, there’s the question of taste. I simply can not imagine people sitting around a room saying, “Hey, you know what? Let’s have Quinn inexplicably become gal pals with Zoe so that they can plot together to give Paris gas.” Is this really the best story you can be telling with three of the characters you’re clearly hoping will reel in younger viewers? Is it really the story you should be telling with your young Black characters?

Make no mistake: The Bold and the Beautiful has done silly stuff in the past. Some of Sally Spectra’s old-school antics were ridiculously over the top. But this week’s scenes were not in the same vein as those campy shenanigans. This took tacky to new highs — or should I say lows — and did no favor to any of the characters involved.

Here’s hoping we never, ever have to have this conversation again.

Random Thoughts

• Someone needs to sit Finn down for a long talk. Why? Because he told Hope that what made it possible for him to forgive Steffy was that her sleeping with Liam had been “an isolated incident.” Boy, do we have a story to tell him!

• Lemme just say that if ever I am lucky enough to date the heir to a fashion dynasty, he’d better not think that his grandpa’s living room — no matter how fancy-schmancy — is gonna cut it as a site for our dates. I mean, maybe once… but twice? No. You’re rich, Zende. Take the girl out to eat. Meanwhile, can anyone explain to me why Paris left that humiliating date and went back to the office? If it were me, I’d have gone home, crawled under the covers and not emerged for a week.

That’s my take on this week’s two big plots… let’s hear yours. After hitting the comment section below, make sure to visit this awesome photo gallery in which we flash back to some of your favorite soap stars before they were… well, soap stars. Trust us when we say a few of these pics will have you looking closer and asking, “Wait, is that really…?” And yes, it really is.