Yes, That Makes Sense… Wait, No, It the [Bleep] Doesn’t! Why Aren’t Steffy and Finn the Prime Suspects in the ‘Murder’ of the Dude Who Almost Gave Their Baby to Liam?!?
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI; CBS screenshot (2)
This week, The Bold and the Beautiful went all Dark Shadows on us by having my poor, dead Vinny haunt Liam. When not being tormented by the late lab tech, Liam was being yelled at by his dad, who did everything but slap him Cher style and shout, “Snap out of it!” Meanwhile, Paris bought what Zoe was selling, and it looked as if Quinn might actually get to interact with adults in the near future. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s get to it!
Beverly Hills Cop
I was weirdly excited when Lt. Baker — sorry, that’s now Deputy Chief Baker — showed up to investigate Vinny’s death. If anyone can get to the bottom of what really happened to my boy, he can! Remember a few years back when they tried to shuffle Baker off to the side by having his son, Charlie, become the guy assigned to investigate all things Forrester? I wasn’t having it, so I’m thrilled to have his hot dog-lovin’ pop back on the scene.
But we really need to talk about the case he’s working. Because in what universe would Thomas be the first person — heck, even the first Forrester — on Baker’s suspect list? Yet there he was, very clearly inferring that Thomas might somehow be involved in the death of his frenemy.
If you ask me, Steffy — who just happens to have left town — looks awfully darn suspicious, as does husband-to-be Finn. After all, while Thomas wasn’t thrilled about his pal switching the paternity test, the actual parents of the child would seem far likelier to want to punish Vinny. And haven’t we all been speculating for a while now that Finn might have a dark side?
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I’m not saying Bold & Beautiful is predictable, but it seems pretty obvious that Thomas will become the main suspect, Hope will be his staunchest defender, and when the “truth” comes out, she will be so disgusted by her husband’s actions that she’ll trade him in for Steffy’s brother.
At which point, we’ll find out that — as I’ve theorized from the start — Vinny was actually attacked by someone before stumbling into the path of the car being driven by Liam.
The Haunted
Meanwhile, Scott Clifton continued to give the kind of performances that would have everyone talking were it not for the fact that… well, it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect of him. While I’m not particularly looking forward to watching Liam squirm and panic for weeks on end, at least I know Clifton will bring his A-game to the material, seeing as it’s the only one the MVP knows how to play.
I am, however, a tad worried for the actor… or rather, his hair. See, I’m envious of those luscious locks, and this storyline seems to have Clifton running his hands through and tugging at them a lot. That can’t be good for the follicles.
The scenes in which Vinny haunted Liam were fantastically shot, complete with cool angles and creepy lighting. It was probably the most thrilling thing to air on Bold & Beautiful since Thomas stopped talking to the mannequin. It also worked because, well, heck, it wasn’t the same four lines of dialogue we’d been hearing all week, which basically amounted to:
LIAM: Dad, I can’t do this!
BILL: You can and you will!
LIAM: I have to confess!
BILL: Man up, you wuss!
OK, Bill didn’t actually call his son a wuss, but you could totally tell he wanted to. The dialogue was so repetitive that I literally laughed aloud when Bill said, “We can’t keep going over the same thing!” I’m gonna assume someone in the writers room knew exactly what they were doing when they penned that particular line.
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Bill is being incredibly cold in these scenes — even he said so — but it feels completely right for the character. Bill is a man who acts rashly, never backs down and does not suffer fools lightly, even if said fool is one of his sons. Speaking of whom, my favorite exchange of the week had to be the one that took place after Wyatt walked into Bill’s place.
BILL: You walk in here like you pay the mortgage!
WYATT: You don’t have a mortgage!
That’s good, funny, rich-people dialogue.
Random Thoughts
• It would be a whole lot easier to take Thomas as the vengeance-seeking pal angry that his friend was left on the side of the road to die if he hadn’t done exactly the same thing to Emma after running her car off the road. On The Bold and the Beautiful, we’re expected to forget history and how it might relate to currently unfolding storylines. But given how gorgeously they shot the episode in which Emma died — and that striking image of Thomas coldly looking down at the site of the accident — I’ll never forget it.
• Overnight, Zoe had a completely unmotivated change of heart and decided to throw her support behind Paris and Zende’s relationship. “I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching lately,” said Zoe… the day after spiking her sister’s drink and setting fartgate in motion. Now, had Zoe’s prank resulted in Paris suffering serious consequences — like hospitalization due to an unforeseen allergic reaction — it might make sense for Zoe to see the light. But as it was, this “development” didn’t make a bit of sense.
• On the plus side, while Quinn’s still spending way too much time worrying about the love life of a model she barely knew before last week, things are looking up. We not only had an Eric sighting but saw the groundwork being laid for a story exploring the fact that while he and Quinn have reunited, there are still big issues looming between them.
Now that you’ve heard my take on this week’s episodes, why not share yours in the comment section? Then, make sure to swing back and check out this amazing photo gallery in which we get to meet the awesome real-life sisters of your favorite soap stars.
