A Critic’s Review Of The Bold and the Beautiful: Powerhouses & Disrespect

When it comes to The Bold and the Beautiful, every fan has their own opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days, we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of B&B’s week that was.

The Bold and the Beautiful: The Critic’s POV

Thank good news for the performances being eked out by powerhouses like Jacqueline MacInnes Wood [Steffy Forrester Finnegan], Scott Clifton [Liam Spencer], Naomi Matsuda (Li Finnegan), and, yes, even Tanner Novlan [Finn Finnegan], because the storylines — Finn’s character and Liam and Hope’s (Annika Noelle) coupledom being sacrificed at the altar of “Steam” — leave much to be desired.

I didn’t think it was possible for the show to get worse, but ever since the writer’s strike commenced, I’ve been proven wrong. I’ve stated many times in this column that I don’t expect The Bold and the Beautiful to make much sense — it’s always been, say, more Dynasty than Succession — but even a modicum of awareness when it comes to such a thing as a throughline would be appreciated.

Clifton, a three-time Daytime Emmy-winner, is a more than passable thespian, perfectly capable of conveying longing and “divided loyalties” and all those other buzzwords that have been bandied about, but seeing as how we never witnessed him doing so — because it did not fit the narrative that B&B was pushing at the time — this whole “undying devotion to, and longing for Steffy” shtick not only comes off feeling wholly stupefying but it smacks of the worst kind of manufactured drama.

Further B&B Musings

* Are we in agreeance that Novlan’s “You little puke!” adlib is perhaps the greatest in recent memory?

* Brad Bell’s obvious disrespect and disregard for adoptive parents and the bonds they forge with their adopted children remains a major source of consternation for this critic.

* Though it should seriously irk me — especially given my stinging condemnation in the highlights section above — I can’t help but derive amusement from Hope’s literal shrugged shoulders response to the drama unfolding both around her and in her personal life.

* Who is Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) to order anyone to take responsibility for their own actions? “It was all the pinecone’s fault!” “It was all Thomas’s (Matthew Atkinson) fault!” “It was all destiny’s fault!” blah, blah, blah.

That said, and it pains me to give the man credit, but he wasn’t wrong about Finn sitting there and giving off an undue attitude. This whole mess IS his making. If he wasn’t running around hugging Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) and neglecting his parental responsibilities Steffy wouldn’t have left and Liam wouldn’t have an opening in which to insert himself.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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