A Critic’s Review of The Bold and the Beautiful: Bloody Hands and a Complicated Death

Every fan of The Bold and the Beautiful has their own opinion — and we at Soap Hub do, too. For five days, we sat and watched it all — good, bad, and in between. We always lead with optimism, but unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want. So here’s a review of B&B’s week that was, the week Steffy stabbed Sheila, Sheila was pronounced “dead”, and Finn was so distraught he placed his hand in his mom’s blood and then stared at it. Yikes.

What I’m Feeling This Week: Steffy Kills Sheila and Finn…Reacts

At the beginning of the week, Finn (Tanner Novlan) worried that Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) had poked the bear, AKA Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown). It was a valid concern. The woman in full-on Sheila mode is scary. Cut to Sheila outside Steffy and Finn’s cliff house, where she wore all black and stood among the bushes and palm trees. Clearly, she stalked her nemesis, her son’s wife, who had just gotten physical with her at the Il Giardino apartment she shared with Deacon (Sean Kanan).

The predator took advantage of the high winds and the electricity going out (which she may have caused) and broke into the house. Eventually, she charged Steffy and left her no choice but to take a butcher knife and skewer her. Ding Dong, the wicked witch is dead, right? Who knows, at this point, because we’re talking about Sheila. How many times has she “died”? There are definitely theories out there about ways to one day resurrect her (including this one).

Steffy did a badass job rolling over the sofa to rise to the challenge of facing down Sheila. Unfortunately, once the deed was done and Finn came home, things turned from creepy to crazy (and slightly cringy). I loved Jacqueline MacInnes Wood’s facial reactions as Steffy listened to Finn react to his bio mom’s death. I think she was all of us, actually.

First, I want to say everybody reacts differently to trauma and grief. But Finn’s reaction was a whole new level of odd. Clearly, Steffy expected her husband to be the solid, protective Finn he always is. The one who went above and beyond to save Eric Forrester’s (John McCook) life. Instead, she witnessed Finn break a little. He kind of crumbled over this woman’s death. This woman who, yeah, gave birth to him. But, like Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) said, she tried to take his life, too.

Sure, before this, Finn showed flashes of empathy and a yearning for a connection with Sheila. But he always stood by his wife and kids. He knows what she’s done to his wife’s family, especially what she did to him and Steffy (Wood and Brown talk Steffy and Sheila here). She shot them! She kidnapped him and kept him from his life. Yet, he can’t believe he’s never going to see her again. I mean, he barely saw her to begin with!

Ridge and Thomas tried to get him to understand what was happening there. Steffy was in a very vulnerable place because she killed someone, and she needed her husband. Her trauma was real. Honestly, I’m glad Ridge and Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) were there to care for Steffy. Finn was incapable of doing it. But, I’m going to need Ridge to understand Finn’s shock. I didn’t appreciate his insensitive tone when he told Finn exactly what he should be doing and feeling right now.

Finn did say some of the right things to Steffy, but overall, those didn’t come across very well. They were overshadowed by his insistence that his wife killed his mother. The dialogue was strange and so was having Finn put his hand in Sheila’s blood. And then he couldn’t stick around and wait for the police to return? I get that he needed air, but he exited stage right as quickly as possible and headed to Il Giardino where he looked at a framed photo as if he had a real relationship with Sheila. I need him to think of Li (Naomi Matsuda), the mother who raised him. And, oh yeah, Hope (Annika Noelle) also comforted him there.

I’m so curious as to where this is all going to lead and what this means for the Finn/Steffy marriage. Behavior and trauma like this tend to change dynamics and not for the better. I hope I’m wrong because I want Finn and Steffy to stay strong.

Other B&B Thoughts

• I am so surprised Liam (Scott Clifton) didn’t show up at Steffy’s before Finn.
• During his conversation with Liam, the delusional Deacon (Sean Kanan) claimed Sheila focused on bettering herself. How could he say that?
• Hope was the only one to defend Finn. I’m glad someone took his side. The Forresters know how to close in and rally around their own, leaving others on the outside looking in.
• Liam does seem like he’d be a bad tipper. Sorry, not sorry.
• Loved Thomas remaining calm and cool while his dad screamed at Finn. Thomas could have piled on, but he didn’t. Same when he talked with Hope and Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), too.
• Ridge went back and forth to Malibu. How far is Forrester Creations from Malibu? Because he got there and back quickly. Too quickly. Even from Beverly Hills, it’s a trek.
• I mostly understood Finn’s perspective. That is until he realized he may not ever see Sheila again. Hard pass with that thought, Finn.
• Finally, here’s my regular plea for the show to utilize Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) for more than the lawyer who handles the exposition.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. For more about what’s coming up in Los Angeles, check out all the latest posts on B&B spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.