Lope shippers have been rejoicing over the engagement many The Bold and the Beautiful fans saw coming after Hope tried to reunite with Liam when she found out he was dying. But the couple took the long way round to a reunion.
Key Takeaways
- Why B&B head writer and EP Bradley Bell initially planned to kill Liam
- The pivot that breathed new life into Lope
- The likelihood of Liam waffling again
Lope’s Long Way
Hope (Annika Noelle) even accepted Carter’s (Lawrence Saint-Victor) proposal before her heart started singing a different tune once Liam (Scott Clifton) was no longer knocking at death’s door. Although Lope is happy now, there is the question of whether their relationship will last for long.
Liam and Hope have been romantic partners on and off for 15 years. Their troubles tend to be rooted in the heart, most often in Liam’s split affections between his first love and the woman who would become his best friend, Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood). The back-and-forth has lasted well over a decade despite several marriages, including Steffy’s current one to Finn.
However, B&B star Scott Clifton shared with Soap Opera Digest that it was Liam’s waffling that nearly got him written out of the soap. With that being the case, the character could be entering a new era that’ll delight fans of his romance with Hope.
B&B Boss Felt Liam’s Story Had Run Its Course
In the aftermath of Hope’s affair with Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) and Liam’s inability to persuade Steffy to leave Finn (Tanner Novlan), Clifton’s presence on B&B had begun to wane. He’d spent a decade and some change at the center of a love triangle, which seemed to have met its end with neither woman choosing Liam in the process.
The B&B writers flirted with the idea of reuniting him with Ivy (Ashleigh Brewer), but didn’t pursue that connection once she was back in LA. They also bypassed circling back to Lope to give Hope’s new connection with Carter a chance once she stopped trying to turn Finn’s eye toward her. As such, there were no other viable romantic options for Liam on the show, and love is a huge part of the soap’s storytelling. This left Bell with a dilemma—where does Liam go from here?
Clifton told the magazine that the EP decided it was time for Liam’s story to end.
Brad was really honest and generous with me and we had a conversation where he told me he felt that Liam had been written into a corner. He said, ‘Liam has gotten married and divorced so many times and he’s sort of ping-ponged back and forth between these two women [Hope and Steffy] so many times and I don’t know where to go from here. But please know that I still value you as an employee and an actor.
The tumor storyline was supposed to be the character’s send-off. According to the actor, Bell said, “he didn’t want to waste Liam, and so it seemed like the best way to honor the character without squandering him was to give him this sort of really poignant send-off.” But, like Bell did with Kimberlin Brown’s Sheila Carter in 2024, he changed his mind. Doing so put Liam on the path toward breaking away from old patterns.
Cheating Death Makes For A Fresh Start
Near-death experiences in storytelling serve as catalysts for significant change. In Liam’s case, surviving a gunshot wound and finding out that his cancer diagnosis was a scam gave him a new lease on life. He’s been determined not to squander it, and that’s manifested in his pursuit of a reunion with Hope.
He’s sworn to her that the issues they had in the past, with his divided heart, won’t be a problem this time around. Her own family is confident in this statement, mainly because Steffy is happily married. But fans can likely be confident about it, too. As Clifton pointed out, the B&B team is aware Liam can’t continue to waffle.
Presumably, this means that he’ll be steadfast going forward. If that’s the case, once wedded bliss begins to ebb as Lope settles into the day-to-day of being married again, the couple’s obstacles may not be romantic in nature. It’s possible that their drama will stem from family issues or disagreements over differing opinions on how to handle a situation. But if affairs of the heart do come into play again, it’ll likely be on Hope’s end and not Liam’s.
There’s still the lingering question of Thope and whether the writers would ever put Thomas in the middle of their relationship again. But, for now, B&B is making a strong case for a return to who Liam and Hope were together before their marriage fell apart. And it’s possible the profound impact of Liam’s close call with death will play a significant role in deterring Lope from straying from the choice they’ve made to fight for their family and their love.
