Romance is in the air on The Bold and the Beautiful with lovers reuniting. But the speed of these rekindled bonds cut the tension that had been building over the past few months. It appears to be in service to refocusing on the soap’s main couples and families, as co-head writer Michael Minnis teased would happen in the fall.
Key Takeaways
- The Bold and the Beautiful refocuses on family and love through reunions that leave a lot to be desired
- The refusal to have lasting tension or consequences has undercut months of storyline and build
- Making Luna the only source of drama on the soap doesn’t make for good storytelling
A Reset on B&B
Minnis told TV Insider that he, and executive producer/head writer Bradley Bell, have always felt “the show’s at its best when we’re touching our audience, moving them, when it’s uplifting stories, when the audience is tuning in to see the characters and families they love, and we want to get back to a little more of that.”
However, the road to getting there has made for anti-climactic resolutions to love triangles, out-of-character moments that serve the plot, and the complete erasure of very real and valid grievances.
A ‘Bridge’ Too Far
If Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) had immediately “made things right” after Brooke’s (Katherine Kelly Lang) near-death experience, the Bridge reunion would have had more zing. Instead, viewers were treated to a prolonged trek to the inevitable. Then Ridge callously married Brooke within hours of breaking his engagement with Taylor (Rebecca Budig).
This was not romantic; it was cold. Bridge’s lackluster office wedding didn’t help matters. Neither did Thomas’ (Matthew Atkinson) reaction that burned bright before being quickly snuffed out. His fast acceptance of their union is the last fans have seen of him. It has given the impression that Atkinson was only brought in so Thomas could bestow an undeserved blessing on his father’s marriage.
Hope is also on board with Bridge’s return. This is in spite of Ridge calling her outside of her name more than once because she stole his family’s company. It’s as if the last several months didn’t happen, including the fact that Hope for the Future was suspended because it was draining Forrester’s coffers.
The line is back because Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) made a “compelling” argument. Though it seems more likely that it was done because Bridge has reunited and Ridge wants to make Brooke happy. He also apparently has no feelings about Hope breaking his best friend’s heart, despite having predicted this would happen.
Circling Back To Lope
The end of Carter and Hope’s relationship felt just as anticlimactic as the return of Bridge. They got engaged when Liam (Scott Clifton) was thought to be dying. They’ve now broken up mere weeks after it was revealed he isn’t. Yet another NDE is the reason for a broken engagement, and yet again, the road to it happening was a prolonged trek.
Though Liam and Hope aren’t together right now, it seems inevitable that they will be. Carter let Hope go so she could be with her family. He slipped the ring off her finger, and she didn’t protest. It didn’t take her long to show up at Liam and Beth’s (Jordyn Lynn Ariza) daddy-daughter dance so Liam could see that she’s no longer engaged. Short of a plot twist, Lope is definitely on the horizon.
But their pending reunion lacks the romance one would expect after years apart. And, surprisingly, on Hope’s side, it’s been framed as a means to make Beth happy. Hope didn’t choose to go back to Liam; Carter chose for her. That will color Lope’s step back into love. As will Beth be the center of why it happened.
Carter bowing out gracefully also means the tension has been cut once again to serve the plot. His relationship with Hope came through like a wrecking ball, but it’s going out with a whimper. That’s a bold storytelling choice, since Carter nearly lost his found family over the decisions he made to support Hope. It rings false that a relationship as messy as theirs would end on a few tears and a heartfelt goodbye.
The Cost Of Rushing
Nobody being allowed to have hard feelings for long about these reunions makes it feel like the soap is bypassing sense for the sake of expediency. As if family and love being the themes for fall means characters reacting to certain events have to be cordoned off so that there’s little drama, even when there should be a lot of it.
Taylor didn’t get a scene with Ridge after he remarried Brooke because it’d be too fraught with heartbreak and anger. Therefore, Brooke had to go see her instead. Carter did the “noble” thing because we don’t have time for a love triangle or a real weighing over who Hope wants to be with.
It’s likely that when Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) returns, her opinions on everything that’s happened won’t get much room to breathe. It’s possible that too much time will have passed, and she’ll have bigger fish to fry with Luna (Lisa Yamada) being alive. So that’ll be another source of tension to cut in order to make the romances work, and thus the soap can adhere to the refocus Minnis described.
However, the rush to get there truly makes it feel as if none of what happened prior to this pivot matters. That’s frustrating as a viewer and a fan. All the unpleasant eggs can’t go into Luna’s basket. There has to be more drama than that going on.
B&B is risking alienating its audience with a “one big happy family” attempt that feels disingenuous at best and like a completely different soap at worst. We saw how well that went when none of Hope’s family, particularly Donna and Bridget, got to express any discontent or anger with her for taking the fashion house from the Forresters. That was a failure of storytelling, and it took all the stakes out of that plot.
Do you think the reunions on B&B have been rushed? Are you itching for a real love story on the soap? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Tell us how you feel about where the daytime drama is headed this fall.
NEXT: Daphne is Carter’s Chance For Lasting Love on B&B
