Soap Hub Performer of the Week for B&B: Krista Allen

Anytime a veteran actor is recast on a soap, viewers hold their breath hoping the replacement will win them over. Fans of The Bold and the Beautiful can exhale now that Krista Allen’s Taylor Hayes has passed the litmus test – she squared off quite nicely opposite Brooke, her character’s longtime rival. Soap Hub is bestowing Performer of the Week honors for B&B on Allen for her dynamite work.

Krista Allen – Performer of the Week

For anyone who’s new to B&B, all you need to know about Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Taylor (Krista Allen) is that the latter was the late Stephanie Forrester’s (Susan Flannery) favorite. Ridge Forrester vacillated for years between the two women; more often than not, he chose Brooke. Taylor took the defeats with grace and dignity and failed to stoop to Brooke’s tactics to win Ridge back.

After sharing scenes with key people in Taylor’s life, the good doctor came face to face with Brooke. The writing and the performance of both actresses didn’t disappoint. In true B&B style, Brooke and Taylor started off exchanging pleasantries but it wasn’t long before digs both subtle and pointed were made. Allen never played the history Taylor had with Brooke, of course, but you’d never know it by her performances. She had Brooke’s number from before she even walked into Steffy Forrester Finnegan’s house.

If Brooke were talking to someone she didn’t know well, her questions about how long Taylor (Krista Allen) would be staying in town or if she were dating would come off like casual interest. But Taylor knows Brooke better than most. “I don’t need a man to define me,” Taylor firmly stated to Brooke, who acted taken aback by her rival’s frankness.

The two women volleyed back and forth using pleasantries, mostly. When Brooke accused Taylor of being judgmental, Taylor offered to take a different approach. Taylor told Brooke her opinion of her was that she (Brooke) didn’t enjoy being alone. “Speak for yourself,” Brooke defensively replied. “Okay. I will,” Krista Allen’s Taylor confidently responded. “I’ve found happiness and fulfillment in myself.”

Taylor and Brooke tried to find common ground. They both really like Dr. John “Finn” Finnegan (Tanner Novlan) and agree that Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) being Finn’s mother isn’t a good thing. “I get the feeling you might still be upset about that,” Brooke said when the topic shifted to Brooke’s daughter Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) winning Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton) away from Taylor’s daughter Steffy (Jaqueline MacInnes Wood). (The two women did have a food fight using Hope and Liam’s wedding cake as ammunition.)

Brooke went on to say that she doesn’t believe in winners or losers but rather that we all create our own destinies. Krista Allen then made the clever choice to have Taylor purse her lips as if she were stifling a laugh or a comeback that would have escalated the building tension between the two women.

Taylor and Brooke are at odds over more than just Ridge and their daughters. Their competition continues into the lives of their grandchildren. Taylor hasn’t lost sight of the fact that Hope has primary custody of Thomas Forrester’s (Matthew Atkinson) son Douglas (Henry Joseph Samiri). These two women will likely compete again at some point over Ridge but for certain are going up against one another to see who can score more “grandmother hugs.”

Brooke wanted to find out what Taylor’s next move was. Perhaps there were travel arrangements Brooke could help book? “I’m not pushing you out of here,” a smiling Brooke lied — because that’s exactly what she was trying to do!

“Thank you, Brooke, for coming by,” Taylor sweetly said. It was the most polite way of saying, “I see right through you. You may go now.” Brooke didn’t leave before finding out if Taylor was going to be at Eric Forrester’s for Christmas Eve which would put her in mistletoe distance of Ridge. Taylor informed Brooke that she’d be spending the holidays with Steffy and Finn. “You know you’re always welcome,” Brooke said (as if it were her place to invite Taylor over to someone else’s home!)

Taylor spoke of the importance of forgiveness and told Brooke that she believed that they could get along. But if, in fact, these two women can’t be friends given their history, we’re confident that Krista Allen will continue to bring her A-game to the role of Taylor. She’ll keep Brooke on her toes.

The Bold and the Beautiful (BB) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Los Angeles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on B&B spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.