Thomas Forrester is back on The Bold and the Beautiful. As Ridge and Taylor’s oldest child is wont to do, he’s already ruffling feathers. If you’re new to the soap or need a refresher on B&B’s reformed “bad boy,” let Soap Hub get you up to speed. There’s a reason Brooke is wary of his return, and Ridge is worried the end of his relationship with Taylor could spell trouble for his son.
Thomas’ Villain Origin Story
When Matthew Atkinson took on the role of Thomas, the B&B writers decided to take a darker turn with the character. He’d come home in 2019 after the death of Caroline Spencer (Linsey Godfrey), his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son Douglas (Henry Joseph Samiri).
Suddenly, a single father of a grieving five-year-old, Thomas, was looking for support from his family. He got it in spades, but it was Hope (Annika Noelle) who he leaned on the most. Her daughter, Beth, was stillborn, and she found herself growing closer to Douglas in her grief.
In spite of her marriage to Liam (Scott Clifton), Thomas’ attachment to Hope grew before twisting into an obsession. One that led him to withhold the truth about the night Beth was born. It turned out that Dr. Reese Buckingham (Wayne Brady)—in need of fast cash in order to keep bookies from harming his daughter, Zoe (Kiara Barnes)—stole Beth and put together a scheme to lure Thomas’ sister, Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), into adopting the baby.
Initially, Thomas was going to tell the truth. Then, he realized staying quiet meant he wouldn’t break Steffy’s heart, and he could keep Hope in his life. However, the truth did come out. He schemed, threatened, inadvertently killed Emma (A Forrester intern played by Nia Sioux), and manipulated Hope into marrying him, but it was Douglas who told the truth.
Finding out Beth was alive, and Thomas knew about it, ended his marriage to Hope. But their connection through Douglas has kept the two bonded for years.
Forrester Family Issues
For most of his run, the mental health of Atkinson’s Thomas has been a chief concern for the Forresters. It’s also been a source of tension between Thomas’ father, Ridge (Thorsten Kaye), and Hope’s mother, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang). The on-and-off again romance between their parents has suffered bumps along the way due to Thomas and Hope’s relationship.
Brooke pushed Thomas off a cliff when she thought he was going after Hope. And, when Hope thought she inadvertently killed Thomas when he fell off a balcony into what she thought was a vat of acid, Brooke told her to stay quiet about it. Brooke has also suggested that Thomas get help at a psychiatric facility rather than treatment through his mother.
But it wasn’t just his obsession with Hope that had Brooke up in arms. Thomas has never been shy about his opinion of Brooke and Ridge’s relationship (Bridge). He wants his parents to rekindle their romance and blames Brooke for his father walking away from their family when he was a child. Given the opportunity, Thomas has exploited the cracks in Bridge’s bond to serve his own ends, like the time he pretended Brooke called CPS on him over cutting an apple with a knife in front of Douglas.
As for Steffy, the two siblings have butted heads over the years. But they’re fiercely loyal to one another. She assumed guardianship of Douglas during Hope and Thomas’ custody battle over him, allowing her nephew to sort through his complicated feelings about his parents. Steffy was also the catalyst for Thomas’ departure after the romance he’d dreamed of with Hope fell apart.
The Rise And Fall Of Thope
After years of steadily growing closer due to co-parenting and working together on Hope for the Future, Hope and Thomas’ (Thope) controversial relationship sparked into a romance. However, given Hope’s marriage to Liam, it came at a price.
Thomas’ feelings for Hope had never wavered. Therapy helped him get a hold of his impulses, but the love beneath the obsession remained. As he proved to her that he was in a healthier place, Hope became attracted to Thomas. She’d never completely given up on the possibility that he could change and seeing it shifted how she felt about him.
Her inconvenient feelings led to fights with Liam and moments of lashing out toward Brooke. But, no matter how much she pushed them down, they rose to the surface in Rome. The successful launch of their collection moved Hope to kiss Thomas in front of the Coliseum. While the moment opened the door for Thope, it ended Hope and Liam’s marriage.
Liam left Hope. In her anger, she decided to pursue a romance with Thomas. Everyone, but Ridge and Eric, was against it. No one wanted to see Thomas become obsessed again if Hope broke up with him. And there was genuine concern that Hope would never love Thomas the way he wants. However, Hope did fall in love with Thomas. It just wasn’t enough.
Freshly divorced, Hope wasn’t ready to accept Thomas’ proposal. Initially, he’d allowed her time to think about it, settling for her wearing his ring on a necklace. But when he proposed again and got the same answer, he ended things. Steffy told him that he needed to find his dignity and stop waiting around for a woman who wasn’t going to love him the way he deserved.
He listened to his sister and decided he was going to head to Paris, taking Douglas with him.
Back To Square One
Prior to September 2’s episode of B&B, Thomas had returned to LA to announce his engagement to Paris Buckingham (Diamond White). But it was short-lived.
Viewers now know the relationship met its end due to her mother, Dr. Grace Buckingham (Cassandra Creech), tricking Liam into believing he was dying so she could extort his father, Bill (Don Diamont), for a million-dollar miracle surgery.
Feeling despondent and lonely, Thomas is back in town for the comfort of family while Douglas spends time with friends in the South of France. Learning of the fragile nature of his parents’ engagement was not what he expected. While romance hasn’t worked out for him, Thomas refuses to let it slip through Ridge and Taylor’s fingers. Hence, he put Brooke on notice.
But Thomas’ focus on his parents’ pending nuptials does have Ridge worried that a break-up could shatter his son. Darkness seems to be waiting around the bend for Thomas on B&B. One push, one trigger could mean the revival of the designer’s villainy on the soap.
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