Credit: Howard Wise/JPI; CBS screenshot (2)
Unsurprisingly, this week’s episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful revolved entirely around the aftermath of Finn and Steffy’s shooting. As a whole crowd of angry fans vented about the fact that Steffy’s husband had been killed, Finn kind of became a nothing in his own story. Meanwhile, at least one cast member gave a performance that can only be described as stunning. Read on for more…
“Finn didn’t make it”
At the start of the week, most viewers assumed Finn wouldn’t make it. But what really surprised me was how casually the show let him escape. No scenes of doctors in the hospital working to save a colleague’s life. Hell, imagine if Jack – aka Finn’s doctor father – was spotted making his way into the operating room in hopes of saving his son’s life.
More: What’s next for Steffy?
Instead, we had Bridget – who happened to be working at the University Hospital this week – as our only identifiable medical worker. (More on Bridget in a moment… )
Finn has two moms
Li’s stance against the idea of Sheila being able to see Finn was interesting in that it caused Taylor to feel sympathy for the she-devil. Damn, Li was so cold to Sheila that even I felt sorry for the shooter for a second! But again, this was another series of scenes where I couldn’t help but feel robbed.
More: Tanner Novlan on Finn’s shock departure
How could they not show us scenes of Sheila crying over Finn’s unconscious but not yet dead body? Imagine cutting from Ridge’s beautiful speech about how when a child hurts, so do her parents in front of Sheila as they envision the life she could have had – complete with fantasy sequences – if only she were part of the would have been family. That’s soap opera gold right there.
The mirror has two faces
Speaking of which…how incredible was Kimberlin Brown? That scene of Sheila looking in the mirror and crying out in pain sent shivers down my spine. And who else could turn brushing their hair into riveting drama? I didn’t like Sheila’s visit for the most part, mostly because until recently the iconic daytime villain was reduced to slapping Deacon and congratulating herself for changing the labels on a bottle.
However, these past two weeks have reminded us all of exactly what makes Sheila such a fascinating character. I love that they didn’t let Brown do that soap opera thing where the character acts guilty in a way that the audience sees but the characters they’re talking to don’t. Does this make sense?
Take for example when Li said that whoever shot Finn had to be a cold vicious monster. Instead of making Sheila flinch or react in any way, Brown remained stone. Such was the case when Deacon told Sheila that Finn had also been shot. Brown played this scene as if Sheila was really hearing the news for the first time…that’s how a sociopath like Sheila would play it. She would have a total poker face!
Is Steffy next?
Of course, the next phase of this story revolves around Steffy’s recovery and how it will affect Sheila. Because if Steffy wakes up and reveals everything, Finn’s mother’s game is of course over. Teasers for next week suggest Sheila might at least have some time as it looks like Steffy will remain unconscious. But how long can that take?
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Well, maybe longer than you think. After all, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood will eventually take her maternity leave. What better way to explain Steffy’s absence than to transfer her to a long-term care clinic. You know, the kind of place Lulu from General Hospital has been at for ages. Once Wood has the baby, Steffy could wake up and come home, raising the question of what she does and doesn’t do from the night of the shooting.
How convenient!
Bridget’s visit nails this show as it is 100 percent story driven. Is it nice to see Ashley Jones? Always. But instead of having Bridget suddenly “help out” at the hospital the day Finn and Steffy were shot, it wouldn’t have made more sense to explain that she had asked for a transfer to help Mama Brooke get it all done to become further in their lives? They would have achieved the same end result – Bridget would have been on hand for the shootings – in a way that would have both felt natural and not telegraphed what was about to happen.
Random Thoughts
• Does anyone else find it odd that Brooke and Hope didn’t take Liam to the hospital? It had already been established that the children would be spending the night at Donna’s. Surely Brooke would want to be there for Ridge during this major trauma, no matter what the current state of their marriage.
• You know I’m a big believer in B stories. But I’m going to let Bold & Beautiful slide this week because everything surrounding Finn’s death deserves to be front and center. Also, the only real side story this show has right now is the Paris/Carter mayhem, and the only thing that could possibly make me invest in it will be if and when Zoe returns.
Ready for something “aww” inspirational? Check out this photo gallery of soap stars with their adorable kids!