Liam sure does love those Mr. Rogers' sweaters. It got me thinking...What if, instead of a fashion choice, the sweaters are really indicative of the make-believe life Liam set up for himself? After Steffy cheated on Liam and the tragedy with Beth was finally resolved, he created the perfect life with the "perfect" wife in his perfect cabin where nothing could touch them.
Everything was fine in Liam's make-believe land as long as his perfect little wife let him have the same perfect setup at the cliff house. Finn and Thomas threw caffeine all over Liam's dream world when Finn began to date Steffy, and Thomas started seeking the same time with Hope and Douglas that Liam spent with Steffy and Kelly.
This week, the neighborhood trolley spun off the tracks when we learned that the real threat to Liam's marriage isn't Thomas; it's Liam, who once again ran to Steffy instead of confronting the tremors rocking his make-believe world. Liam messed up big time, downing tequila with an addict and roping her right back in with the possibilities that the portrait on the wall might hold for them.
As a former addict, Steffy has no business with booze or anything else in her house that can spur her addictions -- and that includes Liam, her biggest addiction. Yet there she was, "puff-puff giving it up" to Liam, based upon the fantasy Liam weaved about the portrait.
Liam had Steffy at "I never not loved you," but viewers are tired of Liam using Steffy like a "convenience" store or Comfort Inn. Steffy's sofa isn't Liam's therapy couch, either. For some fans, the waffle is stale and should be tossed out -- right along with that grody sex sofa. I hope Ridge didn't sit on it when he was there. Eww.
Thomas lives in his own Land of Make Believe, but at least he has brain trauma as an excuse. While Liam cocooned himself in his fantasies, deflecting his feelings for Steffy onto Thomas' motives with Hope, Thomas was fighting the latest of his demons to come to terms with the reality of his relationship with Hope. Thomas will never be redeemed for some viewers, but he at least wants to stop being that obsessed guy.
Kudos to Matthew Atkinson, who delivered one palpable, manic dramatization after another in Thomas' struggle between the boundaries of his real life and his old manipulative compulsions. Annika Noelle effortlessly kept pace with Atkinson in a frantic dance on the cusp of Thomas' sanity until Thomas finally fell down.
Even though many viewers want to strangle Liam, a teaspoon of Scott Clifton's emotional performances helps Liam's wrongheadedness go down a little bit easier -- even if Liam leaves us with indigestion. Everyone be kind to Clifton on social media. Remember, he's not Liam Spencer. He just plays Liam on TV.
The drag felt around the soap world
Only Liam Spencer can manage to whip up a hornet's nest in almost every fan base of his triangle. He did so by destroying the lives of both women he loves in one shot. Well, maybe it was twelve shots. Who could really keep track? From the East Coast to the West, everybody is dragging Liam, so let me grab my torch and jump on in.
Before I get started, let me just say that Liam has been making bad decisions in a drunken stupor ever since he dyed his hair red and got that tattoo when he thought Hope abandoned him while she was really caring for an ill Stephanie. He has made plenty of bad relationship decisions in a sober stupor, too, like when:
I could go on with more examples, but I think I've uncovered Liam's pattern. He's either a sexaholic, looking for any excuse to get busy, or he can't find the "on" switch to his brain. Worse yet, maybe the "on" switch actually is in his pants, and he can't think clearly until after it's already been flipped up.
Liam says there are dozens of reasons that Hope's dinner with Thomas was wrong. Likewise, there are dozens of reasons why everything Liam did in this storyline is wrong. From lying about his feelings for Steffy to accusing Hope and Thomas of doing the very inappropriate things Liam does with Steffy, Liam was wrong, selfish, and unfair.
For example, did you hear Liam tell Steffy that there are plenty of ways to co-parent without Thomas and Hope spending so much time together? Isn't that what Finn and Hope said about Liam and Steffy? Did you hear Liam, who'd just confessed to still having feelings for Steffy, say that he'd been naïve to Hope developing feelings for Thomas?
Those weren't the only disingenuous things Liam said the morning after. I'd need a course syllabus and lecture hall to define the full measure of his hypocrisy. I'll summarize by saying Hope is rubber, and Liam is glue. Whatever he said to Steffy about Hope bounced off Hope and stuck to his hypocritical behind!
Liam says he must be very forgiving because of all the things that he has done wrong in the past. He claimed he'd be willing to forgive Hope if she'd kissed anyone but Thomas. Doesn't that sound familiar? Like, "I could forgive if it had been anyone other than Bill...anyone other than Wyatt?" Basically, Liam can forgive his woman's cheating as long as she cheats with no one. Yeah, I hear you. Liam is right to exempt Wyatt and Bill because family members should know better, but really, the show is too small for hypocrites to be choosers.
Lastly, Liam told Hope that he couldn't get over how the kiss happened. Come on. Did Liam really believe that Hope had foreplay with Thomas in the dark while Douglas was in the next room? Liam might be that kind of father, but Hope isn't that kind of mother. She wasn't even having that when Zoe was in Thomas' room at the mansion. Plus, Hope would never put Douglas in the position of walking in and getting confused by it. Kelly has already been conditioned to see Liam at her house at all times of day and night, but Douglas is not used to seeing his parents that way.
The most inane part about Liam's failure as a husband was that Liam was determined to go to Thomas' home to stop Thomas from taking advantage of Hope. However, when Liam saw Thomas taking advantage of "Hope," Liam didn't bother to stop it. Instead, Liam left and took advantage of Steffy. Liam makes no sense!
Liam left the wife he'd sworn to protect in Thomas' clutches, got drunk with an addict who has no business knocking back shots, and had the nerve, the absolute nerve, to have a change of clothes at Steffy's house the next morning! I half-expected Hope to ask him why she hasn't seen his outfit before. Steffy probably kept the spare outfit ironed and waiting for him in a closet for years. I'm surprised he can fit in it.
Steffy needs to take her share of the blame for always having a light on and her legs open anytime a drunk Liam wants to fall between them. Unlike Steffy, viewers are not taking Liam's cheating lying down. Here are some comments from our message board about the infallible Liam's foul-ups:
"I simply cannot believe Liam having S*E*X with Steffy, then he wakes up to renew his tirade over Hope (supposedly) kissing Thomas. What would it take for him to examine his own choices? Where is his guilt? He is a user!" -- JTDMom
"Liam sounded like a ranting idiot today. The more they shove this triangle down the viewers throat, the more ridiculous and unlikeable they all become." -- SoapFiction
"Liam is the one searching for the perfect marriage with no struggle or problems. He literally brainwashed both women into believing he has such high moral fiber and is such a good man when in reality he is immature and a user. He doesn't have much faith in his wife or marriage, because with one problem, he just wants to end it and move on with his ex." -- ShortCake2015
"No one can convince me that he hasn't been thinking about this for months...The rants about Finn and how he's her doctor and shouldn't be dating Steffy...He was jealous, and there was nothing he could do about it besides rant and rave. When he saw Thomas "kiss" Hope, that was the excuse he needed to high tail it over to Steffy's house and get in her bed. -- VABeachGirl
"I just loved the look on Liam's face at the end of today's show after it dawned on him it was him 'destroying' his and Hope's marriage. Priceless" -- Rike
"I do NOT want to sound like I am defending Liam...However, I DO have some insight into his thinking here...He gave up a life with Steffy and Kelly to be with Hope...How did Hope pay back that sacrifice? She "kissed" Thomas. He is totally appalled that she wasn't 100% faithful to him, considering that he put their family over the one he has with Steffy. It's warped thinking that leaves out a lot of pertinent details, but that's the gist of it." -- NuttyAboutSoaps
Yes, NuttyAboutSoaps, it does leave out some details. I'd say details like Liam cheated on Steffy with Hope and had no choice but to give up his family with Steffy when she put her ring on Hope's finger. Also, Steffy actually slept with Liam's father, which is the most unfaithful a wife can be. Sex with his father cannot possibly be preferable to Liam than Hope's supposed kiss with Thomas.
The saddest part of it to me is that Liam could have been a hero if he'd just spoken up at Thomas' door. Instead, Liam chose to believe the worst about his wife and use Steffy as a brothel motel with continental breakfast and laundry service. Afterward, he had the gall to question Hope about where she had spent the night.
Does Steffy even have feelings about what happened?
The mystery in this storyline just might be Steffy's take on what transpired between her and Liam and what it means for her relationship with Finn. Some fans are amazed that Steffy is so nonchalant about sleeping with the married Liam and cheating on Finn, but really, that's just how Steffy usually is. When Liam rages like a hurricane, destroying his life, she's usually like a placid lake, just steadily rocking her smooth waves until Liam makes his decision -- which is usually to stick with Hope.
Steffy was that way last year when she slept with a drugged Liam, who continued to pursue Hope afterward. I recall Steffy being calm, cool, and collected when Liam was frantic about the tattoo-ruined wedding to Hope. Steffy calmly walked away with bird crap on her head when Liam found out that Hope hadn't stood him up for the Italian wedding, and Steffy kept her silence about making out with him.
It's not strange for Steffy to play her feelings close to the vest, but it is pathetic that she keeps letting Liam do this to her. I had extremely high hopes that the addiction storyline and new romance with Finn would set a new course for Steffy. I'd hoped she'd spend at least a few years pursuing another love, kind of like the writers let Brooke do with Nick.
Unfortunately, there is no such luck, and the Sinn relationship seems to be doomed before it really gets off the ground. The first hint that it is doomed came when we heard secondhand that Finn and Steffy are sleeping together instead of writers allowing us to see it for ourselves. I know they are socially distancing, but we got to see scenes leading us to conclude that Liam and Steffy were about to horizontal mamba. With Finn and Steffy, we found out they're sexually active because Steffy told Liam that Finn stays there a couple nights a week. That's hardly the writing that a lasting romance is made of.
Finn has done everything right, just like Carter. Finn took it slowly with Steffy. He supported her through hard times. He has taken an interest in her brother's troubles. In the end, Steffy betrayed Finn with the very man Thomas warned Finn about. Maybe Finn will try to forgive Steffy and move forward, but from here on out, Sinn seems to be another part of Steffy's life that Liam has tainted.
Here are a few comments from our message boards about Steffy's behavior:
"I can no longer support her in her latest cha cha cha with the waffle. She deserves all the pain and humiliation coming her way. She deserves to lose Finn, a fine man WITH A JOB, who was completely devoted to she and Kelly. So give the lady what she wants -- another serving of stale waffles." -- HaleNaw!
"[Steffy] falls in bed just about as much as Brooke used to. She has already been with every man in that Spencer family. The next person that calls her strong needs to be smacked in the mouth. When it comes to Liam, the waffler, she is weak, weak, weak. And it is not as if she don't know how he is and what he will do, cause he has done it to her so many times..." -- Russellgm
"Liam is Steffy's kryptonite! She has the picture on the wall still for a reason. Liam knows how Steffy feels about him. Liam went to Steffy's to get drunk and brood for a reason. Liam can't have sex with Wyatt or Bill, so why go to their homes? Also no sex to be had at the office, where he lied and told Hope he would be." -- KendallSam
KendallSam, you're right. Liam did lie that he was at the office all night, but Steffy told her father that Liam stayed at her house. Liam's not man enough to tell Hope the truth about where he was. I wonder how long it will take each version of his whereabouts to make its way to Brooke, who will undoubtedly put two and two together and tell her daughter that Liam can't be in two places at one time.
Kiss the mannequin goodbye
Liam's Chicken Little routine caused the sky to fall down upon him when Hope discerned through his ramblings about her cheating that he'd actually seen Thomas kissing the mannequin, not Hope. As Liam stood in horrified realization that he'd been the betrayer in his marriage, and not Hope, Thomas lay in a hospital bed with a brain nodes crown on his head, fighting for his life amid a brain trauma diagnosis.
Liam's selfish and bratty behavior this week didn't overshadow the important developments in Thomas' life. While Liam clung to lies about why he cheated on his wife, Thomas was breaking free of the personal demons that had plagued him through the mannequin. At one point, Thomas couldn't tell the mannequin from the real Hope.
Before Thomas slipped into his coma, he let Hope know that he wasn't obsessed with her. He just loved her, and he always would. It was a tragic moment. Listening to him, I couldn't help but think, "Damn, Thomas. You really love yourself some Hope, but you are still crazy."
I enjoyed the storyline a lot more than I thought I would. I appreciate the producers taking the risk of pairing live characters with an inanimate object. Annika Noelle and Matthew Atkinson brought Manne-Hope to life, and I kind of wish it could go to Paris and live an exciting life in the department store window far from the turmoil of the Forresters. Sadly, the chances are that we won't be seeing much more of Manne-Hope from this point on -- unless it crawls its way off a trash heap or out of an incinerator to pay Hope back for shoving it. I'd suggest that it be Liam’s consolation prize when Hope and Steffy dump him for being a dumbass. A plastic Hope that he can completely control would be perfect for him. It would never work out, though, because not even the make-believe Hope will put up with him. Even it can't stand him and wants to kill him.
Let us know what you think. Was the mannequin story a hit or miss in your book? Please feel free to leave your rants about Liam in the comments section below and give us your premonitions on what might happen to Sinn now that Steffy has cheated on Finn with Liam. Should Thomas and Hope have a chance now that Thomas has proven that even with a brain injury, he might be a more faithful man to Hope than Liam is?
Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
Chanel
What are your thoughts on The Bold and the Beautiful? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
