Credit: CBS screenshot, Howard Wise/JPI

What the heck is Bold & Beautiful thinking?! Candace here, filling in for our esteemed editor, Richard, who is hopefully sipping a cocktail on board his latest cruise at this very minute. I could rant about the filler-level offerings we’ve seen all week, but I’m going to let fans have the floor for the most part as they’ve had a LOT to say about the new developments with Carter, which they’re just not feeling. For my part, I’ll say it’s been quite a comedown, recently, from the high-drama of Luna’s murderous escapades to this rather “meh” attempt to muster up conflict at Forrester Creations. Let’s take a look at what’s gone down, and what’s coming up.

Crikey, This is Contrived

Where to begin? Let’s start with Hope’s line. The back and forth over it has gone on wayyy too long. So long that Hope doesn’t even embody her message any longer because she’s outgrown it. Do the writers really believe we’re so invested in whether or not it survives that we’re glued to our screens? I can confidently say that’s not the case. SOAPS reader Dark Willow summed it up well: “I’m a Hope fan and completely over HFTF. It’s time for it to go. Come up with something new and innovative.”

We’re here for the interpersonal drama, which brings us to our first issue with Carter. He’s being a huge hypocrite. Not that this is new for any character on Bold & Beautiful, but fans tend to call this out when it’s so blatant. SOAPS reader bjwyominggirl thinks the COO is projecting: “Carter’s reactions and passion are for personal reasons. He is accusing Steffy of what he is doing.”

Also problematic? Carter’s undergone one of Bold & Beautiful’s infamous personality transplants to enable this plot. In what universe would mild-mannered Carter barge into Steffy’s office making demands or blindsiding her with Ivy, who repeatedly accused her of murder? It’s just not who he is.

Filed under “make it make sense”: Carter’s supposed issues with Steffy are driven by her wanting to cut Hope’s line and refusing to listen to reason, but the fact is, he wanted to do the same thing just a few weeks ago.

In addition to the repetitiveness of the Hope For the Future debate, the romance between Hope and Carter was rushed. There was no build up or slow burn to let us yearn for them to get together. They went from hardly interacting to making out in what felt like one episode. As a result, it’s not really catching on thus far. Perhaps another reason is that it’s too soon after Thomas and Finn. It’s just all happened too fast.

Getting back to Carter’s big plan for Forrester Creations, his enthusiasm is contagious, I’ll give him that, but fans want to know how a company that’s using the profit from one line to prop up another would be paying for all of these new mergers and acquistions.

The bottom line is that a huge twist needs to occur in this story to make it more interesting. Even the reactions to Carter’s pitch, which were teased as a shake-up with changing alliances fell short of the mark.

Perhaps Rick could come back and try to lay claim to his father’s company once again, stirring up a hornet’s nest of family drama. He could bring Phoebe with him, alive and well. Her name has been mentioned a bunch since Taylor’s return. I say, “Why not?”

Maybe Will could mention Forrester’s struggles to his father, and Bill could decide to attempt a hostile takeover. What better way to ensure his son works for him and not the dressmaker?

The biggest missed opportunity in all of this, was not to have the disgruntled Hope team up with someone else to set up her line in a rival fashion house. At one point it could have been “Thope” going out on their own, but there are also other possibilities. For instance, they could bring Nick back with Jack in tow to help out the little girl he once knew. Battling fashion houses, after all, is what fans actually want to see, not this pseudo-conflict in-house at Forrester. Maybe Carter and Hope can set up their own shop. What do you think?

Looking ahead, Hope could have trouble on her hands.

Bits ‘n’ Bites

I’m excited to see what Ivy gets up to this time around. She’s definitely a pot-stirrer… Will and Electra are so stinkin’ cute, but how did Zende not connect the dots to his family member when Will said her name?! Hopefully they’re not eyeing him as the third in the love triangle (since he’s not related by blood)… Sheila as the understanding and supportive wifey is just wrong. Someone needs to piss her off ASAP!

The opinions expressed are my own. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s Bold & Beautiful in the comments.