When virginal Hope Logan first got together with Liam Spencer, there were sparks. Hope was getting over a terrifying ordeal in which her then-boyfriend, Oliver Jones, accidently had sex with her mother, the sexually notorious, Brooke Logan. He even respected her choice of being a virgin and saving herself for marriage. All that changed in late 2011, when Steffy drowned in her bathtub after Liam’s father, Bill Spencer dumped her and Liam saved her.
On paper, a rehash of the Brooke, Ridge, and Taylor love triangle would work perfectly. Let’s looks at the original formula of this triangle. Brooke is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who married Ridge’s father, Eric, but is still in love with him. Taylor is the sweet educated girl who was initially a rebound girl after the initial true love (the original Caroline Spencer) died, but turned into the viable candidate for Ridge’s love. Ridge is the dashing fashion house playboy who is torn between two women and is often influenced by his meddling mother Stephanie, who hated Brooke and loved Taylor. It worked for the show for 20 good years and was a good balance for the show.
Hope, Liam and Steffy are everything that is wrong with The Bold and The Beautiful. For a good 6 months out of 2012, it was the only storyline running on the show. At least with Brooke, Ridge and Taylor we have the other characters featured in other storylines and there were many memorable storylines. Even Brooke, Ridge, Taylor got a break when one of the women got married to Ridge or Brooke married another Forrester.
Speaking of Brooke, Ridge and Taylor, their roles in the current triangle are horrid. Taylor was barely shown for months until she finally popped up and gave Steffy advice after the big Italian wedding between Hope and Liam. Brooke’s role is meddling in the motherly sense which is pretty messed up considering how she treated Bridget (Hope’s sister who was married to her father, Deacon Sharpe, who Brooke had an affair.) She is too involved in her grown daughters love life, which includes being more concerned about her sex life than her drowning due to a pill addiction. Ridge was kind of torn between Steffy and Hope. Ridge wasn't there for long since actor Ronn Moss left the show at the end of the summer. It wasn’t just Brooke, Ridge, and Taylor being involved in the triangle. The entire cast in some way had something to do with the triangle. Fashion Houses, business, and LA living were stopped so that they could comment on if Steffy should have married Liam in Aspen or if Hope should have had sex with Liam before they got married. I am not kidding. This was every character. If the characters didn’t have anything to do with Hope, Liam, and Steffy, they were written off. Jack Wagner (Nick), Brandon Beemer (Owen) and Lesley-Anne Down (Jackie) were all written out after years on the show without a send off.
There are some small issues I have with the storyline. It ruined my love for the Christina Perri song Arms because of it’s overplaying of it as Liam and Steffy’s song (don’t worry, I fell in love with the song again as I am a huge Christina Perri fan.) Hope’s pill addiction was merely a plot point that probably will never be explored again and with Liam choosing Steffy over Hope and Stephanie passed on, now would be a good time to explore it again. Deacon Sharpe, Hope’s father, was also a plot point that will never be explored again since Sean Kanan is on General Hospital as AJ Quartermaine (though, they can always recast.) The show wasted time on this story with big lavish locations to Aspen (twice), Mexico, and Italy only for outcomes from these big plot points go nowhere. One example is the big Italy wedding between Liam and Hope. Liam and Hope marriage was never legal from that so it was a waste of time. I think the only positive thing about it was seeing the Clarence Update's every week.
While the show did take a much needed break from the triangle top write off the legendary Susan Flannery (Stephanie), who may have left because of the focus of the show shifting to Hope, Liam, and Steffy, and Heather Tom (Katie), who took a maternity leave, at years end, the triangle is starting back up. Although there is a little more balance with Katie, Bill, and Brooke possibly getting into a triangle, and the fallout of the reading of Stephanie’s will, which divided the Forrester Fashion House, it can’t make up for the horrible excuse of a year this show has had with the storyline. It may have broke up the core four and the show will never be the same again.
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