The Bold and the Beautiful’s Thomas and Hope, aka Thope in the social media world, are the surprise popular soap pairing of the year. And that might be one reason why their story has seemed in flux and all over the place since the week Hope finally gave into her feelings for a man who had loved her and only her for years.
What Are Hope And B&B Really Doing?
Nobody was more shocked than Hope (Annika Noelle) and Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) when Hope suddenly kissed him outside the Colosseum in Rome back in June. Thomas had no idea Hope had been having sexual fantasies about him for months, so to have the woman of his dreams finally pull him in for a passionate kiss was like a dream come true. When Liam (Scott Clifton) told Hope he saw the kiss and ended things with her immediately, Hope ran straight to Thomas, a man who was ready and waiting.
‘Thope’ spent the week in bed and took the soap world by storm. Social media was abuzz, they were trending on X (formerly known as Twitter) every day…and then they disappeared. As B&B often does, it switched to another ‘A story’ leaving Thomas and Hope behind.
What Happened To The Thomas and Hope Momentum?
Eventually, we learned they spent weeks together off-screen, but when they briefly returned to the forefront, it was so Hope could have second thoughts.
Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) made her believe that she should try for a second chance with Liam, so for her family’s sake, she broke things off with Thomas. But, Liam didn’t want her back leading Hope and Thomas to enter into a no-strings-attached relationship. She has been upfront with him that she is still getting over her marriage and is not in love with him — yet. Unfortunately, the fandom and Thomas’s family are getting frustrated with Hope’s inability to confront her feelings and the pairing seems stagnant.
The Thope disappearing act over the summer might explain part of what is going on — and Hope’s character evolution might explain the rest. Did B&B expect this controversial pairing to be such a success? Probably not.
Did the show then have to spend months trying to figure out what to do with them in the middle of a writer’s strike while also needing to write off a lead actress for a maternity leave? Yes, it did. And that leaves us where we are. With Thomas loving Hope and Hope loving every moment of Thomas loving her — but not yet able to admit she loves him, even to herself.
Hope Can’t Say She Loves Thomas
Every time someone asks Hope if she is in love with Thomas, she dodges the question and declares that she and Thomas are on the same page, enjoying each other and living in the moment. For a normal soap couple, that would be fine, but maybe not for Thomas.
After all, his love for Hope was obsessive for a while, leading to mental health problems, as well as some dirty deeds, including keeping the truth about Hope’s baby from her for weeks when Hope thought Beth had died.
Everyone around them is justifiably worried that Hope is toying with Thomas’s feelings, something that will just lead to him having another mental breakdown. Even Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) accused Hope of using Thomas for sex and nothing else. Hope told her she was following her heart, but still couldn’t bring herself to say she loved him.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words For Hope
However, sometimes it’s not what people say, it’s what they do and Annika Noelle is playing Hope as a woman in love. The chemistry between Noelle and Matthew Atkinson is palpable and has been since they first began working together in 2019. Now that Hope is “with Thomas” as she recently told Steffy, Hope can’t stop naturally touching his hair and his face, looking into his eyes, smiling…
Yes, the sexual tension is there, and this couple certainly enjoys it, but all those little playful physical moments between them illustrate intimacy and more than just raw sex. Hope keeps talking about a connection with Thomas that she’s never felt before, but she still hears the voices of the naysayers whenever she allows herself to get emotionally close.
From her mother and Liam to even Finn, all Hope keeps hearing is that Thomas is not the right man for her. They remind her of the things he has done to hurt her and others in the past, and the old Hope who always felt she had to listen to everyone else is battling the new Hope. The one we now see with the newly sexy wardrobe, the short and sassy haircut, and the live-in-the-moment attitude is at odds with the one who always had to be the opposite of Brooke — namely pure and perfect.
Will The Truth Set Hope Free?
Right now, Hope claims she is embracing the idea of being just like Brooke, a woman who follows her heart. However, to us, she doesn’t seem like Brooke at all. Yes, she is following her heart but it’s no longer leading her to a man who can’t stop waffling between two women. That is what she was doing all the years she spent competing with Steffy for Liam’s affections just as Brooke has always done with Taylor to win Ridge.
Now, Hope is following her heart to a man who loves her and only her, which makes her wholly different from her mother. And what does following her heart mean? Perhaps it means her heart feels something that Hope might not even recognize it as love.
After all, what she always thought of as love was nothing but a toxic relationship for well over a decade. However, make no mistake, Thope is the love story here and it’s quite a journey to take and watch as Hope discovers she loves Thomas and B&B discovers what to do with a popular pair that was never really meant to be.
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for times. For all the latest B&B spoilers, recaps, and news, Daily Drama has the scoop.
