The Bold and the Beautiful gave us the breakout soap couple in 2023 while moving a supposed hero into a more villainous role. In 2024, we want to see some trends continue, but also want to see some stories go in a totally new direction in the LA fashion scene.
Thope Against The World
Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) and Hope (Annika Noelle) were the breakout soap couple of 2023, but the show spent six months with very little story movement. Thomas marveled at the fact that Hope finally wanted him (a dream come true he never thought would happen) and Hope defended her choices to everyone while trying to live in the moment with Thomas and not look too far into the future.
They also became the B story after that first “Thope Week” in which they spent five episodes in bed after nearly five years of Thomas praying Hope would one day be his. Every once in a while, we’d get a few episodes in a row of people questioning their relationship, but then they’d be shoved to the back burner again in favor of stories about Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) or Eric (John McCook) dying but not dying.
Now, they are finally getting a real story that digs into Thomas’s past. Yes, he left Emma Barber (Nia Sioux) to die after her car went over a cliff back in 2019, but most characters, including Hope, already know this. What they don’t know is that Xander Avant (Adain Bradley) believes that Thoams murdered Emma in cold blood and now will have Finn believing the same.
This is the type of story fans have been waiting for — one in which everyone questions Thomas’s character, further questions Hope’s decisions, and wonders if Thomas will ever be mentally whole. The best way to end this story and move Thope forward would be for Hope to be the one person who truly believes in Thomas, making her finally realize she is indeed in love with a man who has truly changed with the help of her love (and a good therapist).
Free Hope And Steffy From Liam For Good
The past year also saw Hope break free of her toxic relationship with Liam (Scott Clifton), something Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) did in 2021 when she married Finn (Tanner Novlan) and put Liam in the rearview mirror. Of course, Liam refuses to stay there and without Hope in his life, he wants Steffy back. He even planted a few kisses on her in 2023 that she hasn’t told her husband about yet.
It’s time for Hope and Steffy to be free of this horrible man for good. And maybe being kicked out of both of their lives can cause Liam to go through a metamorphosis in which he realizes what a Little Puke he has been all these years — or, finally embrace his villain side.
Either way, continuing to pretend he is a viable love interest for either Hope or Steffy is a disservice to all three characters. One way to get him out of their orbit except for being just a sometime co-parent, is to give him a new love interest. Scott Clifton is a phenomenal multiple-Emmy-winning actor who needs to be given something besides the same old, same old to play.
Forrester Fashion World Odds And Ends
There are various characters in our little fictional LA circle who barely have anything to do. Bring Dollar Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) back into the forefront doing just about anything. After seeing his potential with Li Finnegan (Naomi Matsuda) in 2022, we wouldn’t mind a triangle with Bill, Li, and Li’s sister Poppy (Romy Park), in 2024.
Towards the end of 2023, Zende (Delon De Metz) emerged as a compelling character once again, telling us that he’s been sitting on the back burner for way too long. Let us see Zende call out how he is treated at Forrester Creations and come out victorious, with Ridge and even a recovered Eric realizing the error of their ways. We also can’t ignore the fact that Zende has more chemistry with Luna (Lisa Yamada) than RJ (Joshua Hoffman) does.
And finally, do something with Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Ridge. Either remarry them or break them up and don’t ever reunite them again. Their 2023 reunion via the Keyhole of Destiny in Rome fell flat across the board and so did Brooke’s moment as a woman of God, reading the bible to bring Eric back to life.
Brooke is the Slut From The Valley, and Ridge is her forever waffler. Let them be who they are for a better 2024, indeed.
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