The final four

Why is it that suddenly Nick is the bad guy, and men need to be married to the mother of their children no matter what? By that logic, why hasn't Massimo stayed married to Jackie?

Ah yes...March...the month filled with leprechauns and lay-ups. It's also the month where we have to endure the NCAA preemptions that shorten our weeks and cheat us out of vital episodes. Only three shows this week but a whole month of madness nonetheless. In the spirit of college basketball's equivalent of the Super Bowl, let's look at B&B's Final Four things that are driving us all MAD!

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1) Massimo's complete 180 degree shift in loyalty. Mojo's recent pit bull like behavior when it comes to Ridge and Brooke seems a little strange, don't you think? Why is it that all of the sudden Nick is the bad guy and men need to be married to the mother of their children NO MATTER WHAT? Hmmm...then by that logic, why hasn't Massimo stayed married to Jackie, the mother of his son Nick? Ok, Nick's not a baby but still! Besides, for all the nonsense he goes on with about 'little RJ' all the time, maybe he should actually spend some time with the kid himself before he starts legislating to others. I don't remember even seeing the man HOLD that baby, do you? I think Mass needs a reality check here. Nick has always been there for him personally AND professionally to help him run the family business. Ridge left Marone Industries within a few months and never looked back. Where was Ridge when Mass had his stroke? When Deacon was treating him like crap? Wasn't it Ridge that had dear ol' Dad put in the clink on Nick's wedding day? And since when has Massimo been such an ardent supporter of Brooke Logan's best interest anyway? Didn't she end up on his hit list just a few short years ago? I seem to remember him paying Stephen Logan to fake heart trouble to manipulate Brooke's decision making back then and now he has turned on a dime and is willing to move Heaven and earth to keep her with Ridge, even at the cost of his relationship with the son who REALLY loves him. Rumors have him pushing the envelope and trying to use Jackie's financial woes and his help with them as some kind of leverage against Nick and Brooke. Good grief! You know what makes me laugh the most, though? When Mojo goes on his anti-meddling crusade as he lectures Stephanie. HYPOCRITE! If Stephanie does it, then she learned it from the master!

2) The sheer madness surrounding Brooke these days. First she realizes she loves Nick. Then she gives him up to do the right thing by her clueless daughter. THEN Brooke decides that, rather than be alone, she will give Ridge another chance to keep her toes warm in bed (even though she still loves Nick). THEN her daughter miscarries and has her own epiphany about whom her husband really loves and decides to one-up her mother's selflessness and selflessly gives Nick his freedom to be with the one he loves...her mother. Brooke now has to make a choice between Ridge and Nick (good Lord woman, what choice is there??????????????) and all the while making sure that she is not upsetting Malibu Barbie in the process. Ridge won't give up and is drowning in denial. Bridget is pushing Nick at Brooke and telling Ridge to open his eyes and face the truth. And not to mention that during all this madness, Brooke walks in on the love of her life stinking drunk in the rags with her long time arch nemesis Taylor. She has to forget she saw all that and continue to contemplate whom she wants to be with. Madness, I say...utter madness. It's a wonder that Brooke doesn't check herself into a mental ward. And from what the spoiler sites are saying, the next several weeks will be worse. Ridge may get hurt and Brooke's guilt will work on her...gee, more original writing, huh? No different than Stephanie's fake heart attack was intended to make Ridge decide on Taylor over Brooke. Somebody PLEASE unplug that Xerox machine!!

3) Taylor as Otis the town drunk. Remember the TV show 'the Andy Griffith Show'? I realize I may be showing my age a little but I always liked the character of Otis. He was the lovable and pathetic town drunk with a heart of gold. In this case, though, our drunk is the formerly professional and beautiful Mrs. Ex Ridge Forrester. How crazy is it that we have had to go to Hell and back with her (LITERALLY) and just when you think her story will have a happy ending...BLAM! Now her husband dumps her, her kids are all out of the house at boarding school and she has nothing to keep her busy except a rather persistent fireman and a bottle of brandy. It's madness to think that her character has fallen so far from grace that now she spends her days boozing instead of healing the mentally ill. I really would never have seen this coming. I always liked her characters and offer no apologies for it (though some seem to think I should). I think her constant resurrections are pushing the envelope a bit much but all in all I have always found her to be interesting to watch. Now I cringe when I know a scene with her is coming up. Why? I suppose because it has been such a HUGE shift in the writing of her character that I have a hard time taking it seriously. Brooke, Thorne, Ridge, Stephanie, Eric, etc. have had subtle changes here and there but for the most part they are the same characters we started watching in 1987. This nonsense with Taylor is just too much for me. I believe it is good for the halo to be tarnished as it does give her a more 'real' veneer versus the Miss Goody Two-Shoes label she has been stuck with forever, but making her an alcoholic overnight? Nah, I'm not buying it. And the fact that she is still boo-hooing all over town about Ridge and that he is the only man she'll ever love and she'll do anything to get him back blah-blah-blah is just so far off what we thought her character was all about. Besides, how many chances does she have to be presented with to move on with her life? Hector is killing himself to make a play for her and honestly she could do A LOT worse than Beverly Hills fireman to the rich and famous. It's madness NOT to give that man chance! Ridge is not the end-all-be-all in men...just ask Brooke.

4) I personally think it's madness to bring in new temporary actors to play characters we don't care that much about only to continue to ignore others that would really add something to the show. For example, for weeks I have said that Kristen should come back as a regular character and especially now that Felicia is getting a new lease on life. Kristen has history and Forrester sisters could add a whole new dimension to the show. But even beyond her, it's crazy and I mean NUTS that no one has thought to bring back Rick Forrester. Get a new actor that is not so baby-faced and make him a force to be reckoned with at Forrester Creations. He could be a bit of a scoundrel even and have some little honey from Europe on his arm when he returns. He could be a womanizer, too. He's a young enough character that, if properly re-introduced and well written, could be a wildly popular person to watch for years to come. I'd love to see him come back and fight to get control of the company away from his Dad and Stephanie! Wouldn't that be a hoot? After all, the only thing we really know of him is that he was manipulated into early fatherdom by a nut-job and then tried his hand at jail-bait dating with Caitlin only to be run over by her father and basically run out of town for lack of any decent storyline. Hey, we brought back Bridget with a different actress to make her the heir-apparent to Brooke...why not bring Rick back too? While we are at it, bring back Kimberly from Europe all mature and sure of herself. They could be the next big destiny-filled couple! I see huge upside here if only Brad would look back in the archives and see how much he has to work with. What about the Logan's (and I don't mean the parents)? How about CJ coming back? I don't know how many people are going to care too much about Hector's brother or Brooke's Dad coming back for whatever period of time but I think it's madness NOT to infuse this cast with some interesting faces from the past.

Well, last week's question garnered a wide array of responses regarding Taylor's character reconstruction or deconstruction as I like to call it. A slim majority felt that it was a cheap shot on the part of the writers to mess with her this much and, in their words, bring her down to the level of Brooke. I would not have worded it that way but I agree it has been too severe too soon. Make her mortal and just as flawed as the rest of us but straight into the sewer. One reader asked a very valid question...why did they bring her back only to have done this to her? Seems like people ran out of ideas on what to do with her character and now it's become a joke. I second that!

Since we were short on action this week, I'll cut right to the question of the week and then a few emails from my readers that are particularly relevant. Question---With all the speculations and rumors surrounding Ronn Moss' tour and CD release, do you think it's time for him to contemplate leaving the show or do you think he a vital part of B&B and should stay as long as he can irregardless of his musical interests? Can B&B survive without Ridge Forrester as a central character? I'll save my answer until next week but I am warning you, it may surprise some to read how I really feel about his character.

Bobby writes...'...the last time we saw Brooke's daddy was when Mass gave him money to fake that heart disease...what if he comes back with revenge in mind? That would be something different, right?' Very good point...I never thought of that! Kiran writes... '...Brooke needed sex after Ridge died while she was comforted by his brother...that seems alright with you because you like your captain more than the WOODEN ONE...whatever Nick does seems ok in your book...I have never seen such biased writing.' Yikes. Well, by definition, an opinion column is just that...my opinion. Opinions are biased, that's why each person has a different one. So you are absolutely right, Kiran, I'm completely and utterly biased. You caught me. Guilty as charged. But I appreciate your email anyway as I want it for the record that I never rubberstamped the Foundry Boink as 'ok'. I have always said it was a little creepy at best and certainly not appropriate. It caused WAY more problems than it should, that's for sure.

Deb writes... '...Patrick Duffy as Brooke's dad??? Puh-leaseeee!!!! He looks more like her brother or younger brother!!' I was thinking the same thing when I saw some recent pictures of him. He does look too young but maybe the make-up department has big plans for him!

Until next week....

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