Queen Quinn takes the king

Ridge thinks he's king, and he is the king -- of failure. Will Liam ever learn that if he wants the job done right, he'd better seduce Quinn himself? Oh, how the mighty have fallen in lust this week on B&B.

This week, there wasn't a single good day in the neighborhood for Mr. Rogers Liam. He blew his stack because Steffy wouldn't park her trolley in his bed until the second longest divorce in B&B history is final. Ridge, Liam's hand-puppet King Friday, wasn't faring well, either. Ridge's attempted sexploits turned into feelings, and he wound up kissing Quinn. Ridge and Quinn vowed to keep their interaction secret, but will Liam destroy their Land of Make Believe when he learns that Ridge actually left his heart -- and ego -- in San Francisco?

In case you missed it, Quinn was drunk and Pepe-Tequila mad about Ridge attempting to lure her to her downfall. I said this before -- do not mess with Pepe Tequila, people. It will wind you up in jail, beaten up in the hospital, minus a friend or lover, or in bed with an enemy if you can't ride it like a cowboy on a bull. And his buddy Cuervo ain't your friend, either, if you wondered.

I don't know what branch of the tequila family Ridge and Quinn tangoed with, but they went from verbally slugging each other to sloppy kissing each other. By the time the hangovers lifted, Ridge had flown home commercial, Quinn had gone to the office instead of home, and the family was looking at Ridge sideways for complimenting Quinn.

No one can get a clear answer out of the travelers about what went on in San Francisco. Liam had been counting Ridge's shots before they'd been poured and had been very sure that Quinn's days were numbered. Steffy tried to figure out why Liam acted that way, but Liam kept it a secret that, while he was tempting Steffy to live in sin, Ridge was tempting Liam's former Eve to take yet another bite of the apple.

Ridge lied to Liam that Quinn hadn't taken the bait, and Ridge shut the sexocide Quinn plan down faster than ABC shut down the betrayal saga Of Kings and Prophets -- and probably for the same reasons. Both were too hot to handle and too close to the truth about our sexual tendencies.

It's probably a good thing Liam didn't tell Steffy what Ridge had been up to. It didn't work, anyway, and Liam should have known better than to leave it to Ridge, who can't successfully execute a plan to get from the front door to the car with his keys in his hands.

You know it's true. Look at what happened when Ridge tried to secretly deal with Dr. Wolin. Oh, too bad. Wolin got hit by a truck. Wolin must have been on tequila. What about when Ridge tried to protect Douglas and Caroline with a secret? Caroline's all, "I didn't tell that fool to do that!" Ridge tries to keep Eric's power of attorney secret, and look how that turned out. He tried to get Bill's stock and screwed it up, too.

Ridge can't even keep Brooke entertained enough to keep her legs propped open, and she took herself to Milan. Where is Rick when Ridge needs a good "you dumbass" chuckle?

I don't feel sorry for Ridge. He's like one of those people who sees five signs telling him, "Stay away from the snakes," "Warning: the snakes are venomous," "Snakes are liable to strike," "If you're reading this sign, you are too close to the snakes," and "All right. We told you," but he sticks his hands in the cage anyway.

How does Ridge think he is any different from Liam, Deacon, Eric, or Bill when it comes to Quinn? Ridge's ego is like a tumor, but Quinn dipped her scalpel in tequila and carved it right out of him. Brooke probably won't recognize him when she gets back. The people around him don't even recognize him now. He and Quinn are both acting suspicious, and it's just a matter of time before someone figures it out.

My guesses on who will figure out that something is going on with Quinn and Ridge are either Eric or Liam -- or nosy Katie. Liam ought to be a shoo-in as the secret buster, but he can't even figure out he knew Ridge's impotency secret before Douglas' paternity got out.

Then Liam said something utterly nonsensical to Steffy when hinting that the Quinn quandary would soon end. He said Quinn might not return to town after the San Francisco trip. Come on now, Liam. The only time Quinn ever fled Los Angeles was after she'd tried to kill you that one time. She even went back to town after knowing she'd face charges for Liam's abduction. Why would Liam think she'd leave town over getting caught flirting? Let's just blame the statement on Liam's brain damage and move on.

Liam is my first pick because he knows about Ridge's plan. Liam finds it hard to believe that nothing happened, and Ridge seems to be giving up on the entire plan. Liam whined about Steffy still having to work with Quinn even after the divorce, but Ridge said Steffy was a big girl. Can Liam please finally realize that Ridge is right about Steffy? It's the very thing Wyatt and Steffy have been telling him all along.

Liam needs to get his hand out of King Friday Ridge's you know what and do something for himself, like listening, for starters. How many different ways can Steffy sing to that Mr. Rogers'-sweater-wearing-man that "I'll be back when the divorce is through...and I'll have more burnt food for you...but I'm tired of the things you talk about. Wish you were, too?"

If you never watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, you can find it at Google University. I know that I'm showing my age, but Liam's sweater forced me to.

My idea is that Liam will finally do something, but it won't be what I think he should do, which is seduce Quinn himself if he wants it done so bad. Instead, Liam will probably betray Ridge in order to expose Quinn. Liam has been so worried about Ridge's relationship with Eric and Ridge's legacy at Forrester getting ruined in the fallout, but let's see how much Liam cares about that if exposing Ridge and Quinn turns the tides in Liam's favor.

My next guess is Eric because he seems to be picking up on how weird Quinn is acting since her return. Heck, she blurted out that Ridge wasn't the enemy. She doesn't want to talk about the trip -- probably to avoid lying to Eric -- and she didn't want any martinis or tequila. She also, for no apparent reason, said she didn't want to lose him. That's suspicious in my book.

Eric will most likely have help from nosy Katie, who used the lamest of excuses to come over to the house "too late" for respectful company to arrive. A deflated soccer ball? Really, Katie? You walked all the way up that driveway, wondering if it was too late to be there, for a deflated soccer ball with the initials R.F. on it that Will found while playing by the property line?

Katie was surprised that Quinn wasn't home. I wonder what happened to text-messaging Quinn before going over there. Had Katie done so, she'd know Quinn wasn't there. Instead of using the protocol she set up with the texts, Katie uses every chance she gets to tell Eric, "I shouldn't be here with Quinn not here. Quinn doesn't like it." If you know Quinn doesn't like it, why do you keep doing it, Katie?

Quinn is flirting with infidelity, so I should lay off Katie, right? WRONG. That's like saying because of Bill and Brooke's actions, Liam can demand that Wyatt's wife live with Liam.

Katie told Wyatt this week that she shouldn't be speaking on his marriage -- something I agreed with her on. Mind your business, Kaite. We know she won't. It is only a matter of time before she starts minding Ridge's business like she did the last time and then starts in on all her "truth" BS. Because Katie doesn't want to be the bad guy with Eric, she'll have an innocent conversation with Bill, who wants Brooke, and you know what's next.

I just want to know what truth will be uncovered. Will the kiss be the only thing exposed, or will what happened in San Francisco not stay in San Francisco? Maybe we have some more steam room and outdoor shower scenes to look forward to before it all wraps up. Could this storyline culminate in Ridge and Quinn as a couple? A betrayal like that might rock the family harder than lab-floor-gate, which ultimately ended in Bridget being Ridge's sister, not daughter.

The reason I think Ridge and Quinn could become a couple is because of their conversation at the hotel. Usually, people don't get that raw and vulnerable with their enemies, no matter what they are drinking. Hence, the reason Quinn said Ridge wasn't the enemy, I guess.

In Quinn's soliloquy about the games men play, she exposed a woman's greatest Achilles heel in relationships, and she is right about it. For ages, sex has been a woman's downfall, but it never seems to even leave a scratch on the man. Men win at the sex game because of their ability to compartmentalize emotions, and women lose because of their nurturing natures. Now here comes my opinion of why this is.

If you subscribe to the story of Adam and Eve, you know that because they ate the apple, which I think stands for having sex, Eve was cursed to bear children, and her desire would always be bound to the man. Adam was cursed to work and toil the fields. Isn't that the way it has been up until the feminist movement?

From this perspective, the plight Quinn described is a curse resulting from the very thing she said women lose at -- sex. Men lose, too, though, because they are concerned with money, careers, and work of any sort. In this way, a veil exists between the man and woman.

If you don't subscribe to the Bible, then turn to biology and blame testosterone and estrogen. I once watched a video by a transgender man who opened my eyes to how these hormones work. Transgender men can take testosterone to become more physically male. This man decided to end the testosterone treatments because the hormone had caused him to lose touch with the feelings he'd had when his body had been female.

He said he began to be emotionally cold and felt distant from his feelings, as if they were under glass. He didn't care about things in the same way he once had. He didn't even know how to feel anymore because of the drug, and he decided to stop taking it. Stopping it put him in gender limbo, but he got his feelings back as more estrogen flooded through him.

My theory was that the testosterone had made him a man physically and also emotionally. It made me want a shot of "T" at least once a month. It also gave me an idea of why men and women feel differently. Women are not from Venus. Men are not from Mars. One has estrogen, and one has testosterone. It's that simple.

But, of course, I'm oversimplifying it because I can't possibly know all that is involved based off one person's testimony in a ten-minute video. I'm not a biologist or a theologist. I'm just conveying that men and women being emotionally different is biblical and scientific.

Not all men are like what Quinn experienced, and not all women react to it the way Quinn did. And it's not always a game with a man. He just doesn't feel anything that you might feel, so you will not get the callback or the lunch invite. It hurts when you're the dumped, but the upside is that sometimes, you get to be the dumper. Quinn forgot all about Deacon when she gave this speech, didn't she? I'll bet he's free for lunch.

I empathized with Quinn. I don't think she's emotionally healed from her past, or else Ridge wouldn't have been able to get to her at all. She doesn't hide that she's a work in progress. She told Ivy as much. Because of this, I was mad at Ridge for preying on her weakness like he was.

To me, Quinn is like a baby in her emotional maturity. She retarded her emotions for so long that she's like an infant learning to crawl when it comes to relationships. When Ridge was nice to her, she accepted it like a kid who talks to anyone and winds up abducted by a stranger.

Quinn is in emotional recovery, and I don't know if I can blame her for anything that's happening with Ridge because he's the "emotional adult" in the situation, who knew what he was doing -- until he didn't. He overestimated himself and underestimated what is lovable about Quinn.

Ridge might be intrigued by Quinn because she isn't falling at his feet. He thought she was vulnerable and needy, and he disparaged her for jumping at the first instance of his attention. All those things are true, but at the same, she stood up for her marriage and what she really wants.

Quinn knows she's with the right man, Eric; however, her old habits caused her to gravitate toward the type of man she's normally attracted to -- the user, bad boy who will get what he wants and toss her aside. How does she battle that?

How does any woman reprogram herself not to give in to bad habits and avoid finding herself on the floor, drinking from a broken crystal decanter like Katie did? I'll never forget that scene because it was just that thing, reverting to old, needy habits by returning to Bill that landed Katie in an even worse situation.

I am proud of Ridge for backing off his plan. I'm proud of him for recognizing, unlike his son did with Caroline, that he shouldn't take advantage of Quinn in that emotional state. He also seemed to not want to ruin another human's battle with change. I am not proud of him for making it sexual by putting his lips on hers, but thank God that was the extent of it.

This plot twist is unique to me, and I'd like to know what you think of the breakthrough that Ridge and Quinn had this week. Did it make you see either one of them differently? Were you affected by Quinn's story? How did you feel about Ridge opening up, as well?

I liked that Quinn pointed out that Thorne was the real firstborn Forrester but couldn't get out of Ridge's shadow. I didn't agree that Ridge had made Forresters into his image out of revenge, and it's because he didn't even know he wasn't a true Forrester until way into adulthood. Stephanie was the one who set Ridge as the standard, and I wish he'd opened up more about how Quinn is like Stephanie was with Ridge when it comes to Wyatt.

Ridge could help Quinn by telling his story of how Stephanie constantly interfered in his love life. So far, he wound up right back where it started -- with Brooke. I repeat: so far. The moral of that story is that what will be will be, no matter what Quinn tries to do for Wyatt. Ridge could have mentioned that Brooke was visiting Hope, and he could have reminded Quinn of how Wyatt and Hope had turned out despite all her attempts to keep them together.

Here's the question I have for you. Would you accept Ridge and Quinn as a couple? If you can't, what would persuade you? Right now, I can't. Ridge messed up with me by ruining Brooke's wedding and rushing her to get back with him only to put her on hold while he toyed with Quinn.

Ridge seems unsettled right now, without a course. He's acting out for invalid reasons, and he keeps causing himself to fail. I don't see his motivations for what he does. It's almost like he spun out of control after he left Caroline, his rudder. Could it be that Ridge's whole problem right now is that he's lost without Caroline?

When Ridge, as played by Thorsten Kaye, got with Caroline, I finally knew Ridge again. He wasn't the same Ridge, but I could relate to him and understand his motivations. At this point, I don't understand Ridge. I don't get why he hooked back up with Brooke. I don't understand why he is after Quinn so hard when it's really Liam who should be risking it all to get rid of her.

I don't know. Maybe Ridge has been emotionally roaming until he can recreate that artistic connection he had with Caroline. He has it with Quinn. I tend to think that artists are unique in thought and emotion. History has shown us many who were emotionally afflicted, even if it was self-inflicted. Maybe it takes an artist to understand one, and now that Ridge has "allowed" himself to know Quinn, as he put it, the two tortured souls connected in some way.

Maybe you saw something completely different going on with Ridge and Quinn, and if so, I'd love to hear your take on it. The one thing I hope we agree on is that the writing was off the charts. Thank you, writers. Everything intrigued me this week -- except Liam's impotent whining.

Katie even had good advice for Wyatt after he invited her to keep talking when she thought she should keep quiet. There was something adverse to me about Katie speaking kindly of Steffy, the trollop whose affair with Katie's husband landed Katie in the hospital; however, Katie made me see Steffy's viewpoint a little bit better.

Katie said that Wyatt hadn't done anything wrong, and the feelings surrounding the marriage had been real; however, Wyatt couldn't expect Steffy not to feel some type of way about the loss. I don't know why Katie saying it helped me to get it. Maybe because we haven't heard Steffy's convoluted explanations in a long time. Maybe it took someone objective and who wasn't trying to escape blame to say to it to me because all I hear with Steffy is blame shifting.

I can agree that it's a loss. I can agree that Quinn made Steffy think that Liam didn't want her. But that's where it stops. One man not wanting you doesn't require you to date, marry, or sleep with another. It just doesn't, and especially not only a month after the man dumping you.

Wyatt acted as if he'd taken it to heart and might back off. He even decided to move out of the mansion and back to the beach house. I was assuming he'd done the mature thing because, to Eric, Wyatt said that if he was the one for Steffy, he shouldn't have to convince her of it.

I heard a chorus of Hallelujah, but the record scratched when Wyatt called Steffy to the beach house for an "important" talk.

Liam accused Steffy of only answering the phone in the middle of his tirade because the caller-ID indicated that Wyatt was calling. Now, going back to Katie. She also told Wyatt that it wasn't wise to pressure Steffy. It wasn't a coincidence that in the very next scene, Liam was pressuring her to move back in with him. He is worse than the "are we there yet?" kids about it.

Steffy has shown some annoyance, too, and I'm glad for it. One time, she asked Liam if they really had to talk about it again. Another time, she wanted to know why he was so insistent about it when she already told him what she was going to do. So did the writers mean for the pressuring comment from Katie to be about Liam or Wyatt?

Don't get it wrong. Wyatt is still pressuring. His "important" conversation has so far turned out to be him offering her wine to toast to all the memories in the beach house. He wants them to stop concentrating on the divorce date and start concentrating on the good times gone by. Is Wyatt living in his own land of make believe about this? I said it about Liam, and I'm saying it about Wyatt -- how many times does Steffy have to tell him what she wants to do?

I don't even know why it's a debate. Has Steffy ever wavered since she decided to be with Liam? Why doesn't Liam believe her? Why doesn't Wyatt? Maybe Liam is right that Steffy needs to make it super clear, but as I see it, she's doing what she has to do, which is work with Wyatt and get a finalized divorce decree, so her "followers" aren't talking about how she's living with her husband's brother while her husband posts about it on her accounts.

If you know, please tell me what the real threat to Liam is. So far, it looks like he just doesn't trust the ride-or-die Steffy to come through, which makes no sense. Additionally, if you can let me know what leg Wyatt has to stand on -- and don't say his third one -- I would appreciate it.

From the look of Monday's preview, Steffy is once again telling Wyatt that it just ain't gonna happen. I was intrigued for a second when Brooke decided to visit Hope all of a sudden, and Thomas asked Steffy how she'd feel to see Wyatt with another woman. I linked the two things together, and wondered if Hope might return, thus making Wyatt magically more appealing to Steffy. Wishful thinking on my part?

I look forward to hearing what you think about the way things unfurled with Quinn and Ridge, and I also want to know why the R.F. on the soccer ball couldn't stand for Rick Forrester or R.J. Forrester. I'm not even going to get into Eric saying the ball was thirty-five years old because we all know that Rick is at least that age.

Until we scoop again, if your cease-fire with your enemy ends in a kiss, then that kiss had better be bold and beautiful, baby!

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