There's got to be a morning after

In the land where the sun never sets, Thomas got away with keeping the Secret of Phoebeth while Flo, Shauna, and Zoe didn't. All of which shed light on an epic showdown between Beth's two moms! Go 24-7 with Two Scoops' Mike

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you take a licking and keep on ticking? Did you decide to star in the new sitcom My Two Moms? Was your nuclear fallout short a few megatons? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Spectra-Buckingham-Fulton clan this week!

Hope you had your raincoats on, Scoopers, 'cuz this week da ish flew all over the place. Thomas' "staycation" turned into a "straycation," Flo threw her mother and the Buckinghams under the double-decker bus while painting herself as the victim, and Beth got her real name back while finding herself with two mothers...all during the longest soap day in soap history. Holy midnight sun! Let's Scoop about it!

BEATING THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF EACH OTHER

Ridge, who finally got to wear a different color besides blue, gray, or white (poor Thorsten Kaye; Ronn Moss never got stuck in those shades!), listened as his unsettled daughter explained how both Douglas and Liam had stated that her adopted daughter, Phoebe, was really Hope's "deceased" daughter, Beth. You could tell from the look on Steffy's face that she knew it was true.

Steffy confirmed this by telling a reassuring Ridge, "My brain agrees with you, but my stomach's in knots." See, if Steffy really thought Phoebe-is-Beth was 100% bull, she could just blow it off. I don't understand Ridge, though. Everything this man has been through -- finding out Bridget isn't his child, finding out Thomas and R.J. are -- and he can still stand there and explain away Phoebe possibly being Hope's?

Maybe Ridge needed someone to knock some sense into him, which is what was happening at Forrester Creations. Eric oughta rename the CEO office the TKO office, because Thomas found a key in Pam's desk (where has that been the past 32 years?) and interrupted Liam telling Hope their daughter was alive with a knockout punch to the face. Then, Thomas dragged Hope away like he was Captain Caveman!

Way to persuade your new bride you're not a raving maniac, Tom-Tom! Up on the always-needless Forrester Sky Lounge, amid renovations nobody bothered explaining, Thomas ignored Hope's screams to let her go and tried to convince his wife that Liam was full of that substance that forms twenty-four hours after you eat something. "He can't lock you in a room and then fill your head with lies!" Thomas railed.

Oh, but it's okay when you do it, right, Thomas? The previously-not-insane designer seemed to be aware of himself on some level, as actual tears replaced his glare. He apologized for scaring Hope and cried as he admitted to not wanting to lose her because he loved her so much. "This isn't love," came Hope's long-awaited realization. "Who are you?" Where the hell are my pom-poms? 'Cuz I need to cheer!

Hope finally sensed that Thomas had lost it and gently tried to get him to confirm what Liam had said about Beth being hers. Then, suddenly, the whole scene seemed like it came out of the 1960s Batman series. BIFF! POW! WHAM! Liam and Thomas punched each other out for a while, and I couldn't help wondering if one of them was going to tumble off the roof, like Rick and Ridge did separately in 2008.

Hope broke up the fight, but Liam followed attempted escapee Thomas onto...a helipad? Since when does Forrester Creations have one of those? Granted, this is the design house that installed a sauna, a chemistry lab, and an infirmary that hasn't been seen in a quarter century. Did Ridge decide because Bill could catch a chopper atop his building, Ridge now needed to be able to, too?

Liam and Thomas scuffled some more until Tofu Boy got Nutty Boy in a chokehold and demanded that Thomas tell Hope the truth. Interestingly, Thomas didn't have to say a word for Hope to get clued in. His change of expression said it all; an unusual but very effective writing choice. Thomas elbowed Liam and ran off, while Lope got their second cinematic episode-ender in a row, this time against the backdrop of L.A.

But here's what I don't get. Why did Hope need confirmation from Thomas? And why did Liam blubber "I'm gonna explain everything," as if he didn't already do that in the office while Thomas was locked out? Methinks we needed an excuse to go over everything to whatever audience hadn't tuned in for the previous Friday's clarifying episode. Ignoring the repetition, Liam took Hope to see Beth.

SUNBURN

Wyatt reeled as he tried to process everything his girlfriend had told his brother. "Don't look at me like you don't even know me," Flo begged him. But a-ha! Just how well did you know Flo, Mr. I Dumped Sally Over a Secret That's Microscopic Compared to This? Flo insisted she didn't know what Reese was up to until she was in too deep, kind of forgetting to tell her bae she accepted $50K in the process.

Thankfully, Wyatt wasn't having any of her sob story, though I say he still wins the Hypocrite of the Year award for kicking Sally to the curb over secrecy when he was reexploring Flo's tonsils with his tongue and kept quiet about it. No, Wyatt, I do not forgive you. Not yet. I actually rather enjoyed watching his world implode, and Flo not getting the pass from him she had hoped for.

At the Logan manse, Ridge told Brooke about the strangeness that had been going on at Steffy's, seeming to realize that what he had heard about Phoebeth was true but denying it full-on. Regarding Flo not having been a patient at the hospital listed on the baby's birth certificate, Ridge actually attributed it to "some clerical error -- it happens all the time!"

You mean like on your marriage license in 2009, which caused you to almost remarry Taylor and the preacher to nearly declare y'all man and horse? Yeah, clerical errors like that. Ridge at least had the presence of mind to question whether Flo was really Storm's daughter. Word 'em up, Ridge! Because a 52% score on an ancestry web site wouldn't be enough to convince me.

Brooke, however, decided to channel her inner Stephanie and demand answers from her apparent niece. Over at Forrester, Flo contradicted herself, first telling her mother she was gettin' while the gettin' was good then turning around and saying she was staying to face whatever music she had to. Hope she meant that, because Brooke barged into that office with a 50-piece orchestra behind her.

To Brooke's amazement and horror, Flo didn't deny anything, though she did make sure to hedge dramatically about it first. Sorry, there's been too much of that in this seven-month storyline. Just spit it out already. Well, Flo did, and man, I love the fire Katherine Kelly Lang brings when Brooke goes all mama bear. Even Ridge got off his seesaw, vowing that Flo and Shauna would pay dearly!

Oh, and Zoe, who conveniently came in while Ridge was asking "Zoe's dad?" in referring to who had perpetrated Baby Switch '19. We later found out Zoe was returning the cell phone Hope didn't know she'd left behind in the hotel, the phone Thomas had pilfered. Nice to get some follow-through on that. As to Zoe and the Fultons' culpability, I'm not sure how I feel about that particular follow-through.

There are just so many components to this story, it's not possible to get satisfaction in a few episodes. That said, Ridge should have been on the first plane to England to confront Reese. We couldn't get Wayne Brady back for a few episodes? The show has been content to let Zoe, Flo, Shauna, Xander, Thomas, and Emma fumble around about his secret. We need to see him get his.

Learning Taylor had gotten the ball rolling on everything, Brooke wondered if her longtime nemesis had been in the know about Reese stealing Hope's baby. Everyone from Flo to Liam cleared Taylor, and, of course, Taylor wasn't aware she was as much a pawn as the rest of those involved, but let's not forget that only a few weeks before the adoption, Taylor was considered crazy enough that Hope didn't want her near Beth.

Taylor is another character conspicuously absent in this fallout, but maybe it's too soon to bring her in. On the other hand, if Bridge didn't spend three episodes flaming Flo and her flunkies, we probably could have gotten to Taylor. It also took too long for important bits of information to come out. For instance, Ridge took forever to tell Brooke that Douglas had spilled Phoebe-is-Beth after hearing it from Thomas.

Emma seemed slated to have died in vain until Liam finally brought up the events of her demise to Hope, and Flo told Bridge that Thomas "had been chasing Emma in her car!" Wait until Uncle Justin hears about that! #JusticeForEmma! And though Flo failed to mention it to Wyatt, she did 'fess up to the Unforgettable Ones that she'd accepted "a little bit" of money from Reese for pretending she was Phoebe's mother.

I guess $50,000 might be considered a little bit of money to a Forrester! Finally, I kept wondering when the hell someone was going to say something about Thomas' involvement in the whole ordeal. And though Ridge didn't want to hear anything else Zoe had to say, Flo confirmed that Thomas had known about Beth for months and menaced her, Zoe, and Xander into keeping quiet.

Ridge refused to believe it. Why? He's been in a special kind of denial about Thomas ever since he came back. As Brooke pointed out, Thomas has a dark side, which Ridge has seen before, and Ridge sure wasn't proclaiming his son "a good guy" when Thomas knocked up the not-completely-consensual Caroline. I really need Ridge to pull his head out of his ass here.

At least Ridge called whoever to have Reese located and arrested, and Zoe talked to presumably someone at the UK hospital where Reese works, trying to track him down. I think Zoe pretty much has no story left. And why is she still covering her British accent when that was only part of a playful bet she had with Xander, who is long gone? Shauna has no future on the show, either. Isn't she supposed to be in Vegas?

Then there's Flo. Ordinarily, she'd be done, too, but I have this feeling all will be forgiven with her. If the Logan sisters were smart, they'd have a real DNA test done to see if Storm is really Flo's dad. And Thomas...he better not have the brain tumor I've heard whispered about. He's an animal, and he needs to be locked away in a psych ward. Besides, Pam already played the tumor card, and that was the only one.

SUNNY SIDE UP

At Steffy's Malibu beach house, Liam let Hope in as the sun beamed outside. Wait a minute! It should have been night long ago. Hope went to work, then on the "staycation," then all the way back to Forrester, then there was the Liam/Thomas fight on the never-before-seen airstrip or whatever. It can't seriously still be the middle of the day!

Maybe Los Angeles moved to the Arctic and its never-ending sunlight when I wasn't looking. Instead of Hope racing in to grab the daughter she thought had been dead the entire year, we made a big show out of dragging that moment out. Finally, Liam brought Beth in, and Hope got to hold her child, this time knowing it was her child. Was that a fulfilling moment? Yes.

Liam kissed Hope! Ordinarily, I'd take issue, with Hope being a married woman and all, but in this instance, I don't think that counts. I bet Lope will still be legally married, since their having a child together negates their annulment, and that invalidates Hope's wedding to Thomas. "How did this happen?" Hope wondered. "I need you to tell me everything." Didn't we already cover that when Liam 4-1-1'd Hope last Friday?

Indeed, Liam rehashed everything for viewers that might have missed an episode -- ahem, I mean he told Hope what happened, and I saw something bubbling up in Hope about Flo and Thomas keeping her from Beth: rage. Right now, Hope is blissed out from being reunited with her baby, but I wouldn't be surprised if she flames everyone involved before long. I know someone who already got a taste of it.

BURNING DAYLIGHT

Out of nowhere, we saw Eric praising Sally for sprucing up a design. Hey, I'm glad someone works around Forrester these days, but this happened right across the hall from where Ridge and Brooke were yelling and screaming at Flo, Zoe, and Shauna about the baby switch. Sally and Eric didn't hear that? And the afternoon sun continued to stream outside! Even in real time, it would be dark already.

You all know I love John McCook, and I think he is criminally underused; why not let Eric record an album and go on tour while Quinn struggles with him being surrounded by groupies? Eric could tell Sally was still smarting over Wyatt and said, "You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt." Can I just clone Eric so he can soothe me during rough patches in my own life?

But therein lies the rub. It's been three months since Wyatt callously threw Sally over for his high school girlfriend, and Ms. Spectra isn't over him yet. "Wallowing isn't in my personality," she told Eric, but that's exactly what she's doing. Girl, I realize there isn't anybody left on the canvas to get with besides Carter (that could be interesting!), but Wyatt isn't worth your continual moping over him.

On cue, Wyatt shuffled in, barely able to get through the door for the tail tucked between his legs. And do you know what this fool tried? He wanted to apologize to Sally! Honey, Mikey ain't here for that. Mikey also ain't here for Wyatt's foolery that he doesn't like secrets. You liked 'em enough when you hid the Hope for the Future diamond and pretended it was stolen, Goatee Boy!

"So, this is what -- you crawling back to me?" Sally sassed. Stay strong, Sally-girl! Because if the implication here is that Wyatt and Sally are going to get back together, we don't need to see that. Sally's too vital, and she's already been done over enough by Thomas and Wyatt -- and sort of Liam. Give her a man she can truly count on, already!

WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE

Steffy came home with Kelly in her arms and blood in her eyes. "Oh, look, Kelly," Steffy said when she walked in on Hope holding Phoebe. "We have company." I guess they had daggers at the doctor's office, because that's what Steffy was shooting Hope with. Why so serious? I suppose Steffy was still chewing on Douglas' revelation that Phoebe is Beth, but that wasn't Hope's fault.

Speaking of Douglas, Steffy reported that the mother of one of his friends had picked him up. What for? Douglas had been dropped off to spend the night at Steffy's because Thomas was going off on his "staycation" -- and it was still daylight! Come to think of it, where did Thomas run off to? Now he's abandoning his kid, who's been fobbed off on an unseen guardian. Maybe Douglas needs to sue for emancipation!

Steffy's radar went off, since Hope was nowhere near her honeymooning husband. "Something's different about the way you're holding her," Steffy observed about Hope with Phoebe. Then, Hope and Liam began the difficult, delicate, roundabout soapy task of telling Steffy what they'd learned about Flo never having given birth. I knew they couldn't just blurt it right out, but they were too vague for my taste.

"I'm gonna be sick," Steffy declared as she discovered Phoebe had been stolen from the real birth mother and sold by Reese to cover his gambling debts. And that was just the beginning of Jacqueline MacInnes Wood's bravura performance; Steffy really did look like she was going to hurl. "If you know all of this information, you must know who the birth mother is," Steffy said hedgingly.

"You know my daughter better than I do," Hope revealed. "Steffy, this is Beth!" Amazingly, Liam read my mind and offered, "We can do whatever genetic tests need to be done." Surely, Steffy will want that, and it's not a bad idea for Lope, either, given how many lies they've been told; how can they be sure Flo isn't still pulling something on them?

Despite all that (and the fact that Liam had just been repeatedly punched in the face and bore no bruises or swelling, nor was his shirt dirty from rolling around on the ground with Thomas), Steffy's reaction to learning she'd been raising Hope's child all along was as epic as you thought it might be. Steffy floated between denial, horror, and indignation, and JMW made the co-CEO's colossal confusion make total sense.

Hope and Steffy did this intricate little dance, going back and forth between anger and compassion. Steffy wanted to figure out a co-parenting sitch for Phoebeth, and Hope said Steffy could be as involved with the tyke as she wanted. Concurrently, Steffy implied Hope would be stealing Beth by taking her home, and Hope spat, "You are not her babysitter, and I am not your surrogate! So, where does that leave us?"

"I don't know," Steffy cried helplessly. She looked to Liam and demanded, "Say something for once!" Ooh, sick burn! And deserved, given his world-famous waffling. Then Bridge came in, with Ridge embracing his sobbing daughter and Brooke gushing to Hope, "You have your precious daughter back." Kinda heartless there, Brooke! Why does Bridge have such trouble with empathy toward each other's kids?

After several reminders that the baby's name was not Phoebe, Steffy had a moment of clarity, declaring to Hope, "This is Beth. You gave birth to her!" But the thin glass of resolution was shattered when Steffy went on, "You can kind of be a mother to her!" Hope showed a long-unseen strength as she replied, "You think I'm walking out of here without her?" adding, "Don't you dare try to stop me!"

Well, the new aspect to this story is on like Donkey Kong: looks like Hope and Steffy are going to battle over the baby. At least they're not going to battle over Liam again. And they've genuinely followed in their mothers' footsteps; don't forget, Taylor gave birth to Brooke's biological child, and Brooke took Taylor to court over it. Will little Beth be as forgotten as poor Jack is once this is over? Stay tuned!

So, how do you feel about the much-anticipated Beth reveal and ensuing fallout? Is it everything you hoped it would be? Is it falling short so far? What do you think should happen to Flo and Thomas? And should Reese be brought back for an on-screen comeuppance, or does that not matter? Shine on in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could wind up in a future column! Like these!

"The acting = incredible; downsizing Flo's involvement = terrible. To have Liam say about Flo that 'she knew she was lying but she didn't understand the scale of the lie' was ridiculous; felon 50k Flo is more responsible than Zoe & Thomas combined. Also where is Reese & Taylor??" -- Tia

"I think Steffy will go after Thomas. He deceived her." -- Tara

"Acting has been great. Would like to see more pressure put on Flo. Where is Thomas? He needs to be held accountable. Flo and Zoe must confess what they know about Emma's death. Ridge needs to dial it down. There is no compromise on Beth staying with Steffy." -- Elaine

"I am hoping Steffy has her moment with Liam by stating he set out to destroy her brother for no other reason than Hope chose to marry him, and in the process you destroyed my family. Not just me losing my daughter, but my brother as well. You destroyed my life for Hope." -- RAS

A little unusual to have a February/May/November sweeps reveal in the middle of August, but hey, these are the times we live in! Thanks, as always, for reading my ramblings! Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember: no matter color, creed, religion, gender identity, orientation, or nationality, we're all beautiful!

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