Ridge’s Retirement Gambit
This whole mess started when Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) decided it was time for Eric (John McCook) to retire without telling Eric it was time for him to retire. He just threw a party and told his dad to be on his way. An angry and devastated Eric ran straight to Katie (Heather Tom) and pleaded with her and Bill (Don Diamont) to make him Logan’s lead designer. Although they were hesitant at first, Bill and Katie agreed.
Eric never would have approached Bill and Katie to begin with if Ridge had not taken it upon himself to play God with his father’s life and dictate when he would retire, but Eric has to take some blame here too.
Fickle Eric
When Ridge apologized for forcing Eric into retirement and Eric decided he changed his mind and wanted to return to the company he created, Eric thought that Bill and Katie would just tear up his contract and move on. But no. Eric signed a legally-binding contract, he was paid handsomely for his services, Logan had invested tons of money into manufacturing his gowns and they were going to use them.
When Eric saw that Bill and Katie did what they had the legal right to do (and even the ethical right, considering the money they had spent), he and the rest of the Forresters were up in arms.
That’s why watching Eric lose his mind on Donna for keeping Hope’s secret is so outrageous. He swore Donna to secrecy when he was working for Logan, but Hope and Katie couldn’t do the same with Hope’s secret? The Forresters truly are some of the biggest hypocrites soaps have ever produced.
Remember when even Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) was so impressed with Deke’s (Harrison Cone) designs that she insisted Hope hire him right away? Then, Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) decided that he wanted to be Hope For the Future’s lead designer again via Zoom. So, Steffy forced Hope to fire her own brother and break his heart?
Yeah, we remember. And so does Hope. And so does Deke. That was extremely uncool and gave Hope her first hint that she’d have very little creative control over her own line. But, Steffy wasn’t done.
Steffy’s Mind Games
Whether Steffy really meant to start up Hope For the Future again right after Eric’s couture line dropped is debatable, but her attitude toward Hope about it didn’t do any favors. After being jerked along for months, all Hope did was ask for a date. Steffy refused to give her a date and did it with her usual smug Steffy attitude.
The more Steffy strung Hope along like she always had, the more Hope didn’t believe her. By the time Steffy pulled Hope in for a hug, she seemed genuine. She may have already seen the error of her ways by then, but it was too late.
And finally…Brooke
The absolute number one reason it feels impossible to be Team Logan is that unbelievably awful woman named Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang). Last year, all we did was hear her whine on and on about destiny once again while flinging herself off the back of a boat in the Mediterranean. This year, it’s all about…her name…and…her daughter.
How are Katie take her name from her, even if it is Katie’s name too? In Brooke’s mind, everything belongs to Brooke. Ridge belongs to Brooke, her belongs to Brooke because it is hers and hers alone, the Forresters belong to Brooke because she’s married half of them, and Hope belongs to Brooke because her children are apparently her property.
Watching Brooke condescend to and insult Katie for months, telling her she was a failure and her little fashion house was nothing more than a joke, enraged the audience…and with good reason. How Katie didn’t slap Brooke multiple times over is beyond us.
“You stole Hope! You stole my daughter!” As Brooke shouted those words, all we wanted was to see Hope march right into the showroom and tell her mother that she is nobody’s property. She is a grown woman with a husband and a child who made a decision for herself.
The Forresters are without a doubt terrible people, but Brooke is the worst of all of them, hands down.
