Bold & Beautiful Just Proved That Sheila Isn’t the Killer — Here’s How We Know!

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

A whole lotta fingers were being pointed at Sheila this week on Bold & Beautiful. But do we really think she’s the killer? Nah. Read on, and we’ll reveal the way in which the show just proved Sheila’s innocent… and why what comes next is going to upset a whole lot of viewers! 

Whodunit? Not Her!

Usually on soaps, the surest way of knowing that someone is innocent of a crime — especially murder — is to have everyone insist they did it. (That said, one of the best twists in daytime history was when The Edge of Night revealed that Winter Austin, who’d been found not guilty of murder, turned out to be both the actual killer and a madwoman intent on doing away with Nicole.) So while Sheila has committed murder in the past, it’s abundantly clear she wasn’t behind the deaths of Hollis and Tom.

I’m actually digging this story on a few levels. For one, it’s nice to not know exactly where something is going. Let’s face it, the typical Bold & Beautiful story doesn’t typically stray from the path you suspect it’s going down. Also, mystery storylines aren’t something the show does very often. (Remember when they spent weeks promising a “murder mystery” only to throw poor, soon-to-be-dead Vinny under the wheels of a car for reasons that to this day make no sense?)

Bow Down Before Her

Why do I think what comes next will piss people off? Because once the truth — whatever it is — comes out, Sheila will have officially cemented her position as the show’s heroine. She will be able to ride high on the “I told you I didn’t kill anyone… er, this time” horse. Finn will hate himself for having listened to Steffy’s accusations rather than believing in his (say it with me!) biological mother.

Oh, characters like Ridge and Steffy will proclaim often and loudly, “Sure, she’s not guilty this time, but Sheila will never be innocent!” They will, of course, be right. No matter how hard the show works to defang Sheila, the character has a decades long history involving more shootings than at a firing range. The fact that this time, she’s being accused of a crime she didn’t commit doesn’t change one bit of that history.

There are those who will say “but Sheila has changed!” They will point out that Kimberlin Brown has created one of the most memorable characters to ever grace a soap. And they’ll be right… on one of those points. But does anyone really want to see a domesticated Sheila coo over her grandbaby? Yes, yes, I’m sure there are those who do. I’m just not among them. I like my tigers to have claws!

Lust In the Afternoon

We got more scenes of Brooke and Hope talking about the latter’s attraction to Finn and how inappropriate it was. Remember how earlier I was saying I liked the murder mystery because we don’t know where it’s going? I’m having the exact opposite reaction to Hope’s storyline, where it feels as if nobody has a clue where this storyline is going. It feels as if they want to play Hope/Thomas/Paris and Finn/Hope/Steffy at the same time, but can’t quite figure out how to get there.

Lemme give you a clue, writers: Bring Thomas and Paris back, pronto. I don’t care how you, as a viewer, feel about the pairing. Without them on the canvas, Hope’s story doesn’t really make sense. Then again, it hasn’t since she first started having fantasies about Thomas. Several times they’ve made it seem that something might be wrong with Hope, and yet there’s been no real follow through.

I like the idea of Hope making a play for Finn in order to get under Steffy’s skin. But again, that doesn’t really feel genuine to who Hope is.

Random Thoughts

• What was with that weird flashback sequence which found Hope reflecting on Hollis-related moments she wasn’t a part of?

• Several times this week we got flashbacks to things which had happened moments earlier in the same episode. That’s just lazy on every level. Do they think the audience honestly doesn’t remember, or are they just trying to pad the already excessively repetitive scripts?

• I was glad to see Liam, even if he didn’t have much to do. I bet even those who don’t care for the character would admit that absence does make the heart grow at least a little fonder. (It was especially nice to see him on Friday, which was the anniversary of Scott Clifton’s debut on the soap!)