If there was one word to describe a lot of what went down on Bold & Beautiful this week, it might be disrespectful. Whether it was Ridge steamrolling Steffy, Hope putting the moves on Finn, or Katie butting into Bill and Poppy’s relationship, lines were crossed and bad decisions made all over the place. Oh, also? We’ve totally figured out who the killer is — and who it isn’t, no matter how hard they’re trying to convince us otherwise. Read on for the details! 

Papa, Can You Hear Me?

I’ll give Ridge credit for this much: He at long last accepted the blame for a lot of the pain Steffy and Thomas went through because of his ping-ponging between Taylor and Brooke. As Steffy went in full-blown Logan-hater mode, her dad suggested that he, not Brooke, was the person who broke up their family. It was a rare moment of self-awareness from Ridge… which he then went on to completely obliterate.

Has Steffy been a tad extreme in her reactions of late? Sure, but the woman has a lot to deal with right now. The last thing she needed was dad and co-CEO Ridge completely ignoring her feelings about the Brooke’s Bedroom line. This coming on the heels of him overruling her decision to axe the Hope for the Future line made it feel as if he’s completely in charge while she’s there to do the busywork.

Who’s Bedroom Is It Anyways?

It wouldn’t have been difficult to compromise on the whole Brooke’s Bedroom line. Why not use Monte Carlo as an opportunity to highlight women of all shapes, sizes and colors? Have Brooke be the spokesperson introducing a bevy of models. Heck, why not use this as an opportunity to bring back much-missed Maya? Or maybe Zoe, who as far as we know is still a Forrester model (currently working at the international branch in Paris). For that matter, they could have Paris become one of the new models, which would no doubt tick off Hope!

I was sort of hoping that maybe Brooke would suggest that they use the re-launch of the Bedroom line to make Hope the new spokesperson. Literally walking in her mother’s barely-clad footsteps could finally trigger the full-on emergence of the alternate personality it feels like Hope’s been developing over the past year. How fun would that be?

To Tell the Truth

Sticking with the theme of characters showing a complete lack of respect for one another, let’s move on to Hope and Finn. Yes, both of them. Because this week saw Hope basically throwing herself at the hunk despite knowing he’s happily married, while Finn didn’t bother to tell Steffy about the release from prison of his — say it with me — biological mother.

Now, I understand him not wanting to admit he was with Hope when he got the news. But Finn waltzed into the main office at Forrester, flirted with Steffy, made out with her a bit and never bothered to tell her the Sheila news. Instead, she found out via a text from her dad!

Katie’s Last Stand?

I have loved Katie Logan for as long as I can remember. Longtime viewers will recall that when Bold & Beautiful began, Katie (then played by Nancy Sloan, seen below with Katherine Kelly Lang’s Brooke) was the proverbial “ugly duckling” who lived in the shadows cast by her older, more glam sisters. At her core, the character has never lost that insecurity, even as she has grown and changed over the years.

Lately, however, I’ve been wanting to throttle Katie… or perhaps more accurately the writers who are crafting her behavior. First, she dumped Carter for no reason and off screen. Then, she suddenly seemed to redevelop feelings for Bill, seemingly prompted by nothing more than his moving on. More recently, she’s begun barging into Bill’s house — does nobody on this show know how to lock a door? — and, in keeping with this week’s overall theme, being downright disrespectful to Poppy.

Credit: Aaron Montgomery/JPI

I think what really bothers me about this is that, as I mentioned before, Poppy has undergone a complete (and completely unmotivated) change. Why? So that Katie can be suspicious of her. In the case of both women, the show is putting plot above character, which is a major no-no in soaps. Viewers invest a whole lot of time getting to know the characters. When they suddenly begin acting oddly, we immediately recognize it. While that happens pretty regularly on this particular soap, this case is especially egregious. I mean, they’ve gone so far as to have Poppy trade her hippie-style clothing for leather skirts and tight-fitting tops!

But obviously, this had to be done so that Katie could poke her nose where it doesn’t belong and, in the process, become the  next victim of the killer. Frankly, I expected the Friday cliffhanger to be something happening to Katie — perhaps her drinking a tainted cup of tea and collapsing? I suppose they could spend all next week having Katie air her accusations against Poppy in order to lead us into next Friday’s cliffhange…

And The Killer Is…

I have to admit I’m really into the “Who killed Tom and Hollis?” storyline. This show isn’t particularly good at mysteries, and we still have to see if they can stick the landing. That said, it’s moved fairly quickly and created a fun little guessing game.

The writers are working overtime to make Poppy look guilty, even if that means rewriting history in ways that don’t make sense and having her act in ways that are completely contradictory to everything we’ve been told in the past. Much of the audience, meanwhile, has shifted their suspicions onto Li. The theory? That she’d do anything to keep the truth about Luna’s paternity from coming to light. (And yes, we still think it’s because Finn is the young woman’s dad!)

As for me, I think viewers who are pointing the finger at Li are close… but slightly off. Frankly, I’d love for the killer to be Li, as it would track with everything that’s unfolded on screen. My only problem with that outcome is that I really, really don’t want to lose the awesome Naomi Matsuda. Scenes between Li and Bill this week left many in the audience — myself included — kinda sorta wanting them to be paired up. (I thought they’d go in that direction when he saved her life after Sheila forced her off the road.)

Instead, I suspect the killer will turn out to be Li’s ex, Jack. You’ll recall that he was at the show the night Tom drank his drugged energy drink. His motive? Here’s where I worry the story could get lame. I could see them revealing that he knew how desperately Li wanted to prevent the truth about Luna’s true paternity coming out and, to make up for how badly he’d hurt her over the years, took drastic action on Li’s behalf.

If, in doing so, he was able to frame Sheila — whom he brought into their lives — so much the better, he might believe.

That’s my (current) theory, and I’m sticking to it!

Random Thoughts

• I love that every year, Bold & Beautiful incorporates their annual attendance at the real-life Monte Carlo International Television Festival into their on-screen plots. You’ll recall that it was in Monte Carlo we found out about Quinn and Eric’s relationship, and there was also a fashion showdown between Forrester and Spectra. Having grown up watching soaps do regular location shoots, it’s awesome to see at least one show keeping up that tradition.

• I’m not sure exactly what to make of Bill and Justin reconciling. Is this somehow designed to keep Justin on our radar as a suspect?

• Proving that absence makes the heart grow fonder, I’m definitely ready for Liam to re-enter the picture. I’d love to find out that all this time, he’s been hanging out with Ivy, whose quick-hit visit earlier this year only left me wanting more.