But this week, he reached new heights when it comes to sinking low. You’ll recall that after the fashion show, Ridge — newly aware that his dad was dying — decided to let the old guy have the win. Sweet gesture, right? But it’s made infinitely less sweet by the fact that Ridge spent this week telling anyone who’d listen, “Oh, yeah, my dad totally lost and I totally won. I just let him think he won because he’s dying.”

Go, Tell It On The Mountain

So not only is Ridge telling everyone Eric’s victory is an illusion, but he’s also defying his dad’s wish that everyone be kept in the dark about his condition. Now, to be fair, Ridge isn’t alone in this particular bit of disregard for the patriarch’s wishes. Every person who has found out that Eric’s dying turns around and tells someone else. It’s like that famous shampoo commercial… so beautifully mocked in Wayne’s World.

I can’t help but wonder if a loss of vision plays into Eric’s USD (Unnamed Soap Disease), given that he seems not to notice that everyone around him is weeping all the time. On Thursday, he stood in the Forrester offices, gloating about the win he didn’t actually have and nominating his stapler for Office Product Of The Century, completely oblivious to the fact that Steffy looked as if… well, as if someone had just told her her grandfather is dying.

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Who Let The Dog Out?

What is there to say about Liam? I mean, at this point, I suppose he’s behaving in exactly the way we expect him to. While a whole lot of people — myself included — take Liam to task for ping-ponging back and forth between Steffy and Hope, that is actually incredibly true to the character. As soap fans, we love to complain when our favorite characters do something we know they’d never, ever do. You know, like… Brooke minding her own beeswax.

As a big fan of Scott Clifton — who is both an incredible actor and one of the funnest, smartest people you’ll ever get the opportunity to speak to — I tried to be at last a little gentle in my critique of the scene in which Liam, fresh from ignoring every word out of Steffy’s mouth, was whispering sweet nothings to her picture.

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What I should have realized is that Clifton, himself a critic of his alter ego’s actions, would set the record straight, as you can see in the exchange below.

He later went on to say that his response was a way of confirming what I’d seen as “the disconnect between the apparent narrative and the actual behavior of the character.” It’ll be interesting to see if this time, we’re actually going to play that Liam is one majorly messed up dude. Especially after what happened next…

Return Of the Waffler

The look on Liam’s face when Hope opened the door in her nightie delighted me to no end, especially since he knew she was waiting for Thomas. How did he know? Because Hope called out Thomas name before throwing open the door to find her almost-ex standing there. Fun fact: Any time someone on a soap says something along the lines of, “Honey, did you forget your key?” as they open a door, you can be absolutely positive that the person on the other side will not be the person they’re expecting.

Quicker than you could say “I love you Steffy,” Liam was declaring that he would always love Hope, the look in his eyes clearly adding, “Where was this smokin’ hot look you’re working now when we were together?”

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I expected nothing less of Liam. That’s just how he rolls, with a complete disregard for everyone else. He went from disrespecting Steffy’s marriage to trash-talking Hope’s new relationship. And while he may have some valid points where Thomas is concerned — ones we’re all aware of and have discussed repeatedly — he is absolutely positively the last person on the planet who should be pointing them out.

By week’s end, Hope was confessing her love to Thomas… kinda sorta. She didn’t actually say “I love you,” but rather “I love you for that.” Semantics? Perhaps. But one thing we all know is that no matter what she said, Thomas heard “I love you” and that could have major repercussions down the road. Especially given that Hope made her declaration in what could only be called a heightened emotional state. In fact, she basically did what Liam has done time and again… reacted to a situation by jumping into another without necessarily thinking about the consequences of her words.

Random Thoughts

• Ridge said that he’d reached out to Thorne, Kristen, Bridget and some of the other far-flung Forresters. But has anybody thought to look down the hallway at the offices and tell Zende his gramps is a goner? Hell, he might be the only person unaware that Ridge actually won the fashion show.

• Why are Poppy and Penelope allowed to just randomly take over Forrester Creations workspaces in order to stage their family feuds? Shouldn’t this company have better security, given that Sheila’s out there, harmlessly taking pizza orders? I want to be more invested in this story, but it still makes zero sense why Li thinks Luna can’t work in the same building as Finn. Let’s move this one along, kids.

• Luna and R.J. are really quite appealing. I loved how nervous she was about meeting his sister, and the scenes in which Steffy and Finn got to know Luna were cute. They felt very much like the kind of thing real siblings would do, checking out the new person in your brother’s life.

• Now that Eric has declared the main office is his and his alone, where is everybody going to strip down, whether to have 𝑠e𝑥 or from their post-gym workout? Heck, where are they going to actually work? Or will we just avoid answering those crucial questions until after Eric either dies or gets a miracle cure and goes back to happily boinking Donna, having realized the work-a-day world is not nearly as fun.

• The writers need to pick a lane and stick with it. Either Sheila’s a criminal master mind and threat to everyone’s safety or she’s a mere pest worthy of occasionally mentioning. But if they want us to believe it’s the former, people have to at the very least stop waltzing into one another’s homes through unlocked doors.