When Ivy showed up to munch on Liam during a lunch layover, she was a welcome distraction from the same-old, same-old characters of her age set. I hope I'm wrong, but when she said her life in Sydney was too much to leave, I figured her presence was just another character stunt like the returns of Xander, Bridget, and Thorne. Ivy gave a much-needed boost to ratings and Liam's self-esteem, but her appearance might only be an evaporated drop in the Steam fog.
It's probably best that Ivy is just passing through because she is as obsessed with Liam as she was when she donned Steffy's Ajax Mountain wedding dress while competing with Steffy for his affections, and Liam is just as purse-whipped by Steffy as when she tore up his house after he married Ivy. If Liam desires to find himself again, he can't do it by revisiting the ghost of cling-ons past, nor by allowing Steffy to disrupt his dates and rearrange his life on a whim.
I don't know who died and made Steffy the manager of all relationships and Confronter in Chief, but -- oh, wait. That would be Stephanie. Steffy filled Stephanie's shoes recently by meddling in Hope's affairs with Liam and then deciding to confront Deacon yet again about his theories involving Sheila. When Steffy saw Ivy smooch Liam at Il Giardino, Steffy forgot her sinking feeling about Finn and her anger toward Deacon, because, after all, there was an overgrown Ivy that needed abrupt pruning.
Steffy horned in on Liam's date and smirked and mocked Ivy right on out the door, announcing that Liam had a playdate with Kelly. I thought Steffy figured she was lying to save Liam from having to tell Ivy that he just wasn't that into her, but no. Steffy abandoned her mission to berate Deacon, took Liam to the cliff house, and called Kelly off her playdate to be with her dad.
I've had my fill of Steffy as the Dating Game host of L.A. According to Steffy, Ridge shouldn't be with Brooke, Eric shouldn't have been with Quinn, Hope can't be with Thomas, Ivy won't be with Liam, Deacon needs to stop being with Sheila, and Finn better not be around Sheila. Steffy starts more fires than she can quench, and one day soon, she will feel the relationship burn.
I had hoped that maybe Liam could have a relationship with Ivy while Hope and Steffy had to sit back and shut up, unable to do anything about it, but the way Steffy turned Liam's whole day around to focus on her made me see "Steam" rising all over the place. The hints are as subtle as anvils. Steffy said at least twice this week that her marriage couldn't take any more Sheila, and Liam is just biding his time as "dad" until he can reclaim his identity as Steffy's lapdog.
The return of Steam depends upon Steffy rejecting Finn's newfound devotion to Sheila, Finn refusing to sideline his feelings for his birth mom, and Hope and Liam's continued estrangement. Steffy probably asked Hope if she was interested in Liam again because their classic triangle could be back on the rise while Thomas is abroad and Finn connects with Sheila. Steffy will be jarred upon learning that Sheila is still alive, but can Steffy make peace with Sheila once she understands that Sheila and she are both Sugar's victims?
Just now, I heard the groan of a thousand Sheila detractors when I called Sheila a victim of Sugar. As cringy as it sounds to some, it's still true. It's a fact that Sugar was once Sheila's victim and pawn; however, it's also a fact that Sugar abducted Sheila; chained her to a steel beam in an abandoned building; declared she'd revive her old, foiled plan to hurt Sheila's loved ones; and left Sheila to survive on $200 worth of junk food until Sugar's return.
The lie in Sheila's story is that she loves Steffy. Either it's a lie, or Sheila really does need hospitalization. How anyone can love that war-mongering, go-go boots-wearing, wicked witch of West Malibu is a mystery to me.
Skeptics reason that Sheila is lying, and she manipulated Sugar into attacking Steffy to win Finn's favor or get revenge on Steffy. I get it because there's only Sheila's word to go by. Sugar's dead, and Sheila can say anything. While I have questions about Sheila's abduction, I think she's telling the truth about it. Here's why.
Sugar and Sheila have no reason to trust each other. Sugar had no motive to murder anyone to help Sheila, and Sheila had no reason to trust that Sugar wouldn't double-cross her for revenge. Sugar truly detested Sheila for the facial reconstruction. I can't see Sugar letting Sheila use her face that way again, and I see her actually committing the crimes herself this time.
Next, Sheila had no motive to pull off Steffy's murder. Sheila has spent a year and a half trying to redeem herself in that town, and I doubt Finn would forgive her if a person with her face killed his wife for revenge. If Sugar had killed Steffy and escaped, Sheila would be the first person everyone would blame, so it's nonsensical for Sheila to order this hit, thinking it would improve her status around town or with her son.
Lastly, if Sheila had orchestrated it, she would have been hiding around town, not chained to a warehouse for weeks. She would have known Sugar was dead, and it would have behooved Sheila to reappear, battered and disheveled, before Sugar was incinerated in order to prove Sheila had not committed the crime. It would have made no sense for Sheila to hide in that building for weeks, hoping someone would figure out the mystery and find her there.
That being said, I do believe Sugar abducted Sheila under the belief that she'd frame Sheila for Steffy's murder. Sugar bought all that junk food on Sheila's credit card because she intended to stay gone a few days, wreaking havoc on L.A. with the face and voice of Sheila. Sugar probably intended to release Sheila at a police station and enjoy Sheila screaming that it hadn't been her -- just like Sugar had done when she'd been mistaken for Sheila and arrested.
But I have questions.
How did Sugar abduct Sheila? Has going legit made Sheila that naïve to a setup? I also wonder when Sugar abducted Sheila. Was it before or after the brawls with Steffy that day? I find it hard to believe Sheila, smarting from fights with Steffy, stepped out to "run errands" and wound up chained and begging for the life of her slugging daughter-in-law.
When Sugar first spoke to Sheila, it was in a garbled whisper like something out of the movie, Us. Now that I think of it, this whole plot seems like something out of that movie, doesn't it? Sugar soon revealed that she could sound like Sheila. If Sugar had Sheila's voice, why didn't she speak to Steffy that night? Steffy recalls Sugar reaching into her pocket. Could there have been a weapon there that had fallen out when Sheila tripped Sugar? Maybe some scissors, like in the movie Us. Lastly, why was Sugar wearing a veil if she wanted to be recognized as Sheila?
If the way Steffy behaved when Sheila saved Kelly is any indication, I doubt Steffy will share her victimhood with Sheila or believe Sheila has changed, even though Sheila has not harmed anyone but herself since she cut off her toe. Steffy will likely blame Sheila for Sugar's attack, further driving a rift between her and Finn, who will seek redemption for Sheila's past -- you know, like how Taylor got it after shooting Bill in the back? The same redemption Thomas got after trying to kill Rick and running Emma off the road? Do you think it's time to redeem Sheila, even if only for a little while?
Bill Spencer appeared last week, showing up for lunch with Liam. Bill said nothing about Poppy, her pedestal-standing daughter, or that unforgettable night at the festival. It made me realize that Bill wasn't a part of the mints story, either. Have Poppy and Bill seen each other since the evening she discovered that her mints were missing?
Speaking of the mints storyline, I did a double take when Ridge told Brooke that R.J. and Zende were both "up-and-coming" designers. Hasn't Zende been trying to distinguish himself as more experienced than R.J., who was a social influencer last year at this time? Didn't Hope tell Zende that he'd mentor R.J. and Luna? It'd be nice if Ridge would finally give Zende his due.
While I'm on the topic of marginalized characters, why has Brooke been relegated to propping the storylines of the younger generation? She spent that entire scene with Steffy and Ridge, sitting at a table, shrugging, mouthing a few words, and nonverbally prompting Ridge to talk to his daughter. I challenge the writers to stop holding Katherine Kelly Lang back and put her in scenes she can use to finally get the Emmy she deserves for her portrayal of Brooke Logan.
Steffy continues to lean on Liam as she worries about her husband. Finn and Deacon rejoice at their second chance with Sheila, and Deacon considers moving forward in his relationship with her. Deacon reveals Sheila to his stunned daughter. Finn's news about Sheila leaves Steffy horror-stricken. Li and Sheila encounter each other.
That's it! That's all the scoops. Thanks for reading along, and please post your thoughts about the week in the comments section below. Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!
Chanel
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