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With the past Friday ending on an annoying cliffhanger, in the form of Zoe and her eye sore of a dress, fans clamored with excitement awaiting the discovery of Carter in bed with Quinn yet again. Fortunately for Carter and Quinn, Zoe happens to be the worst stalker in the history of stalking and completely missed Quinn panting under the bed. This can only get more awkward, right?
Assuming Carter was, in some way, happy to see her or even ill, Zoe started rambling about how good it was that she entered his home without permission and even had the audacity to suggest taking care of him. Carter attempted to sway her out of the room unsuccessfully and, finally picking up on his obvious discomfort, she looks down and sees the scattered women’s clothes on the floor. How she missed them initially, was unclear, she literally stepped on Quinn’s red jacket, and that would prove to be problematic later in the week.
Hurt and completely out of line, Zoe barges through Carter’s bedroom, demanding answers he doesn’t owe her, and Carter works hard to diffuse the situation. Wrapped in nothing but a sheet with his soldier more than likely still at attention, Carter offers to talk to Zoe downstairs while Quinn cowers under the bed. Nervous Zoe will find Quinn, Carter gets her talking and listens to her tearful monologue of how her heart is broken. Zoe somewhat owns up to their split being her fault, but quickly falls into the victim role when she questions what kind of woman would go after a man who just called off an engagement. At that point, I think most of the audience and myself screamed “What kind of woman tries to sleep with a man that’s not her fiancé while engaged?” The lack of self-awareness was glaring.
Making a dramatic exit, Zoe leaves Quinn and Carter to ponder what to do next. Both guilt-ridden over what they’ve done, Quinn and Carter agree once more that they can never let this happen again. They both get dressed and Quinn leaves abruptly, but the damage is already done with Zoe. Returning back to Forrester Creations, Zoe drops Carter’s personal business in the laps of his bosses Eric and Ridge and the always meddling, Brooke Logan. Discussing Carter’s relationship, they all begin to speculate about who the mystery woman is.
As the new day approaches, Zoe continues her sympathy tour, finding her sister, Paris to spill the beans about Carter having a new woman in his life. Elsewhere, Quinn meets up with her best friend, Shauna to fill her in on the previous day’s events. Floored, Shauna initially voices her shock that Quinn was literally caught with her pants down, but later admits she understands why Quinn is so tempted. In the course of their conversation, Carter appears and makes it known that Quinn called him to talk about their problem.
Shauna lets it be known to Carter that she has no intention of breathing a word of their affair to anyone, and Carter still seems off balance by Zoe’s reaction. He remarks that he hated seeing the pain in his ex-fiancés eyes, and Quinn offers a quick solution. Carter must reunite with Zoe. She explains that if Carter convinces Zoe that the woman, he was with is of no importance it might throw her off their trail. Carter never completely agrees, he actually silently mulls over Quinn’s idea.
At the Forrester Mansion, Brooke and Ridge arrive, Ridge seems to genuinely want to check on his father, Eric, but it is made clear within minutes that Brooke is there to pry and further position Eric against his wife. It’s very ironic that Brooke’s ‘reason’ for disliking Quinn is because of her past and also that she meddled in Brooke and Ridge’s marriage, yet Brooke can’t seem to keep her nose out of Quinn’s relationship with Eric. While Ridge does his best to dissuade his wife from interfering, Eric continues to allow Brooke to talk down on his wife, citing that she has ‘a good reason’ for her hostility. Ridge clearly becomes annoyed and gives Eric the advice of doing what he feels is best for himself without anyone else’s input.
At Forrester, a tense situation becomes ten times worse when Quinn realizes that her jacket had been spotted by Zoe and she’d worn it to work that morning. Quickly advising her to dispose of the jacket, Carter panics. Quinn does agree to get rid of it, but there is no time because Zoe comes looking for Quinn to, once again, attempt to draw more sympathy for her cause and she enters the room with Carter, Quinn, and Shauna. Pushing the jacket down into a chair, Quinn attempts to hide it. The three occupants that were deep in conversation seem rattled by Zoe’s presence. Quinn doesn’t say much, and Carter steps up to try and explain his situation without incriminating Quinn.
Standing there, listening to Zoe praise her for being such a good friend pulls Quinn’s guilt to the surface and she’s at a loss for words. Eyeing the jacket, Quinn becomes increasingly nervous, and it’s compounded when Zoe spots it. Looking around the room, Zoe realizes she’s seen the jacket before and instantly jumps to the conclusion that the woman Carter was with is in the room with her. Carter and Quinn fear they’ve been busted when Shauna swoops in for the save. Scooping the jacket into her arms, smoothly and heading toward the door, Shauna plays off Zoe’s shock and stuns Quinn and Carter with a confession. “Yes, I was with Carter. I was the woman at his house.”
Addressing Carter yet again, Zoe falls into a line of questioning that Shauna quickly rebuffs. Reminding Zoe that she’s single and that Carter is also single, she deals Zoe a heartbreaking truth “Carter didn’t cheat on you. You’re not together.” With tears forming in her eyes, Zoe somewhat agrees and keeps with her uncomfortable line of questioning. She then turns it on Quinn asking if she knew about Shauna and Carter. Shauna, with more quick thinking tells Zoe that Quinn is loyal to her and only found out about the two of them earlier in the morning. Zoe admits she wouldn’t expect Quinn to betray Shauna for her.
Exiting the office with Shauna, Quinn exhales and asks Shauna why she’d take credit for her affair. Shauna advises Quinn that she has nothing to lose by letting people believe she’s sleeping with Carter, but Quinn and Carter could lose everything. Quinn thanks Shauna and speeds home where Eric is waiting for her. With an emotional revelation, Quinn and Eric reconcile. Left alone with Zoe Carter expresses his grief erratically and professes that he wants to marry her and be a good man. While Zoe assumes he’s just emotional about the two of them, it’s clear to the audience that his grief has led him to this conclusion. Offering Zoe an underwhelming kiss, he hugs her, and the anguish is on his face during the embrace and she is completely oblivious as she celebrates their reunion. In a later scene, we see Quinn calling Carter and they both share their reconciliations and agree to never reveal what really happened.
While the reunions seem to be in heavy supply on Bold and The Beautiful, we should always expect there to be more twists. I refuse to believe that the chemistry pf Quinn and Carter is going to be wasted on an aired two-week affair. They’ve promised to stay away from one another on more than one occasion, but they seem to keep ending up in bed. The pointed suggestion from Carter that Zoe wasn’t moving in immediately, to me, is a sign of more things to come.
So far, this story has been well told and thrilling on the ends of Quinn and Carter and Shauna has been an interesting addition that’s equally appealing. The drawbacks of this story as it seems to be unfolding is the fact that they seem to be gearing up to play Zoe as the victim when she is the catalyst that made this affair possible. Had she not been chasing Zende, Carter would still be laser focused on her.
Another annoying foreshadowing is Brooke’s involvement. Brooke is like a dog with a bone when it comes to Quinn. She can’t seem to stay in her lane and worry about her own newly reunited struggle marriage. One gust of wind and her situation could come crumbling down, but she’s meddling under the guise of caring for Eric. I’m looking forward to the eventual reveal of this affair, but having Brooke be involved in any capacity taints it, for me, given her hypocritical actions in regard to relationships.
Again, great storytelling with each new layer we get from Quarter, and seeing an actual loyal friendship between women, such as Quinn and Shauna is refreshing. So often on Bold the women are pitted against each other with the same endgame, but Shauna seems like a true and dedicated friend. And it’s great to see her calling Quinn out for her actions, but also not being overly judgmental. As I’ve said so many weeks in a row, excellent work, Lawrence and Rena, but I’d like to also point out Denise Richards as well. Hopefully one day she will have her own front burner story.
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS.
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