‘Bold and the Beautiful’s ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Effect Makes for a Near Perfect Soap

The Bold and the Beautiful is daytime’s version of Wreck-It Ralph. We all know the general premise, right? Something is built, Wreck-It Ralph comes along to demolish it and then Fix-It Felix rebuilds it exactly the same. This year, The Bold and the Beautiful’s head writer/executive producer Bradley Bell has proven he can be both Ralph and Felix simultaneously. Time and time again we watched as each storyline began to take shape and stack pieces like a Lego castle. And more times than not, we also watched as a bratty little kid came along and kicked it over. Figuratively speaking of course.

What Happens In Dubai…

One of the first scenes of foreshadowing used to kick off the 2014 season of B&B was the heartstring pulling New Year’s Eve episode with Katie Logan (Heather Tom) and newly returned Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye). Divorced, hurt and with a chip on her shoulder the size of the The Golden Nugget, Katie fought back tears as Ridge challenged her to speak up for herself. As the clock struck midnight, he held her in his arms and promised that he would make sure the New Year was better than the last. And he kept that promise… for about six months.

I’ve seen some people comment that the speed at which Ridge and Katie’s romance blossomed was too fast. A lot of those people forget that despite the new face, Ridge was no stranger to the youngest Logan sister. I fully believed their love for one another by April of this year. There was something innocent yet prominent about their interactions with each other. From the longing looks to the walks in the park with their boys, they just seemed to fit. However the entire time we were watching this lotus bloom, we were also inundated with reminders of Ridge’s true “destiny.” His beloved Logan. Writers tried a few times to sell the audience on Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and nuRidge but to no avail. I’m not willing to say the actors lacked chemistry with each other. It was more that the complete turnabout of the character of Ridge from previous portrayer Ronn Moss made it difficult to view them as the same fated pair they once were. Fans fell in love with the ease and newness of what Ridge had found with Katie.

Pictured: Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) during her Dubai wedding to Bill. Photo Credit: © Howard Wise/jpistudios.com.

So when Ridge let his possessiveness get the better of him after Brooke revealed she was going to marry Bill Spencer (Don Diamont), a large majority of the audience started to ask the question, “Why does he even care?” The short answer given was that Ridge just couldn’t stomach the idea of $Bill being an influence in RJ’s life. Yes, RJ. The kid they sent away to school who has only been seen a handful of times in 2014. Alas, Ridge felt is necessary to fly thousands of miles away to stop the beachfront wedding all while Katie nodded in agreement. The same Katie who called Brooke a slut from the valley and took everything Bill loved away from him less than a year earlier. That Katie stood by as the man who promised her forever via a red ribbon inserted himself back into the love life of his ex. Fast forward through some gorgeous scenery, dramatic running, a TKO punch and an ill-fated helicopter ride and nothing has been right since for Katie and The Dress Maker.

The aftermath of that trip still lingers on today in this storyline. Most notably the insertion of Ridge’s sister in law, Caroline Forrester (Linsey Godfrey). We all watched as she became Ridge’s muse in more ways than one through a pencil and a sketch pad. Hand guiding led to yearning gazes that led to kissing, which led to board showdowns which is now leading Katie back to Bill. The domino effect never felt so real. All of these characters now interwoven simply because Ridge needed cooling off. It’s been fascinating to watch, really. But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the undoing of so many plots in the process. The biggest one for me is the undoing of their best storyline from 2013.

There is no doubt that the affair between Katie’s husband and her sister drove much of the show last year. We saw some of the best performances from all three actors. It was riveting, gut-wrenching, yell at your screen television. The best outcome was this new and improved take no BS Katie Logan that emerged from the ashes of her loved ones betrayal. Her voice became louder, her will became stronger and her tolerance for less than what she deserved became the catalyst that drove every decision she made. The storylines from 2014 have managed to quietly undo most if not all of that. Not just in her acceptance of Ridge’s interference in Brooke’s life, but also her radio silence during his “emotional” affair with the name sake of another one of his true loves.

This plot has included key showings from Rick (Jacob Young), Maya (Karla Mosley), Caroline, Eric (John McCook) and even the oft-underused Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor). But Katie has for the most part been playing supporting in the destruction of her own engagement. There was one very poignant scene between her and Ridge where she explained why she still tied that ribbon around her finger every morning, but really that was it. She hasn’t even been allowed to read Caroline the riot act the way she did Brooke. They have instead chosen to rebuild the House of Batie that has already been torched twice over. A scare with Will, the absence of Brooke and Bill now all of the sudden wants the “some assembly required model” back.