Miracle: Denied! Why Bold & Beautiful’s Taylor Has to Really, Most Sincerely Die

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It looks as if Bold & Beautiful‘s Taylor isn’t just dying, she’s doing so rapidly. That means time is definitely ticking if someone is going to step up and save the day. And while we’re all looking at Finn, whose middle name is obviously Hero, I’m kinda hoping that Taylor is going to instead follow the same path as both of the fill-fated Carolines. Hear me out… 

Die, Die, My Darling

It’s kinda crazy to me that nobody picked up on the fact that Taylor’s dying. If someone I knew started wandering around talking endlessly about how every moment is precious and looking sad while wearing nothing but beige outfits, I’d immediately clue in. But then, one of my all-time favorite primetime soap moments was the one in which Knots Landing‘s Karen realized, while shopping with Laura, realized that her best friend was dying of an inoperable brain tumor. The giveaway? That Laura was buying birthday gifts for her newborn child’s fifth birthday. To this day, I weep thinking about it.

My point in bringing up that particular scenario is that there was a time on soaps when deaths were both permanent and devastating. I am a huge Taylor fan and have been ever since the character first was introduced. But the last thing I want is another storyline in which someone spends weeks keeping their supposedly-fatal illness from everyone only to be miraculously cured at the last minute… especially given that we just played that tale with Eric.

If I’m being honest, which I always am, I’ve never been a big fan of stories in which a person is dying and they refuse to tell their loved ones. I know it’s supposed to be noble and all that, but I find it incredibly selfish. I have to assume that Taylor collapsing at the end of the week will mean that her secret is about to be revealed. Surely she can’t pass this off as… what, a dizzy spell?

The (White) Elephant In the Room

So I guess Bill and Poppy are over? Luna was shipped off to prison without so much as a farewell scene, and Poppy went to live with her sister, leaving the door to Bill’s mansion wide open for Katie to just waltz through. And honestly, none of this should surprise us, given that Bold & Beautiful has a troubling-at-best history when it comes to minorities.

Think about it. Despite taking place in the fashion industry, there’s not a single gay character on the canvas. The show scored major points with the story of Rick’s transgender true love, Maya, but even she was eventually shuffled off to parts unknown. And although Carter’s been on the scene for over a decade — and even had a front-burner story or two — his relationship with Katie took place nearly entirely off-screen, including their break-up.

At the moment, Naomi Matsuda’s Li is getting some nice airtime, but it’s as a secondary character in Taylor’s story. And something tells me that Finn will play a far bigger role in his mother-in-law’s fate than will Li.

In Other News…

• As we await the arrival of Electra Forrester, it’s feeling as if she’ll be thrust into a triangle with R.J. and Will. I originally assumed she might basically replace Luna in the Zende/lady/R.J. triangle, but it’s feeling more and more as if Zende is going to be the odd man out. Which, given what we were just talking about above, makes a sad sort of sense. Meanwhile, I like that Will isn’t necessarily gung-ho to see his mom give Bill a billionth chance to prove he’s changed. I spent a lotta years being a big ‘Batie’ fan, but there are only so many times I’m willing to watch a show go back to the same well without introducing some new element. Quick, someone pass Katie a copy of Smart Women, Foolish Choices.”

• I’m not sure how I feel about Taylor and Brooke giving friendship another go, although I assume this is a prelude to the story I’ve been pitching since Taylor returned: Brooke finding out that Taylor is dying and essentially handing Ridge over on a silver platter. This leads me back to where we started this week’s missive, which is that ultimately, I want — maybe even need — Taylor to die. This could have a major impact on the characters and the canvas, as opposed to simply another story in which Ridge finds himself married to Taylor — who miraculously lives — but drawn to Brooke.

• Friday’s episode centered on a musical guest who performed a 10-year-old song as part of a Brooke’s Bedroom video shoot. Which I suppose makes sense given that the other song being used to prop the line is a remix of Danny Romalotti’s “Rock On,” which is even older. The big difference is that Danny is a character in the extended Bold & Beautiful universe, whereas Jökull Júliusson — frontman for Kaleo — is simply someone a producer of the show ran into at a concert and, by all accounts, said, “Hey, you should come perform!” That’s a very, very Bold & Beautiful thing, with random “celebs” like Tom Arnold or Jamison Belushi popping up.

• There is no known universe — at least in modern times — in which Carter telling Hope that he’s been thinking about her modeling lingerie is appropriate. Meanwhile, is the show really going to throw her in Carter’s direction now? First Thomas, then Finn and now Carter, all within a period of months. What in the world is going on with this character?