The fashion show continues on The Bold and the Beautiful, but it’s what’s happening behind the scenes that’s causing drama.
We see Esther (Kate Linder) and Lauren (Tracy Bregman) watching the show closely, with the Countess Von Frankfurt (Marie Osmond) watching them.
When the show is over, Katie (Heather Tom) brings out Eric (John McCook) and Ridge (Thorsten Kaye), then she thanks everyone for coming as Eric quickly disappears. Ridge heads backstage to congratulate his father. “May the best man win,” he says as they shake hands. Once he leaves, Eric starts coughing again.
Ridge pressures Carter (Lawrence Saint-Vincent) for information about the orders while Zende (Delon de Metz) looks on. Paris (Diamond White) says the donors have been commenting all day about the show. Esther shows up and presents her order to Ridge, and then the Countess presents an order for the same dress. Ridge says Esther ordered it first, which enrages the Countess. She storms off and swears off Forrester Creations. Esther says this was all possible thanks to her former employer. Charlie gives her a thumbs up.
Luna (Lisa Yamada) tells RJ (Joshua Hoffman) that she knows it’s hard but she’s also very proud of him for what he did. Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) walks in as RJ says he’s worried about his grandfather. Luna excuses herself and Brooke tells RJ how proud she is. But she’s there to talk to RJ about Eric.
Once everyone has cleared the room, Esther comes in clutching her Forrester Creations bag. Charlie comes in and says he’s so happy she got the dress of her dreams. She tells him that she has to head back to Genoa City but she hopes she sees him when she’s there for her fitting. He tells her how happy it makes him to see how happy she is with her dress. They say they’ll miss each other. He leans close and kisses her, causing her to drop her bag. He presents it to her. “You know, maybe this doesn’t mean more to me than anything in the world,” she says, and she kisses him again.
Zende tells Luna that she should come celebrate with the team. Paris, Carter and Ridge come in and Ridge hopes that he’ll have the winner soon. Eric and Donna appear. They’re eager to find out who won, too.
Brooke presses RJ about Eric, telling him that she asked her sisters but they wouldn’t say anything. She can see how upset he is. RJ says he can’t keep the secret any longer.
Eric goes into the empty fashion show room and looks at the darkened runway. He imagines his final collection as the models come out. Donna finds him and hugs him from behind. “My last hurrah,” he says. “My final collection.” She tells him how proud she is and how “magnificent” his designs were. He tells her that he has to win so he can continue to be the founder of the company. “Ridge can’t take that away from me.”
RJ tells Brooke that he and Donna wanted to tell her but Eric forced them to keep it a secret. “The reason he keeps calling this his grand finale… he’s dying, Mom. Granddad’s dying.”
Ridge and Carter are in the office. Carter teases Ridge for gloating on the phone. Ridge keeps pressuring Carter for the results. Carter reveals that one collection sold out, but the other one didn’t. Ridge thinks he won, but Carter remains silent.
The fashion showdown has come to an end and the orders have been tabulated. Ridge seems to be chomping at the bit for the results, and he’s even more eager when he finds out that one collection outsold the other.
We have to ask: what’s wrong with Ridge?
We know there’s decades of history between Eric and Ridge, some of it good and some of it not so great. But why is he so determined to beat his father? Why has he suddenly gotten so cutthroat? Is he really that threatened by the possibility of his father winning?
The problem with Ridge’s behavior is that he’s so determined to win that he’s ignoring the flashing red warning signs, namely, his father’s health. (Come on, Ridge, wasn’t Eric’s “grand finale” a big enough red flag?)
We know things are changing rapidly. RJ has revealed the big secret to his mother and it’s only a matter of time (or about an episode or two) before the secret makes it to Ridge. And then he’s going to feel foolish. Very foolish.
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and the following day on Paramount Plus. Check your local listings to see when it comes on where you are.
