B&B If Susan Flannery would retire from the show.

[Andrew]

If Susan Flannery would want to exit B&B next year, how would she be written out?

What do you all think would be the best exit for Stephanie Forrester.

This is only speculation if she would want to leave the show, but if she would how should she be written out?

I Think the best way to write out Stephanie would be if she got seriously ill, and die, that would both be very sad and probaly very good work to write Stephanie out.

So if Susan Flannery would want to leave, how do you all think Stephanie Forrester should be written out of the show?..............

[JackPeyton]

death.

[MarkH]

No: I'd send her to Chicago to take care of Ann. She can return for family events or short-arcs as needed. I'll bet the actress would go for that!

[JackPeyton]

B&B *MUST* kill Stephanie off.

and they have to do it right. not a murder. just let her die someway. and let it change the entire show. it should shake this show and every story and char to the core and ripple for years.

[MarkH]

I'd agree...but then I saw John Abbott die on Y&R. I'm done with these major deaths. I have no belief Brad would let it change anything.

Indeed, if he killed her, and then realized his "mistake", he'd just have Massimo have spirited her away and given her new life. If the actress doesn't want to do that, Brad would just recast her with Barbara Eden.

[Evan]

You'd have to kill Stephanie off!

The final scene would involve Eric, Ridge, Thorne, Felicia and Brooke gathered around her bedside!

[MarkH]

What about Kristen? Pammy? Ann? The grandkids?

It couldn't be done, but I'd MUCH rather have her die alone, with the spectre of Spectra (get it?) there to take her hand and lead her on. THAT gives me goosebumps.

But, nah, Brad doesn't commit to permanent deaths. I don't want her to die. I understand why you all would, but I just don't believe this show would handle it right.

Now, if Brad would let Jack Smith run the show...I'd change my tune.

[Cat]

... which she would try to pin as murder on Brooke.

Oh wait. B&B has already tried that SL a couple hundred times.

[Cat]

Remember when Stephanie went all shell-shocked and amnesiac and ended up living on the streets as a bag lady? I always imagined that she would be written out in a similar way. Stephanie receives a huge emotional shock. It's like her mind just decides to switch out the light. She walks to the door, looks around blankly in a "This isn't my home" sort of way, and leaves. The camera pans on her spotlit back as it retreats into the distance until it is completely swallowed up by the night's shadows. All in total silence (or perhaps with one emotive piano chord as her figure disappears). Then, fade to black.

[MarkH]

Could work! I'd actually like that for the most part. I'd probably do without the dramatic lighting, because it invokes PTSD.

Explanation: When Laura left GH, she disappeared into the night fog, following David Grey. UGH. I hated hated hated that. I hated that Laura was leaving, I hated how she left, and I hated that the departure essentially let all the air out of the all-time-high of GH. Like many viewers, not too long after that I bailed. By the time Luke was 'dying' in the mountains and taking up with Holly Sutton...I was gone.

My point: I don't want that kind of end for Stephanie. So, her amnesiac walking off and leaving the canvas...THAT has impact! But I'd much rather see her either just walk off (confused) in the bright California sun...or even see her "wash up" on that homeless street, taken in by that kindly "Adam" bum. (Can't be Ruth, because the actress has died). But please don't imitate the disappearance of Laura Webber Baldwin Spencer! I can't take it!

[Cat]

OMG! Figures that Daytime already did this. I never watched original Luke & Laura and didn't know that was how she left. I prefer your idea about the blinding California sunshine as she walks out the door -- before slowly fading to... white?

ETA: I just realized that Brooke left the show for a couple of months in the exact same way. Amnesiac in Barbados. Oh, well, scrap the whole idea! Susan Flannery can never leave. That's all there is to it.

[Khan]

IMO, Stephanie should "retire" to someplace like Japan. That way, she still could return for holidays and family occasions (weddings, funerals, etc.), should Susan Flannery feel so inclined; and whenever another Forrester needs to leave L.A., for whatever reason, the show could say he/she is away visiting her.

[bandbfan]

Not sure about an amnesia type story. The thing is, they've been there and she recovered. I think there'd always be a question of when she's going to get better again.

[nicknack]

Am I the only one who wants Stephanie to find love with a lively, smart lady approximately her age and go on an enternal gay cruise with her?

Oh, right, that's just me.

[MarkH]

I honestly think what you say is the best. I'd put her in Chicago with Ann...playing the role that Pam ostensibly played all those years (caregiver...though we now know it was reversed). On another show I might feel otherwise, but there are so MANY botched deaths of matriarchs and patriarchs...I have no faith in B&B. This almost never works (Maureen Bauer, Alan Quartermaine, John Abbott)

No, I don't want to confuse Stephanie with Flannery .

That said, I'd like a twist on your scenario. Stephanie gets a phone call...an unseen Sally is calling "Queen Stephanie", and saying "I hear you're at loose ends, darlin'. You know, these cabana boys on the Riviera could take your mind off what ails you. And if that doesn't seem like it's up your alley, sweetheart, the sunshine and endless cocktails might. We had some of our best times in the Mediterranean highness', like when you dumped me into the drink! Let's make some new times to go with those old times!".

And Stephanie would suddenly brighten, and decide to go...little fanfare...take off within the span of a single episode.

I'd even consider hiring a voice mimic to do Sally for that one episode.

We could be left with a theater of memory and imagination in our heads, with the two of them laughing it up. In my version of this fantasy, Y&R's Col. Douglas Austin is with them, a perfectly-ascotted dinner companion each night.