B&B: Bold from the beginning

[Manny]

I started watching this weekend. I never watched B&B in my life until now (and through the years I watched pretty much all other soaps on and off and now for year I have not watch any soaps).

But I must say, I enjoy B&B. I got to Ridge and Caroline's wedding. She just collapsed after Bill told her about Ridge cheating. It is fun stuff.

But really... are they really trying to portray Ridge as a hero here and Bill as the bad guy? Ridge was a dick that cheated on a girl that he proposed only to spite her dad and then Ridge has the audacity to blame Bill when he tells her the truth, calling Bill cruel? lol 

Was that considered as romantic in the 80s?

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Anyway, quite fun! 

Oh and I am surprised that KKL is not really featured a lot in the beginning. It's really Caroline who is the main heroine. 

EDIT: And oh my God, the guy that plays Thorne is so hot! I realized that he is the person I realized I was gay back in 90s when B&B started airing in my country and they were showing photos of the cast. I saw him and I thought how hot he was. 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Manny

[Soapfan8]

 

How would all of you describe Brooke Logan’s archetype? It’s been complicated over the years I feel.

 

[kalbir]

Bill Bell wrote Brooke as a Jill/Lorie hybrid. Bradley turned her into the Forrester family mattress.

[Soapfan8]

What would you describe that archetype per say? Like the type of character she was

[kalbir]

Anti-heroine.

[DramatistDreamer]

In watching these From The Beginning episodes, I am surprised at how early Brooke's personality as a vixen begins to show itself.

There is an episode where Brooke describes the incident where she seemingly plays a prank on Ridge, going up to the Forrester mansion and leading Ridge to believe that she was a willing participant in a skinnydip, then leaving a nude Ridge, to catch a cab home. What's telling about the sequence and the scenes where Brooke relays the tale to her mother and brother and both ask her whether she were actually wanting to pursue the night's events, then elected to change her mind. It stood out as the two people who presumably know Brooke best thought that Brooke was not so much pulling a prank, as she was someone who was interested (despite being engaged to marry) and got cold feet at the last minute.

In later years, it almost doesn't matter whether Brooke was a vixen or anti-heroine, she got shifted into the same role as Sharon Collins Newman, who clearly began as a heroine and ingenue. I can't even call either vixens, as vixens are more complex, they are written as more like a sort of sexpot, or as John Mayer once derisively referred to "sexual napalm".

[Videnbas]

I think in the early episodes, Brooke's family seems to know her better than she knows herself (and later on, I'd say Stephanie has the same insight into Brooke's character). It's clear that her interest in Ridge and the Forresters early on goes deeper than she cares to admit and that she is just not that into Dave, although she is kind of in denial about that. I agree that she probably got cold feet with Ridge (OR maybe she was telling herself all along she was just pulling a prank, while using that as an excuse to do something she really wanted to do herself).

[Althea Davis]

I heard that they plan to upload the entire series on youtube... Year by year... It is incredible.

[Videnbas]

Where did you hear that? If that is the case, it is truly incredible! Let's hope they keep going and keep up the pace!

[Soaplovers]

Today's season 1 episode uploads explains why Brooke has a one track mind about Ridge and the Forrester's.  

She saw her mom Beth being warm, nice and putting others before herself.  And seeing how she always seems to finish last made Brooke vow not to be like her mom.

And I think deep down Brooke blamed her mom being unable to fight for herself and causing her dad to desert her.  So I think when Ridge chooses Caroline down the line, she decides to strike back at Stephanie and Beth by taking Eric for herself.  I don't think Brooke consciously did this, but deep down, she wanted to keep the Forrester's in her life..so she went to Eric.  To fulfill her need for a dad, and to stick it to Stephanie..and to a lesser extent Beth.

And I think had she picked Dave...she feared history would repeat itself with him abandoning her like her dad did to her mom.

[DramatistDreamer]

Brooke needed a psychiatrist from the start. Whew, this is 80s, alright... desperately thirsty women, with the exception of Kristen, who they make look as if she is either non-binary or completely asexual.

Also, there are dropped storylines right from the beginning. What happened to that grand plan that Bill and Alex were supposedly cooking up to make Ridge pay dearly?

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[Videnbas]

I agree Brooke starting a relationship with Eric was motivated by her wanting revenge on Stephanie, on a subconscious level (and the rest of it was transference of her feelings towards Ridge). The scene between Brooke and Stephanie at Ridge and Caroline's wedding makes it very clear that from that moment, Brooke is on a mission to get back at Stephanie. Interestingly, Brooke seemed to blame Stephanie for sabotaging her relationship with Ridge, even though the rivalry between Brooke and Stephanie had nothing to do with his choosing Caroline (and Stephanie in fact had spent a lot of time trying to keep Ridge and Caroline apart, not Ridge and Brooke).

I actually forgot all about Bill and Alex! You are right, that idea really never went anywhere. But on the whole I think the show was a lot better back then at following through on their storylines. 

And how refreshing it was to see a major character, young, single and attractive, actually not have a love interest until about six months after she was introduced.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Videnbas

[DramatistDreamer]

Kristen, Daddy issues aside, is probably the one of the few, if the only major character from the show's first year, who holds up fairly well in the 21st century. The others...not so much, lol. But we are constantly told by other characters that Kristen is "a problem" because she is not hoe-ing it up all over town and actually wants to... surprise...nurture a career!

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[Videnbas]

I think Caroline shows some of those qualities as well when it comes to how passionate she is about her magazine. And Sally Spectra (although she has an inexplicable weak spot where Clarke is concerned).

Funny, when I think about it, there were actually MORE career-oriented women on the show in the 80s and early 90s than there are today (Kristen, Felicia, Sally, Caroline, Margo, Taylor, Brooke to some extent). These days I don't see many of them actually taking pride in their work identity. 

[DramatistDreamer]

The first 10-11 months and the only women we really see working consistently are Beth, Margo and Kristen, although we occasionally see Donna overworked and tired from her job as a waitress. So far, Caroline was seen at the office, two, maybe three times.

It will be refreshing when the show actually remembers that Brooke has career ambitions, other than riding Ridge.

And Thorne wants to buy Caroline a "wedding trousseau"? Oh how 19th century! They act like Caroline doesn't already come from wealth and can't already get these things from her Daddy.

It's good that there is a disclaimer in the description under these videos that some of the content in these classic episodes might contain outdated cultural depictions. No kidding.