I feel like the first season of Bold had a distinct fairytale vibe. I was truly astonished by how many storylines were happening simultaneously while I watched it for the first time... because these days, Bradley can hardly manage two at once. Quite frankly, he struggles with one. Bill Bell managed to have nearly every character pursuing their own thing while still interacting with the others in a natural way. It didn't feel crowded or busy like some other shows do when there are too many things going on. Everyone had something. Donna wanted to be a model. Katie had pimples and low self-esteem. Brooke was ambitious and envious of the rich and famous, wanting to experience first hand the glitz and glamour from the magazines. The fashion house side was also pretty well crafted, even if some of these characters are cliched archetypes - Ridge - the spoiled favorite son/Don Juan cheating player, Thorne - the anti-Ridge/good-hearted underdog, Eric - the horny ageing rich guy, Stephanie - the controlling frustrated matriarch with a sharp tongue. The season wasn't flawless, but it laid the groundwork for what was to come in the years ahead. For example... Bill Bell was consistently dropping hints about Stephanie going somewhere behind Eric's back. You would think she had a secret gigolo waiting in his briefs in some hotel somewhere, but no... that mystery continued well into the second year... until it was finally revealed that she was concealing a secret daughter. It was eerie, yet so brilliantly executed and thoughtfully crafted FROM THE GET GO. 300+ episodes of build-up. We also saw Brooke being set up as a social climber right from week one. Reading about Ridge and the Forresters, imagining herself in their world. It's pretty amazing that Bill Bell stuck to this storyline for thousand plus episodes after that. It was RIGHT THERE from the start.
And that's what I adore about that first season. To me, it’s absolutely essential viewing... if you want to fully grasp these characters and witness their evolution... even if it has its dull moments - Donna's boyfriend bored me to death, Beth and Eric just didn't work as supposed to and they QUICKLY got that and moved on (in a way Brooke took over that path). That reminds me of the one thing that changed slowly but progressively - the level of involvement of the entire Logan family in the narrative. Initially, they gave nearly everyone their little place in the spotlight. We even got to see Brooke's grandma occasionally... but once Brooke stepped into the realm of the rich and famous... the other Logan relatives started to fade away and received less and less screen time. The dynamics changed. And couple of years later... when they were acting as Brooke's babysitters, helpers... people who we see once a month consoling her... - it was over. I would cringe when Donna or Katie would be babysitting for Brooke and being given 1 line a week, when I remember how essential they felt to me in the beginning. 😄 So yeah... the conflict and contrast shifted from rich family/working class family to Brooke's fairytale/nightmare into the Forrester mansion and her war with Stephanie. The rest is history as they say.
Once Sally Spectra joined the show in 1989... along with Macy (who was so fresh in the beginning), the show was running like a well oiled machine. But even now, I think some of the most iconic moments from the entire series happened in that very first season. I can still remember the concrete dialogue. I remember Stephanie warning Eric, Ridge, and Thorne about Brooke being an opportunist... just a week or two after they met her. And then there was that moment when Stephanie told Eric what Brooke was going to do... it was like she was reading the script of the future seasons. Like a trailer for what's to come. Everything unfolded just as she predicted. As time went on, Stephanie's foresight only made her character appear stronger, a sort of wink from the writers to the viewers... "If we let this girl into our home... she’s going to do this and this..." And guess what? SHE DID.
The first years of Bold are so underrated by many soap opera fans. Some of them have barely watched more than a couple of episodes... yet they still bash that period. But I love these years and I always rewatch them. Every single time it's like a new experience. Season 1 is again... like a fairytale to me.
By
Maxim ·
