The title looks good on “paper”, but the break in alliteration is a necessity, not laziness. A month ago I was giving this show a grade of “A’, but today? I’d give it a “P”. It hasn’t skipped “F”, it’s not down in the dumps, it’s not awful, it’s not even bad. There is a lot to still like about this show – namely Katie and Ridge, KKL’s masterful performance when Brooke found out that Ridge is capable of loving another Logan, and anything connected to Hope and Wyatt is worth the price of admission. The only problem with this show, and the problem that’s usually been a signal that it is heading downhill, fast, is that it simply lacks balance!
Brooke and Deacon’s shomance lacked balance (sho-mance = not real, all for show). It was initially treated as a great and “secret love” – one that dared not speak its name. It had to be protected from the moral marauders who stood by, unaware that once again they would be given the opportunity to condemn Brooke for a reckless decision that would cause pain in the lives of those who loved and trusted her most. That pretense continued on for far too long before it was exposed for the travesty it was.
It happened again with Brooke and Nick.
It happened again with Brooke and Bill.
It’s also happening with Aly, Hope, Wyatt, and Quinn. I don’t know who decided that there was a large enough audience needing Aly to voice their pain and opinions, but I hope they are wrong – for the sake of keeping HOTT together as a couple and for my sake as a fan. Aly is being used to reintroduce the battle of the madonna-whore characters. This battle was epic (and draining) when the central players were Brooke and Taylor. Now it continues in a new generation.
Chaste and pure Aly, who was conceived during a night of drunken betrayal when her father – six sheets to the wind, ended up in bed with her mother, and now Ghostly Floating Head (GFH), Darla – leads the way for all Madonnas. It’s clear that Aly is not aware that the mother who is telling her to help maintain the world’s purity was not drunk that night. Clearly she doesn’t know that her mother had never had a relationship with her father before going to bed with him. She has no idea that her mother betrayed her best friend Macy Spectra – the great love of Thorne’s life, to be with him. Having no knowledge of her parents’ one night stand turned shotgun marriage means that 1 – Aly has been allowed to cling to the notion that in a perfect world people who are good people only do good things – and everyone else is deserving of hell fire. Given the losses she experienced, who would tell a kid about how her parents came together? It does seem strange that she’s never asked her father how he and her mother met. If so, Thorne would probably, as written, feed her some completely made up romantic story. Having no knowledge of her parents’ one night stand turned shotgun marriage means that 2 – Aly believes that GFH Darla, pure as the driven snow, is beckoning her to join the world of the uber moral and condemn Wyatt and Quinn.. you know, because they need to be condemned.
What, exactly, is Quinn’s crime? I can’t figure that out. Aly hates her for being Wyatt’s mother? Is that all? She seemed to have a friendly relationship with Quinn during the make-over and seduce scene. She wasn’t disgusted that Quinn sent her after Liam, she went willingly and happily. She didn’t put on a wool jumper and hip boots to meet the guy she believes is Hope’s salvation and ticket to purity. She put on a second skin and heels.
I still can’t figure out why Liam is the key to Hope’s happiness in Aly’s head. She’s clearly forgiven his infidelity. So what’s left?
— Does she not remember, or care, that Hope broke her vow of pre-marital sex to be with Liam?
— Does she not care that Liam then cheated on Hope with Steffy after Hope broke that vow?
— Has no one told Aly that Hope developed a drug addiction trying to cope with losing her virginity, pre-marriage, to accommodate Liam and his father – who viewed virginal Hope as not woman enough for his son?
— Does she not remember that Hope and Liam were pretty much “living in sin” before Hope called off their last wedding?
So far the madonna-whore count is as follows in Aly’s world:
Madonnas
- Darla
- Progeny of Ghostly Floating Head – Herself
- Hope – Depending on the circumstances
Whores
Hope – Depending on the circumstances
Hope is no longer the vibrant brilliant young woman Aly believed her to be. The insane (sorry to call it that) hatred for Wyatt in particular, and Quinn by association, has caused Aly to recast Hope as a feckless, brainless sex toy, wound up by manipulative Wyatt, and allowing herself to be pimped out to the world of fashion. Hope is to be paraded in front of the world, by Wyatt, as an object, a thing, giving up her pride and her dignity (a backhand slap at the mother who raised her and headed the Brooke’s Bedroom line?).
To be clear, I’m not in favor of the exploitation of young women (gratuitous or otherwise). I prefer to see young women in daytime treated as their male counterparts. Where is, for example, Rick’s Bedroom? Thorne’s Bedroom? Eric’s Bedroom? Ridge’s Bedroom? None of our male leads have ever been male models who had to “drop trou” to show the world what they were working wit – in order to make money for Forrester Creations. They have, however, made money from the hard work of the women who are employed by the company and have had to show some skin.
Is Aly going to save them, too, and restore the family name? Didn’t we see this already? What was the horribly failed clothing line Taylor and Stephanie pushed? You can’t remember it, either? Exactly. It’s not like the industry they’re in is one that promotes the intellectual development of young women. Aly went to college off of the hard work of the women she condemns (the impure – selling themselves on the open market – sorta’). I’m sure she lived in a nice place (as written), with a nice car, and more money to spend than almost anyone she knows. Where is the regret there?
It’s what makes this current storyline seem a bit strange, and far disproportionate to whatever grievances Aly claims to have against Quinn and Wyatt – yet zero concern for the treatment of Hope by Bill and Liam. I’m not getting this. I don’t see where the writers are going with it, and I hope it goes, away.
For me, it would be entertaining if Aly was the new Sheila, in training, and was just clearly irrational and out of control. Instead, she’s being treated as if she is just a little bit passionate, but her ideas are well formed and her behavior is consistent with what she claims to be her moral philosophy. If that were true, there would be consistency.
If Aly is the voice of a segment of the audience who thinks that Quinn and Wyatt are up to no good – despite having no evidence to support that belief, then shouldn’t there be balance with someone (Thorne, maybe) asking her why she’s tolerated the same or worse behavior in others and is so fixated on this mother-son pairing?
Sheila was entertaining and didn’t need balance because she was unhinged. Aly is just creepy (I still love Ashlyn Pearce’s ability to “bring it” when asked. Unless the writers have changed their minds and this girl is in deeper psychological trouble than anyone realizes, nothing about her is making sense, to me.
She is, at best, hypocritical.
She is, at worst, dangerous
Coffee At Cafe Russe 