CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful" Has the Quirkiest Quintet of All

I usually call attention to one of the four daytime dramas on the broadcast networks when something significant is happening amp8230 like the recent longterm storyline on ABC39s General Hospital that chronicled one character39s battle with Alzheimer39s Disease or the ongoing relationship travails of two gay men on NBC39s Days of Our Lives or the lifeaffirming romance between a transgender woman of color and a wealthy white arrogantamp160businessman on The Bold and the Beautiful Or I might call attention to the integration of sponsors into a daytime drama storyline like the time when four of the young people on General Hospital had a detailed conversation about their favorite Ruffles potato chips or Colonel Sanders visited Port Charles to talk with two primary characters about the joys of fried chicken I am not kidding about thatBut this is different BampampB39s mannequin story is crazy in the manner of many of the most memorable soap storylines from the genre39s Eighties heyday when soaps were arguably bolder and more beautiful than they are today In other words it39s unapologeticamp160fun It centers on Thomas Forrester a young man who after years of scheming and committing many nefarious deeds in his pursuit of sweet and wholesome Hope Logan Annika Noelle has lost his grip on reality and is now communicating with a livein mannequin that looks and sounds exactly like her Indeed Thomas is so far gone that he made out with the mannequin unable to resist its allure Not surprisingly Hope39s goodguy husband Liam Scott Clifton walked in on this bizarre display of affection and from his angle in the doorway assumed he was watching his loving wife getting busy with Thomas Then the distraught Liam dashed away and is now seeking comfort from his exwife Steffy Jacqueline McInnes Wood who still carries a torch for him even though they have been married and divorced three times I don39t think I have to point out where the LiamSteffy thing is headed AgainThomas has been trying everything he can to win Hope39s love for a while now stopping at nothing in his quest for romantic fulfillment He has even inflicted psychological torment on his little boy and another woman he planned to marry as part of his twisted plan But all of that played out in the realm of what I would call soap opera quotrealismquot The addition of the mannequin with its glowing eyes alternately devil red and ghostly white its haunting voice and its disturbing movements Thomas sees it walk moves BampampB into an arena it doesn39t normally occupy It39s not another essential tale of starcrossed love or a powerful issuedriven story the likes of which BampampB does with consistent brilliance It39s something else entirely Also I think it39s an insideamp160nod to the quotintimacy mannequinsquot soap operas have been using in sex and kissing scenes during the pandemicNone of this would work without the powerful multilayered performance by Matthew Atkinson pictured at top and throughout with Annika Noelle as the increasingly odd Thomas See what I did there Like Kevin Bacon Julianne Moore Tommy Lee Jones Susan Sarandon Judith Light Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman among others all of whom started on soaps this guy has got the chops to make it big Even at Thomas39 worst Atkinson39s emotionally supercharged performance part fearsome part fearful and always fearless amp160makes the character as sympathetic as he is sinister I need to note that Noelle more than holds her own in some very challenging scenes with him as a mannequin and a real girlNBC39s Days of Our Lives practically spins around crazy amp160characters are routinely killed off only to be reanimated by the maniacal Dr Rolf a pivotal character in the lives of almost everyone on the show39s canvas That39s even nuttier than the legendary story of the weather machine on General Hospital that steered all soaps into the fantastic But BampampB doesn39t usually go thereThis much is true Wherever itamp160does go a deep dive into a woman39s longterm struggle with terminal brain cancer an unflinching exploration of the homeless crisis on Los Angeles39 skid row an instructive presentation of the challenges faced by transgendered individuals and now a disturbed man39s break from reality that has him imagining the unimaginable BampampB does so with complete conviction ThomasandtheMannequin is the proofPhotos by Howard WiseCourtesyamp160JPIStudios Incamp174Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful" Has the Quirkiest Quintet of All

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Ed Martin

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