Bold & Beautiful has a habit of writing characters one way one day and another way entirely the next. We’re almost used to it by now, aren’t we? Monday, Sheila’s a mild-mannered pizzeria waitress, and on Tuesday, she’s threatening to murder Taylor. Wednesday, Poppy is a misunderstood free spirit, and on Thursday, she’s a vixen who cheers on her gold-digging daughter. It’s lather, rinse, repeat with the turnabouts.
But what’s going on with Bill Spencer feels… different. Like, he hasn’t made sense for a long time. First, he switched off his brain to get Luna placed under house arrest at his mansion. Then, he got her altogether paroled. Next — and at least this part makes sense — he was all “Lock her up and throw away the key!” because she shot one of his sons and raped another. Now, though…
Who the hell is this Kumbaya Bill who prattles on about Katie being his moral compass, who lavishes praise upon Liam (when historically he’s denigrated his son for his sensitivity), who lets a Big Brother contestant sage his office? We’re all for characters growing and evolving. But Bill hasn’t done that. A switch was flicked, and boom, in place of the tyrannical tycoon who cheated on “my Katie” with her sister and (accidentally) dropped a building on Liam, we have a card-carrying Mr. Nice Guy who asks questions first and shoots never.
It’s too sudden… and unearned. We haven’t seen Bill try to change at all. We’ve just heard him say (repeatedly) that almost losing Katie transformed him overnight into someone who wants to be the bigger man, the husband and father that Katie and Liam deserve. Sorry, but… not buying it. We’d sooner believe that the real Bill has been abducted and replaced with a doppelganger (like Young & Restless did with Jack… and Katherine… and Lauren).
More: Soaps’ Wednesday spoilers
Whodunit and why? Maybe Quinn is up to her old tricks and has decided that, in order to move forward with her life, she needs to settle her unfinished business with Wyatt’s father. By the time the real Bill is released, Katie will be in love with the kinder, gentler Bill 2.0, and we’ll have the rare Bill/Katie/“Bill” triangle. But any way you slice it, we’re gonna need to get the real Bill back at some point. Agree?
Review Bill’s whole tumultuous history in our photo gallery of his life story.