The Bold and the Beautiful recap (Sept. 28): Did Thomas or Brooke call CPS?

Last episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, Child Protective Services paid the Forresters a visit at their mansion. The situation remained tense today as CPS made their way into the home to question Thomas, Ridge, and Douglas.

For weeks, the custody struggle has been at an impasse. Thomas hasn’t returned his son to Hope’s care despite Brooke and Liam’s urging. Hope had been trying to convince him to bring the child back to the cabin, but she’s singing a different tune lately.

It’s not that Hope doesn’t want her son back with her, but she’s been honoring Douglas’ request to spend more time with his father. And, it seems at least privately, musing over whether it is time for Thomas to play a bigger, more involved role in Douglas’ life like he had before.

Hope has been adamant that she doesn’t want the situation to escalate but considering CPS made a house call in today’s episode, we’re past that. Here’s what happened.

The Bold and the Beautiful recap (Sept. 28)

The two CPS workers asked Douglas if he enjoyed living at the Forrester mansion with his father. Staying true to form, the boy responded positively. He’s loved spending time with his father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

When questioned about feeling safe in the home, it was clear he was puzzled because there’s no reason not to feel safe. Still, he answered affirmatively before he was dismissed to go sketch in another room. Then the questions turned to Thomas. Emotional and irate, Ridge vehemently defended his son while Thomas complied with the quasi-interrogation.

Besides stating that they were answering a call based on a complaint about an incident involving a knife and a child, the CPS workers didn’t give up who felt concerned enough to have them dispatched to Forrester mansion.

After Thomas voluntarily showed them the pocket knife he’d been using to cut his apple and gave another impassioned speech about his love for his son, CPS left the premises. Understandably upset, Ridge asked his son who would call the authorities to the home…then he remembered Brooke.

His wife has made her position on Thomas having custody of Douglas clear. She hasn’t been pulling her punches and she didn’t mince her words in today’s episode either. Both Brooke and Liam repeatedly pushed for Hope to see their side of things which is that Thomas can’t be trusted and that Douglas needs to be returned to the safety of their home.

But it seems the more they speak about Thomas in a derogatory manner and are negative, the less Hope seems to agree with them. She looked bothered the entire episode and made a point of telling her mother and husband that everyone’s wish was for Thomas to get better.

For Hope that’s a low-key call out about their behavior. They can’t say they wanted Thomas to get healthy and then at the same time question his recovery so strongly that everything he does is suspicious to them.

In a showing of strength, Hope also told them that she’s Douglas’ mother and has been doing her due diligence to ensure he’s safe and that everyone (including his teachers) are aware of his current living situation and what’s going on in his home life. She’s been the one who goes to the mansion everyday to check up on her son and has seen the progress Douglas has made with his father which is what the child said he wants.

Once again she reminded Brooke and Liam that she’s not taking Douglas out of Thomas’ care because she doesn’t want to impede the bond that’s strengthening between the two. And, if she felt her son were in any danger, he wouldn’t be over there.

Hope even gave Brooke a look when she went on a rant about a parent needing to be incredibly careful and aware of what they’re doing around their child and that she doesn’t believe Thomas can handle that kind of diligence. The moment stunk of hypocrisy coming from Brooke Logan of all people and we were happy to see that perhaps Hope saw that, too.

Elsewhere, at Forrester Creations, Steffy was having a hard time concentrating on her work. Clearly, her talk with Taylor about Brooke’s accusations had gotten to her. Though she tried to discuss designs with Zende and Paris, they weren’t really getting anywhere without her interrupting the flow with a talking point about Brooke.

Even Finn wasn’t enough to distract the CEO from her thoughts when her cousin and friend left the office. Steffy was worried and visibly hurt by what she’d been told by her mother. It seems Brooke’s steam rolling is wearing on everyone who wants to believe that Thomas really has changed.

Back at the mansion, Ridge’s memory of Brooke saying she’d call CPS on his son led him to ring his wife to see if she made good on that threat. Surprisingly, she did genuinely seem shocked that the authorities had paid the Forresters a visit and it was Thomas who looked calculating over his father’s shoulder. Could our worst fear actually be coming true?

The Bold and the Beautiful: Did Thomas call CPS?

Previously, we speculated that Brooke may not have been the one to call Child Protective Services even though all signs seem to be pointing her. In today’s episode, she looked rather guilt-ridden in all of her scenes and was insistent about someone needing to protect Douglas and not leave him “trapped” with Thomas at the mansion.

But, for a man with a volatile personality just like his father, Thomas was rather calm about CPS showing up on his doorstep. Sure, he was visibly moved by their presence and was at least modulating between low grade irritation and hurt that they were even there, but we expected more from him than what we got.

In fact, Ridge was the one who basically exploded while Thomas simmered. Watching that play out onscreen was both interesting and disturbing especially given the look Thomas had on his face when Ridge asked Brooke outright if she called CPS on his son.

Now that look could have just been the cogs turning in his mind as he wondered if Brooke would do something like that despite knowing how his father and the rest of his family will react. But, we’re not willing to rule out Thomas being manipulative as a means of finally getting Brooke out of his life as he swore he would do. We just hope he hasn’t done this because it would hurt every person who’s been on his side during this whole storyline.

Before we wrap this recap, we do have one more piece of speculation. If neither Brooke nor Thomas called CPS and Liam didn’t either, what if it was Douglas? The boy is his father’s son and isn’t above manipulation regardless of what the family might think.

In today’s episode, he seemed to be very aware of the situation with CPS. And, while he answered truthfully, he kept looking at his father for approval and reassurance. Sure, that could just be a child checking in with his parent to make sure he’s answering accordingly, but it did stand out.

Not to mention his voice manipulator, which he used to trick Eric into thinking Donna was in the room with him, hasn’t come back into the story yet. Douglas was home when Brooke went on a tirade against Thomas and called him unfit. In that same confrontation, Thomas blamed Brooke for his mental health issues and stated that he wouldn’t let her get between him and his son.

If Douglas heard any of that, especially Brooke’s accusation that he was in danger simply because his dad had been using a pocket knife to cut his apple, he may have taken matters into his own hands to ensure his grandmother didn’t meddle in his family’s affairs anymore.

He couldn’t have known that Brooke would threaten to call CPS but happy coincidences do happen. Douglas is Hope’s son, but he’s also a Forrester and they protect their own by any means necessary especially when they’re being threatened and unjustly treated. So, while this is an out of the box speculation, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

We’ll have to keep watching to find out who called CPS. See you next episode, Bold fans.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more The Bold and the Beautiful news and coverage including whether or not The Big Brother‘s history making winner Taylor Hale will be making her soap debut! New episodes air Monday-Friday on CBS. Evening viewing is available on Paramount+.