Bold and the Beautiful recap (Nov. 1): Is Thomas obsessed again?

The energy is high at Forrester Creations with the upcoming Hope for the Future line preview causing a stir among the fashion firm’s staff. Hope’s nerves were making themselves known, but it was actually Liam who was edging toward panic in today’s episode of The Bold and the Beautiful.

He’s made his feelings abundantly clear to his wife about the time she’s spending with his rival, Thomas, but they’re still not on the same page. While he sees Ridge’s son as a threat and a danger to the family he’s built with Hope, she sees him as her lead designer, Douglas’ father, and dare I say friend?

Thomas has been flying on cloud nine since he found out that Hope thinks he’s hot, but if you ask me, the more important bit of this storyline rests on her reliance on him. Liam has noted more than once that he’s beginning to feel shut out of her life. He first brought it up to Brooke, but he’s so far in his feelings about Hope’s partnership with Thomas that he’s now started talking to her about how this situation is making him feel.

Right now, Liam’s worries are simmering, but they’re going to boil and then explode if he’s not given some kind of reassurance soon. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be getting that from Hope. Here’s what happened on our soap today.

Bold and the Beautiful recap (Nov. 1)

With the preview scheduled for the following day, Hope had her nose to the grindstone as she inspected the gowns and requested adjustments prior to the show. Watching her in her element, was a joy for Liam up until the moment Hope mentioned Thomas’ contributions to Paris and Petra while discussing her line.

Disturbed, Liam made his presence known to all three women which prompted Hope’s co-workers to leave the two alone as they went about continuing to prepare for the preview. Delighted by his presence, Hope was happy to take a break with her husband. But, her smile dropped when he brought up Thomas and how he feels about the time she’s been spending with his rival.

However, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other for Hope. Listening to both her mother and Liam complain about Thomas’ place in her life has become exasperating to her. It’s gotten to the point where she can’t even hear the clear concern Liam has for her behavior, though admittedly that’s because he keeps putting the blame on Thomas and not examining the ways in which it’s his own wife making him feel like an outsider.

Liam brought up the fact that Hope is planning to spend the weekend with Thomas. Yes, with Douglas and Beth in tow, but it’s still not appropriate. Liam reminded her of everything that Thomas has done including when he tried to steal her away on a helicopter so she wouldn’t find out that he’d been sitting on the secret that her daughter, Beth, was alive.

But Hope didn’t want to hear it because she believes Thomas has changed. To be fair, she’s not wrong. He has changed. Yes, he’s still manipulating in the background, but it wasn’t to get together with her. It was to reunite his parents. In fact, if there’s anyone trying to pull Hope over to Thomas, it’s Douglas. Liam wants to blame everything on the boy’s father, but it was Douglas who asked Hope if she could spend the weekend at Forrester Mansion with him and his father.

He also told them both that he wishes his parents could love each other. That child is parent trapping his folks something fierce, and he’s doing it without prompting. Anyone who’s been paying attention to Douglas’ storylines knows that he’d prefer his parents together under one roof. He’s said it a few times over years and that dream hasn’t died.

Hope isn’t helping matters by not deterring him. She’s telling Liam that Douglas just wants his parents in the same room sometimes, but it’s more than that and it’s disingenuous to pretend otherwise especially in the face of Liam somewhat losing his mind over this whole ordeal. He even went as far as to tell Hope that he’ll drop his suspicions about Thomas if she’ll try to help him convince Douglas to come home after the Hope for the Future preview.

The look on his wife’s face wasn’t an immediate yes and The Bold and the Beautiful cut to Liam getting lunch with Bill without letting us hear what Hope said to Liam in response, but I doubt she agreed. The two aren’t on the same page about Douglas’ living situation, and if Liam thinks this is going to be as simple as bringing his cousin back to the cabin, he’s not seeing things clearly.

Thomas isn’t manipulating Douglas no matter how much he may believe that’s true. At some point, he’s going to have to wake up and see that Hope is causing this issue. Bill scoffed at the idea that Hope’s just being a parent by wanting to indulge what Douglas wants. As he put it, “Since when does a child get to call the shots?”

While I do think Douglas’ feelings on where he should live needs to be taken into account, it’s also true that if Hope truly wanted him home, he would be. She’d talk to Thomas about how to share custody or about Douglas spending time at the cabin, too, even if he’s not living there full time. Instead, she keeps packing herself and Beth up for sleepovers and spending her free time at Forrester Mansion instead of at home.

It’s driving Liam up a wall, and he doesn’t know what to do. To Bill it’s obvious. Put your foot down. But Liam has always tip toed around Hope’s feelings and it was no different today on The Bold and the Beautiful. He said he’s got a bad feeling about everything that’s been happening, but if he searched deeper, he’d land on the fact that much of that feeling is coming from Hope’s actions not Thomas.

Though that’s not to sidestep Thomas. He’s had to shake himself out of fantasizing about Hope lately in an increasingly concerning fashion. He’s also hung up on Hope calling him hot. When he and Steffy talked about it, she tried to get him not to get his hopes up. As much as she and Finn smirked about Hope’s admission, they were also worried.

Steffy made sure to tell Thomas that he has to stop hyper-focusing on Hope. She’s in a committed marriage to Liam, not to mention he’s done so much work on himself to get to a healthier mindset. Thomas could backslide if he’s not careful and that’s something no one wants.

Acknowledging Steffy’s concerns, Thomas told her that there’s nothing to worry about and that he’s concentrating on being the best father he can be to Douglas. She reaffirmed that conviction and how well Thomas has been doing, but even after spending some quality time in the office with Finn, Steffy couldn’t let go of what she saw in her brother’s face.

She thinks he could be becoming obsessed again, and she’s curious to know if Liam’s aware of what Hope has been saying to Thomas. I’m hoping we get a Steam scene soon. It’s been too long and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood and Scott Clifton are so good together onscreen no matter how their characters’ relationship shifts and changes.

But, whether the two do get to talk or not, it does seem to be shaping up for Liam to become privy to Thomas and Hope’s closeness. Their bond is apparent. Thomas isn’t even interested in taking anyone out at the moment. Petra inquired about them getting a drink after the preview to celebrate, but he politely declined and spoke about wanting to go home to his son who he hasn’t seen as much due to preparations for the big event.

This cued a speech from Hope about how much Thomas has grown. In return, he soothed Hope’s concerns about the preview by sharing his vision of how it would go. She was oblivious to the fantasy he was creating in his mind of her walking the catwalk in a beautiful burnt orange showstopper as he looked on and they shared a moment, but we had front row seats for it.

It does at least look like Thomas is slipping toward obsession. I’m looking forward to seeing if he’ll catch himself before he’s too far gone or if Hope’s continued attention is going to rock her marriage and drag the Forresters, Spencers, and Logans into a right mess of a storyline. Until next time, Bold fans, stay beautiful!

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more The Bold and the Beautiful news and coverage! New episodes of the soap air Mondays-Fridays on CBS. Evening viewing is available on Paramount+.