The Bold and the Beautiful recap (Nov. 23): Taylor knows the truth

As expected, Steffy told Taylor the truth about the CPS call today on The Bold and the Beautiful. And it knocked her mom right off of cloud nine which is exactly what Thomas was hoping wouldn’t happen on the day they’d all been waiting for.

The two siblings were akin to the devil and angel on Taylor’s shoulders as they each tried to get her to do what they think is best for their family. For her part, Taylor was trying to process the reality that her son had yet again manipulated a situation into an outcome that he wanted. Then she was burdened with the decision of whether to tell Ridge or not.

With the wedding moments away, Taylor had a choice to make. But, unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until next week to find out what she’s going to do. Given the speeches Thomas and Steffy gave her, and her own heart, it really could go either way.

Here’s the full rundown of events on today’s episode!

What happened today on The Bold and the Beautiful?

We picked up right where we left off with Steffy, Thomas, and Taylor, except Steffy’s eyes were now dry. There wasn’t a tear in sight. The dramatics of yesterday’s ending were nowhere to be seen but it was still quite tense in Douglas’ bedroom as Thomas tried to coax Taylor into leaving the room.

He tried to convince her that he and Steffy could hash their issue out by themselves, but Steffy wouldn’t let him downplay the gravity of the situation. No amount of growling or sharp looks was going to stop her from telling Taylor the truth. She launched right into Thomas’ scheme and played the clips as proof to cement the facts as they are not as her brother tried to make them.

Unrepentant, Thomas doubled down on the reason behind his lie. In his mind, Brooke has always been in the way of his family’s happiness. Rather than placing the blame on his father’s torn heart and inability to let go of a woman who can’t stand the children he has with Taylor, Thomas has put it all on Brooke. Framing her for a betrayal removed her from the equation and he’s not sorry about it.

Thomas is, however, upset that he’s disappointed his mom. When Taylor accused him of not changing like he’d led them to believe, he defended himself. His manipulation wasn’t about his obsession with Hope. It had nothing to do with her and everything to do with putting their family back together.

To him, what he did shouldn’t even matter because Ridge has repeatedly said that he’s marrying Taylor because he loves her. Plus, if he were to be told the truth, the father-son bond they have would be ruined. Rightfully, Taylor told Thomas that he should have thought about that before he put their family through the ringer like this.

Despite being disturbed by Thomas’ actions, Taylor was listening when he told her that Ridge didn’t have to know what he did. That she could still get remarried to her best friend like she’s dreamed for years. But the problem with doing that, besides Taylor’s own conscience, is the case Steffy made for telling the truth.

She was adamant that she didn’t want her parents’ marriage to be tainted by deception. Thomas may see this as an omission of facts but it’s obviously a lie. Taylor knows the truth now, staying quiet would mean betraying the vow of honesty she made to Ridge during the rehearsal dinner.

Taylor has always prided herself on being truthful. No matter the cost to herself, she holds tight to her integrity and that’s going to be challenged now that she has to make a choice between lying to Ridge but getting what she wants or being honest and potentially losing him.

As much as she wants to trust in Ridge’s word, this would be the ultimate test of it. He could disappoint her and irreparably damage their relationship by leaving her at the altar again. Or he could affirm her faith in him and marry her anyway because he wants her and their life together.

As a member of Team Tridge, I want to say Ridge will surprise us and move forward with Taylor in spite of what his son did. But I’ve been watching this man. He doesn’t look like someone overjoyed at the prospect of getting married. He’s a little downcast and broody whenever he’s left to his own devices and that’s not a good sign for Taylor.

But, he did seem impatient to marry her, too. They started the music to get her, Steffy, and Thomas to come downstairs after the rest of the wedding party was waiting for ages. So, it’s not exactly like he’s dragging his feet and doing this begrudgingly, but it’s hard to count Bridge out considering all we’ve seen in the weeks leading up to this moment.

Not to mention, Ridge picked up on Taylor’s uneasiness once she walked down the stairs and stood before him and their family. All the joy she’d been exuding before she learned the truth was gone, it’d been replaced with nerves and fear, which isn’t at all what she wanted to be feeling during this momentous occasion.

Now we’re left to wait with bated breath for what’s to happen next. We do know that it’s going to be more eventful than Stephen Logan’s visit to Logan Manor with his love, Lucy. Family time with the Logans consisted of Brooke, Donna, and Katie catching their father up on the events that led to Ridge and Taylor’s wedding.

Of course there was Thomas slander without context for why he has so much disdain for Brooke and a complete erasure of the woman’s own behavior but that wasn’t surprising. To be honest, I’m not sure what more can be mined from their scenes on Monday, but we’ll be returning to them waiting out the clock on Nov. 28.

Until next time, Bold fans. Stay beautiful and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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+.