The Bold and the Beautiful recap (Jan. 26): Hope needs Thomas

The needle didn’t move too much on today’s episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, but Thomas is effectively using Hope for the Future’s sole bad critique to his advantage and he has some help. Paris subtly assisted him in easing the way for his return in her conversation with Hope where she gauged how willing the line ambassador is to even consider Thomas coming back to Forrester Creations.

Meanwhile, unaware of the dilemma at the fashion firm, Finn and Liam caught each other up on how the children are doing in the aftermath of Thomas’ mess. The two don’t often have one-on-one conversations so it was nice seeing two fathers discuss the need for stability in the kids’ lives. However, it’s very clear that how Kelly feels about Finn isn’t remotely how Douglas feels about Liam, though it doesn’t seem like Liam’s caught onto that which could be a problem.

Here’s the full recap of events on our soap.

What happened today on The Bold and the Beautiful?

Thomas continued making his case to Steffy about why Hope for the Future is in desperate need of his talent. But their talk took an emotional turn because this isn’t just about his work, it’s about how his behavior has affected the people he loves. It’s hard for Steffy to be at odds with Thomas, but she’s not willing to back down from expecting more from him.

She says that she wants the brother she grew up with. The one who was a good person that always knew the difference between right and wrong. The big brother who supported her through everything they went through as children on into their adulthood. She doesn’t want him to be obedient, she wants him to be better than he has been.

I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request, but it’s not like Thomas hasn’t been there for her. He has. His scheme simply didn’t take her feelings into account because he had no intention on it getting out that he’d manipulated the situation. But, when it all started to come crashing down, Thomas knew his exile was inevitable. He’s just sorry he hurt his mother and disappointed his son in the process.

Across the hall, Hope and Paris were continuing their own conversation. Surprisingly, Hope switched up with the head of Forrester’s charity foundation. She acted as if she hadn’t considered bringing Thomas back when we, the audience, bore witness to her suggesting to Steffy, Eric, and Zende that he could work remotely.

Paris, however, gently pressed her on the issue. And when Hope asked her what she thought about Thomas returning to the fashion firm, Paris was honest. She prioritized his talent and made the case for his importance to Hope for the Future without seeming like she had her own agenda (even though she very much did).

Eventually, Hope cracked and started talking about being torn. She’s very aware of how much pain Thomas caused, and she doesn’t forgive him for his actions, but they worked well creatively. Her line was never something they weren’t in sync on and she defended him prior to the CPS call because she had thought he’d changed, but he disappointed her.

His talent, however, isn’t something she can ignore. Her line is in trouble and he’s exactly what she needs to fix it. Yes, she did sound opportunistic when she said that especially since Hope listed off the things and people she cares about and Thomas wasn’t on that list, but she does care about him. If she didn’t, there would be no need for her to sound like she’s got tears stuck in her throat when she talked to him today.

After her discussion with Paris, Hope went to the main office to speak with Steffy only to walk in on the CEO talking to Thomas. It threw her off, but it was an opportunity for Thomas to make his case to Hope as well which is exactly what he did complete with showing her his design mock-ups and apologizing once more.

Hope looked at the designs like Steffy did, with the sinking realization that Thomas is what’s best for her line at the moment. He’s the easiest solution and, this might seem like an unfair observation, but Hope isn’t known for taking the hard path. She’s not a designer herself, Eric and Zende have clashing visions, and Thomas has always known what she wants for her collection.

She doesn’t have to work for what she’s got with him and that’s a very seductive siren call. One it looks like she’s going to respond to because when Thomas left, Hope and Steffy both acknowledged Thomas could be of help to Hope for the Future. And, despite what Hope kept telling Paris about how she’s not the one who can make the decision to bring Thomas back, the ball is very much in her court.

Steffy kept asking her what she wants to do. She also reminded Hope about the remote working suggestion that Hope had proposed herself. If Hope wants Thomas on her line, she’s going to have to own that and make her mom, Ridge, and Liam understand her choice.

But if she opens the door for Thomas’ return, her husband is going to lose it. While talking with Finn he spoke on how they’ve been providing a loving, safe, and stable home for Douglas. He hated how Douglas ended up back in their care full-time, but he feels like their family has become whole again. In Liam’s mind, Thomas’ absence from Douglas’ life is a blessing.

He’s of the belief that the child would be lost without Hope’s influence because of Thomas’ actions which completely ignores the fact that both Thomas and Hope were dealing with grief specific obsession regarding the boy and his needs at the time, but that’s neither here nor there now. The point is, Liam seems to fashion himself as Douglas’ stepfather the same way Finn is Kelly’s but the relationships aren’t the same.

Once again Douglas is showing signs of being awkward around Liam. He’s pleasant enough and answers when spoken to, but he asked for extra time with Kelly in such a manner that it seemed like he was delaying going home with Liam for as long as he could. He even asked if he could come back to hang out with Kelly some more the next day.

Douglas is having a good time with his aunt, his cousin, and his uncle. While the soap has yet to show him missing his father, I believe that’s coming around the corner. He spent months surrounded by the Forresters and then was abruptly returned to the Logan estate away from that side of his family. Perhaps he’s come to believe he should be with them more than he has been.

If his dad finds his way back into the family’s good graces, then Douglas may just get that extended family connection he seems to want. Thomas hasn’t gotten a job offer yet, but he was bouyed by Paris’ words on Hope considering his return and his own eavesdropping on her and Steffy’s conversation.

We’ll have to wait and see where Hope’s going to land on working with Thomas again, but it’s clear she thinks she needs him in order to succeed. Until next time, Bold fans. Stay beautiful!

New episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful are available to stream on Paramount+. For this week’s spoilers, click here.