JPI
One recent conversation with his younger brother, Will, and suddenly Liam Spencer is all about his ex-wife Hope Logan on Bold and Beautiful. Really, Liam? Does this mean the Waffle Prince (Ridge was crowned king long ago) has finally given up on winning back the happily married Steffy? You know, the woman he suddenly remembered he never stopped loving (and said as much!) while he was married to Hope? The woman he secretly kissed twice while he nastily berated Hope for her kiss with Thomas in Italy? Now he admits he has a long way to go to prove to Hope that she’s the only one for him. Ya think, Captain Obvious?
Just Say No
Liam may have forgotten the way he was acting towards the end of his marriage to Hope (or over his entire adult lifetime with these women), but the audience has not. After their divorce, he watched as Hope drifted closer and closer to Thomas after all the work Forrester scion did to work past his Hope obsession and get his life back on the right track. Even though Liam didn’t want Hope back, he never missed the opportunity to give her a hard time for letting Thomas near her.
Hope, meanwhile, had had it with a lifetime of feeling like the she had to share her husband’s affections. She wanted to know what it was like to be number one with the man she pledged her heart to, and Thomas was more than willing to do that — he just needed more than she was able to give at that time (she had just divorced Liam, after all) and after saying she could take her time, Thomas changed his mind and dumped her when she wouldn’t agree to marry him right away.
That stung. During this time, Hope developed an infatuation with Finn, presumably because of how kind he was to her. But if Hope wanted to keep her business going, Steffy laid down the law, making it clear that she couldn’t step out of line where Finn was concerned. Suddenly, Carter started flirting (read what Hope’s portrayer, Annika Noelle, had to say about that here) and it’s been off to the races for those two ever since … despite the possible landmine of Hope dating her aunt’s ex-boyfriend and the chief operating officer of the company that employs her. And of course, as soon as Hope sees a glimmer of a chance with another man, Liam is back, pledging how much he wants her back!
It’s hard to find the rooting value here. As far as we can tell, Liam has done precious little self-reflection as to why he’s ping-ponged between two women for over a decade, or the emotional damage he did to either of them along the way. With no compelling evidence to indicate that he is a changed man, one who has evolved in the right ways, why would Hope have any reason to have faith that another go-round with whom wouldn’t end exactly the same way their previous chapters unfolded, particularly if Steffy and Finn suddenly hit a rocky patch? Hope has made it clear that she wants to be the number one priority in her partner’s life, hardly an outlandish or unreasonable request. Liam had over 13 years to prove his ability to put her first, but he’s never been able to do it over the long haul. So, absent any substantive attempt to work on himself, Liam has nothing new to offer Hope — and she would be wise to steer clear of him and forge ahead with Carter, or literally any other man. In his current incarnation, frankly, Liam is not worth her time.
That’s not to say that Liam/Hope/Carter couldn’t make for a captivating love triangle, if handled properly by the show’s writers. The first step toward that would be to recognize that for Liam to truly be a viable candidate for Hope’s affections, his actions will need to count for a lot more than his words. And we don’t mean sweeping romantic gestures — we mean the character owning up to his past failings and genuinely doing the work to mature and grow into a man capable of keeping his promises.
JPI
One recent conversation with his younger brother, Will, and suddenly Liam Spencer is all about his ex-wife Hope Logan on Bold and Beautiful. Really, Liam? Does this mean the Waffle Prince (Ridge was crowned king long ago) has finally given up on winning back the happily married Steffy? You know, the woman he suddenly remembered he never stopped loving (and said as much!) while he was married to Hope? The woman he secretly kissed twice while he nastily berated Hope for her kiss with Thomas in Italy? Now he admits he has a long way to go to prove to Hope that she’s the only one for him. Ya think, Captain Obvious?
Just Say No
Liam may have forgotten the way he was acting towards the end of his marriage to Hope (or over his entire adult lifetime with these women), but the audience has not. After their divorce, he watched as Hope drifted closer and closer to Thomas after all the work Forrester scion did to work past his Hope obsession and get his life back on the right track. Even though Liam didn’t want Hope back, he never missed the opportunity to give her a hard time for letting Thomas near her.
Hope, meanwhile, had had it with a lifetime of feeling like the she had to share her husband’s affections. She wanted to know what it was like to be number one with the man she pledged her heart to, and Thomas was more than willing to do that — he just needed more than she was able to give at that time (she had just divorced Liam, after all) and after saying she could take her time, Thomas changed his mind and dumped her when she wouldn’t agree to marry him right away.
That stung. During this time, Hope developed an infatuation with Finn, presumably because of how kind he was to her. But if Hope wanted to keep her business going, Steffy laid down the law, making it clear that she couldn’t step out of line where Finn was concerned. Suddenly, Carter started flirting (read what Hope’s portrayer, Annika Noelle, had to say about that here) and it’s been off to the races for those two ever since … despite the possible landmine of Hope dating her aunt’s ex-boyfriend and the chief operating officer of the company that employs her. And of course, as soon as Hope sees a glimmer of a chance with another man, Liam is back, pledging how much he wants her back!
It’s hard to find the rooting value here. As far as we can tell, Liam has done precious little self-reflection as to why he’s ping-ponged between two women for over a decade, or the emotional damage he did to either of them along the way. With no compelling evidence to indicate that he is a changed man, one who has evolved in the right ways, why would Hope have any reason to have faith that another go-round with whom wouldn’t end exactly the same way their previous chapters unfolded, particularly if Steffy and Finn suddenly hit a rocky patch? Hope has made it clear that she wants to be the number one priority in her partner’s life, hardly an outlandish or unreasonable request. Liam had over 13 years to prove his ability to put her first, but he’s never been able to do it over the long haul. So, absent any substantive attempt to work on himself, Liam has nothing new to offer Hope — and she would be wise to steer clear of him and forge ahead with Carter, or literally any other man. In his current incarnation, frankly, Liam is not worth her time.
That’s not to say that Liam/Hope/Carter couldn’t make for a captivating love triangle, if handled properly by the show’s writers. The first step toward that would be to recognize that for Liam to truly be a viable candidate for Hope’s affections, his actions will need to count for a lot more than his words. And we don’t mean sweeping romantic gestures — we mean the character owning up to his past failings and genuinely doing the work to mature and grow into a man capable of keeping his promises.