HOLLYWOOD—I thought I was the only person outraged by the CBS soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” for deciding to put Hope Logan through the ringer of losing another child. Man was I wrong. The soap celebrated its 8,000 episode on January 4 and was it a major one. Liam finally made it to Catalina Island and was forced to deliver earth-shattering news to his wife: their daughter, Beth died. Hope was inconsolable. It was terrific acting by both Scott Clifton and Anika Noelle.

However, did Hope really have to lose her baby to propel a new storyline? In my personal opinion, the answer is no, but what’s done is done and there is not going back at this point. Hope having to break the news to Brooke about the loss of her granddaughter was riveting television, just as witnessing Liam break down in Bill’s arms as he disclosed what transpired. It simply is the stuff fans of Daytime Television come to expect. I mean this shows Liam and Bill have come a long way in the past year, since he discovered Steffy slept with his father. Wow, it’s actually been a year to date. Liam started to question Reese about what happened to his daughter, as did Bill.

Reese did not crack under pressure, but I worry about him because as the walls tighten things will be exposed. Zoe has already witnessed that her dad seems frazzled, not to mention those goons have been lurking around Forrester Creations and still making threats to Zoe’s life if Reese doesn’t come up with that $200,000. Reese has made promises and I sense it all connects directly to baby Beth and her sudden death.

The stages of grief are about to be in full effect right now, but I can already predict where this story is headed and that is the sucky part. Steffy seems very driven to want to adopt a child, and I can sense for some crazy reason, Hope and Liam’s daughter will fall into Steffy’s arms. At some point, someone is going to discover the truth about the baby swap and utter hell will explode in Los Angeles.

Bill will be out for blood, Steffy will be heartbroken, Liam and Hope will be ecstatic and Brooke and Ridge will be at odds yet again as their daughters are caught in a complicated web of deception where sides will have be chosen. I know predictability is expected in the soap arena, but it’s those moments when things transpire that you NEVER EXPECTED that make daytime television a must-see. If the “B&B” writers are headed down this path, they better toss in a twist or two along the way to throw off the viewers or at least surprise us in some fashion.

I mean I will never forget and I mean never forget the gotcha moment that “General Hospital” delivered to the audience with the revelation that Robin Scorpio who we thought perished in a hospital explosion, was actually alive and being held captive. No one expected it and didn’t see if coming from a mile away. Rather “The Bold and the Beautiful” can deliver that shock is question to ponder.

I do have to admit the sudden death of Ally was a stunner, not to mention the fact that Sheila may have shot Quinn or that Taylor was the culprit behind Bill’s shooting. Hmm, now that I think of it, the writer’s sure know how to deliver a surprise, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a bit one in the near future.