HOLLYWOOD—Jack Wagner’s amazing ascent into acting supremacy continued this week on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Bradley P. Bell’s amazing writing has really touched off a complex storyline that only Jack Wagner and Susan Flannery can play. The two thespians are incredible opposite each other, and they don’t mind taking their skills as actors to a whole new level, if it benefits the storytelling. Last week Nick finally admitted to Stephanie that he was addicted to nicotine. Stephanie offered a strong level of support, and when Nick told her, “I don’t think I can quit. I’ve tried before.” Stephanie’s defiant response was, “You’ve never had anyone like me help you before.” Those words would come back to haunt the two characters this week when Nick fell off the wagon again.

Nick convinced Stephanie that he’d finally given up cigar smoking. He took her to a café on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and explained that the gum he’s now chewing has replaced his desire and need to smoke. However, his nervousness was almost frightening to watch. Jack Wagner’s brilliant choices in playing the scenes made me feel like he was really fighting a real addiction to smoking and that it was not just his character’s battle. The realism that Jack constantly plays in his scenes was emphasized even more in this gripping storyline. Just last week Nick got word from his oncologist that the spot on his lung was not cancerous, but that he should give up smoking. After a lecture from Stephanie to Nick that his little boy Jack could end up sick if Nick doesn’t give up smoking, Nick promised Stephanie that he had actually given it up.

Stephanie never being fooled by anyone, pretended to leave the café and told Nick that she hopes he’s really telling the truth. Nick lied, only to light up a cigar soon after he and viewers believed Stephanie had left. She returned and confronted Nick and she gave him stern advice. “Do you want to end up like me, battling stage four lung cancer?” she asked. Nick looked really hurt by the fact that he’d not only lied to his best friend, but that she caught him lighting up again. Hasn’t Nick learned that no one fools Stephanie Forrester?

In typical Stephanie fashion, she marched right over to Nick’s mother Jackie’s office to explain to her that Nick had been diagnosed with a non-cancerous spot on his lung, but that he must give up smoking. Nick, like any grownup would be, was not happy with Stephanie’s meddling. However, when Queen Stephanie’s on a mission to save you from yourself, it’s best to get out of her way and let her do her thing. That’s what Bradley P. Bell and the show’s executives let Susan Flannery do on a daily basis in her acting. The level of genuine skill that this lady puts forth is unparalleled in today’s entertainment world. Add to that, Jack Wagner’s believable performance and you have a storyline that is must see TV.

Next week it all explodes when real-life cancer survivor Kathryn Joosten from ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” pays a visit to “B&B.” It’s nothing short of Emmy worthy work from the acting, to the writing, to the set decorations. Jon McKee did an amazing job taking these exclusive stills of scenes from a storyline that I believe is the best in daytime television today.

Photographs by Jon McKee Photography