Fun fact about soap fans: When we decide something, there is by and large no way to change our minds. For instance, to a portion of the Bold & Beautiful audience, I’m a Thomas hater and always will be.

Am I really, though? Hell, no. Yes, I’ve taken the character to task for keeping Hope in the dark about her baby not being dead, hastening Emma’s demise, manipulating Douglas to urge the object of his obsession down the aisle, using Zoe as a pawn in his game, faking a call to CPS to break up Ridge and Brooke, ordering his son to do the wrong thing and keep quiet about it and acting as if being with the woman he loves isn’t sufficient to justify their relationship after a few months together. 

But do I hate him? Of course not. No more than I do Ridge, who raped Brooke and still somehow gets to be considered her destiny; Brooke, who broke her pact with Taylor and nevertheless was allowed to play all high and mighty with her frenemy; Donna, who threw herself at Eric when his marriage to Quinn was in trouble; Eric, whose sudden interest in pickle ball severely undermined the love we thought he felt for his then-wife; Bill, who moved in on Steffy the second she was emotionally overwrought enough to have sex with him; Hope, who lied to Liam about her lust for Thomas for ages before she kissed him (and then some); Liam, whose reaction to that kiss demonstrated all the emotional maturity of a toddler who needs changing (and don’t even get me started on the Human Waffle’s idea of “commitment”)…

Gads, I hate so many characters in theory, I lost track of what I was saying — and I hadn’t even gotten to Sheila yet, and she’s tried to murder half of the people she’s ever known!

I know you won’t believe this any more than I’ll ever buy that the deck wasn’t from the start stacked against Taylor in her and Brooke’s last tussle over Ridge — that wig… come on! — but the point is, I root for Thomas as much as I do any character. In his brain-bleed, macking-on-a-mannequin state, there was only so far that the show could take him. He had to turn a corner. He had to be redeemed — and I wanted him to get a fresh start. If Matthew Atkinson could sell Thomas’ conversations with a dummy, he could sell anything — ice to a snowman, salt to a slug, nonalcoholic beer to… me!

I thought we were getting that slate wiped clean with his romance with Hope, only she was a 33-1/3 rpm record and he was a 45. I still appreciate the fact that she behaved like a human being who didn’t want to pingpong from one marriage to the next instead of like a Bold & Beautiful character. And I still dislike that Thomas wasn’t willing to take the win — for now, an ongoing, happy and successful relationship with the woman he loves — when he couldn’t get exactly what we wanted (a ring on it). But we can all agree, can’t we, that it made for some amazing drama for the actors to play? And no way is it done yet.

When Hope remembers what soap she’s on and that everybody gets married and divorced every year or so, provided that the Forrester living room is available, she’s sure to tell herself, “OMG, drama queen! Why am I making such a big deal about this?” and hightail it overseas to throw caution to the wind and accept Thomas’ proposal. Only by the time she gets there, he will be enjoying escargot with Ivy, who — thanks to Ridge not being Eric’s son — isn’t a blood relation. (Oui, even in Europe, Forresters only date pseudo relatives.) To add insult to injury, Douglas will turn out to be crazy about Aunt Ivy!

In the wake of that shock, we might see Hope steal a play or 10 from Mom’s playbook to entice Thomas back into her arms. Brooke might even coach her from the sidelines; hey, there’s a reason she managed to seduce Ridge into her orbit over and over and over again. What say you, Bold & Beautiful fans? Are you down for an Ivy/Thomas/Hope triangle? While you’re here, show your love for Thomas by scrolling through the below photo gallery of his eyebrow-raising life story.