The Bold And The Beautiful

Bold And The Beautiful: Why Zoe Is The True Villain Of The Baby Swap Storyline

Zoe, manipulations

Here’s the reason why Zoe is the true villain of the Baby Swap storyline…

In the last seven months, The Bold and the Beautiful fans have been horrified by the actions of Zoe Buckingham’s dad, Reese (Wayne Brady). After tending to Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) on Catalina when she went into labour, he did the most disgusting thing possible. He made her believe her baby daughter, Beth was stillborn when the infant actually survived and the infant she was holding was a stranger’s dead infant who had been delivered the same night.

For months, Hope and Liam (Scott Clifton) mourned their little girl, completely unaware she was alive and under their noses the whole time. As time wears on, people come in and out of the story who’ve learned the secret. One of those, is Reese’s daughter, Zoe (Kiara Barnes). Originally, she was hellbent on exposing her father’s terrible crime, but when she learned Steffy Forrester (Jacqualine MacInnes Wood) was raising the baby under the name ‘Phoebe’, she decided against it and kept quiet to protect her father and her own reputation.

Zoe Bullies Flo

Since deciding to keep quiet about Phoebe being Beth, Zoe has bullied her father’s other pawn, Flo Fulton (Katrina Bowen) into keeping quiet. A kink entered the fray when it was revealed that Flo’s long-lost father was the late Storm Logan, Hope’s uncle making the co-conspirator and Reese’s baby swap victim, cousins.

All Zoe cares about is protecting her father’s selfish act that has destroyed Hope and forced her to end her marriage so Liam can be a full-time father to his daughter with Steffy, Kelly and ‘Phoebe’. Zoe has told Flo endlessly that if the secret about Beth were to come out, her new family would hate her for the role she played.

Flo only became involved with the plan because Reese had asked for her help, but didn’t go into details. She eventually found out and she was not happy her co-called friend had used her to be the mother of a baby who wasn’t hers so he could get money to pay off a gambling debt to guys who wanted to harm his scum-of-the-Earth daughter.

Zoe’s attitude towards Flo is terrible because of the way she thinks about their ‘reputations’. Flo might be a Logan, but her family are forigiving. Look at the situation when Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) was throwing herself at Bill (Don Diamont) when he was married to Katie (Heather Tom). Zoe can’t read minds so she doesn’t know how the Logans will react to Flo’s role in the baby switch. She barely knows them!

No Heart, Selfish Heart

It’s one thing to be caught off guard by being pulled into a scheme you knew nothing about. But, Zoe gives zero Fs about Hope. She works with her on a daily basis and sees how devastated she is over her baby’s apparent death. Of course she wanted to tell the truth at first, but after seeing the bond Steffy had formed with the baby, she didn’t want to ruin that and the fact that her dad’s role as an adoption agent was illegal as he is a OBYN who had no right to give a baby that he had no right to up for adoption.

Zoe on the other hand, only thinks about her father’s reputation as a respected doctor. If the world were to know he pulled a stunt like that, he’d lose his medical licence, which doesn’t sit well with his precious daughter. As a model, reputation is everything to Zoe. If the truth got out, she’d lose her rep as a model and probably get fired from Forrester.

When Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) runs Emma (Nia Sioux)’s car off the road, resulting in her death, Zoe didn’t care and claims that the Forrester heir wouldn’t do something so horrible just to get Hope to marry him. Xander and Flo knew that Thomas was capable of anything and would stop at nothing to prevent the Beth secret from getting out.

As sweet as Xander (Adain Bradley) is, he can’t find the strength to stand up to Zoe. He’s friendly with Hope as his cousin Maya (Karla Moseley) was married to her half-brother, Rick (Jacob Young). The younger Avant also hates seeing her and Liam suffer and end their marriage over something that could’ve been prevented.

Not Innocent

Zoe claims she’s innocent of everything her father has done, but she’s really not. She would be deemed a hero in Hope and Liam’s eyes if she’d told them about their daughter being alive. But, no. She chose to remain silent. In the eyes of everyone still watching the show, she’s as a guilty as her father.

She claims what he did was horrible, but it was for the best. WTF? Sure, Steffy adores her new baby girl, but Phoebe, or rather, Beth should be with her true parents. Who gives a damn about Reese? Not us the audience! We hate what’s he has done. He’s thrown Hope’s life into chaos just for the sake of settling a gambling debt that almost hurt his daughter.

Zoe should have turned her father in the second she found out what he did. That way, the storyline would be over and people wouldn’t be complaining.

Siding With Thomas

If there’s one that is the creepiest part of the storyline, it’s Thomas’s obsession with Hope. He claims to be in love with her and Zoe just takes him at his word. She is also to blame for Emma’s death. If she hadn’t rang Thomas after Justin’s niece found out about Reese’s crime, Emma would still be alive and Hope would have her daughter and Liam still.

Because the Forrester heir is blackmailing her, Xander, and Flo, Zoe feels that siding with Thomas is the only avenue they have left. If they agree with him, he doesn’t hurt them. Plain and simple… right? Wrong! He only cares about himself and what he wants which, apparently, is Hope. The young model believes that Thomas genuinely loves Hope and wants her to be his son’s new mother. She thinks its better for herself to do as Thomas instructs.

Vain!

Nothing says vain quite like Zoe Buckingham. Yes, she’s only a character in the show, but she’s so up herself! She thinks only of getting her gear off and having it out in bed with Xander. She has no soul and only cares about herself and her father’s already tainted reputation.

Zoe’s vain nature doesn’t bode well with the idea of any form of redemption. Her sexual prowess isn’t useful when it comes to confrontinga grieving mother who didn’t need to mourn when she could’ve been raising her baby the whole time.

Zoe: Aftermath Incoming!

When the truth comes out, Zoe’s fears may very well come true. She’ll lose everything, including her father’s reputation will go down the drain and we mean that literally. We’re looking forward to when Reese falls on his ass and faces what he did. we’re also looking forward to Zoe getting screamed at by Hope.

Zoe is as bad as her father. She should’ve thought about what her father did before she decided to keep her mouth shut. The way she has gone about telling Flo and then Xander to remain quiet for the sake of their reputations is disgusting. She doesn’t think about the feelings of Hope and Liam and what they’ve been through for the last seven months.

What Will Zoe’s Fate Be When The Truth Comes Out?

We can only speculate what Zoe’s fate will be when the truth about Beth comes out. Whether she’ll be spared is yet to be seen, but it’s doubtful. Eric (John McCook) might want to question Zoe over what she knew about Reese’s actions. Quinn (Rena Sofer) might try to tell her husband to kick Zoe out of Forrester. If this happens, it might spark a war of words between Quinn and the Logan sisters who may want to protect their niece.

As for Hope, it’s doubtful there will be any love lost. The grieving mother may push blame onto the young model for keeping her separated from her daughter. Zoe might head back to London to lick her wounds. She might try to pick up her career in England, but she might be blacklisted because of her role in the baby swap.

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About Author

C.J. Hawkings has written for the now-defunct Entertainment website, Movie Pilot and the still functioning WhatCulture and ScreenRant. She prides herself as a truth seeker and will do (almost) anything for coffee or Coke No Sugar. Oh! And food!

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