Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is one of this generation's iconic soap opera actresses. As Steffy on The Bold and the Beautiful, the three-time Daytime Emmy winner has delivered memorable performances that cement her in the annals of soap history. Lately, though, I've become increasingly frustrated by Steffy's on-again, off-again mean girl energy and I'm hoping things change soon.
Now, there's no denying that Steffy has been through hell and back over the years, so it's easy to see why she would be defensive and frustrated when it comes to Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown). After all, she's had to live through the trauma of watching her husband being shot by the B&B villain before being shot herself and, ultimately, being the one who killed her. (As of this writing, Steffy doesn't know Sheila is alive, but she's about to find out.)
In the aftermath of Sheila's "death," Steffy has been frustrated by Deacon's (Sean Kanan) quest to prove Sheila is still alive, particularly because he keeps roping Finn (Tanner Novlan) into his quest. (Wait 'til she finds out what Finn has been up to...)
The problem I'm having is that Steffy's anger, defensiveness and frustration are becoming a problem because they keep turning on and off and it's clouding her judgement.
Steffy went to Deacon's restaurant to shut down his search for Sheila; had she stopped to hear him out she might have realized that he wasn't as crazy as she's been saying.
And while there's no love lost between Steffy and Hope (Annika Noelle) as a result of years and years of conflict, most recently Hope's relationship with Thomas (Matthew Atkinson), last week the two women seemed to reach a tentative truce. The ceasefire was blown away when Steffy snapped at Hope in the May 6 episode, leading Hope to head for Il Giardino to talk some sense into her father. Of course, Hope discovered the shocking truth about Sheila as soon as she got there, which will no doubt lead to even more tension between Steffy and Hope.
Thanks to Wood's prowess as an actor, watching her go from fierce to friendly and back is fun and very soapy. However, lately, it seems like there's no rhyme or reason for Steffy's shifting behavior. The on-again, off-again moods show up unexpectedly and it's becoming a distraction because it doesn't always make sense in the context of the story.
The silver lining comes from knowing that once Steffy learns about Sheila being alive she's going to unleash her fury, and it'll be so much fun to see. Woods is an incredible actor and as a soaps fan, it's great to see her in her soapy element when her range of emotions makes sense for the story being told.
