Is The Bold and the Beautiful headed for a summer of strife?

Ah, memories. Last summer the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful jetted off to Rome to launch Forrester Creations’ newest line, Hope for the Future. A year later, the line is perilously close to being shuttered while the families seemingly prepare for “war.” Does that mean that the show is headed for a summer of strife?

It was a year ago this June that Hope (Annika Noelle) and Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) went to launch Hope for the Future in Rome. Their work relationship blossomed into something stronger, leading to a kiss that was observed, unfortunately, by Hope’s then-husband, Liam (Scott Clifton). This led to the downfall of Hope’s marriage, but it also turned into a full-bloom romance for Hope and Thomas. (Kind of; Hope loved Thomas’ devotion to her but couldn’t tell him she loved him and she turned down two marriage proposals, which led to their relationship falling apart with Thomas fleeing to Paris with Douglas to regroup…but I digress)

Hope and Thomas weren’t the only lovebirds spinning out of last summer. Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) and Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) rekindled their love for each other and have been going strong ever since.

Fast forward to June 2024 and it’s a whole other story.

Hope is trying to save Hope from the Future from being shut down by Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood); while she’s insisting that the weak numbers support her decision, there’s no doubt that her motivation could be more personal than professional.

Luna (Lisa Yamada) has been wondering about her father for years and she’s very close to getting answers now that her mother, Poppy (Romy Park) has admitted that Bill (Don Diamont) could be her father. However, Li (Naomi Matsuda) thinks her sister is out to mine some gold from Dollar Bill’s deep pockets and she has no problem calling her out for it.

Li’s accusations about Poppy aren’t sitting well with Katie (Heather Tom), who is possibly still harboring feelings for Bill. Katie has been raising suspicions about Poppy to her sisters and to RJ (Joshua Hoffman), who was already concerned about his girlfriend learning about her father, and that her father could be Dollar Bill.

Steffy’s plan to cancel Hope for the Future comes as she’s dealing with the aftermath of finding out that Finn (Tanner Novlan) was at Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) and Deacon’s (Sean Kanan) wedding with Hope. (This is why the timing made Hope even more suspicious that this was a personal attack, not professional) Steffy and Finn had been working so hard to overcome all of the obstacles to their marriage, and right when everything looked like it was as strong as could be, he ends up at the wedding by accident while picking up pizza. (Side note: stay away from Il Giardino!)

One of Steffy’s biggest fears is losing her husband because of Sheila Carter but — speaking of summer 2023, ironically — Steffy never revealed that Liam kissed her not once, but twice: once in Rome after he discovered Hope kissing Thomas, and again after they’d returned. If Finn finds out, it would destroy everything because she wasn’t open with him after she demanded honesty from him.

And while Ridge and Brooke have been basking in their new commitment to each other, Steffy’s attempts to undermine Hope could drive a wedge between them.

Things seem to be settling down for Luna and RJ, though finding out that Bill is Luna’s father could cause its own set of problems because of Bill’s complicated history with the Forresters. And while the accidental night with Zende (Delon De Metz) seems to have been forgotten, there’s always a chance that Luna really could be pregnant and the test her mother gave her was wrong.

The biggest source of drama this summer could come from Thomas. After Hope turned down his two proposals, Thomas took Douglas and fled to Paris. Rumor has it he’s coming back to LA soon, but he might not be alone. That could really cause things to unravel at Forrester Creations, especially because Hope blames Steffy for pushing Thomas to leave instead of trying to give them space to work things out. If Thomas really does show up, and if he’s not alone, the tension in the office is going to be cranked up to maximum.

See what I mean? Strife. It’s going to be a long, hot summer in Los Angeles and we’re here for all of The Bold and the Beautiful drama.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and the following day on Paramount Plus. Check your local listings to see when it comes on where you are.