Digest weighs in on what is and isn’t working on B&B

EXCELLENT The reintroduction of one of daytime’s most notorious villains, Sheila Carter, was an exciting move, and she was immediately plopped into the center of the action via the reveal that she was the birth mother of Steffy’s hubby, Finn. The plot thickened with another shrewd move: giving Sheila a new ally in nefarious ne’er-do-well Deacon. Pairing these rogues with a common goal — a relationship with their estranged children and grandchildren — works well. Kimberlin Brown (Sheila) and Sean Kanan (Deacon) play off one another effortlessly, and their witty dialogue is a blast. The presence of Sheila and Deacon threatens the marital bliss of two key duos (Finn and Steffy, and Liam and Hope), while the return of Taylor (recently recast with Krista Allen) promises to make this juicy tale even juicier. B&B’s consistent emphasis on family, whether together or fractured, is its forte, and this umbrella story just may prove to be its most complex familial drama yet.

GOOD Quinn’s hot-and-heavy affair with Carter was an absorbing detour in the solid Quinn/Eric marriage. The now not-so-secret reason Eric had been pushing Quinn away was a shock: He was suffering from ED. Convinced that he could not “satisfy” Quinn, he encouraged his wife (!) and employee (!) to continue their steamy sack sessions. This awkward twist was rife with story potential that wasn’t fully explored, but John McCook (Eric) and co-stars Rena Sofer (Quinn) and Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter) did terrific work throughout. The story also firmly established Saint-Victor’s Carter as a leading man worthy of attention, and there is big potential in the Carter/Katie pairing the show appears to be exploring. It also brought Jennifer Gareis’s long back-burnered Donna to the forefront. She has been smashing it as Donna struggles with her renewed feelings for Eric — and renewed conflict with Quinn.

SATISFACTORY Last year, we’d have said Thomas had been written into a corner, but after a bout of mannequin lust and a strong act of do-gooding (helping exonerate Liam over Vinny’s death), he’s been turned around successfully enough that he is believably primed for a love triangle with cousin Zende and Zende’s appealing paramour, Paris. The Zende/Paris romance was badly in need of some sizzle, and we’d rather it come from Thomas, frankly, than from Finn, on whom Paris briefly nursed a crush. Things have already been tense between the cousins; fancying a future with the same woman will only ratchet that up in interesting ways ...

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT ... But if Thomas/Paris/Zende is to become a worthy romantic quagmire, the show needs to beef up our understanding of what draws her to each man, and establish where the rooting value should be. As a half-hour show, B&B frequently puts the spotlight on a portion of its canvas at the expense of the rest, and currently, the once-prominent Spencers get little airtime. (Big bad Bill has been reduced to pining for the wife he cheated on, while Wyatt and Flo are MIA.) Justin’s stunning betrayal of Bill earlier this year made for big on-screen fireworks, then screeched to an unsatisfying halt. Another underserved duo is Ridge and Brooke. They’re definitely in the mix when it comes to their kids, and their borderline obsession with what his father/her ex-husband is and isn’t doing between the sheets (and with whom), but they are crying out for a story of their own. Happily, it appears they’re about to get one in a big way; as Taylor makes her way back to Los Angeles, we’d be shocked if the impact on “Bridge” wasn’t tremendous.