Eric's Choice: Heaven with Donna or hell with Stephanie?

Last week, Ridge struggled with giving Eric a chance to live in uncertainty or to die with dignity, something he should have thought of before he lied about the challenge. Now, it's up to Eric. Will he choose life in Honeyland with Donna or let Stephanie drag him down to hell with her? Plus, could Li be right about Poppy? Why does this woman have so much free time? Let's scoop!

It was up to Ridge to pull Eric's plug -- again. And Ridge acted rashly -- again. Eric's disease must have been compromising his brain cells along with his T cells. Why else would he think it was a good idea to sign his medical power of attorney over to Ridge after the last time Mr. Fast Fingers controlled Eric's life plug? Maybe that's what Eric was thinking about as he struggled to blink once for "yes" and twice for "no" when Finn raised his hand to the button and asked if Ridge was sure. And it's a good thing, too, because Ridge would have had Eric dead and cremated faster than Sheila can commit a double shooting and robbery in an alley.

Look, I get that Ridge's directive was tough. I don't want to be the sole person deciding whether my father lives or dies, but you know what? Ridge didn't have to be. Yes, Eric left him that power, but Bridget and Thorne were right there, along with Donna, Steffy, and Thomas. I don't get why Ridge didn't let them all make the choice or why he couldn't even wait for Thorne and Bridget to get to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Heck, Ridge could have even waited one more day to give his other siblings a chance to at least know about it before pulling the plug. As long as Eric was not in any pain on the respirator, I don't get what Ridge's hurry was, do you?

Again, I get what a difficult task Eric assigned Ridge, but did Ridge have to be so rude about it? Donna was on edge, losing her love and her sanity, and I didn't appreciate Ridge suddenly taking over, barking orders after all Donna has endured with Eric over the years -- not to mention that this isn't the first time she's had to battle Ridge over Eric's plug! I wish she had reminded Ridge of the last time he went to pressing buttons too rashly!

Yes, Ridge loves Eric. Yes, Ridge had excellent points and was trying to do the humane thing. I just think rushing the few family members there in and saying, "Come on, tell him you'll be fine. Let's go. Let's go. Hurry it up. I got Mom meeting him in five minutes," was just a little insensitive, even for Ridge. It's a good thing Ridge has Brooke's utter sweetness to balance him out because he's all bristle these days.

It's also a good thing we had Windsor Harmon playing Thorne this week. Thorne came into the hospital with the very looks and expressions I was feeling regarding the situation. His outrage that Ridge was gonna sit up there and just let Eric go so easily was on point. It was insane because Ridge hadn't even consulted the other wonder doctor in the family, Bridget. Ridge could at least have asked her to come down and hear this treatment plan of Finn's before yanking the plug. Er, not that she even would have known what it was about, but I digress...

As far as what the treatment entailed, I don't know half of what Finn was talking about, but it seems like doing a little blood laundering and transplanting the bad proteins away from the good cells was the way to win and win fairly painlessly...unless blood cleansing hurts? I thought they'd have to do a lung transplant the way Finn was talking. The Forresters sure did put a lot of trust in a lot of vague explanations, didn't they?

Steffy exhibited a lot of confidence in her husband. After all, Finn came back from the dead, and he saved her, too, after her motorcycle accident. Heck, let Steffy tell it, it's the savior's birthday on the 25th, and that savior is Finn. I, on the other hand, was a little bit skeptical of the whole thing. I mean, what type of cure could Finn possibly come up with when he hadn't evaluated Eric or seen his charts, and couldn't talk to his doctor without permission?

Oh, little did I know. In B&B world, Finn can not only talk to Eric's doctor without permission from Eric, but Finn can actually get all the files and take over the whole case without Eric's knowledge! He didn't even need Ridge's medical power of attorney for it, either! Not only that, but Finn can also approve Eric's sobbing daughter, who couldn't put on her doctor's cool-face faade at the party, to cut open her dad and assist in a surgery she knew absolutely nothing about.

I chuckled at Bridget and Finn's casual conversation as Finn filled her in on the surgery -- while they were performing it! It went something like, "Oh, cutting edge, Finn. Clamp! I didn't even know we could do this. Scalpel! Thanks for saving Dad. Hammer!" And, "Eric's failing! Gauze! Please don't tell Ridge I forgot to use anesthesia! For God's sake, where are the Band-Aids?"

Bridget hadn't known about the procedure, and neither had Finn, Dr. Colby, nor all his peers whom he supposedly consulted over these months.

Thorne asked what the procedure entailed, and Donna shrugged, saying Finn hadn't had time to tell them. Thorne gave them his best "what the deuces?" stare, and I wondered why in the world no one could take five or ten minutes to sit down, hear plans, think things over, and make logical decisions around there? They let Finn hop into scrubs, rent some high-powered equipment, and take off on what Finn called "a wing and a prayer." Finn better be glad that Madonna said a prayer can take you there, or we'd all be in big trouble!

I know this question is kind of late, but do we even know what ails Eric yet? Chime in below in the comments section if you actually figured out what is even wrong with Eric. And no one better say IBS, either! That's probably what's been wrong with Ridge all this time, though.

When Donna and Eric looked back over his life, they brought up Stephanie, and he said he'd see her soon enough. Little did he know just how soon. After the surgery, Stephanie called Eric "home" and said everyone was waiting for him. If Stephanie's doing the calling, I gotta wonder if home is heaven or hell, and I can bet you that neither Stephanie nor God has forgotten Eric hanging out like a cheating pigeon on a ledge. She's probably calling Eric home for her chance to knee him in the balls through all eternity.

Will Eric continue into the light or run away from it the moment he sees Stephanie and her knee guards coming? He claimed to love her, but the realization of eternity with the old battle-axe might make him fight to live forever, no matter what the quality of life.

Before Eric underwent surgery, Donna reminded him that he'd said he wasn't ready to end his time with her. She urged him to fight, and I predict that Stephanie's reunion with Eric might get rained out by a few honey drops. I suspect that together, Donna and Stephanie will prompt Eric to turn away from the light and go back to the land of the living.

The climax of this storyline pulled every death storyline trick in the book, from the fear that Eric had died on the floor at home, to the panic about Ridge pulling the plug, to Eric almost dying on the operating table, to Stephanie calling him home. What more tricks can there be? Perhaps a cinematography trick, and Eric's really not seeing Stephanie at all, but a flashback from 2008 when he awakened in the hospital, found Stephanie at his bedside, and called out Donna's name. Yeah, Stephanie probably didn't forget that one, either, Eric, and can't wait to see you in hell.

If Eric does survive this, I hope this is his last death story. This viewer has no problem whatsoever with Eric disappearing off to the islands to design cruise wear with Sally Spectra for passengers of that big ocean liner in the sky. How about you? Are you okay with characters fading into the sunset, or do you prefer to see their end on-screen?

Just when I thought Li was an overreacting ogre of a sister, Penelope showed up and gave me a little something to think about. Li suspects that her sister and Luna are up to something, but before now, I haven't seen anything but rainbows, unity, and koala bears when I see Luna. However, Poppy arrived in Los Angeles for a visit weeks ago. She arrived before Thanksgiving, so why is she still hanging around and by what financial means?

Last week, Poppy brought R.J. and Luna comfort coffee as they waited for news about Eric. Poppy had to leave, saying she had work to do. What kind of work? I thought Poppy was on vacation? Just what is going on with this mysterious sister, and how does she have so much free time to spend in L.A.? More importantly, with Luna and R.J. locked at the lips, who is Poppy spending her time with? We know for sure it ain't Li.

So, for those of us who were a little too harsh on Li, I say, let's freeze that guillotine until we figure out what's really going on with Poppy!

As of this writing, I haven't seen next week's spoilers, but I can tell you that Taylor probably won't be around. Recently, the Emmy nominee opened up about being released from the show. According to an article in

, Krista Allen was puzzled by the absence of scripts and story for Taylor. After a while, Allen was offered a recurring role, but she declined.

Allen hopes the role of Taylor is recast because she feels Taylor is needed on the show. What do you think? Are you glad Taylor is out? Do you feel Taylor is an important part of the show? Would you prefer to see Taylor return? If so, played by whom? Allen? Hunter Tylo? Someone else entirely? All I have to say about it is that I've gotta get more MIA milk cartons for 2023's year-end review. From Wyatt to Taylor, there's a lot of disappearing going on!

Thanks for getting two scoops deep with me! Until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!

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