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B&B's Stephanie Dies As Katherine Kelly Lang & Susan Flannery Share Final Scenes!
Courtesy/CBS
In a real tearjerker on today’s episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, soap fans witnessed the last breaths of Stephanie Forrester and the final performance of Susan Flannery (Stephanie)!
As Stephanie’s life faded, it was Brooke, her long time nemesis turned best friend, who was with her, comforting her, and resolving their over 25 year relationship to the bitter end. In magnificently acted scenes, Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) delivered some of the finest work of her career, and as for Flannery, even in Stephanie’s final moments, she proved that she is one of the genres all time greatest performers and a true icon. (IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET, SPOILER ALERT YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ FURTHER, IF YOU HAVE, CONTINUE ON…)
For many, they can see why Brad Bell, (B&B’s executive producer and head writer) chose to have it be Brooke that was with Stephanie in the end. After all, they were the true super couple of the show, and the circle of life is often about forgiveness, and both of these characters had a lot to forgive one another. In addition, it seemed that it was Brooke who Stephanie probably thought could be the one to help her best pass through this life, as she has often told Brooke that she is stronger than she thinks.
When Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke told the parallel tale of Brooke’s life with the Forrester clan to a dying Stephanie, Brooke admitted she was so ashamed of the things she had done to Stephanie and her family. While earlier, Stephanie admitted to Brooke how much she hurt her by sleeping and stealing with all the Forrester men. And when Stephanie asks Brooke to “sing to me, baby girl”, the tears flowed as Brooke sang Eric’s tune to Stephanie, “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” as Stephanie passed away.
Over the past several hours, it appears a debate has arisen amongst fans of B&B that Eric Forrester (John McCook) should have been there with his beloved Stephanie at the end, not Brooke. Or if Brooke, then with Eric there too, and maybe even, Stephanie’s sister, Pam, as well.
What are your thoughts on today’s final moments between Brooke and Stephanie? Hankie-filled for you? Should Eric have not watched the DVD of the Forrester family and friends sharing their sentiments about Stephanie (he did so to make sure Stephanie could handle seeing it), and instead hightailed it back to a dying Stephanie instead? Did you understand why B&B chose to end Stephanie’s life in key and emotional scenes between Stephanie and Brooke? We did! Weigh-in.
In case you missed it, or want to see today’s episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, head on over to CBS. com and grab some Kleenex before you sit down at your computer! And for more … check out our brand new interview with John McCook for his thoughts on Eric’s life-post Stephanie and his final scenes with Susan Flannery!
Beautiful episode!
SF will be missed!
I thought having Brooke and Stephanie in the final scenes was how it should be. There was so much tenderness in those scenes. I was blown away by the performances of Katherine Kelly Lang and Susan Flannery. Excellent send-off for such a great character.
I get what Brad was trying to do, but in the end I still think Eric should have been there at his wife’s passing. I am not sure I like those videotape messages since we know Stephanie would never see them. I might have like it better if instead of the characters speaking about Stephanie, if the cast had spoken about Susan, and she didn’t know about it until it aired–that would have been way cool. But with all that said, it was a touching and moving episode, done with dignity and care.
Well in a matter of one episode B/Bell did what I knew he would do. Brooke at it in less then 2 hours ruined it for me. Two daughters men now her sisters and Stephanie left her in charge of the family.
I know it like Brad Bell doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone. He did all this work to show how much Brooke has grown and how Stephanie’s illness and death will change her and then boom, Stephanie is not gone a day and she is kissing her brother -in-law. Who’s next Donna’s son Marcus or did she already go there and I missed it? But I don’t think anyone was surprised by this, disappointed maybe, but not surprise.
It was as it should have been, with one notable exception. Brad Bell shoyld have swallowed his anger and pride and had Ronn Moss back for a goodbye scene with his mother. Fans were owed this and for the good if the show, Brad should have seen that they got it. Ronn issued a statement that he was NEVER asked to return for s goodbye.
At first I was mad that Eric was wasting time at the office but when Stephanie said “oh he’s never around when you need him!” that is classic Eric & Stephanie & I got it. Very fitting that Brooke would be with her at the end. Katherine Kelly Lang just absolutely broke my heart. IT WAS SO REAL I had to remind myself I was watching tv for God’s sake. I really felt Brooke’s sorrow & pain & the way Stephanie just passed away . . . really well done then when it was over I am like but wait no more Stephanie! I don’t like her being off the show at all. There will be a huge, huge void. I wish nothing but the best for Susan Flannery in her next chapter of her life but boy will she be missed.
At first I was upset but we have went full circle so I will go on with it what i do beg of you Brad Bell is make this mean something to Brooke she is now at a crossroads as you will please move forward and not with a man be a better person if you want us to forget how trampy Brooke was then let us move forward and let this woman grow. KKL nailed it! Now be the woman you say you are and go on without a man please or I will believe what I always have believed that bb can not write Brooke without a man.
I might add Brooke, Eric & Thorne should run Forrester and kick the snot nose kids to the curb!!!!
OMG I watch it today and I was bawling my eyes out. I totally got why they had Brooke be with Stephaine when she pass away and not eric its like u said they were the supercouple of the show. I’m sadden SF retire but happy they had her character pass away instead of recast or be mention but not seeming just like they were doing for the late DC character Sally. It was very moving that’s for sure
This is absolutely ridiculous. Bill Bell’s vision for these characters was for there to be an all consuming hatred. Therein was the drama. This nonsensical sentiment of Stephanie asking Brooke to “sing to my baby girl”- the same woman she encouraged to shoot herself in the head when Taylor returned – is frankly ludicrous.
I get that Flannery and Kelly are saying goodbye to each other in this scene but their real life relationship has nothing to do with the characters they have played so excellently over the years. Brooke was the victim of psychological abuse from Stephanie – the very worst kind – because Stephanie terrorized the girl under the facade of a civilized and morally upstanding matriach. She destroyed this girl’s life only for Brooke to turn the tables in the definitive storyline of B&B’s history – the fight for BELIEF.
Bill Bell would not approve of today’s episode – it was a sordid desecration of his vision and Bradley Bell should be ashamed of himself for such unqualified sentiment between characters who destroyed one another’s lives, personally and professionally.
No wonder soap is going to the gutter. Bell sr would not dare write this. Nor would Marland or Lemay.
I could not disagree with you more, I thought it was one of the best and well written send offs to date. The acting alone was superb and the lesson that these two women taught one another was magical. We will have to agree to disagree on this one.
I agree completely. It was a great send off.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I was caught up as of Thanksgiving.
You just kind of knew that when Eric left to go back to Los Angeles, the way that he said goodbye to Stephanie, that he would not make it back before she passed. I knew for sure when she wanted to go outside – it was, not to be crass because I have no human death to compare it to – but it was like when a dog goes somewhere to die. I just knew she didn’t have long left once she and Brooke made it outside.
All that being said, WOW! I commend Susan Flannery on an amazing job. It could not be easy to be coughing all the time and acting like you need the oxygen. She will definitely be missed.
Very sad… well done… will miss Stephanie/Susan… understand why Brad used Brooke with Stephanie… but wish it could have been Pam or Eric. The show will not be the same without Susan Flannery! I am not a fan of the character Brooke, but after this I really hope she changes and grows up and has some discretion with men… if she goes back to being with any and all… this will have been for naught.
I thought is was god awful to subject the fans watch a loved a love one die for month..
Who really thought it nice/cool/really great to watch the woman suffer and die.
There were so many other ways / to inflect the pain us the a death watch..
((poor fans had to cry their way through the month and become sad, depressed and overly distraught..
Shameful to infect on fans, IMO ..
I’m sorry you did not like it. I thought it was a fitting tribute to a legacy character.
Sometimes art needs to imitate life. At least there was no murder mystery, no coming back from the dead.
For people who have lost loved ones, and those who have not, I thought it was nice to have the flashbacks, to celebrate life when you knew you did not have long. I only wish I could have said the same for my aunt with her cancer, but she chose to treat it and still died within a year. Not everyone tries to fight it.
What is so bad about fans crying? It is a part of life. Some people really need a good cry now and then.
suooo actually it was kinda of a rewrite of the cancer death of Caroline in 1990 she found out she had cancer they threw a party but she died in Ridge’s arms. She went around saying her goodbyes etc. Ridge even read scriptures from the Bible to her we now know that is Taboo in 2012. Anyway it was tough for me to watch the Brooke love fest but I will buy it if they make her finally grow up.
This story was beautifully written, well-paced, compassionately acted. Perfection.
And this final episode so well balanced – the grief of losing Stephanie in counterpoint to the joy of Katie realizing she wants her son. An episode to cherish.
I liked the endng tday with Brooke and Stephanie. I thought it played out very real .I think Kelly did the best acting of her career in those final scenes. Susan will be sorely missed because she was the queen of all around her. I kmow that Susan will be directing now and continue to be a part of soaps in some capacity. But I believe there shouldn’t be a contoversy of why Eric was not with Stehanie when she passed. These two actresses played those scenes with grace and heart and I for one was greatly moved and shed a few tears. Excellant….
Perfect.
Brooke and Stephanie have been and will always be B&B’s best “supercouple”.
Although I have to agree, Ridge should have been there at some point.
With the 2 mature, larger than life actresses- Matriarch Stephanie and Diva Sally gone, now what?
Even tho KKL is now older than SF was when they went on the air, she does not have it ( though I would marry her if I was straight!). Even though Sally’s character is still alive, there is no replacing DC.
The show has been good for the last 2 months now that someone realized that there are more than 3 characters, but it still needs more. It needs the glamour, the fashion, and new over the top characters LIKE IT WAS!
Some scenes were touching… but like classic B&B, most was ludicrously overwritten. Simplicity is often more effective and goes a lot further.
Loved it cried my lost a friend the same day with cancer super sad day for me.
Brooke was Stephanie’s most important relationship for the last 25 years. She sacrificed everything to get rid of Brooke. This is how it should be. SF and KKL were amazing.
News
Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan Visit the Set of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’; Daytime Emmy Winners Reflect on Show Then and Now
The one and only Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie Forrester) dropped in to see her former co-stars on The Bold and the Beautiful at their Sunset Las Palmas Studio in Hollywood, along with her good friend and another B&B co-star Ian Buchanan (ex-James Warwick) on Tuesday October 20.
It was the first time in a very long time that The four-time Daytime Emmy winning actress was reunited with Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy), executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell, Jennifer Gareis and even her TV sister, Alley Mills (Pam, B&B now Heather, GH) showed up for the day too!
Flannery played the Forrester matriarch from 1987 until 2012. It was then that after playing the part of Stephanie for 25 years that Susan made the decision to retire from acting and in one of the most heartbreaking sendoffs, passes away from lung cancer in Brooke’s arms in November of 2012. During her B&B tenure, Flannery won 3 of her 4 Daytime Emmys, the other being for her first soap role as Laura Horton on Days of our Lives back in 1975.
Photo: Bell-Phillip TV
As for Ian Buchanan, he played Dr. Warwick, psychiatrist, from 1993 to 1999. He returned for other runs in 2014 and 2017. Buchanan took home his Daytime Emmy in 1997 for his work as James. Soap fans also remember, Ian as mobster Duke Lavery on General Hospital, and Dr. Greg Madden on All My Children,
Both Susan and Ian shared their thoughts on coming back to The Bold and the Beautiful, for Susan 14 years later since he exited and for Ian close to 9 years since his last appearance below.
Susan said, “It’s definitely like coming home in a way, even though it’s not the same studio. It’s really lovely to see old faces and old faces with new faces. It takes you back mentally. You start remembering what it was like back then, even things like how much your feet would ache at the end of the day from wearing six-inch heels. It was just lovely to be back and see everybody.”
Photo: Bell-Phillip TV
Ian expressed, “It’s a mind trip, you know. When I was sitting looking at the big Forrester set, it was like stepping back in time, almost. It takes you back mentally, and you start remembering what it was like when you were here before.”
“It’s lovely to see all these people again, even if you don’t know everybody,” explained soap vet Buchanan. “There’s something really special about coming back and seeing the show and the people who have been part of it for so long.”
So, happy to see Susan and Ian with some of their former castmates? Do you think Stephanie and Brooke is one of the greatest frenemy stories in daytime history? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Beyond the Gates
Tabitha Brown and Kandi Burruss Guest Star on ‘Beyond the Gates’ for Dani’s ‘Welcome to Your Life’ TV Special; What Could Go Wrong?
As previously announced, Beyond the Gates is bringing chef, author and actress Tabitha Brown and Grammy Award-winning songwriter, singer and actress Kandi Burruss to Fairmont Crest in a special episode of the CBS daytime drama airing Thursday, October 22.
In the episode, Dani’s (Karla Mosley) best friend Pamela Curtis (Cady McClain), arranges a “Welcome to Your Life” television special for her. As it turns out, Brown will play the show’s host, Tia Allen, while Burruss takes on the role of Dani’s first modeling agent, Kalista Kilroy, who turns the celebration of her life into a bad trip down memory lane.
Dani’s parents Anita and Vernon (Tamara Tunie, Clifton Davis), sister Nicole (Daphnee Duplaix), and daughters Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) and Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) all join the show to celebrate and support her but also witness how things so south. Also appearing in the episode are Molly Figueroa as Tatum Stewart and fan-favorite Anita Williams (Tunie) impersonator Jackie Tyree!
PhotoL JPI
THE 411 ON TIA AND KALISTA
Speaking with TV Insider, about their soapy experience in Fairmont Crest, Tabitha Brown previewed about her host with the most, “Tia is very professional, but she’s a girl’s girl. She is a protector of women and wants to tell their stories in a beautiful way, but she also wants to make sure they’re seen in a very good light.”
However, Burruss previews that Kalista arrives with a score to settle. “She’s spicy,” shared the recording artist. “I always love playing somebody that has come to start trouble. It’s always fun to play a villain of sorts, but Kalista feels like she’s been done wrong and she’s hurt by what she feels has been done to her. So Kalista is stirring up trouble, but she feels justified putting Dani on blast. Kalista is ready for some payback.”
Beyond the Gates is produced by CBS Studios, as part of the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. Created by head writer Michele Val Jean, executive producers include Val Jean, Sheila Ducksworth, Julie Carruthers, Tracey Thomson, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Anna Saalfeld and Lela Coffey.
Beyond the Gates is broadcast weekdays on CBS (2:00-3:00 PM, ET/1:00-2:00 PM, PT) and is available to stream on Paramount+**.
So, looking forward to this special episode of Beyond the Gates when Dani is put on a blast during a blast from her past and Welcome to Your Life TV special? Share your thoughts via the comment section.
For months now, Days of our Lives has teased the character of Dominic Marino. In recent weeks, viewers learned that Marino is on the down low working with Sami Brady’s (Alison Sweeney) apparent fiancé ‘Dante Vitali (Franco LoPresti), and that he is the never-before-heard-of child of Stefano DiMera (the late Joseph Mascolo) and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)!
Up until now, the Peacock streaming soap opera has never revealed his face, but that all seemed to change on the Tuesday, October 2o episode of DAYS. In story, Dante met Sami’s parents for the first time, Roman (Josh Taylor) and Marlena.
He shows them a photo of Dominic, which he happened to have on his own phone and even commented he kind of looked like he could be Marlena’s son. The photo, which has quickly made it around Soap Twitter/X, revealed that British-born actor Kyle Pryor is the man in the photo and eagle-eyed viewers actually located said photo on Pryor’s Instagram.
Photo: Peacock
Deadline revealed Pryor started taping at the end of 2025 and will first be seen in the role, on air Monday, November 2. In addition, Days will celebrate its 61st Anniversary with two special episodes featuring Dominic’s arrival, as well the returns of Tony and Anna DiMera, played respectively by Thaao Penghlis and Leann Hunley, on Friday, November 6 and Monday, November 9.
Those in the know, are are that Pryor previously held series regular roles on Australia’s Home and Away, and the UK’s Hollyoaks and guest starred on Emmerdale. In an ironic twist, Pryor appeared in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is the same action series his apparent TV brother, Dan Feuerriegel (EJ DiMera), once appeared in before coming to DAYS.
So excited to see Kyle Pryor take on the role of Dominic Marino as Days of our Lives sets its anniversary story to kick-off with is arrival in Salem? Share your thoughts in the comment section. And in case you missed our latest conversation with Conner Floyd (Chad DiMera) he weighs-in on how Dominic’s appearance will shake things up in Salem. You can check that out below.
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Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan Visit the Set of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’; Daytime Emmy Winners Reflect on Show Then and Now
Tabitha Brown and Kandi Burruss Guest Star on ‘Beyond the Gates’ for Dani’s ‘Welcome to Your Life’ TV Special; What Could Go Wrong?
Tabitha Brown and Kandi Burruss Guest Star on ‘Beyond the Gates’ for Dani’s ‘Welcome to Your Life’ TV Special; What Could Go Wrong?
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THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Stands Up to Brooke, ‘I Have Spent My Entire Life Sacrificing My Happiness for Yours. But No More!’
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‘Days of our Lives’ Reveals Kyle Pryor Cast as Dominic Marino
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