Here is where The Bold and the Beautiful lands on December 8: Eric does not want to retire, Ridge thinks forcing the issue is doing his dad a favor, and the fallout is already messy. Also, there is a stack of Eric designs that might have changed everything if someone had looked at them sooner.
The blowup at Forrester
Eric tears into Ridge for pushing retirement on him and makes it very clear this was not his idea. He says he cannot be shoved out of his own family company. The argument gets heated enough that Steffy, Carter, and Daphne step out and leave them to it.
Ridge keeps framing the move as protection, not punishment. Brooke backs him up. Donna does not. She sides with Eric and tries to get Ridge to admit Eric still has more to give. Ridge fires back that Eric handed him the reins and he is ready to carry them. He also does not want to see his father in a hospital bed again, so to him this is the right call.
Eric eventually stops fighting, accepts the retirement decision, and tells Ridge he loves him. Later, Daphne and Carter talk privately about how upset Eric is and how Ridge should not have forced this in the first place.
Steffy finds the game-changer: new designs
Steffy fills Ridge in on the retirement fallout and then gets her hands on Eric's latest designs. They are good. Good enough that she instantly understands why he did not want to step aside.
She connects the dots: these appear to be the same pieces Eric was sketching at home and was planning to show Ridge. She even wonders if seeing them would have changed Ridge's decision. Finn is not swayed; he still thinks retirement is best for Eric's health. Meanwhile, Ridge confides to Brooke that he is worried his father thinks he is being selfish. Brooke reassures him that Eric knows how much he is loved.
Donna tries to help, Eric goes quiet
In the showroom, Eric vents to Donna that he should not have been forced out and that he still has a lot to contribute. He says these new designs deserve to be seen. Donna urges him to show them to Ridge. Eric shuts that down. He also asks Donna not to pick a fight with Brooke over any of this.
Then he asks for a minute alone. He decides to walk away from the company for now, turns off the Forrester logo lights, gathers his sketches, and sits in the dark. It is a pretty stark image for where this family is right now.
Where everyone stands after today
- Eric: Did not choose retirement, thinks he was pushed, believes his latest designs prove he is not done, leaves the building with his sketches after turning off the Forrester lights.
- Ridge: Says taking over is about protecting Eric, not power; worries Eric sees him as selfish but stays the course.
- Brooke: Supports Ridge, reassures him Eric knows he is loved.
- Donna: Backs Eric, urges him to show Ridge the new line, agrees not to start a Brooke fight.
- Steffy: Sees Eric's new designs and suspects they'd have changed Ridge's mind; initially steps out of the argument; brings the retirement news and the sketches into the conversation.
- Finn: Believes retirement is best for Eric's health.
- Carter and Daphne: Think Eric was pushed into retirement and that it was the wrong move; both left during the initial argument.
One odd detail: yes, Daphne is in the mix here, and she and Carter are firmly in the 'this went too far' camp. The bigger takeaway, though, is simple: Eric has work he wants the world to see, and Forrester just might have benched him at the worst possible time.